My Family Doesn't Know

"Where'd you say you lived?" Bob asked, moving to the drivers side of my car, brushing the snow off the windshield. "Somewhere in Jersey, I assume." He opened my car door and taking the seat, forcing me into the passenger seat.

"Yeah, in Kirkwood." I said, wiping off my own window before stepping into the car. "Why?"

"You're going home." He started the car, having taken my keys from me before we left his apartment. "It's Christmas, and you need to be with your family. Don't argue with me, Way, you know I'm right. I secretly know you want to go back. Plus, I have a present for you, but you're not getting it until we're there."

I grumbled, pulling my seatbelt over my body. "You don't like having me sleep on your couch anymore?" I asked.

"Might have to start charging you rent if you're with me any longer," Bob pulled out of the drive way, getting mixed into the New York traffic. It was pretty dark out - maybe 6 o'clock. Bob and I had made our own little feast with his neighbor, Katelyn, and it was really nice. Until Bob's cat scratched my face. Again. One side of my face is covered in band aids covering scratches from that damn cat.

"Ha ha very funny," I mumbled sarcastically, "never heard that one before." I pulled down the mirror, looking at the band aids on the side of my face. There were two big ones, covering from my cheekbone to my jawline on the left side of my face. The scratches still stung beneath the band aids, but it hurt less than before. "By the way, I want to kill your cat, so maybe it's a good thing you're taking me away from here," I said, running a hand over the bandages carefully, remembering the first time Ally scratched my face, also my first day at Bob's.

"Meow."
I opened my eyes, feeling a weight on my chest. I looked and saw Ally, Bob's cat, sitting on me, her eyes gleaming. Her paw went up, claws unsheathed, and scratched the side of my face. "Ow!" I yelped, pushing her off of me. I heard a surprised meow come from her as I carefully poked the side of my face with a careful finger. Ally jumped back onto the couch, sitting on the arm of the couch by my feet. "I hate you," I muttered before Bob stepped into the room.

"Morning Mikey," he said before he looked at me. His eyes widened a bit, "You okay?" he asked, reaching out his hand to pet the cat who looked at me with a pleased expression.

"Just dandy, Bobert," I said, looking up at him. I noticed he was wearing a similar outfit as yesterday's - a dark hoodie, jeans, a nametag clipped onto his hoodie, and at the moment a beanie resting on his head, covering some of his blonde hair.

"Be right back," he said, disappearing down the hall again. He came back with a wet rag, sitting on the couch beside me after I pulled myself into a sitting position, my legs hanging over the side of the couch. "Do you think you can do it yourself, or should I do it?" he asked teasingly, holding the rag out towards me. I took it, wiping my face carefully, flinching a bit at the feel of the fabric against the claw marks.

Ally jumped down from the edge of the couch, moving to Bob's legs. She rubbed against them, and he scratched her head. I rolled my eyes, putting the rag in my lap. My stomach growled. "Got any food?" I asked suddenly.

"I have toaster struddles, will that do?" Bob asked, standing up. Ally was pushed to the side, and she disappeared out of sight.

"Sure," I said, standing up also. Bob walked into a room across from the living room, which turned out to be the kitchen. It was small. There was hardly any counter space, a fridge, a stove, a pantry closet, and a really small table - which had tons of papers and cat food bowls on it. I stood close to the entrance, leaning against the wall, watching Bob as he dug around in his cabinets for a toaster.

"It's so small in here," I said suddenly, Bob plugging the toaster in. "Have you ever stuck a fork in a toaster?"

Bob laughed, "Nope. I take it you have?"

"Nah. Almost did once, though." Bob pulled out a box from the freezer, taking some of the contents out and putting them on the counter next to the toaster. I shifted against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked down at my clothes, still in the same ones from yesterday. My personal hygiene is just going down the drain now. "Be right back. I'm gonna change." I said, shuffling out of the kitchen.

"Your bag's still in my room," Bob said. I opened his bedroom door, and found my bag on the floor near his closet door.

Shuffling through the bag, I found my clothes from yesterday. I pulled them out and my car keys fell out of my pants. "Shit...I left my car at the hotel," I said, holding the keys in my hand. I set the keys down, pulling out a button down shirt and a pair of jeans - not skinnies, but not too baggy, either - out of the bag. I shed my old clothes, stuffing them into the bottom of the bag, and put the new ones on. I made my way to Bob's bathroom, my keys in my hands again, and brushed my hair out of my face. I examined the scratch on my cheek for the first time, putting my car keys in my pocket.

"Fuck you Ally," I mumbled, running a hand over the marks carefully. There were three claw marks on my cheek, from my cheek bone to my jawline. They weren't deep or bleeding anymore, but they still hurt a little and were visible. "Looking like a badass," I muttered to myself, moving back to the kitchen.

Bob had a plate with two toaster struddles placed on it, the frosting packets sitting by the food, too. The toaster popped up as I walked in, and I jumped a little. Bob put two more struddles on a different plate, along with frosting, before turning to me.

"Did you jump?" he asked, handing me one of the plates, motioning for us to go back to the living room. I stepped out of the doorway and followed him, taking the spot next to him on the couch again.

"There is the possibility that I did."

"Yeah, can't let you kill my cat. My little baby," he said, turning the radio on. I've been with Bob two weeks, sleeping on his couch, first time seeing each other since high school, and we're acting like we've never been separated. Still awesome friends.

I sighed, watching the lights fly past my window. I yawned, "I'll go to sleep then, wake me when you get to Kirkwood." I closed my eyes and willed myself to go to sleep.

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*~*Bob's POV*~*

I could tell Mikey was annoyed at me for taking him home, but I didn't care. It felt right. He'd been with me for two weeks and although I loved having him with me - he is one of my best friends after all - he needs to be with his family. I don't even think Mikey told me why he left them, but I know he said he'd plan on going back one day. Why can't that one day be today?

When Mikey fell asleep, I started to get to thinking, about the past two weeks. And wondering how Mikey could sleep at such an early hour such as this, but I figured it was the he ate. It was always the turkey.

I was on the highway now, still surrounded by cars, even though I was out of New York City, cars were still everywhere. I sighed, driving, tapping my fingers on the wheel to the beat of the song. I remember when Mikey and I had to go find his hotel just to find his car.

"So you forgot your car here?" I asked as we stood in the parking lot of the hotel. Mikey had asked me to come since there was no chance he'd be able to find it by myself, so we had to come during my lunch break. We had been sitting at the music shop all morning, Mikey not wanting to stay back at myapartment with Ally, since is now fully convinced she is out to get him.

"Yeah..." he mumbled, his eyes searching over the parking lot for the car.

"Hmm...Since I have no idea what car you have, I'm just going to be obnoxious. Is it that one? No, that one? Wait, no, it's that one for sure!" I started pointing at random cars across the parking lot and Mikey glared at me, holding the keys in his hand.

"I have the keys, Bob, I can just press the buttons until we find it.." he said. I watched him look down at the keypad in his hand, debating on which one to press. I personally didn't want to do the alarm because that annoyed me, but I realized we didn't have much of a choice. "I remember parking it at the end of the parking lot...It's silver by the way."

"That really narrows it down, Mikey," I said sarcastically, "and let me guess, it has a New Jersey license plate like one sixth of this parking lot!"

He rolled my eyes at me, walking to the end of the parking lot, looking for the goddamn car. He pressed the lock button and I heard the honking sound it make come from my left. We both turned around and Mikey pointed to a silever car two rows over. He jogged over to it, "Oh baby, I found you!" he said, laying on the car trunk, in a way, hugging it. I walked over slower, smiling to myself as I watched Mikey.

"Get a room, Mikey," I said. "Should we go get lunch then? I still have another thirty minutes in my break."

"Yeah sure," he said, unlocking the car and getting into the driver's seat, starting the ignition. I got in the passenger seat,and gave a low whistle.

"Pretty awesome car, Mikey. So clean and beautiful."

We both looked around the car, seeing an old baby bottle or two in the back seat, plus extra diapers scattered around the back, along with various toys.

"The cleanest car ever," Mikey said, pulling out of the parking lot. "Now, I get to officially deal with New York traffic."

"Ha, this'll be fun," I muttered, buckling my seat belt.

"Yep, Mikey, get a room with your car," I said to the silent car, thinking of the memory. I turned to look at Mikey, who was leaning against the car door, his eyes closed. I wondered if he was really sleeping, since I didn't hear any snoring. Did Mikey snore? I don't remember him snoring, at least not loudly, when he slept on my couch. Hmm...

"Mikey...Mikey..." I poked his side with a finger.

"What do you want?" he mumbled, his eyes still closed. "I'm sleepy."

"It was the turkey, wasn't it?" I asked, looking back ahead at the road in front of me. Ever so slowly the cars started to disappear as we left the big city behind us.

"Sure," he mumbled. He shifted positions, sitting upright again.

"It's always the turkey..." I mumbled, smiling at him.

"Hey you two, wanna come with me to my mom's for Christmas supper?" Katelyn asked, stepping out of her apartment, a winter jacket wrapped closely around her. I could tell she could see the hesitation on my face. "She said I could bring people, since it'll be just me, my parents, and my brothers and sister. Not many people. Lots of food, I promise. And I don't want to go alone..."

"Neither of us have to pretend to be your boyfriend, right?" I asked, smiling. Mikey and I were just watching TV, arguing over what kind of pizza to get when Katelyn came over. Mikey had come to stand by me at some point while she was talking.

"Gosh, I asked you to do that once and I can't ever live it down, can I?" she said, annoyed, but she smiled slightly. "No, you don't have to. Unless of course you realy want to, I'll let you."

"No thanks," I laughed, "that one time pretending was enough for me."

"Oh shut it. I'm the best girl you ever dated - even if it was pretending." She stuck her tongue out, looking down at her watch. "Now do you two want to go or not? I have to go soon."

I looked at Mikey, "Want to get free food?" He nodded and I turned back to Katelyn. "Free food sounds good. Let me get my jacket."

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We took Mikey's car to Katelyn's parents' place, which was in one of New York City's suburbs. It was a fairly decent sized house, one that I had been to before a couple times. We parked on the street in front of the house since the drive way was already packed with cars.

"I thought you said there wouldn't be many people."

"Yeah, but I have three brothers and a sister, Mikey. That's four cars right there, unless they came together, which I highly doubt." Katelyn got out of the car, Mikey and I following close behind. She opened the front door, waving us ahead of her. We stomped our shoes free of snow and set them by the door. A woman appeared in the room, a smile on her face.

"Katelyn, so glad you could make it. Who are these men? Oh wait..you look familiar...Oh what's your name..." she tapped her chin, thinking, looking right at me. "It's Bob, right? The one who went out with my daughter?"

"Yes ma'am, that's me. Nice to see you again." I said, with as much fake sincerity as I could.

"Feeling is mutual," she said. "Now, who are you?" She looked at Mikey who was standing almost directly behind me now.

"That's Mikey. He's a friend of ours. He's been staying with Bob for the past two weeks." Katelyn pushed past her mom, "Supper ready yet?"

"Almost, honey. Just waiting for the corn to finish."

"Ew, corn. We don't need that," Katelyn was gone, down the hall into some other room while Mikey and I stood by the front door, her mom watching us.

"Mikey...Short for anything?"

"Michael."

"Mhmm...You look very familiar to me, Michael."

"My brother's famous. Maybe you've seen him. People say we look alike." Mikey suggested, moving out from behind me a little bit.

"What's your last name?"

"Way. Michael Way."

"Oh, I know you know. I know your mom. We went to high school together. I used to baby sit you and your brother. Your mom is Donna, right?"

Mikey nodded, and I looked between the two of them.

"I used to babysit you and your brother, and I'd bring Katelyn along with me. You guys hated each other back then, now look at you. Friends." She said the last word with a bit of disgust, in my opinion, but I didn't do anything. "You're the one that left his family, aren't you?"

"Yes...but I plan on going back. I just need to straighten a few things..."

"Like your sexuality," I swear I heard her mutter. She turned around, walking away from us. I looked at Mikey and knew he heard the same thing I did.

"I remember her now," he whispered, "I fucking hated her."

"I don't blame ya." I said, "Now, let's go get us some free food, eh?"

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Mikey and I sat on either side of Katelyn, not really talking to anyone but each other. After the prayer, we dug in, but us three noticed something no one else seemed to.

"Mom...where's the turkey?"

"Oh sh-" she got up from the table, rushing out of the room and into the kitchen. The table was silent, even with eight people total sitting there. Her mom came back into the room, "The turkey overcooked itself." she announced.

"What do you mean?" one of her brother's asked - I don't even bother remembering his name.

"Just that, the turkey overcooked itself. The turkey ruined Christmas."

"Sure, blame the turkey. It's the turkey's fault," Katelyn said sarcastically. Mikey and I started to laugh, getting a glare from her mother. "It's the turkey's fault that you forgot to get it out of the oven."

"The turkey is to blame for Christmas to be ruined." Mikey said.

"The turkey is to blame for everything there is!" I announced, smiling.
"Exactly," Katelyn's mom said, sitting back down at the table.

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*~*Mikey's POV again*~*

"Bob, where are we?" I asked, opening my eyes again. After Bob poked me, I fell back asleep. I'd just woken back up again, from the strangest dream. I was being chased by a turkey in a corn field. My subconcious does some pretty weird shit to me somedays.

"Just outside of Kirkwood. What street you live on?"

"Broken Boulevard, house 2109," I mumbled sleepily, yawning a bit as I stretched my arms over my head as best I could in a car, "it has a swing on a huge ass tree in the front yard, if that helps. Or I can point it out when you drive past it. Do you know where that street is?"

"Yeah, think so."

I rubbed my eyes, blinking a few times to get focus back. I looked out the window, the car silent. Bob had turned off the radio some point while I was asleep, I guess. Outside the road was covered in dirty snow, but there wasn't much of it. Maybe an inch at most. Not enough to make a decent snowman yet.

"Bob?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm kinda scared..." I admitted, not looking over to meet his eyes.

"Why?"

"Ray might be angry at me for leaving him...He scares me when he gets angry..."

"Don't worry, Mikey. It'll be okay. And if it's not, we'll go back to New York, get you your own apartment and I'll get you a job at the music job and we'll never come back here, 'kay?"

"Okay..." We were silent and I started to recognize the roads Bob was going on, even if snow was everywhere. The moon in the night sky illuminated the snow in some places, making it sparkle.

"This the right road?"

"Yeah, take a left up ahead. My house is the third one down." I said. I felt an uneasy feeling appear in my stomach.

The car stopped. I looked out the window. My house. Hadn't seen it in two weeks and it looked like a stranger's. There weren't any cars in the driveway, but probably in the garage if Ray was home, so we parked in the drive way. Bob kept the key in the ignition, and we just sat there.

"You're gonna come in with me, right?" I asked, looking over at him. He nodded.

"Before we do, though, I have a present for you. It's in the trunk."

"When did you get a present in the trunk while I wasn't looking?" I asked, perplexed.

"I have my ways, Mikey." Bob laughed. "Wanna come see it or should I bring it up front?"

"Hmm...how cold is it outside?" Bob opened his door and I felt a cold rush of air hit me. "Oh god, that's pretty cold."

"Well, if you won't come out, it'll have to go in the backseat. It's kind of big..."

"Bob, you didn't have to buy me anything big. Or anything at all. I didn't get you anything."

"I don't care, I wanted to get you this. Plus, I got it free," he smirked, stepping out of the car. He grabbed the keys. "We're getting out anyways. This is only gonna take a minute. Get your ass out here now."

I grumbled, unbuckling my seatbelt and opening my own door. I made my way to the trunk of the car, a smiling Bob holding the keys. He opened the trunk and in the center of it was a fairly big box.

"What the hell?" I asked, kind of confused.

"Just open it. I'm freezing."

I held out a hand, taking a lid off of the box. There was another box. "Is this box-ception?" I asked and Bob shook his head.

"No, it's a case. Open it."

I opened the case and saw a white bass. It was beautiful, to be honest. It looked like the one Bob let me play a couple times in the store. I put a hand on it, plucking one of the strings. "Oh my god Bob."

"Yep, it's the one you've been playing. And look, there's something else in there," he giggled, guiding my hand to a little pocket in the case. I pulled out a sheet of stickers.

"Unicorns? Seriously Bryar?" I asked, holding the sheet, laughing.

"Yeah, seriously! Unicorns are the shit, Mikey! And they were on sale - couldn't resist. Deorate your bass with them, I demand it. Just not now, still kind of freezing my ass off here," Bob said, starting to shake a little.

I closed the case, putting the stickers back in it. I grabbed the handle of the case, hugging Bob first. "I have to get you something now."

"How about warmth?" he offered.

"Hey, you're the one who said it'd only take a minute."

"Shut up," he said, but I could see him smiling.

I shut the trunk of the car, holding the bass case in my hand. I smiled a bit too, the bandages on my face moving oddly, and it kind of hurt. "Dude, I think my band aides are frozen or something," I joked, walking up where the sidewalk should be. The uneasy feeling was getting heavier and heavier with each step to the door. I was glad Bob was behind me otherwise I might've turned and ran.

I stopped in front of the front door, Bob behind me. I took a deep breath.

"Ready Mikey?" he asked and I nodded after a few moments of hesitation.

"Fucking ready." I turned the front doorknob, opening the door. I stepped in, the warmth of the house washing away the cold of outside. I heard laughter come from the other room and I looked at my watch, taking my shoes off by the door. It was around 8 o'clock. I set the bass down and put a hand on my face, touching the bandages.

"God the scratches hurt," I whispered, standing in my socks, taking off my jacket and throwing it on top of the coat hanger by the door. Bob did the same as me, pushing me forward a bit. The living room was just down the hall and I heard laughter, and some singing. I walked slowly and carefully, starting to shake a little bit.

"It's okay," Bob whispered, easing my forward. I nodded and gulped, taking the last few steps on my own. I stopped, taking a deep breath.

"Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh," I heard. It was Ray and Gerard singing for sure, and some other voices. I think Sammy might've been trying to sing along.

I poked my head around the corner, carefully and slowly. I saw Ray, holding one of the triplets in his hands, who looked like he was sleeping. Gerard was dancing in the middle of the living room with Sammy, who was wearing a green dressed. I stepped out from around the corner, taking another deep breath.

"I'm home," I said loudly, getting their attention.

"Mikey!" Ray, Gerard, and Frank all said, turning to look at me.

"Daddy!" Sammy said, running from Gerard and to me, hugging my legs.

"Hello Michael."