Daughter of the Girl

“I did make my hair the same as their manes….” I blurted out. He looked me up and down, stopped at my hair, looked up and down again, and then at my face. A smile decided to adorn mine at that precise moment. But no. Not a normal smile. A smile that was way too nervous and big for the occasion. To my mild surprise, Mr. Way returned the smile. Softer, but still a smile.

“Welcome to the Murder Scene.” I heard from behind the bassist. Frank Iero sauntered into my view.

“Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” Was all I could muster. Yes, I am well spoken.

“You as well, Madam.” Mr. Iero leaned down, whilst grabbing my hand, and kissed the top. When he stood back up he saw Mr. Way’s eye roll and grinned. “What?”

“You’re fucking weird.” Was his only reply.

“And You’re MikeyFuckingWay.”

“Language!” My uncle scolded as he walked up behind me.

“Oh please, Alex. She probably says worse.” Frank’s attitude seemed to seep into his hips as he walked away. For an old guy, he had a nice-

“Don’t even think about his ass.” Alex hissed quietly into my ear once Mikey turned. I bit my lip to refrain from laughing, and followed after him. The expensive door shut behind me, and the mood dropped.

“I’ll bring you to him.” Mikey solemnly announced. We followed him up a large staircase until we hit a wide landing. Down a longer corridor we walked in a close nit group, my hand grappling at Alex’s sleeve. The very air loomed of death. My thoughts didn’t calm as they usually would when Alex grabbed my hand. Nor did they when he gave mine a reassuring squeeze. What if Gerard didn’t like me? What would he look like? What would he say? What-

“One second.” Mikey said softly. I closed my hand around Alex’s a little more than firm, prompting him to kiss the top of my head. The crème coloured door opened wide enough for Mikey to look in.
He took a second. “You ready, Gee?”

It wasn’t until months later did I realize Mikey was checking to see if Gerard was alive.

Mikey must have gotten the go ahead from Gerard, for the younger brother opened the door, allowing access to the warm room. I never could get the memory of Gerard Author Way out of my mind. His hair long gone, his skin thoroughly tired, but his eyes. His eyes were the worst. Deep hazel pools of interest. Even as his body lived to decay at any moment, his eyes lived to never die.

We filed into the room. I happened to be last. Gerard’s cancer free eyes hit me and filled with emotions unknown to this universe. Alex sat me at the side of Gerard’s bed, shook the man’s hand, and left with the others. The singer at heart watched them leave, and waited until the door shut before looking at me. His hand flipped to palm-up, slid towards me, and he never broke eye contact.

I slowly put my hand into his, feeling the delicacy of it. The warm light filtered through the open windows, creating a false sense of security. But somehow, this was the perfect place. It was everything this had to be. It was beautiful pain.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?”