I'll Never Be What You Need.

Mikey sat by the phone, staring at it longingly. He wished it would ring. Frank promised he would call him as soon as he got there, and he had gotten on his plane about an hour ago. He should be there soon, hopefully. He wanted to hear his voice. He needed it. Separating him from Frank was almost as bad as trying to take his coffee away. He got twitchy and antsy.

Then, the most wondrous sound: it rang. He snatched it up and immediately said, "Hello?" into the receiver.

"Hey there kid!"

His face fell. It wasn't Frank. "Hey, Gerard," he replied, trying to disguise his disappointment.

"What's uppp?" Gerard questioned.

"Nothing," Mikey answered. "What did you want?"

"Ouch, that hurts, Mikes. A person can't even call his baby brother without being accused of being suspicious?" Gerard asked.

Mikey chuckled. "Exactly," he told him. "Now come on, what do you want?"

"I'm coming home for Christmas! Gerard exclaimed.

"Here?" Mikey verified. "We don't even have a tree yet, and it's three days before."

"Ya, so? I want to make sure you have a good time. Plus, I want to meet that boyfriend of yours," Gerard admitted.

Mikey sighed. "He's in Maine," Mikey informed him.

"Oh... Damn it! Oh well, I'm still coming, and I'm going to make sure you have the best Christmas ever!"

Mikey didn't know how it could be a good Christmas without Frank. "Okay, Gee. You bringing Ray?"

"Yuppers. He doesn't like how his mom always fusses about his fro."

"Nice. All right, when you coming over?"

"Um... the day before? Is that okay?"

"Should be. Mom won't care. I'll see you then."

"All right. Take care of yourself, kid."

"I will," Mikey promised, hanging up the phone. He sighed and rested his head back on the couch. He had the entire day off and no one to spend it with. He was in his own personal hell.

* * * *

Frank sat in the passenger seat, looking at his dad out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't seen this man in at least two years, and now he was in his car. He felt like such an outsider. This was the man who had shared his DNA, and he was afraid to speak to him. He was named after him, for Christ's sake! Yet he couldn't even look him in the eyes.

Frank Joseph Iero was his father's name. Frank and his father shared a great deal of the same features, including the same melted hazel eyes and dark hair. He wasn't as short as Frank (he had gotten that from his mother) but had about the same build.

He wished he was with Mikey. He missed his Mikey. He hoped that Mikey would be okay without him. He knew he probably wouldn't be.

"So, how's school going, Frank?" his father questioned.

"It's okay. All A's," Frank answered shortly.

"That's good. You know where you want to go to college?" his dad asked.

Frank absolutely hated it when people questioned him about his future. "Not yet," he replied.

"Hmm. Well, it's something you should start looking it to."

Frank nodded, seeing the house up ahead. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been here. He was thankful that maybe his dad would shut up and let him unpack. He wanted to mourn his situation in piece.

The car was parked, and Frank immediately grabbed his bag and headed for the door. He turned the knob and it opened; his father almost never locked the doors.

He looked at the stairs before him. He didn't like going up stairs. It made him feel like he was about to fall. He remembered when his dad tried to cure his fear by dangling his over the railing.

Good times.

Looking straight ahead, he headed up the stairs. He couldn't let himself look down. Finally, reaching the top, he headed to the room he usually slept in. But before he could get there, he realized the guest room door was open. He peered his head in, and almost screamed at what he saw. There was a teenaged girl sitting on the bed, listening to music.

Who the fuck was she? His dad's newest fuck buddy? Why was she so young?

She noticed him and turned her head toward him. She frowned. "Who are you?" she questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. He couldn't stop staring at her. She looked exactly like him. The same hazel eyes, same dark hair, same face shape. Almost every detail was identical.

She looked him over for a moment and got this frightened look on her face. "DAD!" she screamed.

Dad? Wait... OH FUCK NO.

"What? Oh shit, Frank I wish you would have waited to come up here," his father said as he traveled up the stairs.

"Um, excuse me, would you like to tell me who this is?" Frank demanded.

"Uh... Frank, this is your half-sister, June," he replied.

Frank looked over at the girl. "W-what?! You're kidding me right? You have a replacement kid who's a girl?!"

"Listen, it's not what you think," his father began.

June just sat there, dumbfounded. "I don't... um... what?"

"Oh my God. This is a joke, right? This is a sick and twisted joke!" Frank said.

"Listen to me, both of you. I'm sorry you two didn't meet until now, but I just met June. I wanted you to meet her, so I flew you up here," Frank Iero Sr. tried to remedy.

"This... this like something off of Maury! You can't just decide that you have another kid and take me away from home to tell me that! You could have sent me a post card!" Frank exclaimed.

"I thought this would be the best way."

Frank made a growling sound and walked away to his room next door. He locked the room and sat on the twin bed. He couldn't even think about what was happening right now. He grabbed the phone and dialed Mikey's number.