I'll Never Be What You Need.

“Mikey!” Gerard shouted, bounding through the door and attacking his little brother with a large hug.

“Hey,” Mikey replied somewhat awkwardly from his grasp. He could see Ray trailing behind Gerard with a couple of bags in hand. Gerard had discarded his on the floor already. Mikey was actually really glad that they came; his mother was at work, and, without Frank, he would have been lonely.

“I have a surprise!” Gerard exclaimed, letting go of Mikey and running from the apartment.

Mikey gave Ray a questioning look, but he simply shrugged.

Gerard appeared not two minutes later with a bright pink tree. It was small, a table top one already equipped with lights. The “bristles” were made from a shiny tinsel-like material, and Mikey just stared at it, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled.

“Isn’t it great?!” Gerard asked.

“It’s… pink,” Mikey stated in awe.

“Actually, it’s fuchsia. The old man ahead of me bought the red and white one, and I was royally pissed. But I couldn’t just yell for him to give it to me,” Gerard explained.

“Because he was old?” Mikey asked.

“Psh, no,” Gerard scoffed. “It’s New York. Guy probably had a fuckin’ switchblade in his pants. Shifty bastard.”

Mikey laughed. That was such a Gerard thing to say.

Ray rolled his eyes. “I just think it’s scary you actually said the color’s fuchsia. Why can’t you just say pinkish-purple like the rest of the male population?” he questioned.

“Shut the fuck up, Toro. Everyone knows that it’s fuckin’ fuchsia, so just swallow your goddamn pride and deal with it,” Gerard retorted.

“Well, it was really nice of you, Gee. Thank you,” Mikey said.

“AWWW!” Gerard squealed, scrambling forward to hug his baby brother once more (yes, Mikey was only three years younger, but to Gerard he was still a baby). “You’re welcome!”

Once again, Mikey stood there awkwardly. Gerard, getting the picture, let go.

“FIRE HIM UP!” Gerard demanded, handing the tree to Toro.

“Um… it’s a he?” Ray verified.

“Yes. It’s pink, and it’s a boy. You got a problem with that?”

“No, I was just thinking we should just name it ‘Gerard',” Ray shot back.

Mikey laughed. “You just got burned, dude.”

“Just plug in the tree,” Gerard muttered, clearly owned.

Ray did as he asked, finding the nearest outlet and plugging it in and watching the little pink lights illuminate happily. Mikey nearly cried at the sight. Frank would have loved that little tree. Mikey decided he might have to keep it up for a while so Frank could see it once he got back from Maine. “It’s really pretty,” he managed to say.

Gerard grinned, “You’re welcome.”

Just then, the phone rang. Mikey scrambled to get it, tripping on the way, which caused Gerard to laugh.

"Shut up!" Mikey whined, picking up the receiver. "Hello?"

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!" to voices screamed simultaneously. He knew it had to be Frank and June. When Frank had told Mikey he had a secret half-sister, he was really shocked. I mean really, those sorts of things only happen in stories. They seemed to be very in-sync with one another already and Frank seemed to be fine with it now.

Right.

Mikey chuckled. "Happy Christmas Eve," he returned.

"Who is it???!!!" Gerard demanded, trying to snatch the phone away.

"STOPPIT!" Mikey screeched, running away from him in circles around the table.

"Is it Frank?!" Gerard questioned at the same time Frank asked, "Is that Gerard?!" Frank knew all about Gerard, of course. They talked about everything, so Gerard came up on more than one occasion.

"Let me talk to him!" they both yelled at the same time.

Mikey thought his head was going to explode. He couldn't believe that Gerard had just yelled the same thing and they weren't even in the same room. "Okay," Mikey mumbled, giving the phone to Gerard.

"Hi, Frank!" Gerard greeted into the phone. "Merry Christmas Eve to you too! Ya... ya, he's pretty good. I bought him a Christmas Tree. It's fuchsia... Uhuh. You're sister? Mikey didn't tell me you had a sister... Really? Holy shit, that's weird... Ya... Cool... Ya, sure, I can make time... Okay, you too... Bye Frank." He handed Mikey the phone.

Mikey took it, slack jawed. How was Gerard able to talk to Frank like he had known him all his life? Was it some sort of conspiracy?

"Hey Mikey! I miss you so much, you have no idea. You didn't open my present yet, did you?" Frank's voice said.

"Nope. You open yours?"

"No way! I promised I wouldn't! Besides, I'm going to call you in the morning so we can open them at the same time." Frank and Mikey had given each other their presents, but decided to wait until Christmas. Frank's gift to Mikey was currently resting in his room.

"Okay. That sounds good." Mikey sighed. "I miss you," he stated.

Frank sounded like he was about to cry. "Just a couple more days," he replied in a sad tone.

"Well... I better entertain my brother before he lights something on fire..." Mikey trailed off.

"I'll let you go then. Merry Christmas, Mikey."

"Merry Christmas. Say hi to June for me."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye," Mikey returned, putting the phone down and sighing. It was going to be a long three days until Frank got back.