The Boy Next Door (p.2)
Title: The Boy Next Door (part 2)
Request: Maybe like you’re having a real hard time w the parents divorce and at first you shut everyone out but then Gerard comforts you and it’s real fluffy and maybe they end up dating ?
Characters: Gerard Way x Reader, Mikey Way
Warnings: Cursing, parents being not great, divorce, talk of cheating, fighting
A/N: If anyone wants a part three, send requests with some ideas for it!
(part 1) (part 2)
You’re tired. Your parents won’t speak to one another, there’s a lawyer visiting your father every other day, and you’re so tired.
And it’s not just that your parents are obviously planning on getting divorced. It seems that you’ve picked up on your parent’s bad habits and trying to maintain any of the relationships that you have is just so exhausting. You’ve started pushing people away, but you’re not doing it consciously. You’ve always tried so hard to not be like your parents in that way, but now that they’re separating you’re so mentally exhausted that it just doesn’t feel worth it anymore. After that night in the park, you can’t really see the point of trying to have friends. You’re in high school now and that’s great and you’re going to have a nice four yours of good friendships, but after that none of those friends are going to matter. You’ll go to college, make a fresh batch of friends and forget about the relationships you worked so hard to maintain in high school.
As your parents have obviously shown you, keeping up with the hassle of a relationship is a lot of pressure and stress, so why even bother?
It’s an unhealthy mindset, and all of your friends seem to be pissed at you because you’re so pissed at them for no reason other than you feel that the world has begun to treat you very unfairly, and you just don’t care anymore. You act like you don’t feel things anymore, and from the outside anyone would think you’re just going through a phase, but everyone has different ways to cope and this is how you’re doing it: shutting everyone out. It’s not easy, watching your family fall apart right before your eyes, and you want to say that you’ve been strong and are holding it together for your family…but you aren’t. You’ve barely spoken to your father and your mother didn’t do as she promised and hasn’t come back home since that night. You’ve gotten nothing from her but a call the day she was supposed to be back telling you that she couldn’t make it home for a while. You leave school and don’t go home for hours, instead opting to wander around the park and do homework there instead of facing whatever’s waiting for you at home.
No one knows about your parents splitting up, and you plan to keep it that way. Besides, there’s no pressing need for anyone else to know. You’re not trying to claim the spotlight by getting everyone to throw you a pity party. You’re trying to stay as far from any spotlight as you possibly can, and you’ve done a pretty good job so far.
Everyone has pretty much accepted that you don’t want anything to do with them, and even though they’re confused as to why you’re suddenly uninterested in having friends, they don’t want to waste their time on someone like you. Someone who couldn’t care less about them.
Everyone except Gerard Way.
And that’s the thing about Gerard, he’s always there, especially when you don’t want him to be. You don’t need him, and even though he helped you one night, you don’t need that everyday. However, he doesn’t agree. Him being the only one who knows the real reason why you’re pushing people away, he’s not going to take your ‘I’m hurting so I’m going to become a loner’ act. He knows that isolating yourself won’t fix anything.
But you won’t talk to him, you barely even spare him a glance. He tries to talk to you in the hall, during class, he even tries purposely running into you when you’re walking home so that you’ll have to talk to him. But nothing’s working, and now it’s become something of a game to Gerard. The goal is to get you to talk to him, and that’s what he needs to do to win the game. And the prize would be…your friendship? Maybe, he hasn’t really gotten that far since he’s no closer to getting you to talk to him then he was a few days ago.
You, however, see things with Gerard very differently. While he sees the situation as a game, you see it as a pain in your ass. You don’t understand why he won’t just give it up. It’s not like the two of you are all that close. Even your best friends have stopped talking to you. But here’s Gerard Way, going out of his way to bump into you every time you walk home just to have a conversation with you.
He’s tried casual conversation, he’s tried to be flirty, and he’s even tried confronting you about the night he helped you through your parents fight. But every time without fail you brush him off, finding some excuse as to why you can’t talk.
He’s done with it. He’s done with you not wanting to talk to anyone and closing yourself off because of this. He’s done with it all, and he seriously considers giving up about three weeks after that night because it seems like there’s no way he’ll get you to crack and talk to him.
He’s sitting in his room blasting music from his speaker when he sees a car pull into your driveway from his window. He turns the music down when he sees a woman get out of the car, a woman who’s obviously not your mother (who he had met a few times). She goes to your door and knocks a few times, and Gerard waits patiently for anything interesting to happen. Maybe she’s the lawyer, or a friend coming over to comfort your father (like he needs comforting, the dickhead).
His eyes widen when your father opens the door and beams at the women, taking her by the waist and pulling her in for a kiss. He scoffs and gives the two a disgusted look, putting his elbows on his desk so he can see them better. They go in the house, your father with a grin on his face as he closes the door.
“Jackass,” he mutters, shaking his head. He doesn’t think you’ve come home yet. He hasn’t seen you (not that he was waiting) and he knows that you’ve been coming back home a little while after school ends every day. He sits at his desk and does a few spins in his chair, thinking over what would happen if you were to walk in and find your father, who isn’t even officially divorced yet, with the woman Gerard assumes he was cheating with before.
His homework is forgotten on the table, and he spins back around to face the window, leaning his chin on his desk.
“Gerard?” a voice startles him, followed by a knock, “can I come in?”
He sighs. “Sure, Mikes.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were still alive. You paused your music and suddenly the house is the quietest it’s ever been.”
Gerard scoffs and throws the pencil that had been in his hand at Mikey’s head. Mikey hits it out of the way and sits on Gerard’s bed, laying back and looking at the textbooks he has laid across the mattress.
“Y/N’s dad is such a dick.”
After the night at the park, Mikey had been something of a confidant for Gerard. Gerard had been having very conflicted emotions, and needed to rant to someone about it. Mikey, being the only person who would have the attention span to listen to Gerard’s never ending rambling, seemed like the best option.
“Why is he a dick tonight, Gee?”
“He brought his pansy little girlfriend over. Probably to meet Y/N,” Gerard sighs. He slams his hand down on his desk and stands, leaving the chair to do a few spins from the abruptness. “Can you believe the nerve of that guy? How could he ever think Y/N would want that? I mean, they’re probably not even officially divorced yet and he’s already doing the whole ‘meet the family’ charade.”
“Gerard-”
“Not to mention the fact that he’s her dad and he’s not doing anything to make sure she’s okay. I mean, I’d assume since he’s such a massive dick.”
“Gerard, look-”
“What is he going to say when she gets home? ‘Hey, welcome back! I brought my side chick, I hope you like her.’ Fuck that.”
“Gerard, would you shut up for two seconds,” Mikey snaps, finally silencing his brother. “Look.”
Gerard scowls at Mikey for interrupting him, but goes over to the window and looks out to see Y/N coming down the street, phone in hand, completely oblivious to the chaos that is likely about to ensue.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Gerard repeats, rushing out his room with Mikey not far behind. They both pass their mother, who quickly moves out of the way when her sons rush past her, a surprised squeak leaving her lips.
“Where are you boys going? It’s dark out.”
“Going to…a school meeting, mom,” Mikey says, giving her a smile and quickly shutting the door to avoid any further questions.
“A school meeting? Really?”
“What was I supposed to say?” Mikey pants as they run towards your house, then past it to where you’re walking, your headphones in your ears and your gaze still locked on your phone.
They catch up to you and come to a stop when they’re a few feet in front of you. You finally look up at them and furrow your eyebrows, taking your headphones out and stuffing them and your phone into your back pocket.
“Hey…guys,” you say with a frown, “going somewhere?”
“What?” Mikey says, then seems to understand. They were basically sprinting towards you and it may have been a bit alarming if you had been looking up instead of at your phone.
“We…saw you were coming down the street and,” Gerard says, pausing as he tries to come up with something that would keep you from going to your house. He wants to avoid you knowing that your father brought anyone over in the first place, “we wanted to know if we could take you out.”
You raise an eyebrow at them. “Take me out?”
“Yeah, to dinner. Like, as…buds.”
You nod and begin to walk towards your house. “Right, well, I’d love to but I’m tired and my bed is in this direction.”
They look at each other and Mikey gives Gerard a ‘what the hell are we going to do?’ look. Gerard just shrugs, both of them rushing to catch up with you.
“Come on, it’ll be fun. We can go to that diner by the park and have milkshakes.”
You shake your head and take your key out of your pocket. As you near the front door you turn to Mikey, who had made the second offer. You’d always liked the younger Way brother. You had talked a few times when you ran into each other on the way home from school and he’s sweet. It was hard to get over the fact that he and Gerard are related.
“I’ll have to pass this time, Mikey, but thanks.”
You unlock the door and both of the boys try to say something to stop you, but you open the door before either of them can tell you what’s really going on. You take one step and freeze when your gaze falls on the unfamiliar woman in your house. Your father is talking to her with a smile on his face, both of them holding a glass of wine.
“Y/N,” he says when he hears the door. Gerard and Mikey stand on the porch next to the door, which you leave open as you stare suspiciously at the woman. She doesn’t meet your eyes, and you come to the conclusion that the look in her eyes holds some form of guilt. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
He tries to take your hand and pull you towards the woman, but you take a step back.
“Can I talk to you?” you say, already having an idea about who this woman is. “Outside.”
You don’t give him a chance to respond, turning on your heel and leaving the house. The boys follow you down the steps of your porch, glancing at you and meeting your eyes for a moment before they both walk to the park on the opposite side of the road. You watch them go and sit down on the swings, their heads down to give you and your father as much privacy as possible without being completely out of reach. A gesture that you almost appreciate.
“Dad,” you start once the door is closed, watching him sigh and turn to face you, “who is that?”
“Her name is Beth,” he says, walking down the stairs of the porch and facing you, “I’ve been seeing her-”
“You,” you interrupt him, practically seething, although barely any words had been spoken, “have got to be kidding me. You are kidding, right? That’s who you cheated on mom with?”
“I never cheated on your mother.”
“Bullshit,” you speak through your teeth. He glares at you as if to say, ‘language,’ but you barely notice as you run a hand through your hair. “I know you did, I heard you tell her. I heard…everything.”
He stands there, unmoving while you try to catch your breath, your eyes moving from his face to the small stain of lipstick on his cheek. There are a million things that you want to say to him at this moment, but he beats you to it.
“I was hoping the three of us could have dinner,” he says carefully, “I want you to get to know her. She’s a wonderful woman and I think you two will get along-”
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” you laugh in disbelief, shaking your head at an almost rapid pace, “fuck, no.”
“Language.”
“I have plans, so I won’t be able to make it to dinner. Sorry to disappoint.”
You turn on your heal and begin walking towards the park. The boys have looked up and given up in trying not to eavesdrop. Not that you blame them, you ended up yelling as the conversation continued on.
“I know you don’t want this, but I love her Y/N.”
You freeze, almost at the end of your driveway when he says it. You don’t turn around and you don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. You stay there for a few seconds, close your eyes, then continue towards the park. Your father doesn’t say anything else and when you’re across the street, you hear the front door slam rather loudly. The boys stare up at you as you approach them and you sit on the swing next to Gerard, kicking your legs a few times in silence.
“You said something about a diner?”
You and Gerard sit at a booth in a diner that you had never been to before. It’s in the middle of nowhere, very close to your house but in a weird location. Gerard told Mikey to go back home at the park, and he did without protest. You and Gerard had walked mostly in silence, much to your surprise. Ever since the first day in the park, he couldn’t seem to shut up when he was trying to get you to talk to him. And now that he has, he’s not saying a word.
You don’t have any money with you, so he ordered you both a chocolate milkshake from a nice woman who seemed to know that you had been having a rough night. She smiled at you sympathetically and nudged you when she brought the milkshakes over, saying “I gave yours a little extra whipped cream, honey.”
You and Gerard had been making small talk for about ten minutes, avoiding the elephant in the room that seemed to get bigger and bigger by the second.
“Y/N, you know that…right now, with everything that’s been going...having a friend isn’t a bad thing.”
You take a long sip of your milkshake and nod, looking at him. “I get that. It just doesn’t seem worth it.”
“That’s something someone being overdramatic in a movie would say.”
You chuckle and take another sip of your milkshake, pushing it to the side and resting your head in your arms on the table.
“Why do we only talk when I’m upset about my parents?”
“That’s the only time you’ll ever acknowledge my existence.”
You laugh this time and nod. “That’s true.”
You look up at him and he meets your gaze for a moment, then you look away, pulling your milkshake back in front of you.
“Thanks for being my excuse to get out of that godforsaken house,” you sigh, finishing off the milkshake, “I think I may have jumped off the roof if I had sat through a dinner with them.”
Gerard chuckles, 90% sure that you were only kidding. He knows how much this is affecting you, even if you haven’t talked to him about it at all.
“Let’s cut a deal,” Gerard says after the waitress comes to take your empty milkshake cups, “how about: if you let me buy you a milkshake every Friday, I won’t make you pay me back. Ever.”
You raise an eyebrow and cross your arms. “I could just say no, not have to get a milkshake with you, and keep all of my money anyway.”
Gerard shrugs. “Or you could get a free milkshake every Friday. And someone to rant to as an added bonus.”
“You’re gonna buy me a milkshake every week?”
“Mhm.”
“Why?”
“Because then you’ll have to talk to me. It’s called bribery, sweetheart, and it’s very affective.”
A free milkshake to end the week sounded pretty damn good. Too good to pass up. So, despite your brain telling you that you two aren’t even that close (so he definitely shouldn’t be the one you let in) you go with him to that stupid diner after school every Friday, then the two of you walk home and you slowly but surely start to open up to him. At this point, two months after this whole thing started, you can say with confidence that Gerard is now your closest friend. It sometimes pains you to think that, because not too long ago, Gerard was your least favorite person, but that feeling has started to go away.
The sweet waitress that served you the first Friday you came now knew your orders and brought you milkshakes before taking food orders. You learned her name is Amy and you’ve told her your name a few times, but she always calls you honey. She calls Gerard by his name, but she does whip out honey on him when she’s being sarcastic.
“So,” Gerard says, taking a bite out of the hamburger he had decided to order along with his milkshake, “Mikey has a crush on you.”
You raise an eyebrow at him and take a sip from your milkshake. “Yeah? What makes you think that?”
“Well, he’s always asking to come along. I always tell him no.”
“How come? Let him come along, Mikey’s sweet.”
“Mikey’s annoying. He’d steal away all your attention.”
You scoff and shake your head at him, but he just glares at his hamburger as if the thought of his little brother joining the two of you would be the end of the world.
“I’ll invite him, then.”
“You wouldn’t,” Gerard jokes, and the subject is dropped. Most of the time when the two of you have milkshakes, it’s right after school at around 3:30, but some days if after school doesn’t work you meet there at seven. That’s what you had to do tonight since you had to stay after with a teacher to go over some material you missed from when Gerard made you skip a class with him last week. You regret it since the lecture was one of the most important since the year started. He just laughed it off, telling you that you shouldn’t worry about school so much.
“So,” he says through a mouthful of hamburger, “has your dad brought that lady back?”
“No,” you sigh, “I hope he broke up with her. Or her with him. Not that I want him to be alone, I just don’t want him to be with the woman he cheated on my mom with.”
“I get that,” he nods, smiling when he gets the check from Amy, pulling his wallet out and once again complaining that milkshakes shouldn’t be three dollars. He pays and the two of you leave, starting the short walk home.
“So Valentine’s Day is tomorrow,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Yep,” you furrow your eyebrows at him, “excited?”
He shrugs, “I don’t know. I’ve never been a big Valentine’s Day person.”
“Right, Mr. Punk Rock Gerard Way is too angsty to celebrate something as happy as Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s right,” he says, “it’s against my nature.”
The diner is about five minutes away from both of your houses, so when you arrive at your own your eyes widen when you once again see the same car that was there two months ago. Gerard seems to recognize it too, because he turns to you with wide eyes, waiting for a reaction.
You pull your phone out, in disbelief that your father would invite this woman over again. After last time, you were sure that she would steer clear, only inviting him to hers if they were even still together. You decide that finding out if your father is expecting you to sit down and have dinner with this woman is something you’d rather do over the phone this time.
“Dad?” you ask when he picks up.
“Y/N, are you almost home?”
“I’m in the driveway. I see you invited what’s her face over again.”
Your father sighs and you know he’s shaking his head at your rudeness, but he doesn’t comment. “I was hoping you’d have dinner with us since it didn’t go very well last time.”
“Are you serious?” you say, spotting him looking out the living room window and spotting you with Gerard, who is standing next to you awkwardly, not wanting to leave you to deal with this on your own.
The line cuts off and you pull the phone away from your ear, looking up to see your father coming out the front door. It’s almost satisfying how frustrated he looks because of how stubborn you’re being about the situation. Again.
“Please come in and have dinner with us.”
“Why should I?”
He sighs and runs a hand over his face, glancing at Gerard and furrowing his eyebrows before looking back at you.
“Don’t do this again, please. She wants you to like her, and if you refuse to even meet her-”
“This is bullshit,” you mutter, not even wanting to hear the rest of his sentence. “You know, dad, I’m feeling some déjà vu here.”
You grab Gerard’s hand and start leading him towards his house, hoping he won’t mind. Once the two of you get to his front door you pause and run a hand over your face.
“I can’t believe he did that,” you shake your head, “I honestly thought he broke up with her.”
Gerard nods and watches you run your hands over your arms, glancing up at him for a moment and catching his eye. He sees the tears glistening in your eyes, and you realize that you haven’t really cried much about this whole ordeal. Since the night at the park, you’d pretty much shut everything off and you thought crying wasn’t something that would really help the situation. You don’t know why it’s happening now, but you suddenly feel like the dam is going to break.
Gerard seems to see that, because he leans forward and wraps his arms around you. You practically fall into him as a sob leaves your lips, holding onto him to make sure your legs don’t give out on you. After that, you can’t seem to stop crying, but he stands there and holds you and lets you cry.
It feels like hours before the door opens and Mrs. Way startles the both of you. “Oh! I’m sorry, I thought I heard something out here. Come in when you’re ready.”
The door closes and you sniffle, pulling away from Gerard. He keeps his arms around your waist and you wipe a few stray tears off your cheeks.
“Sorry,” you murmur, and he shakes his head, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.
“It’s okay.”
This moment is what bothers you. Because in any other situation, he would have kissed you or vice versa. It’s the perfect moment, and you know that and he’s probably thinking it too. You had just been crying in his arms and now here you are, just standing there while the kiss is just looming over you like an inevitable event that neither of you can avoid.
“Do you want to come in?”
Gerard doesn’t think he’s ever been this nervous. You’re standing in front of him, eyes red and puffy from crying and his arms are still around your waist. He can’t screw this up again. The last time he kissed you, he was sure that you were into him. Maybe not into him as much as he was to you, but enough that he was sure you wouldn't reject him.
But now it matters so much more. Because now you’re close and you’re vulnerable...if he doesn't get it right this time, history will repeat itself and you’ll just build a wall to block him out again.
You nod and turn away from him, his arms slipping from your waist.
Fuck no, this is happening now.
Gerard musters up all of the courage he has and tugs at your wrist to get your attention. When you turn around, you’re just as surprised as he is when he kisses you.
It doesn’t last long, maybe one or two seconds (Gerard hopes that isn’t too long, he’s not really sure how long will make you want to run away) and when Gerard pulls away and studies your face, your eyes are wide and your mouth is slightly open. You try to search for words and, unlike last time, you don’t feel the urge to punch him in the face.
Gerard, however, takes your silences as another rejection.
“Sorry. Shit, I’m sorry. That was so stupid, I shouldn’t have-”
You kiss him again.
x