"At one point I honestly thought we'd be best friends forever. What a joke."

_

Brendon hated mornings more than words could ever describe. A rather strange fact to his eyes because he didn't love evenings either. Evenings were the part of his days when his mind and thoughts would be more clear and his on suffering would tear him apart. Nights would find him sleepless and alone in a relatively small bedroom consisting of a wooden desk, one window-a portal to the outside world-and one closet bigger than himself full of secrets. Obviously, nights weren't the best parts of his day.

Mornings weren't good either. More quiet, for sure, but not any better. The moment his eyes would open and he would become aware of his surroundings he would sink in his mattress. No matter the weather or how much the sun exactly shined, Brendon found himself not wanting to leave his bed. He was never able, even if he slept for twelve straight hours, to get enough rest for the next day. It was like having to perform daily, his life was a theater and the sunlight meant that the curtains were opening. Whereas late evenings were finally when he would take a bow and rest for tomorrow's show.

Speaking of shows, they weren't all that bad. Each day he repeated a mantra but there would also be one thing that would change and his monotonous and grey life would get a ray of color. Most days were like that, except one,he hated habits and feeling stuck. This was perhaps the one reason he hated his birthday. But Brendon also loved his birthday. Why? He was one year closer to dying.

"Brendon! Wake up, you sleeping beauty!"His birthday also meant that he had to put on an even better and longer show, the one where he's happy and excited for getting older and is very much thrilled about having a bunch of people he doesn't like over wishing him fake wishes. "We should throw water at him!"

"I'm up! I'm up!"he shouted quickly and jumped out of his bed. Ashley and Gerard both fell to the ground and began laughing their butts off. Meanwhile Sarah put a hand on her mouth to cover her giggle. Brendon liked his friends, he truly did, but they had no boundaries and he happened to not entirely love having them in his house without further notice.

"Happy birthday, man!"Gerard exclaimed as he got up and hugged him. Gerard Way was the first person Brendon considered a friend, he was the exact opposite of who Brendon truly was, a loud one he was. Brendon too appeared wild but in  reality and behind all the sarcasm, he preferred peace and quiet. Gerard did a lot of things that made Brendon uncomfortable like dying his hair this ridiculously red color and feeling the need to constantly socialize with others."You're slowly getting older. I swear I saw a white stripe on your hair."

"White is such a cool color though, it's weird but also fucking cool."Ashley mumbled to herself before throwing her hands on the air and pulling Brendon closer. Brendon pulled away her hair and hugged her back. Ashley, or Halsey as she liked to be called to emphasize her individuality, had already been friends with Gerard long before Brendon came to the picture. Mainly because she once had a night stand with Gerard's brother and woke up alone in their living room. They talked for a while and -much to Mikey's horror- they became friends."Happy birthday, Bread-bin Urine."

"At no point did I sign up for this treatment. Especially on my birthday."

"We got you a present though."Ashley argued and pointed at Sarah. Brendon couldn't help chuckling, he smiled and kissed his girlfriend's cheek. Yes, he actually had a girlfriend, a wonderful one who also happened to be his closest friend. This was mainly for keeping up with his persona but he also enjoyed Sarah's company. Sarah was a safe escape that yes, it did not provide him shelter just yet but he was positive it would in the future.

"We got you a real present too!"Sarah smiled warmly like she didn't have a care in the world. She handed him a green bag that she had hidden behind her back and Brendon smiled in return. He already knew it would he a shirt, it was funny in a way, these people were supposed to be his best friends and they always thought that the ideal present for Brendon was a shirt. He rarely went shopping anymore, he just awaited any holiday and his friends would provide him with a never ending amount of t-shirts.

"It's great."he replied as he unfolded the grey t-shirt"I love it."He really didn't but if his friends were happy with their accomplishment, he shouldn't ruin it. One sad realistic person was enough for a group, they surely did not need others. At that moment, as if the universe was pulling his leg,his family burst inside his room. His mum carried a cake inside while his dad and Mason-since Matt and Kara were working-sang the Birthday song. Another pointless tradition, Brendon never understood.

"Go on, Bren, make a wish."

If Brendon could have only one wish coming true, he would wish for him to disappear. Or maybe he would wish for a time machine to help him return in much more simpler days when he wasn't an ungrateful emotional wreck. But Time Travel had yet to be discovered so he was forced to remain in this timeline.

"What did you wish for?"Sarah asks with curiosity. Brendon feels the urge to lie and tell her that he wished for nothing, that everything he could ever desire he had but he just couldn't bring himself to tell such a big lie. Instead he just smiled and came up with a simple and easy to remember lie.

"Kyla. I wish I could see Kyla, you know? She's so busy and she rarely visits us anymore."the moment Brendon mentioned his sister, he saw his friends' smiles dropping. Sure, soon enough, they quickly reappeared and Sarah wiped a tiny tear escaping her eye. Brendon, mildly confused, turned to his parents who looked at him with happiness.

"Brendon, honey, do you really mean that?"Brendon just nodded unaware of why was this such a big deal."That's good because we did some research, there's an academy in London and it has one of the best track running teams we have seen--"

"So we enrolled you there for your last year. You'll be living with your sister for that time and if you don't find a university there, you can always return home."

Suddenly, realization struck him, they knew. That was why they looked at him like that and were so disappointed with his birthday wish. A wave of guilt filled him up but on the other hand, he was excited to go to London. Oh it had been so long since his last visit...

His mum smiled at his reaction and handed him a cardboard. Inside he found a bunch of stuff from his childhood, mostly toys and one ticket to London. Brendon laughed and sat back to his bed, the box still on his lap. He put his arm inside and pulled out a teddy bear."From when I was seven."

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected you having a stuffed animal."

"Give me a break, it was a present."

"Why does it have one green eye?"Gerard continued.

"It's an alien teddy."Brendon explained with a laugh remembering the inside joke. He continued going through the stuff in the box for the rest of the day and both Gerard and Ashley had agreed to help him packed. While Sarah had also offered to help eventually even though she was clearly hurt by Brendon's excitement.

Little did Brendon remember the photo album he had made when he was barely eleven. An album that held dear memories and feelings that would soon be resurface.

A/n I was supposed to do an introduction for the rest characters in this chapter but...it's late and I haven't gotten any sleep. At least I kept my promise and updated so kudos to me! Don't worry though, things will get interesting in some chapters and trouble will come ;-)