1994

The gang was still together even after 5 years; they had grown even closer than they had been when they were in eighth grade. Now they were young adults that were all almost eighteen. And almost all had presented by then, of course. Because despite their differences, they were all normal.

Tyler had shot up like a weed the past year, now almost reaching six-three in height. He was always the leader of the group, even when it had just been him, Gerard, and Frank as kids. He was always soft-spoken, and never took sides. His brunette hair always short and neat. Gerard was the opposite- his black hair was nearly at his shoulders and consistently greasy and knotted because he couldn't be bothered to care. He was considerably paler than his best friend, who had a pretty tan to his skin. But Gerard wasn't as tall, and he hated that.

Sam was the only girl in the group, but no one even noticed that at all - Sam included. She was petite and short, but more athletic than some of the boys in Bellville High. Her blond hair was always dyed platinum, her green eyes wise but kind. Her boots could crack a Hippo skull. She also had every single one of the six others wrapped around her pinky finger.

Frank was always the baby of the group despite consistently being angry at everything - usually Gerard. He was the shortest and the weakest physically, by far. But the most tenacious. Despite his asthma, he never let it stop him. The only thing that ever stopped him was germs, and Big Ty's voice in his head. His hazel eyes were everyone's favorite calming effect, his skin always so soft, and his black hair swooped into a fringe.

Awsten was the second newest to the group, followed closely by Wayne. Awsten was tall, but not as tall as Tyler, his skin pale, his blue eyes even paler. His chestnut-colored hair always had paint or chalk in it to add a fun color because his mom never allowed him to actually dye it.

Josh was always one of the most mature in the entire group- the mom and the lawyer in one go. He was average height, his brown eyes so kind, and his dark curls framing his kind face. He was so extremely loyal, and a stickler for the rules, especially when it came to his religion.

Wayne was the last one to join after he moved to New Jersey from Kentucky. He had never had the most pleasant of welcomes since he was one of the few people of color to move to their tiny town, but his friends always stood up for him. Wayne Jackson was so incredibly smart that he astounded everyone, so incredibly handsome, and could grow wheat better than anyone.

But, of course, Tyler was first to present. He had been with the group, they were all sitting in Hunts Mills park when it happened. McCracken and his two goonies had wandered over to them with menacing glints. Bert hadn't grown much in height despite being an Alpha; his height still average, mousy hair just as greasy and stringy but over the Summer it had grown to his collarbones.

Bert was also an Alpha, whereas Bob Bryar and Jepha Howard had become betas. Bob was, and always had been, the beefy muscle of the group, with little brain to make up for it. His blond hair cut short to his big head, and his piggy eyes always followed your every move. Tyler was always convinced that the only reason he was even part of the group was for intimidation and for the fact that he had a car- a really nice Pontiac, too. Wayne had informed everyone that the fancy emerald green car was a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge - whatever that meant. Jepha hadn't grown much taller than Frank, but he was sadistic and showed little remorse. His brown hair and icy eyes had everyone on edge, especially when his weapon of choice was always a lighter and hairspray.

They had kicked out Ray Toro when he had presented as an omega and had practically beat the shit out of him to prove a point. There was a rumor that they had curb-stomped his teeth and that he was hiding in his house for the Summer.

Tyler had been glaring at the three bullies ever since they came into view and were growing closer. He didn't want to have to deal with this. Not on his birthday.

"Hey, losers. Hey Tuh-Tuh-Tuh-Tyler." Bert taunted, mimicking dramatically, in his usual attempt to tease the stammering wolf. He tossed his closed switchblade from one hand to the other and tilted his head to the side, "Heard along the vine that it's someone's buh-buh-buh-birthday. We thought we'd give you a special... Gift."

"Fuh-Fuh-Fuck off, Muh-McCracken." Tyler glared heatedly, his dark brown eyes filled with contempt and loathing for the man who had been on his case since they shared homeroom in the second grade.

"Tyler, shush." Sam whispered to him under her breath and put her hand on his exposed knee, "It's not worth it."

"Oh, you gonna take orders from your bitch-whore, Joseph?" Jepha asked with a sneer and Sam snapped her head up, her short platinum hair whipping around as her green eyes zeroed in on Jepha Howard.

"Shut up, Jeph. You're all talk with your big mouth."

"What did you say, you little-?!" Jepha snarled loudly, the sound ripping from his chest as he lunged forward to grab Sam when Tyler intercepted. No one had even seen him get up but all of a sudden he was there, tackling Jepha over into the grass - snarls and growls were coming from Tyler's chest as he punched Jeph repeatedly. Before he could land his next punch, Bert grabbed Tyler by the back of the shirt and threw him off with immense strength.

Tyler went flying through the air and every one of the gang screamed out in shock to see their fearless leader airborne for a moment. Tyler landed in the grass a few feet away with a dull thud, and he lay unmoving. The air was thick with horror and anticipation; the three bullies walked over to where Tyler sat up and shook his head to clear his dizzying thoughts.

He snarled, watching Jepha wipe the blood from his face, and his eyes suddenly glowed a brilliant and obnoxious green. McCracken and his gang immediately stopped in their tracks and a small gasp left Sam's mouth.

Green was an Alpha color. Always. Brilliant bright green irises were always present when an Alpha got caught up and tangled with their inner wolf, so close to snapping from logical human brain into that most primal instinct.

"This isn't over, loser." McCracken raised his switchblade up at Tyler and let out a snarl, baring his teeth, "You won't always be around to protect your friends, Joseph. We'll find ya."

"Get lost, McCracken!" Sam called and threw a piece of tomato from her sandwich at him. It hit Bob on the arm and fell onto the grass, leaving a smear of mayonnaise on his bicep. The three bullies looked at her with different variations of anger, almost as though they were ready to pick another fight. Gerard held up his middle finger when he realized that adults had turned to look at the altercation, but knew better than to properly get involved when they saw Tyler's eyes. Still, they were witnesses, and Bert knew better since his father was the Sheriff of their small town.

Tyler got up and dusted himself off in an effort to try and clean the grass stains on his jeans, knowing his mom would have a cow if she saw. He looked at his friends nonchalantly, surprised to see them staring back, their eyes as wide as tractor tires, and not even touching their packed lunches.

"Tyler..." Sam sighed softly, her soft voice filled with surprise, relief, and trepidation. Her moment of awe was immediately cut short when Gerard let out a loud snort.

"Well, I say, Ty-boy! Looks like you've gone and presented, old chap!" Gerard adjusted his glasses and looked at his best friend, "Tally ho, off for a celebration of a man becoming a man! Alert the elders at once!"

"Shuddup, Gee," Josh whispered without moving his eyes from Tyler in what looked like awe and admiration.

After Tyler, Frank was next up to present, surprising everyone because it was usually another Alpha that presented after the first, like a trigger response, maybe even a beta if they were well-adjusted to the Alpha's presence. Omegas these days rarely presented because of an Alpha, and it was more of a 'when you're ready, you're ready' kind of thing for most.

It was almost a week later and not anywhere close to his birthday, either. Frank, Tyler, and Josh were all at the Joseph household, playing cards and gambling with loose candies when Frank began to feel it. He had already started to feel iffy during the week but couldn't place where it came from or what made him feel achy and ornery. It started with hot flashes and occasional cramping, similar to whenever he had too much dairy. It started out inconspicuously with binge eating and crying over nothing. That morning, he had been reading the newspaper while eating his eggs and started bawling when he realized he had missed a sale on vegetables at the local market - He didn't even like bell peppers.

And then it went away as suddenly as it had shown up.

But here he sat, fidgeting and constantly paranoid of his surroundings, despite feeling safe in the Alpha's warm presence. His whole body had just been thrown into fight-or-flight for the past hour now, and it was making him all the more anxious. They were sitting at the round table in the kitchen, at a tri-point formation as not to see each other's cards, but both Josh and Tyler kept glancing at him whenever he shifted in his seat. He clutched his six cards in his clammy hand and chewed on his bottom lip until it was now raw.

"You okay, Frankie?"

"Don't call me that," Frank hissed, his voice cracking before he took a sip of his glass of milk. His hand shook violently and he set the glass down again in fear of spilling. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Frank..." Josh whispered again and set his cards down neatly, "You're all pink in the face; you don't look so good, mensch."

"I'm... I'm fine. Yeah, no. I'm okay. I'm fine. I just feel a little weird." Frank shrugged it off and set his own cards down. He scratched behind his ear and swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. Frank shakily got out of his seat at the table and his knees threatened to buckle almost immediately. Tyler was instantly at his side like the protective Alpha he was to their close-knit group.

"Fuh-Frank..." He whispered, his voice soft and comforting, "Yuh-You wanna go and lie down?"

"I think it's a good idea," Josh commented as he stood beside Frank and held his hand as Tyler took Frank into his bedroom and laid him down on the bed so carefully. Josh gently took off Frank's shoes and set them down neatly at the foot of the bed once the tiny shivering wolf had laid down.

"Tyler?" Frank croaked out and the tall boy looked up with a smile in reply, "Don't leave. I-I don't wanna be alone."

"O-O-Of kuh-course not." Tyler sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Josh, who looked pale, "What?"

Josh wordlessly pointed to the ground where Tyler and Frank looked down to see a trail of wet droplets that led from the bed and out into the hall. They both turned to look at Frank, and Tyler went pink, "So that's wuh-what the suh-smell is." Tyler whispered, "I-I've never had anyone else p-p-p-pruh-present before so I duh-duh-didn't know."

"What?" Frank asked and looked at the floor again and at Tyler, "I'm presenting?"

"Yuh-You're oh-oh-omega, Frankie." Tyler smiled sweetly and brushed a stray black strand from his face.

"What?!" Frank sat up with a shriek of horror and then was hit with a sudden wave of vertigo that had him drop back down again.

"Didn't you feel this running out of you?" Josh asked as he returned with an old mop in his hand.

"I-" Frank huffed, "It's a hot day. I thought I just... had a bad case of swamp ass or something. Because I had a fever. Oh, God. I'm a pansy. An omega. I'm gonna be fucking killed. Tyler, what the fuck. What the fuck. I'm gonna be like this forever. What the fuck."

Tyler let out a chuckle as Frank sucked on his inhaler and looked at Josh who was silently and diligently mopping up the slick on the floor as though it were a water spill. He looked back at Frank, whose eyes were glowing a pale lilac - the true color of an omega. Josh affixed his yarmulke quietly to stop it from slipping back, and went back to mopping, his face already a bright shade of red.

"You should suh-sleep."

"Don't leave." Frank's eyes were wide with fear at the sudden thought of being alone.

"I won't luh-luh-leave you, Fuh-Frank." Tyler then looked at Josh who was standing there with the spaghetti mop and a hand over his nose.

"I'm not even presented properly and I can smell him. How are you not choking?" Josh asked as he pulled his sweater vest up over his mouth and nose to try and mask the sickly-sweet stench of first-time needy omega that had now begun permeating the air.

"I-It's not a buh-bad smell." Tyler smiled and looked down at Frank who was now sweating bullets despite being in a thin black t-shirt and small red shorts, "He suh-smells like huh-huh-honey. But it's luh-like suh-citrus, too."

"Ty..." Frank whined unhappily, "'S too hot."

"Y'know what?" Josh straightened up, "I'm gonna go and find Sam and Awsten." He cleared his throat, "Or-Or some birds in the park."

"I'll kuh-catch up luh-luh-later. I duh-duh-don't wanna luh-leave him aloh-lone, y'know?"

"Of course." Josh nodded, smiling with clear understanding. He gave Frank one last sympathetic glance before he and the mop disappeared.

"I feel bad. He has to leave because of me. Because I'm an omega. He's uncomfortable."

"Oh, no. Nuh-No one eh-ever makes Juh-Joshua D-Duh-Dun do anyth-thuh-thing he doesn't wuh-wanna do, Frankie." Tyler reassured when he heard the front door open and close, leaving him and Frank alone.

"It hurts, Big Ty." Frank's eyebrows knitted as a small roll of cramps bracketed his lower stomach.

"I'm suh-suh-sorry, Frank." Tyler pursed his pouted lips and scratched behind his ear, "I duh-duh-don't know how to huh-huh-help."

"Make it go away. Please." The last word cracked in Frank's throat as another wave of pain hit him and soaked completely through his shorts.

"Okay. Okay, Frank. I've got you." Tyler leaned in, his body protectively spanned out as he hovered over the omega.

Frank and Tyler had been there for each other; they had been each other's first, and they couldn't have been happier considering it was out of the way for good reason. Not that anyone else outside of the group needed to know. Especially back when Frank had his initial heat cycle that month, and just as he had been told in school, the first was always the worst. After that, they remained best friends and nothing more, there was no longing or pining after they had spent the week wrapped in each other's arms.

It was later, almost two months later, that Wayne and Josh both presented on the same day. Usually, it would have been an abnormal occurrence but their birthdays were only a day apart and because everyone was together to witness it, it made perfect sense. It was a celebration of high spirits when they both simply slid into their beta-presenting at midnight with their cerulean blue eyes sparkling - no one was surprised.

Tyler was sitting in the corner with Frank beside him, the omega being extra clingy because he was on the tail end of a heat cycle. Tyler was talking to Josh over Frank's head and feeding the omega small pieces of cake from a paper plate. Josh and Wayne were dancing with other friends and family in the middle of the Jackson family barn to music from an old stereo. Sam and Gerard were sitting on a pile of hay together, huddled over a comic book with Awsten at their feet. Awsten, who was trying to construct some sort of structure out of the hay from the bale over which his friends had draped themselves. It was perfect, really. Everyone seemed so content with the way things were going.

Awsten and Sam were dating after years of pining after each other. Sam and Tyler had initially crushed on each other for a few months when they first met and they may have kissed once, but they had never become anything more, despite the low-laying flame never quite extinguishing. It was only when Sam and Awsten turned sixteen that they realized their own feelings and had been inseparable ever since, content with their relationship taking a snail's pace. They were good for each other: Awsten was there for Sam when she needed comfort, and she was his motivation for literally everything. He was starting to grow taller and fill out, looking a lot like Wayne these days; it was amazing to see how happy he was and how happy he and Samantha made each other.

It was in each others' arms that Sam presented, her eyes glowing bright blue as she hit her birthday almost three months after Wayne and Josh. Awsten was elated to find out that she wasn't an Alpha or omega because he was almost certain he was going to be beta. It ran in his family. His suspicions were confirmed five weeks later. He presented late on his own birthday when he was out with his family. He rushed over that evening to the clubhouse to tell everyone, and they threw a celebration for the cause, smacking him on the back. He beamed with pride as he kissed his beta girlfriend, earning laughs and wolf-whistles from the group.

That was ages ago and all that was left was Gerard.

His birthday had been a week ago and all of the gang had gathered in the clubhouse to play checkers, drink soda and listen to cassette tapes as Gerard wanted. The entire day everyone had kept glancing at Gerard to see if anything happened.

It was time for everyone to go home once the sun began to set and Gee had still not presented. He shrugged it off despite the knot in his stomach and thought that maybe it was just taking its time because he was nervous. He pushed his bike down the road towards his house, spying the off-white abode through his thick glasses.

"It's okay, Gee. You're just nervous. Had people breathin' down yer neck all the livelong day, boy." He spoke to himself under his breath and nodded in reply as he trudged closer to the house.

And here he sat, a week thereafter, and still nothing. He didn't feel any violent mood swings like an Alpha would, he didn't feel any hot flushes like an omega, nor did he feel any goosebumps and toothache like a beta. Absolutely no symptoms of which he could tell, and he couldn't even smell his own scent anymore. He, like everyone, had his own smell and when a wolf presents, the smell instantly grew stronger and was mingled in with a heady sensual musk that meant that they were ready to breed or mate.

Gerard knew all of his friends' scents by heart. Alphas like Ty had musky and earthy smells; Tyler had this warm smell to him that was so comforting. He smelled like a campfire, not just a wildfire that had its sickly smoke. But the smell - it made you think back to when you went camping and sat with people you loved and talked shit around the hearth in the middle.

Betas like most of the group had more neutral smells. Josh smelled like lavender, a clean and fresh smell that suited him to a tee. It was something about the smell that emanated from his scent glands that you just wanted to sit and inhale for hours, mental images of purple fields blowing in the breeze. Samantha had a fresh rain smell to her that could rival a countryside morning. It could almost make you feel like you had walked out of a forest cabin after a heavy storm - if you liked that sort of thing. Awsten smelled so intrinsically like eucalyptus that it was potent especially when Sam was around. It wasn't an unpleasant smell at all, but it was a strong scent that not everyone could be around if they weren't used to it. It made you think of a warm bath after a long day that had salts or oil in it to ease your pain. Which is what Awsten did. Wayne smelled like cinnamon, an uncommon smell for a beta but it suited him. The scent was so very 'Wayne' for being spicy, sweet and earthy. It had a homely smell that made Gerard instantly think of when he was a child and he would come home to his mother baking cookies. Also, a comfortable smell that he didn't hate.

And the only omega of the group had the sweetest smell because he was the sweetest boy. Frank smelled like pure honey. The sickly sweet and sticky smell was tinted with a citrus tang of which Gerard couldn't get enough. No one could. Even the betas loved to take a whiff of Frank when he passed by. It had Gerard run mental images of thick honey running over his fingertips that he longed to suck on. But of course, even sweet Frank had a bite to him as his scent did - and he bit hard when pushed too far.

Gerard always had a clean smell that could go either of the three ways. His scent was so faint that it actually took a fair bit of rubbing on his scent glands for it to make itself known. He smelled like mint. Like pure mint leaf and nothing else. No other give away that would help him figure out just where he fell in the world.

He got to his house after his birthday party and pushed his bike into the open garage. He settled it against the wall before he greeted his father politely and walked into the house to see his mother cooking his favorite dinner.

"Aw, ma, you didn't have to." Gerard gushed and waved a hand at her as he watched Donna lay down lasagna noodles and sauce.

"It's your birthday, Gee. Of course, I want to." She smiled at her son as he went to grab a glass of milk from the nearby refrigerator.

"Thanks, mom." Gerard chuckled and then sat down with his lips pursed, "Ma?"

"Yes, Gee?"

"When, um..." He twirled a dark strand of hair around his finger, "When did you and dad... Present?"

Donna looked up from the clear pyrex dish and turned to look at her son. She took a deep sniff of the air and realized that she couldn't smell her son's scent any stronger than she usually could. Her eyes dropped to him again and they were laden with a soft symphony of sympathy and trickled disappointment.

"Oh, Gee. Don't worry about it. It's still your birthday for a few hours." She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, "Just try not to stress."

"I'm not worried. I'm right as rain, dear mother. As fine as porcelain china. As 'a' as an okay. I'm-"

"Gerard..." His mom smiled at him and he closed his mouth with a small scowl. He grumbled and lay his arms on the table with a pout.

That was a week ago and Gerard still hadn't presented. He was starting to grow anxious but he tried not to let it show. Even his friends were on edge. He was getting side glances from every single one of them. Gerard always shrugged them off and told them that it was just because he had already had sex and his body wasn't as impatient as the rest of the virgins.

Awsten always tried to comment to Gerard about the 'good things to those who wait' or something like that and Gerard just nodded and commented on how much he needed a cigarette for about five minutes until someone gave him one.

~

"Still nothing?" Donna Way asked her son as he came downstairs for breakfast on Friday morning. Gerard gave himself a small sniff and then shrugged at her. It had been exactly nine days since he was supposed to present and yet nothing had happened at all, "Oh, my Gee boy."

Arthur let out a small huff and continued to read his newspaper, ignoring his disappointment of a son. Gerard pushed the remark aside and sat down at the table when a small stack of pancakes was put in front of him. His stomach growled incessantly and he immediately began to pile into the food with an appetite that was more than his usual ravenous chow-down.

"Maybe I'm just broken. Broken beyond repair. A birth defect. A freak of nature." Gerard shrugged and looked at his mom through his coke-bottle glasses. He cut another piece of fluffy pancake and shoveled it into his mouth.

Donna shook her head, "Everyone presents at some point, Gee. I just don't know why you're taking so long. The only time there are blocks or delays is when there's a health issue."

"If that's the case then I should have presented before Frank even!" Gerard waved a hand in outrage and looked at his food with a scowl, "Dumb Frank with his dumb face presenting before me. Why I oughta have him quartered, mother dear!"

"You don't mean that." Donna chided and Gerard let out a loud and drawn-out sigh, looking up at the ceiling.

"What else could it be, then?"

"Donna, what about his meds?" Arthur suddenly spoke up after a long silence. The other two Ways at the table turned to look at him with a frown, "His ADHD meds, do you think they could be stunting his change?"

Donna was instantly out of her chair and ran for the phone on the wall. She pressed the pharmacy's number on the speed dial and put the phone to her ear as she paced impatiently, "Hi, yes. I'd like to speak to Mr. Greene. Oh, hi, Gretchen, can I please talk to your father? Thank you."

Gerard continued to eat in silence beside his father as he listened to his mother tapping her foot.

"Good morning Mr. Greene. How are you?" She asked politely and Gerard's head was filled with the mental image of the pharmacist that he severely disliked. Both he and Frank disliked the old man that just happened to be the father of the girl who picked on them and Sam.

"Ugh. Creep." Gerard whispered at the thought and decided to rather focus on the conversation behind him.

"That's great to hear, Mr. Greene. I just have a question. It was Gerard's birthday last week and he was supposed to present and he still hasn't. Arthur said that it could possibly be because of the medication Gee is on for his ADHD. Is it a possibility?"

Gerard waited to hear what Donna would say, catching only 'Uh-huh' and 'okay' from her over and over as the creeper on the phone spoke. She sighed, "Okay. Thanks for your time, Mr. Greene. Thank you. Thanks. Bye." She smiled and hung up, both Way men turning to look at her. She pursed her lips and walked up to her son, gripping his face in both her hands gently, "Taking you off those meds immediately."

"What did Greene say?"

"He said it's a common side effect, apparently. Gerard was only supposed to be on them until last year and was meant to change his prescription early enough so this wouldn't happen." She sighed, "Sorry, pumpkin."

"So, now what?" Gerard's voice broke at the thought of being unpresented forever.

"We take you off the meds and eventually you'll come right." Donna pursed her lips, "All we can do is wait and see when it happens."

"Oh, great." Gerard scowled and pushed his empty plate aside, "One more thing to get picked on for."

"Stop complaining, Gee." Arthur sipped his coffee before he got up, "It builds character."

"Yeah, I got about twenty of those up here. All of 'em about as unique as the last, old boy." Gerard tapped his head, earning a small smile from his mother and a disapproving glance from his father.

An hour later and he was with his friends in their clubhouse, away from his worried parents. But he did have some explaining to do whether he wanted to or not. So he sucked it up, awaiting the jeers and pokes from his friends when he told them that he was still an unpresented freak at eighteen.

"So, what? You're stuck like this?" Frank asked as he sat across from Gerard in the clubhouse, propping up his feet on Gerard's shoulders as he lay his head against the wall. Gerard absentmindedly stroked a hand up and down the side of Frank's calf, silent and brooding over the idea of staying this way for God knows how long.

"Cheer up, Gee. It won't be long." Sam sat down beside Gerard and handed him the last half of her Marlboro. He took it between his lips and took a drag, exhaling weakly as the cigarette stayed between his pouty lips.

"Easy for you to say, Sammy. You already know what you are. You all do. Then I sit here like a fucking freak with no smell or no instincts and no special dick powers." Gerard snorted.

"Yeah, and we know what you are, too," Josh commented from his perch in one of the armchairs without looking up from his bird book.

"Oh, yeah, Joshy-boy, and what exactly am I?"

"You're Gerard." Josh then glanced up from under his lashes, dark curls hanging in front of his eyes.

"Dankeshön, Joshua." Gerard rolled his eyes, "Super helpful. Reminds me of all the other times you tried to give me sound advice. Look where the fuck that's gotten me."

"No, I thuh-think he's ruh-ruh-right." Tyler appeared beside Gerard and carefully took one of Frank's feet from Gerard's shoulder to lay his hand on it, "You're Juh-Gerard and no one else kuh-could ever be you. You wuh-wuh-won't stop buh-being Gerard juh-just because you pruh-present."

"Yeah." Awsten smiled and looked up from one of his library books, "No one is better than a Gerard Way."

Gerard scoffed, his hands nervously fidgeting because he could feel he hadn't taken his ADHD medication this morning. He needed to fidget with something, a part of him always had to be moving, and right now all he could find to play with was Frank's foot in his lap. He puffed on the cigarette between his lips and played with the hem of Frank's sock, smiling as Frank wiggled his sock-clad toes. Gerard hadn't even been off of his meds for a couple of hours and he was already feeling like he couldn't sit still and his head was almost dizzy and aching.

"Thanks, guys." Gerard whispered as he toyed with Frank's foot slowly and then looked up at his friends, "I guess it's not so bad to be just me. Ees a meeracle."

"That's not what I said." Josh scoffed and slid further into the chair, "I said you're 'Gerard', I didn't say it was a good thing for us. They added that in."

"Josh!" Sam turned and hissed at him but Josh just hid his smirk behind his book and tucked his knees up to his chest.

"Buncha assholes, the lotta ya." Gerard piped up as he stubbed his cigarette out on a nearby plate.