"Stop asking me, for fuck's sake, Frank." Pete rolled his eyes as he quickened his pace in order to get in front of me on the path, leaving me to hastily struggle to catch up; something he most likely took more entertainment from than actual achievement, considering the pathetic demeanour of the matter.

"Dude, it's just-" I began, grabbing Pete by the arm in order to prevent him from storming off. Man, I mean I know I was annoying, but I had questions that just needed answers, and Pete was the only one in the position to even consider giving them to me. It wasn't as if I was going to go up to Skully and question him regarding his intent and submission on that particular day - that was just plain stupid, and really nothing short of a death wish.

"'Highly suspicious', yeah that's what you've went with for, I don't know, the last twenty times you've asked me, and Frank, I honestly just don't know why Skully listened to me. I didn't even know who he was, okay?"

He met my gaze momentarily before puling his eyes away and diverting them on the path ahead, putting on this desperate to get home after school mind set on, which was usually believable, but considering the situation right now, was rendered nothing short of ridiculous. "Can you please just drop this?

"Fine." I grumbled, thankful that Pete's pace had slowed to allow us to walk side by side comfortably, because I really did not have the body or energy for that matter to keep up with Pete's speed walking at all.

"Do you know why Mikey wasn't at school today?" He asked, sparking up a new conversation, most likely for his own sake, and unfortunately for my persistent approach, this conversation just happened to be one that interested me more than just a little.

"Not a clue, man." I let out a sigh, running a hand back through my hair in a manner that was far too resembling of Gerard. "I hope he still isn't sulking from what you screamed in his face yesterday." I turned to Pete, flashing him a mildly pissed off glare. Mildly to ensure that he didn't end up in a far too sour mood to completely detach the possibility of answering my Skully related queries.

"You're getting some and he's not - I can understand - he's jealous." Pete winked at me and I simply resorted to rolling my eyes and wondering why the fuck I'd ever agreed to be friends with this absolute twat. Oh, yeah, Mikey.

"Pete, honestly, it's really more of the fact that Gerard's his brother.... Mikey's kind of 'weird' like that. They're both weird, I guess..." I trailed off, coming to the realisation of just how little I actually knew about either of the Way brothers.

"Weird is one way to put it, I guess." Pete shrugged the matter off, Mikey's absence clearly not affecting him clearly as much as it was affecting me.

"It's weird that when I think about it, I barely know them... I don't know why Mikey's so... I don't know, protective and sort of cold. I know there's something deep set between them, but god, Pete, there's just so much I don’t know."

Pete nodded, seeing this as if it was even taken for granted; something I really just did not see. "You can't expect to know everything about everyone."

"I know that, it's just they're Gerard and Mikey, they're important... and I have questions that never get believable answers. They'll say they'll tell me one day, but you know it kind of just feels like they never will."

"I get what you mean, but if it was really bad, would you want to know?" Pete turned and hit me with a question that left me in the unexpected rut of an incapability to answer.

"Huh?" I shot him a confused expression in return.

"If it was something so bad your opinion on them would change... like that you wouldn't love Gerard anymore, would you still want to know?" Pete pushed these words into my skull almost as if he wanted to witness the devastating effect that even his simple hypothesis could have on me.

Fuck.

"I don't think I could ever not love Gerard... he's Gerard, I mean, it's hard to explain, but he's important, like really fucking important... I love him. There really are no buts in that, Pete." I met his gaze to highlight my sincerity as I struggled to hide my nerves regarding the fact that, fuck, I really loved and needed Gerard, and that I didn't want to think him anything less than perfect in any light whatsoever.

Surely that was a naive approach, but I didn't care - that didn't matter, Gerard did.

"Hypothetically, then." Pete suggested, and then my heart began to fall apart, the pieces falling into a mess with every single thought, because I wanted to know more than anything, I just wanted to be worthy of their trust, and of course curiosity played a part here too, but to ever hate Gerard, that was just something I didn't want to ever happen, fuck.

"God... I don't know... that's hard... that's messing with my head." I admitted defeat in the form of cowardice, and this time I didn't mind, because cowardice was better than facing the truth of it all now.

"Perhaps it's just that, and perhaps that's why they're so reluctant to tell you. Perhaps Mikey knows and that's why he's so unwelcoming towards the idea of you two, because he knows about the thing and how it'd affect the two of you, and perhaps Gerard knows this and just can't lose you, and has sworn Mikey to secrecy, and although Mikey keeps his promise, he's still reluctant to accept you two.... I don't know, something like that." Pete rolled the words off the tip of his tongue as if they weren't completely enlightening me and changing my perspective on everything.

"Fuck." I let the words tumble from my lips. "Gerard's done something really bad, I know that, but I don't what- you're right aren't you?" He was fucking right- how could he know that? Jesus, I never expected Pete Wentz of all people to be at all emotionally adept.

"I don't know, I'm just guessing, Frank." He blushed a little, the corners of his lips twisting up into a small smile.

"Okay then, hypothetically. If you were right, what am I supposed to do?" I mimicked him and turned the tables here completely, seeking to make use of Pete's new found emotional and relationship advice.

"Depends if you'd want to know the secret, doesn't it, Frank? That's the dilemma here." Pete obviously pointed out.

"Yeah, I just haven't quite figured that bit out yet." I let out a deep sigh, not wanting to be in this situation at all, but the longer I thought about it, the harder it was to stop, and honestly I was far too caught up in this mess to even consider walking away from it now.

"I can't decide that for you though." Pete told me the truth - something I desperately didn't want to hear, especially not now, not today.

"I know." I met Pete's eyes. "I'm scared."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to lose him - I don't want to lose them, and I'm scared because I want to know but I don't want to be hurt, because come on, it's not realistic for them to be able to keep a secret like that forever is it?"

"Who knows?" Pete forced a small smile onto his lips. "Mikey seems pretty closed up too, maybe he's got a secret as well. Perhaps they're keeping their secrets for each other." Fuck, did this guy ever take a course in psychology or something?

"So if I asked Gerard about Mikey and if I got him to tell me and then casually brought it up in front of Mikey, would Mikey tell me about Gerard, do you think he tell me?" I shot him with something that was of course nothing more than another hypothesis.

"Most likely. But that is an absolutely terrible idea in my opinion."

"Why?"

"With that you'd probably loose the both of them without even having to re-evaluate their worth as people after the knowledge of their secrets. Then again, Mikey may not even have one." He shrugged this off as if it was nothing once again, leaving me to reconsider whether I should be trusting Pete Wentz with this all that much.

"I might ask Gerard briefly, but not ask him what it is." I suggested to myself. "What could Mikey have done though? He's kind of emotionally reserved... he was friends with Skully, yeah but he's not the kind of person you'd associate with bad behaviour, do you get what I mean?"

Pete nodded, perhaps just to keep me happy - who knows. "And yet Gerard is." He finished his sentence with an unmissable smirk.

"Shut up." I blushed a horrible vermillion colour.

"Whatever."

"I'm going to their house." I stated, gesturing to the upcoming crossing and shooting Pete a nervous look and wondering if I could convince him to come with me.

Pete shrugged, clearly not interested and therefore not in the category of people that could be convinced into going with me. "Don't do anything too stupid."

"Excuse me? You told Skully to basically fuck off."

He sent me a smirk in response. "It worked, didn't it?"

"That wasn't even luck, that was fucking miracle work... who are you? Jesus?" 

"Pete Wentz." He winked at me, rolling it off his tongue as if it was some sort of catch phrase.

"Whatever." I mimicked him. "I'm going to find out what the hell is up with Mikey. If he kicks me out without even allowing me to talk to him I'll be sure to let you know." I added as I turned away from Pete to make my way to the Way residence.

"Good luck." 

Fuck, I'd need it.

-

It surprised me to find that the front door was open, nudging into the house as my fist met with it in an attempt to knock. Curiosity getting the better of me, I pushed the door open fully, ignoring the loud creak that resonated through the house.

The house was filled with the sound of some punk band I didn't quite recognise on at a volume just loud enough not to entirely piss off the neighbours, but loud enough to fill the house with the sounds of angry guitars and throaty vocals.

I stepped forward, unsure if this was considered trespassing or not, considering that by the music at least one of the brothers was in, and as I settled in the comfort of that and began to make my way upstairs to their bedrooms in hope that one of them, preferably Gerard, was in, but then the music stopped entirely, filling the house with what would have been an ear splitting silence if the air wasn't soon interrupted with the sound of vicious yelling - two voices - Gerard and Mikey.

With that I rushed up the stairs two at time, to find myself face to face with Gerard's open bedroom door and the two of them inside, screaming at each other with Gerard's bed between them acting as some sort of makeshift wall to stop any physical violence, not that I'd expect there to be any, considering that they were Gerard and Mikey.

"Uhh... the door was open..." I stated, walking in, and glancing between the two of them; both of their eyes locked on me scrutinisingly, leaving me in really nothing short of an uncomfortable situation.

"So you didn't even bother locking the door after yourself did you, Gerard?" Mikey barely acknowledged anything other than the information I presented with him, and began to fire his words at Gerard - something I really did not know how to resolve or stop.

"I did, fuck off." Gerard mumbled, brushing his hair away from his eyes and meeting my gaze. "Hey Frankie." He sent me the biggest smile I'd seen all day, yet in this situation, I just couldn't return it, not even to him.

"Don't even start with him-" Mikey began, rolling his eyes and glaring at his brother like something beyond serious had kicked off.

"Uhh... what's going on here?" I questioned the both of them, not at all sure as to whether I really wanted an answer or not.

"Nothing." Gerard proclaimed with a giggle, in a manner almost reminiscent of a guilty child.

"A fucking lot." Mikey corrected, exhaling slowly in a manner that suggested there was nothing short of tension between the two brothers.

"What's happened?" I continued, despite the fact I knew I was dipping my toes into shark-infested water. Right now, I couldn't care less.

"Why don't you tell him, Gerard?" Mikey snapped and suddenly all I could think about was what Pete had told me earlier, things about secrets, and sometimes why you shouldn't know them, or even want to for that matter.

"What, Mikey?" He dragged out his brothers name, giggling a little - this all seeming to amuse him far too much, leaving me vaguely suspicious regarding his mental stability or soberness right now.

"Oh for fuck's sake. You're wasted off your own ass. And you come home today just as I'm leaving for school after being out for twenty four fucking hours and ask me for a fucking condom... what the fuck, Gerard grow up." Mikey yelled at his now frightened looking brother. "Grow the fuck up."

"I needed one." Gerard let out a giggle, twirling his straw like red hair around his fingers like a fucking teenage girl.

"What? For your boyfriend that wasn't around?" Mikey snapped, glancing between the two of us. I knew he disapproved of our relationship, so surely he was just using this to get at Gerard, but in the end it was getting to me probably a lot more, considering the fact that he probably wasn't even aware as to what was going on here.

And suddenly what Pete said about not wanting to know felt very relevant. Very relevant indeed, but of course, now I was too far in to back out at all.

"Gerard?" I spoke up. "Look at me." He did, and his face was red and fucked up - he looked like he'd been both punched and crying. "Are you cheating on me?" I choked the words out, not wanting to accept it at all.

Fuck this was messing with my head; I didn't want it to be this, especially when things were going so well, fuck, man, fuck.

"Frankieee." He dragged my name out, giggling a little. "I love you."

"How about you try saying it when you haven't take a wide combination of different things." I glared at him in return, tired of this fucking bullshit, tired of him, tired of everyone.

"I've only taken some-" He began, getting his hand out to count on his fingers.

"I don't want to know, Gerard. I don't fucking want to know."

"Frankie, please." His eyes widened, perhaps the fact that I was more than just a little pissed off with him perhaps finally getting into his head. Good. In my opinion, good. I hope it hurt him too.

"What, Gerard, what?" I let out a sigh, hoping he'd come out with some sort of explanation or even an apology, but I wasn't quite stupid enough to not know that in his state right now, that was more than unlikely.

"You're pretty." He grinned up at me with those fucking weird little teeth of his; now yellowed in places. God, he was wasted as fuck.

"You're a fucking douchebag, Gerard." I snapped in return, turning to Mikey and hoping for a more meaningful conversation. "Have you got anything out of him?"

"Unfortunately not." He let out a sigh, clearly more than a little fed up of having to deal with his wasted brother. "I'll have to wait till he sobers up and even then he'll be reluctant to tell me. I have to keep an eye on him or he's going to take whatever he can in this state."

"Was this what he was like before...?"

"Worse, Frank." He let out a sigh.

"I don't want to imagine that." I said, glancing back at Gerard.

"Yeah, you don't."

"Have we run out of vodka, Mikey?" Gerard's voice chirped up, leaving the two of us to glance back at him with horrified looks. Worse than this seemed impossible, especially when it all hit home so hard.

"You are not having anything else, Gerard." Mikey snapped, having to play not just big brother in this role, but mother too.

Donna was probably at work by now, and I just hated that she'd have to come home to this, to Gerard like this... and now was when I suddenly began to understand a perspective other than Gerard's. How Mikey and Donna left was really different to what I'd heard from Gerard.

"Why not?"

"At this rate you'll fucking die." Mikey snapped.

"I don't care." Gerard rolled the most heart-breaking comment so carelessly off his tongue - as if it really didn't mean anything at all.

It meant a lot.

"Gerard-" Mikey began.

"I do." I butted in, taking control of the conversation, "I care if you die, Gerard." I met his gaze reluctantly, leaving two pairs of sad eyes to join together.

"Frank..." My name fell from his lips; hopeless and hoping.

"Please don't, Gerard."

He fell into a heap on his bed and I ignored Mikey for a moment to sit beside him and stroke his hair away from his eyes, wincing a little at the puffy red ring that surrounded them. "You're better than this, Gee. I don't even know how this happened."

"I don't know either." He admitted, biting down on his lip.

"I hope you fucking remember in the morning." Mikey butted in, generally scowling at the two of us now - our displays of affection clearly not amusing him at all.

"What am I supposed to do now except drink? It all hurts, Mikey." Gerard groaned, clutching his stomach and sitting up a little as if he was about to be sick - something that I severely hoped he wouldn't do.

"Sleep." His brother replied simply. "Drift off and try not to think about how badly your headache will be when you wake up."

"Can I have a smoke?" Gerard tried again.

"No." Mikey snapped back at him, ignoring his brother's hopeless state entirely. "You’re not having anything after this. It's too far, Gerard. Too fucking far. Even you know that."

"I don't want to be alone." Gerard moaned as Mikey gestured for me to get up and presumably leave the both of them alone to engage in another argument.

"I'll stay, Gee. I'll stay with you if you get some sleep." I said out of nowhere. I hadn't even planned upon letting the words slip, but with Gerard, some things just came out of instinct, not choice.

Mikey raised his eyebrows at me. "Good luck there, Frank." He sighed before closing the door behind him as he left, presumably quite relived to be rid of Gerard. And this time I couldn't blame him.

"Gee, what happened?" I asked now that Mikey was gone, wondering if this would have any affect on his response. I doubted it, of course, but there was no real harm in trying.

"I met someone today and I remembered something and it hurt, so I drank, I took some pills, and it still hurts." He explained very briefly, but at least it was some form of explanation. "That's why I need to take more."

"They’re not going to work no matter how many you take, Gee." I promised.

"Then how I do I make it stop hurting?" He looked up at me with wide glassy eyes.

"Talk to me about it and maybe then I can help?"

"But you don't want to know." He copied my words from earlier, ensuring that my heart snapped entirely in two.

I nodded in agreement, "yeah, but what I don't want even more is for you to be hurting."

 Hey guys:) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did I'd really appreciate your comments and votes. I love you all<3