It wasn't the most fun living under the Way's, I found. Gerard was...a social person, to put it in the nicest terms. He had many...friends here in New York.

I stared at my ceiling at two in the morning. Gerard's bedroom was apparently above mine and I could hear his bed hitting the wall and his moaning. I rolled over and grabbed my phone, playing music to drown him out.

Gee was nice, I've gotten closer with him and his brother over the past two weeks. Gerard was always so nice and positive but I had to be honest, he was a bit of an airhead slut. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I used to get around a lot when I actually had the motivation to get out of bed.

I didn't sleep that much that night, I never usually do. In the morning I just got up and sat in front of my tv. Around noon there was a knock on my door and Gee smiled sheepishly.

"So, um, our apartment has a bit of a problem and we were wondering if we could hang out here for a bit?" Gerard asked.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Well, Blondie here meant to put a corn dog in the microwave for thirty seconds but put it in for thirty minutes then forgot about it and let it run for the whole thirty minutes," Mikey explained. "It's like the bottom of an ashtray in there, we're trying to air out the place."

"How do you put it in for thirty minutes and not thirty seconds?" I asked.

"Cause he's dumb," Mikey said.

"Am not, you're the dumb one," Gerard said.

"Whatever, Blondie," his brother muttered. "Anyways, I've gotta run to the store but is it cool if Gerard hangs out here?"

"I don't need a babysitter or things like that, just wanna hang, you know?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course you can hang out," I said.

He stepped in and Mikey walked down the stairs. I shut the door and sighed.

"You got food here?" He asked.

Gerard went over, opening up the fridge. He seems to have a habit of making himself at home everywhere.

"You barely have any food," he complained.

"Don't eat a lot," I mumbled.

"You should eat more, you're skinny," he said.

He shut the fridge and grabbed an apple. He looked around and pulled a picture frame off the shelf. It was of me and my best friend Brendon at a bar together a few years ago. He smiled and sat next to me on the couch.

"Look at how happy you look," he said.

I scrunched my nose up. I looked at my short hair and beard, red face and chubby body.

"I was such a fat fuck," I mumbled.

"You're scrawny now," Gerard said. "You look happy and healthy."

I could remember that night, we were celebrating his promotion. It was the night I met...him.

"I should get rid of this," I mumbled.

"What? No, this is a great photo," he said.

"There are too many bad memories connected to this one," I said.

"Gotta think of the good stuff, not just the bad," Gee said.

"Sometimes the bad outweighs the good," I stated.

"No because goodness has more mass to it, it always outweighs bad," he said. "Science says so. I'm like the new Bill Nye."

I set the photo aside and looked up at him.

"You're so hopeful," I said.

I didn't want someone as nice as him to get his dreams crushed in New York.

"Gotta be," He said with a shrug. "The world is full of so many amazing things, I have to be able to see them all."

I shook my head and he sighed.

"Let me make you something to eat," Gerard offered.

"Uh, no," I denied. "I don't want you burning down my apartment."

"Oh my god, it was an accident," he said. "Can't you guys just drop it? So what if I put thirty minutes instead of thirty seconds?"

"How do you do that?" I asked.

He shrugged and pulled out his phone.

"Let me order something," he said. "We can Uber Eats some Chinese food. Where do you wanna get food from?"

"That's expensive, it's cool, I can just run to the dollar store around the corner for some ramen packs," I said.

"It's on me as a thank you for letting me stay here," he said.

"No, really, it's—"

"You can't change my mind," he interrupted. "I'm gonna order some food and you're gonna like it."

I watched him mess with his fancy phone. Looked like the newest smartphone that just came out a month ago. I glanced at my old phone, four generations behind Gerard's.

"What do you do for a living?" I asked.

"I wanna be an artist," he said.

"What does Mikey do?" I asked.

"Oh, he works in a bar," he said.

I nodded, biting my lip. They must come from money, then. The apartments above mine were definitely an upgrade compared to my own.

"Okay, the food will be here soon," Gerard said, flashing me his normal cheery smile.

Gerard stood up and continued looking around. He looked at the couple of guitars and amps propped up on the corner. There was a thin layer of dust on them and I could tell Gerard noticed it when he went out to grab a guitar before recoiling quickly.

"You in a band?" He asked, thankfully not mentioning the dust.

"No," I denied. "Those are old, I need to sell them."

"They're gorgeous," he said. "Mikey plays bass. These poor babies...they need to be played. I can practically hear them crying. 'Play me, play me.'"

"You're free to give it a try," I said as I reached for my cigarettes, offering one to him.

"Those are bad for you," he stated.

I shrugged, putting one between my lips. "Hopefully I'll die faster."

"Hey, no, don't say that," Gerard said. "That's really not good, Frank."

I shrugged, lighting my cigarette.

"Hey! Second hand smoke kills!" Gerard exclaimed, covering his mouth with his shirt.

"It's not that bad," I said.

"It is," he said with a muffled voice. "It kills. Second hand is just as bad."

"Oh come on, don't be so dramatic," I said.

"I'm not, you've seen those commercials," he said.

I took a long drag before putting it out in the ashtray.

"Better?" I asked. "Way to waste a cigarette."

Gerard nodded but still opened a window. He took a deep breath and grinned.

"You can just feel the energy," he said. "I love it here in the city."

"Gerard, it really isn't all that great," I said.

I glanced over his outfit curiously. He wore a pastel pink cropped sweater with a pair high waisted light blue jeans and baby blue converse.

"The city is beautiful and romantic," he said in awe as he glanced out the window.

I watched the way a soft smile spread over his face. He held his arm out, almost seeming to be caught in a trance. When Gerard finally turned back to face me, he seemed like he was swept away in a dream.

He sat down next to me, grinning as he laid his head on my shoulder. He didn't seem to want to stop smiling. It was crazy. Someone can only smile so much but this boy had a smile on his face for days. If he weren't so cute then I would say it was obnoxious.

"Oh, that's the Uber," he said, glancing at his phone when it pinged. "I will be right back in just a minute."

Gerard left and I took the opportunity to try and clean up a bit. I wasn't expecting a guest and felt a little embarrassed about the empty beer bottles and dish build up in the sink. He came back just as I was finishing up.

"It is here and it smells delicious," he said.

"Let me at least pay for half," I said.

"No, no, you pay for nothing," Gerard denied. "I will not allow it. You are rejected or will hereby be banished from my kingdom."

I stared at him in confusion while I dried off my hands.

"You're weird," I said.

"You gotta be weird, it's New York," he said. "I'm a New Yorker now."

"Yeah, no," I snorted. "No offense but you're not a New Yorker just yet. You've gotta be here longer than two weeks and you're not officially a New Yorker until you've had your spirit broken at least twice."

"You don't need to have your spirit broken just to be a member of New York," he said. "This is the city of dreams, this place is amazing and beautiful and so much could happen. It's going to be amazing here, I can just feel it."

"Bet you have been feeling it," I mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Well, it's just...could you maybe try to keep it down a bit when you have friends over?" I asked.

"I haven't had friends over, none of them have had a chance to visit me from New Jersey yet," he said.

"Well, I meant your friends that you have over at night," I said and a look of realization washed over his face. "Yeah, those friends."

Gerard's face turned bright red. "Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't know my bedroom was above yours. Yeah, I'll definitely try to keep it down from now on."

"Doesn't it bother Mikey?" I asked. "You are his brother after all and I don't have siblings but I imagine that's pretty gross."

"Mikey usually works the night shifts at the bar," he said. "I usually hang out there with him at night and find a cute guy and, well, you know the rest of the story."

"Isn't it a little dangerous bringing so many strange guys back to your apartment?" I asked. "This is New York, after all."

I opened up the white containers of food, getting two plates for us.

"I'm careful," he said. "Careful about who I pick, careful to make sure they don't pocket anything when they're here and I make sure they leave right after we're finished. I also keep pepper spray on me and in my nightstand and things like that."

"Just be careful, Gerard, this is New York and a little naive thing like you could get really broken in a place like this," I said.

"I'm not naive," he said, standing up. "You know what, I'm out of here. I am going back to my ashtray apartment. And I'm taking the fortune cookies."

Gerard took the two cookies and the egg rolls before heading out the door, leaving me alone with my noodles and depression.