The Emptiness. Pitch black all around me, again. Yet, I could see myself so clearly, like a beacon surrounded by a black sea.

Am I back in that dark, empty place? Am I in a coma again? I can't remember a damn thing, what happened? Did I have another accident?

I spent what felt like an eternity wandering in the void. An ocean of loneliness I felt like drowning into. I wasn't in pain, yet I tried to call out for help. There was no echo, only silence screamed back at me.

I wasn't feeling anything but self-aware. Just the very faint and oppressive sound of my heartbeat and my own footsteps. It was like everything was pitch black but me, how odd.

And suddenly, a light appeared at the horizon. It was faint but still lightened the dark world I had somehow dived into, revealing no specific shape.

It wasn't the kind of light that had led me out of coma, which indicated me that I either was far from waking up, or I just wasn't in a coma at all.

This light wasn't bathing me or dragging me upwards like the previous one had. No, this one was much smaller and dimmer, and seemed to want to lead me somewhere.

"Hello?" I called.

I foolishly expected an answer. As the light moved, I followed it in hope of finding something. Answers? Someone? A way out? I don't know. Anything. Anything was better than the Emptiness.

I walked hesitantly and stopped when the light did. The light vanished, leaving me alone again.

"Why?"

I was startled by the faint voice that had just echoed, that wasn't mine.

I am not alone in here.

The voice sounded genderless - maybe it was a bit more on the masculine side though. It had betrayed no emotion at all. It seemed to me that it had come from everywhere at the same time. So far and yet so close.

I span around to find the person who had uttered that, but every direction I looked at was absolutely the same. And then I heard the voice again.

"Why did you do that?" the voice whispered in my ear.

My whole body shuddered, and I immediately turned around. I had felt no breath against my neck, no one; I couldn't see anything, and yet I had heard it so clearly in my ear. I had felt that... disturbing, unreal presence. My most primal instinct told me that there was someone dangerously close.

"Who are you?" I called out. My heart was beating so fast, and it was hard for me to stay calm.

"You betrayed me. Why did you do that to me?" the voice uttered, ending in a breathed whisper.

It came from every direction, far away. How was it possible? It was whispering in my ear two seconds ago ! The voice was still emotionless but, in the words, pierced a feeling of betrayal.

"I-I don't understand? What did I do?"

I started breathing heavily. This is all so oppressive. I looked ahead and saw - no, felt - a presence. I decided to trust my instinct and chase the silhouette. But it vanished.

"Why..." it breathed out. The voice seemed to spin around me in stereo. It was both taunting and scaring me. I made out a silhouette far from me. I started running towards it.

"Where are you?!" I asked as the silhouette seemed to be fading away. I stopped and looked around, confused.

"Why?" I heard in my ear again. I turned around but didn't have the time to do anything.

"WHY?!" the voice yelled furiously and suddenly gripped my throat with both hands.

I jolted awake, panting. My hands immediately reached out for my neck and grazed the fragile skin gently. It wasn't achy and everything seemed to be fine, physically speaking.

I was sweaty and the mattress under me felt too warm for my liking, so I scooted from that spot and discarded my sheets.

Then I realized my bedroom was terribly dark, so I immediately turned on the lamp on my nightstand. I can't wait for the sun to rise; darkness is definitely not my favorite thing.

I blinked confusedly, rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked at the time on my phone. 05:37 am. Damn it.

It took me a few seconds to finally acknowledge the dream I just had. A dream? No. I rarely live my dreams so intensely and I almost never remember them. But this time, I remember everything.

Something told me that it wasn't a nightmare, or a dream at all. It felt too real. No, it was something else. Much more than a simple dream.

•••
"Gerard?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at Ray and Bert. I apologized for daydreaming.

"You okay, man? You look tired," Bert said and I nodded. I explained to my friends I just had a nightmare that ruined my night. They nodded and left for their next period. I did too, and ignored our favorite punkhead in the back row as I went in. I settled in the front row, as usual.

"Hey fag !" Frank Iero called. I rolled my eyes and looked back at him. He was still dressed like a dead man and still had his silvery necklace. Frank sneered.

"What are you laughing at, punk?" I growled.

"First, because you think I'm going to get vexed if you call me punk. Second, you recognize yourself when I call you 'fag'. How cute." Frank pouted mockingly like he always did.

I scoffed. "I'm not homosexual, and you should really get a life instead of saying nonsense."

He arched an eyebrow amusedly. "Are you sure about that?"

"Your pathetic attempts to make me believe I'm gay to steal Lindsey from me are simply ridiculous. You're just making a fool of yourself." I shrugged and turned back to a normal sitting position.

"To- Wait. You're as straight as a fucking rainbow." I heard Frank state.

I flipped off the man behind me without even bothering to look at him. Damn, it feels good ! He must be boiling right now. No one can get to me, and certainly not him. He won't mess with my head.

Class went pretty normally, and I gathered all my things. At last, the day was over. Iero didn't wait for the bell to stop ringing before he stormed out of the classroom.

I have to stop thinking about Frank Iero, that's silly. I have more important things I need to focus on. My well-being and my future, for starters.

I left the classroom and headed for the exit, but I was suddenly grabbed and pulled in the nearby hallway. I looked around confusedly at the deserted area and my eyes immediately landed on the furious Iero in front of me.

"Did you really think you could beat me up, talk back to me and flip me off in front of dozens of people without consequences?!" he fumed and grasped my collar. He looked like he could gouge my eyes out with his dagger-like eyes.

I didn't even have time to answer him before he punched me hard in the eye. I felt all his rage in this blow. I clawed at his wrist to make him let go, but he didn't.

"I'll always be stronger than you, Way." he seethed, raising his fist to strike again.

"Hey !" somebody yelled, and Frank looked up. Fearing this angry voice belonged to someone older - even a teacher, maybe - he let go of me by reflex and I immediately scurried away from his reach.

Mikey walked to us. With his furious gaze framed by eyeliner and well-combed dark hair, he looked at least as angry and scary as Iero himself at the moment. Mikey was taller than him and maybe even taller than me.

I think it's safe to say that I've never seen my little brother so pissed and intimidating. It's like he had this... dark aura.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?! You don't bully my big brother." he seethed.

Frank didn't seem phased at all though. "What's your deal, weasel face? You want some too?" he asked Mikey, balling his fists tightly.

"I'm not as low as you, short stuff." Mikey retorted. "You okay?" he asked me softly, like he was the big brother. I nodded, glaring at Frank.

"Get a life, Iero." I snarled.

Frank seemed to be pondering whether he should start a fight or not. I guessed the two of us were intimidating enough to convince him he shouldn't. Frank walked past us, bumping into my shoulder as he left. I sighed and looked down.

"Let me look at you." Mikey demanded and looked at my face. His fingertips grazed the delicate skin under my eye. "Yeah, the bastard didn't miss you. That's gonna leave a bruise."

"I'm sorry..." I looked at my feet, tears of pain and shame welling in my eyes.

"What are you sorry for? Frank is the one who should be feeling sorry." Mikey folded his arms.

I sighed as we were leaving the school and heading home. "Thanks for helping me. I'm really starting to wonder who's the big brother here. You shouldn't watch over me, I should watch over the both of us."

"Hey, don't say that." Mikey said softly. "You just woke up from a freaking year of coma. You must adapt, catch up and all. I wouldn't know what it's like, but I'm sure it's not an easy thing to do. You need help, brother. It's okay."

I nodded, not fully convinced. My eye was stinging, and the soreness only reminded me how weak I was. Frank punches hard. I just want to forget about what happened. I want to forget about Frank.

•••
The next morning, Lindsey basically pounced on me to ask me what happened to my bruised eye. I told her it was nothing but obviously she didn't drop it. So, I told her.

"Alright, from now on I'll stay with you at school all the time." she stated.

"Not that I mind, but you don't have to. I'm not a damsel in distress." I smiled embarrassedly. How can she love someone like me?

Lindsey ruffled my blond hair. "Of course I do, baby." She pulled me in a gentle kiss. "How about you come at my house after school?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun." I shrugged. We spent the day together, looked at by everyone with envy. As Bert put it, we were a 'very cute couple'.

Once school was over, Lindsey and I went to her house. I'm glad I didn't have to bear the sight of my bully's face today.

After setting our schoolbags in the entry, I sat on the couch and Lindsey went to grab something in her bathroom. She came back with a little tube of cream and sat next to me. She put a dab of white cream on her index.

"Alright, look at me and close your eyes." she demanded; I blushed and did as told. I felt the cool cream being applied around my sore left eye. I would be lying if I said it wasn't soothing.

"Here you go, you'll be good as new in no time. Why would Frank bully you anyway? I mean, isn't that a little odd..?"

"I don't know. I think he has a crush on you and he's trying to steal you from me."

Lindsey scoffed. "Frank? Stealing me from you? That must be the biggest joke I've ever heard." she said, seemingly vexed, but I'm not sure to interpret that correctly.

"Yeah, I know, that's silly. But I think he wants to hit on you, and so he... he hits on my face." I said, trying to put a bit of humor in the truth.

Lindsey snorted at my attempt of making a pun. "Don't worry, I'm clearly not gonna fall for him. I only love you."

She planted a kiss on my cheek, making me blush slightly. "Yeah, Frank is a prick." I huffed.

Lindsey shook her head. "Yeah. But he wasn't always like that, you know. He used to be really sweet."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lindsey fiddled awkwardly with the sleeves of her t-shirt. "Well... I knew him years before. We used to be close friends."

I stirred on the couch to look properly at my girlfriend. "I didn't know that. How did you manage to bear him?"

"Believe it or not but in middle school, he was a truly kind boy. But around age 13, Frank changed a lot. He quickly turned into the son of a bitch we know. He became a party guy who doesn't care about rules or anything. I think he even does drugs. Like, heavy stuff."

"What made him change?"

"Dunno. Some people just turn bad, I guess... It's sad to say but it happens. Frank is not the only one I know who got messed up by life." she confessed.

I hummed. I'm not going to cry on Frank's fate. He's hurting me, so I don't know why I should. But still, it's kind of tragic. It doesn't mean I don't hate him less, though.

My thoughts were interrupted by Lindsey's soft lips on mine. "Don't worry." she whispered. "I'll never fall for him. I promise I only have eyes for you."

She cupped my face and we started kissing passionately. We both knew we needed more. My fingers grazed her milky white skin. I knew by heart all the purity of her curves by now.

Lindsey leaned backwards on the couch and dragged me with her. I straddled her hips. "Your parents?" I asked, breaking our kiss.

"Business trip. They'll be home in a couple months."

"Wow. Tell me if you ever need anything, you can always stay at my home if-"

I was interrupted by another kiss. I unbuttoned my shirt and Lindsey started palming my crotch. We both wanted this. This wouldn't actually be our first time together, yet I was still nervous.

After a heated making out session and Lindsey's hands doing what I craved, I should have been hard. But I wasn't. My little downstairs friend had decided it was time to stay down and take a nap. Lindsey noticed it and I blushed in embarrassment.

"Uh- ahem... I'm sorry." I babbled. "Maybe if I just..."

I slid my hand in my pants and started pumping myself for a little while, but that didn't work either. Oh God, that's so awkward. "Um, I'm- I'm sorry. I-I don't know why it's not working. I must not be in the mood..."

Lindsey looked embarrassed too. "It's okay. I'm sorry, it's my fault. I'm not-"

"No, it's me." I shook my head. "I just don't-"

"For God's sake Gerard, you're not gay. You're just not in the mood." she snapped annoyedly. That took me aback, to say the least.

"I- yeah, I know that." I laughed confusedly. "Why are you saying that? I just have a little slack. It happens, it doesn't mean I'm gay. I mean, after a year of coma, that probably was to be expected. Please believe me, I'm sorry."

She giggled. "Yeah, you must be all rusty down there. I'm so sorry I snapped; I was just scared you might let Frank's words get to you. Don't listen to his insults and provocation. I don't want him to get under your skin and manipulate you." she explained.

"How do you know he told me I was supposedly gay?"

"Oh, uh, somebody told me. You know, gossip. And calling people gay is a common insult for a bully." Lindsey shrugged. Fair enough. She's right though, Frank is starting to get to my head.

I sighed and lay back on the couch. Lindsey lay next to me and rested her head on the crook of my neck. "Don't worry. That will come back. Then you can make love to me like an animal." she joked.

"Careful what you wish for, little girl." I laughed. "But alright. I love you, Lin."

"Love you too." Lindsey mumbled before we fell asleep on the couch.

______