Peter approached Mikey after school at his locker. For a second Mikey was scared he was about to get his butt kicked or something, but then Peter smiled a nice, genuine smile and Mikey felt better.

"Hey man, I'm sorry bout what Kevin did earlier," Peter apologized, and Mikey stared up at him with large eyes for a second.

"You're not the one who needs to apologize," Mikey finally said. "And it's okay, I'm used to it,"

"You looked pretty shook up about it," Peter said, and Mikey felt himself blush.

"Hard times, these days," Mikey shrugged.

"So I was wondering if you wanna come to a party this weekend," Peter said, and Mikey was so confused that his coffee slipped from his hand and landed on the hallway floor with a splat, spilling everywhere.

"Ugh, gross! Uhhh, what?" Mikey looked up from the gross coffee to Peter, then down and back again.

Peter laughed, "Do you wanna come to a party this weekend?" Peter repeated. "It's at my place, we're going to have a big ass bonfire. You dig?"

"Uhh, sure, yeah," Mikey stuttered out. But then he thought about being stuck at Peter's house, surrounded by all those jocks and preps that hated him. There was no way this was legit, it had to be a setup. "But..."

"And I know you don't really get along with my group," Peter said, as if reading Mikey's mind. "But I want this to be big, so you can bring your friends with if you want. Gerard and Frank and those guys,"

"Legit!?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, legit. Come on, I promise it's not a set up, and if they try to start shit I'll take care of it, okay?" Peter set a hand on Mikey's shoulder, and Mikey looked at the hand then traced it up Peter's arm to his face. Peter looked honest, so Mikey sighed and grinned.

"Alright, I'm in," Mikey said, and Peter smiled. Mikey really hoped he hadn't made a dangerous decision.

!

Bob pulled his beanie down over his ears and shoved his hands into his pockets, fighting against the harsh, cold autum wind. It was too cold for late September. Waaay too cold. He marched his way away from his high school towards the Elementary school his sister went to. He could no longer rely on his mom to remember to pick her up, since she was distracted with her boyfriend. Bob was becoming even more responsible than he'd ever had to be before. And he detested his father for always being gone. If Dad wasn't gone, then Mom wouldn't be lonely. She wouldn't be having an affair. I wouldn't have to take care of Danni. Then Bob realized how selfish he sounded, and he just got mad at himself.

Before he knew it he was at the steps of Danni's school. He walked up to the pick-up line and approached the lady that looked like the principal.

"Hey, I'm here for Danielle Bryar," Bob said to the older woman in front of him. He dug his student ID out of his pocket. "I'm Bob, her older brother. Our mom is sick," Bob knew they didn't just let kids go off without an excuse, and they were used to his mom picking her up. The principal smiled and called Danni's name. Dannielle trotted over to her brother and gave him a hug.

"Where's Mama," she asked.

"She forgot you here yesterday, so I figured I'd just come get you. We can go get sodas or something," Bob smiled when his sister's face lit up.

!

Gerard seemed rather uneasy as the walked through the halls of the rehabilitation center, and Ray asked him about it.

"This place reminds me of the nursing home Grandma was in," Gerard whispered. "It's alright, I'll be okay," Gerard gave a forced smile and Ray led him through the halls. He was nervous too, since it was the first time he'd be visiting his brother in the center. He didn't know what shape Ed would be in, and the last time they'd seen each other they'd fought.

It turned out pretty good though. Ed was doing a lot better, and he'd been sober for two weeks now. He wasn't getting in trouble, he was doing pretty good. Ray introduced Ed to Gerard, since Ed hadn't seen any of Ray's friends since they were all in sixth grade.

They talked for a while, not really about Ed or Gerard's problems, but just about random stuff. Normal stuff. By the time they were leaving, both Ed and Ray were smiling. They hugged goodbye, and Ray was happy he'd made up with his brother.

"It can always get better," Ray said, as he and Gerard climbed into his car.

"Huh?" Gerard looked up, lost in his thoughts.

"That just goes to prove it, no matter how bad it seems you can always make things better," Ray smiled, and Gerard smiled back. Maybe he was starting to feel better. Maybe he could still fix things.

!

Gerard collapsed into bed again that night and stared up at the ceiling. He didn't feel as bad as he'd been feeling of late, but he had a lot to think about. Gerard decided to try and stop drinking- no. Not try. He was going to stop. He'd let himself drink at gigs a bit, but not relying on it the way he had been.

Suddenly a text beeped on his phone. He picked it up and saw a trail of numbers he didn't recognize. The text read: Im srry i sounded so harsh earlier. iv been hurt b4 and dnt wnt to get to close to someone thts gonna hurt me

Who is this? Gerard texted back, having an idea but not really sure.

Linz the phone responded.

oh ok. Gerard texted back. He didn't wait for a response though. He picked up his phone and added u wanna get coffee aftr skool tomorro? i wanna tlk to you. im srry about earlier

idk the response crushed Gerard's heart.

please?

ok

:)

Lin-z didn't text back after that, but Gerard was happy anyways. He smiled and set his phone on his chest. Gerard really wanted to text Lin-z more, but he also didn't want to sound clingy or anything. His door peeked open and Mikey popped his head in.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Enter," Gerard said in a deeper voice than usual. Mikey cracked a smile.

"How are you doing?" Mikey asked, and Gerard smiled again.

"I'm doing well," Gerard said. "I really am,"

"Ray called me earlier," Mikey mentioned, flipping through a comic book on Gerard's desk.

"Oh?" Gerard raised an eyebrow.

"He didn't say anything," Mikey said, making sure Gerard wouldn't be mad at Ray. "He asked me to keep an eye on you though. Gerard, do you feel bad that I'm bipolar?"

Gerard sat up and met Mikey's eyes. They stared at each other, neither moving for a few moments while they kept eye contact. They were having a silence conversation, and then Mikey understood.

"I don't want you to feel bad about it, okay?" Mikey asked. "It's nobody's fault that I'm bipolar, just like we can't blame anyone for you being depressed. Shit happens," Gerard nodded, and Mikey bit down on his bottom lip and dropped the comic book on the desk.

"I've been worried about you man," Mikey admitted. "I'm worried about how much you're drinking. It feels like I'm losing my brother, like I can't talk to you anymore," Mikey sighed and dropped his head, and he pushed his hands into his pockets. Gerard stood up and faced him.

"I'm going to get better," Gerard said. "I'm going to stop drinking, and we're going to get through this," Gerard said.

"C-can I show ya something?" Mikey asked, sounding really nervous. Gerard nodded dumbly. "You might wanna sit down," Gerard sat back down on the edge of his bed and Mikey joined him. "T-the other night. I d-didn't ... Mom and Dad were fighting again... I felt like I couldn't talk to anybody, you know? And I... well..." Mikey shut his mouth and pulled his shirt sleeve up, revealing the bloodied scratches that decorated his wrist. He heard Gerard gasp, and he felt tears start to form in his eyes.

"Mikey..." Gerard whispered, looking away from the horrible sight before him, that was scabbing over but still looked like hell. "What the hell, man?" he whispered. But he didn't sound angry, and he wrapped his arms around Mikey. "God, Mikey, I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be sorry," Mikey said, trying to wipe away tears from his face. "I-I feel so stupid about all of this, Gerard,"

"Promise you won't do it again, Mikes. Promise me," Gerard said, still not sounding angry, and Mikey was still grateful.

"I promise," Mikey whispered back. "Don't tell anybody okay?"

"I won't, don't worry," Gerard reassured.

"Boys, dinner!" Mrs. Way's call came up, and Gerard rolled his eyes.

And suddenly Gerard laughed, startling Mikey. "We're sure fucked up, ain't we Mikes?"

"Haha, yeah," Mikey smiled. "You gonna eat tonight?"

"Dude, I am so fucking hungover," Gerard moaned, and Mikey laughed again, grabbing his wrist and pulling him by the wrist.

"You need to eat anyways, dude, you look like you're fucking Paris Hilton but with tighter pants and black hair," Mikey said, pulling Gerard down the stairs while they both laughed. Gerard was already feeling a lot better.