InsaneJournal

Fic: Accidentally, but really a date--MCR, Ray/Girl!Mikey
this one is...yeah. the idea stuck when I glanced at the prompts list over at medie's because we're awesome drabble a thon but while it formed up enough to call it a stand alone (6k words later, ~snorts~ not exactly a drabble) it's just...kinda there. The idea caught my attention but didn't really have all that much of a direction to go than this.



title Accidentally, but really a date
author: lisa roquin
fandom: MCR
rating ~facepalm~ how's that? okay 15/mature
pairing/characters: Ray/always-a-girl!Mikey, Gerard
disclaimer: lies, fiction, untrue. completely and totally made up. I know no one, know nothing of their personal lives. I make no claims of knowing much of anything.
summary: Ray is a hopeless dork. Mikey isn't much better.
warning:het, genderswitch, dorktitude of imminent proportions, sap, schmoop, angst, language,
author notes: prompt het-bandom, genderswap (any), passion for the music from medie's Because we're awesome drabble a thon
word count: 6400+



Ray's seen the kid around before. He couldn't shake the feeling like he should place him more specifically than that. Than the Pencey show a couple weeks ago, and that fucking awful show three weeks ago with the band that he couldn't remember the name of, they'd sucked so hard except the drummer, who'd started out great, and took a few too many hits of something during the break between sets and sucked even more than the rest of the band the second set.

The kid was almost pretty. The clunky thick glasses, squarish chin and strong jaw keep him from looking like a total girl, the hair is short in kinda a faux-hawk and almost looks like he's wearing girls jeans but half the guys on the scene did so that was nothing of note, neither was the fact his belt was lavender with sparkly silver sequin hearts. He was standing behind the check out counter hunch shouldered in a slightly too big hoodie, shivering and still looking a little drenched. He must've just gotten into work. It was rainy, sleety just plain damned miserable out.

"Hey," the kid said, expression blank and voice curiously soft and monotone.

"Hey," Ray smiled.

"Find everything okay," absolutely utterly monotone. It almost would be creepy if the voice wasn't so quiet-soft and the kid so non-threatening looking.

"Uhm, yeah. Uhm...wasn't really looking for anything in particular. Kinda...found more than I probalby should have." Ray said sheepishly as he put the four comic trades down on the counter.

The kid gave a soft breathy sound that might have been a snort, might even have been a little bit of amusement. "This is a classic." the kid said as he scanned the Dark Pheonix Saga Vol 1.

"Mmmm, my old copy finally fell apart."

"I think my brother and I have gone through six or seven now."

"Brother?" Ray frowned. "Maybe that's it--I--"

The kid stared at him blankly.

"I saw you at Pencey Prep a couple weeks back and seen you around--sound like a total freak but yeah, uhm."

The kid stared maybe, just maybe, the slightest bit of curiosity, maybe even more wariness, in the expression.

"I keep thinking I should recognize you but..."

"My brother was in your class at school. You two were seniors when I was a freshman. Gerard? Way?"

Ray blinked. Okay yeah he...Gerard. Hair in his face, kinda chubby really weird Gerard, who was actually cool when he wasn't creepy, and drew all sorts of kinda morbid but really cool stuff all over his books and desks and well, everything. Gerard was all soft and hunched and usually hiding behind his hair, at least that Ray remembered. This kid was all bones and angles and peircing blank stares. But yeah, there was something that kinda resembled each other though Ray couldn't quite put his finger on what. "Okay yeah, uhm can't remember your name but yeah. I remember Gerard. He still draw?"

"Mikey. My name. Uhm. Is Mikey. Way. Uhm...yeah, he did. Went to art school and was working at Cartoon Network until 9-11...He's kinda not done a lot since then. It--he saw the towers go down and yeah." Still monotone, but the expression not quite so blank, maybe just a little softer and a little worried. Maybe it was just Ray's imagination too.

"He okay?"

Mikey shrugged.

Ray got the impression he really didn't want to talk about it so let it go.

"Uhm..48.39."

Ray blinked. He didn't like Mikey's blank face seeming sad and worried and scared, even if Ray was just imagining the not-exactly expressions in the blankness, and that was kinda creeping him out that he was checking out Gerard Way's little brother, because hello straight. Very straight and even if Mikey was almost pretty and kinda delicate looking and he liked looking at Mikey which was almost freaking him out. Hello, still straight.

"Uhm. Your total. 48.39."

Ray felt the color rise to his cheeks. He hated how easily he blushed. It was a never-ending source of humiliation and torment. Especially since his brothers were all older and loved to see who could make the baby blush first. It was worse now than ever, because he was twenty-four, not fourteen and his brothers found it all the more hilarious. "Oh, yeah." He dug in his pockets, his ears burning when he had to count the last three dollars out in change. Way to look like a first class loser dork, even if it was still two days til payday and he'd only meant to grab one book but hadn't wanted to risk the others not being there when he came back when he couldn't decide.

Mikey almost had a smile at the corner of his mouth when Ray looked back up. Almost. Money put into the register quick and efficiently, even with the amount of change. "Here." Mikey said, bag held out with reciept efficiently dropped inside.

Ray didn't want to go. He kinda had to because work was kinda picky about things like, you know showing up. But he didn't want to. He wanted to see if he could get another twitch of expression out of Mikey Way. He also wanted to run, hyperventilate and freak the fucking hell out because he had never in his life checked out a guy, and maybe he kinda was Mikey, even if Mikey was almost girly looking. Maybe it was the cold half drown rat look? The too skinny frail drowned rat look? And the blankness kind of worn as an armor. "I'm playing tomorrow night at Davy's. Uhm...it's really kinda, well we suck but uhm. Maybe you'd want to come check it out?"

"Maybe." Mikey swallowed and hunched a little more.

"Buy you a beer or something after. Just hang out. I--" Ray glanced around, avoiding eye contact out of fear of really doing something stupid and hello, straight. His eyes landed on the clock on the wall behind Mikey. "shit. I gotta go I'm going to be late for work but uhm yeah. You should come."

Mikey nodded.

Ray bolted. Oh god. Oh god. What the fuck had he done. He tossed a quick wave bye in Mikey's direction when he hit the door, because he did have some manners and running off like this? Yeah. But he did have to go to work. He tripped face first onto the wet, sleet-slick sidewalk outside, when Mikey waved back and there was a definite uptilt to one corner of Mikey's mouth despite the nearly spooked look on his face that was definitely qualifying as an expression in Ray's book.

*

"Hey, Derrick, do you remember a Mikey Way from school? Been like year behind you?" Ray asked his friend at their smoke break. Well, Derrick's smoke break. Ray just followed because Derrick was the only one on their shift he really knew or wasn't like twenty years older, and hell most of them were in the smoking break room as well anyway. The few in the non-smoking breakroom. Ray really didn't want to sit with them.

"Dykey Mikey? Oh christ that girl's a freak. My sister talks to her sometimes, though fuck knows why. Her weirdo brother had a fucking nervous break down or some shit."

Girl? Mikey was a girl? Mikey wasn't much of a girl's name. But... "You're a fucking dick."

"What?" Derrick stared.

"Don't fucking say shit like that." Ray glared.

"What? You got a thing for that freaky dyke?"

For the first time since third grade, Ray hit someone that wasn't one of his brothers, which didn't count because he hadn't really hit them hard enough to mean it since about age ten either. A full out punch to the face. He also got a three-day suspension without pay, but he still had a job. He hadn't been in trouble once, he hadn't missed a day in the year he'd been working there and by some miracle he'd always skated in with all of 3 seconds to spare when he was running late. Derrick got fired. Of course, that had been why the shift leadman showed up in the smoking break room and saw Ray punch Derrick--he'd been looking for Derrick to fire him because of his attendence and the fact he'd failed the piss test when he'd had the minor misshap with the forklift three days before.

He didn't mind so much. He dug out his year book from senior year when he got to his apartment and went toward the end of the pages of freshman. Michaela J. Way glared up from the page with really, really strangely teased hair, no glasses and a pink sweater with sparkles on the collar that was visible. She kind of looked like she wished she could kill the photographer with her mind. Or maybe that was just because she'd taken her glasses off for the picture. At least Ray assumed because those glasses were kind of really, really obviously thick and strong perscription. Glasses like that didn't just happen. They kind of were always there from little kid on usually.




**




Their parents, well, their parents had pretty much given up on Gerard, and Mikey thought they were about to that point with her too. Maybe. At least their dad, who usually didn't look at either of them anymore, just kinda shook his head and walked off. More like he didn't know what the hell to say to either of them and usually, almost always, made things worse when he did say anything--which their mother tended to point out loudly-- so he just didn't say anything. Their dad wasn't a bad guy, just kinda, well, they got their weird from their mom, completely. But they got their fucking socially hopeless from their dad, even if he was a ridiculously gear-head kind of geeky incompetent that could be tolerated in normal social circles, Mikey and Gerard were way too weird for that.

"Mikey, see if you can get your brother in the shower it's been over a week." Her mother said as she slipped into the kitchen when she got home from work. "There's left over supper in the fridge if you two get hungry."

Mikey nodded wordlessly on her way to the basement stairs. Gerard pretty much hadn't spoken to anyone but his therapist and Mikey in two and a half months, except maybe, maybe, hello to the guy at the liquor store four blocks over but that didn't really count for much.

Gerard was hunched over at his desk.

That was good. Really good. Gerard was more with it when he was drawing. Much better than the kinda semi-catatonic dazedness. Mikey didn't so much as glance at her brother on her way to his bed. She kicked off her shoes, because that is the one bizarre thing Gerard got fussy about--shoes on the bed. Not that he all that often remembered to take his shoes off before he passed out across the bed but--Gerard was always weird. Mikey's well used to it and not exactly Princess Normalcy herself.

She opened the drawer of Gerard's night stand. "When'd you get this?" She grabbed the latest issue of playgirl and the flask-shaped bottle of vodka out before closing the drawer.

"Yesterday? Newsstand by the therapist's building." Gerard shrugged. He doesn't even look. He continues scratching heavy ink lines on the page in front of him. "Got a few."

"Mmm," Mikey said and took three big gulps of the vodka in rapid succession. She reached and turned up the volume on the cd playing a bit.

Gerard actually looked up. "What?"

"What what?"

"Mikey," Gerard glared, put down his marker and stalked over to the bed. He climbed over Mikey who was folded up as tightly as she could be, knees drawn up to her chin. He took the vodka and took a swallow of his own. "What?"

Mikey made a face.

"Michaela."

"I. Will. Kill. You." Mikey growled.

"Well?"

Mikey chewed her lip.

"Page 26 is very nice." Gerard offered.

Mikey flipped through the playgirl, nodded appreciatively. Page 26 was nice. "Yeah, I'd do that." she said after a minute.

"Hell, yeah," Gerard agreed. "So?"

"Remember Ray Toro?"

"Yeah." Gerard nodded. "He never tried to beat me up. Fucking good on that guitar too. He always liked to see what I was drawing."

"He asked if you were still drawing."

"You saw him."

"Yeah. He was in the store this afternoon. He bought the Dark Pheonix Saga Vol 1. And said he'd seen me around like at Pencey Prep show a couple weeks ago and some other shows and shit. But couldn't place who I was," Mikey said and scrunched up her face. "I-- I think he asked me out. And I kinda think I'm gonna go."

Gerard blinked. He took another long drink of his vodka and frowned when he realized he'd drained the bottle.

"I'll buy if you go with me to the liquor store."

Gerard nodded. Mikey'd been paying for her share of their booze for years, but it was still kind of a shock that Mikey bought. He and Mikey still hadn't gone out like they'd planned for her twenty-first birthday. Mikey had been going to meet him in the city on her birthday and the two of them were going to go out for her twenty-first and get totally fucking hammered. A band Mikey liked had been going to play at some dive in the Village and...well, the Towers fell that morning instead.

Gerard put his arm around her shoulders as they made their way upstairs. Mikey leaned into him and did her best not to notice how much her leaning held him upright. She wrapped her arm tight around his waist, fingers hooking in the belt loop at his hip. And quietly tried not to freak out about maybe, just maybe having a date the next night. And fuck she was twenty one. Shouldn't she know shit like that? Like if she'd been asked out or not?

She'd been on exactly one date in her life, and that had been the stuff of nightmares when she was fifteen. She still wasn't sure she wanted to do anything like a date again.

*

The old guy at the liquor store barely looked up at them, just smiled and waved and returned to his crossword puzzle. He was used to them by now. And for some godforsaken reason thought Mikey was his wife rather than his sister. Mikey thought it was funny and it took more talking than Gerard ever had wanted to bother with, even before. Mikey just leaned into Gerard a little more and waved back.

She picked out the two bottles of vodka, grabbed a big ass bag of doritos and pulled the cash from her pocket.

"You be careful walking home. There was a mugging straight across the street just last night."

Gerard shuddered. Mikey leaned against him a little harder. They hurried back home and straight to the basement without a word.

"I don't have any," Gerard said as Mikey went for his closet shelf.

"I do. Just want your pipe."

"Share?"

"Yeah." Mikey rolled her eyes as if she couldn't quite believe he'd even asked.

"So Ray Toro asked you out?"

Mikey scrunched her face up and tilted her head. "Maybe. I think."

Gerard's eyes narrowed.

"He mentioned he was playing tomorrow night at Davy's. And maybe I'd like to come, he'd buy me a beer. Just hang out."

"How'd he act?"

"Flipped he was going to be late for work, then landed on his face going out the door." Mikey said and chewed her lip.

"Date."

Mikey rolled her eyes. She took a long drink off her bottle. "You really think?" she asked softly.

Gerard wanted to kill something. He knew for a fact his sister hadn't had sex in over a year. She'd've told him. He also knew she'd spent from fifteen to almost twenty fucking anyone, male or female, that asked, or said yes when she asked. Bathrooms, and alleys and backseats, quick and dirty and sometimes scarily careless. He didn't have much room to talk, because really, he wasn't much better if he was out with Mikey and hammered. He'd do just about anything too. Just--it was-- he didn't tend to go out unless Mikey begged and begged. Not even before. Not really much since he'd been mugged when he was fifteen. He really hated himself for not going out with Mikey more. She was his baby sister, he should watch out for her better, but Mikey was tough, and smart and had always came back home. And told him about the bands and the music and the sex and everything. The pregnancy scare had scared the living fuck out of Mikey. She hadn't been pregnant though. Just fucked up from being too thin, too little food, too little sleep, her body went haywire and skipped a month. He'd dragged her to the planned parenthood clinic. She'd gotten the pill and gotten a high calorie diet she was supposed to follow. She did in spurts, when her clothes got too loose, or she felt like eating. Mostly Mikey had the worlds most annoying metabolism--like Speedy Gonzalez on Crack metabolism, and also tended to forget to eat, and neither one of them had ever been really good at sleeping. Mikey tended not to sleep at all and Gerard went in cycles of no sleep or sleeping twenty-two hours a day.

The one date she'd been on was the Homecoming dance her freshman year, just like a month after she turned fifteen and some asshole asked her on a dare, raped her, and laughed his ass off with his buddies what a lousy fuck Dykey Mikey was.

She'd crawled into his bed that night and cried all fucking night. He hadn't seen Mikey cry since she was, like, four. Hell, he hadn't seen her cry since. Not even at movies that had his head in her lap and her handing him tissue after tissue. That had been the first time since their dad started throwing fits and pulling him aside when Mikey got her first training bra when she was twelve. Their dad thought he was that creepy that he'd do something to Mikey. That fucking hurt, and was like the fucking most impossible thing in the world. She was his best friend. He'd taken care of her, he'd been the one to kiss her scrapped knees and tell her stories and draw her pictures of dragons and princesses when they were small. And she took care of him now, or maybe the took care of each other, kept each other sane.

He might know more about his little sister's sex life than most any other man in the world-- hell, he'd lost his virginity in the back seat of their car with some drunk chick and Mikey in the front seat of the car fucking some guy she'd picked up just before Christmas the year he was eighteen and Mikey was fifteen. Actually, Mikey picked them both up. Just sorta passed the girl off to Gerard. Still he'd never ever ever touch his little sister like that, the thought made him sick. They might be fucked up but neither one of them were that fucked up.

"He was always nice in school?" Mikey said so softly Gerard almost didn't hear.

"Yeah. He was." Gerard agreed. "Want me to go with you?"

"Take my brother on a date? If it is a date?" Mikey sounded so small and lost and reminded Gerard of how she'd sounded when she was three and couldn't find her stuffed pink bunny. Grandma had put it in the wash while they were taking a nap and hadn't told them.

"I can make my own way home if it is. Company for the show ya know?" And you won't be alone if he's turned into an asshole since high school Gerard thought.

"Yeah. Company for the show." Mikey bit her lip. "Mom says I'm supposed to make you take a shower. Will you take one for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah. Wash my hair and everything for your date." Gerard whispered and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into his chest, and for a little bit he was the one holding her up. It was kind of nice for a change.

Gerard took a swig of his own bottle of vodka and petted Mikey's hair. He started softly singing the --well Mikey said it was a song not just random, vague poetry--he'd written and she liked. She'd always liked it when he sang.

"No, faster," Mikey shook her head against his chest.

"Fine you help me write the music then." Gerard said. "Go get your bass. I'll even get out my guitar."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Gerard nodded. Music would make Mikey feel better. It always did. From when grandma sang to them when they were babies to all the bands she'd go see and their joint really really scary cd collection. They even added to their vinyl collection when they could afford it, and could find what they wanted. Writing something like they probably hadn't in...god years like the really really bad shit they'd written when Gerard had been scared to death to even go out in the back yard after he'd been mugged.



**



Mikey grinned at her brother as he came up from the basement into the kitchen. His jeans were worn and had a hole in the knee, and a rip in the back just below his ass, but they were clean still smelled like freaking Tide, the same went for the t-shirt and hoodie. They're ones Mikey had thrown in with a load of her own wash and tossed down the stairs while Gerard was in the shower. He'd used the blow dryer he'd never admit he had because his hair was dry, shiny clean and hanging in soft waves to his shoulders. She leaned in and sniffed. "You smell nice," And he did. Like coconut shampoo and Irish Spring and Tide and maybe even a hint of speedstick.

"You look gorgeous."

"You're full of shit." Mikey snorted. She had her best black jeans, the ones without a single hole, and her silver belt, a purple baby doll tee with Bitch and Proud of It scrawled across her tits in silvery lettering an unzipped hoodie in the same shade of purple--which had been a bitch to find and one of her few shopping triumphs in her opinion--holding her peacoat. Her hair washed and left kind of fluffy and spiky rather than gelled into the faux-hawk she had been doing lately. Her eyeliner was heavier than usual and the smoky not quite black that she never remembered what the hell the name was and hauled Gerard to the drug store to pick out because he was the one that had picked the color out in the first place and declared it better than black-black for Mikey. It was a color thing so Mikey hadn't even thought to argue. Gerard was the artist after all. Yeah, she failed at girl shit. Her brother picked out her make up, what little she actually wore.

"You are."

"You're as blind as I am," Mikey said drolly and rolled her eyes and threw his coat at him. Out of the two of them, Gerard made the prettier girl even if she was the actual girl. She was too thin, all of an A cup and sharp jut of hipbones rather than curves and a kinda flat non-existant ass. She'd never understand anorexics. Hell, she'd love to gain twenty pounds, and if it settled mostly in her ass, hips and thighs she'd be happy. She knew Gerard's taste in girls--what rare ventures he made in that direction--was much the same as her own. Girls that looked like girls. Noticable boobs, curvy hips, nice asses. Compact and athletic worked just as well as slightly fuller figures but curves were kinda really what they both noticed. Mikey didn't have curves, she had sharp bones and sharper angles. Hell Gerard had more curves than she did.

"Where are you two off to?" Their mother asked because showering, clean clothes, and Mikey was actually wearing tinted chapstick it was obvious that they weren't making one of their usual runs to the liquor store for booze and cigarettes and right back.

"Mikey's got a date."

"A date?"

Mikey thought thier mother couldn't have looked more stunned if they'd announced they were heading out to rob a bank. Oh God. Their mother's shock wore off to speculation and just, no. Mikey was not going to put up with another round of "Mikey, let your hair grow. Mikey, you'd be so pretty if you tried"

"Let's go, Gee. Wanna get a good view of the stage to watch em play." Mikey said and grabbed her brother by the arm tugging him out the door before their mother could say anything, though it did seem a lightbulb went on as to why Mikey was dragging Gerard on her date. That her date would be on stage for most of said maybe--maybe--date.



**



Davy's was, really, a shitty bar. The sound system sucked. The stage was kinda almost dangerous and going to collapse one of these days. The crowd was pretty hardcore and skeezy and why the hell had he been so stupid as to invite Mikey to a place like this.

Okay yeah, he had kinda asked Mikey maybe on a date when he'd thought Mikey was a boy but knowing Mikey was a girl made it even better and far less of an identity crisis. Now he was freaking out that Mikey might be into girls and he'd made an ass out of himself anyway but... A friend would be cool.

When he'd seen Mikey around Mikey had been so absorbed into the music if it was remotely good. That got Ray's attention first. Then the niggle of somehow that guy should be familiar, knew him from somewhere. Then the hunched thin kid and the hints of expressions the morning before had...kinda suckerpunched him in a strange sort of way.

He was watching the door, and his eyes scanning the crowd as they set up.

Mikey, and definitely looking like a girl with her hair all in little fluffy spikes. It took him a second look to place the one at Mikey's side. Well it took the guy pushing his hair back from his face and looking at Mikey. Side by side you could see it, in the overall shape of their faces, in their eyes, there were a lot of subtle resemblances. The universe had displayed one strange sense of humor when it came to the Ways. Gerard was pretty, hair to his shoulders, soft and a little wavy, his face softer and down right, well, beautiful. Even in school Ray had to admit Gerard Way had been one of the prettiest boys he'd ever seen once he got past the worst of the baby-fat that hung on til about junior year. Mikey was actually an inch or two taller than her brother and all sharp angles and thin straight lines.

He grinned widely at the table Mikey and Gerard settled at along the wall, gave Mikey a little wave even as he felt his cheeks start to heat. The blush got that much hotter when Mikey waved back and the corner of her mouth turned up just a little. And Ray kinda really wanted to see a real full smile from Mikey, because it had to be pretty amazing and pretty special.

Gerard grinned widely and whispered something in Mikey's ear. She whacked Gerard on the arm with a glare. Ray gave her another little smile of commiseration. He had three big brothers. That Gerard was being an irritating big brother was kind of obvious to Ray. And that Gerard had come with her was totally cool. Especially in a place like Davy's.

*

"Oh, fuck," Mikey said with a slight whine to her voice as the band really started to get going. The bassist sucked. The drummer's timing was non-existant or maybe erradicated by a twelve pack and a bowl before the show. The singer, meh, vaguely on key and not that annoying but not all that good, still it was more punk and screaming could take the place of singing. She'd heard worse.

Ray had been stiff and awkward and kind of turned away from the crowd but once the music caught him and he forgot about being watched. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

"Jesus, Mikey,"

"Oh shut up, like you aren't getting hard from how he's playing. Damn And he's--" She broke off and bit her lip. "Kinda my date."

"Is. Totally is. Blushing, waving. Totally is."

"What the fuck do you know?"

"Is." Gerard said stubbornly.

Mikey really really hoped so. But if it was a date, not a hook up, then what the fuck was she supposed to do when the band got off stage? She'd worry about that later and did her best not to make any noises that would have Gerard giving her shit as she watched Ray totally gone in the music.

*

Ray grinned widely even as he felt his face start to heat up again as Mikey and Gerard made their way around toward the not-exactly side stage area. Well technically it was side stage but the stage just had three rickety steps off either side into the main part of the bar, not a real side stage. It was actually kind of amazing there was anything resembling a stage at Davy's. "Uhm, I need to get this out to my car before it's destroyed or stolen or something."

"We can help," Gerard shrugged.

Ray almost thought to protest when Mikey started to help him carry his amp and Gerard picked up his guitar case. The amp was pretty damned heavy. He could and did move it himself, but not without holding his breath and praying he made it where he was going without dropping it and destroying it each and every time--never mind his foot or back, the amp cost almost a months pay for christ's sake. He remembered Gerard from school though. Gerard could trip over his own feet, like Ray really had room to talk falling out the door at the bookstore but...

"It's okay. I move my own around more than enough. I'm used to it." Mikey gave a hint of an uncertain smile. Well, okay, the line of her mouth relaxed a little bit and her eyes weren't as blank.

"You play?" Ray asked. Oh GOD could he sound more hyper and stupid?

"Bass," Mikey said. "Not very good. but..played in a couple bands."

And she'd told the truth, not bothered by her half of the amp's weight at all. It really was so much easier moving it with help.

The amp safely wedged in the backseat--which was long since torn to shit by just such abuse, and the guitar safely locked in the trunk. Ray shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets. "So umm,"

Mikey bit her lip.

Gerard made a strangled sound, his sister kicked him in the ankle. "I'm gonna go get us a place to sit and a beer."

"I've got three big brothers. They're kinda pains sometimes." Ray offered.

Mikey's lip twitched just a little at the corner. "Nice he's being a pain again." she looked down at her hands and picked at the hem of her t-shirt. "You're not upset he came along? I mean--"

"No, no it's totally cool. You had company during the set and all..."

"He--he doesn't go out much especially lately."

Ray hated the slightly worried note to Mikey's voice. "So bass? Any chance I might have heard you?"

"Uhm haven't done anything with a band for...like maybe three, four years?" Mikey said quietly. "Gerard'll play with me sometimes. I kinda suck. He really does. But he writes really great lyrics. We can cobble enough together that it's a decent song even if we can't play it for shit. He taught himself guitar, taught me, sorta. I just--got better than he did."

Ray grinned. "My brother taught me too. Pisses him off to no end I was playing better than him in like no time flat."

That--that was a smile a little one, just barely the corners of her lips twitched up for a second but a smile.

"C'mon, lets go before he decides we're--"

"Getting in a quickie on the hood of your car?" Mikey snorted.

"I was--gonna go with making out but--" Ray blushed. And Mikey looked down again, seemed to fold up a little. "C'mon," Ray held out his arm. "I said I'd buy you a beer, I'm a man of my word, unless you'd like something else?"

"Beer's good." Mikey said quietly and took Ray's arm.

*

Gerard was the world's most manipulative asshole when he wanted to be. It was just, that he didn't usually want to be and Mikey kind of forgot in between the times he was.

Mikey caught herself babbling, about the song she and Gerard had been working on, about her favorite groups and her and Gerard's vinyl collection--and their comic collection. Thankfully Ray was babbling right back and so earnestly and enthusiastically it was fucking adorable, though totally dorky. Even if what she knew about dating could be written on the head of a pin she was pretty sure babble about X-men and Doom Patrol and Gerard's shaky as fuck chord progressions making getting the song sound right really really fucking impossible and all that was not exactly dream date behavior. Ray didn't seem to mind though. Mikey wasn't sure if she wanted to hug her brother or hurt him really bad for the way he could manipulate and steer a conversation, mostly by way of people being so shocked Gerard was talking that they jumped on whatever he was talking about to see if it would continue. Mikey wasn't most people, she knew for a fact her brother could talk non-stop for hours with barely a breath. She'd seriously tried shoving a dirty sock in his mouth on a couple occasions just to get him to shut up so she could say something or go to sleep.

"I'm outta here. You mind getting Mikey home later? She can help you with your amp and stuff."

Mikey stared at her brother. The twitch at the corner of Gerard's mouth ensured her brother was going to get it later. Good. God. Ray might have missed the twitch and the look Gee gave her, or not caught what they meant. But she sure as hell didn't. Yeah. She was going to kill her brother when she got home.


*

Ray barely had a chance to say okay before Gerard was gone.

"Sorry about him. He's--Gerard." Mikey said sounding decidedly disgruntled.

Ray was pretty sure he missed something. "Don't worry about it. My brothers favorite thing is to see who can embarrass me first. Gerard's not bad at all." Ray smiled. "He's pretty cool once he decides to talk."

She smiled. Honest to God smiled. Just a tiny smile. But a real smile.

Mikey made a comment about his shirt. Offhand and kind of shifting attention away from Gerard's departure and whatever the hell he'd missed about that...he was babbling and he knew he was. And what the hell, he'd already made a complete ass of himself blathering on about comic books with her brother even if she had been just as involved in the conversation. But she knew who Eddie was. And she had her own opinions on the merits of Iron Maiden and every other band he babbled past on the drive to his place. It kind of sunk in why she was annoyed with her brother as he got the amp out of the back seat.

"I'll help." she said simply and moved to take part of the weight of it again. His apartment had stairs unfortunately, but only one flight to the outside entrance of the small basement apartment.

"Shit. I usually unlock first and leave the door open--I've got it. My keys are --in my jeans pocket."

"Subtle." Mikey snorted.

Ray felt his face go up in flames. "I --oh god--"

Mikey smiled. "Which one?"

"Front left." Ray was glad he didn't squeak when he said that. And glad that the odds of his older brothers ever finding out this was nil. Because good god. He really liked Mikey, she was kinda amazing actually. And she hadn't been bored or annoyed with him being a babbling dork or anything but oh god he really was an idiot. And --long slim fingers slid into his front pocket and fished out the keys. "I got it-" he said and slipped into the apartment, the amp carefully settled into it's spot right next to the door. He flipped on the light switch. "Uhm be right back. Gotta get.."

Mikey nodded.

Ray darted back up to the car to get his guitar. Mikey was looking at the CDs and comics piled on the rickety coffee table his aunt had given him a chance at before she set it out on the curb for the garbage collectors.

"Uhm, sorry about the mess." Ray winced. It wasn't too bad. It really wasn't. Not like he had beer cans and take out containers all over the place or anything but it was little, and cluttered, and he kinda needed to vaccuum about three weeks ago but his vaccuum had died and he kept forgetting to ask his mom to borrow hers for an afternoon.

Mikey rolled her eyes. "Gerard's my big brother. I have a high tolerance to messy."

Ray giggled nervously. "I promise I will totally have the place vaccuumed and even dusted next time you come over."

"Next time?" she looked so startled.

"I mean --if yeah--if you want to but I'd kinda like--" he broke off with a groan of frustration. "I'd kinda like to go out with you again sometime--maybe like a real date, see a show together or a movie and dinner or soemthing. If you want to If I haven't like made a complete idiotic ass of myself and..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" Ray stared. Oh god did he sound like an idiot or what.

"Yeah, I'd like that." she said almost shyly.

"Yeah, me too," Ray grinned and leaned in before he could think better of it and completely make an ass of himself or say something totally stupid and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. She didn't slap him or anything. She took a half step closer and slid her hands up his arms. He dipped his head down and kissed her again.