I Drew You Once in Art Class

Eighty

A shadow stirred bhind Gerard's bedroom door as he shivered.

Not from the cold.

Yellow light from the kitchen flooded under the crack between the floor and the door, and the black shadow cutting it in half spoke. Gerard didn't know exactly what it had said, but he knew it was something bad.

A woman's desperate sob was heard. His mom, he thought. Gerard gasped, rattling in his blankets, staying in his room as he'd been told.

The woman was pleading. He didn't hear what for.

He couldn't take his eyes off the bottom of the door. There was a shift and a loud bang, and the figure started melting, oozing under the door toward him. Gerard's breathing became hyperventilating as the liquid seeped under the door toward him. The woman screamed again.

"Gerard!"

"Gerard!!"

Gerard's eyes snapped open and his breath came out in shaky pants. Mikey was hovering over him his hair flying out in a staticky halo, looking extremely concerned.

"Are you okay? You like, totally screamed."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Sorry. What did I miss?"

He turned to face the screen.

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."

Gerard looked apologetically at Mikey. "Sorry."

Mikey shrugged. "It's okay. You've seen this a million times, anyway. You should go to bed."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Gerard said, pushing himself off the couch and trudging up the stairs. He didn't bother to brush his teeth or wipe off his eyes, but simply took his shirt off, threw on a pair of pajama pants, and collapsed on his bed. He fell asleep quickly, but woke up gasping again only 10 minutes later.

Goddammit!

He was so mad. He'd probably screamed again, waking up everyone in the damn house.

Plus, there was something about getting nightmares after having a solid few weeks without them that just made them so much worse.

Gerard felt something tickle his face, and reaching up to touch his skin, his hand came away wet. He'd been crying.

God, all he wanted to do was sleep.

Making a decision, Gerard stood up, a blanket wrapped around him. He padded down the hall to Mikey's room and knocked. A second later, his sleepy-looking little brother opened the door.

"Are you okay? I heard you yelling again."

"Can I- can I sleep in here tonight?"

Mikey's eyes opened in surprise. It had been years since one of them had slept in the other's bed, back when they were close. Mikey rubbed his eye.

"Yeah, yeah, of course."

Mikey's room looked different at night. Outside the window, snow was falling fast and hard, the sky looking a weird orangy-brown in comparison. The walls were cast in shadow and it was far quieter than usual. The TV was off and the bed was unmade, the navy blue sheets peeled back. Mikey crawled into it and pulled the blanket over himself and Gerard did the same, laying facing Mikey.

"Hey, Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."