Silence and Sadness

Thankful

Hello, all! This may seem a little corny and weird and what-not, but yesterday was Thanksgiving,  and so, I decided to write a thanksgiving-based chapter on this story because it's one of my more popular stories. This won't be any normal Thanksgiving chapter, though. I guarantee at least one of you will probably hate me by the end of this. I apologize ahead of time, but it goes hand in hand with plans for this later on down the road. Let's see how this goes!

**UPDATE, POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING, PLEASE READ: I was previously informed of a potential trigger in this chapter, and per my promise to update any chapters that require a trigger warning out of past negligence and out of respect for avoiding future harm, I am placing a trigger warning in this chapter. If you get triggered by any form of trauma, then skipping this chapter will not effect your reading of the story at all. What happens will be touched upon in further chapters, but will not again be gone in to in detail, so it will be fairly easy to skip this chapter and stay caught up. This is simply a holiday-style filler chapter with some twists, but it is not a major miss. I do not want to mention the trigger for fear of spoiling essentially the entire chapter, but if you are unsure and would like to DM me to clarify, my inbox is ALWAYS open. 

Thank you!

{Author's POV}

       "Happy Thanksgiving, boys!" Donna Way greeted her two sons as they walked into the kitchen that morning. "Happy Thanksgiving, Mom." The two brothers replied together, each giving their mom a quick kiss on the cheek. They went up and gave their dad a hug before moving to the coffee machine. Gerard smiled and grabbed it first, filling a mug before handing the pot to Mikey. "You boys told your friends that they and their parents were welcome to dinner tonight, right?" Donald asked. "I told Ray, and he told Bob." Mikey replied. "I texted Frank and told him. He never got back to me. It's got me a bit worried, but I'm sure he's fine." Gerard said.
       "Alright. Well, I'm going to be pretty busy myself today, so why don't you boys go do something with your friends, and then you can all head back here around five for dinner?" Donna suggested. "Sure. See you guys later! Gee, I'll wait by the car!" Mikey said, excited to go see Ray. Donna rolled her eyes with a chuckle as Mikey ran out the door, grabbing his jacket from the rack by the door. "He is just so energetic! And he and Ray are really cute together, aren't they?" She said, smirking at Donald and Gerard. The men smiled. "Yes, dear. Yes, they are." Donald said, shaking his head and laughing. "I'm going to head out to see Frank. I'll see you later!" Gerard said, giving his parents each a hug. "Okay, dear. Tell Frankie we'll see him tonight." Donna said. Gerard nodded, grabbed his coat, and headed out. Mikey was, as he said, waiting by the car.
      "I'm assuming I'm dropping you off at Ray's?" He asked his little brother. Mikey nodded excitedly as he and Gerard climbed into the car. "You really like him, don't you?" Gee asked, smiling at Mikey. "Yeah. He's so nice, and funny, and cute." Mikey said. "I get it. Just, make sure you two are careful. If he hurts you..." "Gerard, calm down. You know Ray just as well as I do. He's nothing like...you know. He wouldn't hurt me. I'll be careful, though." Mikey promised. "I know. I'm just being overprotective. Sorry, Mikes." He apologized. "You're my older brother, Gee. You're just doing your job. It's ok." Mikey said, reaching over and giving his brother a hug. Gerard pulled him in a bit closer, running his fingers through Mikey's hair, like he always did. "Alright. Let's get you to Ray's." Gee said, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway.
        "So, how are you and Frank doing since you...found out about...that." Miley said, awkwardly trying to not say the word. "Self-harming, Mikey. You can say the word. Hearing it is not going to make me go back. And we've been okay. I mean, I can't help but think that there's more that he's keeping from me, but I guess I haven't been completely honest with him either." Gerard admitted. "What do you mean?" Miley wondered. "Nothing, really. He...After we got home that day, when Bert freaked me out at school, Frankie asked me how badly and how often Bert would hit me. I didn't answer him, and I've been blowing it off ever since. I don't want to tell him, it's in the past, and it's not really important, but I also don't want to lie to him." Gee admitted. "Well, it's not really lying to him." Miley said. "Don't be all technical like that with me. It's still being dishonest with him, and I hate that. I just...I don't know if I want to bring him into all of that." Miley placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Then don't. I'm sure Frankie can wait until your ready. He waited for you to talk to him." Miley reminded him. "Yeah. Thanks, Mikes." Gee said. Miley nodded and turned back to look out the window. Sleet was falling down, and the roads were a bit icy.
The silence was broken by a sharp ringing. "That's mine. It's in my pocket, can you grab it?" Gee asked Mikey. Mikey reached over and fished his brother's phone out of his pocket. "It's Bob." Mikey announced. "Answer it, and put it on speaker, please." Gee said. Mikey answered the phone and hit the speaker button. "Hey, Bob, It's Mikey. What's up?" Mikey said. "Hey, Mikey. Is Gee there?" He asked. "I'm right here, Bob, but I'm driving. What's up?" He asked. "I just wanted to let you know that Frank is at my house. He stayed the night." Bob explained. "Why did he stay over at your house?" Gerard asked. "I don't really think I should be the one to tell you about that. Frankie wanted to talk to you about it himself." Bob said. "Ok. I have to drop Mikey off at Ray's house first. I'll come over after that." Gerard said. "Okay. I'll see you-" "Gerard, look out!" Mikey screamed. There was a squealing of tires, a crunch of metal, and the sound of shattering glass, and everything was silent. Everything except the beeping of a cell phone as the call was disconnected.