A Way Back Home | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Two)

What She Said (25)

Gerard's POV

I was sitting on the countertop, but I hop down when Mikey confesses, "I don't think Eve is alright."

My heart immediately drops.

"Fuck, what do you mean? Is she eating? Oh god, I didn't notice anything, just like last time!" Before I can ramble on in anger at myself any longer, Mikey stops me.

"No, dude, it's not the eating part I'm worried about."

I breathe a sigh of relief at that, though my heart is still beating unusually fast. "What is it then?"

"Well—" he starts, then interrupts himself, changing his mind. "—maybe it's nothing, you know, I'm probably overreacting."

"No, don't give me that bullshit," I say sternly, on the edge of raising my voice, only keeping it down because of everyone in the next room. "If something is going on with my daughter I wanna know about it."

A few moments of silence go by as Mikey just stares at the floor. He refuses to make eye contact with me, and when I take a step closer, I see why: His eyes are brimming with tears. He keeps his voice steady as he finally says, "She's just- she's saying stuff that reminds me too much of... that night."

My blood runs cold. I didn't think my heart could drop any lower than it already did, but it does.

I run my hands through my hair, feeling sick. "What'd she say?"

"I texted her yesterday when you were gone," he starts, sticking his hands in his pockets to keep himself from waving them around as he speaks. "I was basically like, 'Want me to come over and keep you company?' and she was like, 'don't you have a girl you'd rather hang out with than me?' and, like, she's never said anything like that before."

"Maybe she didn't want you around cause she had Emerald over," I half joke, almost wanting it to be true. But I know it's not, because now that I think about it, they've been more distant recently. The last time they hung out outside of school was for that Valentine's date.

"No, man, this was just a couple minutes before you got home," he continues. "And then today in the car she- she—"

He blinks and a tear runs down his cheek, but he wipes it away quickly. I know he's thinking about that phone call, and I know he blames himself for what happened afterwards. See, when he listened as I cried for what must have been hours about how what happened to Eve was my fault, how I could've prevented it all, how I couldn't believe I'd let it get so bad... he was crying to me, too.

"What'd she say, Mikey?" I ask gently.

He sniffs and takes a deep breath and when he speaks again his voice is as steady as it was. "She was talking about the case, okay? And how you and Lindsey are always so busy. And she was like, 'I'm just not worth it. They should just stop. I don't want things to be like this anymore.' And that's just so close to what she said over the phone."

"I didn't know she felt that way," I confess.

Working on a case to keep my daughter in my custody takes up a lot of time, but so does music. We've been working long hours to release a new album next year. But that's not as important as taking care of Eve and making sure she's okay, and now I realize I haven't been doing that enough recently.

"I don't want to get another call like that," Mikey says, and his voice isn't as steady anymore.

"'Course not, man." I squeeze his shoulders. "I'll- I'll talk to her tonight, 'kay?"

He nods and Ray walks into the kitchen at that moment. I drop my hands at my sides and Mikey furiously wipes his eyes with his palms.

"What are you two— w-what's going on?" Ray asks slowly, concern filling his eyes when he sees that my brother, the one who can keep a stoney face throughout any interview, had been in tears.