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There is a gift bag and a bouquet of red roses on the table in the front lounge. Mikey looks between them and the coffee pot. Coffee wins out, obviously, so Mikey gets a pot brewing before turning his attention to the stuff on the table.
The roses sit in a jar of water. There’s a big ribbon tied around the neck of the jar, and a gift tag attached to it. Mikey reaches out with one finger to flip the tag over.
Mikey, it says, in loopy cursive. Huh.
He looks at the gift bag, which is pink and adorned with glittery hearts. Red tissue paper sticks out the top. Mikey opens the heart-shaped gift tag dangling from the handle and isn’t surprised to find his name written inside.
He pulls the bag to the edge of the table and peers inside, but he can’t see past the tissue paper. He’s not sure why he feels so weird about opening the gift when it’s clearly for him. Maybe because he doesn’t know where it came from. How did it even get on the bus? It had to have been Frank or Gerard, but there’s no reason for either of them to be giving Mikey a Valentine’s Day present.
Oh wait. Unless it’s a prank. That’s probably it, even though Mikey’s not sure why he’s the sole target. Unless Bob or Ray wakes up on their bus to find a mysterious Valentine’s Day present left for one of them, too.
Mikey shrugs, tosses the tissue paper aside, and reaches into the bag.
The first thing he pulls out is a teddy bear dressed like Dracula. It’s even got little bloody fangs sticking out of its mouth. Cute. Next is a box of chocolates—heart-shaped box, obviously. The last thing in the bag is a card with a cartoon bat on the front and text that reads, I’m batty for you!
It strikes Mikey as he flips open the card that none of this has seemed particularly prank-like so far. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, but a completely blank interior isn’t it. Mikey frowns, then flips the card over to the back, but there’s nothing there either.
Well, that’s a bit disappointing. Mikey sort of expected that he’d understand what was going on at the end of this, but right now, he’s got nothing.
Maybe coffee will help things make more sense.
Coffee doesn’t help with his mystery, but coffee is just generally good, and sipping on his mug (well, sipping on his second mug; the first one goes down fast) kills time until Frank stumbles into the lounge, yawning into his hand.
Because Frank needs to know what’s going on at all times, he zeroes right in on the gifts on the table, tiredness gone in a flash. “What’s that?”
“Valentine’s Day gift,” Mikey mumbles into the rim of his mug.
“I can see that,” Frank says. He picks up the Dracula teddy bear. “For you?”
“Mhm.”
“Who’s it from?”
“Dunno.”
Frank whips his head up and stares at him. “You don’t know?”
“It was on the table when I came in. I thought maybe you or Gee put it here last night.”
“Well, it wasn’t me,” Frank says.
“Must’ve been Gee, then. Maybe a fan found him while he was out smoking or something.”
Mikey slurps the rest of his coffee while Frank inspects the rest of Mikey’s gifts. He’s studying the ingredients list on the chocolate box when Gerard shuffles into the lounge, hair mussed like he just rolled out of his bunk. He makes a beeline for the coffee pot, not even looking at Mikey and Frank at the table. Just as well; Mikey should probably wait until Gerard’s got some coffee in him before he interrogates him. Or that’s what he thinks, but Gerard is surprisingly bright-eyed when he joins them at the table, mug in hand.
“Ooh, did you get a Valentine, Mikey?” Gerard asks, leaning forward.
“Oh yeah, he’s got a secret admirer,” Frank says.
While Frank answers, Mikey reaches out automatically to smooth Gerard’s rumpled hair. Maybe Gerard’s not fully awake after all, because he jerks in surprise, coffee sloshing onto his hand.
“Shit,” Gerard hisses. He sets his mug down and licks the coffee off himself, then sucks on the base of his thumb where the worst of the spill was.
“Dude, go run it under water,” Frank says.
“I’m fine,” Gerard mumbles around his hand.
Mikey shakes his head fondly. “Thought I was supposed to be the accident-prone one.”
Gerard hmphs, but he doesn’t have a comeback. Mikey fixes his hair for real this time, and a few seconds later, Gerard takes his hand out of his mouth and wipes it on his shirt. “What was that about a secret admirer?”
Mikey blinks. “Wait, you didn’t leave the present here?”
Gerard’s eyes widen. “What? No!”
“Oh.” Mikey frowns. “Weird.”
“So… you have no idea who it’s from?” Gerard asks.
Mikey explains the situation to him. “I mean, it’s probably from a fan, but now I don’t even know how it got here.”
Frank hums. “Maybe it was Bob or Ray? Snuck it on our bus before we took off last night?”
That’s an idea. “I’ll text them,” Mikey says. “Still weird, though. No letter or anything in the card. I mean, why go through all the trouble and not let me know who they are?”
“It wouldn’t be a secret admirer if they put their name on it,” Frank points out.
“Maybe whoever it was didn’t want you to feel like they expected anything,” Gerard says.
“I guess, maybe.” Mikey picks up the card again and thumbs it open. The blank interior is bugging him. Like, why not at least buy a card with a generic message inside if you’re not even gonna write in it?
Gerard picks up the teddy bear and wiggles it in front of Mikey’s face. “It’s a nice gift, anyway. I mean, this is cute.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Mikey’s still thinking about the card.
“You guess?” Gerard sounds offended. He shakes the teddy bear some more. “It’s a Dracula teddy bear. It’s even got little bloody fangs!”
Mikey smirks. “It is pretty cute,” he admits.
“Plus roses and chocolates? It’s a nice gift,” Gerard repeats.
“Yeah, you’re sharing those chocolates, right?” Frank says.
Mikey shrugs, but Gerard says, “No! They’re for Mikey.”
“And Mikey can share, because he’s a good friend.”
Gerard’s got his stubborn frown on. Mikey shakes his head. “I don’t mind sharing.”
Frank immediately starts to rip open the packaging, and Gerard says, “Okay, but Mikey gets first pick.”
“You seriously spoil your brother, you know that?” Frank says.
Gerard flushes and doesn’t say anything. Mikey knows he and Gerard are really close, and he knows some people think it’s weird, but Mikey’s never cared. They’ve always been best friends; why wouldn’t they be as close now as when they were kids? Gerard usually doesn’t care when people mention it either, so his silence right now is unusual.
Maybe he’s just embarrassed about being possessive of Mikey’s Valentine’s gift on his behalf. He always gets a little weird when romantic stuff is involved, like he doesn’t want to insert himself too much, be the overprotective jerk brother or whatever. Which is dumb. Obviously Gerard can’t control who Mikey dates, but it’s still important to Mikey that Gerard gets along with whoever he’s going out with.
“Take whatever you want, Frankie,” Mikey says. He waves the card at Gerard to distract him. “What do you think about this?”
“I like the pun,” Gerard says, and Mikey rolls his eyes.
“No, you dork, I mean about there being no note.”
“Oh,” Gerard says. “Secret admirer, remember? You’re overthinking this. Someone just wanted you to have a nice present. It’s sweet.”
Mikey could argue that Gerard is being too dismissive about this. Even if they didn’t sign the card, wouldn’t a secret admirer want to include a message about liking Mikey or whatever? Not that Mikey’s trying to fish for compliments or anything, but the whole thing is just weird.
Gerard makes the teddy bear hug Mikey’s face. “Overthinking,” he says again.
Mikey takes the teddy bear and readjusts his glasses. “Fine, yes, it’s nice. Our fans are sweet. Wish I could at least say thank you, that’s all.”
Gerard beams at him. “I’m sure they know.”
They still have a few hours on the road until they reach their next venue. Mikey texts Ray and Bob, but neither of them respond immediately, probably still asleep. With no apparent clues left, Frank and Gerard soon lose interest in the topic of Mikey’s secret admirer and after breakfast they all scatter off to do their own thing.
Mikey sits in his bunk a while later, fiddling with the teddy bear. Ray and Bob got back to him a few minutes ago, and they both said they didn’t know anything about the gift. Neither of them got a mystery present either, so it’s just Mikey. None of this makes sense. The present had to have gotten on the bus somehow. One of the guys must be lying to him, but why?
He grabs the card and stares at it like it has answers. Maybe it’s in invisible ink or something, like the kind that appears when you hold a flame under it.
He tips out of his bunk and tugs at Gerard’s curtain below him. “Hey, Gee, can I borrow your lighter?”
The curtain slides open and Gerard pops his head out. “What for?”
“Wanna try a thing.”
Gerard looks dubious. Mikey rights himself and drops out of his bunk. He crouches down to be at eye level with Gerard. “C’mon, it’s nothing dangerous.”
“Okay,” Gerard says slowly.
Gerard swings his legs out of the bunk. He digs his hand into his pocket and emerges with his lighter. Mikey takes it and holds it up under the Valentine’s card, thumb poised to ignite, only to have both items snatched out of his hands.
“Dude, what?” he says at the same time as Gerard screeches, “What are you doing?!”
They stare at each other. Gerard is pouting for some reason. “Why are you trying to burn your card? Do you hate it?”
“What? No,” Mikey says. “I was trying to see if there was a hidden message.”
Gerard opens his mouth, then closes it again. He giggles. “What?”
Mikey’s getting tired of crouching, so he sits his bottom on the floor and shrugs a little. “Like, maybe whoever this secret admirer is wrote something in invisible ink, I don’t know.”
It sounds kind of silly now that he’s said it out loud, but still. It’s worth a try, right?
“That’s ridiculous,” Gerard says. “Why can’t you just let it go and just appreciate the gift for what it is?”
“Because the gift isn’t all that special.” Mikey feels like a little bit of an asshole saying it, but it’s true.
Gerard’s mouth hangs open. “What do you mean?”
“Flowers, teddy bear, chocolate? It’s a standard Valentine’s gift. Nothing personal about it.” Except the Dracula part, maybe, but everyone knows the whole band digs vampires. “It’s like… I keep expecting more, I guess? Like a hidden message. But even if this is it, who wouldn’t wonder about a secret admirer?” Mikey tilts his head. “Honestly, I would’ve thought you’d be more curious.”
“I just think…” Gerard glances away, then back at Mikey. “Whoever left it obviously doesn’t want you to know who they are. Besides, what’s life without some mystery?”
Mikey squints at Gerard. “You’re being weird,” he decides. “Actually, you’ve been weird all morning. Did you leave the gift? Do you know who it’s from?”
Gerard shakes his head quickly—too quickly. “No, I have no idea.”
“You did,” Mikey says. “Why are you lying about it?”
Gerard ducks his head. He takes a while to respond. “It’s—I promised to keep it a secret.”
“So it’s someone we know. Someone on the crew?”
Mikey tries to think of who it could be. He’s got friends on the crew, sure, but he’s not super tight with any of them. He really can’t imagine any of them harboring a secret crush on him.
Gerard looks up at him, eyes wide and pleading. “They really, really don’t expect anything from you. Or for you to know who they are. They just. Wanted to give you something nice.”
Okay, Gerard is being really insistent now, so maybe Mikey should just drop it, respect his secret admirer’s privacy, but seriously, since when did Gerard keep secrets from Mikey, even other people’s? That’s not how it works between them.
There’s no reason Gerard would be so tight-lipped about the gift-giver’s identity, unless…
“Is the gift from you?”
It only makes sense. Gerard has been weirdly invested in knowing whether Mikey likes his gift while pushing Mikey away from wondering who it’s from. Why would Gerard care about Mikey liking it if he would never even know who his admirer was?
Gerard’s cheeks turn a splotchy red. Aha, Mikey thinks.
Except he’s still really confused. “Why? Like… is it some kind of joke?”
“No!” Gerard says. He glances toward the front lounge where Frank is hanging out. He lowers his voice. “It’s… fuck. It’s not a joke.”
“Okay,” Mikey says quietly. “Then what does it mean?”
Maybe that’s a stupid question. If it’s not a joke, then it’s real. And if it’s real, then it can only mean one thing. Mikey’s mouth goes kind of dry.
Gerard grips Mikey’s wrist and tugs him into his bunk. They arrange themselves awkwardly until they both fit, sitting face to face—or they would be, if Gerard would look up from his crossed feet.
“I wanted to pretend,” Gerard says. “Just once.”
“Pretend?”
“That I could give you something like… that. And have it mean more than what it usually means when I give you something.”
Mikey doesn’t say anything. His mind is spinning with the confirmation that Gerard meant the gift in a romantic way. He’s never really thought about Gerard as anything but his brother, but he knows immediately that this is a direction he’s okay with. He loves Gerard. He could very easily be in love with him, too. This wouldn’t really make things different between them. It would just make them… more.
Mikey suddenly realizes that Gerard is still holding the Valentine’s card, and it’s getting crushed in his hand. He puts his hand on Gerard’s to take it from him, and Gerard jumps. His head bangs into the bottom of Mikey’s bunk.
“Ow!”
More things slide into place. Mikey and Gerard touch all the time, and Gerard usually doesn’t bat an eyelash. But today is different. What Gerard did changed things, even if just for himself. “That’s why you were so jumpy this morning.”
Mikey runs a soothing hand over Gerard’s head. He gently uncurls Gerard’s fingers from around the card. So this is why there’s nothing in it. Obviously Mikey would be able to recognize Gerard’s handwriting, probably even the way he words himself.
“Mikey,” Gerard says. He sounds wrecked.
“It’s okay,” Mikey says.
“It’s not. I shouldn’t have done it. You weren’t supposed to ever know. It was only ever supposed to be in my head, and I fucked it up because I just wanted…”
“To pretend. You said.” Mikey blows a breath out through his lips. His stomach twists in… anticipation. That’s what it is.
“I know it’s wrong,” Gerard says.
“Gee, look at me.”
Gerard does, and his eyes are bright and scared.
Mikey wants to reach out, but he’s afraid of Gerard moving away from him again. He curls his fingers over his knees instead. “I’m sorry I said your present wasn’t special. It is special.”
Gerard shakes his head. “No, you were right. That wasn’t half of what I wanted to give you, but I was afraid anything else would give me away.”
“What else were you thinking of getting me?”
“Fuck, I don’t know. An anatomical model of a heart or something.”
Mikey snorts. “Okay, yeah, that might have been too obvious.”
Gerard doesn’t even crack a smile. “It doesn’t matter. You figured it out anyway,” he says, and Mikey hates the self-recrimination in his tone.
“Hey, I said it’s okay.”
“No, it’s—”
“Will you be my Valentine?” Mikey blurts.
It sounds embarrassingly juvenile, but at least it shuts Gerard up. And it’s not like Mikey doesn’t mean it.
“What?” Gerard flushes. “Mikey—don’t joke—”
“I’m not joking,” Mikey says.
That stuns Gerard into silence for a good ten seconds. Finally, he breathes, “Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
Again, it takes Gerard a while to respond. “This is messed up.”
Mikey scoffs. “Like we’ve ever been normal.”
Gerard laughs, sharp and startled. “You’re right. Fuck.”
“So… is that a yes?”
“Yes, Mikey,” Gerard says. “I’ll be your Valentine.” He bites his lip, smiling. It’s the best thing Mikey’s seen all day.
Mikey doesn’t bother trying to hide his own smile. “Good.”
He leans in for a kiss and this time when they touch, Gerard doesn’t pull away.