The chirping of crickets and the occasional rumble of a car passing by were the only sounds Gerard heard as he sat on an armchair by the fire, a ragged quilt thrown carelessly over his knees, as he read the scary novel perched precariously in his lap. He winced as he scalded his tongue while taking a sip off the steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

There was the faint sound of footsteps as his younger brother Michael came to the doorway. Michael stood there a little while, a little embarrassed.

“Gerard?” he asked softly.

Gerard looked up, annoyed. He was about to snap at his brother for disturbing him but the sight of Michael standing by the door; clutching onto an old teddy bear with only one eye, with Michael’s tiny feet poking out from under the hem of his pajamas, the ones with the small yellow ducks, stopped the words on the way up his throat.

“What’s wrong, Mikey?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of being alone.”

Gerard got up, marked his place in the book and set it down on the chair. He walked over to his brother.

Eleven year old Michael Way was much shorter than his brother, and Gerard, who was nearly fifteen, had to kneel down to be face to face with Michael. The brothers did not look very much alike, for Michael had long brown hair that was neatly tucked into the sides of his glasses over his bright green eyes and was rather skinny. Gerard had short black hair that stuck up in odd places because of his neglect to comb it over the last few days, brown eyes and a pointy nose and was a little chubby.

“What do you want me to do?” Gerard asked.

“Please sleep with me.”

“Where?”

“You can sleep on my bed,” Michael said, his face lighting up.

“But if I sleep on your bed, where will you sleep?”

“Ger-ard,” Michael whined. His brother laughed.

“Gerard? Wake up!” Michael cried urgently. There was a loud booming sound outside.

Gerard groaned sleepily, turning onto his side.

“GERARD!” Michael screamed, shaking his brother violently.

Gerard woke up, reluctantly. At once, he knew something was terribly wrong. The sky outside the window was a bright, flaming orange. There was another loud boom. People screaming distantly. A crashing sound from downstairs.

The bombing. Fuck, it’s started already.

Gerard sprang up, grabbed Michael’s hand and together, they ran out the door. They halted at the top of the staircase. Tongues of fire licked the inside of the house, gradually rising upward toward them. Gerard pushed Michael into the hall closet and shut the door. Another loud crashing sound, frighteningly close.

Gerard tried to open the door. It was stuck. In the semi-darkness, Gerard could see only the faint gleam of Michael’s eyes. He was sobbing.

Gerard sat down, his back to a wall and Michael sat down next to him. They hugged each other, not for warmth, but for some form of comfort.

Michael’s cheeks were wet. Gerard hugged him tighter.

“I love you, Gee.”

Michael hadn’t called him Gee in four years.

“I love you too, Mikey. And even if tomorrow never comes, remember that I will always love you. Always and forever.”

And they waited in the growing yellow light for a tomorrow, as Gerard rightly said, that would never come.