The sound of the doorbell was both relieving and frightening.

Ray wanted nothing more than to spill his guts and say everything, but he figured he should take it slow. He pushed the door open and smiled as Mikey dove inside, throwing his arms around him and squeezing.

"I'm back! We found Bunny, she was just chasing rabbits under the porch," he grinned, "and also, I think Gee has this major thing for his friend."

"Really? Are you serious?" Ray led him in and to the kitchen, handing him the sandwich and glass of water, "what tells you that? Wasn't he pining over that punk chick the other day? Or was that one of his little flings," he started eating his own food, rather hungry and drained. He was trying not to show it.

"Mhm. I asked him how the party went and he said they all had to make up sleeping arrangements. He ended up sleeping with the guy and the redness of his cheeks said a lot," he snickered quietly, "dude, I can only imagine what this dude must look like if Gerard is that invested."

Ray laughed sharply and rolled his eyes. "Maybe someday we'll be introduced," he offered, "if Gerard gets over this little secret thing, which is doubtful,"

"Mm." Mikey shook his head, "we'll meet him eventually. I have some guesses as to what he looks like, but who knows. He could be this like, super popular white boy for all I know," and Ray shivered.

"Not really Gerard's type. Though 'Gerard's type' is a very loose term," he smiled at the many crushes and flings he heard about. He was feeling better already, and pretty much forgot what he was planning on telling Mikey. They talked like that for way longer than it seemed, their conversations taking wild tangents, and before he knew it, they were on the couch watching some weird reality show neither could care less about. They cared more that they were together and that they had someone to talk to.

Ray's palms began to sweat as he contemplated bringing up the whole werewolf thing. His stomach churned as he opened his mouth. "Hey Mikes?"

"Mm, yeah?" Mikey tore his eyes away from the screen, looking up at him from his spot leaning on Ray's shoulder.

"Do you still care to hear what's wrong with me?" he regretted phrasing it that way. He didn't want to believe anything was wrong. He wanted to be fine and normal and just be able to rest on the couch with Mikey and have a sleepover where they stayed up way too late geeking out over Star Wars for the millionth time. He didn't want to constantly have to worry about the way his tail would wag against his leg every time Mikey got near.

"Uh, yeah, duh," Mikey took off his glasses, "it's only the thing that's been worrying me for, like, weeks, and what was with the supernatural questions?? You got like, a bite from a vampire?" he muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Not exactly," Ray's voice almost squeaked with how quiet it was.

Mikey looked at him like he had four heads. "Not exactly. What in the hell do you mean not exactly?! I know I promised not to call you crazy but that's becoming a little difficult here," he sat up, staring Ray in the eye to the point where he had to look down or he was going to throw up his dinner.

"No, Mikey listen- just- you said you'd listen, you said you wouldn't call me crazy, so please, just hear me out," Ray tried, and he assumed it was the broken desperation in his voice that made Mikey's face twist with sympathy.

"Fine. Fine, but you'd better explain yourself here," Mikey itched his hand, "you're weirding me out worse than Gerard's sleep talking."

Ray took a deep breath and swallowed a few times. He tried over and over to make his next words sound sane.

"You remember that day when I went out in the woods and I came back with bites and scratches?" he paused and Mikey nodded slowly, "I... Mikey..." he paused again, then let it out.

"I think it was a werewolf."

"You've officially lost me." Mikey shook his head, getting up, "so help me if I need to commit you to a psych ward-"

"No Mikey please you have to listen to me please-" Ray was desperate, grabbing Mikey's arm weakly and watching him stare at the fingers now touching him, "I'm not crazy, please, I'm not, you have to believe me, it's true," he was praying Mikey didn't just pull away and leave. If he did, Ray wasn't sure he'd make it much longer.

There was a long pause of silence before Mikey hesitantly sat back down, just enough of his body touching the couch to keep him there. "...you're going to have to convince me," he said shortly.

Ray went over everything in his head, tried to organize everything into an order that would make sense, tried to make it sound sane, but it just didn't. Mikey was going to leave him. There was no way to make it sound okay. Even showing Mikey what had changed would probably just push him away.

So Ray gave up.

"Hey Mikey?" he forced a smile, "I'm kidding."

Mikey's face went through at least twenty different emotions before he finally shoved Ray over with a cuss. "Ray! You- oh screw you! You actually had me thinking- oh my god, Ray-" he fell into laughter and Ray joined in, hoping it was convincing.

"You should have seen your face!" he smiled, "of course werewolves aren't real, I was just messing with you," it hurt to say the words.

"That was one sick joke, man," Mikey shook his head, "I'm impressed. You really got me." and he leaned back on Ray's shoulder and watched the screen and Ray's tail tried to thump against his leg but it was trapped in his jeans. He didn't know why it continued to go wild when Mikey was around. He blamed it on the lack of human contact he'd been getting.

And he decided he'd just have to tell him another time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Days went by okay. They weren't perfect, and Ray realized just how much he really hated leaving the house, but there was nothing catastrophic. The practices and gig went alright and the amount of tips they got were impressive. Mikey was there and he clearly very much enjoyed the performance, if the beer he bought Ray at the end was any indication. Ray didn't often leave home unless he had to. Trips to the store were few and far between. Whenever he did go, however, he was extra careful about hiding his tail, and was generally seen wearing a jacket or sweatshirt whether it was cold outside or not. The majority of the heat and pain had faded and ebbed to weekly occurrences, and even then it was mild. There were nights where he'd wake up while the moon was still high in the sky and run to the bathroom and lose everything in his stomach, having to spend the rest of the night there in fear of ruining his bedsheets, but those occurrences were seldom. He was by no means alright, but he was okay, and he supposed that passed. The usual aches and pains did stay, and he did grow tired and hungry often.

But he was living. That was better than it had been.

He found himself talking more and more with Mikey and often got close to spilling his secrets, but the right time never came, and it kept eating away at him. He was alone with it, the knowledge that he was no longer human, and it really took its toll on him. He stayed up late at night and stared at his ceiling and cried, tears spilling until they couldn't anymore and he was left with a clogged throat and dry eyes. Mikey was his only escape; his only way of finding relief in it all because Mikey was nice. He'd listen when Ray cried and would comfort him in any way he could without knowing the truth. It was burning Ray up inside not being able to tell him.

"Gerard's finally bringing his little pal over," Mikey said, startling Ray out of his thoughts and deep staring contest with his mug of coffee, "it's only been like, four months, but you know,"

"Better late than never," Ray said, smiling, "is it bad that I wanna meet the little weirdo too? My curiosity is getting the best of me," he took a long drink.

"Well he's coming over later today, Gerard invited him over after clearing it with me. Maybe you want to stop by?" Mikey winked and Ray rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do. I never pass up an opportunity to make fun of Gerard's crushes," he giggled softly, and Mikey's smile made his tail wriggle in the confines of his jeans.

It ended up being half of The Fellowship of the Ring later that Gerard actually showed up with his friend in tow. They entered and Gerard got him settled before calling Mikey and Ray in for greetings, and Ray couldn't help but sort of stare.

The guy was both exactly what he was imagining as well as nothing he was imagining.

He was short, the first shock as a lot of Gerard's crushes were the usual tall dudes, and his hair hung down over his right eye. It was dark like charcoal but shaved on one side, the short hair bleached an eggshell white. His face was pretty average aside from obvious eyeliner and eyebrows that hooked way up over his eyes like parabolas from way back in math class. He was wearing a dark zip up hoodie and even darker shirt with some band name Ray couldn't make out and his jeans were ripped around the knees, his converse scuffed and dirty from years of obvious wear. The big thing that caught Ray's eye was the pink belt wrapped loosely around his waist.

"This is Frank!" Gerard spoke cheerfully, a big contrast from his usually soft tone, "say hi!"

Mikey stepped forward first and stuck his hand out, meeting Frank's in a fist bump. "Don't worry, Gerard has told me plenty about you," already teasing, and Frank snickered along with him.

"All good things, I hope," Ray was almost taken aback by how low the kid's voice was. He didn't even look twenty, and yet his voice was gravelly enough to belong to a forty year old smoker who started at ten. But he was grinning, and he listened to Mikey talk with a slight smile that curled his silver ring up against his top lip. Oh of course he had piercings-- one in his lip, one in his nose, and gauges in his ears. Ray didn't know what else to expect. Of course Gerard would 'fall' for a guy who was all pierced up.

Frank looked up from talking to Mikey, his smile slightly wider as he met Ray's eyes, and Ray smiled gently back. For how much of a punk he looked to be, he still seemed caring enough. No wonder Gerard was pining again.

But Ray's blood ran cold. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck started to stiffen, his fingers curling into fists the moment their eyes met. He could see something, hidden down in the shine of Frank's hazel irises, deep in the sparkles of green, and-

He could see. His muscles all seemed to tense at once and his lips almost drew back to reveal his teeth, his tail trying to swish behind him involuntarily. He could see, he could feel- he knew, he knew--

Frank innocently stuck his hand out, though Ray could see in his toothy smile--Ray swore his canines came to an unreasonable point--that he'd known it even before Ray did. "Frank Iero," he said calmly, staring right up into Ray's eyes, the sun reflecting in a strange way over the green in his eyes.

There was a pause. Ray could feel his palms sweat.

"Ray." he said in return, pressing his larger fist to Frank's, "Toro."

"Quite nice to meet you," Frank said, his smile sickeningly sweet and voice layered with way too much politeness, "though, I do believe..." he paused, trailing off, and Ray just knew he was drinking in the terror on his face as that night in the woods flashed through his mind.

"We may have met before."

//Author's Notes\\

The plot thickens!

You guys are lucky that, just like Ray, I'm very superstitious, since it resulted in a double update to avoid having thirteen chapters! Enjoy the two new parts, I don't think I'll be doing this often :')

~XO, Vacant.~