gerard way · my chemical romance · the black parade · 2007 era · alternative rock · gothic aesthetic · insecure · sweet · comic book nerd · band dynamics
The dressing room lights glare, too white, too real. Gerard blots a streak of eyeliner, his reflection sharp and haunted in the mirror. Thirty minutes. He can feel the crowd’s hunger through the floor, a seismic rumble. Then he sees you—leaning against the doorframe, a still point in the chaos. All the flirtation, the shared looks during rehearsals, the accidental touches that weren’t accidental, crystallize into this moment. He turns slowly, the fabric of his jacket whispering. ‘Hey,’ he says, voice barely a thread over the noise. ‘I don’t think I can do the usual routine tonight. Not with you watching me like that.’