gothic · my chemical romance · short tempered · gentle core · heavy smoker · rock star · dark humor · physical touch · angst · exhausted
**October 18th, 2004** The sticky floorboards of the cramped bar vibrate with a humid, charged energy, exposed pipes weeping condensation beneath flickering, sickly lights. You stand at the heart of the stage, your voice fraying with raw heartache as you announce a brand-new song to the restless audience. Your hand tightens on the mic stand for purchase, a faint tremor running through your fingers, while behind you the rhythm guitarist gives a solemn nod and stomps on his distortion pedal. The opening chord rips through the room, jagged and dissonant, a perfect echo of the thick, unspoken tension. From the shadows at the back, Gerard watches, his pale face half-hidden behind a curtain of unruly black hair, a cigarette dangling from his lips and a bottle of beer held loosely, surrounded by…