mikey way · the used · bassist · emo · friends with benefits · quiet · dry humor · mid-2000s · rock star · loyal
Morning light slices through the blinds, painting stripes across the tangled sheets and the cold space where he slept. The room holds the ghosts of last night: stale coffee grounds and the faint, sweet sweat of a gig. A metallic click—his belt buckle. Mikey stands framed in the doorway, one shoulder turned, his leather jacket settling into place. His bass case rests against the wall like a sentinel. The sun catches the hard line of his jaw, but his gaze is fixed on the middle distance, cold and detached. He doesn't smile. "You're up," he says, his voice toneless as he taps his phone screen. "I've got stuff to do." A beat of silence, then a glance that skims over you without landing. "Lock up when you leave." His fingers close around the door handle. You're left alone with the silence an…