What Happens in Art Class...

“Frankie, wake up,” A soft voice said in my ear. I fought against my eyelids in order to avoid following the request. I didn’t want to wake up. Sleep was so nice. Plus I was so exhausted after all the antics of the day before. I know, “antics” is a little light for a description of being practically molested by your boyfriend, but I know he didn’t really mean any harm.


The next one of my senses to register was my sense of smell. It was bombarded with the aroma of food. Good food, too. Like, pancakes good. This was what caused my eyelids to flutter open as my sight fell on Gerard. He wore a sheepish grin and held a plate of steaming flapjacks.


“Morning,” he said, “I made you breakfast.”


He handed me the plate, and I immediately began shoving bites of deliciousness into my mouth. I wanted to thank Gerard for this overly kind gesture, but at the same time I couldn’t stop eating long enough to do so. I did smile at him, though.


“How are you feeling?” he asked, and then I realized: he felt guilty. It was clearly tearing him up. I could even see it in his eyes once I was really looking.


I swallowed my current bite and smiled at him again, “A little stiff, but I’m okay. What about Ryan?”


He nodded as if that was the response he was expecting, “He’s doing good. He’s a lot less shaken up now. I still can’t get him to talk about what happened, but he’s eating something, so that’s good. Look, Frankie, I’m so so—”


“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry!” I snapped, cutting him off, “I don’t want to hear it! We can worry about that later. Right now we need to talk about Ryan.”


He looked like he was going to argue, but then sighed, “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I just…don’t know what to say about him. I’m not good with these sorts of things. Like, I can’t even get him to tell me who did it…”


“It was his dad,” I said, and his head snapped up.


“What?”


“His dad did it. I mean, I don’t have super solid proof, but…From how he was acting around my birthday It’s a pretty safe bet.”


His face went white, “His own dad…Who would do that to their own kid?!”


I patted his shoulder, “I know. But I don’t think we should say anything about it to anyone. Not unless Ryan wants us to.”


“I guess you’re right,” he said, “In any case, I hate to do this to you but you need to get ready for school.”
I glared at him, “No. I’m staying with Ryan.”


He gave me an exasperated look, “I’ll take care of him, Frankie. The last thing we need right now is for your mom to file kidnapping charges.”


“I’m eighteen.” I countered, “I do what I want.”


Even eighteen year olds need an education. Frank, I promise that if you go to school you can come right back after. I just don’t want you getting behind in your classes because of this.”


The genuine worry in his eyes caused me to pause the protest that sat on my lips. Maybe he was right. After all, I wasn’t the most diligent student even when I did go to class. Plus I really didn’t want my mom to worry, or, worse and more likely, make weird assumptions. I sighed and kissed him, “Fine, but I will be back.”


I got up and immediately fell back down with a painful gasp, "Or not. If I'm gonna make it through today then you better have some powerful painkillers. Geez you'd think I'd be able to take your abuse after everything we've been through!" I tried to joke through the pain that was throbbing through my backside, but Gerard wasn't having any of it. His face was a mask of regretful sorrow.
"Frankie..." He hugged me and kissed my head, "I'll call your mom and tell her your sick and I didn't want to disturb you. I won't make you go if you're in pain."


I laughed, "It's not like I haven't before. The first time I bottomed I spent the day limping like my leg was broken and my mom wouldn't give me any Advil without a legitimate excuse. But how do you tell your mom that you got your ass pounded by the second string linebacker? I'll be fine."


"If you're sure..." He left and came back with a couple of white tablets in his palm. He held Them out to me and, after I took them, also handed me a sandwich bag with some more.
I smiled and kissed him, "You're so good to me."


...


I rushed home after school let out. It had been such a boring day, and I was eager to get back to Gerard. I had to deal with my mom first, though. So I ran rapidly through the house upon returning home and found her in the basement.


"Mom if a friend was in trouble, you'd want me to help them out, right?" I said breathlessly.
She raised an eyebrow, "Depends. What kind of trouble?"


I chewed on my lip. I knew she was my mom, and I could trust her, but at the same time she would probably insist on telling some sort of authority, "What if I said I couldn't answer that?"


"I'd question if you're spending you're time with good influences."


I groaned, "Well, can I ask you to trust me? Just this once? It's better if you don't know."


She patted me on the head, "I always trust you. You're my son. It worries me that you can't tell me what's wrong, but I trust you."


"Oh...good. So is it ok if I'm gone for a few days? This friend really needs me, and I don't think he wants to come here."


Her expression turned wary, "I said I'd trust you, and I will. But you'd better call me every night and morning. If I found out you got into trouble I will personally beat you once you're safe at home."


I let out the breath I was holding, "Thanks. You're the best." I threw my arms around her in a hug before running up the stairs and into my room to gather clothes. Then it was off to Gerard's house.


I didn't even bother knocking. Gee knew I was coming back and if he was with Ryan I didn't want to make him leave. However, I was not expecting the scene I walked in on. Ryan was curled in a ball on the couch, and Mikey and Gerard were in the middle of the living room engaging in some sort of strange standoff. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what could be wrong, so I went over and crouched by Ryan, giving him a small smile. He looked a lot better. The dried blood was gone from his skin, giving me the impression that he took a shower, and he just generally looked more peaceful and awake.


"Frank, thank god!" Gerard exclaimed once he recognized my presence, "Will you please explain to my idiotic brother that there is nothing going on between Ryan and I?"


I looked at Mikey, "There's nothing going on between Gerard and Ryan. Is that really what this is about? Where would you get a dumb idea like that?"


Mikey scoffed, "Well excuse me for being a little suspicious. I came home to find a fifteen year old boy in my bed after leaving for the night so Gerard could have sex in peace."


"Shouldn't you have given up on that conclusion once you saw Ryan's condition?"


"Of course not! I know all about you and Gerard's freaky kink toys. For all I knew you just got carried away. Oh don't give me that look, Gerard. I was looking for a cd you borrowed and opened the wrong drawer."


Gerard was, in fact, shooting Mikey a bewildered look. Ryan's face remained an emotionless mask. That worried me. Normal Ryan would be making a joke about mine and Gerard's sex life, not sitting there like he wasn't even alive. I decided to let the Way brothers sort out there own differences and gently helped Ryan off the couch, leading him away to Gerard's room.


He sat on the bed and pulled the comforter around himself. He looked so...broken, I guess. That sounds really cliche, but it's true. I sat down next to him and wrapped my arm around him, "How are you feeling?"


"Like I got hit by a bus."


I looked up into his eyes, "I think you got hit by something worse than a bus. Buses can't emotionally damage you." I knew I was treading in dangerous waters. One false move and he'd close off or push me away.


"Who said I'm emotionally damaged?"


"I did. You were already hurt around my birthday, and this is only making things worse."


"You don't even know what this really is," he pointed out.


I smiled sadly at him, "True, but I've got a guess...it was your dad, right?"


He nodded, "Yeah. I don't know how you figured it out, but yeah. He got drunk and took things too far. He'll be fine in a couple of days and then I can go back."


"Don't," I protested quickly, desperately, "Don't go back to that monster."


"He's really not so bad...he just loses his temper."


I groaned, "Listen to you! You're like a poster child for domestic violence!"


"You don't understand!" He screamed, "He's all I have! I don't have friends or someone else to love! There's only him! And if his hatred towards me is all I can get then I'll take it, because at least it's something. At least it means I'm alive and someone is thinking about me."


His fists were clenched tightly in his lap. I held him closer, stroking his hair, "That's not true. It's not true at all, Ryan, because you have me. I'll be your friend and care enough to keep you safe. And Gerard, too. He may not seem like it, but I think you grew on him. He cares about you. So don't talk like that, because you don't need that asshole who isn't fit to be called your father."


He gaped at me, "Frankie..." And then he did something I really wasn't expecting. His lips connected with mine, but it wasn't anything romantic. It was just a gentle, closed mouth kiss that I think he needed. It reminded him that there was someone here. Someone real, warm, and caring. So I let him stay there for a while, holding him and trying to make him feel better. He never tried for anything more than that simple contact, so I figured that even if Gee did walk in, I would be able to explain the situation very calmly. It didn't matter, though, because he never did.

Notes

Okaaaaaay....sooooo...I'm not even going to try to make excuses. Not one bit. I, ages late with this and I have no good reason for it. Because you know what? I've been spending all the time that I could have been writing watching anime. Because anime is nice, and writing takes work. My brain is just so FRIED. Seriously, someone come be me for a week and then tell me if you'd want to write frerard in your free time.
But anyway, here's the next chapter. It's kinda boring, I think, but meh. And in anticipation of thoughts I'm going to say this: Frank is NOT going to start cheating on Gerard. Ok? It's NOT going to happen. Anyway, Gees chapter should be quicker in the making, but don't hold me to that.
As always, rate and comment and refer this to your friends. You lovely readers have already gotten me up to 60,000 views and I am eternally grateful.