Gerard rapped his fingers impatiently against the counter, staring at the woman who was slowly making his coffee, her movements heavy with fatigue and age, her small body looking frail and breakable beneath the baggy uniform she wore.

“Here you go sweetie,” she smiled, sliding the coffees over to him with her wrinkled hands.

“Thanks,” Gerard muttered, leaving the money on the counter and grabbing the drinks.
He turned on his heel and headed towards the door, not looking back at the old, lonely looking woman in the empty diner.

It was getting dark outside but Gerard make out Frank sat in the car, his knees drawn up to his chest and his head resting against the window, his eyes closed as he slept. He looked so young, so helpless, so beautiful. Gerard felt...he didn’t know, warm maybe? Yeah. He felt warm and happy and content inside when he saw Frank asleep, so oblivious to the world around him.

Gerard unlocked the car door and got in, putting the coffee cups in the drinks holder and starting the car up. As they pulled out of the car park, Frank’s eyes fluttered and he stirred, his brow furrowing and his nose crinkling up as he awoke.

“Mmm, where are we?” he mumbled, voice heavy and thick with sleep.

“Nearly there,” was all Gerard said.

“Is this for me?” Frank quietly, gesturing to the coffee.

Gerard nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Thank you,” Frank said, his voice still sleepy and heavy.

Gerard glanced at him as his pale, thin fingers curled around the cup and he brought up to his lips, sitting the burning hot liquid without even flinching. Gerard frowned at him.

“Don’t drink it yet baby, you’ll burn yourself,” Gerard sighed, scolding him.

Frank just looked at him apologetically and lowered the cup to his lap, holding it against his knee and staring at the cup.

“Gerard?”

It had been silent in the car with nearly half an hour except the music coming from the radio, but Frank was finally piping up.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going to happen to me?” Frank questioned him, staring out of his window sadly and looking away from Gerard.

“What do you mean?”

“When are you going to kill me?”

“What?!” Gerard hissed, his eyes widening.

Frank rolled his head to look at Gerard, his eyes sombre and sad. “I don’t want to die yet.”

“Frank, you’re not-Jesus, I’m not going to kill you! Where the fuck did that idea come from?” Gerard demanded, hands tightening in the steering wheel.

Frank remained silent and refused to look at Gerard, tears spilling down his face silently. Gerard wanted to stop and pull over, take Frank in to his arms and just hold him, make it all OK again, but he didn’t. He doubted Frank wanted him to touch him, so Gerard just kept driving, chewing away at his bottom lip and nervously glancing at Frank every now and then.

They were in California already. The minute Gerard had found out about Frank and Jamia’s plans to move there, he’d gone and withdrawn all the money that his grandmother had left him in her will. It had just been sat there in his bank and she’d told him that he could use the money for whatever he wanted. There was a lot of it too, enough for Gerard to buy a house with.

So that’s what he’d done. He got on a plane to Cali, flew over and bought a small house hidden right in the rural forests of Kings. It was secluded and out of the way, just what Gerard had wanted.

He still had some of the money Elena had given him left over. With his inheritance money, his benefits (Gerard had received benefits because of his illness) and the money he earned through his art and all of his savings, he had enough for him and Frank to get by more than comfortably.
He’d already sorted out a job illustrating books with a publishing company a few days before all of this had happened so he didn’t need to worry about any of that.

He was so excited to start all over again. He had everything he could ever want now. He no longer had to be so bitter and jealous and full of longing for Frank. He was never letting that boy go, not now he had him after waiting for so long.