It was different after that night. Frank used to think Gerard was just an asshole who didn't give a shit about anybody. But now that all changed.
Frank kept remembering Gerard's face when Gerard was showing Frank his art, and when they talked about starting a band. He remembered how happy Gerard looked. He remembered how much fun it was.
But most of all, he kept remembering the way Gerard held onto Mikey after Mikey getting beaten. Frank could still remember how scared the two of them looked, how they looked just like little kids, the way they hugged each other, how protectively Gerard held Mikey, how distraught he looked and how upset he looked when Mikey cried.
Frank knew Mikey was always saying how Gerard was actually a really nice guy, and how Gerard and Mikey were best friends, but it still made everything different to see it firsthand.
When Frank came over a few days after that, he returned Gerard's comic book and the three of them all sat around talking about comics for over an hour. Gerard gave Frank a Spider Man comic and with the only words of warning being "you even tear a page in this, and I’ll kill you in your sleep."
"Why are you lending it to me then?"
"Because it’s my favorite." Gerard said. Afterwards, he went back to his room and Mikey and Frank hung out. Frank read the comic over 3 times that night.
A few days after, Frank was back to teaching Mikey the guitar. About half way through, Gerard silently walked into the room with his charcoal and sketch book. Quietly, he sat in the corner with it, and Frank forced himself to get back to teaching. By the end of the hour, when Frank and Mikey decided to take a break, Gerard held the sketch up.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Beautiful." Mikey said. "Now I'm starving." Mikey left, leaving Gerard and Frank behind.
"How is it? Really?" Gerard asked. "I mean, Mikey always says he likes it, but I need someone else's opinion."
Frank leaned over to look at it. On it, there was a little boy, sitting alone by himself in a small corner, holding his knees against his chest while he listened to a record player. The kid looked about 7, yet he somehow appeared older. It looked a little like Mikey.
"It's great. Really, it is." Frank said. Gerard's eyes lit up.
"Thanks!"
Some days were like how they used to be, Gerard never leaving his room while Frank and Mikey hung out, but they were less and less frequent. More often, the three boys hung out together, talking and laughing about anything that they could. Once, Gerard even got a bag of pot and the three of them smoked it together. It was Franks first time trying it, and he was afraid of looking silly, but nobody noticed. Soon, they were falling all over the place, laughing, and trying to talk about nothing together for hours while they just waited on a long, strange trip.
One time, Gerard didn't come out of his room. Mikey and Frank had been at the movies, and when they returned the house reeked of pot and they could hear "Dark Side of the Moon" playing from Gerard's room. They both went up, hoping they could score some pot, when they saw a girl in Gerard's room. She was really pretty, with green eyes, long black hair, and soft features. She didn’t look like she was wearing any clothes, instead holding a sheet up against herself, leaning against the wall, her long legs out stretched out, to which Frank heard Mikey make a small sigh of interest. She ran her fingers through her hair, smiling softly, mysteriously at Gerard. She was smoking the pot, but somehow it had been enough for there to be a haze of the weed over them. It was then that Frank realized that Gerard had out his canvas, and was painting a picture of her. She tilted her head to the side, letting all her hair fall forward, her and Gerard keeping their eyes on each other. Frank suddenly felt strangely jealous. He leaned next to Mikey.
"Why don't we go back to your room?" He asked.
"If we can get second hand high staying here, we're staying." Mikey retorted.
Before Frank could argue with Mikey's logic, Gerard had finished the painting and turned it over to her.
"What do you think?" He asked with a little grin.
A look of surprise went across her face, then happiness. She got up and ran to Gerard's side and kissed him on the cheek.
"It's perfect! Oh thank you!" She kept saying.
Frank and Mikey both felt a little jealous by then, but for Mikey he was jealous of Gerard, whereas Frank felt himself jealous towards the girl. He shook it off as just that he wanted some attention.
The girl still kept her arms locked around Gerard's neck, kissing him again and making him smile. He turned and said "Why don't we try one more?"
She smiled."Like what?"
Gerard stood up and tossed her his old tattered jacket. "Put on the jacket, but lose your clothes."
Mikey practically fell over with excitement. Frank shoved him off, annoyed.
The girl did so, tossing her clothes to the side and kicking them away, but neither of them could see her. Gerard gave her the jacket and instructed her to leave the buttons undone. “And keep the jacket open, so that we can still see everything.” Then he smirked. "And turn around so that my brother and his friend can see this."
At that exact moment, Mikey jumped up and ran out. Frank froze, the girl laughing as Gerard opened the door all the way.
"Can I help you?" Gerard asked, with an amused look on his face.
Frank shook his head quickly and then managed to get up and run out.

Soon the girl and Gerard came back downstairs, both heading towards the door.
"Thanks for coming today," Gerard was saying.
"And thanks for giving me something to pass off in art class as my own." She responded.
"Are you sure you don't want to keep the other one?"
"If my mother knows I took off my clothes for you, she'll yell at me because I didn’t get paid." Gerard started to laugh when she said “No, I’m being serious. My mother is insane.”
“You do not know insane parents unless you’ve lived here.” He said.
She grinned and then they hugged. Gerard kissed her on the cheek and they said goodbye. Frank looked back down, trying to ignore them, especially after Gerard pulled her back for a moment and whispered something into her hair. He smiled at her.
"See you around," he called.
"I'll see you around." She nodded at him, and then walked up behind Mikey and out her arms around his neck.
"Bye, sweetie." She said sweetly. Before Mikey could respond, she kissed him on the lips, tousled his hair, and then left, laughing as she waved to Gerard.
Gerard walked up to Mikey.
"And you can thank me for that kiss later. Never say I didn't ever do anything for you." He said.
"Wait, so she's not your girlfriend?" Frank suddenly asked.
"Nah." Gerard said. "She's the girl who helped me spike all the jocks drinks. She's a friend."
Frank perked up a little. He tried not to show it though.
"You guys are talking, but I seriously just got the best kiss of my life by the sexiest girl possible, are we honestly going to pretend that never happened?" Mikey asked, pressing his fingers on his lips. Gerard laughed.
"Hey, she's a good model. She loves taking her clothes off." Mikey widened his eyes with interest and Gerard laughed.
But it was then that Frank realized something was off. Why was he so jealous of a girl that he saw with Gerard? None of it made any sense.

Or maybe it did, but he just didn't want it to make sense.