Frank sat waiting in his apartment, his knees bouncing up and down slightly as he stared at the television. Gerard was due to call in fifteen minutes and Jamia had decided that since Frank was otherwise occupied that it would be a good excuse for her to go out shopping. He desperately wanted a cigarette, but Jamia refused to let him light one up in the apartment and he couldn’t go out onto the balcony in case he didn’t hear Gerard buzz the intercom. All he wanted was to relax, maybe go to the mall with Jamia or to the movies. It was killing him that he had to sit in and play nice with some guy he barely knew. Granted, Gerard seemed like a nice guy all things considered but he wasn’t happy about wasting his precious free time with the guy.
The crackling buzz of the intercom informed Frank that Gerard had arrived. Out of habit Frank checked his watch, noting that Gerard was on time. He was a little surprised considering that he had arrived late to their last meeting. With a heavy sigh Frank pushed himself off the couch, groaning when he heard his knees click. With a few rushed steps he made it over to the white intercom located beside the door.

‘Hello?’ he spoke as he held the talk button.

‘Hey, it’s Gerard’ the increasingly familiar voice replied.

‘I’ll buzz you up, it’s apartment 23’ Frank reminded him.

He walked into the kitchen, grabbing himself a beer out of the fridge and opening the can. He had just taken his first mouthful when there was a wrap at the door. Beer still in hand, he opened door. His eyes racked in the sight of the man in front of him. Gerard’s hair was messy and his white skin looked even paler than the last day they had met. His leather jacket was slightly worn looking, but it suited him. His brown t-shirt and blue jeans were loose and comfortable looking and finished off with a pair of black boots. His look was quite similar to Frank’s outfit, who was in jeans and white t shirt and chucks.

‘C’mon in’ Frank held the door open for the taller man to enter, who greeted him with a nod.

‘Thanks’ he replied.

Gerard stood in the living room for a moment, shrugging his acoustic guitar off his back while taking a fleeting look around. The place was immaculately clean. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be found. The small coffee table near the brown couch was almost glistening with a polished sheen, as was the wooden table stashed away in the corner of the living room near the kitchen. There was no door to block the view of the kitchen, which was as pristine as the living room. It always amused Gerard when he walked into the home of a clean freak. Gerard found it strange that some people couldn’t handle a bit of dirt or chaos. To Gerard, a home should be comfortable and lived in. It didn’t have to be perfect and spotless. It made a home boring, and oh so tedious with all the time that was needed to keep the place spick and span. He enjoyed leaving his comics out on the living room table, along with his day old mug of coffee from when he had stayed up late reading the latest comic. He enjoyed spotting Lindsey’s red lip gloss on the mantel piece because she had been in a rush in the morning. All those things were memories, and the made a place a home. People who were afraid of mess were afraid to live. Gerard kept these thoughts to himself though.

‘Nice place’ was the comment he made instead.

It was a nice apartment, in that there was nothing wrong with the place. It just needed a more homely touch, but that was none of his concern.

‘Thanks’ Frank muttered awkwardly before adding ‘would you like something to drink? I have beer if you want some.’

Gerard eyes the beer that was tightly clenched in Frank’s hand. He wouldn’t have thought as Frank as a day drinker, but the offer was too good to refuse.

‘Beer would be great actually.’

Frank didn’t respond, he merely walked to his refrigerator and pulled out another can before handing it to Gerard.

‘Take a seat’ he gestured towards the couch ‘I left my guitar in the bedroom. I’ll be just a second.’

Gerard sat down on the couch, opening his can and putting in down on the table in front of the couch. He unzipped the black case that encased his guitar, gently picking it up. The guitar was his pride and joy, even if it couldn’t play it too well. It gave him endless joy to play, almost as much as drawing did. Music and art were his two big passions in life. He chose art because it was easier to carve a career out of through comics. Both industries were impossible, but if he worked hard enough he had a better chance at succeeding with his art. If he didn’t make it with comics, he could try cartoon illustration. Worst case scenario was teaching art. Music was a different ball game altogether. It was far more personal for him, and if he failed the rejection would be bitterer to swallow. He admired Frank for trying to make a name for himself in an industry that was notoriously hard to get into. Passion and dedication were needed to make any sort of head way, something he could see Frank had an abundance of.

‘Sorry’ Frank apologised when he came back in.

‘No worries. I really hope I’m not holding you back from anything’ Gerard felt obliged to ask.

‘No, not at all. So, what kind of lessons are you looking for? I mean, do you want to go over basics or…’

‘Nah, I have the basic stuff down. I just have a hard time with some of the more complicated stuff, like power cords and shit. I tend to get a bit jumbled up sometimes when I’m playing as well, my fingers slip quite a bit.’

Frank nodded while Gerard spoke, making Gerard wonder what he was thinking. This thought made Gerard frown. He never really cared about what others thought of him, but for some reason he actually cared about what Frank thought of him.

‘Okay. You probably just need more practice more than anything when it comes to the slippage. How often do you play?’ Frank spoke thoughtfully.

‘Honestly, not as much as I would like…maybe a couple of times a month?’

Frank shook his head with a slightly exasperated look on his face.

‘Well, you’ll never progress if you’re not playing consistently. You need to practice more if you want me to give you lessons. No offence but it’ll be wasting my time otherwise.’

Gerard chuckled, not at all perturbed.

‘Alright, point taken. I’ll put more effort in.’

‘Good. Okay, so how about we try Sweet Home Alabama?’ Frank suggested with a wide smile on his face that let Gerard know Frank was making fun of him.

A couple of hours later Gerard seemed to have gotten the song down fairly well. Frank had to admit he was surprised. The impression he had gotten from Gerard was that he wasn’t very good. From what Frank could see Gerard had good potential; he just didn’t have the patience to practice enough to acquire the proficiency he wanted.

‘Alright, maybe we should leave it there for now. We’ll pick it up again next week, maybe even start something new.’ Frank suggested as his wrist began to ache a little. It had been a while since he had sat down and played pretty much nonstop for hours.

‘Thank fuck, my wrist is hurting like a bitch’ Gerard replied with relief.

Frank noticed how Gerard spoke from the side of his mouth sometimes. It was a strange habit for someone to have, but it made him seem more quirky than Frank first thought. There was a silence that lingered for a few awkward seconds until Frank’s need to avoid awkward silences made itself known again.

‘You want another beer?’

Gerard studied Frank closely for a second, trying to decipher if it was a genuine offer or not. Then Lindsey’s words about him being more social came back to haunt him.

‘Sure, why not’ he replied with a smile, zipping his guitar back into its case. Frank stood up without another word, guitar in hand. He walked back into the room he had retrieved his guitar from earlier, putting it back on its rightful stand before heading straight into the kitchen and grabbing two beers. He strolled back into the living room to find Gerard peeking through his DVD collection. Gerard seemed to sense Frank’s presence straight away, turning to face him.

‘You got some good stuff here, I’ve gotta say I’m impressed’ Gerard told him without any shame or embarrassment at being caught snooping.

‘Thanks’ Frank muttered, handing Gerard a cold beer.

‘Aw man, this had gotta be one of the best films of all time’ Gerard spoke excitedly as he pulled out a copy of Blade Runner.

‘I couldn’t agree more. I haven’t watched it in forever though’ Frank agreed, admiring Gerard’s choice in film.

‘Me neither’ Gerard was reading the back of the DVD case.

‘Shall I put it on?’ Frank asked, deciding that since Gerard was staying for at least another beer he may as well put on a movie to ease any awkwardness.

‘Hell yeah.’

Gerard handed Frank the DVD before cracking the can of beer in hands open. Frank set up the DVD while Gerard made himself comfortable on the couch, slouching and relaxing as though he had been in Frank’s home before. Frank didn’t seem to mind as he sat on the other side of the couch, remote in hand.

As much as Frank hated to admit it, there were worse ways to spend his Saturdays.

Notes

Sorry it's late. Life got in the way.

As always, please comment/subscribe/vote.

P.S It's my birthday in exactly four hours and five minutes. Woo-Hoo