“Guess what, Frankie!” Gerard called out to the tabby as he awoke one morning. Frank opened an eye to look at Gerard. “It’s my birthday!” He cooed happily. Unimpressed, Frank closed his eye again, not as if it was his birthday. If it was his birthday, Frank would be much more excitable.
Sighing, Gerard got out of bed and padded to the kitchen. He needed caffeine.
Gerard cradled his fresh mug of coffee in his hands as he sat with his legs curled under him on his ratty sofa. He closed his eyes and sighed. Alone on his birthday and his cat didn’t even care.
Well, this day could be going better.
********
By Midday, Gerard was thoroughly bored. Weren’t birthdays supposed to be more exciting than this? He thought so. Maybe he thought wrong.
Gerard hadn’t seen Frank since he woke up that morning and no one had called or texted to say happy birthday. Not even his brother. Needless to say, Gerard was most definitely not impressed with the situation. Not one bit.
A short, sharp rap on the door brought him out of his thoughts. He didn’t remember buzzing anyone in.
As he made his way to the door, a frown firmly on his face, he tried to think of who it might be. Two people came to mind.
Mikey.
Ray.
But they usually called before they came over to see him.
He opened the door and his world immediately went dark. Through his panic, Gerard vaguely heard Frank’s tiny ‘meow’ and someone exclaiming in pain.
“Bloody cat!” Someone familiar yelled. Then he heard no more.
*******
Frank tried to make as much of a nuisance of himself as he could while the two invaders set up Gerard’s living room with a pack of playing cards and countless jars of coffee. Banner and streamers were hung from the ceiling and balloons blown up. They couldn’t wait for Gerard to wake up. But it was taking a while. They had time to do… things.
*******
Then there was the situation of the dog.
Ray had brought a small dog with him, a blonde Chihuahua named Bob. Frank decided he didn’t like Bob; Bob was getting more attention than he was.
“Aw,” Ray cooed. “I think Frank is a little jealous of Bob.” Frank put his head in the air as if to say ‘humph’. Ray went over to pet the small animal. Frank purred at the attention and looked over at the rat-like creature and stuck his tiny pink tongue out.
Bob crept his way over to the affection giver and pushed Frank out of the way. Ray was his. Frank didn’t like this. The two midgets fought over Ray’s petting hand. Briefly, their noses toughed and Bob recoiled. Frank revelled in his victory and continued being petted.
As he petted Frank, Ray was laid out on his back, his soft fro in full view of the cat. Frank stretched and went to sit on it.
At the same moment, Gerard stumbled out of his bedroom, clutching at his head. “Ow.” He mumbled.
“Hey, Gee!” Mikey called from the sofa, doing his best to look completely innocent. Like it wasn’t his fault Gerard had the biggest headache of the century. Even worse than the last time they’d played a drinking game for almost three hours and Gerard had decided that painkillers would be completely unnecessary.
“Bastards.” Gerard hissed. Mikey and Ray grinned.
“It’s not nice to swear in front of the little ones.” Ray chided, covering Frank’s ears at an awkward angle. Gerard just glared and flopped down on the sofa next his brother.
“I hope you brought presents.” He said while he glared at them. Then he noticed the Fro’s new inhabitant. “Why is Frank sat in your hair?” Ray shrugged on the floor.
“Like I know. It’s your cat.”
“Poker time!” Mikey yelled.
****
Gerard lost at poker. He lost everything. Even Frank. To both of them. Luckily, neither had actually bothered to get Gerard a birthday present. So Gerard got his cat back and all was well in the world. Apart from Frank’s destructive tendencies but we’ll just skim over that.
Frank and Mikey moved to leave.
Unfortunately, Frank was quite comfortable in Ray’s fro and refused to move. So instead, he clawed at Ray’s head until he lay back down.
“Have fun, Ray.” Mikey called as he left. He did not want to see where this was going.
“Night, Ray!” Gerard called cheerily as he went to his room.
“Guys. Guys. Come back. Guys. HELP!”
Ah, sweet revenge.

Notes:

Notes

Once again, written with a little help from my best friend.