Desolation Row

Frank reluctantly dragged his tired body onto the rugby field. He yawned, keeping his eyes to the sodden ground as a cold wind ripped past him and the rest of the boys in his year; sending a chill down his spine as he wrapped his arms around his shivering body. The skies were dark that morning; filled with grey, pregnant clouds that were ready to burst and flood the pitch with an ongoing rain. The wind picked up, the boys around him groaned as they huddled together in their friendship groups; moaning about the British weather as the cold summer’s air crept up their black gym shorts. He looked up, his eyes scanning for Gerard amongst the sea of red shirted boys but found no one. Looking up at the sky, he stood alone in the field, wishing he could be anywhere but here.

A hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder, turning him around in a sharp jerk. He turned and found himself staring into the furious eyes of Ray Toro. Ray stood around 5’8, towering over Frank as the wind ripped through his dark curly hair. He wasn’t a particularly scary looking kid, but as his friends began to fill in behind him, glaring at Frank with menacing faces, it was enough to leave anyone shaking in their boots. “Gotta hand it to you Frank, you got some big balls coming out here. Especially as your friend put my cousin in hospital” He sneered, his hands tightening their grip on Frank’s shoulders, digging his nails through Frank’s Rugby shirt and into his skin. He winced; pulling himself out of Ray’s clutches and began to walk away. He really didn’t need this today; he didn’t even like Jane so why was Ray coming after him? “She’s got a fucking broken nose you prick!” Ray shouted, turning the heads of the boys in their year. Frank stopped, now a good distance away from them He sniffed, glaring back at them. “If you’ve got a problem with Jane, take it up with her” He replied matter-of-factly, shrugging them off.

Ray’s temper snapped, snatching a rugby ball out of the arms of one of his friends, hurling it towards Frank in a blind rage. He had no time to react. His eyes widened as the ball him square in the face, a searing pain raced through his nose as staggered back, falling into the mud. A warm liquid began to pour from his nose; quickly cupping in with his hands only to realise he was bleeding. Gerard pushed his way past the boys, getting up in Ray’s face and shoved him to the ground. Gasps and jeers filled the air as Gerard lifted his foot, kicking him straight in the ribs. “You don’t fucking touch him again” Gerard roared, watching Ray spluttering in the mud, struggling to get back on his feet. The sound of a whistle echoed through the air and Mr Urie held back Gerard from taking another swing at Ray. “That’s enough! Gerard, Ray your both on your first warning, now back off from each other” He shouted, his dark eyes staring down menacingly at the boys who groaned and nodded silently. Gerard glanced over at Frank, narrowing his eyes and nodding at him; silently asking if he was ok. Frank nodded in reply, moving his hands away from his face to reveal a large amount of blood dripping from his face. “Oh god, Frank head on over to the medical room and sort yourself out. I want you back here as soon as your done understand?” Mr Urie instructed, running a hand through his dark hair as he sighed; he hadn’t signed up for this.

*******
Frank wandered down the long corridor of the sports hall, spots of blood seeping through his hands and onto the floor as he walked. He glanced up at each door he passed, checking for the sign that said “MED ROOM” but failed to find it. “You’d think being here for 5 years, I’d have some sort of idea of where the bloody room is” he thought miserably.Miss Cracknel walked out of a classroom, directly in front of him, startling him. “Umm Miss...” He started, watching a shocked expression spread across her face. “The medical room is in here” she interrupted, quickly looking away as she continued to walk down the hall; shuddering at she went.

He pushed open the door and reached for a box of nearby tissues; wiping his face and hands clean of blood. As he did, he saw Mikey quickly pulling down his shirt, his cheeks flushing a bright red as he kept his eyes on Frank. Frank’s eyes grew wide as he saw large, scattered bruises imprinted upon his friends pallid skin; making him queasy. “Mikey... what.... what happened to you” He stammered, holding the tissue close to his face, concealing his jaw which was hanging wide open from shock. “I was about to ask you the same thing” Mikey replied bluntly, pulling on his blue blazer as he eyes shot to the ground; refusing to meet his friends eye.

“I got hit in the face by Ray Toro” He explained, shrugging as he checked his nose; it was still throbbing but at least the bleeding had stopped, suppose I should be grateful that’s all it was. He chucked the crumpled, bloodied tissues into a nearby bin and walked over to the sink which was right next to Mikey; an awkward silence hung in the air. He watched the blood run from his hands and into the sink as a frightening thought suddenly entered his head. Could Gerard have done this to him? Frank turned on his heels, placing his hands on Mikey’s shoulders and stared at his face. “Mikey look at me” He demanded, watching as his friend timidly looked back up at him. “What?” Mikey mumbled, folding his arms nervously as he struggled to look Frank in the eye; he didn’t want to talk about this. This was his thing, his and Gerard’s secret, as much as he loved Frank like a brother, he didn’t feel like sharing this with him.

He noticed as Frank’s face changed, from sympathetic to all out terrified. He had been quiet for a while now, his hands still holding onto Mikey as struggled to find the words that he so desperately needed to say. “Spit it out Frank” He groaned, trying to shake him off. He took at deep breath, staring up at the ceiling as he asked the dreaded question. “Did Gerard do this to you?” He asked his voice quivering as he forced the words from his body. Mikey stepped back, shocked by what he was insinuating. “NO! Why would you even... No Frank just no! Perhaps you should mind your own business” He cried, running his fingers through his hair; his dark roots beginning to come through.

Frank stood there for a moment, shifting uncomfortably as Mikey began to moan at him. Shouting about how Gerard wouldn’t do that, that he had no idea what they were going through. His voice seemed to fade out as he thought back to the day they were alone in the classroom, how he had snapped at him again and left him alone in there, bloodied and in tears because of his own hand, his own words. He remembered how it wasn’t the first time Gerard had laid a hand on him, made him feel worthless... or coaxed him into doing something he wasn’t entirely comfortable in doing. He shook himself free of these thoughts, holding his hands up to stop Mikey from ranting before he realised that he had lost control of what he was saying. “I was only asking because I know Gerard’s done this before” He admitted, covering his mouth in horror as realised what he had said.

Mikey’s mouth dropped open, a wave of betrayal washing over him as he felt his knees grow weak. His body went limp and Frank quickly reached out, grabbing hold of his friend before he hit the floor. Tears stung the corner of his eyes and his vision quickly blurred, covering his face as he sobbed into his hands. He didn’t want to believe it, he couldn’t believe his own brother was turning into a monster. But as he saw the fear in Frank’s eyes, he knew that he wasn’t lying. Sure he knew Gerard had a temper but never like this! Frank held him close, trying to reassure him that everything would be ok, that he was sorry, so sorry, for bringing it up. “I don’t want him to become like our Dad, I...I can’t... I can’t see him become like that” He stammered, tears trailing down his face as he buried his head into Frank’s shirt. Frank bit his lip, closing his eyes as felt the guilt tugging away at him. “Your dad’s the one who’s doing this isn’t he?” He asked quietly, feeling Mikey’s head slowly nod against his chest in reply.
He hugged him, wanted to do something, say something that could bring him some form of comfort. The only thing that was positive out of this was that now he could finally understand why Gerard was being such as jackass, why he took his anger out on him all the time and felt ashamed. It was because of him. It was because of that twisted old sack of shit that he called father. Mikey took a deep breath, calming himself down as he wiped away the tears. “You alright?” Frank said, immediately feeling stupid for asking. “I’ll be fine, just please forget I said anything, please? The last thing we need is Gerard getting pissed off at both of us” He replied, his voice still broken.Frank nodded uncertainly, still unsure of what to say; he had known the family for years and yet he had never suspected a thing.

“If you need me, you know where I am” He murmured, watching Mikey’s tear sodden face light up at that statement. He smiled, taking another deep breath as he stared up at the ceiling; finally he had someone to share all this with. He wasn’t alone anymore.

“Thanks, but I don’t feel like talking about it at the moment if that’s ok?” Mikey said, rising to his feet. Frank quickly followed, clearing his throat and nodding in agreement. There was a moment of silence between them, an uncertain silence. Frank nervously rubbed the back of his head, cautiously watching Mikey as the broad smile remained upon his face, a red colour fading into his cheeks. “Can I ask you something? I mean you’ll probably know more about relationships than I do?” Mikey asked, thoughts of Jane flooded into his mind as soon as the question escaped from him. Frank laughed, shaking his head slightly as smiled back at him. “You wanna ask out Jane don’t you” He said, folding his arms and flashing Mikey a cheeky smile. Mikey grinned. “That obvious? I mean I’ve wanted to ask her out for ages but... oh I dunno” He replied, hiding his eyes with his hand; his cheeks burning bright red now. It seemed as though, for a moment at least, their problems had slipped away. There was no hidden terror that hid behind the faces of those they trusted, all of that seemed to have evaporated into nothing for now. Here stood two friends, just talking about girls and relationships; as though they were finally “normal”

Frank slipped his arm around Mikey’s shoulders, squeezing him slightly. “Mikes, you’re a great bloke and you treat that girl like a damn princess. I’m telling you, she’ll say yes. Although I heard she got into a fight last week” Frank said. Mikey looked at him, detecting the caution in his voice. Was he trying to warn him off? He didn’t know Jane like he did; her beautiful singing voice and the way she acted when they were alone together; it was sweet. To him, she was a ray of light in his dark and murky world, he had confided in her with a lot recently and she had been so supportive. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up at that thought, his heart fluttering as her face entered his mind; if he didn’t know better, he would say that he was falling for her. Mikey shrugged, “You know what those cheerleaders are like, they blow everything out of proportion” He replied bluntly. Frank said nothing; he simply smiled and ruffled his friend’s hair. If only he knew why I was in here. “I don’t know, anyway we should probably get back to class, just ask her mate, if I was a straight teenage girl id say yes” Frank said, fluttering his eyelashes as he held Mikey’s hands. Mikey laughed, gently pushing him away. “Fuck off Iero, I’ll see you all at break?” He replied, backing away towards the door. Frank nodded, giving him a thumbs up before waving goodbye. Mikey smiled, saluting him before walking out of the medical room and towards the sports hall entrance.

Frank sighed, sitting down in a nearby chair. It doesn’t matter how much of an arse Gerard is anymore, at least now it all makes sense. I swear, no matter what happens, I’ll be there for both of them. I promise.

Notes

I finally finished all of my coursework so I decided to do another update x

Shit is finally gonna go down in the next chapter....
please Rate/Comment or Subscribe to my story, it'll really help me out :) xxx