Thursday, April 8th
School had always been a nuisance for Frank. It was long and tedious and just plain boring. The homework was unnecessarily long and just unnecessary in general. It took up his precious sleeping-and-eating time, too. The kids didn't bully him. No-- they just ignored him. He was too short to be given the time of day.
But what really pissed him off was the fact that it cut into his Gerard-and-Mikey time. The mountains of English homework he got every night made him want to curl up and die. He could barely climb Mount Kill-a-Man-Jaro before midnight every night, and frankly (excuse the pun), it pissed him off more than it should have.
Another thing that ruffled his feathers was what happened when he had confronted the Way parents about their supposedly dead son.
"Pardon me," he had said politely, standing with his hands behind his back and Mikey hiding behind the corner, "but I, um, Googled you," at this, he feigned a light blush and fumbled with his hands, "and, uh, it said you had another son? If you don't mind me asking, where is he?"
The parents had winced slightly, Christina looking somewhat guilty and Barry wearing an expression of irritation.
"He died," said Christina, giving a fake sad smile. "He's nothing but a memory, now."
Her words rang through Frank's as he shuffled down the corridor, not even bothering to look out for Ray and Bob; they became distant after two new boys -- musicians, no doubt -- transferred to their school. Frank still considered the two, slightly older boys as his friends, though. They were with him through thick and thin, so he would stick by them until they told him to take a hike.
His heart burned for Gerard when he thought about all the things he had missed: his brother growing up, his own childhood, all the friends he could have had, the education.
But then his heart soared when he thought of all that Gerard had done in the past months. He had matured greatly; he no longer forced Frank to promise that he'd come back, for he trusted his friend enough to make his way back on his own. He had been introduced to different bands, which seemed to influence the music he was already writing. Even his drawings had morphed into slightly happier things that always managed to make Frank smile. Don't get him wrong, it was still dark and creepy, but less so.
And over the months, Frank had also developed a monumental crush on the younger boy, who seemed to be completely (and unsurprisingly) oblivious to it. Mikey had caught on and made it his life's mission to turn Frank's face completely and blatantly red. He had succeeded so far, as Frank had turned twenty different shades of crimson two days ago when Mikey had suggested Gerard draw a nude of his best friend. Gerard had been delighted by the idea, and Frank was, again, unsurprisingly, petrified. Especially when Gerard tried to peel off Frank's clothes himself. Mikey was afterwards stripped of his underwear and forced to parade up and down the street with them on a stick.
"You and Mikey seem to be pretty close," Juliet mentioned when he got home from school.
Frank nodded. "Yeah, we have a lot in common." Like a mutual love for his older brother.
I know what you're thinking. Wrong kind of love, man. Wrong kind. Don't be illegal.
Thank you, bitchy narrator. Frank threw his pack into his room and raced to meet his mom in the car, eager to see his friends. They rode in partial silence; the radio being the only sound, which was only the low buzz of two men bantering on air. As they pulled up to the impressive house, tires crunching over gravel, Frank contemplated how difficult it would be to smuggle Gerard out. After all, it was his birthday tomorrow. He deserved to have his first ever night on the town on his seventeenth birthday.
"Hey Gee," called Fran as he peaked around the heavy basement door into the dark.
"Over here," came the muffled reply. Frank trotted in, flicking on the light.
"Tomorrow's your birthday!" he sang, hugging his friend's waist tightly. Gerard chuckled and turned around, embracing the smaller boy tightly. After almost fourteen years of isolation, he enjoyed the human contact Frank allowed him. He especially liked it when those weird butterflies started fluttering in his stomach. It was a strangely pleasant.
He let go all too soon for Frank and gave him a bemused smile. "And?"
"And?! That's it?! You'll be seventeen! A year closer to complete freedom!"
The smile dropped from Gerard's face. Since he had met Frank and Mikey, he had learned things about the real world. "I do not know what you expect me to do after I am released," he sighed. "I do not even have a highschool education; what kind of job could I obtain?"
Frank's shoulders slumped. As always, Gerard was right. What would they do for him? "You could..." He didn't really think about what else he was going to say. "Wait!" He lunged towards Gerard's desk, where the hazel-eyed boy kept his various drawings that he was most proud of. "You could be an artist! Or a songwriter!" he exclaimed, also lifting up one of the sheets of lyrics that littered the floor.
The dark-haired sixteen year old gazed at the sheets thoughtfully before smiling indulgently at Frank. "Thank you, Frank."
The shorter boy grinned. Every time Frank helped his friend with a problem, or just stood there and watched Gerard dutifully sketch or write, his friend would thank him. He had gotten used to it, even going to the point where he relished the short words of affection.
"You don't need to thank me, Gee. I'm just glad I found you." Fuck, that sounded really cheesy.
A whistle sounded from above them. "Jesus, Frank, that was really fucking cliche."
"Fuck you, Unicorn Queen."
"They are fucking real, asshat!"
Gerard chuckled yet again and flopped back-first onto his bed, letting his eye drift shut for a moment, smiling at nothing in particular. Today was just one of those day he could just smile at. He was just content with his life at the moment.
He was not sure if there was anything that could shake his mood.
"Mikey?!"
Shit, that was not Juliet.

Notes

Longer update to compensate for my lack of updating yesterday. Blame school, or Global Warming, or baboons, I don't know, nor do I care.
I want to thank all of my loyal followers, without whom I would not be in nearly as good of a mood. And a "Hello" to all of my Internet Friends, even if none of you read this.
Friends.
And that's how you scare people away. You just learned from the master.
Comment and subscribe and rate and shit.
-Stitches