Days Gone By

The rain thundered down on top of them, the thick grey clouds above them darkened the skies as thunder and lightning clapped around them; their footsteps kicking up sodden leaves and broken bits of wood as they ran through the forest, laughing at one another as they tried to shelter themselves from the rain.

The two men stopped just outside the campsite, staring into each other’s smiling faces. Gerard’s eyes locked with his, feeling the intensity pulling him in. He leaned forward and brushing his lips against Frank’s. As soon as their lips connected it felt like a mild electric shock to his heart, making it skip a number of beats before quickening in pace. He had never felt so alive. Frank threaded his fingers through Gerard’s long hair, holding him in place, not wanting the kiss to end.

Gerard moaned, moving his hands up Frank’s shirt when he felt something underneath; a small, hard bump in the centre of his chest. He suddenly felt Frank pull away, a look of shame and anger spreading across his face. “I can’t do this...” Frank groaned, quickly walking away and heading back to the camp. He watched him leave, standing alone in the dark as he folded his arms into his chest; he had never felt so used.

*****

Frank lay awake in his bed. The world around him was silent as the moon shone down upon the camp, spotlighting them with its majestic glow. Everyone had gone to sleep hours ago and yet, as he lie here, alone in the dark, he found himself unable to sleep. His mind replaying everything like a broken record skipping inside his head, the things he and Gerard had said and done before walking back to the camp, before he left him standing there alone like an arse hole.

Guilt quickly rose in his chest, tears welling in his eyes as he took out the small gold ring from under his shirt; curling his fist around it as he cried helplessly into his hand. “I’m so sorry” He whispered, a achy feeling clouding around his heart as more memories began to enter his mind, haunting him as his eyes fluttered closed, drifting off to sleep.

*****

Frank stared blankly out onto the field, the surrounding trees casting long black shadows as the moonlight shone down upon them. The sound of the sea crashing against the sand as small waves crept up along the shore.

As he looked out onto this desolate scene, he saw something.

There was a man…

Standing alone in the field...

Playing a violin…

And the strings…

Are the nerves in his own arm.

He stood behind the fence, staring past the wire and their razor-sharp, deadly barbs and out onto the empty landscape. What the hell was happening?

Then, he saw him, dressed in his black dinner suit, his face veiled by his soft, golden hair. Frank smiled, an overwhelming sense of love washing over him as tears of joy began to well in his eyes. “Hey... hey!” Frank called out, beaming with happiness as he waved his arms frantically, trying to grab the man’s attention as he stood unmoving, staring out at the sea.

Until he turned his face to him.

Frank’s smile quickly faded into a look of horror as he found himself unable to look away from the man before him. The sight seemed to plunge them both into an eerie silence as they looked at one another.

His face was barren of flesh; nothing more than a simple skull.

Mr Death…

*****

Frank awoke in his bed, sweat dripping from his brow as he breathed heavily in his sleeping bag. He placed his hand to his chest, struggling to calm himself down when he found the ring to be missing. He frantically searched his tent, his heart pounding as he began to panic- he couldn’t have lost it, he just couldn’t have.

“Looking for this?” A voice asked innocently.

Frank’s fingers curled into fists, his face twisting into a venomous sneer as he slowly turned around. Lindsey stood at the entrance of the tent, smiling sweetly as he held up the ring which dangled from chain. He glared at her, reaching out to snatch it back only for her to quickly move it behind her. “Oh no you don’t” She jeered patronisingly, wiggling her finger at him as she spoke. “Lindsey give it back” He sneered, trying to conceal the hurt in his eyes. She laughed, threading the chain through her fingers as she continued to grin at him. She had him now.

“Who on earth would be that desperate to marry you? Do you have any idea of much of an embarrassment you are?” She said spitefully, staring down at him with malicious eyes. Frank swallowed hard, her words hitting him like knives. How could she possibly know anything about them or what they had been through? Tears stung in his eyes as his bottom lip trembled. He hung his head low, unable to look at her. She snorted, folding her arms into her chest as a cold breeze drifted into the tent. “Aww is someone upset? Go on Frank cry, go on fucking cry you pathetic piece of shit” She taunted as a tear trailed down his cheek. Her smile quickly faded into a look of hatred, she had never hated someone so much in her life. She had heard what Gerard had said, moaning out his name as he slept; It made her feel sick.

She sighed. She couldn’t let this carry on. Gerard was hers; he always would be.

Lindsey grabbed his hair, pulling his head close to her lips as she spoke gently in his ear. “I’m not stupid Frank. I can reach out and break you anytime I like” She said coldly, snapping her fingers as Frank winced in pain, struggling in her grip. “Gerard is mine and he’ll never love you. Nobody will ever love you” She added softly, dropping him to the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, keeping his head to the floor as his cheeks burned red with embarrassment. Tears fell from his eyes as he struggled to keep himself together. Maybe she was right; Gerard was with Lindsey and had been from the start. He never once said that he would leave her so perhaps Lindsey was right.

Maybe he was destined to be alone after all.

Lindsey walked out of the tent, tossing the ring over her shoulder to him as she left. I always win in the end Frank she thought to herself, a callous smile spreading across her face as she wandered through the dark. She crept inside her tent to find a dazed Gerard sitting up in their sleeping bag, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake himself up. “Everything alright?” He yawned. She smiled, crawling beside him and wrapping her arms around his torso.

“Everything is perfect” She said sweetly, kissing him gently on the lips as he laid back down, drifting off to sleep.

Notes

Will Frank listen to Lindsey and give up on Gerard?
Who is the man Frank keeps dreaming about?

Find out soon :) xxx

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