You're The Only Hope For Me

“Just do it!” Hazel urged, for what felt like the seventh time in fifteen minutes.
“Carry on and you could get an advertisement job for fucking Nike!” Frank grumbled, his eyes still sparkling.
“Maybe I will,” Hazel lightly shot back, “But only after you’ve done it.”
“You’re impossible” Frank laughed.
Today was the day that Frank was going to call Gerard, or he was supposed to but didn’t seem to have the guts. Hazel was pretty sure he was just acting like that to wind her up, well if he was, then it was definitely working!
“Okay, here goes…” Frank touched a finger to his phone, “No no no, I can’t!” He pulled his finger away like it had burnt him. “I feel too shy and self-conscious.”
“Bullshit!” Haze said loudly.
“What?” Frank was still staring at his phone.
“I smell bullshit.” Hazel repeated at the same volume.
Frank looked at her, a small smile on his face. “Like I said, you’re impossible.”
“Yeah,” Hazel laughed slightly, “Yeah I am.”
Frank touched his finger to it again, “Oh shit! I broke it!”
“Give it here I’ll fix it.” Hazel sighed in exasperation.
Frank obediently handed it over and Hazel pressed the screen, it unlocked immediately. Hazel then turned aeroplane mode off and smiled. She loaded up contacts and scrolled through them until she found what she was looking for, clicked on it, and then handed it back to Frank, smiling smugly.
Frank looked at the screen.
‘Calling… Gerard’
Frank opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and closed it. He flashed Hazel a dazzling smile and lifted the phone to his ear.
Hazel raised her eyebrows at him and laughed.
She strained her ears, trying to make out what was happening on the other end of the phone, but all she could hear was a faint and fuzzy buzz, she resumed it was the ringing.
“Hey Gerard.” Frank suddenly said and Hazel tilted her head, it didn’t improve her hearing any – all she could hear was the noise of a voice at the other end of the line, she presumed it was Gerard.
“Yeah, it’s Frank…. Fine, and yourself?.... I know, right?!... Yeah, too long….. Hey I was wondering…. Yeah yeah, but I was wondering if we could meet soon?..... Yeah, I understand…. No, no….. Me and you…. And Hazel…. Oh she’s wonderful, well you’ll see….. So how is thingy?.... Sorry I forgot it my bad…. Yeah her…. Oh that’s grand…. Yeah, we’re all good here…. Not much, just music and so on…. You?.... Really? Oh that’s great! Well done!.... I don’t know….”
The conversation went on and Hazel lost track of it, it seemed to be going well enough though.
“Gerard?” Hazel heard Frank speak again, “I’ve missed you.”
Hazel found it hard to decipher the voice on the other end of the phone, but she was sure she heard something like “I’ve missed you too.”
“Well yeah, I’ll see you then…. Bye!” Frank removed the phone from the side of his head, a big grin plastered across his face.
“Well?” Hazel looked at him.
“The day after tomorrow!” Frank beamed and Hazel started smiling too.
“See, it wasn’t that hard, was it?” She laughed and he laughed too.
“No, I guess not.”
He moved towards her and took her in his arms, still smiling.
“What’re you so happy about?” Hazel teased.
“I am lucky to know someone like you and you’re going to meet my amazing best friend with me who I’ve not seen in ages and you’re going to love him I know it and yeah life’s good.”
He laughed and swung her around, lifting her off her feet. She laughed too and revelled in the ecstasy she was feeling, she was sure Frank’s good mood was contagious.
It lasted well, but soon enough Frank’s happiness wore off and turned to worry. “What if he’s changed? What if he has new friends? What if I don’t seem the same?” He kept fretting. “Look you’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, he’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.” Hazel did her best to soothe him but his anxious mood seemed to stay for the next two days. Two evenings later Frank was still anxious, drumming his fingers against the wheel with a slightly distant look as they drove along the road, on the way to a reasonably small town not too far away. Hazel tried her best to take his mind off it, but even the Joy Division CD she’d put on didn’t distract him fully. The drive took about forty minutes and by half-past seven they had arrived in the town that Hazel didn’t know the name of. They parked in a little car park and walked to a bar that was about ten minutes away, the air was slightly chilly and Hazel felt Frank take her hand. It was a relatively small town but a main road ran through it so it was quite busy with fast traffic. Hazel quite liked it. Frank hadn’t told her where they were meeting Gerard, but Hazel had been expecting something fancy, the little bar was a pleasant surprise she decided. As they approached it Hazel began to feel herself getting a little nervous, she didn’t know the guy and was worried he wouldn’t approve of her. Maybe he’d notice the age gap between her and Frank and think that she only liked him for his money, maybe he’d develop a negative opinion and judge her for it. She did her best to push the thoughts out of her head and gripped Frank’s hand a little tighter. Frank let go of her hand to push open the wooden door and they were greeted by a blast of warmth and happy voices, for the size of the town the inn was surprising busy. They walked in and Frank scanned around quickly, his eyes finally settling on a man sitting by himself in the corner. They started towards him and the man caught sight of them, and stood up to meet them. Hazel recognised him from the pictures she’d seen, he was obviously Gerard, although she noticed that he looked even more attractive in real life. He was a medium sized man, with very pale skin and jet black hair which stuck out at odd angles from his head. His eyes were a hazel green and seemed quite serious, though they sparkled with life at odd moments, he’d smudged eyeliner around them which suited him, His lips were a pale colour and when he smiled at them she saw his small white teeth. Yes, he was quite an attractive man, though he was no Frank.
“Frank!” Gerard smiled widely and as good as threw himself upon Frank, engulfing him in a massive hug.
Frank’s muffled response of “Gerard!” was barely audible.
Gerard’s voice was slightly high and very American, not high like the man who had kidnapped her, but a little higher than Frank’s, it was actually quite a pleasant sound and Hazel liked it.
“It’s been too long!” Gerard exclaimed, a smile creeping onto one side of his mouth.
“Oh I know!” Frank responded, his face still buried in Gerard’s jacket, “I’ve missed you too much. I’m so glad to see you!”
Gerard laughed happily, “Me too, Frankie, me too!”
Frank broke away and Gerard turned to Hazel, “So you’re Hazel?” He asked.
“Yeah,” She said quietly, then ignored her shyness and spoke slightly louder, “Yeah, I’m Hazel, Frank’s told me a lot about you.”
“What? About like how incredibly sexy I am?” Gerard smirked and put his hands on his waist, rotating his hips and winking at Hazel.
Hazel laughed and earned a smile from him.
“Oh, I’m sorry I forgot to mention to her that you’re the queen of sass!” Frank teased and Gerard laughed.
“No really, Hazel. It’s nice to meet you.” He took Hazel’s hand and shook it warmly, still smiling.
“And you.” Hazel smiled back, suddenly feeling more at ease with this guy.
Gerard gestured towards the table in the corner, inviting Hazel and Frank to sit down.
“Can I get you drinks?” He asked, clasping his hands on the wooden top once they were all seated.
“Yeah, sure,” Frank replied, “I’ll have wine please? Hazel?”
“Errmm…” Hazel knew she wasn’t legally old enough to drink, but didn’t want to tell Gerard that just yet, “I’ll just have whatever Frank’s having thanks.”
“Okay!” Gerard smiled and tapped a passing waiter on the shoulder, “Can we have a bottle of wine with two glasses, and erm, a glass of water please?”
Hazel frowned, remembering what Frank had said about Gerard having a drinking problem.
Gerard was a really easy person to talk to, that became clear throughout the evening. Hazel recalled what Frank had said about how he felt that he couldn’t be himself without being drunk, it was such a shame that a lovely person had to feel that way. Gerard’s attitude didn’t convey that of one who was depressed, but Hazel knew perfectly well that he may be hiding it.
“So are you two a couple?” Gerard asked just as their food arrived, “Like in a relationship?”
“Errr-” Hazel stuttered, she didn’t actually know what it was; she wanted it to be relationship but had no idea if Frank felt the same way. She thought about the way they’d acted over the past few weeks, it certainly seemed like they were in a relationship but Hazel didn’t want to confirm it just in case Frank didn’t see it that way. Hazel felt Frank’s hand find hers under the table and squeeze it, as if in validation.
“Yes,” She said clearly, “Yeah, we are.”
Gerard glanced at Frank then smiled, “That’s cute. You guys certainly look good together.”
Frank smiled, put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. Whilst Frank wasn’t looking Hazel saw Gerard take a bottle out of his jacket and quickly drink from it. She didn’t think Gerard knew she could see him and suspected that it was alcoholic, vodka by the look of it, although she tried not to be too suspicious and jump to conclusions as it could have been anything.
They started eating and continued to talk while doing so, Frank and Gerard talking about things which had happened several months back and about people who Hazel didn’t know. They talked about Frank’s music recording and Gerard told them both that he had a new job writing and drawing storyboards for comics. Gerard kept taking drinks from his bottle, although he did it quickly Hazel could tell he was drinking a lot, Frank didn’t seem to notice. Eventually Gerard turned his full attention to Hazel again.
“So how did you actually meet Frank?” He asked, his eyes slightly misty before focusing on her.
Hazel considered lying to him for a moment but quickly pushed the thought aside, she was not going to lie to Frank’s best friend. She thought back to waking up in the car, but couldn’t remember what had happened before that. She remembered the injection but nothing about the circumstances.
“I was kidnapped,” She began, “By two men, and they took me to, I don’t know where, a garage maybe? They hurt me a bit and I thought I was going to die, but Frank turned up before they did anything serious.”
“Did he save you?” Gerard asked softly, taking in Frank’s shy smile.
“Yeah he did, and I can’t thank him enough because the thought of what they wanted to do to me still terrifies me. But he took me back to his and looked after me until I got over the shock and then asked me to stay with him, so I did.”
“I take it that it was your idea to meet me then?” Gerard smiled, looking slightly charmed.
“Yeah, wait, how did you know that?” Hazel exclaimed.
“I just know that Frank isn’t assertive enough to do something like that without someone pushing him to do it!” Gerard laughed and Hazel joined in whilst Frank looked a little miffed.
“I’m sorry I’m cautious!” Frank put in indignantly and laughed.
After they’d finished eating Gerard got up and walked to the bathroom, Hazel was sure he was taking the opportunity to have another drink.
“Hazel?” Frank started looking down at his hands, “Do you actually want us to have a relationship?”
Hazel stared at him, “Of course I do!”
“It’s just that, you were a bit, you know, you seemed unhappy to say it?”
Hazel felt her cheeks flush slightly, “Oh, no, no. It’s just that I wasn’t sure if that’s what you wanted because we’ve never actually talked about it. If that makes any sense. But I do, honestly.”
He laughed, and kissed her nose, “Oh, alright then, no worries.”
He smiled at Gerard as he returned and stood up, offering Hazel his hand. Gerard didn’t seem to be under the influence of any alcohol and stood quite steadily as him and Frank argued about who would pay, eventually agreeing to split it.
However, when they went outside into the heavy rain and cold night air the alcohol seemed to catch up with Gerard and he stumbled, steadying himself on Frank’s shoulder. Because he was bigger than Frank, Frank stumbled himself and fell onto the road, just as a heavy goods lorry sped past, unable to stop due to the speed it was going at and the slippery road, wet from the rain. It hit into him and sent him flying to the other side of the road where he lay, unmoving.

Notes

I AM SO SO SO SORRY!!! PLEASE DO NOT HATE ME!!! I STILL LOVE YOU ALL!!!! I'M SO SORRY!!!