Frank laid his head on my bare chest and nuzzled his body against mine. I lit a cigarette and wrapped my free arm around his back while I puffed away. Frank looked up at me. I offered him a cigarette but he denied it. Instead he kept looking up at me. I put out my cigarette and started to play with Frank's soft black hair.

"Thank you," Frank whispered.

“For what?” I asked.

“For being here for me.”

“I’ll always be here for you.” I smiled down at him and continued to stroke his head. For the first time, it felt like everything was normal. Frank had a glow of life and happiness in him. I felt like everything was going to be okay.

“I’m kinda hungry.” Frank whispered, knocking me out of my love trance.

“I can make you something,” I got up carefully and put my underwear and a sweatshirt on, “You can stay here in bed.” Frank snuggled up on his pillow and closed his eyes.

“Fine by me.” He giggled. I kissed him on the forehead and pushed his hair back. I walked over to his door and before I left the room, I looked back at Frank. His back was exposed from the blankets. I could see all his magnificent tattoos that filled his back, but they weren’t the same. Oh so very subtly, tiny little slashes scarred his skin, disfiguring the beautiful artwork. I cringed as I was taken back to that night.

“This will all be over soon.” I thought to myself, and I closed the door and headed to the kitchen.

Ethan didn’t have much to work with. He had a carton of eggs and a little basket of mushrooms (which could have been the wrong kind for all I know).

“Well, mushroom omelette it is then.” I concluded and I got out a pan and prepared the ingredients. After the crappy stove finally heated up to temperature, I poured in the eggs and sprinkled the sliced mushrooms on it. I watched it sizzle in the pan.

“Well look at those sexy legs,” I heard from behind me. Startled, I turned around to find Frank standing behind me, “Smells good.”

“What are you doing?” I asked smiling.

“Well, I figured you would be cold, considering you left your pants.” He handed me my plaid pajama pants. I pulled them on and finished the omelette. I put it on a plate and handed it over to Frank, who sat down and started to nibble at it at the table. I sat next to him and watched him finish his ‘breakfast’.

“So, how was it?” I asked as he put the last bite in his mouth.

“It was delicious,” he said covering his full mouth, “Thank you.” I shrugged and smiled and Frank put his plate in the sink, then he went and sat in the living room. I followed him and sat next to him.

“You look much better, you know." I said, brushing his hair to the side. Frank frowned and looked down at the floor. I waited for him to say something but he wasn't going to. Suddenly, Frank jumped as the lock on the door rattled.

"It's okay." I urged. Ethan walked in and stomped his feet to get the snow off. He looked up and found us on the couch, Frank still a little tense.

"Hey guys." Ethan greeted. Frank waived.

"What's up Ethan?" I asked.

"Eh, nothin much. How about you guys," Ethan took off his jacket and sat on the chair across the couch, "hope you haven't been doing too much." Ethan chuckled and winked at us. I felt my cheeks blush a rosy pink and I could hear Frank chuckle a little too.

"Nope, nothing at all." Frank said sarcastically. We all started laughing.

"Well good. Gerard, I actually was hoping if I could find you. I need your help." Ethan said as he lit a cigarette.

"With what?" I asked.

"I need some help getting the last bit of Frank's stuff. It won't take very long. Just four or five boxes worth." He shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I'll totally help out." I replied.

"Then shall we head out?" Ethan asked. I shrugged.

"Sure."

"Will you be okay for bit Frank?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He sat on the couch with his legs crossed. He pulled a blanket in his lap and grabbed the t.v remote. I put on my shoes and my jacket. Then I went over to Frank again.

"I'll be back soon," I leaned in and kissed him, "I love you Frankie."

"Love you too Gee." He grinned.

"Alright you two, let's a move on before you guys wanna take it to the bedroom again." Ethan joked. Frank gave him a roll of the eyes and I giggled a bit. I kissed Frank one more time and then I followed Ethan out of the house. We hopped into my truck and sat under the heat for a minute while the engine warmed up.

"Alrighty, where we off to?" I asked as I turned on some music.

"Frank's house." Ethan mumbled. I gulped. I hadn't been there since the big incident. I took a deep breath and exhaled dramatically.

"Alright, Frank's house we go." I lit a cigarette and put the truck into gear. I pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Frank's. Ethan also lit a cigarette and we talked about music and Frank and other things on the drive. It took about a half hour to Frank's and the snowfall was getting worse. I parked in front of the house. Ethan got out and I followed him. Dr. Abbey was standing on the porch. I didn't know she was also helping us. Ethan looked like he was having an important conversation with her, so I stayed by the truck. While they talked, I noticed that someone had come over and threw rocks at the windows, because they were all shattered. On the garage door, "fucker" was spray painted in big black letters. In my daze of observance, Ethan snapped me out and told me it was okay to come up. Dr. Abbey left. She was only there to drop off the keys.

"Do you still have a crush on the therapist?" I asked jokingly, trying to ease my uncomfortableness. Ethan shrugged and continued to open the door. I wiped my hands on my pants and followed him inside. It was pitch black and it was freezing. I shivered and wiped my feet on the old welcome mat and Ethan went and turned on the kitchen light. Flies around the sink buzzed over old, crusty dishes. It was eerily cold in the house. Not even the buzz of the refrigerator filled my ears. It used to be an angry house. A painful house too. But now it was just a sad house, full of forgotten memories and devilish nightmares.

“There is a box downstairs and then the rest is in Frank’s room,” Ethan said as he took off his gloves, “Do you wanna grab the box downstairs and then meet up with me upstairs?”

“Sure.” I said blankly, not really paying much attention to him.

“Great.” Ethan paused then he continued up the stairs, leaving me alone. I looked over in the living room to see the dirty, red corduroy chair and the stand with the ashtray on it. In the light I could see little flakes of ash floating in the living room void. Everything here was sad and dark.

I went to the back of the house and to the basement stairs. I galloped down and found the light switch at the bottom. It smelt like iron down there. I started to whistle my favorite Iron Maiden song to keep me calm and continued around the wall. As I turned the corner I slowly stopped whistling, for my mind had finally come to realize EXACTLY where I was. To my left was the old water pipe. The dirty cloth was gone. I dared to look to the right of me. On the wall, a semi cleaned up blood stain smeared almost to the floor. Memories flooded my head. Frank and I being tugged down the stairs. Being tied up to the water pipe. Watching Frank be beaten. It all suddenly felt like yesterday. It was too much for me to handle. I grabbed the box that was in the middle of the floor and dashed up the stairs without even turning off the light. When I reached the kitchen I set the box down on the table and took a deep breath, feeling a tear roll down the side of my face.

“What’s taking you so long Gee?” Ethan yelled from upstairs.

“I’m coming.” I replied back and I wiped the tear off my face. I scurried up the stairs and headed to Frank’s room. It was completely empty minus the closet. Ethan had a couple boxes in the middle of the room. Most of them were empty, but some had a few things.

“I think I have everything. His guitar, some of his clothes, a couple photos. I think were all set.”

“Great.” I rubbed my hands on my pants and went to grab his guitar when something caught my eye in the corner of my room. I put the guitar back down and went over to the corner. I realized what it was.

“What are you doing Gerard?” Ethan asked. He gave me a puzzled look as he tried to look over my shoulder to see what I had in my hands. Finally, he walked over to me.

“What is that?”

“It’s Frank and his mom.” I mumbled under my breath as I held the shattered picture in my hand. It was the picture that used to sit by Frank’s bedside every night and give him a little glitter of hope.

“Do you think he’ll want it back?” Ethan wondered.

“Yes!” I said a little too defensively. I immediately backed off with my aggression and and nodded, “He would.” Ethan nodded too.

“Awesome, than you can put it in the box and I will bring it down to the truck.” He picked the box up and stood in front of me.

“I’ll hold onto it since its pretty broken,” I said, “I’ll meet you down there in a minute.”

“Sweet.” Ethan agreed and headed out of the room and to the truck. I heard the screen door slam into the door frame and then I heard pure silence. I stood in Frank’s old bedroom alone. It had a different feel to it. It wasn’t an angry or scared feeling. Instead it was just a sad and lonely feeling. I looked back at the photo I held in my hands. I could see the happiness that ran between the two. I could see them playing and laughing in the very room I stood in. I felt terrible. The boy I loved had lost the only person that had ever loved him, at least before I came around. But I didn’t feel like Frank knew just how much I did love him. I wanted to do something for him. Something that would show him that he could let go of all his fear and sadness, and learn to be happy again.

I picked up his guitar and looked around the room once more. The dust flew through the stale light creeping through the drawn curtains, and with that, I left my lovers hell with only sorrow.

Notes

I'm sorry it took so long.... again... :/ I'm so bad at predicting when I will be able to finish these things, but here it is.

BY THE WAY, for all those who celebrate christmas, Merry (late) Christmas, or Hanukah, or Yule... whatever you celebrate Merry __that__. AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I also just want to write a quick note about Leelah Alcorn. I am so sad that parents can do that to there kids and I am so sad that she thought that the only choice left was suicide. I hope she finds all the happiness she had always wanted in her next life. Her parents will eventually get what they deserve and will face the consequences sooner or later if we keep fighting for what is right. I just want to say that I hope all the transgender people who are on this website and everywhere else in the world know that there will always be someone out there who loves you and you should always be true to yourself and do what makes you happy, even if it means being shunned by your parents. I send all of those having hard times like Leelah did, love and compassion and strength because no matter what anybody says, you are amazing and deserve everything in the world! And I know it gets said a lot, but if you ever feel down, talk to someone! Don't hold your feelings in because it will make things worse. Just let them be expressed to someone or something that you trust! It will make you feel better, I promise!

:) Well that was what I had to say, thanks for reading it if you did. I have decided that for my New Years Resolution, I am going to donate some of the money I made over the summer to a LGBT Rights Fund, so if any of you know a good one that I could donate to, let me know in the comments!