The Fantasy

Frank stood apprehensively outside the bar, glancing at his phone as he checked the time for the third and final time. Patrick was 10 minutes late. I knew this was a bad idea he thought miserably, shoving his hands deep into his leather jacket pockets. He waited one more minuet, his mind wandering from one thought to the next- maybe it was all in his head. Maybe Patrick never really liked him at all.

He was about to leave when a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hi, I’m so sorry I’m late, there was a problem with the traffic and then my phone died and…” Patrick explained, trailing off as his eyes slowly looked Frank up and down, his face immediately lighting up. “You look great tonight” He added, raising an eyebrow as he locked eyes with him. Frank grinned, blushing wildly as he nervously folded his arms against his chest. “Probably because I haven’t got coffee spilt down me” He joked. Patrick laughed, apologising for his actions earlier that week. “Let me make it up to you, I’ll buy you a drink” he said, gesturing towards the bar and leading him inside.

They walked into the barb, a dusky, dingy, dank little nightclub off the beaten path. From around the corner, Frank could hear the somnolent buzz of the eponymous neon marlin fish out front, providing a backdrop for the clinking of glasses and drone-like chatter of hundred best friends and ex lovers.
As he entered the joint, the intermingled smells of smoke and sweat and too many people instantly assaulted his nostrils as he pushed his body through the pulsating throng. Finally finding his way to an empty barstoll in the corner, he caught Patrick's eye, shaking his head and smiled downward. Laughing to himself at the nonsurprise of losing him in here, he motioned to the bartender…"Vodka...and Coke" he mouthed, and he nodded and melted away into the cries of a hundred other thirsty patrons.

By now, his eyes were adjusting to the imminenet darkness, tomblike and womblike at the same time. Bright spots of neon beer signs on the wall stood out, illuminating the faces and cleavage and mohawks of the crowd, while others disappeared into the contrasting blackness. "How many of these people had he met before? How many would make love tonight? How many would die tonight?" he wondered. A moment later, before his thought was even finished, his drink slid in front of him, and the bartender was gone before he could even look up to mouth the words "Thanks". "Wouldn't have mattered anyway" he mused, as it is clearly understood that one speaks of gratitude with cash, not words. Everyone's your best friend when you're flying high.

Patrick suddenly appeared at his side, grinning as he sipped his drink. “You come here often?” Frank asked, taking a sip of his drink, cold and icy, slightly sharp against his lips. He held the drink in his mouth for just a moment and let the ice and vodka wallow against his tongue, feeling like a man in solitary kissing his first woman in ten years. Patrick shook his head. “Naa, this is new to me too. Not really my sort of music” He replied, placing his drink on the bar. Frank smiled. “What music are you into then?” He asked, looking into Patrick eyes and suppressing a rising giggle as he saw just how beautiful they were. “Oh you know, rock, metal stuff like that really- I was in my own band for a while in high school but I haven’t spoken to any of them in years” Patrick replied, taking another sip of his drink.

Frank nodded, grinning at his response. He loved that kind of music, he still had his guitar back at the apartment that he practiced on every evening. They sat at the bar for a while, talking about music and old bands they listened to. With every passing moment, a spark began to develop between the pair. Every touch, every smile, made their hearts skip a beat as time seemed to stand still for them. The noise of the bar faded out and all was left was those two who stood laughing at the bar; silently hoping this night would never end.

“Why are you still single? Your a fantastic guy I don’t know why some lucky guy hasn’t snapped you up already” Patrick said, moving closer to Frank as he stared into his drink, grinning madly to himself. His eyes looked up, the smile of his quickly fading as he saw Frank recoil from him, his pained face staring down at the surface of the bar as he remained silent. “Oh, I’m so sorry I…” Frank held his hands up, glancing back at him with a weak smile. “It’s fine” he said quickly cutting him off. “It’s old history anyway”

Patrick nodded, smiling sweetly at him, he didn’t mean to make him feel uncomfortable. “Do you wanna get out of here? This place is kinda boring” He suggested, finishing his drink. Frank looked at him questioningly, surprised by this. “What have you got in mind?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I have some ideas” Patrick replied, winking at him before taking him by the hand and leading him out of the bar.

*****

“Wow”

That was the only for Frank could articulate as he looked down from the 100th floor of the shard. The view of London at night was simply magnificent, the bright lights that lit up the city as the moonlight shone down upon it, illuminating its beauty. Patrick smiled, his eyes staring down at the world below him. “You know what I love about London?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the view outside the window. “I love that it has a dark and terrible history. There are somethings that it should never had experienced but despite that, despite all the things that has twisted it, bent it and made it something people never expected it to be…” he paused for a moment, glancing over at Frank as they gazed into each others eyes, a loving smile forming on his face.

“It’s still beautiful”

Frank smiled at him, reaching out and holding his hand, feeling his heart race in his chest as they stared out onto the streets.

*****
They stopped outside the door to Frank’s flat, the laughter growing quiet as they realised where they were. “This is me, I guess I’ll see you soon” Frank said cheerily, gesturing towards the door. Patrick nodded. “I’ll call you” He replied, smiling at the man before him. He leant in, moving in to kiss him when Frank recoiled, swallowing hard as he suddenly felt horrible about himself. He wanted to kiss him, more than anything. But he couldn’t help but think of his first date with Gerard, how he just gave in to him like that and suddenly became his punching bag. He had a feeling Patrick wasn’t like that but he just wasn’t ready to kiss him yet.

Patrick saw his face and smiled, taking Frank by the hands. “It’s ok. We don’t do anything you don’t want to do. It’s all on your terms” He said, kissing him on the cheek. “Night Frank” He added softly, turning around and walking back down the street. Frank walked over to his front door, watching Patrick leave as he pushed his keys into the door. A huge grin began to form on his face, biting his lip to stifle the oncoming giggle that was rising up from within him.

He was wrong about Patrick.
He really did like him after all.

Notes

So it looks like Patrick and Frank will eventually become an item
But how will this affect Gerard? Find out soon :)

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