You're Not In This Alone

GERARD'S POV

I've just gotten back to my hotel room when my cell rings and I see Frankie's face on the screen. I smile wide as I answer but the smile soon drops. "Hey baby" I greet him and I can hear him crying. "Baby what's wrong?" "Rrrubys bbbeen ccccutting hhherself" he chokes out and I suck in a sharp breath before saying "Say that again." "She's been cutting herself babe, for a while it looks like." I sink down onto the bed, staring blankly ahead in shock. "What do we do?" I ask, like he'll have all the answers. "I don't know but I fucked it up, completely." I sigh before saying "What did you do Frank?" "I may have yelled" he tells me, his voice still shaky and I groan, flopping back to lay on the bed. "Oh Frankie" I whisper before saying "I'll be on the next flight out." "There's more" he tells me and I groan again. "What did you do?" I ask and he sighs before saying "She's gay Gee." "Ok" I say cautiously before he continues. "I walked in on her much older girlfriend going down on her." "Oh my god, you didn't blow up did you?" "Maybe" he says quietly and I clench my eyes shut as I say "Frankie, how can you have issue with this?" "I don't, babe I really don't it's just, I was shocked and I reacted in the heat of the moment and got mad and...the girlfriend broke up with her right after that and I think that's my fault." "Oh Frankie..." "But I'm not upset that she's gay, it's fine. And geez she's walked in on us a few times in the same situation so....I know I handled it completely wrong I just don't know what to say to fix it and she's so upset with me." "Babe she'll forgive you, don't worry. I'm gonna take the next flight out, I'll text you the flight times, please keep
my little girl safe." "I will, I love you." "Love you too babe" I tell him as I hang up, immediately calling the airline and changing my ticket, my flight leaving in two hours. I text Frank the flight info before running next door to the gallery owners room, knocking on the door, explaining that I have a family emergency and I have to go home. He full understands and tells me he hopes everything is alright.

When I land back in New York I take a cab home and rush inside the apartment, finding Frank in the living room, drinking coffee. I run over as he stands, pulling him into my arms and crushing him to my chest. "I missed you, even though I was only gone two days." "I missed you too babe, thanks for coming home, I can't handle this without you." We pull apart and I lean in and seal my lips to his, his tongue sliding into my mouth and the kiss turning heated. I reluctantly pull myself away, saying "Later baby" winking at him before walking towards Ruby's room. I lightly knock on the door and she doesn't answer so I slowly go in, finding her asleep on the bed. I walk over and gently pull her shirt up, looking at the raw angry looking cuts, leaning in and pressing gentle kisses over them before pulling her shirt back down and climbing onto the bed next to her, pulling her into my arms and cuddling her close while she sleeps. A few minutes later Frank comes in and crawls onto the bed on her other side and spoons up behind her, wrapping his arms around her too, both of us holding her until we fall asleep too.

When I wake up Ruby is awake but Frank is still sleeping, his arms still secured around her as her head rests on my shoulder. I slowly bring my hand up to gently stroke her hair and she nuzzles further into my neck, seeking comfort. "Love you baby girl" I whisper to her and I feel wetness on my neck as her body starts to shake as she cries. I hold her close and let her cry it out, her hands clenched in my shirt. When she's finally run out of tears we lay in silence again for a few minutes before I say "We need to talk about it baby girl." She sniffles a few times before saying "I know."

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