Frank's POV

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I picked up Gerard and laid him down of his mattress, with was surrounded by a bed frame that still hadn’t been put together, which was surrounded by empty bottles of booze, half-empty bottles of Xanax, and an empty plastic bag. His cheeks were red from tears and were probably also a reaction from cocaine. My eyes started to water when I thought about it. I never had an issue with drugs and alcohol and pills. Unless you count casual drinking, my addictions didn’t really affect my life. Gerard was strong, but he was also fragile. I got up after tucking him into his bed and found my cell phone. the ringer dialled three times, and then she responded.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Lindsey? It’s Frank, Gerard’s fucked up and I wanted to know if he did this right before you left him? Mikey just called me over and—”

“Yeah. The last few nights before I rented him an apartment and told him to pack his things and go.” Lindsey said. “I loved him, but he loved you and he just— I couldn’t let Bandit get hurt.”

“He told you he loved me?” I asked, confusion taking over.

“One of his drunken slurs. Listen Frank, it’s Bandit’s spring break, and I wanted to wake up early and take her to the beach so that she can take her mind off of him. I really gotta go back to sleep.”

“Alright, thanks for answering. Bye.” I hung up the phone and walked back into Gerard’s bedroom. I was exhausted so I fell asleep next to him.

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Gerard’s POV

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I woke up and felt a familiar headache along with a familiar warmth wrapped around my chest. Frank? Why the hell was he in my bed? Frank’s eyes opened and I pinched myself to make sure it was real.

“Frank?” I groaned.

“Yeah?” He said sleepily. “Wait, what?!” He jumped up, letting go of me and staring at me.

“Did we—”

“No, we didn’t. I came because Mikey said you were drunk and high and he didn’t know who else to call.” He interrupted quickly.

“Then why are you in my bed?” I asked.

“Couch had alcohol spilled all over it and it was 2 in the morning when I came over.” He answered. “I called Lindsey also. She said that she wanted you to get better so Bandit could see you again.” My eyes watered.

“Did she say anything else?” I asked.

“She said she left you because she didn’t want her baby around a drunk and she didn’t want to be with someone who said he loved me more than her when he got drunk.”

“Shit.” I muttered under my breath. “I’ll be right back. I have to call someone really quick.

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Frank’s POV

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Gerard went outside to call someone so I decided to fire up the coffee machine. It brewed in about 5 minutes, so I fixed some up for Gerard, and took it outside for him.

“Bert, don’t get me anything—No I’m not a pussy! I’m sobering up, Frank’s orders. No we’re not together. Bert! Stop!” Gerard yelled into his phone and hung up. I looked over at him, hoping he saw me. “You heard that, huh?”

“Yeah.You’re seeing Bert again?”

“I don’t think ‘Seeing’ is the right term. It’s more like fucking and getting drugs out of it.” He laughed, I stayed quiet.

I handed him one of the mugs. “I’m sorry.”

“None of this is your fault—all mine. No one else’s”

“No. I shouldn’t have broken up the band, I shouldn’t have left you, I shouldn’t have expected you to be okay without me.”

“Frank—it’s really not your fault!”

He hugged me. “It is my fault.” He said, kissing my forehead. “And so, I’m left to fix you.”

Notes

Chapter title from "I Lied" by Electric Century