You're Beautiful To Me

When Frank and I finally pull apart his gentle hands come up to cup my cheeks and he stares straight into my eyes as he says "Baby I'm so sorry that happened to you and if I could I'd do anything to take that away from your past." I bite my trembling bottom lip, not wanting to cry again before leaning forward again and resting against his chest, needing his comfort and Frank wraps his arms around me, holding me close. "Do you want to talk about..." "Don't leave" I plead, my voice cracking with the effort of holding the tears back. "What?" "Please don't leave me Frankie. I can't...." "Hey hey no baby I'd never leave you, this isn't going to change that, it doesn't change anything" he promises as he pulls back and cups my face again. "I love you baby and I'll always be here to support you no matter what." I take a deep calming breath before saying "Frankie do you really still love me?" "Of course, with my whole heart" he promises and I breathe out a sigh of relief. Frank spends the whole day with me, Anna waking up after a while and she sits up on the bed with me, babbling away at me and patting at my bump. The baby starts to kick and I guide her little hand to the spot where she'll feel it and her eyes widen before she lets out a little squeal before hitting at my bump again and the baby starts to kick more, like he's playing with her. I start to laugh and Frank looks confused until I explain and he laughs too. "My two babies, playing together already."

As the afternoon drags on Anna gets tired again and as a result, very cranky and she starts fussing and whining so I tell Frank to take her home. We share a lingering goodbye kiss which is broken by Anna starting to scream and Frank pulls away smiling apologetically. "I'll see you in a few days baby" he tells me before leaning in and pressing one more quick kiss to my lips before leaving. I fall asleep that night feeling relieved and the next day when I wake up I feel better than I have in a long time. I am taken back to the facility and during my daily session with Lindsey I tell her that I told Frank. "Wow Gerard that is fantastic. I'm so proud of you, I know how hard that must have been." After the session I go to the cafeteria for dinner and eat everything on my plate before heading back to my room like normal but I have a sudden urge to not shut myself away any longer, feeling like I no longer have anything to hide so I make my way to the art studio instead, finding a few other people there already. I grab a small blank canvas and some paints and set up in my own corner, getting lost in the colours. I paint until I feel tired, yawning frequently and my eyes sting slightly with the effort of keeping them open. I sit the paints aside, tidying up quickly before heading back to my room and climbing into bed, clutching the picture of Frank and Anna to my chest, falling asleep with a smile on my face. The next few days pass quickly and it's time for Frank and Anna to visit again. This time instead of hanging out in my room we go outside into the small yard, the day being sunny and perfect. Frank and I settle on the grass in the shade of a tree on a blanket, Anna crawling back and forth between us, babbling away and smiling wide and after a while she frowns in concentration before grabbing my shirt and pulling herself up to stand using me to stable herself. "Wow look at you" I exclaim and she lets out a little giggle before taking a shaky step away from me and then another, gaining confidence as she goes and she makes it five steps before wobbling and falling back onto her butt. I start clapping, so proud of how much she's growing up and she lets out a little shriek before clapping too. Frank laughs at both of us before leaning over and kissing me softly. "I love you so much baby, you look so fucking beautiful today" he whispers and I feel my face flush as my mouth pulls into an even bigger smile. "I love you too. I miss you guys so much, I just wanna come home." "Aww I know baby, but I need you to get better and...." "I know" I tell him, sending him a sad smile. I lean in to kiss him again when Anna lets out a high pitch squeal and I turn to look at her, seeing her sitting there pointing at Lindsey who is making her way across the yard to us. "Hello beautiful, you must be Anna" Lindsey says cheerfully as she kneels down infront of her. Anna's little face creases for a second before her smile breaks out again and she babbles loudly as she waves her hands around. "Ba ba ba da da" she babbles and Lindsey smiles wide and says "Wow, that's great" and I smile wide at them. "How are you feeling today Gerard? It's nice to see you again Mr Iero" she says, directing the last part to Frank. "I'm great" I tell her before Frank adds, "Frank, please." Lindsey smiles and nods and Anna crawls closer to her and starts hitting her gently to get her attention. Lindsey looks down and says "Hey you. What can I do for you?" Anna lets out a little cooing noise before clenching her hands in Lindsey's shirt and pulling herself back onto her feet, taking the few steps back towards me, collapsing against my legs with a giggle. "Wow, that was great" Lindsey praises her and Anna shoots her another big smile as I help her settle in my lap and she starts patting at my bump again, wanting to play with the baby who happily complies and starts kicking. "So I'm sorry to interrupt family time but I wanted to talk to you guys" Lindsey starts and Frank shakes his head and smiles. "It's fine." "So Gerard is making a lot of progress already in the short time he's been here, especially the last three or four days and it's still early stages but I think if you continue how you are Gerard we can probably send you home in the next couple of weeks, dependant on a few conditions." Frank and I look at each other excitedly, huge smiles on both our faces as Lindsey tells us she will discuss the details later with both of us and she gets up and leaves again, letting us get back to our limited time together.

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