He's Not Dead He Only Looks That Way

Gerard is anxious all night; he can only imagine what’s going on at the Iero household. He doesn’t want his thoughts to get the best of him, so he decides to call Frank. The line rings and rings, and finally, he hears Frank’s voicemail.
“Hi, this is Frank. I probably lost my phone, but I’ll call you back when I can, alright?”
Gerard hangs up, more nervous than he was before he’d made the call. He can’t sleep that night; no matter how hard he tries, he just can’t settle down. His worries eat at him until he falls asleep, exhausted, at three a.m.
The next morning, he doesn’t see Frank until lunch. Even then, he has to hunt the boy down, spotting him across the room and following him upstairs.
Frank’s at his locker, grabbing some books. Gerard sneaks up next to him, telling,
“Hey, you alright?”
Frank jumps, clutching a hand to his chest. He pushes his locker door shut with his hip, remarking,
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” Gerard mumbles. “But what happened after I left? Are you okay?”
Frank shifts uncomfortably, fumbling with one of his books. “Well, my dad sorta got real angry. And he was yelling at me and threatening me, and so my mom…”
Frank sighs, finishing, “She kicked him out. Told him to go, and I quote, ‘To his sister’s house, to a motel, to fucking Jupiter as far as I care.’ And so, I… I don’t think he’s coming back.”
“Wow,” Gerard murmurs. “Frank, I’m really sorry.”
Frank shrugs, muttering, “It’s okay, I guess. He was a dick anyways.”
“Do you think I can come over to your house after school?” Gerard asks. “Or at my house, if you want. I don’t care.”
“Can you just come?” Frank pleads. “I like Mikey and Pete, it’s just…” Frank lets out a shuddering breath before continuing, “I don’t really want to be around people right now.”
“Fair enough,” Gerard replies. “Are you coming to lunch?”
“Actually, I’m having some stomach problems,” Frank confides. “I think I’ll just go to the nurse.”
“Okay,” Gerard responds, patting his boyfriend’s shoulder. “I’ll see you right after school, okay? I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
“Sounds good,” Frank agrees. He offers a strained smile before slouching down the hall to the nurse’s office.
Gerard is even more antsy to get over to Frank’s house after school; he can tell that he hadn’t gotten the whole story from him earlier.
He’s at his locker at the end of the day, grabbing some of his books when this boy named Caleb appears over his shoulder, greeting maliciously,
“Hey, Gerard.”
“What do you want?” Gerard asks, shrugging his backpack onto his shoulders.
He pins Gerard up against the locker, growling, “I’m doing a favor for a friend here.”
“Let me go!” Gerard cries, squirming uselessly. Caleb’s knee is tight in his back, and his hands gripped onto his shoulders. “I have to be somewhere!”
“You’re already late,” Caleb replies. He reaches a hand down the back of Gerard’s pants and grabs onto a bunch of his boxers.
“Quit!” Gerard squeaks, writhing wildly. His underwear is pulled up his ass, and as his heels are lifted off the ground and he’s in total pain, all he can think about is the possibility of his underpants tearing.
“Gerard, cute football undies!” Caleb jeers, yanking harder.
Gerard dips his head into the locker, blushing at the fact that today just had to be the day that he wore his green boxers with the little footballs all over them.
“Is that Way?” a voice demands.
“Yeah, why?” Caleb asks, loosening his hold.
“Hold him,” the voice orders, coming closer.
Gerard usually has no problem dealing with bullies; they’re actually often afraid of him. But this time, he’s not sure if he’s in the right; Caleb had said that he’s ‘doing a favor for a friend’. Gerard wonders who he’d pissed off to deserve this.
Gerard’s flipped like a pancake so his back’s to the locker, and the other kid, who Gerard recognizes as (HOLY SHIT) Michelle’s boyfriend, grabs Gerard by a handful of hair. You know, the Michelle he slept with so she could get back at said boyfriend?
“Who the fuck do you think you are, freak?”
“I…. I…” Gerard stammers.
“Michelle told me you’re her boy toy,” the boyfriend, who Gerard believes is named Shaun, informs. “I’m going to kick your scrawny fucking ass.”
Gerard gulps, and pleads, “I have to be somewhere, okay? Just let me go.”
Shaun laughs, and not even just a chuckle, but a guffaw. “Why would I do that? You must be really retarded, Way.”
Gerard cringes at the use of the r-word, but something tells him that Shaun won’t take being corrected lightly. “Please, I have to see my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Caleb snorts. “Wow, I didn’t know you were a faggot.”
Another shudder induced by blatant ignorance, but Gerard manages to ignore it and beg,
“Just please let me see him. I’m worried.”
“I’ll give you something to worry about,” Shaun snarls, pulling Gerard into a headlock. He knees him in the gut several times before throwing him to the floor. Shaun grabs onto the back of Gerard’s bunched up underwear and drags him by it, causing him to squeal. He kicks him in the ribs a few times, and once in the jaw, before finally kneeling down, warning icily,
“Stay away from Michelle.”
Gerard nods, feeling drowsy from his injuries. He manages to keep his eyes open all the way to Frank’s house, where he finally collapses once inside.

Notes

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