100% Certified Straight

Frank's POV


Frank had always loved writing incredibly short poems. The longer they were, the harder they were to get right, and the higher the likelihood that they'd just turn into a long, emotional, poetic rant. He'd always wanted to write song lyrics, but he'd never actually finished a set.

He was sitting in the band room, just finishing an eight-line poem he'd started earlier that morning, when Gerard burst into the room, wide grin on his face.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "What's got you so excited?"

"So, you know how I didn't really give you an answer yesterday? About the road trip?"

"...yeah." Holy shit was he actually willing to do it?

"Well, I managed to convince my mom! She said it's okay!"

"That's great!" Frank grinned, seemingly for the first time in months, and got up to hug Gerard in his excitement. Oh gosh did that feel good. He hadn't touched another human in so long. He could feel Gerard hesitate a bit, but only for a split second before he hugged Frank back.

Frank realized he'd been hugging Gerard for a little too long and pulled away. "S-sorry. I'm just...really excited." That wasn't true. He'd realized he liked being close to Gerard. Gerard was good. He was nice and he...he'd made Frank realize that not eating wasn't going to help anything. Frank had even eaten breakfast that morning. Frank smiled before he was shaken out of his thoughts by Gerard speaking up.

"What's this?" He was looking at the poem Frank had written.

"Oh that's just...just a poem." Frank blushed.

"Can I read it?"

"Sure."

Gerard read it out loud, and Frank was about to stop him, but he liked listening to his own words in Gerard's voice.

"The nightmares come out at night,
don't they? It's in the name.
But it's not the monsters under the bed,
it's the monsters in my brain
that make me shake with fright,
quiver and shiver with fear.
And there's nothing you can do.
Not a single thing, my dear."

Admittedly, Frank had kind of written it to Gerard. Not that he was going to tell him that, of course. He may have the power to change Frank's eating habits, but nothing would change the town. He would still have to live with the hate he got for who he was.

"Nothing, huh?" Boy, Frank was sure getting lost in thought a lot today. He should pay more attention.

"Well it wasn't really...wasn't really to you."

"Then who was it to?" Damn it! How did Gerard know him so well already?

He sighed. "Gerard, this town won't change."

Gerard walked over to him, putting his hands on Frank's shoulders and looking him right in the eyes. "That may be. But just because a town can't change doesn't mean it should be able to change you. When I look at you, Frank, I see someone who's been beaten and broken by people who don't deserve to even look at you, and that's not okay. That's never fucking okay."

Shit, Frank could see tears in Gerard's eyes. Was he really that bad? He bit his lip and looked away.

"So, maybe there's nothing I can do to drive away the monsters. But I'm damn well going to try!" He took a deep breath before addressing Frank again. "You're the only friendly person I've met in this town. I'll do anything to help you, my dear."

Had he really just called Frank that? Oh...right. It was probably just a reference to his poem. All Frank could do was nod. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth he'd start crying. He tried to stay stoic, he really did, but Gerard hugged him again and he broke, sobbing into his shoulder and hugging him back tightly. He tried to say something but all he managed to get out was "I'm...I'm sorry."

Gerard rubbed his back soothingly. "Don't apologize, Frank. You haven't done anything wrong."

Notes

Oh gosh ;~; I didn't mean to make this chapter so sad.