Snapshots

“You almost what!?” Ray's voice screeched from the phone laying on the counter while Frank fetched his breakfast. He got down a bowl and spoon, grinning at the phone proudly.

“Yep. We were making out and he was palming me and---I don't know...It felt so good. I think I just passed out or something. Oh my god...” Frank still couldn't believe his night with Gee, shakily pouring some milk into his bowl of cereal, taking the phone with him before plopping down at the table to eat. “It was so fucking hot, man...” He hummed before taking a bite.

“Sounds that way.” Ray said, before quickly interrupting his next sentence, “I mean-- for you! Not for me, god. That sounded so fucking gay.”

Frank laughed, choking on his milk. “I can't believe you, man.”

Ray was stuttering on the other end, “Oh! Fuck you!”

Frank cooled down after a few seconds, grinning like crazy, “The guy is gone now...but he marked me up real good...” He closed his eyes, remembering the sensation of Gee's lips on his neck, running his fingers over the bite marks. “Kinda soft...small bruises now. He bites hard.”

Ray just giggled again, “I wouldn't know man- I'm not into that shit.”

Frank opened his eyes again to eat some more cereal, remembering how Ray identified himself as asexual. “I was planning on goin' out today to see if I could find him, but it's freezing.”

“Why not text him?”

“I don't think he has a phone...” Frank never bothered to ask, never really even thinking about it. He didn't consider Gee a close enough friend to have his number. Well, now, it's different, obviously, but he was unsure.

“Well, next time you see him, get his number.” Ray was giggling, “He can be your booty call.”

“Woah man!” Frank sputtered, “He's just a friend! If even that! He's still kinda weird-- ya know? I mean...” He groaned, “...I don't know if I wanna have sex with him yet or uh...if we are even dating.”

“You don't have to date to have a lil' fun, Frankie. Haven't you had sex before?” Ray was laughing again, causing Frank to roll his eyes. He was one to talk.

“Yeah, of course! With Jamia! But she wasn't a dude!” Frank quickly defended, glad Ray wasn't in the room to see him blush. He took another spoonful of cereal.

“It's gotta be like...the same. Except in the butt--” Ray started slowly, teasing him.

“No! Dude! Shut up! We are not having this conversation!” Frank blurted out, hearing him laugh from Frank's reaction.

“Fine fine! Just do some research before you two decide to get real frisky!” Ray warned.

Frank rolled his eyes again, “Mhm, 'kay, thanks mom.”

“Hey- dude, text ya later. Mikey just showed up for a LAN party.”

“Alright, see ya, man.” Frank said, holding the phone to hang up once he was gone.

“Bye.”

Frank clicked the phone off and set it aside to finish his breakfast, throwing it in the sink and rinsing it out quickly. Once his bowl was cleaned,he grabbed his phone and set out to plop down on the couch, flipping on the tv for background noise as he brought up the browser on his phone to google.

He typed in: “how to have gay sex.” His face heated up as he clicked an about page on gay life. God, no one was even around, and he felt embarrassed for himself. He read up on a few pages: STD prevention, condom use and tips, the need for excessive lubrication, foreplay...all the good stuff. He spent a good thirty minutes reading up and learning, getting a half hard-on, just from reading about it.

He imagined himself with Gee, sucking each other off before plowing each other into the mattress. Who would even top? He wondered. Frank bit his lip, grateful for the basketball shorts he was wearing. Despite the need to get off, Frank decided against it. He figured, it would be best to save up for Gee, if they got that far, and only take a cold shower for now.

He threw his phone to the side and hopped up off the couch, heading to the bathroom to shower real quick. It was only a few minutes in, and in that few minutes, he managed to calm himself down while shampooing his hair. The thought of Gee left his mind almost completely. Frank stepped out of the shower, towel around his waist, fixing his wet hair in the mirror when he heard his phone go off back in the living room.

He didn't bother dressing himself, scurrying out to answer the incoming phone call. It was from his manager at the Gazette's printing office.

“Iero, how's it going?” The deep voice over the phone asked.
“Uh, fine.” Frank replied, rubbing his neck, feeling the sore spots where Gee left his marks. “What's up?”

“I have a reporter out right now interviewing witnesses, but we managed to get an early scoop on a really recent murder out near the ice rink on Trotter. The body was found half an hour ago, and is suspected to be hit over night. I need you to get down there and grab some photos.” There was a short pause, “But only if you're up to it.”

Frank groaned to himself and away from the phone. He just woke up and they want him to go out and work? Ridiculous. And of a real body. “Uh, sure?” He pressed his lips in a thin line, “But wouldn't photos of something gruesome like a murder scene really...put off readers?”

Silence came from the other end of the line, until his manager spoke again, “I actually signed you up to take photos for the police department today. You should be thanking me. It just so happens that the victim was their old photographer. So I got you working for the both of us now.”

Frank was surprised. That was a good job, and he just fell right in over a rare circumstance. Two times in a row? Taking two dead mens' photography jobs. Thank god his boss was kick ass and chill about that kind of stuff. He was now the photographer of the newspaper and a crime scene investigator. What a fucking promotion to wake up to.

“Thank you, sir.” He said, popping his locked jaw, “Trotter, you said?”

“Yeah, they say it's the Chupacabra again. Just go out there and scope things out, alright?”

Frank was already walking back to the bathroom to finish up. “Sure thing. Do I just return the photos to you?”

“Yeah, that'll be fine. Thanks.” He said, and the phone clicked off.

Frank set his cell down and quickly got dressed. He made sure he picked up a high collar button up with a jacket and scarf, to hide the hickeys and holes in his neck. He threw on a pair of holey jeans with his usual converse, and grabbed a hat and his camera bag before hurrying out the door.

Frank stumbled down the stairs and decided to just run over there, rather than taking the time to call up Ray for a lift. (He had no idea where his bike had disappeared to.) Thank goodness it wasn't too far away. He nearly flew down the flight of stairs down from his apartment and to the sidewalk.

He could feel his shoes crunching the snow underneath, stumbling a bit as he made almost a dead sprint towards Trotter Lane.

When he saw the flashing blue and red lights, he felt more motivated to run even faster, and so he did. In merely a minute more, he reached his destination, gasping for air and resting hands on his knees, slouched, just for a few seconds. He lifted his head up to see a tall, bulky man in a police uniform before him.

“Iero?” He bellowed, causing Frank to stand straight up, “You're late.”

Frank rubbed his eyes, emphasizing how tired he still was, despite his shower and good news waking up some more. “Sorry. I literally just woke up and ran over.”

The police man nodded, handing him a piece of paper that said he was allowed to be there, then lifting the yellow tape to let him pass. Frank quickly shifted through the small crowd, following a few people. He found the body quickly, feeling his stomach churn at the site.

The body was paler than he imagined, blue where there would be pink. His cheeks were hallow and his skin was flaky, falling apart. There was no stench like he imagined, so he figured it was because the body was relatively new or because there was nothing inside of him organ-wise. He took out his camera and began taking pictures, focusing on the body as a whole then refocusing on the details.

It seemed as if the victim had nothing inside of him. No blood, no organs, nothing. It was basically a stack of bones with a stretched, thin, flaky white canvas over it. He zoomed a bit on some inflicted wounds on the victim's neck, similar to the ones on his own, but he paid no mind to it.

It was a good ten minutes-worth of a photo shoot of the body, and Frank was quite proud of himself for taking it so well. It was his first dead body after all.
It was still early, and the light was really taking a toll on Frank. He decided to wrap things up and hurry out of there, hitching a ride in a patrol car back to the newspaper office to print copies for both the paper and the police station. After his copies printed, he gave them out, got his pay, and got a ride back to the apartment right as a migraine hit his head.

He went into his room, turning off all the lights, and going to the window to shut the curtains when a face popped up right in his view.

Gee.

Frank screeched, stumbling backwards. Gee, on the other side, was giggling. While Frank was trying to get his breath back, Gee just continued to knock lightly on the glass of the window.

Frank quickly stumbled to his feet, opening the window, gasping loudly. “W-what are you doing?! How did you get up here?”

Gee grinned, “I like to climb.” He said, “Invite me in?”

Frank stared blankly at him. Invite him in? Gee's manners were always odd.

“Uh, yeah, sure, come in?” Frank ran a hand through his hair and groaned, crawling into his bed, hearing Gee crawl through the window and shutting it back in place. Frank stuffed his face into his pillow with a groan, “Is this about last night?”

“Uh, kinda...?” Gee laughed, “How'd ya know?”

How did he know? Gee wasn't serious, was he? They can't just make out and pretend it's nothing. Of course it was about last night. “'Had a hunch.”

Gee smiled softly and went to the bed with him, sitting on the edge and running his hand down his arm affectionately. “...I saw you got my message.”

Frank groaned, reaching for his phone to read whatever message he was talking about, “No? I didn't think you had a phone--”

“Not a text message. The body.”

Silence came again, and Frank shot up from bed, scooting away from Gee, staring at him with wide eyes. “W..what are you talking about? How did you know--”

“It's my message to you.” Gee said shyly, swirling his finger onto his own palm. “...My love letter.”

Frank squinted, “Excuse me? Are you trying to tell me you killed someone for me?” He let out a sarcastic laugh, wheezing in sudden relief. “...Oh, hah, good one. Fuck. Fuck...you scared me for a second.”

“I'm not joking, Frank. I killed that man. I got you that job as a private investigator. I did it for you.”

Frank stared back up at him, panic filling his chest. “N-no that's impossible. They said the Chupacabra got that guy-- sucked out the blood and the guts and everything-- the guy was toast. There's no way some kid could've done that.”

“But I did.” He giggled, taking Frank's hand, only to have him pull it away instantly. Gee just sighed, rolling his eyes, “...I'm not a chupacabra.” He forced himself to put on a smile, trying to lighten the mood. But Frank's eyes were wide in fear as he feared what Gee was saying was the truth. That, or he was just crazy.

“...You didn't kill that man.” Frank said, trying to convince himself more than Gee.

“Frank, look.” He bared his teeth, exposing a sharper canine than normal when he pulled back his lip, dropping it again. “I'm never around in the light...my skin...I'm cold...my teeth...for crying out loud, Frank, I've been sucking your blood! Have you not seen Twilight?”

Frank glared at him, “What the hell are you saying?” He sounded offended now, hands flying to feel the two holes in his neck, gasping at his own cold touch. “You think you're a vampire? Huh? Is that it?”

Notes

Sorry I haven't been updating! I've been stressing over moving from Texas to California! So here! Take two chapters! Enjoy! Don't forget to rate, comment, sub! <3