Frank's POV

"Why hasnt he called then?!"I shouted without meaning to,"I'm sorry."
"No its okay. Just- why dont you call him?"Lily suggested.
"Because I dont want him to realise just how much I'm freaking out about him. His hallucinations can drive him insane. He's only just become sure of reality and I dont want him to be alone if that gets ruined again,"I sighed and sat down next to her.

"Whats so bad about him knowing that?"Lily asked as she stood up and started stretching lights out.
"I dont know... All I know is that he said he would be two hours tops and its been two and a half,"I sighed and pulled out my phone just as I heard a car pull up outside.

I jumped to my feet and ran over to the window to look outside,"He's here!"
"Frank calm dow, if you dont want him to know you've been freaking out then get over here and help me with these lights,"Lily said behind me.
"Right right,"I nodded and went over to her. I picked up the lights as Gerard walked in the front door.

"Hello all. Sorry I'm late,"He walked into the lounge holding a bag of something,"Where are the guys?"
"Sleeping. Whats in the bag?"I asked innocently.
"Your present. One of them anyway,"Gerard walked over to a table in the corner and set it down.

"Oh come on. You cant make me wait for yours! I hate waiting to open them all. I want to open it now this isnt fair,"I sighed and dropped the lights.
"Frank, come on,"Lily grumbled.

"Yeah Frank, come on. Deal with it. Its worth the wat, trust me,"Gerard smiled.
"Fuck you. I'm getting the guys up. The guys from my work are gonna be here soon so get ready,"I muttered and walked out.
"I am ready. And I'm coming up."

We stomped upstairs without a word. When we reached the landing Gerard collapsed behind me.
"Gerard?!"I spun around and dropped to my knees. He was lying on the ground, writhing around like he was in pain.
"No! Get away!"He screeched. His hands started flying everywhere, he landed a fist on my thigh as I tried to get a hold of him.

"Someone help me!"I cried frantically. I couldnt get past his fists of fury to get a hold of him. In the end I started punching his legs, trying to shock him back to reality.
"Whats going on? What the fuck!"Someone shouted behind me.
"He's hallucinating I cant snap him out of it!"I crawled around to get closer to his head.

I wasnt sure if slapping his head would shock him enough to stop it, I just had no idea what to do. The other times he hallucinated in front of people, he would be silent. Almost like he was on autopilot. But this time, it was insane. I managed to get my hand in and slap his face hard. But nothing happened.

"He needs to feel pain in the hallucination for it to stop,"I said and stood up. I barely noticed all the guys standing behind me as I pulled my gun out of my back pocket and aimed it at him.
"Frank what are you doing?!"Mikey grabbed my arm and tried to pull it back but I stayed strong.

"Leave it Mikey. Gerard,"I looked down at him. He froze and looked up at me, fear shining in his eyes,"I'm going to kill you for what you did."
"No... Pumpkin. Please, Frank I love you. I didnt mean for that to happen! I love Claire!"
I flinched for a second before saying,"It doesnt matter! I'm gonna kill you for it!"I shouted and pulled the trigger.

"No!"Mikey shouted.
"Wait- I..."Gerard was lying flat on his back, holding his stomach like it was bleeding. But he wasnt. There was just a bullet embedded in the floor next to his head.
"Frank you could have fucking killed him!"Mikey shouted and slapped the back of my head.
"Fuck off I got him out of it!"I retorted and crouched down.

"How are you feeling, Gerard?"I asked softly. Everyone went quiet as he slowly sat up and looked around.
"I- you- you shot me?"His eyes clocked my gun still in my hands,"But I- I dont feel anything. Am I dead?"

I sat the gun down next to me,"No. No of course not. You were having a hallucination and it was the worst one I've ever seen. You were yelling and your arms were going everywhere. I had to try and- this is gonna sound weird but it was like I was trying to get into your hallucination so I could snap you out of it."

Gerard looked down at his stomach before looking at the bullet in the ground next to him,"You actually shot at me?"
"Well yeah. You cant fake a gunshot,"I stood up and held my hand out. He slowly reached up and took it. I hauled him to his feet and he stumbled backwards slightly.

"What if you had hit me?"He asked as I picked up my gun.
"I- I wouldnt have. As vain as this sounds, I'm an excellent shot. You saw at the flippen target practice or whatever."
"Well yeah but that doesnt mean anything!"Gerard glared at me before storming downstairs as the doorbell rang.

I watched as he yanked open the door without a word, left it open to a bewildered Melissa, George and Charlie and walked into the lounge as Mum walked out.
"Hi guys! Frank's upstairs playing video games,"She smiled.
"Isn't that him up there?"Melissa pointed up to me.

"Mum I'm up here,"I smiled and waved at them before shoving my hand behind my back, not even realising I had a gun in my hands.
"Frank! Ahhh!"Charlie pushed past Mum and raced up the stairs to me. I tucked my gun into my pants as quickly as possible.

"Charlie my god its good to see you!"I gushed as he tackled me in a hug,"Seriously, when was the last time I saw you? Bout 3 or 4 months ago right?"
Charlie was the same height as me and was the one who had got me my job in the first place. Today his hair was bright green. He changed it damn near every week.
"About that, yeah. Too long. Anyway, happy birthday cutie!"He shouted in my ear as the guys squeezed past us and went downstairs.

"Thanks. Come on, I wanna see the others,"I let go of him and we went downstairs, Charlie going on about the drama happening at work. I went into the lounge where Melissa was talking to Lily and George was talking to Bob. Pete was bouncing Claire on his lap, Mum was putting presents on the present table and Gerard and Mikey were no where to be seen.

"So tell me! Whatcha been doing?"Charlie asked as he sat my present on the table.
"Uhhh..."I caught Mum's eye and images of the gun training flashed in my mind,"Not much. Just working and I just got back from a visit from Jersey."
"Oh you went back to Jersey! How long were you there for?"He asked as we poured ourselves a drink of Coke.

"Oh uh just a few days. I'm going back tomorrow,"I smiled and looked around for Gerard and Mikey. Mikey walked into the room looking pissed as fuck,"Can you excuse me a moment?"
Before Charlie could say anything I set my drink down and walked over to Mikey.
"You really upset him,"Mikey sighed.
"Where is he?"
"He went home."

"What?! He fucking went home?!"I shouted. The whole room went silent for a moment. I smiled round at everyone before grabbing Mikey and dragging him into the kitchen where Mum was mixing something in a bowl.
"Yes. He went home because he needed some time alone. His hallucination was a bad one Frank. He's mad at you for shooting but right now, he's more shaken from the hallucination. Just give him some time okay?"

"You shot in my house?"Mum said suddenly.
"Of course not,"I chuckled awkwardly and slowly backed out of the room.
"Frank Iero if I find one sign that you did you are in big trouble! I dont care if its your birthday!"She shouted as I raced up the stairs.

I fell to the ground at the top and stared at the bullet protruding from the floor. No matter what I did with it, she was gonna notice either a bullet or a bullet hole. I was fucked. I just had to try and keep her downstairs for as long as possible. If she went upstairs in the dark she wouldnt see anything. In the morning, she'll be too tired to notice it. In total I had about 15 hours left of my life.

I stood up and went to get my phone from my bedroom. Just as I opened the door I heard the ringing stop.
"Damn,"I muttered. I picked it up and checked caller id. Gerard. There were no messages or anything, just one missed call.

I called him back as I went back to the bullet. It kept ringing and ringing and ringing. He wasnt gonna pick up. I put it in my pocket and started trying to pry out the bullet from the wooden floor. It wasn't budging.
"Frank! Get the door!"Mum shouted suddenly. I looked up and realised the doorbell was ringing.

I gave up on the bullet and dusted myself off before going downstairs. For some reason, I put one hand on my gun before I opened the door.
"Hey Frank. Enjoying your birthday?"Malcolm smiled at me before walking in and kicking the door shut.

I pulled my gun out and aimed it at him,"Get out. Now."
"Now now, if you dont put your gun away then all your friends are going to die. Gerard included. Now put that gun away,"He smiled at me.
"Where is he? What have you done with him?"

"Oh he's safe for now. Cole and Chloe have got him in a nice and cosy chair,"He smiled,"Now. Are you gonna do as I say?"
"Whats going- holy fuck,"Mum walked in,"Get the fuck out of my house right now,"She said in a deadly tone.
"Linda Linda Linda,"Malcolm shook his head and walked over to her,"You werent here before so I'll tell you now. If you dont let me enjoy my son's eighteenth birthda party, I'll kill all of you."

"Frank shoot him,"Linda said desperately. Amazingly, no one had noticed this chat despite us being just out of view from the lounge door which was wide open.
"I- I cant."
"Why not?"
"They've got Gerard,"I uttered out.

"What? Isnt he in the lounge?"
"No he went to his apartment cause he was having a hallucination and the only way to snap him out of it was to make him think I was shooting him so I shot at him but only next to his head and-"

"You shot my floor?!"Linda darted around Malcolm to glare at me.
"Mum dont you think there are more pressing matters at hand?"I asked, gesturing to Malcolm who was watching us with pleasure.
"Right. Sorry. Malcolm, what do you want?"

"I told you I want to enjoy my sons birthday. Jesus woman you still dont listen do you?"He growled,"Frank. Put the gun away. Or Cole will kill Gerard. He's on the phone right now, listening to my every word. You pull the trigger, so does he."
I looked at Mum who nodded slowly. I looked back at Malcom, giving him my darkest look,"Fuck you."

I tucked my gun back into my jeans and dropped my arms.
"Thank you Frank. Now, lets go and play some party games shall we?"He winked at me and walked into the lounge.
"Mum what do we do?"I asked desperately.
"Keep him away from your sisters. I'll handle the rest,"She said firmly and walked in. I followed her to find Mikey standing by a table of food staring at Malcolm open mouthed, a look of fear and shock on his face.

I rushed over to him quickly before he said anything,"Dont. Be quiet. He has Gerard. Cole and Chloe followed us here and they have Gerard. Malcolms got them on the phone now so that if we try anything Cole will kill Gerard so we have to shut the fuck up and figure out what to do."
"I- I- How- What-"Mikey stuttered.
"I know."