Great. School today, my face is still bruised, and my eyes are rimmed red from crying yesterday.
I slowly start to get ready, as if my hesitation would help me slow down time.
"Frank! I'm going to work. Be careful today, honey, keep your phone on you at all times! Love you, see you later!" Before I can answer her, she slams the door. I sigh, rubbing my hand down my face. I hate school. The teachers, the kids, the lessons, the homework. I hate them all, but I have to go, so I head downstairs to make coffee.

The walk to school is short, but I'm still wary. What if he just pops up and grabs me? I'm eternally grateful when I get to school, something I thought would never happen.
I spot Ray and Mikey, but I'm unsure as to whether or not to go over there. Making my decision for me, Ray waves me over.
"Frank! Hey! How you doing?" How this guy can be so chirpy on the first day of school, is beyond me.
"Hi, Ray, Mikey. I'm, uh, good thanks, Ray, how are you guys?" I fake a smile, way to tired for socializing.
"We're good! How's your face after the fight the other day?" Ray's concern warms me up a bit.
"Uh, yeah, it's doing fine, thanks." The bell rings, successfully stopping conversation for the time being. I have English first, and so does Mikey. Instead of getting lost I walk with Mikey, making small talk.

The English teacher is a bitch. She's called Ms Divers, and she gave a detention for asking Mikey for a pencil. Granted she asked for silence, but a pencil? We're doing creative writing, and that is one thing I'm okay at in English. Mine and Mikey's friendship was a bit awkward, but I can proudly state that I now have three friends. Bob, Ray and now Mikey.
The lessons passed in a blur, and even though Gerard was supposed to be in today, I hadn't seen him once. I did see Craig and another one of his cronies, walking down the hallway going toward PE.
At lunch, though, I did see Gerard. He was sitting with Mikey and Ray. Deciding to brave facing Gerard, I sat next to Ray. Their table was at the back, in the corner, looking over the rest of the cafeteria.
Gerard, who was laughing before, went silent when I sat down.
"What's wrong, Gee? Cat got your tongue?" Mikey smirked the famous Way smirk, and Gerard blushed.
He blushed.
"Shut up, Mikey. Stop calling me Gee!" Gerard really did get aggressive, really fast.
"Woah, calm down, Gerard, he was only joking." Trust Ray to try and diffuse the situation.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Gerard then sullenly looked down toward the picked apart sandwich, scowling.
"Hey, Frank, do you want to come over after school? Ray is coming to, it'll be cool!" Wow, Mikey actually asked me round? This hasn't happened in, like, four years.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Why am I so awkward?
Before the bell for last period rang, I went to the toilet. Bad idea.
Gerard, Craig and another one came in, and cornered me.
"Hi, Frankie. How are you today, gotten over your little crying fit from yesterday, yet?" Gerard was smirking, again, and this time a glint of something predatory was in his eye. Where was nice Gerard gone? The one I could actually see becoming great friends with or something more.
Something more? Ha, yeah, fat chance of that, the guy hates me. I blush at Gerard's words, and gulp. Has he come to get revenge from the fight or something?
"What, what do you want now, Gerard? Want me to kick your ass again or something?" Damn my big mouth, seriously, it's going to get me killed one day.
"Umm, no thanks Frankie. I actually came to kick your ass. Well, Craig wants to kick your ass, because he didn't get a chance the other day. Will you be so kind as to let him?"
Oh, yeah come on Craigy, I''l fucking let you kick my ass...
"Uh, no, I've got to get to last period, thanks" My throat is dry. Three against one? This isn't fair. But, then again, life isn't fucking fair.
"Oh, that's a shame." It's like deja fucking vu, Gerard nods at Craig, and no-name and they pounce on me. They literally fucking pounce on me, one of them holding me down, and Craig laying on the punches and kicks. I try to fight back, I really do. My nose gets hit for the third time in three days, and I swear this time I hear a crack. Gerard seems to as well and shouts for them to stop. They carry on. Gerard screams at them to stop and they finally do, I'm nearly unconscious and Craig and no-name notice that and run out leaving me and Gerard, alone.
The last thing I remember is him say 'shit' and feathery touches to my face

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up in a dingy, dark room. My head feel heavy, and my ears ring. Like they do when I'm about to puke. Shit. I grab the nearest container, which is luckily a bin, and spew my guts. I hear footsteps coming towards me. A door opens, and guess who stands in the doorway? Yep. Gerard Fucking Way.
"Frankie, I'm, I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I didn't know the'd get you this bad, and you already had injuries from the other day. Oh Christ, I've really messed up this time. Fuck, fuck fuck." And with the last 'fuck' Gerard literally breaks down in front of my eyes. Well, shit. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
I do the best thing I can do, and hug him, telling him that it's okay. He carries on crying so I lift his chin up, lean in slightly, looking him in the eyes and.... Slap him.
He stops crying and from his place on the floor looks up at me with big hazel eyes, and starts laughing. And so do I. Neither of us can stop laughing. Mikey walks in, looks at us lying on the floor, laughing, and walks straight back out again. Me and Gerard look at each and start laughing even harder. Finally he stops, wipes a laughter tear and says; "Thanks, Frank, I've not laughed that hard in a long time, I needed that." He stretches out the long, so it's a drawn out 'ong' sound. Even though it's meant as a lighthearted comment, I can see the seriousness behind his eyes.
"To be quite honest, neither have I, Gerard. There's not that much to laugh about."
The light atmosphere, has turned serious, and I don't like it one bit.
"Frank. I really am sorry. I never meant for any of this to go quite this far. Craig really hates you, I don't know why, but I'd watch out for him at school. Stick with me, Ray or Mikey, okay?" His apology is sincere, and even though my face still really fucking hurts I fine myself telling him it's okay. One part of the sentence puzzles me, does this mean we're friends now? He just basically told me I could hang around with him.
Inside, I am glowing, jumping for joy.
Why do I react this way when Gerard is even remotely friendly to me?
I ask what's on my mind, "Gerard, are we, like, friends now? Why are you being nice to me? Why are you only nice to me when we're alone? Why did you even wan-" Gerard cuts me of by putting a finger to my lips. "Shh, one question at a time, please, Frankie." He's smirking, but, for once there's no horrible undertone, and I don't mind the nickname he's given me.
"We are only friends if you want us to be, Frankie. I've done some pretty shitty stuff, why'd you want to be friends with me? I'm being nice because I want to be, Frank, you intrigue me and I'd like to know more about the mystery that is Frank Iero. I was only nice to you when we were alone before, because, honestly, I was scared."
Scared? What could Gerard possibly be scared of?
"You were scared? What of?" When I ask this, he winces, like it's a sore subject we're touching on, which it probably is.
"Um, I'm scared of, um, Craig," He whispers the last part and looks down, red cheeked. "He has a lot of friends, and I'm in pretty deep shit with around half of them. They may be pretty stupid, but as you know, they give good beatings. I owe them money. Money, that I don't have"
"Why do you owe them money? " Gerard is being pretty vague with his answers, and I'm curious, I want answers.
"Um, Frankie, you seriously can't tell anybody this, nobody can find out, okay?" Shit, this is really serious, Gerard looks scared just by talking about it, and he's shaking slightly.
I nod "Okay, Gee, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." I hoped to lighten the tense atmosphere, but all Gerard can do is weakly chuckle.
"Well, Frank, I owe them money, because, um, I bought, um, drugs and shit off them, with promises I'd pay them back, I-I ca-can't, and Frankie, they're threatening me with hurting Mikey, and my mom and shit, an I-I can't let that happen, not even if they, they ha-have to kill me! They can't hurt my family, Frankie!" By this point, he's crying, sobbing, gasping for breath. I'm sat with my mouth open, when I finally pull myself together, and hug him. Gerard is partially on my lap, and my cheeks are burning, and there are butterflies in my stomach.
He calms down, and is just sniffling.
"Gerard, how about if I help you pay the money? I mean, I've probably got enough saved, and I-I hate seeing you like this, please just let me help!" I say that in a rush and have to take a breath.
"No, no, I can't let you do that, Frankie. I've been nothing but a dick to you, and your offering to help me? I don't think so. This is my mess, I've got to sort it out."
"Gerard, a minute ago you were telling me that you don't have them money, and that you can't sort it out. Let me help you, please, Gee. I want to help you." I give him my best puppy dog eyes, and the resistance he has had comes tumbling down. He give a sigh, and nods. A tiny nod, but a nod all the same. I smile and basically leap on him attacking him in a hug. As soon as i grab him, I let go, red faced, but Gerard grabs me and hugs me, laughing.

Me and Gerard are actually very similar. We are both very sarcastic, our dads aren't around anymore, we both like the same bands, our favorite colours are both black, because as Gerard says, it reminds him of his soul and, coincidentally, both of our wardrobes are filled with black clothing, and people in school thinks that we are both a range of insults.
We end up lying side by side on his bed, at first quite far away, but as we talk we gradually get closer, until we are pressed against one another, and my head is in the hollow of his neck. We hear footsteps, and jump apart, both blushing. We try to act casual, but when Mikey comes in, he notices something's up.
"Umm, guys, what's going on in here?" I hear the smirk in his voice before I even see it.
Gerard clears his throat. "Going on? Nothing's going on, Mikey, we're just, um, settling our differences..." He trails of uncertainly, and once again Mikey smirks, this time, though, a laugh is added to the mixture as well.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, do you guys want to come upstairs and watch a movie? Frank, we have horror, horror, or Gee's personal favorite, The Lion King?" Before I can help it, a laugh is let out of my throat. Gerard is pouting, and in a whiny voice he says; "Mikey, shut up! At least I didn't cry over The Notebook!" Mikey's smile disappears and I laugh even more.
"Gerard, that was supposed to be a secret! Do you want to come watch a movie or not?" I nod a yes and so does Gerard. We follow Mikey upstairs and I find out that Gerard's room was actually the basement.
"Woah, your bedroom is in the basement? That is awesome!" Gerard looks at me with a grin on his face, and replies "Yeah, I know! Mikey thinks it's weird, but I love it!" We both smile at each other, and grab snacks to eat during the movie. Ray and Mikey have already chosen, and we're watching Saw II. Ray falls asleep half way through, and Mikey is dozing off.
"Gerard, I think I better go now, it's getting late and we have school tomorrow."
"Ugh, yeah, good idea, Frankie. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, Gee, see you tomorrow."

Notes

So, Frank and Gee are getting friendly, but will it last?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, comment and shit, maybe xo