Magic Tricks

Gerard was so in love.

Frank could see it in just the way he looked at Troy. In the way he laughed at his jokes. In the way he talked about Troy all the time. When you spend as much time stuffed in a bus with someone as you do as Frank has with Gerard, you get to learn the difference between fake and genuine.

And Gerard was genuinely, genuinely in love.

He must be, Frank figured, if Troy was worth risking all the relationships he had held dearest until then. Mikey could barely even bring himself to speak to Gerard, and Gerard was lying to Lindsey on a daily basis. Ray and Frank had both tried to stay out of it themselves, considering there really didn’t need to be much more drama in regards to the matter. But neither he nor Ray agreed with what Gerard was doing.

So what the hell was so great about this guy, that made Gerard want to turn his entire world upside down for him?

Frank was becoming more and more obsessed with the question. He tried not to think about it too much, as in the end it was really none of his business. But he just couldn’t shake the idea that something about this whole thing was…off.

Something didn’t make sense.

Maybe it was because one night on the bus, he had half awoken to what sounded like a muffled scream. He would even dare to say it sounded like Gerard’s scream. But then he had fallen asleep again a second later, and the next morning he couldn’t say for sure if he had maybe only dreamt the noise.

Or maybe it was the two or three times that he just happened to glance over at Gerard, and he had looked oddly tearful, chewing on his bottom lip and covering his face with his hair.

Or perhaps it was the fact that Gerard seemed to be losing quite a lot of weight, although they presumed that was just for the sake of looking good for Troy. Gerard had also really increased his use of cosmetics, so it made sense that maybe Troy was one of those guys that pressured his partners to be pretty. Which Frank thought was kind of bullshit, but again, not his business, so he did his best to keep his mouth shut.

However all these clues were only little seconds of time here and there. Frank had no real reason to suspect anything. 99% of the time, Gerard was as giddy as a schoolgirl with her first crush.

But then one night, there was a timid knock on Frank’s hotel room door.


Frank cursed under his breath. He had been in the process of putting on his swim trunks for a pool party the band and crew were to attend in about an hour.

“Just a minute!” he yelled at the door.

Once he was properly dressed, or at least as dressed as one could be in pool attire, Frank went to open the door. He was surprised to find Gerard on the other side of it, considering Gerard has not come to visit him in his individual hotel room for some time, at least not since one of the earlier Black Parade shows.

“…Hey?” Frank greeted him.

“Hi, Frankie.” Gerard smiled at him. In his hands he held a medium sized black leather box. “Can I come in for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Frank stepped aside and Gerard walked in, going over and sitting on the bed with the black box set on his lap.

“What’s up?” asked Frank .

“I need a favor.” Gerard said, his eyes downcast. He kept them on the box in front of him.

“Okay…?” Frank motioned for him to go on.

Gerard began to bite his bottom lip again. He paused for a very long time, and he was clearly struggling to find the words for whatever it was he wanted to ask. Frank was beginning to feel a combination of concerned and annoyed before Gerard finally spoke up.

“There are some… bruises on my back. I can’t reach them, but I need to cover them for the party. I know you’re pretty good at make up.” Gerard spoke in a quiet tone, “Can you help me?”

He opened the box and there were an assortment of concealers, blends, and cosmetic tools.

Frank frowned.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do.” Frank agreed and grabbed the box from him. He sat behind Gerard, and Gerard took off his shirt.

Frank dropped the brush he had just picked up, and gasped audibly.

The center of Gerard’s back looked like an abstract painting of black, blue, pink, and red colors. It reminded Frank of one of Lily’s drawings, except some of the red lines were perfectly symmetrical. Much of the pale skin was completely blotched with dark puddles and droplets. But around the outer parts of Gerard’s back, the skin was perfectly white, like the rest of him. It was safe to assume that what Frank was seeing was the part of his back that Gerard could not reach. He must have already concealed the rest of it with concealer prior to coming over.

“What the hell, Gerard?!?” Frank almost yelled, “What happened to your back?!?”

“Shhh!” Gerard spun around and slapped the palm of his hand onto Frank’s mouth. Frank glared at him. “Keep your voice down….”

When Gerard slowly lifted his hand from Frank’s face, Frank had the urge to yell at Gerard again. But he shook his head instead and asked as quietly as he could, “How the fuck did you get all that?”

“I… don’t want to talk about it.” Gerard actually looked apologetic as he said it, breaking eye contact once again.

“Are you serious?” Frank scoffed, in disbelief that Gerard would think he’d get out of this that easily. “How am I supposed to just let that go?”

“Just do. Please. Part of the reason I came to you is because you’re the only one I know who would. I can trust you to keep a secret, right?” Gerard hissed. “Now… you going to help me or not?”

Frank stared at him. It was true. Frank had kept many of Gerard’s secrets in the past -- just as Gerard had kept many of his. Even if keeping said secrets wasn’t always the wisest thing, it had been what made Frank and Gerard’s relationship special. They could always trust each other.

But even then, the worst Gerard’s secrets had ever gotten was some drug use here and there, maybe some business related things, maybe a couple of girls back when he was dating Eliza Cuts. And then of course there was the most recent and probably biggest secret of all that he was already keeping.

But to think this secret involved Gerard being hurt…

Was there someone doing the hurting?

For a minute, Frank thought he might be being paranoid. Frank then remembered what Gerard had been saying about not being able to reach back there, and the answer dawned on him.

“Was it Troy?” he asked, in almost a whisper.

Gerard’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth and closed a couple of times. Frank could almost see the conflict to confess raging in his head. On his bedside table, he could hear his phone go off. They were probably already late the party.

“Gerard?” Frank urged him, in a tone as gentle as he could muster.

Gerard’s expression had changed into that same sad, tearful face that Frank had thought he had only imagined here and there. Hoped he had only imagined.

“Please…” said Gerard, “Don’t tell Mikey.”

TBC

Notes