Making It Up

Gerard’s POV
My eyes widened and instinct threw me in front of Frank. Although due to my lack of coordination I ended up just sat in his lap. This was fortunately unnecessary as Patrick pulled a very irate Pete into a kiss.
Not a gentle kiss
I mean he grabbed his collar and forcefully pressed their lips together. Slowly, Pete’s fists uncurled and his tense muscles relaxed. Patrick even went as far and rolling on top of Pete. They continued to heatedly make out and I realised I was still sat in Frank’s lap. Mortified, I shuffled off him and stared at the floor. I think he was doing the same. Awkward….
When they finally finished, both of them looked significantly calmer. I was honestly glad they hadn’t had sex right there on a hospital bed. Patrick really didn’t strike me as the type. Then again, he was the pacifier, and he did a fucking amazing job of calming Pete down. He still eyed frank suspiciously but overall he seemed a lot more reasonable.
“listen, it’s m-m-m” fucking stutter. Always. “my decision, and I w-want to give him a chance.” I took a deep breath. I choked on air, my skinny ribcage pounding up and down. All three of them went to help me but frank got there first, gently patting my back till I was breathing normally again. There was something in his eyes again… hope? Maybe.
“fine. But if you fuck up” pete looked menacingly at frank “you’ll have hell to pay.”
Frank chuckled lowly under his breath “you remind me a lot of Mikey. If I fuck up, I’ll be the first to jump into a canal.” I grasped his sleeve, horrified at the thought. He wrapped his arm around me comfortingly.
“I hope Mikey didn’t hurt you too bad” I mumbled softly. Pete and Patrick looked once again incredibly confused.
“I can show you if you like.” He whispered. I nodded. I was curious. My little brother couldn’t have caused too much damage, could he?
“er guys I’m gonna pull the curtain round if that’s okay” frank announced to them. Begrudgingly, they moved back so the curtain around the bed could be pulled. He lay back on the bed and slowly lifted his shirt…
Oh My God.
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Long, silver lines flowed in-between the tattoos like they were spider strings, connecting them. Some were short, like the attacker had just lost control, but some were long and drawn out in a torture like style. Actual words were carved crudely in places.
Murderer
Monster
They looked so painful, but healed by time and partially masked by colourful ink. Mikey really did this. He was more fucked up than I thought, clearly. Slowly, I draped my arm over his torso.
“we match” I noted. He laughed without humour.
“except I deserved mine.” He replied. Guilt. I was seeing an entire life lived in guilt. And in that moment, I felt sorry for him.
“listen, I know I can’t make things right quickly. I can’t change the past. If I could I’d go and shove myself in a fucking locker” he shook his head, unable to continue. I awkwardly patted his shoulder, waiting for him to carry on. “I know I can’t fix this quickly but I just wondered if you’d like to go to a restaurant or something?” he looked up at me.
“er, like, to talk?” I stuttered. Wow. That – that was incredible. I should do public speaking
“yeah. To talk things through. Like, hanging out? As, well, not friends I guess, I’m not really friend material but - ” he began
“I’d like that.” I reassured him. He relaxed considerably, and then blushed when he realised he was still shirtless. His tattoos were as beautiful as I’d imagined. He shrugged his shirt back on, and we realised Pete and Patrick had given us some privacy. They were probably fucking in a broom closet somewhere.
We just lay there on the hospital bed, and I listened to his rhythmic breathing. And for the first time in ages, I slept soundly without nightmares.
Time to start again.

Notes

ren here! I'd like to take this opportunity to appreciate two things. number one, my amazing co author who is just brilliant and I wouldn't be able to write this story without her. number two, all of the lovely people commenting and giving me motivation to write! this was a fun chapter, I love peterick. you'll be seeing more of that ;) . tara, and enjoy the chapter! don't forget to leave a comment ^-^