At exactly 9:32 pm, Frank was downing his second shot of vodka. He needed it for his confidence, he reasoned with himself. Alcohol seemed to make the man think and act steadier, and tonight he needed all the precision and confidence he could possibly muster. At this moment, he knew Gerard would be arriving at that damned bar Frank hated so much. 9:37, Gerard should be walking through the entrance, having no problem whatsoever getting in. 9:44, his sweet pet should be halfway through his first drink. It was like clockwork to Frank, almost as if he had been born with a sixth sense just for indicating where Gerard was or what he was doing. Whatever the gift was, he was thankful for it.

Over time, Frank had gathered what Gerard looked for in men-specifications such as hair and eye colour, prominent facial features, preferences in clothes, and so much more. From this information he had decided that he was most definitely within Gerard's standards and also used it to base tonight's look on. Frank donned a charcoal button-up, sleeves rolled to his elbows to show off his colorful tattoos, a casual black tie, and jeans. It was a simply yet stylish outfit. A tad of eyeliner was applied and smudged to make Frank's hazel eyes stand out. He'd already set everything up upstairs earlier for when he returned with his prize, and was ready to depart. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and pill with a smile and was on his way. Tonight would start the rest of his life.

*****

Gerard is what a lot would call naive, even flat out blind at times. He could never really tell who his friends and enemies were, never learned to decipher what a person's true motives were. That was his second mistake.

Gerard had just sat down at the bar wearing a black blazer and dressy jeans and was already being fought over for attention. A few tipsy men were approaching him and had started chatting him up. "Hey sugar, pretty thing like you shouldn't be sitting all by yourself!" "How 'bout a drink and you come dance with me?" "You free tonight baby?" These so-called compliments did not appeal to Gerard, nor did the men. He politely waved them off and kept his mouth busy by nursing a beer. Gerard went through the first and started his second when two men sat on opposite sides of him. He hardly got a chance to look to his left when the man to his right began chatting.

"Heiken, good choice. My name's Alex, by the way," the stranger introduced himself with a toothy smile.

"Ha, thanks. I'm Gerard, nice to meet you. I'm here kinda often, but I haven't seen you before. You new to this joint?"

"Oh yeah, I'm new to Newark in general. Moved here from Belleville a month ago." As Alex continued talking, Gerard thought to himself how the man was not bad looking, with his thick blonde hair and doe eyes.

"Shit, I'm from Belleville too! Well since you're new, lemme buy you drink, yeah?" Gerard batted his eyelashes. He was quite aware that he looked good, and only 'occasionally' used it to his advantage.

"Gerard, you're too sweet. A shot of Jack Daniels would be fine with me, if you insist," he added shyly. Gerard gladly proceeded to buy two shots, one for the each of them. They continued talking, but the longer they talked the more bored Gerard got with him.

In the midst of their conversation, Alex interrupted, "Shit! I think I left something in my car, give me a moment please!" and scurried off before Gerard could say anything. The abrupt ending stunned him a little, but he shook it off. To his left, he heard a different stranger ordering a shot of Jack like he had, but didn't pay much mind to it. He was too busy looking at the doorway to see when Alex would return. That was his third mistake.

"Um, Gerard was it?" The same voice ordering asked. Gerard turned his way as the stranger pushed the shot towards him. "I bought this for you. You look very nice tonight, by the way." The stranger bit his lip and pushed his dark, shoulder-length hair back. Fuck, Gerard thought to himself, he's... fuck, wow.

"Oh, well thank you! Yeah, it's Gerard, and your name is?" He questioned, downing the shot. The stranger's smile was no longer shy.

"It's Frank. I couldn't help but overhear that you're from Belleville. I am too actually..." And the conversation carried on. The topic moved from their childhood schools, to music, to movies. It seemed the two shared many common interests. They both were from Belleville originally, liked cheesy horror films, and listened to some of the same bands. Frank ordered them a few more drinks- "No, Gerard, I'm happy to pay for the both of us!" he insisted as they spoke. The entire time Gerard kept noticing how pretty Frank was. There was something about the way his eyes shined while he looked at Gerard, how soft his hair looked, how sweet his voice sounded. His tattoos were as much a marvel as his sharp jaw-line and honey eyes. So attractive, Gerard thought to himself, and so... blurry. His temples seemed to throb the longer he tried to focus on Frank.

Gerard tried to cover up his discomfort with asking Frank what he did for a living, but Frank stopped him."Gerard, are you okay? You look a little ill," Frank voiced his concern after tossing a few bills on the bar to pay for their drinks.

"Oh yeah, I-I'm fine... Actually no, I'm not. I'm really sorry Frank but, I think I.. Maybe I should head home." Gerard tried standing, but fell right back into his chair. He felt so tired, absolutely exhausted. It wasn't drunkenness, he knew it wasn't. But what..?

"Gerard, you can hardly walk let alone drive. Could I offer you a ride?" Frank's sympathetic look and outstretched hand looked quite friendly to Gerard. He couldn't find an word to say besides 'please'. Frank's smile widened as he grabbed Gerard's hand and threw his arm around his shoulder to support him. While walking, Frank constantly had one hand on Gerard's wrist and the other on his waist, keeping Gerard from falling. Gerard's mind was nothing but fuzz. Panic bubbled within him, but chose not to let it show too much.

They quickly were out the door and into the parking lot, receiving a rather small amount of questioning stares from other patrons. Frank whispered a few encouraging 'just keep going's and 'almost there, sweetheart's before finally reaching his car. Frank let go of his wrist long enough to open the back door and help Gerard in. He immediately laid down and shut his eyes in attempts to stop the pain. "Precious, absolutely precious..." Gerard lifted his head slightly to look at Frank confusedly before he felt his wrists being grabbed and restrained. Open your eyes Gerard, open your fucking eyes now, he thought to himself, something's not right! Unfortunately for Gerard, he couldn't. He could barely move at this point.

"Frank? Wh-what are you doing? What's happening?" He weakly questioned. He heard a small chuckle.


"Oh my dear Gerard, I'm afraid I'll have to explain later," Frank sighed, brushing Gerard's cheek lovingly with the back of his index finger. "All you need to know is that you're mine." The door slammed shut and Gerard passed out.

Notes

Alright, second chapter! Just so you know, the "*****" will be used to indicate either a time lapse or switch in character focus. More will be explained about what exactly happened in this chapter in the upcoming chapters, so if it's a little confusing right now, it'll be clarified later on. Anyway, thank you to my commenters and subscribers! You guys are my encouragement and I can't thank you enough! Please leave your thoughts/comments below. Thank you for reading, I'll see ya next chapter!

-xo OfSaintsandSinners