Hearing the words "Good boy" made Gerard want to throw up- that is, if he had anything in his stomach to throw up. Frank hopped off his lap and sat at his feet, beginning to cut away at the ropes. The sound of the blade slashing at the fibers filled the room. One foot was released, and Frank started the next. Gerard looked intently at Frank. For such a sinister man, he looked so incredibly innocent. The slight inward curl of his hair, his soft pink lips, a calm, smooth expression on his face as he worked. In any other setting, he would've deceived Gerard into believing he'd never hurt a fly. Frank could've deceived anyone, probably. Gerard supposed that's what made him the perfect sinner- you'd never suspect him.

Frank was finished with freeing the second ankle and moved to Gerard's bound wrists. The rope there had been thinner, which made it easier to slice through. Gerard of course was still mortified of doing anything else wrong and sat perfectly still. He knew he could knock Frank down with his feet at that point, but what then? That'd only piss Frank off. If Gerard wanted to gain freedom, he needed to earn his captor's trust. It'd already been proven that disobeying him would get him nowhere. Being angry and throwing fits did nothing to help his situation.

Gerard snapped out of his thoughts as a little click sounded in front of him. Frank held clipped a chain, approximately 4 feet, to whatever was around his neck. What the-am I wearing a fucking collar?! "I'm afraid you'll have to crawl if we're switching rooms for now. It's just outside, it's not far, don't worry. Okay, hands and knees," Frank commanded. Gerard stared at him. The stubborn part of Gerard refused to be degraded like that, but another part of him told him to just do it so Frank wouldn't get upset. His internal war caused him to freeze.

Before he could respond, Frank gave a sharp shove to his back so Gerard fell forward, landing his hands roughly on the floor. "I said crawl. That's a warning," he admonished. A quick tug of the chain encouraged Gerard to start moving. The boards of wood were incredibly painful against Gerard's already aching knees, but he didn't dare complain. Survival mode had officially kicked in at this point, he guessed. Frank unlocked the door and led them down a short hallway, and then to another door to the immediate left. Frank unlocked it and gave Gerard a nudge to go in first.

It was nothing special- some simple linoleum flooring, cream colored paint, cabinets with a built-in sink, and a shower. Unfortunately, the bathroom contained no windows. Frank hurried in after him and closed the door, pressing his back against it. He seemed a little nervous as he ran his hand through his hair. "Sooo, uh, do whatever you need to, everything in here is yours to use. Be done in about thirty minutes. I'll be back with food for you." With that being said, he quickly unclipped the leash and ran out. Before Gerard could even get up to check, he heard a jingle of keys and knew he was locked in. He slumped miserably to the floor, and sat with his head resting against the sink. Wet, hot tears streamed down his face, though he made no noise and no effort to stop them. And he sat there. Sat there and let the reality of the situation hit him. There would maybe be no rescue. He could possibly die in this place, by either his or Frank's hand. He could be tortured, raped, starved, anything. He would just have to take whatever came to him from that point.

He shakily stood, clutching the countertops for support. When he finally managed to pull himself all the way up, he glanced in the mirror and cowered back. Whatever was looking back at him was not Gerard. He refused to believe the awful thing in the mirror was him. It was some other man-a creature, in his opinion. Its hair was greasy and matted with multiple day old product. Its eyes were puffy and red with tears, face cut in several places. Collared, as if it were some dog. Gerard was even more scared when he realized he and the beast made all the same motions. A few more seconds and he couldn't stand to look anymore.

Gerard quickly started to strip himself of his clothing. He unbuttoned his tattered blazer and yanked off his undershirt, revealing bandages across his midsection. Gerard didn't put them there... Oh, he thought to himself. From where he bludgeoned my fucking ribs in... Something about it seemed so off. Gerard thought the act of taking care of his wounds seemed out of character for a madman. He peeled the gauze back a little to look at the horrid, purply-green bruises that had formed. It was a terrible sight. His fingers dragged across a small section, and the pain he felt was unbelievable. Not wanting to ruin them, he unwound the rest and set them on the counter.

The rest of his clothes came off as he tried figuring out how the hell to work the shower. Gerard nearly burned himself alive when he first stepped in, and hurried to readjust the knobs. Once he got it just right, he started washing his hair. There was plenty of unopened soaps, shampoos, conditioners, wash rags, you name it. Not to mention the shower itself was spotless. You could easily see yourself in the glass door, not that Gerard wanted to right then. The man had never been so relieved to shower in his life. He had practically scrubbed himself raw, desperately wanting to rid himself of all the dirt, sweat, grime, and guilt. Gerard began scratching at the leathery choker. It seemed like more the frustrated man pulled, the more restrictive it got. He clawed and clawed, but The trickle of water and unrelenting scrubbing made him hiss in pain. Soon his skin was red and turned off the water. Under the sink were a few fluffy towels, the same cream color as the walls, that he used to dry off with. Steam had filled the room, shrouding all the glass with fog. Gerard was thankful for it.

He wasn't all that sure how long he'd been in there, so he redressed himself in what he'd had on before and continued drying his hair until he heard a short knock at the door, and a familiar jingle of keys. In walked Frank, chain in hand. "Are you done? I have food for you if you are," he said shyly. Gerard thought he was acting very suspicious. He put on a brave face.

"Yeah, but the bandages..." Gerard pointed to the counter where they sat.

"I'll reapply them while you're eating. You are going to have to crawl again." Frank reattached the leash to the collar with a click. "Down, pet," he commanded. Gerard went with little hesitation, remembering just how hungry he was. He didn't even really care what it was, so long as it filled his stomach. Frank leads them back to the attic, where Gerard noticed he's arranged things a bit. There was a small table set up and two matching carved, wooden chairs. Frank nodded for Gerard to have a seat. Once sitting Gerard saw that on the table was a lovely stack of fluffy pancakes, topped with small berries and slices of fruit on the side. Gerard's mouth was already watering. Pancakes were one of his all time favorite things to eat. "I want you to try and eat it all. You haven't eaten much this past week-" Week?! Gerard thought, "-and you need to get some nutrients in you. Go ahead, get eating. But remove your shirt so I can reapply the gauze." Gerard did as he was told as quickly as possible, and began digging into his meal with the provided plastic fork. And fuck, everything was delicious. The fruit was perfectly ripe, and juicy. The pancakes were light, crisp around the edges and incredibly warm. The small bowl of maple syrup was so good, Gerard wanted to drink it straight.

Frank came back, supplies in hand. He kneeled beside Gerard and smeared some cream on him, making him flinch. "Hold still, I know it hurts..." Gerard tried focusing on eating his wonderful meal, but the pain made it very hard to concentrate. Frank's fingers felt quite cold brushing against Gerard's still warm skin, distracting him further. Gerard set his fork down, and sipped water. Occasionally he would glance over at Frank, who kept alternating his vision between Gerard's bruises and Gerard's face. Gerard felt himself blush, and resumed eating. The rubbing sensation soon turned comforting, Gerard almost liked how soothing it was. Unfortunately that came to an end and Frank started rewrapping his midsection. This was too much. One second he was threatening him with a knife and the next caring for all his injuries. Just... why?

"Frank?" Gerard spoke up.

"Yes Gee?" he answered in reply.

"Why are you taking care of me?"

"Because I love you, of course," he smiled up at Gerard. So loving. So deceptive. Gerard made a little 'oh' noise and shut up, not wanting to further the subject. He occupied his mouth and finished up the last few bits of pancake up. What the hell are you thinking anyway? That's your captor right there. Quit acting all... nervous, for fuck's sake. Everything Frank was doing seemed to suspicious to Gerard, and he wasn't going to let himself fall for this phony act.

Frank handed him his shirt once they were both done, which Gerard snatched away without making eye contact and tugged it over his head. Frank stood there looking at him oddly for his hostility, making him uncomfortable. He took a big bite of the final strawberry on his plate, and juice ran all down his mouth. Frank quickly grabbed a napkin and tried wiping at the liquid, but Gerard knocked his hand away.

"Don't touch me." Gerard spat furiously. Without skipping a beat, Frank promptly smacked his cheek roughly, making Gerard groan.

"You do not talk to me like that." Frank grabbed his captive's hair, and yanked him off the chair to the floor. "That was not a punishment, but a warning. You'll have time to reflect on it, seeing as how you'll be up there another day." Gerard looked back at up him sorrowfully.

"Please no!" Gerard begged. "I'm sorry, I-I don't know w-what I was thinking, I-"

"Shut up. You should've thought about that, especially after I treated you so nicely. I expect better behavior tomorrow." Frank spit on Gerard, and stomped out of the room, muttering curses and swears while Gerard lied on the floor, heartbroken at missing a chance of getting out of this god forsaken place. What were you thinking...?

Notes

Hello again! New chapter, yay! I have very little time right now, so to keep this short- THIS FIC HIT OVER 1000 VIEWS. HOW???? I want to thank everyone so much, I'm ecstatic it's doing so well! Thank you readers, subscribers, raters, and commenters- especially you regular few :) Please leave comments below to let me know what you think so far! (Just so you know, Gee won't be in the attic much longer. I know it's taking a while, but he'll be outta there soon!)

-xo OfSaintsandSinners