Before The Sun Goes Down

Gerard's POV
I walk back into Frank's apartment, looking over the mess in the lounge, my hatred for Miles boiling up again. I begin to regret not taking more time to make him suffer, but I couldn't really leave Frank alone for any longer.
I look away from the scene, glancing at the bedroom door. I start towards it, hoping he's in there, unhurt, maybe even asleep. I twist the door handle, pushing the door gently. It creaks on its way, making me cringe.
There's a lump in the middle of the bed, around the size of Frank, so I walk over, pulling the sheets back a little bit so I can check on him, but there's no-one there, only pillows. I curse quietly, the panic rising in me.
I spin round, running to the kitchen, where the door is also closed, and push it open, this time not taking as much care. There's isn't anyone in there, the kitchen is clean, no traces of blood or anything.
I stand in the doorway for a second, thinking about what to do. I look around the kitchen as if it could give me answers, and, miraculously, it kind of does.
There's a note, attached to a cupboard in front of me, written in Frank's scrawl. I grab it, my hand shaking slightly, and read it.
'Don't try and find me. I'll be okay.
Love you.'
At the bottom of the piece of paper, there's faint pencil marks. The words have been erased, and Frank has obviously tried to make them as invisible as possible, but I can still read them, and the words tell me that he's sorry.
It seems like all of my non-existent blood rushes to my head, and even with my impeccable balancing skills, I still have to hold onto something to keep from falling to the floor. I reread the note about a million times, every curve or loop of the letters becoming engraved in my memory. My mind races with possible places he could have gone, but I come up with barely any, and I kick myself mentally for not exploring the place a bit more during my time here.
I pull out my phone from my pocket, dialling his number, but, of course, it goes straight to his voice mail. I have to physically stop myself from screaming and throwing my phone across the room by gritting my teeth and making one hand hold my arm down.
I force myself to breathe, not needing to but it calms me anyway, and I start trying to think logically, instead of in blind panic. As I breathe, I smell Frank's scent, giving me an idea. I could find him by smelling him out. I'd look a bit strange, walking around the place, smelling the air, but as long as I find Frank, I don't care.
I jump out the window, landing onto two feet, and start rushing around the streets smelling the air. A car would have been a better way to travel, but in my rush, I forgot to get in mine. Instead, I use telekinesis to steal a car, and I drive around the streets instead.
It seems like he isn't anywhere, I've only picked up a few random wafts of him, and then they're gone, making me want to cave my skull in with the help of the steering wheel I keep banging my head on.
I pull up at the side of the road, leaning my head on the seat, sighing in frustration. I open an eye, watching the street in case he magically disappears out of nowhere. An elderly man walks past, and I roll down a window.
“Um, excuse me?” He jumps a little and turns around, walking closer. “Yes?” He smiles at me, but I can't even begin to think about smiling back. “Are there any bridges nearby?” He thinks for a second before nodding. “Yes, there's one about five blocks away, why?” I'm rolling up my window before he even has a chance to finish, but I stop, sighing. “I have no time to explain, but thank you very, very much..” I pull off, driving well over the speed limit to the bridge that's about five blocks away.
He isn't there. I get to the bridge, and he isn't there. I can't smell him, so he couldn't have jumped or anything from it. I get back in the car, growling. I stretch out my consciousness, searching through everybody's until I find any that are familiar.
There isn't a Frankie, though.
I stretch it out even farther, really pushing my skills, even with the extra training I have from the Council. He's there. He's faint, but he's there. I can't read anything from him apart from the basic emotions he's feeling, which aren't that happy.
I use my clairvoyance to try and see where he is, the picture I get is shaky but it's enough for me to know he's in a forest, and the only forest around here is about half an hour away in a car, so I dread to think how many miles he walked.
I start the car, driving half way there before realizing that it probably is faster if I ran, so I dump it at the side of the road, a note in the window saying that I'm sorry for taking it and the street in which I found it.
I start running, getting to a faster pace than the car ever has. I reach the forest in about ten minutes, stopping when I realize that I don't have a clue as to where he is. I can read his mind now, and I can speak to him telepathically. “Frank, you little fucker..” I send to him,making a dulled reaction of surprise filter through to me.
I use clairvoyance, managing to pinpoint where his is. I start running again, using my power to see where he is every two minutes. When I get to him, he's standing next to a tree, smoking, with a long piece of rope in his hands, dangling down into a noose-shaped knot.
Keeping quiet, I walk towards him. I stand next to him, looking at his bruised face. Miles really did get him good, and all the bruises haven't even showed up yet. I wait for a minute to see if he'll even open his fucking eyes to see if it's an axe-wielding maniac or a friend next to him, but all he does is smirk a little when the silence stretches on.
“Hey, can I bum a smoke?” I realize what I said after it comes out, the words being the first I ever uttered to Frank, but the smirk changes into a soft smile. “No, fuck off and get your own.” I chuckle, leaning back onto the tree myself glancing sidewards at him.
“That is not what you were supposed to say... You were supposed to stutter and say 'sure', then you were supposed to blush and I'd turn into a cocky fucking idiot...” He shakes his head, snorting. He finally open his eyes, and I see immediately that they're rimmed red.
“You're high.” He rolls his eyes at my tone and closes them again, sighing. “Why are you high and in a fucking forest several miles away from where you live? And, why did you fucking walk here?” He flicks his cigarette onto the floor, glancing down and stamping it out.
“Chill, babe. It's cool, I'm cool, you should be cool, everything's cool.” He's smirking again, another cigarette in his fingers, the lighter in the other. He lights the lighter, his face morphing into something else, something shadowy and dark in the flame. He lights the cigarette, bringing it to his lips.
“Frank.” He stops mid-drag, sighing out the smoke and turning to face me, annoyed. “What? What is your fucking problem?” I narrow my eyes at him, starting to get annoyed myself.
“My problem is the fact that you.. had some things did to you, then you go and run the fuck away, leaving behind a stupid little note. Then, I find you, in the muddle of a fucking forest at, like, three AM, with a fucking noose in your hands, high as a kite, fucking 'chilled' out!” He then laughs at me, making me groan. “What drugs have you had?” He smirks again, breathing out smoke.
“More like, what haven't I had? Well, what haven't I had that's available around here on my budget...” He shrugs, offering me the cigarette. I fake a smile, taking it from him, then I throw it on the floor and stub it out.
“Why did you do that for, Gerard? That was my last one, you dick..” His eyebrows have furrowed, making me laugh at him.
“What the fuck are you doing in a forest, Frank?” He sighs, crossing his arms. I sigh right back at him, rolling my eyes. “That is none of your business, Gerard.”
“It fucking is, Frank. I'm your husband, stop acting like a child and answer me.” He shakes his head , 'zipping' his mouth up and throwing away an invisible key.
“Oh, no. Frank has fucking locked his mouth up, now he can't speak... I should probably just go, then, if he can't hold the decent conversation we were having..” I put my hands on my hips, pursing my lips at him.
I concentrate on his mouth, using telekinesis to separate the lips and open his mouth. His eyes widen, and his hands automatically fly up to his mouth, putting them over it. I smile at him, making his eyes narrow.
After a second, I let him go, and he flies at me. He starts to punch me, hurling curse at me. I let him, waiting for him to finish. He doesn't last very long, standing back after a minute or so, gasping. We stare at each other in silence, anger in the air between us.
“Are you calm now?” I raise an eyebrow at him, and he looks down while nodding. I can see his cheeks turning a pink color. “Can we talk?” He nods again, sitting down. I stare at the ground for a second, slightly put off from sitting down on the dirt. I sigh, sitting down gingerly.
“I'm sorry.” His voice is quiet, ashamed, but he looks me in the eye while saying so I can tell it's sincere.
“What for?” His cheeks turn pinker, and he looks down again.
“I'm sorry for... running out on you, getting high.. coming here.. and, um...” The sentence gets quieter as he talks.
“'And' what?” He gives me a pointed stare, glancing at the rope that's lying next to him. I nod, slowly reaching out my hand and stopping before I touch him, making sure that he's okay with it. He gulps, nodding slightly. I grip his hand, holding it tightly.
“Frankie.. I was so scared, so fucking scared, you know that, right? I stole a fucking car for you..” I run a hand through my hair, sighing. My voice broke in the middle of the sentence, making Frank wince. “I'm sorry, Gee... I just.. I wasn't think straight, y'know? I just feel so dirty, I just wanted it to stop, and I wasn't brave enough to go through with it sober, so I bought a load of drugs- I didn't take them all, though, don't worry..” He gives me a small smiles, then carries on. “I didn't want to jump off a bridge, I mean, who'd want to die by drowning themselves? So I grabbed some rope, and I was going to do it in the apartment, but I couldn't let you walk in and find my hanging body, so I walked here, stopping to buy the shit along the way.” He talks rapidly, without any shakiness, but he grips onto my hand really tight.
“Have you been taking your medication recently?” He thinks for a minute before shaking his head. “I'm no doctor, but I know you need to take them, sweetie. This could be part of the reason why you feel like this, couldn't it?” He nods, and I shuffle closer to him.
“Where did you go? Did you actually find Miles?” I think he's noticed the blood on my clothes for the first time, and he looks at me with some hope in his eyes. I nod my head, making a smile ghost over his lips before he looks down. “Did you make him suffer?”
“Yes, I did. He won't come near you ever again, okay? You're safe from him..” I squeeze his hand, rubbing it to try and get it to warm up a little. He nods, looking up at me. “Thank you...” I nod as a few tears go down his face. He wipes them away quickly, blinking a few times. “I bet that sounds awful, doesn't it? Thanking somebody for murdering someone else..” I shake my head at him, making him purse his lips.
“Frank, what he did to you deserves more than just me ripping his throat out, okay? He deserves to die a thousand times, he deserves to die a thousand, painful deaths in the depths of hell, if I'm honest.” He doesn't react to my words, instead he lets the tears fall. He's silent, his shoulders not even shaking as they roll out his eyes and down his cheeks.
“Come on, let's get you home..” I stand up, glancing at the rope and picking it up faster than Frank can see, throwing it somewhere into the undergrowth. Frank stands up, unblinking, and starts walking in a random direction. “Frank? The car is this way..” He changes his direction, staring straight ahead as we walk. I would run with him, but I don't think he's ready to be that close to anybody, because he has to go onto my back while I run.
We walk for around half an hour, finally reaching the car. I pull off the note from the place I put it on the bonnet, crumpling it up and throwing it away. We get into the car, the drive being took in silence until we reach the place where I took the car from.
I park, locking all the doors and everything behind us, then we walk back to Frank's apartment. By the time we're inside, Frank's shivering like mad, and his lips are tinged with blue. He doesn't seem to care, he just walks into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
I sigh, walking into the kitchen. I make him some tea, not wanting to give him coffee because I want him to sleep, but wanting him to have something warm in him. I debate on whether or not make him something to eat, making him some toast after a few minutes of looking through the cupboards.
I even manage to burn the toast, even though I checked it every half a minute.
I walk through the lounge, deciding to clean it up and stuff when he falls asleep.
In the bedroom, Frank's sat on the end of the bed, rocking slightly, with tears running down his face. He's staring straight ahead, and he doesn't blink for all the time I watch him. I don't get scared often, but tonight I've been terrified for him.
I put down the tea and toast on the bedside table, then I walk over to him and crouch down in front of him. I wave a hand in front of his eyes and he doesn't even flinch. “Frankie?” He blinks, slowly, moving his eyes to mine. I smile at him, a small, comforting one one. “I made you tea and toast.. The tea might be cold by now, but I can make you some more..” A corner of his mouth lifts up, hardly even a smile, but I'll take it.
We stand up, and I check the tea, it's lukewarm, so I give to him to try it. When he has a sip, he grimaces. “Too cold?” He nods, the corner of his mouth lifting up again. “I'll make you some more, hold on and eat your toast.” He looks at the food, frowning but nods anyway.
When I come back in, with boiling hot tea, Frank's sat on the floor, his head between his knees and a half eaten slice of toast next to him on the plate. “Frank? What's wrong?” He shrugs, groaning. I, once again, put the mug on the table, getting down onto my knees next to him. “I tried, Gee.. I just can't stomach it at the minute..” His voice is muffled and shaky, making me wince. “It's okay, Frankie, will you drink the tea for me though? You're fucking freezing..” He nods, lifting his head up and pulling himself onto the bed. I place the mug in his hands, him smiling slightly when the hotness of the ceramic touches his hands.
He sips the tea continuously until it's done, then he puts it on the table and lies down. I sit next to him, crossing my legs. “Gee?” He has one eye open, looking at me. I nod my head at him. “Where did you go?” My stomach drops, this was one question I was wishing he wouldn't ask.
“What do you, um, mean?” He rolls his eye, frowning. “Where were you and why weren't you returning my texts and calls?” I sigh, closing my eyes.
“I was with the council.” I peek at him from under my hair, watching him go paler. “What did they do to you?” I shrug, absent-mindedly tapping my fingers on the sheets.
“They made me stronger, more.. powerful.”
“How.. Why?” I sigh, looking at him. He's now lying on his side, a hand propping his head up. “They gave me some really powerful blood or something, then they helped me build upon my powers that I had already, which led me to discovering some new ones. They also gave me some, but I don't really understand what they do yet.”
“Why did they do that to you? Why not.. Ernest or someone else?”
“They aren't part of the Council.” His mouth opens slightly, parting in shock or confusion.
“Neither are you..?” He doesn't sound sure of himself, his voice hushed.
“I am now..”
“What? Why?” I sigh, Frank's looking at me with disapproval on his face, making the guilt come back.
“They threatened me. They told me they could kill you, and easily. I know they can, so I couldn't not agree, could I?” Frank sits up.
“You could have disagreed. You could have fought them, got everybody to fight them..” I picture it in my head, the scene looking slightly like the ending to the last Twilight movie. I accidentally laugh, making Frank glare at me.
“Sorry, sorry.. It's not easy, Frank. They are some of the most powerful things in this universe, all of the vampires, demons, lycanthrope in the world wouldn't be able to beat them, probably. They aren't all bad, anyway. They've helped me, they said that I can be with you if I stayed with them.” I smile at him, feeling the same joy I felt when they told me.
“Why are you here? Did you run away or something?” I shake my head, shifting slightly.
“No, I told them I felt something bad happening and they let me go.” He nods, grabbing my hand. The touch surprises me, but I welcome it, holding it tighter. “I love you, Frankie.” He smiles slightly, gripping my hand tighter.
“I love you, too.”
We sit in silence for a while, holding hands, before Frank's eyes start to droop close. “Frankie, lie down and get some rest.” He nods sleepily, lying down onto of the duvet. I pull it out from under him, draping it over him. He's already asleep, so I go into the lounge and look over the damage.
I start picking up the glass, throwing it all in the trash. Then, I take Frank's clothes and put them in with the glass. The blood on the walls and carpet will be harder to get rid of. I think back to the small amount of lesson time I had with the Council, when they taught me on how to expand my shifting powers.
With great effort, they told me, I can make objects shift into something different, so I should be able to do that to the flooring and walls.
I concentrate on the wallpaper, willing it to change. Slowly but surely, the color changes. It's now a midnight blue, with stars all over it. I don't know why it changed to that pattern, I was aiming for a dark blue, but it looks cool.
I change the carpet to the same color as the walls, but this time there are constellations instead of just random dotted starts. I check the couch for blood, noticing little droplets of it, so I change it to the same blue the rest of the room is.
Standing in there, I feel like part of the sky. If I concentrate, I can make the stars move, and they seem to light up the room. I smile at my handiwork, thinking on how easy it was. It wasn't supposed to be, but I still have the blood the Council gave me in my system, so that would have helped.
I sit on the couch, looking at the walls and floor for hours until I hear noises coming from the bedroom. I run to the door, pushing it open.
Frank's tossing and turning, yelping in pain every so often. He's tangled up in the sheets, so I pull them off him, making him calm slightly, but he's still tossing and turning. “Frank! Frankie, wake up! It's only a dream..” His eyes snap open, wide and empty. I expected there to be terror or something in them, but they're just dull and empty.
His chest heaves, and sweat runs down his face. His hands run down his face, through his hair. “Fucking hell..” He lies back down, on his back. I concentrate on the ceiling, making it the same as in the lounge. The stars really do shine, and as soon as Frank sees them, he smiles.
“Are you doing this?” He glances at me, and I nod. He looks back up to the ceiling, and I make them move and change color. I've added in a few nebulas and things like that to make it better. I sit on the floor, watching Frank's face as he watches the stars. He's beautiful, even when he's broken and empty, he's still beautiful.
I change the ceiling to the solar system, zooming in on every planet before making them orbit around the sun. I do that until he falls back asleep, still lying on his back with a small smile on his face, the stars and planets lighting his face up.

Notes

How are you liking this so far? I hope you do like it, and thanks for reading.