Before The Sun Goes Down

“And... that's... that, I guess. That's why we need extra training.” Frank looks up, his eyes hooded and not quite there. Frank had tried his hardest to keep it together all through telling Ernest, but he had lost it a couple of times, and he's still reeling from the story.
Ernest stares at Frank for a long time, his face expressionless but softer than it was earlier. Frank sneaks a glance at Gerard, who is playing with his fingers, his eyes dull.
“I see...” Ernest smiles, slightly uncomfortably. “I understand now why you didn't want to tell me in front of everyone. It must have been hard to relive it all, and I am quite honoured that you told me.”
Ernest glances at Gerard, then back at Frank. He shifts in his seat, leaning forward towards Frank.
“Will you help us, Ernest?” Gerard says, quiet and subdued. Ernest nods.
“Of course I will,” He pauses, his hard eyes staring at both of them. “With how the two of you are, it will not take long to train you better.”
“Thank you so much, Ernest,” Frank says, his eyes shining.
“Who trained you, Frank? They did an extremely good job,” Frank glances at Gerard, who meets his eyes at the same time. They both look away with pained eyes.
“Gerard did.” Ernest looks at Gerard, surprised. Gerard keeps looking at his hands.
“Really? Well... well done, Gerard,” Gerard looks up and half-smiles at Ernest before looking back down. Ernest and Frank share a worried look, Frank's face pinched and anxious.
“You haven't been a vampire for very long, have you?” Ernest asks, his eyes on Frank. Frank shakes his head, biting his lip.
“No, I haven't,”
“And you already have your thirst under control? And your mental abilities are amazing, from what I can tell...”
“I think I do... I mean, we haven't exactly tried it out as such, but I don't have to drink every time I think about blood, or smell it, or see it.” Ernest nods, his eyes narrowed in thought.
“That's amazing... You're so young, yet so extremely powerful... Have you tried any of your powers out?” Frank nods his head.
“Briefly. We couldn't do anything major, because Gerard trained me in a public forest, but we know the basics of what I can do, we think,”
“Okay...” He trails off, his eyes studying Frank. “Well, first thing tomorrow, we'll start your training,” He stands up, his hands straightening his clothes. “But, for now, I would like you to join us while we hunt, so you aren't thirsty while we train,”
Gerard seems to pay no attention and he doesn't notice when Frank stands up, too.
“Gerard?” Gerard looks up, virtually emotionless. Frank tries to smile at him, but he knows that it probably looks more like a tearful frown. “Are you coming?”
“Where to?” Frank breathes in, biting his lip.
“We're going hunting,” Frank gestures out of the door, where the others are presumably waiting for them.
“Oh,” Gerard looks back down, making Frank close his eyes in frustration.
“So, are you coming?” He asks, sharper now.
“Fine,” He retorts, just as sharply as Frank. He stands up, brushing past Frank.
Frank rolls his eyes, trying to mask his upset with his annoyance. He didn't want this to happen. Frank hated the fact that they were practically not together, but it was the best for the both of them... Wasn't it?
They head out, Gerard and Frank silent and pensive. Maude tries to strike a conversation with the both of them, but neither really invest themselves in it. She eventually starts talking to Aubree, occasionally involving the pair, but they don't really answer.
After the hunt, they all head back to the house, full and mostly satisfied. Even Frank and Gerard can't deny the buzz that comes form drinking fresh blood.
“Look... Frank, I heard what you and Gerard were talking about yesterday. And I want to say, that I'm here for you,” Frank is slightly surprised by Maude's sudden outburst, but he nods. “I'm going to say this to Gerard, too. You might tell me things, and he might tell me things, but everything you both tell me will be kept a secret. I consider you both my friends, and I want you to be able to confide in me.”
“Wow... I... thank you, Maude,” Frank is definitely taken aback by her kindness, he barely knows her, yet she's offering friendship and a shoulder to cry on if needs be.
“Don't mention it, Frank. Honestly, if you ever need to talk to anyone, I'm here. Even after you and Gerard split or whatever,” Frank nods, offering Maude a smile.
“Thank you, really. I really, really appreciate it.”
Gerard notices the pair talking, starting to slowly get jealous. It might be at the fact that Frank's smiling when he, himself, can not, or it might just be the fact that he wants Frank to talk to him and actually smile, instead of pretending.
Maude and Frank talk for the duration of the walk back to the house, which is around five minutes long. Gerard hangs back, his face sullen and downcast.
“Maude, can you, uh, do me a favor?” She nods, a compliant smile on her face. “Can you try and cheer Gerard up? I can't stand him being like that because of me,” She glances at Gerard, trying to be inconspicuous, and nods.
“Sure I can. I'll do it when we're back at the house, so it doesn't look like I've been exclusively told to do it,” Frank nods, smiling at her.
“Thank you.” She smiles back.
Morning comes, the first beams of sunlight coming through the window just over fifteen minutes after they got back to the house. Maude and Gerard had a talk, and she thinks she managed to cheer him up somewhat, but he feels worse than he did before.
It seems like he doesn't want anyone to make him happy, like his body or mind is rejecting people's nice comments, or jokes that would have made him laugh normally.
He laughed along with Maude so as not to upset her, and in turn he made Frank happy at the same time, all because he finally cracked a smile.
“Okay. Frank, Gerard, if you would follow me,” Ernest seems to appear out of nowhere. He speaks fluidly, the sunlight making his silvery hair shine.
Frank stands up, happier now after he saw that Gerard can still smile and that his face isn't locked in a permanent frown. Gerard again follows behind the pair, the rest of the group staring after them.
“Good luck!” Maude shouts, laughter evident in her voice.
“Yeah, yeah,” Frank calls back, looking at her over his shoulder. She grins at him, making him smile back.
Frank can feel Gerard staring at him as they walk outside, making him uncomfortable.
“Why are you staring at me?” Frank looks at Gerard, who is coincidentally looking at the ground.
“I'm not,” He says, glancing back at Frank. Frank laughs sarcastically.
“I can feel your eyes on me, Gerard,” Frank raises an eyebrow, challenging him.
“So what if I am?” He rolls his eyes at Frank, who has to resist the urge to flip him off.
“It's making me uncomfortable? Do you want me to stare at you?” Gerard shakes his head.
“Unlike some people, I don't really care,”
“Sure you don't. Anyway, why were you staring at me? You didn't answer me the first time,” Gerard is quiet for a minute, staring back down at the ground.
“I was just wondering how you make friends so easily.” Rushing the words out, Gerard doesn't look at Frank.
“I don't? I really don't.” They turn a corner, Ernest pretending to not hear the pair bickering.
“Yeah, you do. Maude, Ernest, Ray, Mikey, Bob, even Craig in the end. Hell, you managed to bang Craig after he hated us for ages.” Frank's eyebrows furrow in anger.
“Gerard, shut up about Craig.” Gerard laughs dubiously, shaking his head.
“Why should I?”
“Because you have no right to even mention his name!” Gerard rolls his eyes.
“Why don't I?” Frank stops walking, his head shaking.
“Because... you murdered him! You got so freaking jealous, that you murdered him!” Gerard stops, too. He was expecting Frank to shout, not for his voice to become low and dangerous.
“I wasn't jealous! Why do you think I was fucking jealous?” Gerard shouts, making Ernest stop as well.
“Will you two stop? We have things to do!” They both turn to Ernest sheepishly. “We can't train if you're both arguing like little children!”
“Sorry, Ernest,” They both say at the same time, in almost the same despondent tone.
Ernest stares at them both for another few seconds, his eyes searching their faces. He shakes his head, his face dark.
“Whatever.... Let's just train and have this over with, yes?” Frank nods, following after Ernest. Gerard trudges after them, biting his lip.
They get to an old barn house, and Ernest pulls out some keys and unlocks the doors. He ushers them in, locking the door after they're all inside.
“What do you want us to do?” Gerard asks, sitting on a hay bale.
“And why have you got an old barn filled with hay?” Frank asks, waving his hand around.
“I bought it for purposes such as this,” He smiles a thin-lipped smile, trying to break the tension a little. “And I want you to show me your combat skills.” Both of their faces drop as they look at each other.
“Who... who with?” Ernest's smile fades, confirming their fears.
“No, no way. I'm not fighting Gerard!”
“I don't want to lay a finger on Frank, Ernest!” They say at the same time, Gerard standing up.
“You both want my help, don't you?” He looks at them both, an eyebrow raised. “You will fight if you want my help. I'm not fighting either of you, it would be an unfair pairing. I'm more experienced in combat than both of you,” Gerard shakes his head, opening his mouth to argue. “You both heal quickly, and pain fades away quickly. You'll get over it,”
Frank stays silent, slowly becoming more panicked at the though of him hurting Gerard and vice versa.
“Ernest... I... I can't, Ernest... I can't...” Frank's lip trembles, and Gerard just wants to comfort him. Ernest beats him to it. He walks closer to Frank, coming to a half no more than a foot away from him.
“I know this will be hard. But, you have to do it. If either of you are good enough after I've witnessed it, then you won't have to fight any more. We'll move onto something else. You can do this, Frank.” Ernest nods along to his words, his eyes reassuring Frank more the longer he stares, using his powers.
After a minute, Frank speaks.
“Okay, fine. Let's just get this over and fucking done with.” Frank lets himself remember all the shitty things anyone has every done to him, making him angrier and angrier.
Gerard, meanwhile, still doesn't think he could hit Frank.
Come on, Gerard. Pull yourself together and fight. A sharp voice, belonging to Ernest, pokes through his thoughts. Gerard opens his eyes and look at Frank and then Ernest, still not ready.
“I can't d-” He starts to say, but is then cut off by Ernest.
“And... fight!”
You bastard. Gerard thinks, projecting his thoughts onto Ernest. It amuses Ernest, and so that makes Gerard angry.
Frank swings for Gerard, catching him by surprise. Gerard stumbles, slightly amazed at Frank's strength. He knew Frank was strong, but not that strong.
Gerard holds his jaw, pain swimming in his head. Frank moves, basically teleporting because he was moving so fast, to behind Gerard. He kicks the back of Gerard's legs, making them buckle and Gerard to fall onto his knees.
Again, Gerard is caught by surprise, but he's also mad at Frank for making a fool out of him. He waits for the right minute, just when Frank swings for Gerard using his foot, and Gerard grabs it, pulling Frank over his head and onto his back in front of him.
Frank hits his head, making him dazed. A hand grabs his arm and pulls him upwards, making him grunt. Frank elbows the space behind him, catching Gerard's stomach.
Letting go, Gerard leans over, clutching his stomach. Frank smiles slightly, imagining this to be Miles, mainly because he wouldn't be able to pull another move on Gerard without doing so.
Bringing his knee up, Frank knees Gerard in the face, breaking his nose. Gerard flies backwards, hitting a nearby hay bale. Wincing at the pain, Gerard straightens his nose out, crying out in pain. He holds it in place so the bones partially heal, and then stands back up again.
Looking around, he can't see Frank.
So, Gerard uses clairvoyance to find where Frank is, and makes wind blow up in the rafters, where he is, successfully flinging Frank down. He lands on his back.
“Shit!” He groans, the ground hurting him a lot more than he thought it would.
Gerard laughs slightly under his breath as Frank looks around for something to use. He spots a digging fork, and slowly uses telekinesis to move it towards Gerard.
Gerard doesn't see it coming, so Frank speeds it up until it's a few feet away from him.
“The fuck?” He glances at Frank, who smiles sweetly and shrugs. “That's playing fucking dirty, Frank!”
“I don't give a shit, Gerard. You step any closer to me and that fork will pierce your throat.”
They stare at each other for a few seconds, Gerard trying to call his bluff. Ernest gets tired of it and steps in, ending the fight.
“Okay, that's enough. Very good. Frank, drop the fork and come over here.” The fork drops to the floor, making Gerard jump backwards slightly. Frank smirks, walking over to where Gerard and Ernest are standing.
“How did I do, Ernest?” Frank asks, crossing his arms.
“Good. You both did very good,” Frank frowns, stepping forward.
“Hardly! I beat the shit out of Gerard!” Ernest stares Frank out, his eyes disapproving. Frank eventually looks down.
“That only means that you were superior in this fight. From what I saw, you both have excellent levels of combat, and soon you will both fight me. But, for now, I'm going to help you strengthen your mental blocks.”
Gerard gingerly feels his nose, which doesn't hurt any more, to see if it was still straight. Nothing else of his was broken, so he doesn't really care about anything else. Frank wasn't really hurt at all, but he still feels stiff.
“How are you both feeling?” Ernest asks, sitting down on a chair. He invites the other two to sit, and they do.
“Like I just had my nose broken...” Gerard scowls at Frank.
“I'm fine. But... where did these chairs come from?”
“They were always here. You just didn't notice.”
“Oh...” Frank looks around, seeing if there was anything else he's missed. His attention is caught back by Ernest when he speaks.
“Okay... down to business,”
They train for a few more hours and then they take a break. Ernest gave them both mental attacks, and they both had to fight them off. The attacks got periodically harder, until Frank and Gerard couldn't take it any more and needed a break.
Frank was substantially better at it than Gerard, but Gerard's better at others things that Frank has never even tried to do. They match up pretty well. They can cover each other's backs, and that's what they really need.
“Frank, was there any fucking need to pull all those fucking moves on me? You broke my fucking nose,” Gerard comes and sits by Frank, who is watching the world from out of a window, trying to relax.
Frank shrugs, not even looking at Gerard.
“I wasn't fighting you.” Gerard stares at Frank, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Yeah, you were... What are you talking about?” Frank closes his eyes, leaning his chin into his palm.
“I wasn't. Not in my mind,” He taps his temple, looking at Gerard sidewards. “In my mind, I was fighting Miles. That's the only way I could get myself to land a second hit on you.”
“Oh...” Gerard doesn't know what to say, because guilt was swallowing him up.
“Don't be guilty. It's not your fault. You didn't even really hurt me, so don't be guilty.”
“Then whose fault is it?” He says, pretty bitterly.
“I don't know. Miles', I guess.” Frank shrugs, looking back out the window.
“We can't just blame everything on him, Frank.” Frank smiles strangely, almost nostalgically.
“Soon we won't have to blame Miles on anything. I will still be blaming Miles on things, but you, when you look back on everything, you'll probably blame most of those things on me.”
Gerard keeps quiet because he knows that there is some truth in his words.
“You see?” Frank keeps his voice quiet and light, but there's still traces of bitterness and sadness in it.
“Frank...” Gerard sighs, biting his lip. His eyes flicker down to Frank's fingers, noting that he till hasn't taken the ring off. “You know the night when I gave you your ring back?” A small smile appears on Frank's lips, so Gerard continues. “I promised to myself that I would never give up on us, because I saw the amount of love that you have for me in your eyes right then,” His voice cracks, making him clear his throat. He talks lower and slower now, trying to remain as calm as possible. “Where did that go? I look into your eyes now and all I see is regret and sadness. Where did the love go, Frank?” He whispers the last words, staring into Frank's eyes.
Frank can't speak for a minute, and when he does, his voice is hoarse.
“It's still there, Gerard. Never say that I don't love you,” Frank breaks their eye contact.
“Frank, I need to know something,” Frank's eyes raise again, painfully empty.
“What?” Frank licks his lips.
“I need to know that this time it's final. You've done this to me before, and then we were just back together again. I can't handle that again, Frank. This time, it has to be serious. We can't keep messing each other around.” Pain ebbs slowly into Frank's eyes, but he doesn't look away.
“I'm being serious,” He nods, trying to stay emotionless. “I don't think I've ever been more serious in my life, Gerard, and I'm not saying that to just be mean, okay? As I've said before, we can't carry on like this. I can't keep dragging you down, I can't keep seeing you upset because of the dickish things I do on a daily basis.”
Having to look away for a minute, to compose himself, Gerard can't stop his head from nodding.
“Okay. Okay. Good. That's good,” He looks up while Frank watches him with wary eyes. “Later, yeah, we need to have a talk about what we're going to do after this is over. I mean, you have nothing and nobody to go to, so what are you going to do? I can't just let you leave with nothing, Frank. We need to talk, yeah? We really need to talk.” Gerard keeps talking faster and faster.
“Gerard, chill out. Stop panicking. Close your eyes and count to twenty,” A slight tremor runs through his voice, but neither notice.
Gerard does as he's told, closing his eyes, but counting to thirty instead of twenty. He settles slightly, opening his eyes and looking at Frank.
“You good?” Gerard nods, making Frank nods, too. “Okay,” He doesn't know what to say after that, so their voices fades into an awkward silence.
They stay like that for another seven minutes, before Ernest notices the silence the two are in and comes to their rescue.
“We're done here for now. I'm not sure what else I can help you with without taking months of both of your time to teach it to you. Go back to the house, go for a walk, just don't start arguing again. I get sick of it with the others doing it, and that's friendly arguing. You looked like you wanted to commit homicide earlier.”
“I'm sorry Ernest. Some people just don't know when to quit,” Frank shrugs, making Ernest smirk.
“I can understand that, Frank.”
Frank smiles a half-hearted smile back, while Gerard silently walks out, pissed off.
“Well, I think we upset him...” Ernest says, staring after Gerard.
“Yeah...” Frank sighs, his shoulders slumping.
“Why do you do that?” Ernest asks, coming to stand nearer to Frank.
“Do what?”
“Sigh... like it's natural to you.” Frank shrugs, thinking about it.
“I guess it does feel pretty natural to me. It didn't at the start, but nothing really felt natural then. I could suddenly hear someone's footsteps walking barefooted on grass if they were on the other side of the street to me, so I guess I just kept breathing to make myself feel a little more normal.”
“You just keep surprising me, Frank. I really haven't met anyone quite like you- except Gerard, that is.” Frank closes his eyes, breathing in and out.
“I bet,” Frank looks around, biting his lip. “Speaking of Gerard, I should go and look for him to see if he's okay, and he did want to talk with me about some things,”
Ernest nods, making a shooing notion with his hand, keeping his arms crossed.
“Of course,” Frank smiles up at Ernest, nodding his head once.
He takes off, running. He follows Gerard's scent into the house, up the stairs and into an empty room.
“Gerard.” Gerard turns around, his mouth curved into a frown.
“What? Are you done with joking around with Ernest at my expense?” Frank walks into the room more, trying his hardest to not get mad.
“I'm sorry, okay?” He says softly, offering a hand out for an unknown reason. “I am sorry, Gerard. I didn't mean for you to get upset.” Gerard half-laughs, shaking his head.
“I'm not upset. I'm angry, Frank. You barely know Ernest yet you're using me as a joke reference with him? I just don't get how you work.” He shakes his head, turning back to the window.
“Okay. You're angry. You're angry at me for making a joke, but you're also angry at me because Ernest decided to join in. On his own accord. Without me telling him to, or paying him behind your back, okay, Gerard? You're being paranoid.”
“Don't lecture me about being paranoid, Frank.” Frank can just tell that Gerard rolls his eyes while he says that, and that probably makes him angrier than the words do.
“And what's that supposed to mean? I have every right to be terrified and paranoid, Gerard. The Council and Miles are after me. But you're being like this over a joke? That's pretty pathetic if you ask me.”
“Well, I wasn't asking you, was I? Miles and the Council are after me, too. I broke out of the Council for you, successfully putting myself on the top of their hit list. You think Miles is bad? Try the Council members.”
“For me, Miles is ten times worse than whatever they are. They probably won't ever even think about trying anything like that on me. Miles did, and he acted upon it. Several times,” Frank draws in a breath, his voice breaking. “So don't say that the Council is worse. Not to me.” Frank runs a hand through his hair, biting his lip. He breathes in and out to try and calm himself down.
“Frank, I know what you've been through. If you'd just remember that for more than five seconds, we'd get along so much better. You think that you're the only one out of us to of gotten raped. I hate to break it to you, but you aren't. And you aren't going to have it happen to you again. You're stronger, you have powers. You can defend yourself.”
“It's in the back of my mind always that someone has touched you and hurt you like that, Gerard. I'd never be able to fucking forget that shit. But it's different.” Gerard's eyes narrow, his mouth turning into a bigger frown.
“How so?” Frank purses his lips, his eyes tired.
“You don't have the actual memories. Your memories are lost somewhere and the only way you remembered it was through my memories of you telling me. Neither of us know what actually went down. But I have my memories, and they're still so fucking prominent. I remember every single detail of most of the times it happened, and the other times I was drugged or drunk when he did it. God, I can still feel him touch me, Gerard. I can still hear his voice exactly, but you don't, and you never will.”
Gerard thinks about it. He realizes that he's literally only got what Frank said. He has no actually memories of it, no real feelings towards it. He looks upon it and feels nearly nothing. He feels disconnected from the experience because he can't remember a thing from it. And, in turn, it doesn't effect him.
“Okay. I'm sorry.” Frank shakes his head.
“Why are you sorry? You did go through it, and I know you're only trying to... comfort me or something.”
“Okay. You're right. Okay?”
“Sure, whatever.” Frank sighs, sitting down on the floor. He leans his back and head against the wall, shutting his eyes.
“So... Frank. What are we going to do about the house and shit?”
Frank thinks back to when Gerard rescued him. He was so happy. He remembers asking if they could adopt a child. How had so much changed in a matter of months?
“I don't give a shit. Burn it to the fucking ground, if you want.” He hears Gerard tut.
“Frank... I was thinking the you could continue living there, and I'd leave you money. Enough to keep you living comfortably for ages. Enough for the rest of the mortgage.”
“I don't want your money, Gerard. That's the last fucking thing I want.”
“Why? It's only money.” Frank shakes his head, opening his eyes.
“It's not, though, is it? It's your money. You're my ex-boyfriend. It's just weird for me to be living in the house you bought using your money. What would I buy? I don't need food. I have enough clothes.”
“Ex-boyfriend?” Gerard blurts out, sounding more hurt than he was supposed to sound. Frank sighs, turning so he faces Gerard, who has sat next to him.
“Yes, Gerard. Haven't we made it clear enough? God, Gerard, we're talking about whose going to keep the fucking house, and where I'll fucking live. Isn't that a clear enough message for you?” Gerard recoils slightly at Frank's words, but Frank doesn't soften his voice.
“I just... I just didn't think we'd already broke up. I though you'd said we could stay together until after we get Miles?” He sounds vulnerable, and he hates it.
“Okay, right. I forgot. Okay, then. If we're together, you shouldn't see any problem with kissing me. With making out with me and having sex with me. And actually touching me and not avoiding me like the plague.”
Frank challenges Gerard, thinking he'll admit that they are completely over.
“Frank... I told you, I wasn't going to give up on this,” He grabs Frank's face, kissing him roughly.
Gerard gets onto his knees, forcing Frank's mouth open and slipping his tongue in. frank gives in completely, leaving Gerard to control the situation outcome.
Gerard pulls away from Frank after another minute or so of kissing after biting his lip. He stays close to Frank, staring into his eyes.
“You can't say that there isn't anything there, Frank. You can't just be able to walk away from this.” Gerard clutches onto Frank's t-shirt, almost ripping the fabric. Gerard searches Frank's eyes, the hope in his own dimming a little more every second he doesn't see anything in Frank's.
“I'm sorry, Gerard. I felt something, of course I did, but that isn't enough to sustain a fucking long-term relationship. If we carry on, it'll be become fucking abusive or something.”
Frank can see the exact moment when Gerard finally loses the last bit of hope he had for them.
“Frank, please, just one more night. One more night to prove to you that this can work. Please, Frank, you can't just end it like this. One more night?” Gerard hates to beg, but he can't let go. If he does let go, he'll lose a big part of himself.
Frank hesitates, knowing that if he agrees, he'll feel really fucking guilty tomorrow when he finalises his decision. But, at the same time, he can't get his mouth to form the word no. It just goes on and agrees with him because, damn, one last night with Gerard is much too tempting for him.
“Fine, one more night, Gerard.” It all comes out in a rush, the words almost garbled. Gerard seems to understand all too clearly when his mouth curves upwards into a smile.
“You won't regret this, Frank,” He says, already making Frank feels guilty, and he kisses Frank again, a lot softer than the one before. “Come on, let's get out of here,” Gerard stands up, pulling Frank with him.
Frank lets himself be pulled forward, each step becoming more of an effort because of the heavy guilt that's weighing him down.
They sneak out, Gerard pulling Frank onto his back as soon as they get outside. Frank has to smile at that, because it brings back good memories. Gerard runs them to an old house, where he stops and Frank jumps off his back.
“What are we doing?” Frank asks, looking up at the house.
“Breaking in,” Gerard says, nonchalantly, walking forward with Frank's hand in his.
“What? Gerard, this is someone's house, we can't just fucking brea-”
“Chill. It's abandoned. No-one lives here, and they haven't for a long time.” Frank walks faster to keep up with Gerard, who goes around the back of the house.
“But we're still breaking the law, Gerard, imagine what the cops would do if they caught us? Two fucking people, one of them deceased? They'd call the FBI and there would be all fucking sorts of experiments going on, wouldn't there?”
“It'd be worth it just for the time I got to spend with you,” This catches Frank off guard and he stops talking. He really doesn't want Gerard to be sweet to him. He wants Gerard to make it easier and argue with him all the time.
“Come on, I can force this lock open and we can go inside.” Letting go of Frank's hand, Gerard walks over to the door and shoves it, the door opening easily.
“What are we even going to do?” Gerard rolls his eyes, grabbing Frank's hand again and pushing him through the door.
“Oh, you know,” He shuts the door, turning around to face Frank. “Just talk. Have fun, things like that,”
For some reason, Frank feels disappointed.
“Oh.” Gerard smiles, walking towards Frank.
“You sound disappointed, Frank. Now, why is that?” Gerard cups Frank's cheek, leaning closer to him.
“I'm not disappointed, Gerard. Why would I be?” He speaks haltingly, his gaze travelling to Gerard's lips. Gerard does the same, slowly forgetting everything the longer he's with Frank like this.
“No reason,” Gerard smirks, making Frank bite his lip. “No reason at all,”
They stare at each other, their eyes locking. Gerard seems to send out a silent plea without realizing, begging Frank to reconsider.
Frank subconsciously leans closer, breathing in Gerard's scent. He feels intoxicated, his head swimming with everything. The situation that they're both in makes everything ten times stronger.
“Gerard...” Frank whispers, breathing in.
Frank kisses Gerard, roughly and slightly angrily. Frank forces his tongue in, Gerard relaxing into it almost straight away. They kiss for a long while, Gerard pinned up the door by Frank's legs and hands, before Gerard pushes Frank away and spins them around so Frank is the one pinned up.
“That is not how this is going to go, okay?” Gerard whispers, his voice making the hairs by Frank's ears stand up.
Frank nods, eagerly compliant.
“Whatever you say,” Frank whispers back, brushing hair out of his eyes.
Gerard moves his mouth to Frank's neck, kissing it slowly and carefully. The kisses are feather-light, just barely there, like ghostly touches. Leaning his head backwards, Frank makes sure Gerard gets a good angle.
Hands moves about each other's torsos and one of Frank's finds it usual place on Gerard's neck, his fingers tangling in the hair. Every time Gerard kisses him, Frank pulls it slightly, making Gerard moan.
“Can we take these off?” Frank asks, tugging at his shirt. Gerard nods, his lips moving north, back to Frank's mouth. Reaching down, Frank pulls off his shirt, only disconnecting their lips for a split second.
His hands go back to Gerard's neck, but Gerard pushes them down and holds them at Frank's sides.
“Keep them there, please,” Gerard says against Frank's lips, pulling his own t-shirt off. He makes sure it lands on Frank's, forming a little pile. “Okay, shoes,” Frank looks at Gerard a little confusedly, but tugs off his shoes and dumps them next to him. Gerard takes off his shoes, too, placing them next to Frank.
“Let's go and find somewhere more private, shall we?”
Gerard tugs Frank through the house to upstairs, looking into all of the room and finding nothing in them.
“Try the attic?” Frank says, a little desperate now.
“Good idea,” Gerard looks up at the ceiling, trying to find the hatch. He spots it, leaving Frank standing alone while he tries to get the ladder down. “Okay, come on up, there's loads of shit up here,”
Frank climbs up, being pulled up from the the last step by Gerard, who kisses him as soon as Frank's footing is steady.
“Ever wanted to fuck someone on a vintage dresser?” Gerard whispers against Frank's lips, a smirk growing.
“I've never really thought about it, Gerard. But... it'd probably be pretty fun,” He giggles, wrapping his arms around Gerard's neck. Gerard looks down, a smile on his face. “Well, what are you waiting for, baby?”
Without meaning to, Frank slowly puts hope back into Gerard's heart, with every touch and kind word and smile Gerard realizes that he can't lose Frank forever, he just can't.
“Sorry. You're just... I don't know, fucking great to look at,” Frank kisses him again, tenderly.
“So are you.” Says Frank when he pulls away, before shoving him towards the dresser.
They undress farther, kissing and giggling all the while. Gerard pushes Frank against the dresser, making Frank sit down on it. The kissing gets harder, rougher, until neither can take it any longer and give in to the lust that is compelling them.
Moonlight shines through the attic windows, illuminating Gerard and Frank. They'd moved an old couch to face the windows so that they would have extra help seeing in the dark, not like they really need, and to be honest, they were just trying to be poetic or something.
Gerard moves his fingertips down Frank's arm, his eyes closed. Frank glances backwards, trying to see Gerard's face without making them move and change positions. Gerard has an arm wrapped around Frank's middle, the other tracing and feeling different parts of Frank. Frank has one hand under his head, leaning on it, the other is on Gerard's hand that is touching his midriff, and they're holding hands.
“Why can't we just stay like this forever?” Gerard whispers, not completely aware that's he's speaking aloud.
“Because the house will either be bulldozed one day, or people will move into it,” Gerard smiles at Frank's answer, at the same time rolling his eyes.
“Smart ass,” Frank giggles.
“That's me,”
They lapse back into companionable silence, Gerard continuing with skimming Frank's arm with his fingertips.
“The sun is almost up,” Frank startles Gerard, who had his eyes closed and his mind elsewhere. The words settle a deep dread in his stomach, because he knows what the answer is going to be. He knew even before Frank agreed.
He promises himself that he won't get mad at Frank today. It's a promise that he figures he won't be able to keep, but it's nice to hope.
“We should get dressed and head back, then,” Deciding to just avoid the topic completely, Gerard slowly tugs his arm from under Frank and sits up.
Frank sighs, and in that moments Gerard sees on his face that Frank doesn't want this to end as much as he does.
“Do we have to? We could just hide in here forever,” Gerard smiles sadly.
“I've already said that. And what did you say to it?” Frank rolls his eyes, a smile creeping up onto his lips.
“Just shut up and get dressed,” Frank sits up, too, running his fingers through his hair to try and tame it. “Everyone is going to know what we've been doing for hours.” He laughs, shaking his head. Frank turns his head, his smile growing wider when he sees Gerard's hair.
“What?” Gerard asks, feeling his hair.
“Your hair is worse than mine, I'd say. Are there any mirror in here so you can see yourself?” Frank chuckles, looking around.
“Oh, funny. And, yes, everyone is going to know what we've been doing, and I don't give a damn.” Frank rolls his eyes, standing up.
“Even Ernest?” He offers, his smile growing mischievous.
Gerard grimaces without realizing, making Frank laugh.
Both of them know that as soon as they step outside, things will change between them. It'll no longer be laughter and jokes, it'll be strained conversations and angry exchanges. That's why they're both try to drag it out by talking about random stuff as the sun climbs higher in the sky.
They makes the most of the hours they do get to spend just talking, forgetting about everything so neither of them says the wrong thing.
It's eight AM by the time the pair are even out of the attic, still shirtless and shoeless with wild hair. The sun began to rise at around five thirty AM, so they talked for a good few hours. Knowing that that was the last good conversation they'll probably have with each other made their laughter slightly more hysterical and their smiles more painful.

Notes