Before The Sun Goes Down

They weren't sure how he did it, but he did.
Miles hadn't changed any of the contact details Frank remembered he had, so it was easy to get in contact with him. It took over twenty phone calls over the course of two days to get Miles to answer the phone, but he did.
“Hello, who is this?” Frank's throat constricts for a minute, making it unable for him to talk, Miles' voice brings back so many memories to Frank.
“It's... uh, Frank,”
“Holy shit,” Miles breathes down the phone, almost speechless. “Where the fuck are you?”
Frank panics for a second, his mind completely forgetting the lie he and Gerard made up.
“I'm somewhere in Minnesota,” Frank remembers and blurts out in after thinking for a minute.
“And what the fuck do you want?” Miles voice turns colder, sharper. Frank shudders, his hands starting to tremble.
“Miles... I... I'm sorry,” Frank can barely get the words out, but it just adds to his act. “I'm really sorry. I realized what a mistake I made walking out on you like that,” Frank closes his eyes, gritting his teeth to stop him from saying what he really means.
“Are you... this is a joke?”
“No,” Frank bites his lip, actually in pain from saying those words. “Of course not. I... I love you... and you love me?” He tries to make himself sound unsure and vulnerable, which isn't really a challenge.
“I mean... Frank... I though I did, but you just walked out on me, and now I'm not sure what to believe.”
Even from his voice Frank can tell that Miles is wearing a smug, evil smile at the thought of having Frank back in his lair.
“Please, Miles... I'll...” Frank's voice shakes with revulsion, but to Miles it sounds like vulnerability. “I'll do anything you want. Just take me back. I'm cold and lonely and I have no-one to love me out here... I'm so... sad.”
“How can I be sure that you're serious?”
“I'll meet you half way to the house. I'll be there by tonight, I promise,”
Miles is silent for quite some time, but Frank can still sense his grin. It makes him feel sick to the stomach, but he holds his tongue.
“Okay. Fine. I know a place we can meet. There's a diner called Tim's Tasties, meet me there. You can't miss it. Look it up if you have to.”
“Okay... Thank you so much, Miles. You.. you don't know how much this means to me, I swear I'll be good this time,”
“Okay, darling. It's okay now. You have me, and I'm... going to take such good care of you.” Frank cringes, knowing exactly what that pause and those words mean.
“I'll be there by midnight,” Miles hangs up.
Frank drops to his knees, needing time to recover from the flashback and Miles' voice. His closes his eyes tight, his face screwed up.
“Frank?” Maude comes and sits by him, not touching him but sitting close enough to him that he feels almost comforted by her.
“I'll be fine in a minute. I just need a little time,” Frank's eyes open, looking right at Maude. She nods, shooting him a comforting smile.
“Take as much time as you need.”
The room stays silent for another few minutes while Frank relaxes and settles into a more comfortable position and manages to look Gerard in the eyes without internally panicking. He doesn't know why he does that, he just does.
“Okay... I'm good now, I think.”
“Are you sure? Do you need some time alone or anything?” Frank shakes his head, smiling softly.
“No, I'm fine. The flashbacks have been worse and I can almost deal with them now.” Maude smiles encouragingly at Frank, standing up.
“You two should pack up and start thinking about leaving.”
Gerard and Frank glance at each other, flashes of longing appearing in their eyes.
“Yeah, we should. I've never even fucking heard of whatever Miles was talking about, so we need to find out where that is, too.” Ernest steps forward, tapping Gerard on the shoulder.
“I know where it is, actually,” Gerard raises an eyebrow. “It's actually quite popular, I've been a few times. I can send you images on how to get there from here, if you'd like?”
Gerard nods, so Ernest closes his eyes and concentrates. Images flicker into Gerard and Frank's minds, engraving into them.
“Thank you,” Frank says, standing up and dusting himself off.
“I can't believe that it was that easy to track him down,” Blue says, crossing his arms. “Kind of suspicious, if you ask me.”
“Frank and Gerard will be able to handle anything that goes on tonight, Blue. You've never seen them both at work. It's quite a sight,” Ernest stares at Gerard and Frank, making them both look away in embarrassment. Ernest cracks a grin, chuckling. “No need to be embarrassed, boys,” Gerard rolls his eyes and Frank just smiles meekly.
“It won't take long to get there by the rate of how fast the two of you run. You should both just spend a few hours preparing for whatever is to come, both physically and mentally. Miles may be expecting something like this to happen, so be prepared for anything you can think of. He's strong, he's vicious, and he doesn't care who he hurts.”
Frank and Gerard nod, already thinking of possible outcomes and how to solve them.
“Just... be careful. Please, just be careful. I've grown quite find of the two of you, and I don't want to hear you've been ripped apart and killed by some demonic creature,” They nods again, small smiles creeping onto their faces.
“So you have a heart after all, old man?” Blue asks, grinning and bumping into Ernest with his shoulder.
“I do, but it stopped beating a long time ago, child.” Ernest smiles back sarcastically, pushing Blue back.
The rest of the group watch their exchange with amused smiles, Gerard shaking his head.
“I know Blue is really fucking immature, but I didn't expect it from you, Ernest,” Grins Gerard. Blue rolls his eyes, sitting back down.
“Hey, Gerard, did you have a nice time fucking Frank in that abandoned house down the street the other day?” Retorts Blue, smiling sweetly at him.
Frank chokes on air, making him have a coughing fit. Gerard just stares at Blue with wide eyes, and everyone- even Ernest- laughs.
“Did you really think we couldn't tell?” Ernest surprises everyone by speaking, since he's normally uncomfortable about mentioning the sex lives of the group.
“I told you they'd know, Gerard...” Frank mutters, glaring at Gerard.
Underneath the amusement in Gerard's eyes, Frank can see the sadness. It makes Frank soften his glare and smile instead at Gerard, hoping to ease his upset.
“Well, it won't happen again, will it, Frank?” Gerard has a slight edge to his voice even though he tries to keep it light, and it immediately sets an awkward atmosphere.
Frank just stares at Gerard, his eyes trying to tell him something that Gerard can't understand.
“Well... Why don't you go hunting? Make sure you're good for tonight?” Maude asks, glancing at the two of them uneasily.
“I think I'll manage, Maude. I drank a lot the other day, so I think I'm just going to go somewhere quiet and think about some things,” Frank says, nodding to himself.
“So am I, actually,” Gerard also says, stepping forward.
Blue looks at them both, smirking.
“What, are you going to go and have se-” Maude cuts him off with a slap to the back of this head.
“Shut up, Blue! Jesus, you just don't know when to stop, do you?” She smiles apologetically at Frank and Gerard, who shrug.
“It's fine,” Frank says, emotionless. He smiles back at her for a second, the smile obviously fake and obviously painful to do.
He starts to walk away, his eyes downcast and unblinking.
“I'm sorry, Frank!” Blue calls after him, not even the slightest bit of apology in his voice.
He hears Blue get slapped after that, presumably by Maude. The makes the corners of Frank's lips to tug upwards, but there's no real smile there.
Closing the door behind him, he wanders down the street, passing the old, abandoned house. He stares up at it, his stomach dropping. Shaking his head, he carries on walking.
“Frank!” Spinning around, he watches Gerard jog up to him. Gerard looks up at the house as he passes it, too, and an unintelligible emotion passes over his face.
“What, Gerard?” Gerard stops in front of Frank, trying to smile at him.
“Can I join you?” Frank sighs, half rolling his eyes.
“Don't you know the meaning of alone?” Frank starts walking again.
“Of course I do. I just though that we could be alone together,” Gerard keeps the pace, keeping up with Frank. Frank laughs, looking at Gerard out of his peripheral vision.
“Don't you know how stupid that sounds?” Gerard doesn't answer Frank, instead looking down with a sad expression on his face. It makes Frank feel bad, so he tries to soften his voice and talk nicer.
“Gerard, I just want to be alone, okay? Just me, by myself.”
“But...” Frank knows what he's trying to say. Soon enough, they won't ever have to see each other again. Only a few hours before they can part and go their separate ways. Of course Gerard doesn't want to be alone when there's a perfect opportunity to spend some time with Frank, and Frank wants to admit that he doesn't want to be alone either, but the words keep coming out wrongly.
“I know, Gerard,” Frank says lowly, biting his lip.
Gerard is silent, and Frank lets Gerard keep walking by his side. Frank doesn't notice, but Gerard does. A happy smile spreads on his lips, and his steps get a little bounce in them.
“Are you... nervous for tonight?” Gerard asks, keeping his voice quiet.
“More than you could imagine,”
“So am I. I keep thinking about how wrong everything could go.” Frank nods in agreement.
I am, too. I can't think of anything but, if I'm honest.”
“But... it'll be fine, we're better than him,”
“It's been ages since I last saw him. He could have changed in so many ways, he could be stronger than ever and know what we're up to. And that's just terrifying. He knows so much about how I fight, or my triggers and how to get to me and make me freeze and shake and... and I don't know if I'm going to be able to face him without freezing up.” Frank blurts out the words, not meaning to. He feels a lot better after he does.
“You're going to be okay. You're going to wreak havoc on him, and he's going to be sorry that he even looked at you, okay?”
“Okay.”
A few hours later, Frank and Gerard are stood by the open front door.
“Both of you be careful and cautious. Don't be overcautious. Be confident, and don't let him see any weakness. He'll use it to his advantage, and that could be your downfall.” Ernest pats both of them on their shoulders, almost like a concerned mother.
“We'll be fine. We'll come back afterwards and Frank can pick up his stuff. We'll both see you soon.”
“Yeah, we will. Gerard's right. We'll be okay,” But Frank sounds unsure, and everyone notices.
“You better be. You better be coming back to pick up your shit, and you better be staying for a few days after that. To rest up,” Maude says, smiling worriedly. Frank smiles back, trying to reassure her, and nods.
“Of course. I'll stay for at least a day, don't worry. And if you don't mind, I might come and visit you all afterwards,”
Of course Frank has no intentions of coming back for friendly visits, or staying for longer than a few hours. He doesn't want to drag things out between him and Gerard for any longer than he has to. He's already agree that he'd take the house, money and everything from Gerard because Gerard has decided to stay here. He'll just buy more clothes, and the house has everything he could need.
Everything apart from Frank.
The group smile at Frank's suggestion, Maude nodding enthusiastically.
“That's be great!”
Frank forces a laugh and a smile, then hugs her.
“I know that you don't mean it,” Maude's voice sounds in his ear, quiet enough so nobody else hears. “And that's okay, don't worry.” Maude pulls away, her eyes a little sadder. They stare at each other, Frank trying to apologize using his eyes.
She squeezes his shoulder, smiling at him.
“We should go,” Frank mutters, stepping back away from Maude. Gerard nods, and Maude attacks him in a hug. Blue joins in the embrace, clapping Gerard on the back.
“Be careful, yeah?” Blue says, pointing at Gerard.
“Of course, Blue,” Gerard smiles at him, glancing between the group.
“Come on, Gerard,” Frank sighs, reaching out for Gerard's hand but stopping himself. No-one sees it but Ernest. Frank doesn't notice that Ernest spots him, so he crosses his arms and bites his lip.
“Frank?” Tapping Frank on his shoulder, Ernest stops him. The others watch from the door, and Gerard stops just ahead of them. “Keep walking, Gerard. We'll only be a minute,” Gerard purses his lips but carries on walking, albeit slower than before. “Listen to me, okay? It'll get easier. I know it's hard right now, but it's going to get easier. Give it time, and you'll be fine,” Frank looks up at Ernest confusedly, but Ernest just shakes his head and smiles. “Think about it, and you'll realize what I mean. Now, catch up to Gerard and kill that fucker,” The profanity surprises Frank, who has never heard him swear.
“Uh... thank you? Thank you. And I will. I'll make him regret everything.” Ernest nods once, smiling almost proudly.
“Good.”
Frank and Gerard run, following Ernest's instructions. Once the diner is in sight, they stop running and Frank goes ahead himself.
“Call out to me when you need me, Frank,” Frank nods, not looking back.
He tries to make himself look as vulnerable and as human as possible. He begins breathing regularly as he walks up to the entrance, getting used to doing it again.
The bell on the door jingles as Frank walks in and he scans the faces. Everyone looks up at him, but quickly lose interest. Apart from one person. Although they look different, Frank can pick him out instantly.
He pretends he doesn't recognize Miles and sits down, making sure to keep his shoulders hunched and breathing patterns regular.
“Frankie?” The name makes him cringe, but he forces himself to straighten his face out. He looks up, keeping his face blank for a minute before smiling.
“It is really you?” Miles nods, sitting down. “You've changed so much...”
He forces the smile to stay on his face and warmth to stay in his eyes.
“How have you been? I've... I've been worried sick about you, Frankie. You just left so suddenly...” Frank has to admit, Miles is a good actor.
As they talk, Frank realizes that in his own sick and twisted way, Miles does actually care somewhat for Frank. The words he's saying and his actions aren't all entirely fake, there is some truth behind them. He was worried, and he does care. More worried about how he was going to get his fix and he cared more about how Frank wasn't with him, but he did care and he was worried.
Frank feels the anger igniting in his mind, the terror still there but diluted now by the rage.
“Frank, I have a surprise for you around the back,” Frank sips coffee. He had to order something because he didn't want to seem suspicious, so he got coffee.
“What is it?” Miles chuckles, the chuckle slightly sinister, and stands up.
“It's a surprise. Now, come on,” Miles pulls Frank up, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the diner.
There's a little shack outside, unlocked. It has supplies and things in it for the diner, and Miles pushes Frank inside.
“What's the surprise?” Frank tries to keep his voice from shaking but can't.
“Are you scared. Frankie? Do you know what your shaky little voice does to me?” Frank backs away, suddenly thrown back to being a weak human at the mercy of Miles.
“Nuh-no? Miles...” Frank doesn't have to act any more. He forgets to call out for Gerard and just cowers in the corner, surprised and scared.
“Did you really think I'd fall for it? Did you really think I'd think that you wanted to come back to me?” Miles shoves Frank, but Frank doesn't really move. “What did you think you were going to be able to do?”
“Get away from me. I'm not going to let you touch me again.” His shaking voice doesn't really help, but Miles steps away slightly.
“Can you remember what you got for talking back to me? I bet you can,” He smirks, edging closer to Frank.
He strokes Frank's face, making Frank cringe away from him.
“I said that you're not going to fucking touch me. Get the fuck away from me or so help me God, I will rip you to fucking pieces,” Frank shoves Miles, making him stumble backwards.
“Hey... calm the fuck down. I only want to play, Frankie. Don't you want to play?”
“No, I don't want to fucking play, Miles.”
Miles gets closer to Frank again, trying to trick Frank into trusting him using the eye trick.
“Come on, baby. You love it when we play,”
Miles leaps, pinning Frank down on a worktable. Frank struggles, but Miles is stronger than what he expected. He needed some help.
Forcing himself on Frank, Miles kisses him, forcing his mouth open and gripping Frank's face so he can't squirm away. Managing to get an arm out from under Miles, Frank searches around blindly for something to use as a weapon.
His hand grip onto something blunt and short, but he slams it into the back of Miles' head with as much force as he can muster. Miles staggers backwards, gripping his head.
“You little...” Miles looks at Frank, fire burning in his eyes. Frank smiles sweetly at him, the same fire burning in Frank's eyes.
Frank calls out for Gerard, but tells him to wait for a minute or so.
“How does that feel, Miles? Don't you like it when we play? Or do you just like it when you have a chance of winning?” Using the same object as before, Frank brings it down on top of Miles' head, creating a hole.
Miles screams out in pain, his voice mixing with several others.
Frank beats him with the thing for a while, until he hears the door open. Miles is still up, and has managed to hit Frank a few times. Miles' teeth are scattered on the floor, making little noises when they're kicked by moving feet.
“You bastard,” Miles coughs out, splattering black blood.
“Hey, Miles. How are you, buddy?” Gerard asks, making Miles' eyes flicker to Gerard, whose stood behind Frank.
Eyes wide, Miles looks between the both of them, his head shaking. Frank laughs, getting more enjoyment over seeing Miles whimper than he thought he ever would.
Kneeing him in the face, Miles falls to the floor.
Wiping blood out of his face, Miles stands back up, determination in his eyes. He does the one thing he knows will affect Gerard, and that's leap at Frank and kiss him. With new strength, Miles grips Frank's shoulders, so Gerard can't pull him off and Frank can't push him off.
“Get the fuck off him!” Gerard grabs Miles around the throat, making Miles stop kissing Frank in surprise. Frank slides from under him, staying sitting down for a second, retching.
Supplies come falling to the floor, creating more of mess. Gerard holds onto Miles hair as he slams his head into the wall, breaking Miles' nose and fracturing a cheekbone. Frank uses this time to wipe his mouth and try to get all taste of Miles out of his mouth. His hands shake, making it harder for him to do it.
Standing up, Frank looks around for something sharp. He finds a trowel, and grabs it. Looking at the weapon, he steadies his hands. He hears Miles screams and they help him calm down.
Using both hands, he stabs the trowel deep into Miles' back, twists it and pulls it back out. Black oozes out of the wound, and Miles freezes and screams.
Frank does it again, grunting as it leaves the other side of Miles' body.
He pictures his father murdering his mother and then getting stab wounds all over his body. And then being set on fire. Miles' screams merge into Frank's father's.
Soon, though, everything is silent. Frank is pulled away from Miles' body, kicking and screaming.
“Let me go! Fucking get the fuck off me!”
The trowel sticks out of Miles' eyes. Blackness oozes out of everywhere, and it steadily moves in different directions, staining everything in it's path. Frank stops screaming and becomes still. His hands still think that they're gripping the trowel and they shake from how hard Frank's clenching them into fists.
Gerard stands over it all, looking from Miles' to Frank to the blood and then back to Miles. He feels sick. He couldn't believe that Frank was capable of doing that, and he didn't really want to believe it.
Frank stares at Miles, too. His eyes search over the body, looking for any movement. He finds none, but continues staring. He doesn't realize that he's silently sobbing, his eyes pricking. His fist uncurl and cover his face, and the blood moves closer to Frank.
Moonlight shines through the tiny windows in the shack, illuminating them in the worst way possible. It leaves no darkness over Miles. Gerard and Frank are both in the shadows, Frank rocking back and forth and Gerard just staring, and staring, and staring and... staring.
He doesn't blink, he doesn't move. Just stares.
The first noise comes from Frank since he brutally murdered Miles and then continued to stab his corpse, convinced that he was still alive. A noise that sounds like a cross between a chuckle and a sob erupts from him, breaking the almost calm feeling surrounding the shack.
After that noise, everything happens too quickly for Frank to comprehend.
“Shit, Frank. Shit, what have you done? There's black shit everywhere, oh, shit. Frank, what have you done?”
Frank continues to make that noise, but it slowly becomes more like laughter.
Gerard looks around the shack, looking for something, anything, to clean the mess up with. He finds nothing apart from a burlap sack.
“Frank, fucking help me!” Getting down on his knees, Gerard grips Frank's shoulders, much like how Miles did. This makes Frank squirm backwards, his eyes widening.
Frank's fists curl up again, and he lunges for Miles' body, thinking that he's still alive. Pulling the trowel out with a pop, Frank goes to stab him again, but is dragged backwards. The trowel hits Gerard in the face, making his lose his grip on Frank and stumble backwards.
Frank keeps a hold on the weapon and edges back, the blood underneath him squelching. His eyes flick around the shack, checking everything for any signs of life.
“Frank! He's fucking dead. You fucking killed him and he's fucking dead. He's not going to move, and you need to snap the fuck out of it! Let go of the trowel and help me clean up!”
“Miles?” Frank doesn't know what he wants to say, if he even wants to say anything.
“Frank, come on,”
Nodding to himself, Frank drops the trowel and stands up.
“What...”
“Just look for something to wipe all this shit up with...” Gerard looks around again, looking at all of the black on the floor, the walls, and themselves. “Shit, how much blood does he have?” He mutters to himself, shaking his head.
“There's... nothing.”
“Did you even fucking look? Jesus Christ...” Sighing, Gerard pulls of his t-shirt and starts to mop up the blood with it.
Surprisingly, the fabric soaks up quite a lot.
“Frank?” Frank doesn't answer, he just stares into space, curling and uncurling his fists. “Frank!” Snapping his head towards Gerard, Frank stares at him. “Do you have that lighter? Let's just fucking burn it down and hope for the best.”
Frank freezes, remembering burning the place down with his dad in it.
“Frank, come the fuck on.”
Biting his lip, Frank digs into his pockets and brings out a lighter, handing it to Gerard, making sure that they don't touch.
“Gerard?” Frank asks, his voice empty.
“Not now, Frank. Talk to me in a while. We have to go,” Holding the door open for Frank, Gerard walks out behind him and shuts the door. “Shit, okay. We don't even need a lighter, what am I thinking? Okay,” Closing his eyes, Gerard imagines fires consuming the shack and soon enough smoke is pouring out. Flames follow, so Gerard starts jogging away.
Frank is stuck in one place, his eyes unable to leave the flames that dance higher into the sky the more the wind blows. He imagines that his father is in there with Miles, and his mother is propped up in a corner, somehow still alive after a gunshot to the head. She screams as the flames lick up her leg and the blood from her ex-lover soaks into her clothes.
“Mom?” Frank stumbles forward a few steps. He closes his eyes and listens closer.
He hears her screaming as her skin is disfigured by the fire and slowly melts off.
“Mom!” Shouts Frank, catching Gerard's attention. Gerard hadn't noticed that Frank wasn't behind him but only a few steps away from the fire.
Frank steps forward one step, her screams getting quieter.
“Mom! Mom, I'm... I'm coming...” The fire roars at Frank, almost challenging him to step inside. “Please... hold on...” Frank searches for somewhere to get in, but can't see anywhere that is completely covered in flames.
“No... no, no, no. I can't let her die,”
Gerard watches, like he's watching a movie. Finally, he realizes that this isn't a movie or anything of the sort, and runs forward to Frank.
“Frank!” He screams, barely heard over the fire. Gerard slides an arm around Frank waist and picks him up, running away from the fire with him.
“No! No! My mom, my mom! My mom's in there! Let me go, I have to save her! She can't die, she can't die...”
Gerard can't do anything but ignore Frank and run farther away. Once he reaches a suitable distance away, he stops and sets down Frank, who falls to the floor.
“Mom...” Is all he says, his hand covering his mouth as the fames dance in the distance, slowly getting smaller as the shack falls to pieces.
He stops moving and just watches and listens as his mother dies, all because he wasn't able to save her.
“Mom? I... My mom...” Slowly, Frank stands up. “I was going to save her, you bastard!” He lunges at Gerard, grabbing at his hair.
They fall to the floor, Frank trying to land punches on Gerard's face but Gerard managing to deflect them and roll them over so he can stop Frank and pin his arms to the ground.
“Frank, she's dead. She's been dead for ages. She wasn't in the shack. Miles was, but no-one else. You couldn't of saved her, because she wasn't there.” Frank's face crumples.
“I could have saved her! He shot her but it could have been me, and she could be alive now! It's my fault...” He thrashes around in Gerard's hold for a minute before becoming still. His shoulders shake and his lip trembles.
“Would she want that? She gave her life up for you. She gave her life up so you could live one, Frank! And you're taking that for granted!”
Gerard maintains eye contact with Frank, telling him all the things he can't put into words through it.
Letting go, Gerard sits to the side of Frank while he lies on the floor silently, his face tormented.
Gerard lets him lie for half an hour, watching what he presumes to be the owners of the shack come outside.
They walk groggily, and Gerard has no idea how they could sleep through everything, but they did.
He hopes that they don't see them, and when they go back inside, he stands up.
“Come on, Frank. We need to go,” Frank sits up, silently, and stands up, silently, and starts running, silently.
Gerard runs behind him, neither of the going full speed.
It takes them a lot longer than it should to reach Ernest's again. Neither spoke, but both of them felt. What they felt, exactly, they didn't know. They just both knew it came with a sense of foreboding.
Ernest is waiting for them outside and jumps up as soon as he sees them both run down the street, he rushes to meet them and embraces them both.
“Oh, God... I was worried sick, you were gone for hours...” Gerard smiles, for the first time in hours, and shrugs.
“I know... Sorry, Ernest.” He sighs out, shrugging again.
“And... Frank? Are you okay?” Frank doesn't answer him.
“I don't know what's wrong with him. It shook him up real good... and...” Gerard has no idea how he was going to finish the sentence, so he stops.
Ernest seems to understand, even better than what Gerard does. He crouches slightly so he's the same height as Frank and smiles.
“Hello, Frank. How are you doing?” Frank stares blankly at Ernest, only blinking every so often. “Shall we get you a shower running? You're covered in... dirt,”
The more Ernest says things to Frank, in a nice, light tone, the more Frank warms up.
“Do you feel a bit better? Shall we get that shower now, then?” Frank nods, following Ernest into the house like a child to it's mother.
Gerard walks in behind them, but walks into the large lounge and sits down on the couch. He sighs, placing his head in his hands. Groaning, he runs a hand through his hair, which is knotted with blood.
Pulling his hand away, he sees that everything is covered with blood. His hands, his arms, his torso, his jeans, his shoes. Probably his face, too, and he knows his hair has it in it. Frank is worse. Because of the frenzied stabbing, Frank managed to cover him self in blood. There's more black blood on his face than there is skin.
Upstairs, Ernest turns on the shower and gets it to a warm temperature.
“I'll go and get you some clothes, okay?” Frank nods again, standing in the middle of the bathroom, shivering and covered in blackness.
Frank closes his eyes, screwing them up in hopes of getting images of his mother screaming and melting out of his head.
It just makes the screams echoing in his ears that little bit louder.
Ernest returns with some clothes just in time for Frank's shoulders to start shaking with silent and tearless crying.
“You'll be okay, Frank,” And that's all Ernest can force himself to say because he knows that right then, words won't help.
“Here are your clothes. Everything you need is in here, just shout for me if you need anything. I'll wait down the stairs for you, take as long as you need,”
With a last look, Ernest closes the door. Instantly, Frank locks it and starts taking off his clothes. He discards them as far away from him as possible. His skin crawls, something it was doing before but he just didn't notice.
He'd let Miles touch him again, he'd been touched by Miles again, and this time he wasn't handling it. He'd had to shut down and not let any sort of emotion bubble up, not being ready to face them yet. Not even happiness.
But somehow he'd started crying and shaking and retching.
Can vampires even throw up? It didn't seem likely.
He steps under the shower, the warm not being warm enough to take away the chill. He turns up the temperature, to the highest setting it will go. The heat stings his skin, making it tingle. Watching the black water flow down the drain, he starts scrubbing at his skin, getting rid of every physical trace that Miles was even there.
He washes his hair, brushing out all the tangles. His stomach leaps and he gets shampoo in his eyes. He doesn't bother washing it out, the pain giving him something else to concentrate on. His hair finally free of knots, he just stands under the spray and thinks about the pain in his eye. He concentrates on it until that's all that's left, and then turns on the showers and dries and gets dressed. All the while hanging onto the last stings of pain from the shampoo.
He towel dries his hair, until it isn't dripping any more, then hangs up the towel. His movements are robotic, his movements are cold.
Unlocking the door, he steps out. Gerard makes him jump backwards and hit his head on the door.
“Sorry... Frank,” Frank nods, staring at Gerard. “Are you... okay? You just... I'm worried about you, Frank,” He nods again, making Gerard sigh. “Okay, whatever you say. I'm going to have a shower,” He offers some sort of explanation as to why he's stood outside the bathroom, so Frank doesn't think him weird. Frank notices that he has a bunch of clothes in his arms. “You know where I am if you ever need to talk, right? I can still be a friend,” Again, Frank nods, but he moves out of the way so Gerard can walk past him.
“Thank you,” Frank says quietly, after the door has shut. Gerard doesn't hear him.
Walking down the hallway, Frank finds his bag. He rifles through, checking everything is in there, then closes it again.
He can't decide if he should wait and say a painful goodbye, or leave without saying it and make it less painful for himself.
He takes too long with deciding and Gerard finishes with his shower and walks into where Frank is at. He stares at Frank from the doorway, hearing little mutters coming from him.
“Frank?” Frank looks guiltily up at Gerard, his eyes widening and then settling back to normal. “I... Don't stay if you don't want to.”
Frank looks down, looking at his fingers.
“Leave, Frank.” Looking back up, Frank nods.
“Thank you,” He says again, and this time Gerard hears it.
Picking up his bag, Frank beelines for the door. Gerard watches him go, trying to memorize every feature. The way he walks, the way his bag knocks against his leg, the way his hands are shaking.
The three dreaded words are on his tongue, but he holds them back. He doesn't want to make it any harder.
That was a decision he'd regret for the rest of his life.

Notes

As you may be able to tell, this is almost finished. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I don't think there are more than three. So, thank you all so much for reading this!