Barbed Wire Love

"Frankie? Wake up. We gotta go" Gerard shook Frank lightly, breaking him off from his light snores.

"C'mon Frank, they're on their way. You need to get ready" Gerard dragged his gaze along Frank's sleeping figure. They had both fallen asleep pretty quickly the previous night, so neither had had time to change out of their clothes. He chuckled lightly as he saw his own skinny jeans tangled around Frank's feet along with his underwear. His shirt was hiked up his stomach, exposing his bellybutton and tattoos.

Frank began to stir, squinting up at Gerard through half lidded eyes. "Ugh Gee. What time is it?"

"Good morning to you too. It's around 8:30"

Frank groaned and threw his head back down on the pillow, throwing an arm over his eyes dramatically. "Too early"

Gerard gave the side of the bed a kick, making it shudder. "Up. You've been asleep for like 11 hours, for God's sakes"

It took Frank at least 10 minutes to come around, slowly becoming aware that his underwear were not where they were supposed to be. He scrambled to pull them up, trying to ignore the entertained, smug look on Gerard's face.

"I wasn't complaining that you were pretty much naked, you know. I just wanted you to wake up"

"Shut up" Frank mumbled, fastening the buttons of the jeans and sliding out of bed, making his way to the bathroom without looking at Gerard.

Gerard stopped him. "Are you upset?"

Frank looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course not. I'm just grumpy in the mornings" he paused, then leaned up and pecked his cheek for good measure.

Gerard nodded briefly and let him go. Frank went into the bathroom, making sure to bolt the door before turning towards the sink, leaning against it and breathing heavily. He'd made a big mistake there. What was he thinking, letting Gerard touch him like that last night? And willingly reciprocating, what would even drive him to do that?

Frank slowly looked up to meet his reflection looking back. He looked different somehow; and he felt kinda dirty. Quickly, he stripped off and jumped in the shower, washing himself thoroughly. He got back out and brushed his teeth twice, but he knew Gerard still lingered there. And now he was going to have to put on Gerard's clothes and go on some kind of mugging with him. Fantastic.

He slowly trudged downstairs to see Gerard already dishing full cooked breakfasts onto plates. "Here you go"

"Thanks Gee" he smiled weakly, sitting down and picking up a fork, even though he had no appetite whatsoever.

"I rang Bob this morning and he's set on a place. There are these lads who have a decent stash of coke down along the edge of town"

"And?" Frank asked nervously.

"And we're getting it off them"

"We're stealing drugs off a load of angry drug dealers?"

"Relax, at this time of day it'll most likely just be a couple of mules"

Frank bit his lip. Why did he agree to do this again?

"Frank- we'll be fine. I've done this a dozen times before"

"Okay" Frank whispered, looking back to his plate.

"I like making food for two; it's nice" Gerard said thoughtfully after a while, trying to clear the nervous silence.

"Gerard" Frank said shakily. "Will anyone get shot today?"

"Hm? No. I told you, I wouldn't let you get shot"

"No, not us. The people we're t-taking it from. You won't shoot them, will you?"

"... Probably not. I can never guarantee how things will plan out, but we'll be okay. Are you done eating?"

Frank nodded. Gerard reached over to the other side of the breakfast table and pulled what appeared to be a clump of thick black material.

"Balaclavas. We always wear them when we're going out to do something, and plus people are still searching for you..." Gerard trailed off and pushed one towards him.

"Thanks"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. I just thought you'd like it get out of the house for a while, it's all you've seen for months"

"No no... I'll go" he looked down at the mask. If it's around the edge of town, maybe he'd be able to shout for help or something.

"Okay, a few important things then; stick with us. Don't say anything to the mules and don't lift the drugs"

Frank scoffed. "I wasn't planning to"

"Good. Listen, Frankie... I-" he was cut off by the familiar buzzing noise. "That's them"

-

"Fuck no!" Ray snapped, looking at Frank in disgust. "He is NOT coming"

"Shut up Ray, yes he is"

"Be sensible Gee. The little brat will run away the first chance he gets" Mikey sighed.

"He's had plenty of chances. Remember the day when I forgot to close the front door?"

"Yeah, you're a bloody idiot-"

"-shut up. But he didn't even try then, did he?" Gerard looked over to Frank, slowing his speech. "I trust him"

Gerard's words and his intense stare caused a sharp pang of guilt in Frank's gut that almost crippled him.

"I trust Gerard too. It may be hard to believe, but I do"

"I still call bullshit" Mikey mumbled.

"Call it whatever you like, I don't give a shit" Gerard snapped. "Go wait outside or something"

The guys mumbled something and quickly filed out of the house, separating into the two black cars.

Gerard turned around and gently cupped Frank's face. Slowly, he brought his lips down onto Frank's without a word. Frank could taste the cup of black coffee Gerard had just drank. He could taste the lingering kick of smoke from the cigarettes he'd had at some point earlier this morning. He could taste the minty flavour of the gum he must have chewed to get rid of the cigarettes. Frank should not have been allured to these tastes, but he was. Frank should not be allured to Gerard, but he was. Most of them are addictive substances to a certain extent, and Gerard is one of them. He's like any other addiction, and Frank needs it to stop.
Gerard pulled away, still cradling his face. "Ready to go?"

-

After a long drive and Frank taking a nap on Gerard's shoulder, they pulled up about a 100 yards from the warehouse.

"Mask on Frankie" Gerard said, slipping his own on and straightening his coat.

Everyone stepped out of the Range Rovers and Frank flinched, remembering the last time he'd seen them all like this. Gerard looked down and gave his arm a small squeeze in reassurance.

Mikey slowed his pace to walk alongside Frank. "I hope you know if you try to run we're going to shoot you"

Frank gulped and looked away quickly. With their masks on and only able to see their eyes and mouths, Gerard and Mikey look almost identical.

"There will be no shooting, Frank's not gonna run" Gerard cut in promptly.

Mikey muttered something under his breath that sounded vaguely like "naïve."

"Alright" Gerard said as everyone approached the warehouse doors. "There are 2 main exits to the building. You guys are going to block them" he said, pointing to the men Frank was unable to recognise. "Mikey, Ray and James, spread out- find the coke. Bob, Worm- stay with me and Frank. Okay? Good. Go"

Frank watched as the men took off soundlessly in opposite directions. He wondered how many times they've been through this- they know the drill perfectly by now. Frank drifted slightly left as they entered the warehouse and Gerard pulled him back by the sleeve. "Stay close Frank. Worm is looking for the light switch"

There was a flicker of light from up above and the dim warehouse lit up. Frank recoiled and Gerard's eyes widened momentarily as they noticed they weren't alone.

A group of around a dozen men dressed in dirty looking clothes jumped up from a table where they had been sitting. Gerard was right about one thing- these guys clearly weren't the main dealers.

"Evening, gents" Gerard called in an overly polite and friendly tone.

"Who the fuck are you?" One yelled, trying his best to cover his fear with anger.

"Just having a little look around, don't mind us"

As the men advanced on Gerard and Frank, Bob and Worm moved in front of them a little, increasing the look of intimidation. It seemed to work, as the men stopped a few meters away. Frank saw out of the corner of his eye a couple of the men dispersing from the group.

"Get out of here. This is our warehouse"

Gerard, Bob and Worm laughed. "I don't think you understand. This place is ours now. Wherever we go, the things then belong to us"

Frank shuffled sub consciously away from Gerard a little. He knew Gerard was exaggerating, but it was scary to hear him talk like that.

"We've found it" said a calm voice to Gerard's right, which turned out to be Mikey's.

One of the larger men from the other groups threw a hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small gun, pointing it at Mikey. "You keep your hands off our-"

There was a bang and Frank's head snapped to the side to see Mikey shooting the gun out of the man's hand, his calm expression unchanging. The man let out a yell and clutched his hand to his chest.

The men jumped forward, drawing knives. Suddenly, Frank felt someone grab him from behind and hold his hands tightly together behind his back. Something cold and sharp was pressed to his throat underneath the balaclava.

"Enough! Or I will kill your man"

Frank almost screamed, but it was as if the knife was preventing him from it.

Gerard's head snapped around to see Frank, eyes widening. His eyes focused in on the small knife before laughing lightly, relief spreading to his face.

"Nice try, but you brought a butter knife to a gunfight"

Then, almost to quickly to see, he pulled the .357 Magnum from the inside of his jacket pocket and aimed it towards the man's head and fired without any hesitation.

The shot echoed through the small warehouse and Frank felt the man jolt back from the impact, then tense up for a split second. The blade pressed that little bit harder into him, just enough to receive a papercut-thin slice to his throat. The knife slipped out of the man's hand and fell with a clatter to the floor. Frank felt his grip loosen and the man crumbled to the floor, dead.

Frank stood stalk still, shaking from head to toe but too frightened to move. He was watching Gerard, who hadn't even blinked. Because that's just who he was, Frank realised. He was like an assassin, he was quick and accurate. He was ruthless.


Quick as a flash, there were multiple more shots and the sounds of more bodies hitting the ground.

"Frank?"

Gerard was slowly making his way over to him, his eyes concerned.

Frank jerked away as Gerard put a hand on his shoulder, a couple of tears rolling down his face, but sinking into the balaclava. Gerard froze, then removed his hand. Without taking his eyes from Frank, he called out to Bob.

"Bob, lift him. Gently" Gerard murmured, slowly turning away and making his way back to the cars.

"The rest of you- get the goods. Hurry, before the police get here"

Notes

Do you guys think I should have a set date every week on when I should update, or just update when I've finished writing each chapter??

(Oh, and I hope this chapter seemed realistic enough. In case it's not clear- I don't deal or steal drugs, so I'm not exactly an expert in that specific area)

-killjoybyname