Frank had actually been scanning the young men a few feet away from him when his eyes stopped on Gerard. Despite the dread of running into this group, Gerard's sweet face seemed to dissolve every fear Frank had, and now all he could do was stare, daydreaming. Thinking of all the things he wanted to do to the boy. Thinking about how he just wanted to march over there and grab him, push him against a wall and make out with him, right in front of Bert. A risky thought. His mind then drifted back to the dream he had had and was so rudely awaken from. Frank's cheeks were now ruby red and he felt a problem growing in his pants, still staring at the boy, who had noticed and was looking back at him, curiously, wondering why his expression was so coloured.

After a short while of inspection, though, Gerard saw the bulge in Frank's pants, and smirked. He probably shouldn't have made it so obvious that he was staring, but he too had zoned out and couldn't help but stare at Frank, wondering what sinful things he could be thinking that would make him hard while looking at Gerard. Eventually, one of Bert's friends caught on and scanned where Gerard had been staring. Uh - oh. Frank didn't seem to notice this, though, because he was still staring at Gerard, not moving or blinking or looking away, so he didn't see Bert stomping up to him alongside Bob and Josh, their expressions angry. The only thing Frank seemed to notice was Gerard's facial features change from shy and tired to scared and...sad? That's when it hit him - or, when Bert hit him, square in the jaw. Caught offguard, Frank dropped his now cold coffee and fell to the floor, stars dancing around his eyes. Once his vision changed from blurry to clear, he recieved a sharp kick in the ribs - Bob. After a few more of those, Mikey, who was trying desperately to pull the attacker away as Gerard screamed for them to stop, he finally succeeded in taking Bob away, who then pushed Mikey hard against some lockers. Mikey regained himself while Gerard pulled Bert away, not before Bert could crouch down to where Frank lay and spit on him. ''That's what you get!'' Josh screamed. Tyler simply rolled his eyes at the words, grabbing the other and both walking away from the scene, Josh snickering as Tyler scolded him with a, ''not cool, man.''Mikey stayed behind as the four boys walked away, Gerard looking back at Frank, his expression upset. It's not like he could stay behind with Mikey, Bert was dragging him away and would beat him if he did so.

''Urrrgh... fuck...'' Frank groaned, coughing. ''Hey, dude. You okay to get up?'' Mikey asked, sitting down beside the injured boy. ''In a thousand years,'' he laughed, but stopped as it made his ribs hurt more. ''H-hey, aren't you supposed to b-be with your brother right now?'' He interrogated, looking around for the others. ''I'm not SUPPOSED to be anywhere,'' the other retorted, ''but right now you're beat to shit and it's not like I can just leave you here in the middle of a hallway, dude you've got to get up because the bell rang and people are gonna want to pass here. I can't let them, like, trample you, or whatever.'' Frank laughed at the expression, but stopped once again as the pain shook his body. ''God damnit, Bob,'' the younger one muttered, ''what's your damage?'' he seemed to be asking thin air. Frank glanced at Mikey and replied only with, ''His damage is that he's a fuckin' asshole.'' Mikey snickered at that, stood up, and held out a hand for the boy. ''C'mon, let's get you to the nurse.'' With that, Frank sat up and took the hand that Mikey was holding out to help him up. Once standing, Frank let out a small squeak of pain. He touched his lip and made contact with his liprings; he was surprised they hadn't fallen off. ''You okay, there?'' the boy wearing glasses asked. ''Heh, let's see, I've got a busted jaw, my ribs hurt like hell, I can barely stand, there's shitty coffee spilt all over me, and I think I've been spit on. So, sorry to respond to your question with another question, but does it LOOK like I'm okay?'' the blonde haired boy looked away from Frank. ''Look, sorry, alright? We just gotta get you to the nurse, there's no way you'll be able to stay here with all those injuries.'' ''Hey, woah, I'm not going home. I'll be fine. It hurts like Hell, but I'll be fine.'' Mikey sighed and nodded, walking with the other through the hallways filled with anxious teenagers trying to get to their classes in time, not wanting to be late on their first day. ''Watch it!'' A girl with flaming orange hair Frank was sure was named Hayley hissed as Mikey bumped into her accidentally, the books she was carrying falling out of her hands and onto the floor. ''Sorry...'' Mikey mumbled.

When they finally arrived to the nurse's office, Mikey took a seat on the bench closest to the door. ''What are you doing? Aren't you going to go to class?'' Frank asked. ''Nah. We already missed five minutes. I don't wanna be the guy that arrives to class five minutes late to class. Besides, I want to get to know you better. I know I haven't been at this school as long as you and Gee have, but for as long as I've been here, I kept seeing you but never actually spoke to you,'' Mikey replied, ''then again it's not like I could, with the situation. It's been far too long though, today I'm finally gonna talk to you. I'm tired of having to follow my brother and those asshats around.'' The shorter boy looked at him for a moment, surprised by his honesty. He then smiled and knocked at the door to the office and entered when a woman in her fourties answered, closing it behind them. After about ten minutes, the door opened again, a bandaged Frank walking out, thanking the woman and closing the door behind him. There, in the bench, still sat Mikey, who was playing with the zipper of the jacket he was wearing. He stopped, looked up at Frank, frowning. '' Do you think bandages will really help those wounds? I mean, they're pretty bad. I'm telling you, man, you should really go home and schedule an appointment with a doctor, get that checked out.'' Mikey stood and they began to wander, no specific destination in mind. ''Heh,'' Frank laughed, ''you sound like my mother. Dude, I'm fine. So, where're we headed?'' ''Well I don't know, where do you want to go?'' Mikey asked. ''Anywhere I won't get my ass handed to me again.'' They both laughed at this. ''C'mon, I think I know a place.'' And with that, Mikey led Frank outside of the building and towards the bleachers at the school's football field.

The air was chilly and the sky grey and cloudy, predicting that rain would be on its way. Frank felt a shiver run down his spine at the cold wind as he made his way to the top of the bleachers, sitting next to Mikey who had made it up before he had. ''So, uh, hey.'' He muttered, honestly very unsure of what to say. This was very new for Frank, and as mentioned before, he had Ray, and to him, he was enough. But today he was practically coughing up blood and didn't feel like sitting through a boring class, so this wasn't so bad. It was a bit strange and uncommon, but fine. He'd just say that he woke up late and got mugged on his way or something, as that wasn't so uncommon either, in this town. The teachers wouldn't really care anyways, and it's not like anyone could do anything about it if it had happened. ''So... So! How old are you?'' Mikey asked, trying to start up some conversation. ''Gonna be eighteen in October. You?'' ''I'm fifteen, sixteen in a few days, actually. The tenth.'' Mikey smiled. ''Oh, so like, soon. I mean, it's the fifth now, so, five days! Cool. Mine's on the thirty - first.'' The raven - haired boy declared. ''The thirty - first? Halloween? That's so awesome!'' Mikey laughed, delighted. ''Any special plans for your eightteenth birthday?'' Mikey asked. ''Meh, not really. Not much of a party animal, to be honest. Probably gonna watch a few horror movies with my friend Ray.'' The blond boy only nodded at this, a thoughtful expression on his face. ''Ray... The guy with the fro, right? Yeah, I've seen him with you a few times, he even got beatings from Bert and Bob whenever he was hangin' with you, and you bumped into them. Yeah, I'm sorry about them. I'm not friends with them, I just stick around to keep an eye on my brother. He always tells me he's okay, that he doesn't need a babysitter, and I know that. It's just... He's my big brother, you know? I want him to be safe.'' Frank just stared at the other boy for a moment, unsure of what to say. Before he could respond, Mikey chimed in with a, ''He really cares about you, too. My brother, I mean. I'm sure you already knew that, though, with the way he always tells Bert to stop hurting you.'' Frank blushed at this, looking down at his shoes. ''Oh? Well, that's real swell. If only his cries for help really did anything... But hey, thanks for trying to get 'em off me all those times, and thanks for, uh, this, right now, I guess.'' Mikey replied, ''Yeah, that's no problem. No one deserves being pounded on like that.'' The air grew silent except for the howling of the wind and the sound of a motorcycle being driven up the street facing the school. Frank brushed his unkempt hair behind his ears, pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head to avoid the wind. Mikey did the same with the hood of his jacket. The raven - haired boy decided to speak again. ''So, d'y'know what classes you have next?'' Mikey didn't respond, a thoughtful look on his face once again. He shook his head, falling away from his thoughts. ''Uh, I'm not sure... English, I think?'' He guessed. Frank just assmued that he hadn't checked his schedule, yet.

The boys sat there on the bleachers, its old, red paint peeling off of it slowly, and they conversed for what seemed like an hour. Mikey thought Frank had mentioned something about getting a tattoo, but he wasn't sure because he wasn't listening, lost in thought once again. Suddenly, interrupting Frank, he blurted out, ''Gerard talks about you a lot.'' Frank had stopped speaking, and the air was quiet again. Mikey cursed himself silently for having said it, but it was too late, now. ''H-he does?'' Frank asked, trying to hide his excitement. ''Er... Forget I said anything, okay? That was supposed to be a secret.'' Mikey avoided Frank's eyes, trying to find something else to say that would change the subject, but Frank was persistent about the not - so - secret secret. ''Hey, I won't let Gerard know you said that. Besides, it's not like I talk to him, anyway. I'm just curious... Would you pease tell me what he says about me?'' Frank asked, desguising his desperation with curiousity. Mikey sighed. ''He just, he says he wishes he could, like, protect you and stuff. He says...'' He trailed off, smiling to himself. Frank, too, was smiling. ''He says he wishes...'' Mikey's smile faded as he stopped himself from finishing his sentence. ''He wishes...? He wishes what? What does he wish?'' Frank's smile was gone now, too, and his eyebrows were raised in question. Mikey didn't answer, and instead looked down at his shoes, an expression of regret appearent on his face. As if on cue, the bell for recess rang and thunder rumbled from a distance, drops of rain starting to fall from the cloudy grey sky. Soft and subtle. ''I've said too much already, just forget it, alright? We'd better head in, the rain's only gonna start coming down harder and we've already been out here a while. Second period starts soon.'' Before Frank could protest, Mikey was already making his way off of the bleachers.

The duo ran towards the building as the heavy rain showered them, getting them soaking wet. Frank had a hard time running because of his injuries, so Mikey made sure to keep up with him. They exchanged goodbyes as they walked into the building, going their seperate ways.

Notes

PLEASE READ

Huzzah! New chapter!
Hey guys, sorry it took so long. I've got some bad news - I think it might take a little longer for the next chapter to be updated, I'm sorry.

Also, this site is a real pain in the ass, so I might have to switch accounts because lately it's taking a lot longer to log in and I don't trust it. So if I stop updating altogether, it's because I was unable to log in, but don't worry because I have my story saved to my computer so I'll just repost it on another account. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know it's nothing special but I hope it still suits your needs.