A Brutal Romance.

''You,'' Bert said, in between kicks to Frank's stomach, ''fucking,'' if Bert kept going like this, Frank was sure he was going to throw up his breakfast, ''scumbag!'' came the final blow to the stomach.

It was already the third day of school. The day before, nothing interesting had really happened, besides Frank getting his foot stuck in a toilet in attempt to hide from the guy who was beating him senseless at the very moment. After Gerard had helped him and he went to his last class, Frank made a point to avoid Bert for the rest of the day. His ribs still hurt like hell and his jaw was ugly as fuck. He didn't want more trouble. Bert, though, hadn't forgotten that his victim had been listening to the conversation he and Bob were having, and certainly didn't appreciate it. Frank didn't get a chance to hear much of what Bert was saying, just something about Gerard and his brother. Whatever it was, Frank felt sick to his stomach just to think about it. He knew it couldn't be good. He could understand why Bert would talk about Gerard, they were dating, but Mikey? What was Bert planning on doing to Mikey? Whatever it was, Frank didn't like it. He thought he heard something about Bert ''teaching Gerard a lesson yesterday''. Did Bert hurt Gerard? The thought made Frank angry, furious. And why would he ''teach him a lesson'' in the first place? Could it be because Bob had found Gerard and him together in the hallway, that day? Frank just hoped he was wrong and he was just assuming the worst. If Bert wanted to ''punish'' someone for that, he had no business in going to hurt Gerard. Frank could take care of himself, he'd rather be the one to get beat on instead of Gerard.

It was the second period and Frank had gone to the bathroom because Bob was in his class, harrassing him as always while the teacher did nothing. He'd also hoped that he'd meet Gerard in the bathroom. He didn't seem to be at school today. Frank didn't see him with Bert, he didn't see him anywhere. He hoped that where ever Gerard was, he was okay. The same went for Mikey, aswell. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. Maybe they were just absent for the morning like the day before, and they would come back for lunch again. The eavesdropping today didn't help yesterday's, either. Frank didn't make it to the bathroom because he saw Bert. He was about to run in the opposite direction, when he heard him say Gerard's name. Bert was talking on his phone rather angrily, impatiently. Bert kept saying, ''you know I want - need you here with me,'' and ''where are you, I haven't seen you for almost all yesterday'', stuff like that. ''Come on,'' Frank thought. ''It's a little possessive to want your boyfriend with you for every second of every day, isn't it?'' But Frank wasn't surprised. Bert was, after all, a fucktruck.

Bert had his back turned to Frank, but they were both standing infront of glass doors, the doors to the school. Bert must've seen Frank's reflection in the glass while talking on the phone, and before Frank could realize that, Bert's tone just got angrier, saying, ''Call me later, I have to go.'' And ended the call. He turned around quickly and gave Frank a ''You are so fucking dead'' look.

Because he eavesdropped twice now, Frank was on the floor, waiting for the next hit. Bert kneeled down to punch Frank in the face when the bell for recess rang. Bert lowered his fist. ''Last chance, asshole. Stay the fuck away.'' He spat, got up and walked away. Frank sighed and stayed there on the ground for a while. If he got up, he'd probably hurl all over the place. Great. His jaw, his ribs, now his stomach. Luckily for him, Ray was the first to get out of class, finding Frank on the ground. When Ray spotted Frank, he ran over to him, a look of panic on his face. Frank was in the fetal position, his hands positioned to cover his face. ''Holy shit! Frank, Frank! Frank, come on, are you okay?'' Ray asked in a panicked tone. It took a while for Frank to form a response, the sound of bumbling students' chatter whizzing by. ''Look, Frank, y-you've got to get up now, people need to walk here.'' Ray rushed. It took a lot of strength for the boy to speak, the air being knocked out of his lungs and the feeling of having to throw up keeping him silent and grounded. Eventually, Frank very slowly got off the ground and stood unsteadily, Ray keeping him balanced. ''I-I'm fine... I'm okay. J-just help me to the bathroom, okay?'' Ray raised an eyebrow. ''The bathroom? Man, screw that! You've got to get to the nurse!'' Ray exclaimed. ''Who did this to you, man?'' He finished. ''W-who do you think?'' Frank spat, his head spinning. ''Come on, I just really have to go to the bathroom. M-my stomach hurts real fuckin' bad and i-it's hard to breathe, I almost pis- Listen, just get me to the fuckin' bathroom, okay?!'' Frank snapped, almost admitting that he nearly wet himself during the beat - down. Sure, 75% of him wanted to get away from Bob, and 15% of him wanted to maybe see Gerard again. But the other 10% of him really had to take a leak! And to think he almost did in front of Bert.

Ray could tell that Frank wasn't fucking around and led him to the bathroom, unsteady footsteps the whole journey. Surprisingly, and a bit disappointingly for Frank, the place was empty except for them. Ray led Frank to the sinks and let him steady himself on the first one. ''So, do you need me to stay here with you? I can stay, if you-'' ''No, no. Thanks, Ray. I'm good. I - I can take care of myself.'' The other boy just shook his head. ''Are you sure? You're in bad shape, man.'' ''No! No. I - I mean yes, yes, I'm sure. Just go, man, thanks, I'll be okay. I'm okay.'' With that, Ray just gave Frank a pat on the shoulder and exited the room.

Once Frank was alone, he made as quick as he could and reached for the nearest stall, falling to his knees and kicking the stall door closed as he entered. Clutching onto the toilet bowl for dear life, Frank did what he had to and let himself throw up. Coughing up chunks of his breakfast and the bitter - sour bile that came with it, Frank wiped the tears pricking his eyes away. The disgusting liquid burned the back of his throat, causing him to spit and gag, coughing more and more, gasping for air, the sounds echoing in the room. This only made his ribs hurt more, making him grab on tighter to the toilet. Frank hated the bathrooms of the school, and normally would never get as close to one as he was now, but he had to do what he had to do. He begged and prayed mentally that someone wouldn't come in right now and hear all this, and no one did. Once sure he was done, Frank shakily stood up, wiped the vomit from his mouth and flushed the toilet, spitting in it a last time. He then opened the green stall door and stepped out. Ugh, the fucking paint job in this place, the color - it made Frank want to vomit more, the color looking like vomit itself. Slowly, he made it to the urinals and chose the nearest one, unzipping his pants and doing what he had to. After, he zipped his pants back up and walked back to the sink, examining his pale reflection in the mirror. Fuck, he couldn't believe he'd thrown up. Leaning down to place his mouth close to the tap, he turned on the water and sipped some, relieving his throat of its burning sensation and disgusting after - taste of puke and bile. Standing back up right, he washed his hands and spashed his face with water. His ribs were even more sore than before. Fucking. Fabulous. Dizzily, he stepped out of the bathroom and walked off to the nearest exit out of the school. He needed some air.

The next few days were spent almost the same way, but Frank made sure to avoid them as best he could. He got beat a few times but was able to avoid them long enough so that he could nearly fully recover from his previous beatings. Gerard and Mikey weren't anywhere to be seen during this time. Frank missed them, or at least, missed it when they managed to stop the shitpricks from nearly killing him. Even though he wasn't officially their friend, he hoped to see them soon again.

Notes

this suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked. filler chapter. next chapter will be muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh better.