When Brendon left without a word, Gerard felt weak and sick to his stomach. His legs were shaking, his body was tensing up. There was a break of a single sweat going down the side of his forehead. He didn’t want to kill his brother even if they had their differences. Gerard didn’t want to face his brother but he also didn’t want to lose Frank. His anxiety made him weak emotionally and physically.

Frank got up from the dirt and slowly walked towards Gerard who was in his own world, “Gerard .. ?” Frank stopped in his tracks, waiting for Gerard to say something, anything. Frank looked at his feet, unsure on what his next move should be.

Gerard’s words spilled out of his mouth, “I .. I have to kill him.”

Frank’s fingers danced around each other as he spoke, “Do the angels want me because I was just a part of the deal you made with .. that guy?”

Gerard unintentionally ignored Frank’s question, “I have to kill him.” He repeated, in his own mind about Brendon’s threat.

Frank grabbed Gerard’s hand and tried looking into his eyes, “No, you don’t. You don’t need me, Gerard. You really don’t. What you have with your brother is way bigger than what confusing relationship we have-don’t you understand that?”

Gerard yanked his arm away from Frank’s grip and cupped Frank’s cheeks, “I can’t be alone again. You make me feel whole-don’t you understand that?” Gerard almost yelled, “My brother is my business and I refuse to let you interfere on this .. that’s why .. when I leave, you’re staying here. Just until finish the job.”

“What?” Frank’s heart fell, “I’m not letting you go by yourself.”

“Yes, you are.” Gerard reeled him in for a hug, “The things I said to you .. about us .. I want you to know I didn’t fully mean it.” Gerard added in, “Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad if we were .. together. But for now, I have a job to do and I need you to be safe.” Gerard stared into Frank’s hazel orbs, “Please tell me you’ll stay here with the others when I leave tomorrow afternoon.”

Frank didn’t want to. He wanted to be in the passenger seat, next to Gerard. But Gerard’s frown dug deep into his chest and he couldn’t say no to him. Gerard was deeply concerned for Frank’s safety, and Frank knew it. Frank held back his tears, “Okay .. I promise that I’ll try.”

Gerard’s tears tumbled down his eyes as he smiled, “Thank you.”

---

The next morning Frank muttered through tired eyes, grasping onto Gerard’s arm, “Don’t leave, don’t leave, don’t leave,”

Gerard yawned, trying to break away from Frank’s grip, “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

Frank released Gerard’s arm, “Please hurry and come back to bed.”

Gerard scratched his little belly bump and nodded before leaving the room.

Frank clasped onto the pillow that was near him and brought it close to his body. He huddled with it, taking in the scent of Gerard’s smell. His nose shuffled side to side as he embraced the strong scent. His heart fluttered before hearing the flush of the toilet. Gerard walked back inside the room and sat on the edge of the bed, “I’m going to pack up.”

Frank’s voice muffled in the pillow, “Where are you going, exactly?”

“Somewhere.” Gerard replied before getting up. He walked towards the closet and pulled out an old backpack. He looked at Frank, “Why don’t you go outside and join the others while I do so? It’ll only be about 15-20 minutes.”

Frank shook his head, “I’m still tired.”

Gerard grinned, “No, you’re not. You just want to be with me longer-I’m telling you, I’ll be done soon. Go ahead and join the others. They’re playing in the back-I heard Frey is fighting Davy today.”

Frank shifted around a bit before getting off the bed, “Fine, I’ll go out. But hurry up, kay? I mean, please.” Frank put on his skinny jeans and his black hoodie. He slipped his feet inside his converse before sloppily tying them, “I wonder how Patrick is dealing with the situation.”

Patrick was absolutely shocked by the amount of blood demons could shed.As Lindsey wrapped her arm around his shoulders, cheering for Frey, Patrick was stunned by the blood that spilt on the dirt. Frey’s bra and blue skinny jeans were covered in her own blood. Her nose was broken a bit and her bloody smile had some bruising to it.

Davy was growing tired because Frey was really fast. She always teased him when he swung a punch and missed. Davy licked his wound on his lip, “Frey, baby girl, you’re not playing fair.”

Frey smiled as she shot blood out of her mouth, “Fair is weak, baby boy.”

Frey rapidly moved her body close to Davy who was too late to make a reaction before she kicked his shin, knocking him over onto the ground. A second after collapsing, Davy shot his body upward back onto his two feet and rushed toward Frey, punching her against the jaw. Blood and teeth shot out of her mouth as her head tossed to the side.

Davy backed up and grinned, “You quitting yet?”

Frey giggled, shrugging her shoulders, “It’s just a scratch.”

Patrick let out a weak cry, “Doesn’t she ever give up?”

Lindsey laughed, “Nope, you have to knock her unconscious or you’ll never win.”

Frank stood behind the two before standing next to Patrick. Patrick turned his head, “Hi.”

Frank smiled, “Hi.” Frank looked at Davy and Frey who were both gasping for air extensively, “Who’s winning?”

Patrick gave a disgusted look as he looked back at the two, “Not sure.”

Davy grinned a bit as Frey precipitously struck her leg against the side of his stomach, causing his body to urge to the side. He painfully grabbed her leg and squeezed it, causing bones to split and smash. Frey cried out as she retreated quickly. She tightened her jaw, “You wanna play like that then? Fine. You asked for it. Come at me you weak sack of shit.”

Davy felt intimidated and a bit annoyed that Frey wasn’t giving up. He dashed toward her again, thinking he could easily beat her since her leg dragged her down-but Frey grinned as she swiftly grabbed him by the throat. Davy choked and gasped for air, trying to break free from Frey’s grip. Frey waited a bit until her leg was a bit healed before lifting her free hand into a fist. She swung it hard as she let loose of her grip around Davy’s throat, causing Davy’s body to drop down onto the dirt with a big, “oof”. His body ached as pain shot throughout his body. He tried but couldn’t get up and groaned aloud angrily, "Fine! You win.”

Frey clapped for herself and cheered, “I won! I won!"

Patrick forced a smile as Lindsey cheerfully threw herself into his arms. Patrick smiled at Lindsey who pulled away immediately with her face turning red.

Davy’s broken bones and gashes regenerated. He got up with minor injures and grinned at Patrick, “Awe, you and your new girlfriend are cheering for your friend. I got a question for you, Patty, ol’ pal,” Davy took a step forward, “How well can you fight?”

Lindsey rolled her eyes, “Idiot, he can’t fight against you. He’s human.”

“I’ll regenerate him. I promise I won’t kill him in combat-I’ll go easy on him.”

“Wait, who the heck said I wanted to fight you?” Patrick whined, “I’m a bookworm not a fighter.”

Davy grinned, “Come on-it’ll be fun,”

Frank frowned at Davy, “You’re just being a sore loser, Davy. You lost and you want to take it out on someone who is weaker than you.”

“Probably,” Davy said, staring into Frank’s eyes, “How about you, then? Either you or Patty.”

Patrick looked at Frank and Frank looked at him. They both were silent until Frank stepped toward Davy, “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Great,”

Lindsey scoffed, “Gerard’s going to kill you, Davy. He doesn’t like anyone playing with his toys.”

Davy ignored Lindsey’s comment and focused on Frank who wasn’t confident in himself. Frank was thinking in his head, “Oh god, this is going to hurt so fucking much,” He prepared his body and mind for the excruciating pain that Davy was about to inflict on him.
Davy said, “I’ll go your speed, alright? To make it fair.”

Frank nodded, “Yeah, thanks-I guess.”

Frank blew out a breath and didn’t notice when Davy made a move. What seemed like an eternity charging at Frank to Davy, was a split second to Frank. A hard punch in the gut made Frank cringe and fall to the floor. He felt his chest tighten and he couldn’t breathe. He tried hard to get up from the ground, not wanting to let his guard down. When he finally got up, Davy had already made his next move by kicking the back of his knee.

Frank fell over once again before calling out, “You’re supposed to be playing fair.”

Davy didn’t reply. He again dashed but someone stepped in front of Frank, making him come to a sudden stop, sending dirt to fly everywhere. He looked up and stared into the eyes of Gerard. Davy stood up straight, “H-hey.”

Gerard grinned, “Why fight Frank when you can fight me?”

Davy swallowed, “W-well maybe some other d-day.”

Gerard grabbed Davy the shoulders and leaned in, “Nonsense. You know I’m leaving today so let’s just get this out of the way.” Gerard swiftly pushed Davy and punched his jaw. Blood erupted from Davy’s mouth and before he could react, Gerard kicked the side of his stomach and grabbed Davy’s hand and twisted the bones inside. Davy let out a cry, “Stop, stop, stop!”

Gerard twisted his arm aggressively and threw Davy onto the ground, “Why? Don’t you enjoy fighting?”

Davy let out a tear, “Just stop please.”

Frank stepped in front of Gerard, “You’ve made your point.”

Gerard stared down at Frank and slowly smiled, “Alright, I suppose you’re right.”

Frey giggled at Davy who struggled to get up from the floor.

Lindsey wrapped her arm around Davy and teased, “I told you.”

Frank smiled up at Gerard before noticing the filled backpack by Gerard’s legs. Frank’s smile faded away, “You’re not leaving now, are you?”

Gerard tucked in his lips, staring down at Frank, “Yeah, I am .. the sooner, the better.”
Gerard leaned down and kissed his forehead.

Frank frowned, “Gerard .. please let me come with you?”

“I need you to be safe.”

“I don’t feel safe without you.” Frank whined.

Gerard felt his chest empty, “Frankie .. I don’t want to leave you but my brother-”

“I promise I won’t get in the way,”

“No, you’re staying and that’s final.” Gerard sadly ordered before facing away, “Can you put this backpack on the back seat? I’m going to grab my IPod and when I come back, I don’t want to see you.”

Frank slouched as he grabbed the backpack, “Yeah, okay,” They went their separate ways. Gerard headed back inside and Frank went to the car and dropped the bag in the backseat. He was about to leave but noticed a blanket in the back seat. He glanced at the house and the blanket inside the car. He climbed inside the car and hid underneath the covers.

Gerard walked outside and frowned when he didn’t see Frank. He sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition. He looked at his mirror to the house and felt his stomach tighten. He thought about Frank before driving away from the house.

The car rumbled as it drove down the dirt road onto the cemented road. After 20 minutes, Frank appeared from the back seat and his voice shook, “Gerard,”

In surprise, Gerard turned the wheel and slammed onto the brakes. His heart pounded against his chest and looked at Frank who was twirling his fingers together, “Hi .. “ Frank was nervous for Gerard’s reaction but was completely off guard when Gerard smiled, “You’re an idiot, Frank. Get over here and sit next to me.” He laughed as Frank gleely climbed over the seat and sat close to Gerard. Frank snuggled against him as Gerard turned on the car again.

Notes

xo