A Soul I Cannot Save...

"If you're going to continue staring at my brother I might just have to kill you." Gerard said, jokingly, though he meant it. Frank had been so-called spying on the Way brothers for about a week, now. He wasn't even sneaky or anything. He just followed them around. Mikey paid it no mind because, well, Mikey really just didn't care. Gerard, on the other hand, was thoroughly spooked and felt the need to stand his ground.

"I'm not staring, I'm observing. And you can't kill me, you're already under police surveillance." It was true, Gerard had a choppy, unreliable explanation of his whereabouts during the time of his parents' murder, which made his a suspect. How Frank knew this, though, was something Gerard didn't understand.

"You looking through my records, creep?" Gerard asked. Frank took a deep breath. He knew things he wasn't supposed to know and was already giving them away.

"No, but people talk." Frank offered. It wasn't a good excuse for having such exclusive information about someone but it was what he could think of at the time.

"So you listen around to what all the underage boys in the place say? I think you're a fucking creep. I'm going to report you. Stay away from my brother you pervert." Frank began to panic then. Gerard was going to get him fired and possibly arrested. This wasn't going to be as easy as Frank had planned. He was absolutely terrible at thinking on the fly.

Everything needed to be planned ahead or he'd say something wrong without fail.

"I'm not just watching your brother, Gerard. I'm watching you, too." Yes, because that was the most helpful thing to say. Frank internally cursed himself. Gerard looked completely unsettled, and a bit disturbed.

"No! I meant I'm not out to get you, I'm just trying to help." Frank said, trying to ease the tension.

"That's what all the pervs say, isn't it?" At this point, Frank was fully aware that nothing he was saying was helping the situation.

"I'm sorry. Can we start over? I'm here to watch over you. I'm your guardian angel." Frank said. Gerard raised an eyebrow and gave Frank a 'yeah right' sort of look.

"I really am! And I can show you." Frank had literally given up on trying to calm Gerard at this point. He just needed him to listen.

"How are you going to do that? Oh, tell me something about my future! Who will I marry?" He asked, sarcastically.

"Me. I don't think that gives you much proof at all, though. Let's try something else. You know I live in the little shed outside, right?" Frank asked, hoping to meet somewhere privately and at a different time.

"They make you live in the shed?" Gerard asked.

"That's beside the point. Meet me there at 8:30. That's when I clock out."

~

At 8:25 Gerard was pacing around be and Mikey's shared room. He didn't want to go alone but Mikey was out. Mikey was always out, lately. Gerard was just happy that he was enjoying himself. Frank was easily the creepiest, most awkward person Gerard had, had met in quite a while.

The only reason he'd agreed to meet that man in his shed after dark was because he knew if he screamed, someone would hear.

By the time Gerard knocked on Frank's door, it was already 9:00. Gerard decided it would be best to show up late, mostly because he wanted to see if Frank would come to get him from the house. He didn't.

Frank opened the door to the tiny enclosure he called home. There was a cot, a nightstand, and tools. Nothing on the walls. The only source of light was a hanging light bulb.

"Pitiful." Gerard thought out loud.

"Rude. I didn't exactly have a choice, you know. I had to get this shitty job to get close to you." Frank replied, a bit offended at Gerard's comment.

"Why do you want to get close to me? Everyone else, apart from the police, wants nothing to do with me." Gerard said. Frank felt bad. Mostly because he knew it was true.

Frank opened his palm within arms reach of Gerard, motioning for them to hold hands. Gerard figured that he had nothing to lose, so he did. It lasted for about one second, seeing as Frank's skin sent what seemed like one million volts of electricity through him. Not in the romantic, cliché way. The way the made Gerard feel as if he's stuck his hand into a pit of molten lava. Frank fucking burned him.

Frank was equally as shocked when Gerard pulled away. He was only trying to show Gerard that he was an angel. When a mortal is touched by an angel, their previous sins are made visible to them, from birth to present. It was certainly a surprising experience, but Frank had never seen someone react as if they'd been physically hurt, especially when they'd barely made contact yet.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Gerard questioned. He couldn't even process what had just happened. He went to touch Frank's palm, and Frank's skin burned the very thoughts out of his mind.

"I don't know? What happened? I hurt you?" Frank asked. God never mentioned this. Frank only wanted to help Gerard, but he'd already managed to bring him pain.

"Yes! You burned me. Not just my hand, my whole body. I'm going back." Gerard turned to walk away and Frank grabbed his shoulder. Gerard flinched, expecting pain.

"We aren't finished yet. And I didn't mean to hurt you." Frank said.

"Don't touch me anymore, asshole." Gerard said. In all honesty, he was terrified. But he wouldn't let Frank know that.

"Id appreciate it if you'd stop swearing. I seriously didn't mean to hurt you, I don't even know why that happened. I was going to show you your sins. I do that by touching your hand. " Frank said.

"So you're an angel? And you burned the hell out of me when we touched. What does that make me? The devil?" Gerard asked.

"Maybe. I doubt it though. I think in that case it would hurt me, rather than you." Frank replied. He was thoroughly intrigued by this situation.

"Maybe I'm damned. Maybe I'm not mortal or something."

"But God would have told me that, wouldn't they?" Frank was beginning to question his whole mission, now.

"Gerard, I want you to go home and rest, okay?" Frank said. He needed to get a bit of thinking done alone before he could contact God. Frank walked Gerard home and on his way back to the shed he saw Mikey.

He was in the parking lot of the liquor store across the street.

Had he been there all day? Frank asked himself. Mikey was seated on the curb next to a small group of people who appeared to be in their early twenties. He was holding a cheap beer and staring at the ground, seeming totally disinterested in their conversation. He took another drink. Poor kid.

Frank didn't sleep so well that night.

Notes

*does a little dance* sorry for the wait!