It was a few hours later when Gerard managed to head back upstairs to visit Frank. When his mum had left the house to go and pick his dad up from work he decided that now was his chance. He took the leftover pasta from the fridge (thinking that he'd blame it on the dog if his mum asked him where it had gone) then after filling a flask full of tea and raiding the cupboards for anything sweet he headed upstairs to the landing. There he pulled the stairs down and managed to just about make his way up the step ladders with his arms full of food. Once he reached the top he placed the food at the side and pulled himself up into the darkness. He decided that it would be best to close the hatch behind him after the time he almost fell down the stairs.

Looking around he noticed that the entire place was pitch black, Frank obviously hadn't found the light switch yet and the attic seemed as though it was desolate and empty.

"Frank?!" Gerard called cautiously, his voice immediately being swallowed up by the air, "Frank, it's me Gerard."
"Oh." He heard a voice mumble to the left of him, "hi, um..." Frank stood hidden behind an old box containing God knows what, the beams of the attic hung low and cast long shadows about the room as Gerard switched on the lights. In a split second Frank could have slipped back into the darkness but decided that as a guest it would be rude to ignore your host.

"I brought you some food..." Gerard gestured to the heap of food, "and blankets..." He continued, pointing to the sleeping bag and other pillows that he'd managed to drag up the stairs as well.
"Thanks..." Frank smiled, slowly edging away into the centre of the room. He sat down cross legged and began to rummage through the food. Gerard wrapped one of the blankets around Franks shoulders and sat down opposite him.
"Sorry. It's a little cold up here and there's not much to do and tha-"
"It's good..." Frank grinned, spotting the pasta, "I might take a few trips out here and there if you don't mind..."
"Out of the house?" Gerard questioned.
"Well...obviously..."
"But I though you said that—"
"Yeah..." Frank sighed, "I know people are after me but I have to go and check on my mum—"
"But she's a heroine addict!" Gerard accidentally butted in before he could stop himself. He instantly regretted his words and a look of guilt swept over his face.
"And an alcoholic, a smoker...but she's still my mum and I need to go and check on her and make sure my dad hasn't hurt her."
"You're dad hurts her?" Gerard gasped.
"Yeah, he not good at much else..."
"I'm really sorry to hear that Frank, of course you can leave whenever you like, just make sure you're not seen."
"I'm good at not been seen..."
"Yeah about that Frank."
"Mhm..." Frank nodded, as he cradled the flask of warm tea gently.

"How come Ray couldn't see you?"
"Some people have eyes but are still blind to the world."
"Um...sorry, I don't understand..." Gerard replied, confusion running a marathon through his voice.
"Or maybe he just didn't want to believe that he saw me..." Frank responded, wrapping the blanket tightly round himself and looking up towards the ceiling.
"You're saying that Ray lied?"
"Not saying..." Frank paused, "only suggesting."
"But it's Ray and he's my best friend!"
"As I said...I was only suggesting..." Frank replied.

Frank gathered the pillows and arranged them in the furthest corner of the room as Gerard dragged the blankets across the floor. The younger boy sat down quietly and pulled the blankets up to his chin.
"Are you sure you'll be okay up here?" Gerard asked, worried that Frank may freeze to death in the cold clutches of the night.
"You have a brother don't you?" Frank asked, his voice simply melting away.
"Yes. But you didn't answer my question..."
"And you have a dog..." Continued Frank, "called Beagle, don't you? Although the dog isn't quite a beagle it must be a beagle cross."
"Yes, we do but how do you know?"
"We used to have a dog, a beagle, sounded similar to your dog actually, we had to put her up for adoption though." Frank muttered sadly.
"Yeah, technically she's my brother Mikey's dog."
"I know..." Frank smiled, "you also have a mum and dad, your dad works late shifts most nights so your mum goes to pick him up, that's why you're here. And I guess that you're going to blame all the missing food on Mikey's dog because he's currently out the house."
"Yes..." Stuttered Gerard in disbelief, "but how do you know all that?"
"Lucky guess..." Frank shrugged casually, he laid his head back on the pillow and his eyes began to close. "Night." He whispered.
"Okay...see you later Frank."

Gerard got to his feet, opened the hatch and began to climb slowly back down the stairs.
"Oh and Gee!" He heard Frank call all of a sudden.
"Yes Frank!"
"Thank you."

Gerard folded the ladders away and headed downstairs with a smile on his face, just happy that he was able to help someone who everybody had seemingly forgotten about.

Notes

Hello again. I'm sorry if this chaper was a little boring it will get better soon hopefully. I've just gone back to school so updates may be a little slower, sorry. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading. :)
-lou