Fantastic Bastards in Monroeville (Frerard)

To my surprise, Frank got up earlier than I did today. I heard him get into the shower as I slept. I managed to get up right before breakfast, but I thankfully had enough time to shower as well. After getting dressed, I walked down to the cafeteria, where I found Frank with his tray of food. However, he wasn’t at our usual table with Nick. After getting my food, I walked over to the table where Frank sat by himself and sat down.
“Why aren’t you sitting at our usual table? Did Nick do something wrong?” I asked.
“No, he didn’t. I’m sitting here because I wanted to talk to you in private,” Frank replied, eating a mouthful of turkey bacon.
“Oh? About what?”
“You gotta promise me you won’t tell anyone?” Frank whispered, leaning closer to me over the table. I nodded my head, bringing my head closer to him to listen.
“I’m listening,” I whispered back to him.
“I’m sitting alone with you because...I wanted to talk to you about the escape plan I came up with so I can find my daddy,”
What?!
Okay, that came outta nowhere. Escaping? Seriously? No fucking way. I can’t escape from this place. What if we get caught? I’m not risking going back into solitary confinement, or whatever worse punishment this place has for people trying to escape. Even if we do manage to escape, what’s the point? Frank’s dad is dead! I obviously can’t tell that to Frank. It would shatter his heart and soul. But I have to tell him that I’m not escaping. I’m here to get better. I’ve been so resistant to care in the beginning when I was first admitted here, but I’ve come to terms that I have a problem, and I need help. I am not gonna throw out all the progress I’ve made and escape with Frank. He needs to know that he’s sick and needs help.
“Frank...I can’t,” I said. “It’s too much to risk,”
“But Gerard...I know a way we can escape! We can get out through the doors that let the visitors in and out of. Just listen to me!” Frank hissed, loudly whispering. “You gotta escape with me! I can’t do this alone!”
“No, Frank. You don’t understand,” I said firmly. “We need to stay here in order to get better. I’m not gonna throw away all the progress I’ve made and attempt to escape. Besides, what if we get caught?”
“No, we won’t! Trust me, Gerard! You gotta listen to me! You gotta escape with me!” Frank pleaded, his eyes desperate and pleading with me, having that puppy look to them. I wasn’t buying it, though. I shook my head.
“No, Frank. You need to realize that you and I both need help like everyone else here. I’m not escaping with you,”
Frank’s face slowly went through a phase of contortions from shock, to sadness, to anger. He violently stood up from his seat, towering over me from where I stood and glared at me coldly.
“I just can’t believe you. I thought I could trust you!” he yelled, making everyone’s head in the cafeteria turn to him in curiosity of the confrontation that was taking place. “You know what, Gerard? Fuck you. Fuck you for turning against me!”
“I’m not trying to turn against you!” I said, standing up to face Frank. It really hurt what he just said, and it made my heart sink into my stomach. “I’m trying to help you! You’re sick. You need help!”
“No, I don’t!” Frank screamed, pushing me with a harsh amount of force, making me nearly fall back. He inched closer to me, throwing his fists at me. I kept backing away, covering myself in defense. It wasn’t long before a couple attendees came rushing towards us, separating us and holding us back from each other.
“Knock it off!” one of them yelled, holding down a violent and thrashing Frank, taking him out of the cafeteria. My heart broke into pieces as I watched the attendees drag Frank away from me, and most likely taking him into solitary confinement. Even though he hurt me both physically and emotionally, I wish I could hold him and soothe him from whatever nightmare was taking place in his head. I looked away as tears began to run from my eyes, unable to witness Frank being dragged away from me.

_ _ _
I didn’t see Frank at morning group or the group we had at ten. It felt so different having him absent. It hurt too. I wonder if he regretted getting physical with me. I regretted shooting down his plans to escape. If I went along with it, he wouldn’t have gotten mad at me. But I had to tell him how I truly felt. If I didn’t, he would have made me go through with his escaping plot, and escaping from this place is something I don’t plan on doing. As much as I hate this place, the people that work here such as Dr. Haycraft were right. Recovery is vital, and I truly do want to overcome my depression and eating disorder, just like I want Frank to overcome his delusions.
At our ten o'clock group, we had a new person arrive. His name is Max, and despite being a newbie here, he was surprisingly social and open about the reasons he’s here. On top of suffering from depression and alcoholism, he was trying to get off his addiction to heroin. The poor guy was a shaking mess the whole time he talked though; it most likely is from the drug withdrawal he’s going through. I welcomed him to sit at me, Frank, and Nick’s table at lunch, which he graciously accepted. Today for lunch, it’s grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, as well as a side of grilled vegetables. I actually am very fond of grilled cheese, so I managed to eat everything off my plate for the first time since I’ve been here. Hell, I even drank all my milk too. Hayley walked up to our table and looked down at my now empty tray.
“Gerard, you ate everything off your plate! Great job!” she said happily. Great. What do I get, a gold star?
“Gerard, I just remembered something,” Nick said as Hayley walked away. “I don’t think you’re gonna be very happy to hear this,”
“What is it?” I asked.
“I overheard the nurses earlier. They’re transferring Frank to a different facility,”
“What?” I nearly yelled, my heart skipping a beat. “Are you serious? You’ve gotta be kidding me,”
“No, it’s true. We both heard it,” Max said. At that moment, I nearly felt myself faint. I know Nick and Max wouldn’t lie to me. What reason would they do that anyway? Frank was actually gonna be admitted to a different institution? Where the fuck is he going to be put into? Wherever it is, I don’t want him to go. If he leaves, I’ll never get to see him again. Never have I thought that I grow a connection so strong to someone in this godforsaken place. Frank may hate my guts right now after what I told him. But now, when he gets outta solitary confinement, I need to see him. I need to tell him that I’m sorry for shooting down his plans of escaping. I must know what I need to do in order to stay with the person I care about--I need to escape with Frank.

_ _ _
Frank didn’t get out of solitary confinement until it was time for dinner. I found him in the lunch line and rushed over to him, cutting in front of a few patients that started to cuss me out for cutting in line. Frank clearly didn’t wanna look at me; he hung his head down, his eyes staring down at the ground.
“Frank, I’m sorry,” I said. Frank didn’t utter a word. “Frank, please listen to me. I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I was wrong. Please, just forgive me,”
Frank shook his head, crossing his arms as he continued to look down at his feet. I sighed deeply, already frustrated. I wasn’t getting anywhere with this. I need to say something that will convince him to talk to me again. I care for him too much to have him ignore me.
“Frank, I’ll escape with you! I’ll help you find your dad!” I nearly yelled, covering my mouth when I feared that someone might have heard us. I really hope no one did. Frank looked up at me, his lips agape and eyes widened.
“You...you will?” he asked shakily. I shook my head. Frank smiled from ear to ear.
“Yes, Frankie. I’ll help you find him. I’ll escape this hell hole with you,” I whispered, smiling back at him.
“Gerard,” Frank said, patting me on the back. “You have made a great choice,”
“I know,” I laughed. I was so happy beyond words to have Frank back. His silence was killing me.
“I’ll share my plan with you when we get to the table. We’ll sit with Nick and that new guy. What’s his name?” Frank asked.
“Max. Max Green,” I said.
“Ah, cool. His last name is my favorite color,” Frank giggled. We headed over to our table and sat down, where Nick and Max sat and ate their food. I looked down at the food on my tray--today it’s roasted turkey, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Thankfully, the food looks familiar and easy to eat. I think I’ll be able to eat at least most of the food on my tray.
“Nick, Max, we need your help,” Frank said, eating his mashed potatoes. “Nick, you remember what I said earlier?”
“Yeah, you said something about wanting to escape?” Nick asked. A perplexed look came onto Max’s face, his whole body twitching and quivering from his withdrawal symptoms.
“You guys plan on escaping?” he questioned.
“Yeah, me and Gee. I’m being transferred to Clayton Heights. That’s where the keep the criminally insane,” Frank said with a sense of dread in his voice. “I’ll never let them take me alive!”
“How are you guys gonna plan on escaping? Why do you need our help?” Max asked, looking at me and Frank quizzically.
“That’s where you guys come in. Just let me explain,” Frank said. “You and Nick are gonna be the decoys for the attendees while me and Gerard try to get through the main door where they let the visitors in and out of. When visiting hours start after dinner, we’ll get through the doors while you and Nick make a scene. It can be anything, like a fight, some kind of struggle that’ll keep the attendees occupied. I’ve heard through some of the workers here that there’s a set of stairs we can take down to the main lobby and out the building. After that, we climb over the fence and...we’re free!” he exclaimed, his whole body animated with joy.
“Seems legit. I’ll be happy to help. Max, what about you?” Nick asked, looking over to Max.
“I dunno,” Max shrugged. “Seems risky. What’s in it for us?”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself there, my friend,” Frank said, reaching into his pockets. “If you help us bail out, I’ll give you guys these,” he sang, holding up two boxes of cigarettes. Both Nick and Max’s eyes widened.
“Oh, fuck yes! I need a smoke badly! I’ll help you guys out!” Max nearly exclaimed.
“Great! So what we’ll do is that we’ll all meet up at the front room at six, when visiting hours start. When we do, Nick, Max--you guys start a scene. Make it very dramatic! When you guys do that, we’ll be on our way out. I’ll give you your cigarettes when it’s time, and you guys will later enjoy your smoke breaks!”
“Where did you get those?” Nick asked.
“Snagged ‘em off Jimmy. Cocksucker still doesn’t know I’m the one that took ‘em from him. Thank fuck he got sent to Clayton Heights. One less asshole to deal with here,” Frank chuckled.
“Wait, that’s the guy that keeps saying he’s the antichrist, right? He gave me a swirly yesterday, the bastard,” Nick sighed.
“We’re all bastards here, Nick. But we’re not like everyone else here. We’re fantastic. We are fantastic bastards,” Frank said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. All four of us chatted about fuck all and finished up our food. When we finished, we departed from Nick and Max to give us time to prepare for our escape. I can’t believe this is actually gonna happen. We are gonna escape. We are gonna get outta this hell hole. I looked up at the clock. It is quarter to six. Visiting hours were starting. I watched as an older couple came in through the front door, the door shutting behind them. I looked over to Frank, who was with Nick and Max. He handed the each of them one box of the cigarettes he stole from Jimmy and talked with them for a few moments. Nick and Max nodded, and walked off. At that moment, chaos erupted; Nick literally bitch-slapped Max across the face, making him revolt. He then began to scream as he tugged at poor Max’s long dark hair, Nick’s body straddled on top of Max’s. At that moment, a herd of the attendees rushed over to the fighting duo, struggling to separate the two. I looked over to Frank who was right near the front door.
“Gerard, now!” he yelled, dashing through the door as another more younger couple stepped through. I ran right behind Frank, running for my life.
“Shit!” yelled one of the attendants, dashing after us out the door. Frank reached for a door and opened it, and ran through it. It was the stairs, just like he mentioned earlier. I ran right behind Frank, the attendee right behind us. We rushed through the stairs and reached the door at the bottom floor, with Frank opening it. Together, me and Frank ran past the lobby and out the front door. I tried to keep the attendee off of us, my heart in my chest pounding and my lungs huffing and puffing as I ran for my goddamn life. We ran outside, the cool air colliding with us. I could hear an alarm go off from the building, echoing off into the distance. I kept running, keeping up with Frank as we reached the gates. Frank leapt up and over the fence, and I did the same, kicking off the attendee as he tried grabbing my feet. I kicked him in the face, sending him down to the ground as I climbed over the fence with Frank. I landed roughly on the ground, my heart still racing and my lungs gasping for air. We continued to run away from the institution we just managed to escape. It all seemed like an eerie dream. We actually just escaped Monroeville...and it was, for the most part, a piece of fucking cake, thanks to Nick and Max.
“We...we did it!” Frank yelled, trying to catch his breath as we both slowed down as Monroeville vanished from our sight more and more, the two of us walking further and further away from the hospital. “We fucking did it, Gerard! We’re free!”
“Yeah...we are,” I sighed, wiping the sweat off my forehead, my throat and chest aching from all the running I just did. I can’t even remember the last time I ran…
“We are now one step closer to finding daddy!He’s talking to me right now through the chip in my head. He’s saying congratulations for getting out!” Frank said, genuine joy in his voice. I just smiled briefly, going along with Frank’s deliriousness.
“Yeah, we did…,” I said. I looked around me, seeing nothing but the barren road ahead of us. We were out in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Nothing in sight. No buildings, or other cars, or even any trucks. The question now is this--where do we go next? We have no money, and no place to go. How were we expected to survive on our own? I should have thought about this before I decided to escape with Frank. Oh my god...was this a mistake? I’m starting to think it was…
“We gotta get far from here. We gotta hitch-hike,” Frank said, stopping. He held out his hand, this thumb up as he saw some cars pass by. I looked at Frank like he just stripped down naked in front of a crowd. Does he not know the dangers of hitch-hiking? What if we end up hitch-hiking with a psychopath that tries to murder us, or do god knows what else?“Frank...are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked skeptically. Never did I think that I would feel more safe and secure in an institution. Staying there suddenly sounded like a much better idea than escaping that said institution and hitch-hiking. It’s too late now, though; we were actually trying to hitch a ride from strangers that could potentially kill us.
“Yes, Gee. I’m positive. Done it plenty of times before,” Frank said confidently, still holding out his thumb. We stayed silent as we waited for cars passing by to stop and pick us up. Then, after what seemed like a while, Frank turned to me. “Gerard...can I tell you something?”
“What?” I asked.
“I...I love you, Gerard Way,” Frank replied. At that moment, I felt the world around me be put on pause. Frank just said he loves me. My chest constricted and the butterflies in my stomach fluttered like crazy. I felt so numb to the point where I couldn’t feel anything around me. I didn’t know what this feeling was, but whatever it was, I knew one thing--it was love.
“I love you too, Frank Iero,”
“Good,” Frank chuckled a little. At that moment, a pickup truck stopped by us when Frank held up his hand. The window rolled down, and a man long black hair, a mass of piercings and tattoos, and dark gothic style makeup peeked out of it.
“Need a ride?” the man asked.
“Yeah, can you help us out?” Frank responded.
“Of course. Get in,”
Me and Frank did so, getting in the back seat of the tattooed man’s pickup. We buckled in, and the man took off. After a few seconds of silence, he turned to us, his made-up eyes scanning us up and down.
“Where you guys headed off to?” he asked.
“Umm...New York City,” Frank said right off the bat. “Are we close enough for you?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m actually headed there myself. I’m Chris, by the way. Chris Cerulli. And you guys?”
“I’m Frank Iero, and this guy is my buddy, Gerard Way,” Frank said, introducing ourselves.
“Nice to meet you guys. It’s a pleasure,” Chris said, tuning the radio to a heavy metal station. “Hope you guys don’t mind Bleeding Through,”
“Not at all,” Frank said, leaning on my shoulder as the heavy guitars and screaming vocals blared throughout the truck. He sighed, closing his eyes as his head laid on me. Maybe I shouldn’t be so worried. Maybe Chris is genuinely a guy that wants to help us out. I just hope I’m right. I leaned onto Frank, feeling so warm next to him. I love this boy with all my heart, no matter how delirious he is.

Notes