Gerard and Frank Discover the Secrets of the Universe

I have a secret. Gerard flushed my razor but I lied. I had two. It's stowed in an Altoids tin, which I carry around in my pocket. It's just for comfort reasons. Knowing that I have the options seems comforting. But deep down inside, I know that I have it for emergencies. And I will use it

- - -

November 7th is the date. It's the last show day, and it's the thirty second intermission before the last scene. I've watched Bert "beat up" Frank 3 times this week, and I've hated every second of it. Frank and I are running backstage, desperate to get to the right stage before our time runs out.

We arrive on stage, and begin our dialogue. I absolutely love the way we bant back and forth, not even a second between sentences. This is the second scene where we kiss. The first time it's just a quick peck, but now it's almost a make-out session.

"What did I say when you kissed me for the first time?" I begin.

"You said it didn't work for you."

"I lied."

I take him by the shoulders, squeezing them. Our eyes meet, and it occurs to me how alone and out there we are. No one else is on stage. It's just us and a hundred people watching us. "You said I wasn't scared of anything. That's not true. I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid of you, Dante." Seconds pass. "Try it again. Kiss me."

"No." He argues.

"Kiss me."

"No." He smiles that beautiful smile of his. "You kiss me." My right hand moves from his shoulder to his neck. And he leans in and we're kissing. We're kissing in front of a hundred people. We're kissing and it's like fireworks, no matter how much we've kissed before it seems like this is the first. And when we pull apart, he pulls me to the bed of the "truck". And we lean back and look up at the ceiling.

"I wish it was raining." He says.

"I don't need the rain." I respond. "I need you."

The ending song starts playing, and Frankie and I stand up, holding hands and bowing. We both walk to sit on the stage, where the rest of the cast soon joins it. Daina, the girl who plays Ileana, sits next to me. However, Bert sits next to Frank. This is not good at all.

As the crew walks in front of the stage, preparing to bow, Frank suddenly stands up and bolts off the stage. I'm up in a second, trying to avoid stepping on teenage fingers. He runs backstage, and I think he's running to the bathroom. Sure enough, he opens the door to the bathroom and slams it behind him. It takes me a minute to get it open, but once I do I see the door to a stall slamming shut. "Frank? Baby, what's wrong?" I ask, leaning against the door. "Please just open up, and we can talk it out."

The door to the restroom opens, and Mikey walks in. "I saw you run offstage in a hurry. I know how you look when you're excited, Gee, and that wasn't it." He says, stalking over to the door. A few sniffles come from behind the door, which practically break my heart.

"Frank, what are you doing in there?" I ask again, trying to look through the gap between the door and stall. I see him, leaning against the door with his shirt pulled up. But something catches my eye when I start to turn away. He has a razor. And he's cutting.

"Frank! I want you to stop right now!" I yell, tears tugging on my eyelids. "Fuck it..." I duck under the stall door, crawling a few feet forward before I look up and see blood. So much blood. He's frozen, the silver blade clenched between his forefinger and thumb.

I stand up, prying his hand open and tossing the blade into the toilet. Tears are flooding down both of our cheeks, one pair for physical pain, the other for mental. "Stay with me, stay with me." I whisper under my breath, looking down at all of the blood that he's lost. I unlock the stall door, hoist Frank up into my arms, and walk out of the stall for more room.

"Help me out." I tell Mikey, laying Frank down on the floor. He runs to get paper towels, while I strip Frank of his shirt. A moment later and Mikey is kneeling by Frank, handing me a few wet paper towels. "This is gonna sting a bit." I tell him in a soft voice, pressing a towel to his cuts. Frank sharply inhales, his hand clenching shut. I reach my left hand to his right, letting him squeeze it to soothe the pain.

"Why did you have to save me?" He mumbles, while Mikey and I swiftly clean up the excess blood. "I was just fine on my-ah!"

Mikey looks down at his t-shirt, which brushed against one of Frank's cuts. There's a stain we won't be getting out. "Mikey, go to my locker. It's number 793, and I leave it unlocked. Get the emergency kit out, and bring it back here as fast as possible." He nods, standing up and leaving the room. Leaving Frank and I alone.

"Honey, what happened? Was is something that Bert said?" I ask softly, leaning down to him. His breathing is deep and quiet, and his eyes are half shut. I keep my eyes glued to his face. I don't want to see what's on his chest. But the image is plastered over my eyes. The deep cuts are burned into my retinas. "Come on, you can tell me."

He takes a few breathes in, his fingers lifting on and off my skin. His eyes look to mine, and he tries to force a smile. "I didn't want you to know..." Sniffle. "It was Bert." My fingers squeeze his, and I take a deep breath in. Why does he have to ruin my life?"

"Just tell me what he said, and I can make him stop."

"No!" He pauses, coughing to the side. "No, if you don't know, you won't hurt him. Right?" I shake my head slowly, touching my forehead to his. Our lips brush, but it's nothing more. "What could he ever say that would make my baby want to hurt himself?"

The door swing open, startling the two of us. "Oh God, this is not the time to be all lovey-dovey!" He exclaims, tossing the bag to me. When Frank cringes from the phrase, Mikey bows his head in apology. "Sorry. I was just... fed up." He mumbles, sitting cross-legged across from me. I glare at him as I open the kit, taking out the bandages I keep it the kit.

Frank gasps as I press a bandage against a patch of cuts, to which I pause, letting him get used to the sensation. "I'm so sorry." I whisper, pressing a second bandage to the last patch of cuts. "We'll change these tomorrow morning." I tell him, picking up his shirt from where I discarded it, and handing it to him. With some help, he sits up and slips his shirt on. "Yeah, we aren't gonna be able to hide you anymore. We gotta tell my parents."

"No!"

"We won't tell them why. We'll say that your parents are away on a business trip."

Pause. "Okay."

I hold out my arm to him, which he takes, and I hoist him off of the ground. He's not too heavy, so I don't need to lean over much. Mikey comes to my aid and wraps Franks other arm around his neck. Together, we walk out of the bathroom and into the mostly empty school halls. "We're so lucky mom and dad didn't come to see this show." Mikey says, to which I nod.

I lift my knee up, half-kicking open the door to the teachers parking lot. It's closer to the stage, and it's a good thing I chose to park in there. Mikey opens the car door, helping Frank inside, then getting into the back seat while I sit in the drivers. I pull out of the parking lot, and we sit in silence for some time, before I have the courage to speak up.

"I'm hiding all of the sharp objects."

It's a single phrase, but it lays a sheet of silence over the three of us. I'll hide the tape dispensers, the pencil sharpeners, the screwdrivers, anything with an edge. I can't live in a world where Frank isn't with me. So I'll make sure he stays, because I don't want to go.

Five minutes of silence later and I'm pulling into my driveway. With Frank able to walk now, I simply walk in and announce that we're home. Mom walks into the entry room, sees Frank, and wonders what he's doing here. "His parents are away on a business trip. We were hoping he could stay a couple days." My mother nods, smiling at him.

"Of course, Frank. Have you already had dinner?" She asks, to which Frank nods. "He'll be staying with me." I continue, wrapping my arm around him. When she doesn't protest, we begin walking downstairs. I open the door, and walk to my dresser while Frank sits down at my bed. I begin gathering up all the sharpeners, scissors, and other various sharp objects, such as a screwdriver I occasionally use to fix things.

"You weren't lying, were you." He says from behind me, his voice almost sounding bored. I shake my head, turning back to him. I put them on the corner of my desk, turning back to him. "I'll hide those tomorrow." I say, sitting on the bed and stripping off my shirt. He does the same, slowly, attempting to avoid touching his bandages. I slip of my jeans, tossing them to the corner of my room.

I lay down, turning to my right to see Frank laying next to me. "I love you," I say, snuggling up next to him and burying my chin in his neck. "I love you too, Gee." He says, and my hand finds his stomach. My fingers just barely touch the edge of one of his bandages. "This day has been too real, but it's nice, being able to fall sleep next to you." I mumble, my eyes closing.

Notes

yeah its been 8 days but this chapter took way too fucking long to write. sorry! also I got a gffffff