Frank woke up early the next day feeling groggy. He stank and needed a shower. He groaned and dragged himself into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Whilst he was waiting for the water to heat up he looked in the mirror and frowned at his reflection; he wasn’t too pleased with what he saw. His hair was flat on one side and poofy on the other from the way he slept. He noticed the chickenpox scar on his forehead and hated it. Gerard, with his angular face and even features, surely would never go for a guy like him, would he?

Frank shook the thought from his head and stepped in the shower. He managed to distract himself with making sure he’s clean. The warm water poured down onto him and Frank started to feel more awake. He needed to get out of his apartment that day and do something somewhat productive, but what? Frank came up with things he could do as he finished his shower and turned off the running water. He wrapped a towel round his waist and plugged in his hairdryer. He blow-dried his hair to try and tame it and he managed to get it to look almost good.

He put on a plain, navy blue t-shirt, some black skinny jeans, his favourite pair of boots and a jacket. He looked out of the window and saw it was snowing so he decided to put on some gloves and a scarf as well to stop him from freezing to death. Frank took the lift to ground floor of his apartment building and stepped outside into the snowy streets of Newark.

Frank liked walking in the snow a lot. He especially liked it today as it wasn’t too thick but there was still enough for it to make a satisfying crunch under his boots. The snowflakes were falling lightly onto Frank and you could tell that Christmas was just around the corner. As he walked towards the music shop, the streets had started to get busier with people bustling around doing their Christmas shopping, trying to buy the perfect gift for their loved ones before everything sold out.

The music shop was always the least busy though and that’s what Frank liked about it. Most days he would have it to himself and would talk to Mikey, who worked there most days. Frank went to school with Mikey but they only became friends after they graduated. Mikey was also Gerard’s brother so Frank could subtly ask him about how Gerard was doing. Gerard also spent a lot of time in the shop as well and Frank was hoping he could bump into him, seeing as Mikey wasn’t working that day. For some reason, Gerard never saw Mikey at work and that intrigued Frank.

Frank stepped into the doorway of the music shop and wiped his snowy boots before going inside properly. As expected, Mikey wasn’t at the counter and Frank almost smiled to himself. He started to subtly look around the shop to see if Gerard was already there but no, there were only about 5 people there and he wasn’t one of them. Frank felt like a stalker but decided to himself that he was clear as he wasn’t there only for Gerard. He enjoyed browsing the music shop and anyway he needed to buy Christmas presents for his friends before it was too late.

He was looking at all the t-shirts on the rack and considered buying an Anthrax one for Mikey. It was a good opportunity to buy it as Mikey wasn’t working that day. While he was making his mind up, he had subconsciously wandered towards the alternative section. He flipped through the CDs while he racked his brain for who already had which, but had no luck. He decided against buying CDs, just to be on the safe side. He made his way back to the t-shirts, forgetting that he was originally there to look for Gerard.

He had to guess Mikey’s size which stressed him out. What if he picked one that was way too small so it ends up being a waste? Or what if he picked one way too big and Mikey took it as Frank thinking he’s fat? In the end he decided on the same size he wore because him and Mikey had borrowed each other’s clothes before then and they seemed to fit alright. Also, if it didn’t fit Mikey, he could have it instead.

Frank picked up the t-shirt and was just about to start walking to the checkout when someone behind him tapped him on the shoulder. Frank turned around and looked up at the person and he almost let his jaw drop when he saw who it was.

“Frank,” the person said. “I’ve not heard from you in ages, how have you been?”

Notes

Hey guys, I literally started this lst week and 10 subscribers already!! That's kinda crazy. I know it's predictable at the end but how are you finding the story so far?

-hannahxo