Melodramatic Metathesiophobe

Fight

Gerard wasn't okay. Frank knew it and he felt horrible. He woke up early that morning, seeing Gerard already up, hugging his stomach and staring out the window. He tried to get both of them to eat but it was hard. Neither of them were hungry.

It was difficult to watch Gerard fall into bouts of itching, scratching at his pale skin until it was angry and red, only realizing when Frank would point it out. He was quiet, too. He stared off into space often and seemed dazed and distant when Frank tried to talk to him. He wished he would have known. He wanted nothing more than to go back and force Gerard to leave his house before he could have seen him change.

"Frank?" Gerard squeaked, and Frank realized he'd been squeezing just a little tighter than he meant to as they hugged on the couch, "Frank, I... I'm scared," he reached and grabbed Frank's hoodie string so he had something to mess with.

"I know," Frank swallowed, relaxing his grip, "..if it makes you feel any better, so am I. I don't want to scare you, but.. this is usually the night that ends up with the most bloodshed," and he felt horrible as he watched the color disappear from Gerard's cheeks.

"It's not human blood," he added sharply, "just rabbits, mostly, it- it just needs to eat, it needs to.. to feed." He took a slow breath. Gerard seemed less than calm, but he wasn't crying, which was a good step up from how things had been.

At least until the sun started to set.

Gerard had become unable to control himself, uncontainable moments of violent trembling and animalistic sounds becoming very common, each one capped off with Gerard crying worse than the last, sobbing to Frank that his head was pounding and the voice was deafening and he didn't want to change. All Frank could do was hold him and shush him. He was dealing enough with his own, and it was gnawing at him that he really wondered how Ray was taking it. He hoped he didn't have Mikey over if his was this bad..

When the sun finally dipped below the horizon; when the moon was barely poking through the sky, Gerard screamed.

Frank had to pull him in against his shoulder so he wouldn't worry the neighbors, fumbling to try to help him get out of his clothes, watching his face become ruined with terror. He was mortified. Frank could see it. And he hated it.

He just kissed Gerard's cheek, trying to ignore the way he groaned and cried as his fingers began to snap, taking no time at all before his toes followed suit, the change so violent Frank grew honestly worried. His claws shoved forward so quickly and his tail grew with such speed that Frank's heart began to race, terrified that it might exhaust Gerard's body, ending the lives of both him and the wolf in the process, the horrible minglings of consciousness and form taking over until he was unrecognizable and gone.

"Breathe," he said, "Gerard, I know it's hard, I- I know, but- you need to breathe, you need to stay calm," he felt like he was talking to a brick wall. He needed Gerard to listen. The last thing he wanted was to lose Gerard so soon.

He could vaguely hear something like 'I can't', but it was so covered by sobbing that he could have been imagining it. He gave up on talking, just holding, keeping his arms around Gerard's shaking frame, trying to ignore it as he could feel his muscles begin to quiver. He knew what was coming. He shoved his hand in Gerard's mouth so he'd bite down and wouldn't scream, just in time to cut off his yelling as he grew.

Frank hated watching, but he couldn't help it, couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight, watching thin red lines slip down his hand as Gerard's teeth changed, his fur starting to feather down over his body, and at least that made it harder to see him shake. He had to pry his hand away because he could see it in Gerard's bloodshot eyes that he was losing control, much too weak compared to the beast, swiftly giving in as the wolf enveloped him--became him. He jumped to his feet and shoved the window open before backing up, really hoping he didn't become Gerard's first victim.

The wolf rose, stretching up to its haunches, shuddering as everything finished. It's hot breath was visible in the chill of the cold and it hunched, dark eyes swimming with uncontrollable malice, making Frank lose his breath when he became the center of attention.

It was visible, the way the wolf fought, shaking its head and scratching at its own arms, but eventually it yowled and rushed out the window into the night. Frank didn't know how Gerard was still in there fighting but he couldn't have been more thankful.

Then he jerked. With everything focused on Gerard, he'd completely forgotten about his own shift. The wolf was unhappy. It started almost immediately after and all Frank knew was that it felt as though he was being ripped open. It was so aggressive--so much raw anger, bubbling and boiling and needing to force out of Frank's small, puny body. Even he wasn't strong enough to resist getting lost. All he could hope was that he didn't see Gerard or Ray when he got outside.