20th October

Another day of hell arose and Frank was sitting in class with his replacement English teacher, until the bell rang. Everyone stood up and flooded out of the room. With a dull face, he grabbed his bag and walked out into the garden. It was lunch break at this point and Frank sat down on one of the benches, smiling once he realised he had a new note from his 'boyfriend' waiting for him in his backpack -if you could even call him Frank's boyfriend-. 

He got out the note, scanning the area to find no teachers and/or students running about the quiet place. He unfolded the paper and began...

Hey again <3

Just 11 more days. I fucking told you I would wait. Can't wait to see you, baby. Love you-

"-Well, look who we have here..." He stopped reading to look up at the familiar boy with the brown afro. "What do you want, Ray?.." He mumbled, a frown replacing his happy smile. "What are you reading?"

"Nothing" He said, quickly folding the paper in the his hands. Ray scoffed, counting that answer as bullshit. He grabbed the paper from his hands, opening it back up again. "Hey! Give it back!" Frank furiously stood up, attempting to grab the paper back but was too short to reach for it. 

"What're gonna do, Frankie" Ray teased, pulling his arm up higher to make it impossible for him to get it. "Give it back, asshole!" Frank shouted, shoving Ray almost to the muddy ground. With a grunt, he looked at the younger boy, shaking his head. "Did you just push me?" 

"Got a problem? The note. Give it to me" Frank said, his face red with anger. "You son of a bitch-" Ray cut himself off as he threw his fist at Frank's face, watching it collide with his cheek, almost knocking him out. Frank placed his hand over the place where he got hit, feeling his cheekbone ache. 

He growled, looking at Ray before tackling him down to the floor, straddling his waist to stop him from moving as he threw careless punches at him. Ray did the same, hitting his cheek over and over again. "Motherfucker!" Frank cursed once he got hit in the back by Ray's knee. Ray smirked, flipping him round to the point where the taller boy took dominance. Frank dragged his fingernails across Ray's face, scratching just the side of his cheekbone.

"God damn it!" Ray shouted, sucking air through his teeth. He returned the favour by cutting his lip open with his rather dull fingernails and as a grand finale, he grabbed Frank's throat in hands, squeezing hard on his neck. 

Frank stopped moving, his eye twitching from pain as he tried to breath through Ray's grip. The older boy looked down at him, seeing his eyes water as his hand desperately clawing at his wrists to let him go. 

He gulped... He couldn't do it. At least not to him.

He let go, getting off of Frank as he saw him coughing roughly and turning over to his side. 

Frank really felt like shit. Like a worthless piece of fucking crap, laid on the floor without any form of help to save him. He couldn't feel his face and his spine wasn't in good shape. He felt like crying. Just 11 more days until he could see him... but now those 11 days felt like a thousand years. He didn't have enough strength to even lift his body up from the ground. He was hopeless. 

"Frank... you okay?..." He heard Ray say, seeing his hand put out in front of him. He slowly looked up at the other boy, seeing his suddenly sympathetic eyes. He grabbed hold of his hand, getting helped up by his enemy. Ray dusted off his ex-friend's blazer before he slightly smiled. "I'm sorry..." He mumbled as Frank looked up at him through his hair, still feeling his throat swell up. 

"I'm sorry for being a complete jerk and I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you and Mr. Way. It was such a shitty thing to do in the first place and you can hurt me how much you want for it. I deserve it. You're right. I am an asshole" 

Frank was confused to say the least. "Why are you apologising?" He coughed again.

"Because I saw how you looked up at me when I was about to choke you out. I realised what I was doing" Ray said, nodding for reassurance. He looked on the floor, seeing the note on the muddy garden floor. Ray picked it up and handed it to him. 

"You know,... Mr. Way sent me this. Hell, he sent me thousands... Fuck, I miss him--" Frank started tearing up. "Hey, it's okay, Frank" Ray said, pulling his buddy in for a hug. Frank gripped Ray's dirty blazer in his fist, sobbing violently on his chest. "eleven more days, buddy. You got this" Ray said, hugging the small boy tighter. 

~~~~

"Oh my god, Frank! What happened?!" His concerned mother ran up to him once he stepped foot in his house. She grabbed his face, lifting it up to see all the bruises scattered around his face. "Ouch" He winced, once she ran her finger over his busted cheekbone. 

"Explain" His mother crossed her arms, her eyebrows furrowed. "I got into a fight. Nothing special" Frank mumbled, his voice very quiet. He started walking up to his room with his mother following him. "Just a fight! With who a-and why. Frankie, talk to me!" She whined. Frank stopped mid-stairway. "I was fighting with Ray cause he started teasing me. But then we made up and we're friends again" Frank flashed a smile just so his mother could stop worrying. 

"I'll get you an ice pack" She said, going back down the stairs to the kitchen. Frank walked to his room, slowing down when he saw his parent's room. He sighed, walking in to see his father in bed with a remote in his hand, flipping through the channels on the TV screen in front of him. 

Frank cleared his throat and leaned against the door frame, waiting for his dad to notice him. "Get out" His father said, his eyes still fixated on the screen. "Why?-"

"-Just get out!" He yelled, finally looking at his son. Frank gulped. 

"Is this all about me coming out?" Frank asked, crossing his arms. His father didn't respond. He just slowly turned back to the screen. 

"Or is it about the fact that I'm fucking my English teacher?" Frank said, seeing his father's fist clench up. "Frank, I don't have time for this-"

"-Time for what? Talking about how a father should respect his son being gay!" Frank clenched up his fist as well. 

"Right, that's it!" His father said, getting out of bed with full force as he ran over to his son, gripping his tie in his fist, almost choking him. 

"You think you're tough, little guy? Huh, you think you're tough? Cause I swear, faggot, I'll throw you out of this house like trash if you ever come up to me like that again-"

"-Frank!..." Frank's mother said, seeing the two in the middle of the doorway. "Leave him alone, Frank" She said, speaking to her husband. He sighed, putting his son down. "Don't talk to me like that again.." He threatened before going to his room and slamming the door behind him. 

"Are you okay, honey?" Linda Iero asked as he handed him the ice pack. Frank nodded and sniffled. "Thanks, mom" Frank flashed a very tiny smile before walking off to his room. He closed the door behind him, locking it as he sighed, placing the ice pack down on his bed. He went on his knees and looked under his bed, searching for the familiar box he kept all of his memories of Gerard in. Once he found it, he fished it out from under the bed frame and opened it, searching in his blazer to find the note that Ray and himself were fighting over and placed it in the box along with the other notes. 

11 more days. That's all he needed. Just 11 more days and maybe this hell could end. 

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