Listen Before You Go

Chapter 4: It's Raining, It's Pouring

OKAY IM SORRY THIS IS REALLY LATE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE UP LITERAL DAYS AGO

*deep breath*

enjoy!

Frank couldn't sleep.

He's almost always on his phone until he passes out. But not this time. He was staring at his wall, thinking about the hot guy about to temporarily move in with them. He's thinking about scenarios which will most likely not happen at all, but are rather entertaining to think about, so he factors them in as possibilities nonetheless. 

Like, tomorrow, he's totally imagining being a flirtatious little shit the entire time he's with Gerard. He's thinking about how amazing it would feel to make him blush or even, perhaps, turn him on.

Not that it'll ever happen. He's literally the worst with words, stutters all over himself when he gets flustered, and Gerard seems to have a liner for anything Frank could possibly say to try to turn the tables.

Frank looked to his clock, 5:27AM. It taunted him. Granted, he hadn't even been in bed that long, it's just, he normally gets up for the day around 6AM, but it looks like he'll want to be asleep until around the time Gerard arrives tomorrow. If he can even fall asleep in the first place. And it had started drizzling outside about the same time that Frank had gotten to his room.

Normally, the rain outside would lull him to sleep. But he can't shut his mind up long enough to relax. And it was starting to thunder as well. Distant thunder was nice, he liked thunder, you couldn't see it, but it was loud, like him. But the thing about not-so-distant thunder while you're trying to sleep, is that you're trying to fucking sleep, and massive invisible explosions of excessive volume that shake the entire house aren't so fantastic when you're trying to fucking sleep.

When the clock eventually blinked over to 6:00AM, Frank gave up on trying to sleep and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower, then out to his balcony to enjoy the storm.

This was another good thing about his balcony, the storms. You could hear anything, smell it all, and see the endless sheets of water falling down. And you wouldn't get wet under the awning, unless there was a hurricane or something, in which case, why the fuck are you even outside?

He went into the tiny linen closet and took the folded up hammock. Unrolling it and attaching it onto the hooks above him, he dropped into it and rocked back and forth, still trying to fall asleep. He gave up again though, it was humid, and it wasn't breezy or cool enough to make up for it.

He went back to his room to get his phone and the book from his nightstand to read outside.

He adjusted a throw pillow behind his back in the hammock and criss-crossed his legs, working his upper-body to keep it swinging, playing soft music on his phone and tuning out everything but his novel and the sound of the rain.

It must have been an hour or so later when he realized the thunder had stopped and the wind picked up. He was getting tired, and the quiet, soothing sound of the neighbors wind chimes was taking their toll on his already exhausted state. He laid back into the hammock and attempted to keep reading, but eventually closed his eyes and dropped the book to his chest.

~ ~ ~

"Gerard, why don't you stay with me for just a few more days? You're in such a hurry to leave." Mrs. Way held her hands together tightly by her stomach, a habit she had when she was upset or overwhelmed.