Wishing You Were a Ghost

The Movement of a Hand

When Mikey finally shows up to help Gerard with his boxes, things are still tense, but they at least leave on good terms. Gerard had taken the time to explain at least a little bit about what had happened on his side of the last three years.

Apparently he was doing pretty well up until what's-his-nuts next door came into the picture. (Frank supposes that's fair. He feels like someone like that would probably throw a wrench into anyone's life if they got involved with him.)

He appreciated the honesty, too. The clarification of things, and the reassurance that the physical assault truly wasn't an ongoing issue. It really was just a one time thing, according to Gerard. He even told Frank all about the fight they'd had afterwards. (Frank thinks maybe that shouldn't have made him feel better, but it did anyway.)

At the end of the night they all parted ways with Frank's neighbor glaring daggers at him out of the tiny crack in his door.

Frank was careful to keep his voice low when he told him, "You ever touch him again and you'll be cold in the ground before they even know you're gone."

It seemed to do the trick. The guy moved out within a week.

Frank's got no idea how much money the dude had to spend to get out of his lease so soon, but he also doesn't care. Good fucking riddance. He can go hide from his fucking arrest warrant in another county. Far away from Frank, and most importantly, far away from Gerard.

Things go back to semi-normal after that. Work is work, and Frank's social life is the same as it always is. The difference is that Gerard texts him every now and then. Just to check up.

None of the messages are particularly miraculous. Nothing dicey, or anything to send Frank into a fit. The worst part of any of it is that it's three years later, and Gerard's name still hasn't been changed in his phone. Frank refuses to change it, so it's just something he'll have to deal with.

Gee <3: Merry Christmas, Mikey wants to do dinner, but he can't remember if he texted you about it? He wants me to ask if you're in town.

The holiday greeting comes rolling in the month following The Scene Next Door, followed by:

Gee <3: Happy fucking new year? There's a fire on your side of town? I didn't look at the address, but I wanted to check in.

Frank was fine, and the fire had ended up being easily put out with no injuries to anyone involved. It left them with a solid four months until Frank's next text, declaring:

Gee <3: Thanks for the birthday gift! I've been needing a new lightboard for a while, I appreciate it!

Okay that one was a little weird. Frank did not get Gerard a birthday gift, let alone a fucking lightboard, because up until the moment Frank fucking googled it on his phone, he had no idea what a lightboard was.

Frank: did you fucking get your brother a birthday gift from me?
Mikeyway: If I give him two gifts he'll make me take one back because he doesn't know how to say thank you.
Frank: a warning next time?
Mikeyway: My bad, dude. He loves the lightboard, though!

It's a fair point. Gerard is notoriously bad about accepting gifts, it's something they used to argue about a lot, actually.

"Would you just let me spoil you for once?" Frank grumped, smacking Gerard's hand away from the bag on the table.

"No," Gerard laughed, and he seemed way too amused about the little scuffle the pair of them were having around the dining room at the moment. "I needed one new set of watercolors. I did not need the paintbrushes. Or the canvases. Or the acrylics."