This Is Our Second Skin (Frerard)

14: Rainne Knows Things - Remember?

*above picture is of Rainne's outfit*

Gerard sat on the edge of Frank's couch, his eyes fixated on the painting he had made for Frank, which was proudly hung in the entryway, but it wasn't like the artwork was actually holding Gerard's attention, it wasn't even all that good, despite Frank's protests that it was the best thing he had ever seen, but looking at it was much better than the alternative, which would be to actually make eye contact with either Rainne or Brendon, who were currently sitting across from him at the moment.

Gerard had kept his promise to Frank and shown up today, even though his reluctance had returned full force once he had woken up this morning, but Gerard refused to back out on Frank, no matter how badly he wanted to. Gerard had considered asking Lindsey if she wanted to tag along, only if Frank was okay with it of course, but Gerard had quickly changed his mind on that matter; Lindsey was not happy with Gerard's decision to hide his feelings from Frank, and that was putting it lightly, so having the two of them in the same room could only end badly for Gerard, and he didn't want to take that risk, no matter how much he would have appreciated her company.

So Gerard had turned up alone, almost half an hour late, but he had done it, and the warm embrace Frank had greeted him with calmed Gerard immensely, but now that he was here, Gerard felt out of place, just like he knew he would, so he had spent the entire time sipping a beer slowly, making sure not to get too drunk of course, listening to Frank and Brendon converse as Robin Hood: Men In Tights played in the background.

Gerard had pressed Frank for more information on Brendon yesterday after their discussion about Rainne, because even though Gerard knew Brendon better than his girlfriend, he was still mostly clueless about him as well. He learned that Brendon had tread a path very similar to Frank, trying and failing with numerous bands, eventually ending up as a drag queen when he discovered that it was a great way to get his voice out there while actually making money, which was something none of his previous projects had been able to do.

Brendon wasn't as into the lifestyle as Frank, who was more than happy to be a drag queen for as long as possible; Brendon still yearned to start up something of his own, but when Rainne had come into his world, he had stayed for her, helping her break out of her shell until she eventually began performing with him, and Brendon had sworn to stay at the club until they had earned enough money for her surgery.

Speaking of Rainne, she was staring at Gerard again, he could feel her eyes on him, even though every time he looked in her direction, her gaze instantly darted away, but the entire situation was making Gerard extremely uncomfortable, and he really just wanted to leave, but he didn't know how to do that without being rude and hurting Frank in the process.

Frank and Brendon were talking animatedly, mostly about past events and inside jokes that Gerard didn't understand, and Gerard could sense that it had been some time since the two had seen each other outside of the club, causing a spike of guilt to shoot through Gerard's stomach when he realized that might be because of him.

Frank was with Gerard almost every day now, and even though he obviously had some free time when Gerard was at work, Gerard wasn't sure what he did with it, and Gerard felt that familiar nagging worry that Frank would get tired of him sooner or later, even though Frank had showed no signs of that happening anytime soon.

Gerard sighed heavily, trying to dispel the negative thoughts that were taking over his mind, but they were reluctant to leave his brain. As if sensing his internal distress, Frank's hand made its way to Gerard's discreetly - not exactly holding it, more like resting on top of it, but the simple touch erased the dark clouds hovering over Gerard, and he shot Frank a grateful smile in return.