Blind in a Way (Frerard)

Forty

~Frank's POV~

Gerard sat quietly in his hospital bed, twirling his thumbs. He had tear stains on his cheeks.

I leaned against the doorframe, unsure what to do or say. I was waiting for his mother to come rushing down the hall. She had been on the phone when Gerard's vision had given out again... Which I still didn't understand. Why had this happened? Gerard had been so happy in that instance...

"Frankie?.." Gerard called out softly.

I turned to him, seeing him wiping his eyes with a small fist. I walked over to his bed and took his other hand. "Yea, Gee?"

He smiled sadly at me. "You're not sad, are you?"

"I can't help but feel that." I frowned, rubbing my thumb against his hand. "I was so excited for you..."

"But I got my wish." Gerard laughed, quietly.

I looked at him confused. "But it didn't work. You lost the sight you had for less than five minutes..."

Gerard shook his head. "But I got to see you. Even if it was a fuzzy picture..." He squeezed my hand, "You aren't supposed to look straight at the sunset anyway..."

"Gerard..." I bit my lip as I felt my own tears forming. I still couldn't believe the image he always associated me with.

"Frankie, you better not be crying." Gerard spoke quickly, "I've cried enough, you don't need to cry too. I'm okay. I mean it." He reached out his free hand, brushing his fingertips against my hair. I reached my hand up, pressing it against his.

"I just thought..." I sighed, feeling him maneuver his fingers through my short hair. I closed my eyes before continuing, "I thought if you could see, I could really show you what you mean to me... Or show you the beautiful art you create... Or just make you so happy..."

It grew quiet between us. It was strange, seeing as Gerard hated the silence, but still comforting with him.

"Frank, I don't need to see to know how much you care." Gerard finally spoke up, "The first time you said 'I love you' was after you ran to my dorm in your boxers. All because you were afraid you lost me, but you didn't."

I let out a laugh, leaning my head against his hand.

He continued. "The art? Beautiful is in the eye of the beholder, Frank Iero. Who knows how I would react to it. I hardly know my own style, but that's okay. Art is to be shared. Art is to be enjoyed. Art is just a beautiful idea that everyone has a differing concept of."

"I like your idea of it..." I let my tears fall quietly.

"As for happiness?" Gerard's voice grew softer, "I found happiness when I kicked this short guy at the school library. He's kept me pretty happy."

I opened my eyes with a sniffle. Gerard had fresh tears on his face as he smiled in my general direction.

"I never needed eyes to be happy." He whispered.

"Even still... I wish I could of captured that moment I saw the light behind your eyes for the first time..."

"At least you got that memory to hold onto."

I lifted my arm to wipe some tears away with my sleeve. "I'll never let go." I smiled at the blind boy in front of me.

His hand on the side of my head pulled me closer to him. "I hope you never do..." He whispered before I pushed my lips against his.

After a few seconds we slowly parted. Neither of us really had words to say at this point.

"Hello?"