Addiction ( a frerard fanfiction )

Chapter 17

Frank bit his lip ring and brought his phone to his ear as he answered the call 

"Hi Mikey."

He could guess, judging by his face, that Gerard was disappointed. He stared at Frank with an angry look and then he grabbed his backpack, he was about to leave when Frank put his hand on the older boy's arm, giving him a look which was asking him to stay.

"No I'm sorry, I haven't found him yet." Frank replied on the phone

Gerard sat back on the wooden floor and smiled lightly at Frank who smiled back at him. Frank felt bad for Mikey. It wasn't nice, at all, but all his guilt suddenly disappeared when Gerard smiled at him.

"Hmm...Okay...yeah, sure...okay, bye."

Frank hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. Gerard bit his lower lip "Thank you"

"You're welcome.." Frank knew he was doing something bad and that Mikey was probably worried to death, but in a way, he understood Gerard and his need to get away from everything for a while. Everything seemed so pointless and meaningless. Frank really didn't see the point of waking up every morning, going to school and learn things which will probably not be useful in the future and that he will certainly forget anyway. Frank was doing all those things which just didn't make any sense to him. And it's a pain to do something when you don't even know why you do it. So yeah, he could understand Gerard, running away and forget about all those things was a good option, probably the best one. The more selfish and easiest, that's for sure, but the best still.

Both of them remained sat, in silence, looking at each other for a few seconds until Frank looked away because he started to feel embarrassed. It was still raining outside and Frank wondered what they could do in this little tree house. Because there wasn't much to do, and there wasn't a lot of space either.
Gerard cleared his throat, grabbed a bottle of alcohol from his backpack and handed it to Frank 

"You want some ?"

Frank frowned, a bit embarrassed "Uh, no thanks."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you were a model child." Gerard stared at him with amusement and he carried the bottle to his lips before to drink a little bit.

Frank felt like he was challenging him. And unfortunately, he was the type of guy to never refuse a challenge. Even if it was dumb.
"Give me that." He snapped, taking the bottle away from Gerard. Frank felt a little bit offended by the name Gerard gave him. He wasn't a model child, he was anything but that, and if Gerard thought that Frank had never drank before, unfortunately, he was hella wrong. 

Gerard raised an eyebrow and smirked.
The rain didn't seem to calm down and Frank was beginning to shiver, it was pretty cold outside. Gerard took his coat off and handed it to the younger boy. It took a few seconds for Frank to understand why he did that

"Oh,  thanks, that's very nice of you but I'm good." Frank blushed. He liked that aspect of Gerard's personality, attentive and caring.

"Take it" He insisted, waving his coat. "I would have it on my conscience if you get infected and caught a cold."

Frank rolled his eyes and took Gerard's jacket. It smelled like him, and for some reason, Frank really liked this smell. "Thanks" he answered shyly

"You're welcome." he sighed. Gerard only wore a shirt and Frank wanted to give him his coat back because it was obvious that he was cold as well now, but firstly, he knew that Gerard would refuse to take it back, and secondly, Frank liked his coat, it was warm and it smelled good, so he decided to be selfish once again and to keep it.

The room went silent again and Frank felt awkward, he really didn't know what to talk about.
But Gerard talked first.

"So, Frank, how did you find me ?" 

"Actually, it was an accident. I went to your old house and when I saw that you wasn't there, I kind of abandoned my search and I went into the forest for... memories, you know.. I used to spent my life in this forest when I was a kid."

Gerard nodded and smiled, and there was something in the way he looked at Frank which made the younger boy uncomfortable. It was intimidating. Gerard wasn't just looking at Frank, his look was persistent and deep, as if he was trying to read Frank's mind. Frank looked down and blushed again, then he took a deep breath.

Stop blushing, you fucking idiot.  he thought

"Hum, a-and you ? How did you find this tree house ?" Frank asked

Gerard's look suddenly changed, Frank couldn't  tell what exactly, but something had changed. And Gerard wasn't smiling anymore. He took another mouthful of alcohol and answered

"I used to come here often with someone I really liked." His tone was different as well, and it was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it.

Frank bit his lip, he knew he was being intrusive but he was just too curious. Gerard seemed so unreachable and lonely that Frank couldn't help but be surprised by hearing that he once liked someone. Gerard seemed to hate everyone. 

"And why did you stop to come ? You...don't like that person anymore ?" Frank asked, wondering if Gerard wasn't talking about an ex-girlfriend. He knew it was none of his business, but he was really too curious. Gerard was so mysterious, he never talked about him or his past, but nor did Frank.

Gerard ignored Frank's question and put the bottle on the little wooden table

"Gotta pee." Gerard got on his knees and climbed down the wooden ladder.

Frank was left alone in the tree house which seemed a lot emptier now. He wasn't stupid, he knew that Gerard didn't actually need to pee. And he felt bad for being intrusive, once again. He shouldn't have asked that, it wasn't any of his concern, after all.

It had been 25 minutes since Gerard was gone to "pee ".  Frank started to be worried, he climbed down the ladder and looked around, the rain had stopped, but Gerard was nowhere to be seen. Frank felt his heart beat faster in his chest and he sighed. He put his hands in his pockets and shivered, it was really fucking cold, even with Gerard's coat on -which was a bit too large for him- so he couldn't imagine how cold Gerard should be with only a shirt, especially since he went out while it was raining. He walked towards the woods for about 5 minutes and sighed with relief when he saw Gerard, sat against a tree while smoking.

The younger boy walked towards him. "Hey"

Gerard didn't answered. He seemed pensive. 

"Hum, are you okay ?" Frank asked cautiously

Gerard looked up and smiled weakly "Yeah. I just needed some air."

Frank knew that it was a lie, that he was only pretending to be fine, but he decided not to  insist. It was pointless anyway. He smiled back. "OK.... Do you.. do you want me to leave you alone ?"

Gerard stood up and put his hand on Frank's shoulder

"Nah, but I was about to go for a walk, you can come with me if you want to." Gerard threw his cigarette on the ground and squashed it with the tip of his shoe. Then, he started to walk and Frank followed him.

"I would like to show you a place, but since you used to live in those woods back in the days, you probably know it already." he added, smiling at the younger boy.