Here's to the Heartache (Frerard) *Discontinued*

28: Mend And Break

Frank didn't call Pete the next day, or the one after that, and before he even realized it, more than two weeks had passed him by without any contact between him and his best friend.

Frank didn't mean to ignore Pete for so long, and technically he wasn't given the fact that he hadn't reached out to him either, but still - Frank missed him, and no matter how furious his previous comments about Gerard had made him, Frank didn't want to throw fourteen years of friendship away over a petty fight, so he knew he had to fix this, he just wasn't sure how.

Life without Pete there as a constant pillar of support had quickly taken its toll on Frank, especially since his mother had experienced another episode during which she had mistaken Frank for his father, and without Pete's home to escape to, Frank had been left with nowhere to go.

Eventually he had made his way down to the restaurant he worked at and begged to pick up an extra shift, which they had allowed since Billie Joe had called in. Frank stayed until closing time, making his way to Brendon's pub after that, and thankfully the kind bar owner allowed him to crash on the couch in the back room for the night, which Frank was very grateful for, but it wasn't the same as spending the evening with Pete who always knew how to cheer him up after one of his mother's fits.

Frank had been tempted to reach out to Gerard instead of Brendon and Ryan, but he quickly rejected that idea, because Gerard still knew nothing of his mother's oddities, and Frank didn't want to burden the older man with his problems any more than he already had.

Gerard had been different as well since the night he had taken care of Frank and they had woken up in the same bed - not necessarily in a bad way, but it seemed as if he was constantly torn between regretting how affectionate he had been coupled with random bouts of time during which it appeared that he wanted to recreate the moments they had shared the other evening.

He had called Frank a few days after that, his intoxication made obvious by his slurred words and overly happy tone, erasing the burst of joy that had initially ensued when Frank saw that Gerard was actually reaching out to him for once, because as ecstatic as Frank was to hear from Gerard, he wished he felt the urge to do so sober, that way Frank would know that Gerard truly wanted to speak with him without the influence of alcohol clouding his brain.

Frank had agreed to come over of course when Gerard asked it of him, because he would never turn down that offer regardless of Gerard's current state, but when he arrived at Gerard's apartment, the other man had apologized profusely for dragging him out so late, stating that he had made a mistake and Frank should just go home. When Frank refused, Gerard had become sullen and silent, eventually falling asleep on the couch and leaving Frank to walk home alone, confusion and hurt festering inside of him when he contemplated the distance that had appeared between them which Frank had hoped he would never have to experience again.

Frank had been dreading school the following morning, not wanting to be trapped in a classroom with Gerard for any period of time, but much to his surprise, once the final bell had released the students from classes, Gerard had asked him to stay behind under the pretense of helping him with his homework, and even though they did focus on the confusing topic of different clefts mostly, Gerard had been uncharacteristically touchy for the entire session, using any excuse to brush his hand against Frank's, leaning into his side when Frank was stuck on a particularly hard question, even wrapping his arms around Frank in a tight embrace that lasted much longer than they typically did when he had to leave.

Frank had been even more thrown off then, not that he didn't enjoy the unexpected bouts of tender gestures - he lived for those instances in fact, but the random switches between the two were mind boggling and slightly startling. Frank was already constantly in fear of where he stood with Gerard at the moment, and now with these contrasting signals being sent his way, it was making everything worse instead of better like he had assumed it would.