I'll Be Your Gerard If You'll Be My Frank

Back At Home

In the big tree that stood next to our house, there was a rustling.

Not from wind either.

I looked up.

There was a bird looking down at me.

If I wasn't mistaken, I was sure it was a crow.

A crow?

In New Jersey?

Alright then.

It was watching me.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

Wasn't a crow considered a bad omen or something?

Heh, superstitious nonsense.

I shook the stupid idea out of my head and caught up with the others.

I didn't believe in crap like that.

Inside, Mikey was already asleep on the sofa.

Bless him.

Frank was leaning against the wall, looking at his feet.

What was he thinking?

Mikey, who was snoring lightly, was curled up into a ball on one end of the sofa.

His head was resting on Ray's lap.

I frowned at Ray who just shrugged his shoulders.

"We sat down and then poof! He was out," Ray smiled.

I smiled and walked over to them.

"Help me take him up," I murmured.

Ray nodded in reply and carefully lifted Mikey's head off of his lap.

We both sat him up and helped him to his feet.

He was half asleep and probably wouldn't remember this.

Frank was watching us and finally stepped forward, "Do you want any help?"

"You can open the doors," Ray said while trying to put Mikey's arm around his shoulders.

I did the same.

We pulled and lifted and somehow managed to reach the top of the stairs.

It wasn't easy since Mikey wasn't exactly helping.

At one point I had almost fallen backwards down the stairs, but Frank, who was a couple of steps ahead of us, grabbed my free arm and pulled me back up.

I was grateful he had quick reflexes.

When we eventually reached Mikey's room, we were out of energy.

We just plopped him down on the bed and waited until we had caught our breath back.

Frank was observing us from the doorway.

He did like to watch us.

Mikey was now wrapped in various blankets that Ray had covered him with.

He wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

"Come on, Ray," I whispered, trying not to disturb Mikey.

"Is it okay if I stay up here? I'm exhausted and I can't be bothered to go home," Ray replied.

"Sure," I smiled.

I was a little surprised he had asked but left him to it and headed to the door.

Frank didn't move.

He stayed leaning against the door.

I looked back over my shoulder at Mikey and Ray.

Ray was now lying on the other side of the bed and was already snoring.