Room 054-2 (Completed)

6. What Are Feelings?

"Ah, okay, well, I'll be heading off now." Jamia said, standing up and sending Frank a wink - which he blushed at - before skipping out the door and down the corridor.

"Who were you talking about?" Gerard asked.

"No one, nothing." Frank said. But his reply was too quick, and Gerard could tell that Frank was lying but he didn't push it.

"Okay... D'you wanna see the feedback on the drawing I submitted a few days ago? The one I was doing at the weekend."

"Yeah, sure." Frank smiled, joining the taller boy on Gerard's bed. Gerard flipped through the book and Frank was sure there was another drawing of him in there, but he didn't question it.

Gerard stopped at the page. A post-it note had been stuck on it with some neat print in red pen, indicating the constructive criticism the professor had given. Gerard pulled it off and stuck it to his thigh so Frank could see the whole sketch, and the smaller boy's jaw physically dropped. You couldn't see much of Frank - his ginger-coloured mohawk and arm were a main focus, but Gerard was in the middle, it was like he had just had someone take a photo and draw it from that.

"That's... That's... Wow." Frank breathed out, at a loss for words. He was fully leaning over Gerard now, his hand was placed on the bed on the other side of the boy and Frank had his head lightly resting on Gerard's shoulder. Gerard blushed, uttering a small thanks to Frank and moved ever so slightly. Frank probably wouldn't have noticed the movement if Gerard hadn't touched him, but he did. Gerard's hand slid from where it was supporting the book and rested lightly on top of Frank's own. Was this Gerard making a move on him? Had Gerard heard his confession to Jamia because he was sure that Gerard's first class finished at 10.30. So now Frank panicked, jumping up and moving back to his own bed, but he couldn't miss the slightly disappointed look that washed over Gerard's features for a second.

The room fell silent for a few long seconds before Gerard snapped the book shut and tossed it onto his desk.

"Lindsey is throwing a party and wants to know if you wanna come? It's Christmas themed."

"Uh, yeah sure." Frank said, his voice slightly shaky as he blamed himself for Gerard's momentary sadness.

"Hey, it's okay Frank, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Gerard said softly, mistaking Frank's swing of emotions as something he had caused, shifting as if he was going to get up but decided not to last minute not knowing fully why Frank reacted in the way he had done.

"Well, uh, the party is on Saturday I think it starts at about 8."

"Okay." Frank said quietly, "Are you doing anything else today?"

Gerard glanced up, smiling slightly at the smaller boy, "I've got a bit to do on my project in place of today's lesson but that's all."

"Okay... could we maybe watch a film later?"

"Sure, yes, yep that sounds cool, shall we say at six we can?" Gerard asked, trying to contain his excitement.

"oh, and by the way, do you mind if I use you for my project? You have to choose one person and I'm really sorry but I didn't realise when I submitted my first piece from the cafe, but it's okay if not I can probably find someone else to draw." Gerard asked hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah that's fine." Frank replied, although his voice had gotten quieter and quieter throughout their short conversation so Gerard knew something was up.

"Are you sure? If you really don't wanna do it i can find someone else no problem." He rambled.

"Yes I'm sure."

"Okay." Gerard smiled, exhaling a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and reached out for his sketch book again.

"This next one, he said we had to do a close up one, so can I come and sit next to you?" Gerard asked nervously, fully aware that Frank might shut himself off again, but to his surprise the smaller boy nodded and shuffled to the foot of his bed so Gerard could join him on it. Gerard kicked off his shoes and climbed onto Frank's bed, his legs crossed and he shuffled around slightly to find a comfortable position for him to start drawing. He luckily still had a pencil in his hoodie pocket which would work well enough but he would have to get up if he wanted to do anything more than an outline. oh well.

"Can you, um, face me?" He asked.

"You don't have to sound so nervous, we can forget that it ever happened, I don't know why I panicked I'm sorry." Frank all but whispered, looking up at Gerard from under his lashes before his gaze dropped again.

"It's okay Frank, I promise."

"But it's not!" Frank whispered, his voice cracking and there was a sudden urgency about his tone and he looked back up at Gerard again. His lip was quivering slightly and tears had welled in his eyes.

Gerard couldn't help but to push his art aside and scoop Frank into a hug, pulling the smaller boy into his lap, letting his legs rest either side of Gerard's hips as he clung to him like Gerard was his life support. His face was pressed against Gerard's chest as he cried quietly, and he could hear Gerard's heart beating slowly and he tried to slow his breathing to match Gerard's own. That did calm him down a little, as he sat curled up in Gerard's lap, and he had to admit he was fighting to stay awake whilst being there.

"Frank?"

"Mhmm?"

"If you wanna go to sleep you can, I can wake you up for when we are going to grab some food for tea."

"That would be great." Frank mumbled, leaning into Gerard and the taller boy stroked through Frank's hair. Frank had washed it this morning and then because he wasn't going anywhere that day he hadn't bothered to put any gel into it to, so now it flopped against his forehead, silky smooth as Gerard ran his fingers through it. The taller boy could feel Frank relaxing against him as he drifted off into sleep.