Someone was pulling on Frank's arm. He groaned into the pillow. "Go away."
"Nope! Come on, it's a weekend. We're going into town." It was Clo. "I will literally rip your arm out of the socket, don't test me."
"Fuck off." Frank yanked his arm away.
"Frank, come on. Wake up."
Finally, Frank let her pull him out of bed. He could hear Ray laughing from his desk as he stood up to brush himself off.
"It's Saturday, and we missed your birthday because it was during the week, so we are going into town. Come on. Ray is coming too."
"I am?"
"Yes, you are, and are you eighteen yet?"
"Not yet."
Frank stumbled over to his dresser. "How old are you, Clo?"
"I'll be seventeen in January. I've told you this before."
"Woah, what?" Frank whipped around to look at her. "You don't look sixteen."
"And you don't look eighteen." She pushed his shoulder. "Get dressed, I'll wait outside."
Ray stood up and followed her out. "Let us know when you're done."
Frank sighed and changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a random tattered shirt he had. He opened the door for the two of them, then sat down to put on socks.
"Quick, quick," Ray said, pushing Gerard inside. Frank looked up curiously.
"Mikey sleeps late, it's okay," Gerard assured him. He sat on Ray's bed, across from Frank. Clo and Ryan also entered the room.
"I am not illegally buying you alcohol. And Frank won't either," Ryan was saying to Clo. "Right, Frank?"
"Um...sure." Frank couldn't say much, since he'd been sneaking alcohol since he was fifteen.
"It'll be hard to convince the bartender that you need drinks for five people anyways, if there's only two of you in there," Ray said. "Maybe we can all hang out this summer. Then we can have at least four people old enough to drink."
"And small Clo," Frank said, and she smacked him.
"How are we getting there, anyways?" Ryan asked.
"We're walking." Ray sat down at his desk. "It's only two miles."
Frank looked down at his combat boots. They'd be fine to walk in. Probably.
"Guys..." This was probably important to bring up. "I don't have any money."
"Are you fucking insane? You think we're gonna make you pay for things?" Clo asked. "It was your birthday on Tuesday! You don't get to pay for anything."
"No, I don't want you to buy me anything," Frank protested.
Gerard spoke up softly. "Hush. We're buying you things."
Frank glared at them all. "I hate you."
"No you don't!" Clo wrapped her arms around Frank. "Now let's go before it gets too busy."
xXx
They were all panting by the time they got to town. Ray had his arm around Frank's shoulder so that he didn't die, and Gerard and Ryan were clinging to each other. Clo was wheezing slightly, but she had refused help from anyone, so she marched on ahead of them.
The town was bustling. People were busy buying things and walking around with their friends.
The five of them found a bench to sit on. Frank completely missed it and collapsed on the ground by Ryan's legs.
"They call this the collapsing bench," Ray said breathlessly. "Because students use it after they walk here."
"Are we all this out of shape?" Gerard panted, holding onto Ray's shoulders.
"Yes," everyone else said in unison.
After five minutes of catching their breath and sharing the water bottle Clo had brought, they finally got enough energy to walk around. They found a bookstore to look around in.
Frank walked right over to the horror novels. Their selection was pretty sad; only about ten books, and every single one of them was Stephen King.
So he kept wandering around. He found Gerard on the floor by the comic books and sat next to him. "What are you finding?"
"Look." Gerard pointed at one called The Umbrella Academy. "I wrote that."
"No. Really?" Frank leaned forward to see that it did, in fact, have Gerard's name on it. "Holy shit, man!"
Gerard was giddy with excitement. "I can't believe they have it. I had to publish it myself because my family didn't want to, but oh my god, it's really here!"
Frank pulled the book off the shelf. "Would you do me the honor of signing it?"
"Only after you buy it." Gerard smiled at Frank.
Frank smiled back. There was an almost magnetic pull towards the other boy. Frank's stomach was fluttering softly as he leaned toward Gerard. Gerard's breath hitched, and his eyes slipped shut as he realized what was about to happen.
"Guys!"
Frank sat up abruptly, knocking foreheads with Gerard. "Oh, sorry."
"It's okay." Gerard giggled and rubbed his face.
Ray turned the corner around the bookshelf. "Hey, Ryan just got really sick. I'm gonna take him back to the school, okay?"
"Okay," they chorused.
"Clo is over looking at biographies, in case you need her," he said, and left to go take care of Ryan.
Frank looked back at Gerard, who was standing up. He helped the smaller boy to his feet, and they went to look for Clo.
She turned towards them, holding a biography of Janelle Monáe. "Hey."
"Hi," Gerard said. "Ray told you he left?"
"Yep." She looked back at the bookshelf and grabbed another book that Frank couldn't catch the name of. "Ready to check out?"
"I'm all good," Frank said, looking at Gerard. "Are you?"
"Yep." He smiled.
They walked toward the counter together. Clo took Frank's book from him and put it on the counter with her own. "The Umbrella Academy? What's that?"
"Something Gerard wrote," Frank said. Gerard blushed and turned away from him.
"Awesome! You'll have to let me read it when you finish it," Clo said. She paid attention to the cashier when he said something and handed her card over.
"Hey, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" Gerard asked.
"No," Frank said. "And I'm really fucking hungry, now that I think about it."
"Clo, have you eaten?" Gerard asked.
"I didn't go to breakfast today, but I had a muffin," she said.
"Do you guys want ice cream for breakfast?"
"Fuck yes," Frank said without thinking.
They left the bookstore and made their way down the cobblestone road. This place was seriously like out of a fairytale. Gerard led them down a wide alleyway, stopping to pat a few stray cats, and then brought them to a little ice cream place, which didn't have a very long line.
"What do you guys want?" Gerard asked.
Frank glanced around the window. "There's no menu..."
"They're super tiny," Gerard said. "They just have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and a banana split."
"Oh," Frank said. "Chocolate is good."
"Strawberry, please," Clo said. "Let me help pay."
"Absolutely not. Go sit at a table. You too, Frank."
Frank sighed and led Clo to a table near the window. Gerard waited behind three other people.
"Hey, Frank?" Clo asked. "Can I talk to you for a second? It's kind of serious."
"Of course."
Clo put the bag down on the table and stood up. Frank did as well, not aware they were going somewhere. "Where are we going?"
"Just somewhere private," she said. She led them behind a fence. "Um...I just wanted to let you know that I have a crush on you. And I know it's a little weird, since you're a year older than me, but I really like you, and I can't help my feelings."
Frank's stomach dropped. "Oh."
Clo stared at him silently.
"Um...Clo, I'm so sorry. I have a crush on someone else. But it means a lot that you were willing to say that, and thank you. And hey, we're still gonna be friends, right?"
"Right." She smiled and hugged him.
They walked back out to the table, where Gerard was sitting sadly with his ice cream. "Where did you guys go?"
"We just needed to talk in private," Frank said. He took the spare chocolate ice cream and settled in a chair.
Gerard still looked kind of upset about that. Frank wondered why. Maybe he had a history of people abandoning him. He certainly hoped not, because Gerard was so sweet and kind.
He didn't deserve that.