It was late and he was tired when Frank was dropped off at his dark, empty house. He shut the door, the sound echoing through it as he fell to the floor and lied there. He let out a long sigh as he remembered that his mother was still gone until Monday. And all of a sudden, things were calm again. Actually, for the first time. He failed to worry about anything at the moment; not school, not his mom...not Gerard...
And he smiled.
And then he cried.
Because, yeah, of course he loved him. He loved how kind and thoughtful and selfless he was, especially after giving him up to make him happier. But it hurt to know that after just an hour, it was already working. How, he didn't know. He would love for Gerard to follow him inside, kiss him on the forehead and then cuddle right there with him and watch movies or something. Fuck, he dreams about that.
But it was like a gigantic weight was lifted off of Frank's shoulders. Gerard was still there; Gerard would always be there. He knew that; he trusted that. He also trusted that one day, they'd end up together again. If it was the last thing Frank did, their lips would meet again and it would be spectacular. And the last thing Frank knew for sure, more than anything else, is that it would be worth the wait.
Gerard Way, the only thing holding him in that stupid Jersey town, would be his again, always and forever. One day. One day...
***
Gerard only drove a block down from Frank's house as he decided what he'd do next. Really, he should go back to camp and all, but he really didn't want to. He just wanted to be with himself. He could go home, though, due to the fact that his parents were both away on business or something...he really didn't like to pry.
So Gerard drove home. Sean would tell everyone that he left, and he'd get in trouble, but he went home. And then, as he was driving back alone in his car at 1 in the morning, it hit him; he had just broken up with Frank. And man did it hurt. It didn't hurt this much while he was saying it, or when Frank wasn't even phased by hearing it, but it hurt now that Frank was really alone now, at home probably thinking it all over too.
But he knew what he was doing. He had helped Frank a great deal in the month or so they'd known each other. He had fallen in love with him, but gotten too close; been trusted too much. If something as simple as Jimmy was enough to freak him out and almost ruin what they have, he would hate to have something bigger make him not want to even look at him anymore. All he wanted was to be there for Frank somehow, someway. Even the most painful way; just friends.
And all of a sudden, all he could think about was the lunch incident when they first met. He smiled wildly as he remembered it. The way Frank looked as if all he wanted to do was get the HELL away from the emo kid who just dumped food all over his shirt, yet he was still interested in finding how WHY he was sticking around. And was glisten of hope in his eyes when he looked at him. He saw it then, and every time after that that they had met, it had gotten stronger. Until one day, he smiled at him, doubtless and happy.
And then, Gerard was smiling so wide, and crying so much. Man, he did love Frank. And he couldn't help but think that this would make him love him even more. He was excited and scared and happy...and hurting. But a good hurt. This was going to be interesting.
***
It was like hang over; a bad dream; some kind of evil trick. But it was all real. Last night happened. Gerard sat up in his bed and sighed.
Frank wasn't his boyfriend anymore.
He thought that as that set it for the first time that day, he would feel instant regret and pain, and even end up crying again. But he didn't. It was more like a very content feeling, as if this was just part of the plan or something. He felt fine without Frank...
But he still needed to see him.
Gerard smiled, picked up his phone, and just couldn't resist.
***
Frank dreamt of nothing that night. Or, maybe he did, but he certainly didn't remember it. And honestly, he was thankful for that. He didn't want to have a dream that he was with Gerard and wake up disappointed; he also didn't want to have some kind of physiological nightmare that he was dying or something. When his phone buzzed, awakening him, he felt content and rested.
Frank reached for his phone on the nightstand and his heart raced when he saw who was woken him up. It was a text from none other than Gerard. He smiled, holding his breath as he opened it.
Hey, meet me at the junkyard at noon, I need your help
His help? His help with WHAT? Honestly, that's all he was asking himself. Frank wasn't wondering how Gerard was feeling about the breakup, or what kind of night he had, or if he was doing this to get him back and apologize for ending it. He just wanted to know how the fuck he was supposed to help him. Because dammit, of COURSE he was going to. He'd always helped Gerard; especially after all he did for him...
So, with a smile on his face, Frank jumped out of bed and got dressed, as it was already 11:30 when the text was sent. He decided he'd walk there, not because it was a warm, beautiful day; the opposite, actually. It was a crisp, cold day, at least 60 degrees. He loved those days, when a simple jacket will suffice and warm him.
Frank was tired when he got there, but he hopped over the car and grinned when he saw Gerard there spraying the side of the container with such precision and grace. Gerard looked over at him and smiled too, waving him over.
"You're just in time!" Gerard cheered, throwing him a spray can which Frank, to his surprise, actually caught. "I want this piece done by three so we gotta get a move on."
Frank chuckled and went to him, looking at the project. It wasn't much now; it seemed to be a man—no, a group of men—standing together, doing SOMETHING, but it was only an outline for now. Gerard watched as Frank examined it and tried to make sense of it, smiling and waiting for a reply to it. He just smiled and looked over at Gerard and nodded.
"It's gonna look like this," Gerard stated, holding up a water color picture he had made. NOW it made more sense; it was four guys in what looked like gang outfits or something—a couple had bandanas and masks and guns. Instantly, Frank was in love with the piece. "And I really want your help, Frank. Becky's gonna look at it and if she likes it—and the concept—she'll help me illustrate it as a comic book and maybe even publish it! But it's gotta get done by 2 o clock or I'm fucked."
"That's great, Gee, of course I'll help!" Frank exclaimed, embracing him in a hug. And for a second, he thought he shouldn't; he thought it'd be weird. But Gerard hugged back. And that's how he knew it was gonna be okay.
"Thanks, Frankie." Gerard said softly, letting go. "Don't worry, I won't waste your WHOLE day."
Frank shrugged, picking up some more spray cans off the ground and finding a place to start. "This isn't a waste." He replied.
He peeked at Gerard who was grinning and fiddling with opening a new paint can. Frank kept waiting for the pain he got when seeing Gerard, knowing that he couldn't go over there and kiss him if he wanted. And the truth was, there wasn't much there, because he knew if he did that, Gerard would kiss back; and it would be nice.
"So why don't you tell me about this, then." Frank began as he sprayed a layer of green as one of the guys jackets, "Who are these guys?"
"The Fabulous Killjoys." Responded Gerard proudly.
"Fabulous?" Frank laughed, "Gee, your homo is showing."
"And when isn't it?"
Frank sighed and tried not to laugh, but burst up and almost screwed up. Gerard was still being his sassy self. "Okay, go on." He demanded.
Gerard took a deep breath and continued, "They're, like, rebellions of this group called Better Living Industries. They've sort of...taken over. The world, I think. Not sure yet. They try to make everything the same and perfect. So the Killjoys, they fight them and try to stop them." Gerard was motioning his hands so much already that he was having a hard time continuing his work. Frank noticed that about him when he explained things. "And—I don't know—they don't really have families. They have friends, like a radio show host, and this one guy, I think I'll call him Cherri Cola or something. Anyways, they sort of just run around the desert and escape those bad guys who wanna kill them." Gerard paused and looked over at Frank who was just staring at him and listening intently. "Oh god, that's all just...weird isn't it? I sound crazy!" he laughed.
"No, no!" Frank insisted, "That sounds really cool, Gee, I love it."
Gerard smiled wide. "And that's just the beginning!" he replied, "I have entire notebooks of this stuff in my room just dying to be made into pages of an actual comic book."
Frank chuckled as they both realized they were both supposed to be working on the art itself. They worked for a few more minutes, but Frank was still full of questions about the whole thing.
"So do they have names?" he asked.
Gerard shrugged. "I suppose. I kinda gave them place holder names, but now I'm thinking about keeping them." He pointed to the one with the red jacket and said, "His name is Kobra Kid—with a 'k', that is—" he pointed to the one with the big hair, "That's Jet Star—" then the one with the Frankenstein mask that Frank was working on— "And Fun Ghoul. And the leader of them all, in the blue jacket, he's—"
"Party Poison." Frank interrupted. Gerard turned to him quickly, confused. Because apparently, he was right. "It was something I heard from Jimmy yesterday. He said...YOU were Party Poison."
Gerard's cheeks turned red and he quickly started working again, turning away from Frank as he laid a long stripe of blue down. "Uh...yeah, I guess..."
"Does that mean they're all based off real people?" Frank questioned.
"I never said he was BASED off of me." Gerard said.
"So you just named him after yourself."
"Maybe I'M just named after HIM?!" He snapped, turning to Frank quickly and angrily. But Frank wasn't scared; Gerard was clearly just nervous about the topic. And he loved it.
There was a small silence between them, and Frank almost asked more questions, but Gerard spoke out of nowhere. "Poison is who I wish I could be. He's brave, and smart, and selfless and wonderful. He's...what I'm not. And Kobra Kid is..." he paused and took a deep breath. "Kobra is my brother. And he's who I KNOW Mikey could be. And here, he's with me."
Frank stared at Gerard who was gazing at the wall like his brother was REALLY there, and to him, he was. He didn't know what to say or do, so he just stopped thinking and DID. He moved closer to Gerard and put his arm around him, hugging him.
"Gerard...you ARE brave." Frank stated, "You're so brave, because you walk this earth despite how terrible it has shown you it is. And you've done things that you knew you'd regret, but that you also knew you had to do. And everything else, too. Gerard, Party Poison ain't got NOTHING on you."
Gerard smiled and looked at Frank, then laughed as he made eye contact. He turned and hugged him, but this hug was just a tad different then the first hug, and they both knew it. But they also didn't care. They held on tight and enjoyed it.
"Thanks, Frank." Gerard whispered.
Frank pulled away and shrugged. They both did their separate things for a moment until, again, Frank had more questions. "So who are THEY, then? Fun Ghoul and Jet Star...?"
Gerard smiled, not even looking at Frank as he went on spraying. Shaking his head, he replied, "No one."
Frank stared at the characters, then at Gerard, then the characters, then back at Gerard. One thing he loved and hated about Gerard:
He lied.
And he was terrible at it.