"Goodbye Frankie, Please don't get into too much trouble!" Frank's mom yelled after him. He rolled his eyes and mostly ignored her, just lifting his hand to give her a small wave before disappearing into the sea of students. He already had all his stuff in his room which he had moved there almost a week ago, along with being given his schedule and a map of the school.
He had highlighted the room he was staying in, 054-2, the 2 meaning it was on the second floor of the dorms and the 054 was the room number, although there was a slot for both the names of the students staying in each dorm if they forgot the number.
His room-mate was called Gerard A Way, or that's what it said on the name slot.
He lugged his backpack after him, letting it drag across the floor as he came to a stop outside the room,
054-2| Frank A Iero || Gerard A Way |
and pressed in the code 7633A and opened the door.
He dropped his bag on his bed, watching bemusedly as it bounced and almost rolled off onto the floor, and then let himself fall down next to it, letting out a sigh.
He glanced over to the other side of the dorm, starting when seeing a boy sat on his bed. He had long, shoulder-length black hair, that was definitely in need of a wash, and was wearing a black denim jacket and faded dark blue jeans that had been ripped at the ankles where they had presumably been dragging on the floor. A pair of beaten up converse were tucked under the edge of the bed along with the boy's suitcase.
He had earphones in, and was reading a book - seemingly not acknowledging Frank's arrival. He had a pen laced between his fingers and every now and then would scribble something in the margins of the text, letting out a breath every time. Frank couldn't see the boys face but when he twisted so he could write, he could see how his tongue poked through his lips in concentration, before returning to his mouth when he twisted the pen between his fingers again.
Frank huffed and rolled over so he was lying on his stomach, his legs resting on his bag and pressed his face into the pillow. He did not want to be here. At. All.
He heard Gerard get up from his bed, and the book get placed on the desk that resided near to the end of the bed.
"I'm gonna go get a coffee, you wanna come?" He asked.
"Huh?" Frank mumbled, stupidly. He hadn't expected the question, so hadn't comprehended what Gerard had just said.
"I'm going out, probably to get a coffee. D'ya wanna come?" He repeated, shuffling around, probably for his wallet.
"Oh, uh sure, now?" Frank rolled over again so he was looking up at the other boy. Gerard was hunched over his own bag sorting through it, but he still nodded.
Frank sat up, patting his pockets as he did so, checking that he had money on him, as well as knowing he had a 10$ note in the back of his phone case.
"You ready?" Frank asked, he already had his shoes on, since he couldn't be bothered to take them off when he first arrived in the room.
"Yeah, just gotta put my shoes on." Gerard grunted, tugging at his converse on and refusing to undo the laces, which would have made he task eons easier for himself. But he eventually pulled them on, and stood near to Frank who was leaning against the doorframe.
"Ready?" Frank asked, pushing away from the doorway and actually standing up properly. Gerard, again, just nodded, following him out the room.
They left the room and walked through the corridors in absolute silence, the only noise being their sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor.
"So..." Gerard started, "You got a girlfriend?"
"Pfftt no." Frank all but cackled. Gerard Just continued walking, seemingly unfazed by the short teen's outburst.
"A boyfriend?"
"Had."
"Okay."
Frank found them walking in silence again. Gerard was a man of little words, although he didn't seem particularly either way inclined with Frank's sexuality, so Frank could only assume that he didn't really care, which was good because Frank often referred to himself as a flaming homosexual, and if he had a homophobic dorm partner, well. That would have been a sight to see.
The lack of small talk was crushing Frank, well, not literally, he was just a man of many little words, never feeling comfortable when he was sat in complete silence, which often induced anxiety attacks for him, so he'd have to talk about that with Gerard.
Gerard, though, seemed quite the opposite. Generally shying away from noisy places, and once reaching the small, slightly old fashioned, quirky little coffee shop, had opted to sit on the table furthest from the rest of the customers, pulling his book out and sitting reading it with a furrowed brow.
"So..." Frank started - this time, "how about you? Got a girlfriend?"
But the other boy just shook his head, his eyes not leaving his book, or even stopping as he scanned over the pages.
Frank slumped forwards onto the table, his arms crossed and his chin resting on the dip where they did so, watching Gerard as his eyes skimmed over the paper.
He stared at a lot of things, the cover of the book - The Color Purple - the way his hair hung over his face slightly as he leant over it, the way his forehead creased and his tongue poked out of the corner of his pale lips in concentration, the way he barely lifted his gaze for anything, his eyes only flitting away for a second so he wouldn't knock his coffee over when picking it up. Frank stared at a lot of things, he did it when he wasn't talking or no one was talking to him, it was a nervous habit of his, similar to that of chewing on his lips or picking at his nails.
Gerard closed the book and placed it on the table in front of him, poking at one side of it until it lay straight with the edge of the table.
"Y'know," he started, lacing his fingers together and leaning more heavily into the table, "I really thought you'd be one of the more talkative ones."
Frank blushed lightly, but sat up a bit straighter, 'cause this boy wasn't wrong.
"I dunno," he continued, "You seem like you talk a lot, but you also seem really nervous around people, or me, at least, I'm not scaring you am I?"
"No! No, I - it's just a nervous habit I guess, I don't really know how to initiate a conversation, and I don't really like public places that much either, but I think you're really nice, um," and that was the embarrassing moment when Frank's mind fell blank at the thought of the boy's name who was sat opposite him.
"Gerard?" The black haired boy offered with a small smile, watching as Frank blushed profusely over the fact he had forgotten a name like it was the most embarrassing thing in the world.
"It's okay if you forgot my name, it's not exactly a common one is it?" He chuckled, attempting to make Frank feel better about his little slip-up. The shorter boy offered a small smile back, although Gerard could see his tear rimmed eyes, not enough to spill over but it was still obvious.
It was the part Frank hated most about himself, even if it was something stupid, he could and would get really emotional over it and beat himself up over it, take him momentarily forgetting Gerard's name for instance; a stupid thing to get worked up about, and he knew that Gerard didn't mind, or at least didn't seem to mind, and he knew there was no reason to be bothered by it, but here he was, being all bothered by it.
"Hey, hey, it's okay Frank, seriously, don't worry yourself over it." Gerard said quietly, a soft edge to his voice and his hands slipped over to rest on Frank's. Frank had his gaze cast down after he realised that Gerard had seen his tear-filled eyes, and was now beating himself up about beating himself up about being over-emotional. He nodded, his eyes raising to look at up Gerard although his head stayed dropped down.
"You wanna head back to the dorm?" Gerard asked, his thumbs rubbing lightly over the back of Frank's hands and he nodded again, pulling his hands back into him and using his hoodie's sleeves to wipe away the tears that were really threatening to spill now. They stood to leave, Gerard picking his book up and tucking it under his arm and tucking his hands into his hoodie pocket.
As they walked back, Gerard attempted at a conversation again. It mostly consisted of him asking yes or no questions, and if Frank couldn't reply with yes or no he got a short - usually one word - answer.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"No."
"What's your favourite colour?"
"Red."
"What do you wanna be when you're older?"
"Musician?"
"What do you play?"
"Guitar."
"Are you going to have a proper conversation with me?"
"I am."
"If you insist. Who's your biggest influence?"
"Misfits or Iron Maiden."
"Nice, they're my favourite bands too." Gerard smiled down at Frank. By this point they were almost back to their dorm, and Gerard knew a whole lot about Frank, whilst Frank was coming to the realisation that he knew almost nothing about Gerard, apart from the fact he was called Gerard Way, he liked to read and drink coffee, his middle name started with an A and he was in the same year as Frank.
Gerard unlocked the door, tapping in the code and pushing it open, holding it there for the shorter boy to walk through and letting it fall closed behind him, hearing the soft click as it fell back into place and locked.
"Im sorry." A muffled voice sounded from Frank's side of the room.
"What for?" Gerard asked, genuinely confused as he set his book down on his desk and pulled his hoodie over his head.
"For ruining your afternoon-"
"You didn't ruin my afternoon though?" Gerard cut him off, becoming even more confused, "I was going to go out, grab a coffee and sit in the corner of the coffee shop with a book anyway, so if anything you made my afternoon cause I got to sit with someone." he finished, sitting back on his bed.
Frank had turned his head to the side so he could see Gerard. He was lying on his front with his palms face up by his sides and his cheek pressed awkwardly against the pillow. He had expected Gerard to be reading his book again from the silence, but no, the other boy was just sat on his bed, his back against the wall and converse in the middle of the room, his knees bent up and his forearms resting on them, fiddling his fingers together with a very intent gaze laying on Frank.
"You mean that?" He asked nervously, chewing on his bottom lip.
"Of course I do, Frank." Gerard smiled, although it wasn't like Frank could actually see the smile from behind the other teen's knees. A few minutes passed until Frank spoke again.
"And you said I was the talkative one." He giggled quietly.
"Maybe I did, and maybe I'm right."