Honestly, despite the fact Frank's generation was moderately lazy, it was the generations before them that had screwed up their planet. For this reason, he didn't see why he had to endure an hours assembly about how they had wrecked the earth and needed to change it before climate change grew worse.
In addition, he didn't get a chance to hide at the back of the hall where he wanted to; he got stuck in a middle row between two very tall people and he found it incredibly intimidating and unsettling. Anxiety was nagging at him and he just wanted to leave. Behind his back, he could hear people nattering and chuckling, and his brain automatically told him they were laughing at him -which really didn't help.
Trying to take his mind off the hundreds of people all in the one hall, he let his eyes wander around the room, mostly staring at the ceiling. He didn't care what the teacher was saying at all. He'd rather sleep.
Frank's knee bobbed up and down as his foot tapped the floor impatiently. He didn't realise he was doing it until the guy next to him poked him in the arm, sending him a glare that instantly made him stop. Heart beat quickening, his face immediately burned bright red. Suddenly, it felt like a spotlight was on him and he shrank back in to the seat, wishing he was anywhere but there.
Half an hour eventually dragged by and Frank's gaze began to drift again. He subtly moved his head to look around the room when his eyes landed on none other than Gerard, who was directly beside him.
Posture loose, Gerard was leaning casually with his back against the wall, thumbs hooked through belt loops, pulling the waist band of his jeans down a little. Messy black hair spiking where it was particularly tangled and wisps framed his pale face. Although it was pushed back, it still some how managed to fall in to his eyes. Gerard was facing the front, seemingly bored as he chewed his bottom lip. The harsh light from above highlighted how sharp his jawline was.
Frank unknowingly licked his lips and swallowed the lump in his throat, mouth having gone dry.
Gerard's eyes squinted as he turned his head to face Frank after feeling him staring. Their eyes met and Gerard raised his eyebrows. He nodded sideways to the front to tell Frank to focus.
But Frank couldn't focus. He offered a small smile, rolling his eyes, letting Gerard know the assembly was deathly tedious.
Shrugging his shoulders, Gerard mouthed, "I know."
This gave Frank the opportunity to glance at his lips, which he did and his gaze lingered a little longer than intended.
Finally, Frank did as Gerard said and turned to face the front again, a blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks. The room suddenly felt hot and he pulled the collar of his shirt to loosen it.
Little did he know, Gerard's eyes lingered on him for a moment longer too.
-
It was Monday. That meant Frank had to endure physical torture, yet again. However, luckily, by some miracle, one of the receptionists had caught him in his sixth lesson, English, and informed him that Mr Way wanted to see him when the lesson ended. Now, that put a hint of a smile on his miserable face. A few people had glanced weirdly at him as receptionist had called him out, dumping the attention on him, but he kept his head down and tried not to mind too much.
Once the bell had rang, Frank jumped up from his seat, weaved a path through the crowd of hellish students, that were always somehow already six feet tall, and slid in to the art rooms. Thankfully, 169a was completely empty, but Mr Wright had a lesson going on in the adjoining room and some of them turned around when they heard the door open. Facing burning bright red, Frank ducked in to 169a and pressed his back to the wall.
At first, Gerard didn't notice Frank come in. He hadn't heard the door and Frank's footsteps had been so quiet.
Usually, Frank would make his presence known, but the class in the other room had rendered him useless because he was scared he'd be heard.
Instead, he just quietly put his bag down, dug out his art supplies and sat down. He pulled his legs to his chest and rested his head on his knees, waiting silently for Gerard to look up from what he was doing. Frank stared through strands of hair that had flopped over his eyes, watching as Gerard squinted at the paper, his tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.
It was a solid two minutes before Gerard sensed he was being watched. He furrowed his brows as his eyes drifted upwards. "Hey, Frank." A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Hey."
"How long have you been sitting there? You could have said something, I'm not that busy."
Frank shook his head. "Not that long." He paused, moving to sit properly on the chair. "So, what did you want me for?"
Ditching his not-so-interesting work, Gerard brushed the hair away from his face as he climbed on the table opposite to the one Frank was sat at. He pushed his shirt sleeves to his elbows, sitting close legged. "You'll be very glad to hear," he tilted his chin downwards slightly, making brief eye contact with Frank, who just smiled and looked away, "You don't have to do PE anymore."
"Really?" Frank beamed, straightening up. "That's great."
"You still have to do work, though."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Frank rolled his eyes. "But anything's better than PE."
"That's true." Gerard got up to seat himself on a chair on Frank's table. Leaning over, reaching for Frank's work, he sent Frank a look to ask if it was okay, to which Frank nodded, and Gerard took the finished piece. A smile spread across his lips. "Wow."
"Is it okay?" Frank nibbled at his lip ring, grinding it between his teeth.
"There are no critical comments I can think of." He narrowed his eyes and Frank snatched the drawing back playfully.
"Well, you don't have to look for any." He let out a short laugh, sticking his tongue out as Gerard raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side.
"That wasn't what I was doing . . ."
"Oh yeah?"
"Whatever." It was his turn to stick his tongue out. "I'm your teacher, it's my job."
To hear that specific detail he was beginning to forget, Frank's mood plummeted. He debated on whether to voice his next thought with another class next door. However, he enjoyed how he and Gerard were getting along so well in that moment, that he mumbled it quietly anyway. "Yeah, but I'm special. There are exceptions for me."
Subtly taking a deep breath, Gerard arose, aimlessly wandering over to his desk. He kept silent as his mind searched for an answer that was appropriate.
Though with each passing second, Frank's fear soared and he worried that he'd said something wrong. Suddenly finding it very interesting, he stared wide-eyed at the floor, mentally kicking himself. He shook his head so his long hair shielded his red-tinted cheeks. "I'm-"
"Those exceptions don't include skipping mistakes in your work." He paused, letting go of the seriousness in his tone. "They include biscuits."
Frank's head shot up at the sound of his voice, his expression relaxing in to a smile. "Can I have a biscuit?"
Gerard nodded, bringing out the packet that was hidden in his desk drawer, extending his arm out to Frank, who shuffled over, gladly taking two. As he ate, his eyes kept flickering to Gerard, who had a soft smile on his lips as he tried not to notice how much more happier he was around this particular person.
-
"That's great!" Gerard beamed, kicking his legs up on to the coffee table as he collapsed on to the sofa, burying himself in a blanket. It was bloody freezing, even though he had a fire going, crackling like a static background noise.
"Yeah, he starts on Monday." Mikey's voice rang through the phone. "I think he cant wait 'cause he keeps bringing it up every five minutes."
"Well you would too if it were you, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, I know." Mikey breathed. He took a moment as his throat began to ache, then answered. "I-it's fine for now, though, I guess. . . It's just an apprenticeship, but we hope it'll lead to bigger things 'cause I don't think we can mooching money off mum and dad."
Gerard rolled his eyes, although Mikey couldn't see. "Don't worry; you'll be fine. Just don't buy anything too expensive."
"I won't."
"How about you, then? Ray can't be the only one working." Gerard teased, playing absentmindedly with a stray thread from the blanket.
"Absolutely nothing. It's crap, man. I thought New York would be a great place to find something to do in musi-"
The slam of a door cut Mikey's voice off, startling Gerard in the process. He whipped around to see Bert had trudged in, shivering from the weather. His hair, which he'd let grow down to his waist, was damp as it was raining. It was knotted, so he combed it through his his fingers. Gerard's attention drifted from his brother to his boyfriend as Bert wandered in to the kitchen, dumping his rucksack by the fridge.
Gerard stuffed his phone under a cushion so Mikey couldn't hear them. "Did you find anything?" He asked hopefully, biting his lip. Though by Bert's defeated expression and attitude, he could already guess the answer.
"Did I fuck?" Bert grumbled, slamming the fridge door shut as they were out of drinks. He scowled. "No jobs and no beer either."
Gerard rubbed his eyes, knowing how things got when Bert was in a sour mood. "I can go out and get more, if you want?" He offered, turning away to stare at the flames in the dying fire. The light reflected in his eyes.
When Bert didn't reply, just searched aimlessly through the kitchen cupboards, Gerard brought the phone back up to his ear.
"-Rard. Gerard?"
"I'm sorry, Mikes-"
"What happened? Why'd you disappear?"
"I have to go, okay? But I'll call you tomorrow?"
A long sigh. "Alright." He added quickly, "But remember, you have to come visit me."
"I will, I promise." With that, Gerard switched his phone off and placed it on the table. He glanced up at Bert through his lashes, a puzzled look on his face as he wondered what he could do to make him feel better. "What happened?"
"Weren't you listening?" Taking a deep breath, Bert grabbed his rucksack off the floor, slinging it over his shoulder and making his way for the stairs. "I couldn't find a job." The anger and frustration rose in his tone, causing Gerard to shrink back a little.
Gerard opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, so he watched Bert climb the stairs.
Ditching the blanket on the sofa, he trailed after him, wrapping his arms around his waist to conserve what warmth he had remaining. Though he only got as far as the landing because Bert had closed their bedroom door behind him. Gerard sighed, knocking quietly before he hesitantly entered, staying put at the threshold.
"What do you want?" Bert muttered from the bed, lying with his hands behind his head on the mattress on top of the covers.
"I wanted to see if you're okay." Gerard answered, slowly approaching the bed. Because Bert stayed quiet, he crawled on to the mattress, kneeling next to him. He brushed the hair away from Bert's face. "Are you okay?"
Bert raised his eyebrows, trying to resist the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He gazed at Gerard. "I'm a bit better now."
"Good." Gerard smiled, leaning forwards as he placed his hands either side of Bert's head and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. Taking the opportunity that Bert was in a slightly brighter mood, one that he might not get a chance to see for a while, he debated on whether to bring up what he and Mikey had been discussing for the past couple of weeks. "I have some news." He offered a small smile.
'What?" Bert frowned, narrowing his eyes skeptically at him.
"You know Mikey called?"
"Yeah."
"Well," Gerard sat back, lowering his eyes to stare at his hands. "Mikey said he and Ray have settled in at New York and I could go visit them soon."
Bert shifted, propping himself up on his elbows. "Would I be coming?"
"I-I'm not sure."
"Didn't you tell Mikey I would?" Bert's expression morphed in to a scowl. Gerard edged away as he knew how Bert couldn't control his temper sometimes. It exploded quickly and took hours to calm down. "I don't want to stay here in this house alone all by myself. It's bad enough that I never see you because you're at work for hours on end."
"I-"
"I don't understand." Bert sat up right, his height allowing him to tower over Gerard, who scratched his neck, suddenly feeling guilty. "Is it that you don't want to be around me?"
Taking a deep breath, Gerard shook his head. "No, of course n-" He reached out, but Bert's tone grew harsher and he winced.
"It is, isn't it?" Bert raked his fingers through his hair as he got up from the bed, facing away.
Gerard rubbed his eyes, getting up to stand behind him. He wanted to seem like he had confidence, though his voice came out weak and it wavered more than he'd liked. "Please, no, it's not that-"
"Not that?" Bert whipped around, causing Gerard to flinch. "So there is a reason?"
Eyes widening, Gerard shook his head vigorously, holding his hands up in surrender. "No-" He was cut off as a sharp pain ignited in his cheek, head turning to the side as Bert's hand collided with his skin. He lost his footing and stumbled a little. Lips parted, his eyes began to water and Gerard brought a hand up, lightly touching the area that stung like hell. It'd happened once before, but it hadn't hurt like this.
"Please." Gerard managed to murmur.
"Quit it, don't bother." Bert gripped his wrist tight enough to form a mark.
Gerard whined pathetically, streaks of tears starting to trickle down his face.
Ignoring him, Bert hauled Gerard out of the room, throwing him so his back smacked the wall opposite their door. "You can sleep in there." He pointed to the spare bedroom, scowling.
"Please-"
"I don't. Care." Bert growled, slamming the door.
Then Gerard crumbled, sliding to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest as he swallowed the lump in his throat and fought back tears.
-
The sun had gone down hours ago. None of the lights had been switched on in their house. Bert hadn't even come out of their room, Gerard had barely moved from his spot. The only thing he'd done was leave and come back with a glass of water.
Finally deciding that enough time had passed and hopefully Bert would either be asleep or have calmed down by now, Gerard nervously pushed the door open. He revealed Bert on the bed, asleep, snoring lightly with his back to the door. Silently, Gerard wandered across the room and cautiously got on the mattress, shuffling so he was close enough to his boyfriend.
"What do you want?" Bert mumbled rolling over.
"Please believe me." Gerard placed his hands on either side of Bert's shoulders, his hair creating a wall around them. Sleepily, Bert smiled and Gerard was thankful for his drowsiness. "I want you around more than anything."
Bert ran his fingers through Gerard's hair, to which Gerard shivered. "Prove it."
[Published 20 June 2019]
[Last edited 21 December 2019]