What Are Roommates For?

5. Bargain With A Roommate

3rd person POV

Gerard got into the dorm, overly excited, and ran to his room. He kicked off his shoes, looking for Frank in the dorm until he realized his class was probably still going on. He went to the living room, slipping into the kitchen and grabbing a snack as he heard the door open.

"Hey, Frank! Thanksgiving break! You excited?"

Frank looked a little glum, putting his keys down and leaning against the door, nodding and sighing. He pushed off the door, going past Gerard and heading towards his room. He flopped on his bed, the door closed as he lied there. He heard a knock, Gerard saying something on the other side that he couldn't hear. He got up, hesitating for a second as his eyes filled up with tears, forcing them down and opening the door.

"Oh- I didn't expect you to- um-"

"Spit it out, I'm not in the mood."

"Yeah- never mind, uh, sorry."

Gerard backed up nervously, reaching for his doorknob and going into the room. He knew Frank had something going on, he was upset or angry. The boy was caving in, his excitement fading into contemplation of how he could've approached Frank better, maybe his excitement was too much. He heard a knock, barely humming as a response and then hearing the door open. He jumped up, closed it again, and leaned against it.

"Hey, what the hell, man?!"

"Dude, you've never been in here, what makes you think you can walk in all of the sudden?"

"I don't know! Sorry, geez!"

Gerard sighed, opening the door a little to see Frank rubbing his forehead. He felt bad, shutting the lights off and opening the door, closing it behind him, removing Frank's hand, and looking at the red mark. He winced when Gerard put his hand to his head, his hand retracted and he stepped back.

"Hey, sorry... My room is still a mess, I didn't want you walking in and tripping on art supplies or my clothes."

"Yeah, I understand, s'okay. Just didn't mean to snap at you."

"I was too much, it's fine."

"Nah, it's- not that, just forgot to get something set up before the break and then plans happened, so I'm just- it wasn't you."

Gerard nodded, looking at Frank and tilting his head. His body language was sluggish, his shoulders heavy and his eyes avoidant. He didn't know what he was feeling, but all he knew was that something was bothering Frank.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Don't think we're all buddy-buddy because I apologized."

"Yeah, one hell of an apology, but seriously... Some plans fall through?"

"We'll keep it at that, but... Yeah."

"You okay?"

"Yes... Kind of. Not really, but that's up to me to fix."

Gerard fixed his posture, seeing Frank under some form of stress was always normal, but this was different. He could've gone back to his bedroom instead of apologizing for snapping, but he didn't, that's different too.

"You don't have to fix everything, I can help if you want."

"You can't help my procrastination."

"Oh yeah? I can help with the after part then."

"Yeah? I forgot to plan the break to stay home with my friend and then he had plans... Or something like that. Put it in a way that doesn't sound so pathetic if you're writing this down or whatever."

"Loosen up a bit, I'm not your therapist, I'm just here to help out. But I have an idea, you staying here?"

"Well, I think that'd be obvious, but apparently not."

"Well, I could stay here, or..."

"... Or what?"

Gerard smiled a little, thinking it over while Frank expected an answer. But it was for the dramatic effect; Gerard was all for it.

"You could come with me."

"What? But then I'd be crashing with you, upsetting your family time and stuff."

"All it takes is a quick phone call, come on."

Frank looked at Gerard, genuinely thinking it over, and couldn't find any excuse, looking away and biting his thumbnail. He was worried about going somewhere new, but he needed out. He could only keep cleaning every so often until he had nothing to do anymore, and he had reached that point. Then Gerard would be gone. No more interaction to keep him on edge, no more catching him doing art in the living room, no more seeing him grabbing a water bottle around midnight.

"Sure, what could go wrong... Just please don't make me sound pathetic."

"I won't, Frank."

Gerard grabbed his phone, slipped down the hall, and into the kitchen, calling his mom for a quick chat. It was short and sweet, getting confirmation of an extra person tagging along for the holiday. Frank peeked around the corner, giving a thumbs up or down motion. He gave a thumbs up and the latter was relieved he had somewhere to go for the break.

"Thanks, Gerard."

"Of course, I know it's not fun being alone, especially for a week."

"Well, when I was a kid it was, not much anymore since I'm a college student."

"Mhm, well, I gotta pack."

"Oh, yeah, guess I gotta pack too. See you in a bit then?"

Gerard nodded, smiling a bit before passing Frank to his bedroom. He opened the door, closed it, and turned on the lights. His bedroom was super messy, he hated how it got out of hand so fast, but he didn't have time to clean. He excitedly went to the closet, Frank was making a checklist of what he needed and then what he would maybe need, then started to pack. Both of them really excited, but had much to come during the break.