What Are Roommates For?

10. Christmas Break

Gerard's POV

I came home, tired and in need of some kind of snack, undressing from my winter clothes down to my t-shirt and jeans as I made my way into the kitchen. I sat up on the counter, boiling water for hot chocolate as I sucked on a candy cane that I grabbed from my Christmas stash. I heard the door open, seeing Frank speed by down the hall, which was kind of confusing. I hopped down, going down the hall, hearing some frantic moving and knocking on his door.

"Ah- fuck! Geez, I thought you left already."

"I'm not making the drive to my parents this holiday. I was in the kitchen though, making hot chocolate. Do you want some?"

"Um- yeah, sure, let me just take a quick shower... I kind of fell in a puddle."

"Oh, yeah, don't get hypothermia."

"I'll try not to."

I smiled, going back to the kitchen and hearing him bolt for the bathroom. My guess is he was naked to prevent the cold clothes from sticking to his skin for even longer. I grabbed the boiling water, having regretfully forgotten it, and poured it into two mugs. I got the mix down, hearing the shower turn on down the hall, and then a scream.

"You okay?"

"Hot! Geez-"

I chuckled, stirring in the hot chocolate and smiling as I washed the spoon. I sat down in the living room, waiting for Frank to come back out to have his cup of hot chocolate. I messed around with the handle a little bit, hearing a door open and kind of peeking around the corner, though I immediately averted my eyes and looked to my cup as Frank fast-walked to his room with only a towel around his waist. I could see the tattoos on his body from afar, I don't know exactly what they were, but he must've had a high pain tolerance to get them all.

I tapped on my knees, feeling a sense of longing out of nowhere as I fidgeted with my fingers and tried to relax. I couldn't understand it now, maybe I would later, but as I saw Frank approach, I pushed it aside. He was carrying a blanket behind him as he shivered a little, dawning thick sweatpants and a cotton-thick hoodie.

"Hey, Frank, hot chocolate to warm you up a bit?"

"Mhm, I-I am so fucking cold."

"Here... If you'd like, I'm a human heater."

I opened my arms up a little, seeing Frank looking at the hot chocolate and swaying a bit before sitting down beside me. He fanned the blanket out and shivered as he tried to snuggle up as close as possible. I put my arms around him, trying to warm him up. I grabbed the hot chocolate, handed a mug to Frank, and smiled a little when he just let the steam flow up under up his face.

I turned on one of those hallmark movies, not entirely watching the movie, unlike Frank. I felt him start to warm up as the movie went on, finishing off the hot chocolate and both of us refusing to get up; so we put the mugs on the table. By now, the collection of our mugs were starting to run out because we were just leaving them on the coffee table.

"We really gotta do dishes soon."

"Hahaha... Yeah. But it's only because of your coffee addiction."

"And your need for hot chocolate."

"In my defense, it's fucking cold outside."

I laughed a little, moving Frank so I could get up to do the dishes, though his facial features showed he was wanting to protest. I grabbed as many mugs as I could, holding them by the handles, and swiftly moving them to the kitchen. After a couple of trips, all of the mugs made it safely to the space next to the sink, seeing Frank come up beside me while I washed a mug. He grabbed one of the mugs, which he started to wash in the silence.

It was fun not doing the dishes alone, but it felt like a bonding moment, slowly but surely allowing me to be closer to Frank than in the beginning. I enjoyed it, I don't know if he did, but I found it to be comforting having him here. To think, our friendship ended up happening because of my not-so-skilled manners.

(Short chapter, but I was working on this one constantly and I just needed it to end lol.)