Frerard - Yes Sir!

Chapter 25

Mikey pushed his way past Frank and entered his lounge.

"Can you put a fucking light on?" he snapped as he hit his leg on the corner of the coffee table.

Frank flicked the switch and squinted as the harsh light burned his eyes.

"So?" Mikey suddenly demanded.

"What?" Frank shrugged defiantly.

"So, I want some fucking answers for my bother" he began. "Want you to tell me what the hell you're playing at?"

"Jesus Mikey. People breakup. Get over it!" he snapped.

Mikey glanced around the room. It was cold and gloomy and Frank's dishes from two weeks earlier still sat on the coffee table and there were beer bottles strewn all around.

"Well, you don't exactly look like you're over it" he said a little quieter.

"Whatever" Frank grumbled. "Can you please leave now?"

"No" Mikey replied. "I'm not going anywhere until I have some answers from you."

He sat himself down on the couch and grabbed himself a beer. He thought this was going to be a long night, so he decided to make himself at home.

"What do you think you're doing?" Frank said. "Get out!"

"No" Mikey countered. "I'm waiting for you to sit and tell me what the fuck happened to you."

Frank rubbed the back of his neck and dropped down onto the sofa. His head was beginning to hurt from the beer and the sudden appearance of Mikey. He didn't have the energy to deal with this.

"Frank?" Mikey said a little softer. "Come on man!"

"What do you want me to say? It's over. Finished. Gerard will be fine."

"He's not fine" Mikey said sadly. "And no offence, Frank, but you look like shit, so I don't think you're too fine either."

Frank instinctively ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to better his unkempt appearance.

He sighed heavily and just closed his eyes as he dropped his head back against the sofa.

"Frank, please!" Mikey pleaded.

"How is he?" Frank quietly asked, the thought of Gerard still being sad ripping a hole in his chest.

"He's a mess" Mikey stated. "It breaks my heart every time I see him or speak to him."

"I'm sorry" Frank whispered.

"He needs some answers Frank" Mikey told him. "He needs to understand what he did wrong."

Frank shook his head.

"He didn't do anything wrong. He's perfect."

"Then what the fuck Frank?" Mikey questioned.

"I had to do it Mikey" Frank began. "If I didn't, he would lose his job. Lose his entire fucking career."

"Why?" Mikey looked concerned. "What did he do?"

"I told you he didn't do anything" Frank said frustrated. "It's too complicated Mikey."

"Fucking try me Frank."

Frank took a deep, shaky breath and began to tell Mikey all about the situation. He wasn't sure why he was telling him. It was possibly the drink making his mouth run of its own accord, but once he was talking, he was in full flow.

He told him about the way Lindsey had been towards Gerard. Mikey already knew this, having had his brother complain about her during their phone calls. He told him about the book of shit that she'd been keeping, and he told him about the threats she had made, leaving him no option but to end their relationship.

Mikey was speechless, but the fury was plain to see on his face.

He called her every name under the sun and made various threats of what he would do if he ever had the misfortune of meeting her.

"You know Gerard would have chosen you over his career don't you Frank?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah" Frank smiled. "I knew he would. That's why I couldn't let him be involved in the decision. I couldn't be responsible for him never teaching again. For him having a reputation and possibly a criminal record. I could never live with myself. I had to let him go."

Mikey pulled Frank into a warm hug as Frank began to cry against him. He could see that Frank was hurting just as much as his brother was.

He suggested just telling Gerard all about it now that Frank had the book, but Frank knew Lindsey well enough to know that she would have other copies and 'evidence' hidden away. Frank made Mikey promise not to tell Gerard about this. He knew that he would confront Lindsey and that he would somehow make matters worse for himself.

The two men drank into the early hours. Mikey tried to offer some form of comfort, but he could now see the hopeless situation for himself, and honestly had no answers for Gerard when he returned. He hadn't told his brother that he was going to see Frank tonight, aware that he would insist of coming along if he had known.

Gerard had been round to Frank's house several times over the last couple of weeks, banging on his door and crying on the step

He had finally given up. He had convinced himself that Frank had found someone else and tormented himself with images of the two of them laughing and kissing, and maybe even laughing at Gerard. He didn't in his heart of heart's think Frank capable of being so cruel, but his heart wasn't functioning properly at the moment, so the painful theories kept him awake at night, stabbing into his chest like tiny daggers.

He also didn't know if it was better or worse not having Frank at work. He just wanted to see him. He was scared of forgetting the details of him; his smell, his laugh, his fucking wink. But the thought of having to see him at work and knowing he was no longer with him would probably finish him off.

He wanted Mikey. He pulled out his phone to call him.

"Mikey?" he said sadly into the phone. "Where are you?"

Frank could just about hear his heartbroken voice as Mikey sat beside him. His heart shattered all over again. He hadn't listened to any of Gerard's voicemails, but hearing Gerard's broken voice now cut him to the core all over again.

"I'll be home soon Gee" Mikey soothed. "I'll be home soon."