In The Dark (Frerard) ✔

Chapter 21

Gerard's POV

I went into my bedroom, flopped on my bed, and almost squealed as I wrapped myself in my blanket. It had been a few moments and I still felt the fading pressure of Frank's arms around my waist. My face was still hot even though the night air brought a very welcome breeze, even with the AC I could still feel my warm cheeks. After getting settled and feeling my breathing return to normal, feeling the sated state of sleep coming upon my body. It wasn't often I'd be able to fall asleep without aid or waiting an hour or two, but I always appreciated it.

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Home.

Well, not quite yet. I was in my skinny jeans, my boots, and my favorite black tank top. My sunglasses sat high up on the bridge of my nose. I had the few bags that I brought with me in each of my hands. As I stood in the sun, the hustling of peers saying goodbye, loading up on the bus, or getting into cars. Though as I watched this unfold in front of me, I saw Frank approach me, smiling as barely glanced at his pants; and much like mine, they were tight.

"Hey, Gerard, good morning. You ready to be home?" Frank asked tiredly, placing one of his bags on the ground as he stood beside me. "Well, kind of. This is the longest I have gone without seeing my brother, I'm sure we have a lot to catch up on," I told him, looking over to see his attentive gaze, feeling a ping in my chest when I realized he was genuinely listening. "What about you?" I asked, seeing his surprise that I even inquired about what he was excited to get back to. "Well, as much as I enjoy being unplugged, I'm looking forward to watching dumb shows in the morning, kind of laze around and forget everything for a bit while I wake up," He answered quite honestly, smiling up at me as I had been doing this whole time.

"Speaking of watching TV, you still up for the Star Wars marathon?" I asked, seeing Frank nod his head a little bit before looking off into the distance to most likely see if his mom or parent was there. I'm sure he didn't want to make whoever was picking him up wait. "I don't usually have anything to do during the summer," I heard him mumble, seeing his gaze come back to mine. "Yeah, I understand that completely. Mikey and I would usually be asleep right now and then talk until one of us would be too tired to talk anymore," I explained, seeing Frank give an understanding nod as he moved to make his duffle bag quit slipping off of his shoulder.

I heard a honk from the parking lot, one that was quite familiar, and my head shot up towards it. Mom. I waved her over, seeing her confused expression from afar, though she still got out of the car and walked over to us. "Stall her, we can keep her chatting until your ride comes, trust me," I whispered, pretending to have a normal conversation. He, of course, immediately understood and took his chance of conversation as soon as my mom was within earshot.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," Frank chirped, holding out a hand for her to shake as she approached the two of us. "Oh, hi there," She responded, smiling and shaking his hand, both making eye contact and then slowly putting their hands to their sides. "And who might you be?" She asked skeptically, tilting her head as she always does when she inquires a question in a serious but sweet manner. "Oh, silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Frank, Gerard's friend," He told her, smiling as he kept eye contact with her.

"Wow, Gerard made a friend," She exclaimed, acting rather dramatically surprised. "Well, ouch first off, and second, yes. I made a friend," I told her, laughing a little bit so she knew that I meant it light-heartedly. She nodded, obviously happy to see that I was in a good mood instead of the bad one she had left me with. "Well, would you like to get going? I know Mikey is excited to see you," She told me, the keys jingling as he moved them from her jacket pocket. "Oh- actually, you have to sign me out, right over there," I told her, seeing her nod and whisper something about being right back. More of "BRB", but she just wants to be the cool mom, ya know?