I Drew You Once in Art Class

Fourty-Four

Frank's eyes opened.

It was dark in his room, with a patch of moonlight against his blue walls, making one baby-blue square against what was darkened by the shadows, navy blue. But why had he woken up?

He heard a scuffling.

He turned his head to Gerard, whose face he could vaguely make out in the moonlight. His face was scrunched up, and he looked concerned. He twitched in his sleep.

Not little twitches. More like jerks, actually.

His eyes squeezed tighter shut and he started to breathe more quickly now, fast and anxious-sounding. Frank could only stare at him. Was he supposed to wake him up? Wasn't there a whole rule about not waking up people during nightmares? Gerard's breathing got faster and faster and his eyes closed somehow tighter, and right as Frank was about to lean over and wake him up, his eyes shot open and he gasped a rattling inhale, his dilated pupils darting around wildly, trying to place their surroundings. He started to hyperventilate again, rubbing his hands violently against the blankets. He didn't seem like he was calming down, so Frank hopped off his bed and padded over to Gerard.

Frank could tell he'd startled the shaking boy a little, but upon realizing it was Frank, Gerard immediately tried to steady his breathing. Frank sat, his knees crossed, in front of him. Not expecting anything. Just sitting there.

Only once Gerard's breath had reached an almost normal pace, and a single tear dripped down his face, did Frank lean over and hug him. Gerard accepted, wrapping his arms around Frank's torso, burying his shaggy brown head into Frank's shoulder, his shaky exhales running down Frank's back.

Frank whispered gently into Gerard's back. "Do you want me to stay in here tonight?"

He barely felt Gerard's nod against his shoulder. Frank let him go and crawled under the covers next to him. Subtly, he glanced at the glowing green numbers next to his bed across the room. 3:14 AM. Yeesh.

Frank's mom had only provided him with one pillow, so he laid his head on the edge of his side, facing Gerard. Gerard put his head down too, looking at Frank so their noses were a mere 4 inches apart. "What were you dreaming about?" Frank whispered. Gerard twisted his mouth, looking as though he were debating telling Frank. He closed his eyes. "Can we do this facing away from each other?"

Frank nodded, turning on his side so he faced his bedroom door, and he heard Gerard shift as well.

"I was dreaming about my dad."

That wasn't what Frank had been expecting.

"Does he hit you or something?"

From your perspective, this sounds rude, but what do you know? You weren't there.

It wasn't rude.

"He's dead."

Oh.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, mine's in prison."

He heard Gerard turn over, so he did as well, so they were nose to nose again. Four inches apart.

They fell asleep like that, knee to knee, nose to nose, forehead to forehead.

Four inches apart.