Frerard - Much More Than Friends (Part 2 of the 'Just Friends' Series)

2

Frank was currently packing to go on tour again. This was the second time he'd been away with the band, and as much as Gerard hated the thought, he just knew that this was to become the norm for them as the band were really beginning to take off.

He had not liked Frank being away last time, but on his return, with his tales of life on the road, and his face splitting smile as he recounted stories of energetic crowds and boozy nights in the bus, Gerard couldn't not be happy for him. He was on a high for days after he returned and Gerard was honestly proud of him (of all of them), and didn't reveal any of the sadness he'd felt while his boyfriend had been away on his adventures.

That was just two months ago, and now they were here again, packing up Frank's things for another stint touring.

"Hey!" Frank said, looking over at Gerard. "It's not as long as last time" he said, sensing the gloomy atmosphere in their bedroom.

"Yeah. I know. It's fine Frank" Gerard smiled in return, although Frank knew that he wasn't fine.

He walked over to the bed where Gerard was perched on the edge, and practically wrestled him backwards so he was lay down with Frank on top of him.

"Jeez!" Gerard huffed but still threaded his arms around Frank pulling him closer.

"I'll miss you Gee Bear!" Frank giggled as he pressed his face into the crook of Gerard's neck.

"Yeah. I suppose I'll miss you too."

Being in that position led to the two ditching Frank's packing and spending the next two hours in bed enjoying each other before Frank had to leave.

Gerard waved him off and forced himself to plaster a smile on his face, telling all the guys to 'Smash it'! and 'Have a great time!'

Then he sat on the couch and wallowed in the silence of their home. It really was quiet without Frank. He was such a ball of energy, and that was probably what Gerard found the hardest to deal with when he wasn't around - the lack of noise and chaos.

After a couple of hours, he decided to pull up his big boy pants and fucking stop laying around like a grieving widow. He called Mikey and arranged to go out for dinner with him.

He smiled as he walked into the diner where the two had arranged to meet. He always smiled when he saw his little brother. He gave him a bone crushing hug and then the two sat and caught up on everything going on in their lives. Gerard chuckled as Mikey flicked little pieces of onion from his plate and pulled his face in disgust. He would always be a big kid in Gerard's eyes.

"So how long's Frank gonna be gone this time?" Mikey asked with a mouthful of bread.

"Um, just over four weeks" Gerard replied with a shrug.

"You miss him already?"

"Yeah. The place is like a morgue without him around" Gerard laughed, although there was an obvious tinge of sadness lurking in his eyes.

"Fuck. I bet" Mikey laughed. "No doubt he misses you just the same."

"Yeah" Gerard replied. "He loves it so much though Mikes. Being on the road. I know it's just something I'm just gonna have to get used to."

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Gerard was busy with work, so had managed to keep his mind focused on something other that Frank during the day time. He really missed him in the evenings though, and couldn't wait for his phone calls. He had noticed, however, that they were becoming more and more infrequent as the weeks went on. He understood that there was a lot going on for Frank, but he still thought he'd manage to pick up when Gerard called him. Sometimes he did, but he was always in the middle of something and they rarely got to talk for longer than a few minutes. And when they did get longer to talk, it was always Frank telling his boyfriend about some wild party he'd been to or something 'hilarious' that one of the guys had done.

He knew that Frank was more immature than himself, and that was partly what he loved about him so much. However, Gerard had noticed that he was so much more confident nowadays than he had been during their time together at college, and he found it surreal that his boyfriend was usually the one at the heart of the partying and buffoonery. Gerard loved that Frank had grown in confidence, but he sometimes wished they were on the same page about what they wanted from their lives together. Gerard had never broached it, but deep down, he was ready to settle down and marry. He even allowed himself to picture children in his and Frank's future. However, if he was being honest, he didn't think that thought had ever even crossed Frank's mind, especially now that he had this new and exciting part of his life with his band.

Gerard pushed the thought to the back of his mind and called Frank once again.

He answered this time, but Gerard could tell instantly that he was shitfaced.

"Hey Geeeeeeee!" he slurred into the phone.

"Hi babe" Gerard replied quietly.

"What ya doooooinn?"

"Not much" Gerard replied, feeling angry that Frank was wasted at barely 6.00pm. "Just missing you, so thought I'd call."

"Aww. He's missing you Frankie!" Gerard heard from one of the other drunken guys. He realised that Frank had him on speaker and tensed up immediately.

Frank just laughed along and told whoever was there to 'fuck off.'

"Can you take me off speaker?" Gerard asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah. Hold on" Frank mumbled before pressing numerous buttons and cussing under his breath.

Silence.

Frank had managed to hang up on Gerard, but in honesty, he was glad. He had no intentions of calling him back. He didn't know why he was so annoyed at Frank being drunk. He was a grown ass man for God's sake. When Frank made no attempt to call him back either, it did sting a little and Gerard was slightly more than pissed.

He went into his studio (spare bedroom) and angrily began to slosh paint across one of the canvases that was propped up. He played loud angry music and took his frustration out on his art. By the end of it, he felt much more relaxed and when he stood back to look at his work, he actually managed a smile. It wasn't half bad.

After a good night's sleep (better than Gerard had expected), he heard his phone ringing as he got out of the shower. He smiled when he saw it was Frank; all anger from the previous night now gone.

"Hi" he said out of breath from running from the bathroom to answer.

"Hey Gee" Frank groaned into the handset.

He sounded like shit and Gerard couldn't help but smirk, hoping his head was pounding.

"You sound rough" he laughed as Frank groaned again.

"Yeah. Never again."

"Mhm" Gerard replied. "I bet."

"No I mean it. I was so wasted last night. You have no idea."

"Yeah. You did sound pretty bad."

"What? Did we talk last night?" Frank asked confused.

Gerard rolled his eyes. "Well not really. You called about 6.00pm, totally fucked, and then hung up on me."

"Ugh. Sorry baby. It was a long night. But it was fucking awesome too" he laughed as he remembered some of the antics he'd gotten up to.

Gerard couldn't even begin to imaging what state Frank had been in by later in the evening, and was just thankful that he hadn't had to play last night, imagining him falling from the stage and breaking his neck or something. Still he listened and laughed where he knew he was supposed to, as Frank recollected as much of the evening as he could. In truth, however, he wasn't really interested in who had fallen from the bus, or who had stripped naked and ran around the parking lot. He just wasn't. He asked him about the shows, and Frank told him about them, but the conversation kept getting back to the partying.

'Just one more week' he told himself. Then Frank would be home and everything would go back to normal.