I Drew You Once in Art Class

Sixty-Seven

"You're gonna have to go home eventually, you know that, right?" Gerard said, digging through his dresser for a shirt.

"Yeah, I'm thinking today after school. So at least it's not completely out of nowhere. I mean, she hasn't called the police, so she must figure I'm with you."

Gerard found the shirt he wanted and without thinking, tugged the one he had on over his head so he stood with his pale chest exposed.

Frank raised his eyebrows. "That's a new look for you," he said.

Normally, Gerard changed in the bathroom and let Frank change in his bedroom.

"Ahh, now I feel weird. Turn around."

Frank rolled his eyes but turned around anyway. "You don't have to feel weird. 'You're with me', remember?"

"Shut up." Gerard flicked the back of Frank's head, his skin now covered with a black t-shirt.

A shirt Frank recognized. "Hey, isn't that mine?"

Gerard looked down, not realizing what shirt he was wearing. "I guess it is." He shrugged.

**

Frank took a deep breath as he opened his front door. Gerard had dropped him off five minutes earlier, but he'd needed a second to get the balls to face his mom.

He expected rage, fury, some sort of crazy blowout, but as he opened the door he was met with something completely different.

His mom had been waiting by the door and in a flurry of movement threw her arms around him. She began crying against his shoulder, pulling him closer. Frank stood, stunned and held against her. She then pulled away, taking his face in her hands and looking at him, tears falling down her face and dripping off her chin.

"I was so worried about you, Frank. You can't do that. You can't just leave me." She choked out a sob, wiping some of the wetness from her cheek as she pulled her son against her again. "I'm sorry."

Frank hugged her back. "I'm sorry too. I'm gonna fix my school stuff, I promise."

They stood like that for a minute, their arms around each other as his mom rubbed her hand on his back, sniffing every few seconds. Frank might have cried too, but the air was so heavy with tears already that it was impossible to tell.