Our Foundations from Decay

Frank POV 26

Mondays. Defined as 'the day everyone hates to have to put up with' by the proudly accurate Urban Dictionary. Any other time, if you caught me at the start of any other crappy school-week I may have looked upon that definition and gone "Yes, that is absolutely correct, and I feel like killing myself."

Yet remarkably, this specific Monday had me feeling beyond elated, and very much lively.

As I limped through the door of Ms.Douchebag's class, my head held high, the stares of nosey freshmen couldn't demoralise me in the slightest. Ray lifted a skeptical eyebrow at me, watching the way I placed my notebook lightly on the desk; my delicate consideration of the people around me a strange dichotomy from how I usually acted.

"Bro, you look like you just discovered the truth of jfk's assassination or something." He glanced down at the bright plaster of my leg, "Woah, did YOU kill jfk?!"

I gave Ray a baffled stare, his words falling on deaf ears. "Huh? Dude, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Nevermind." Responded Ray as he let out a sigh, "So why are you so happy? Does pain turn you on or something?" I ignored his strange comments and fiddled with the paper in front of me, my fingers restless in the chaos of the classroom.

"Well me and Gerard..." I began, a soft smile beginning to grace my lips, "We finally started-" I was suddenly cut off as I felt the sharp sting of folded paper crash into the middle of my forehead, the well-made plane slowly fluttering to the ground as I leaped off my chair.

"Who the hell?" I whipped my head around, eyes locking onto the snickering form of a buzzed kid in the back, his grubby little fingers already working on its next weapon. "Hey!" I shouted, picking up the forgotten plane, "Don't be a dick, you rascal!" I threw the plane back at him, underestimating my own strength as it crashed into the kid's eye. The boy cried out in alarm, his chubby fists waving in the air like a hungry toddler.

"Ms!" Shouted the brat, "He threw a paper plane at me!" I mentally cursed him, making sure to remember his ratty face. I'm gonna make sure you don't get an autograph when I'm famous. Mark my words, you delinquent.

Ms.Douchebag was on me in a moments notice, her tacky glasses hanging onto her beaked nose precariously as she looked down on me.

"Mr.Iero. Get to the office. Right now!" Her jaw quivered as though she had rabies, a skeletal finger pointing in the direction of the door. I gave her a quick nod before shoving my things in a bag, stumbling with my crutches through the rows of seats and out the room.

What was I gonna tell Ray again?

Outside of the principal's office was similar to the hospital I had just been at, the memories of yesterday making me feel vaguely ill. Gerard... I never knew he'd gone through something so horrible. Well, I literally watched as he went through 9/11, but his mom's death is also horrible. I tapped my foot up and down on the tiled ground, the graffiti on the walls my only entertainment as I waited to be called on.

My head soon slumped down, eyes drifting close as the melodic chatter of nearby students became white noise to my ears. Will I dream if I fall asleep right here? My dreams... Gosh, my bloody dreams. My head felt like overheating as I pieced together the events of the last few days.

So, I dreamt about a truck hitting someone important to me on a rainy night. All things come true less than an hour later. Is it coincidence? Is it luck? No, there's no way. How on earth...

My thoughts shattered as a warm hand poked me in the cheek, causing my eyes to shoot open.

"Hey," whispered the person, his familiarly honeyed voice making me beam, "What're you in for?" I lifted my head, eyes squinting as I tried to look at him. Gerard could barely been seen in the backlit shine of the blinding hallway lights, his silhouette creating an almost wing-like illusion. Wow, what an angel.

"Angel." I murmured, finally adjusting to the brightness. I watched as Gerard hid a sheepish grin, gloved hands coming up to cover his face.

"Did you tell Ray bout' the band?" Gerard asked. I snapped my fingers, realisation piercing through my foggy mind.

"Ah! I forgot!"

Gerard deadpanned me, arms crossed like someone's auntie. "You... Forgot. Why?"

"Stupid kid threw a paper plane at me. I threw it back, and you'll never guess how that turned out." I motioned around me, slumping down on the plastic chair.

"pfft, sounds like a pain. Bet that brat deserved it though." Gerard collapsed down onto the floor next to me, lithe fingers tangling with my own. We sat there for a moment, both of us not needing to say a word.

"Why don't we just go?" Gerard finally questioned, "I mean, not to sound blunt but your mom isn't exactly around to stop you." Guess we both have that in common. I pinched myself in the non-injured leg. Too soon, too soon.

"Yeah, you're right. Would you be able to message Ray about practice?"

Gerard nodded to me, pulling out his phone. "Yeah, I'll just tell him to come here so that we can just go with him and Mikey straight to the studio." I stared at the boy next to me as he typed something out quickly, eyeing up the name of Ray's contact. 'Best bro' Huh. I didn't know that they were that close. I felt a sudden pang of unreasonable jealousy, and I shoved it away just as hastily as it came.

Ray might be Gerard's best friend, but he can't kiss him like I can. I smiled at the thought, being reminded that I had the right to kiss the handsome man, something I had been wanting to do for a long time.

"It's been almost 7 hours since I've last seen you." I promptly exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure has." Responded Gerard, his focus still on the phone in front of him.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yea- Wait what? We're in the middle of school!"

"So what? I bet teachers mingle with each other in the back everyday."

"Ew, don't say it like that." Gerard stood up from his place on the ground, pulling me with him. "But sure, I've missed you too."

I grinned up at him, suddenly closing the space between us. Calloused hands cupped his jaw as my lips danced over his own, still unused to the feeling. Gerard's body was stiff for a moment, before his arms came up around my neck, dragging me closer. Our height difference wasn't exceptionally large, yet I felt uncharacteristically small as I stood flush against him. I ain't no chick. I pushed him against the wall, my thoughts running in the same circles. Gerard. Gerard. Gerard.

"I've missed you so much, Frank." Gerard managed to say as I yanked him impossibly closer, humming in agreement as my fingers tangled through his inky hair. Just as we moved in again, a sudden voice called out from the distance; it's tone reminiscent of one who had discovered a murder scene.

"G-guys..." A curly haired man dropped the homework in his hands, paper floating to the ground like snowflakes, "what... What are you doing?"

Ray, you oaf! what does it look like?

Gerard hastily straightened, causing to lose my grip on him. I wobbled backwards, my single working leg hopping around to stay upright. My unruly hops eventually led me to the back of my unoccupied chair, causing me to topple over it like a bowling pin and land on my back, knocking the wind out of me.

Both boys looked too shocked to notice, standing face to face with each other in a parodic cowboy fight to the death.

"Frank!" Gerard finally whisper-yelled to me, "I thought you told him!"

"Ah..." I managed to say, breathless as I laid on the cold ground, "I forgot."