Frerard - It's Always Been You!

3

The air was heavy the following morning – both Frank and Gerard having mentally psyched themselves up to leave the confines of their bedrooms and face the other. When they did, and met in the kitchen area however, the atmosphere was static-like and neither really had the words to say. Therefore, they swallowed them down and continued as though the awkward encounter the previous night had never occurred. Frank poured out two coffees and Gerard pretended to be looking at something on his phone. He thanked Frank graciously when he placed his coffee down on the counter top, and when an uncomfortable silence began to weigh them down, Frank filled it with talk of the events of the day, i.e. the Q&A.

Standing in the shower thirty minutes later, Gerard scrubbed over his red locks furiously in the hope of washing away the mortifying remnants of being caught listening at your best friend's fucking bedroom door. What the fuck would Frank think of it? He was polite enough not to mention anything, but Gerard couldn't shake the embarrassment no matter how hard he scrubbed. He looked at his reflection in the now steamed up hotel mirror and let out a long, shaky breath, before readying himself to leave the bathroom. He dressed in the same clothes he'd worn yesterday – his trusty green shirt and comfy jeans, before dragging a comb through his hair and applying some fancy fragrance Mikey had bought him for his last birthday. Heading out into the lounge, he found Frank sat on one of the large sofas, phone in hand and one leg crossed across the other. Gerard's chest tightened at even the sight of the back of his head and his cheeks flared when Frank sensed him and turned around to greet him.

"Ready?" he simply asked as he stood and tucked his phone into his back pocket.

"Yeah!" Gerard replied quietly, following him out of the door and closing it softly behind him.

Frank was walking briskly along the corridor towards the elevator; professional mode in full swing as he outlined the timings of the day ahead while draping his lanyard around his neck. Gerard was somewhat grateful for the non-mention of his actions, but he felt this was too out of character to have any hope of putting him at ease. Standing in the quiet elevator was even worse – the air was thick and consuming, and Gerard just had to say something.

"Look Frank" he began. "About last night......"

"Forget it!" Frank interrupted curtly.

"No. But I wanted to apologise. It wasn't like it looked.......I just......I....."

"Honestly. It's nothing. Don't worry about it" Frank shrugged, saved by the bell quite literally as the elevator alerted them to their arrival on the ground floor.

Striding out, Gerard simply followed behind, feeling nothing had been resolved and he would just have to forget about it and pretend nothing had happened, which was what Frank seemed to wish. The two sat silently in the back of the car as they were whisked across town to the convention hotel, where they were met by a giggly member of staff called Becky who showed them to the large open area which would serve as the Q&A Room.

"Thank you Becky" Gerard politely said as they arrived.

"No problem Mr Way" she smiled wide, clearly somewhat of a fan. "Could I? Um, would you mind if I had a photo with you?" she nervously asked.

"Sure" he replied, putting her at ease with his kind smile. He handed Frank the phone and stood alongside her.

He'd never get used to this. No matter how many times it happened, Gerard always found himself looking like he was the one meeting his idol on the photographs he posed for – arms folded protectively across his body and nervous half-smile playing at his lips.

He said his goodbyes and headed further into the room. He spotted his name place on the second seat along on the makeshift stage area. Four other authors would be joining him, and he hoped they would take the lead on the proceedings until he felt a little more comfortable. Usually, Frank would have been cracking jokes or making dumb comments, purely for the purpose of alleviating some of the tension radiating from his friend, but there was none of that today. Simple instructions and last-minute advice were the only thing on offer.