You Left My Heart An Open Wound

Chapter 7

FRANK'S POV

Frank watches as a look of horror crosses Gerard's face, and Frank considers it's because either A) he's terrified of the prospect of loosing his wings, or B) he's freaked that a demon caught him lying. Frank grins, and chuckles softly to himself.

Frank figured it was the first one.

The way Gerard jerked back and went to reach over his shoulder like he was going to smooth something, Frank just knows that he has wings, and that they'd be the ultimate prize. But Gee doesn't have to know that.

He steps forward again, and Gerard stays still, kind of half frozen, fixing the sleeve of his sweatshirt. His eyes are gold. Gold like honey and sunlight, and Frank knows that it's cliche to describe them like that, but he can't think of anything else. Frank just gently tugs on the edge of Gee's sleeve, and smirks, his thin, pierced lips spreading away from his teeth.

"I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm just curious." He whines at Gerard, who backs away, his eyes looking up and down the street frantically.

Frank herds him carefully until Gerard's back hits the wall, and then he's almost up against Gerard, his hands resting loosely on either side of Gee's hips on the brick wall. He's not touching the angel, but they're so close that Frank can feel Gerard's short, scared breath on his face.

"I've never seen an angel before." He backs off a little, which surprises even himself, and stares innocently at Gerard. "Are you all so pretty?" He reaches to push at Gee's hair, but Gerard jerks his head away and shuffles down the brick wall, trying to hide behind his beautiful hair.

Frank smirks. He can tell Gerard wants to let Frank touch him. He knows it. Not sexually, just the soft gestures Frank's been trying to do. However, Frank wants to see him come apart, and he can almost taste his success in his mouth. A few more weeks of this, and the angel will cave, and then give it another week, and Frank will be one of the top demons ever. The little voice in his head chuckles sadistically and mutters 'cruel bastard.' Frank knows it, and he smiles for real this time, and lets Gerard move on.

"I hope I'll see you again soon." He calls.

Gerard doesn't answer, just hurries away, shaking and somehow still holding the coffees he got. Frank wondered vaguely why there were two coffees, watched him grow far away, and then shape shifted into a crow, winding his way after Gerard to see where his honored guest was going.

He follows Gerard through the streets, sometimes avoiding a bird or two. He lazily soared along, landing on rooftops when Gerard would stop, but finally, the angel disappeared into a shop. Frank flitted closer, landing easily in a tree in front of the place. He slid down to the ground, turning from a crow to a black cat like liquid forming into different shapes, reading the words on the sign.

Ray's Jams. So this was where Gee worked. Interesting.

Frank stayed outside until the shop closed that night. When Gerard and some dude with an (admittedly quite fucking awesome) afro finally came outside, fro-man stopped to pet Cat-Frank, and Gerard just watched, his eyes wide with terror.

"Uh, Ray, lets go. It'll get dark soon." The angel stuttered.

Ok. So fro-man's name was Ray. And he also found out where the coffee had gone.

Ray looked up at Gerard from where he was petting Frank, and laughed. "The city lights up at night, dude, chill. But I get it, you wanna get home.." He turns to Frank one last time and then stands up, walking back over to Gee.

Gee glances nervously at Frank as he walks away, biting his lower lip. Frank smirks, and even as a cat, there are ways he knows Gerard can tell it's him.

Frank shifts into a crow again, following Gerard and Ray overhead. He watches as they laugh together and Frank feels a weird surge of possessiveness, but shoves it away when he watches them walk into an apartment building.

Frank lands on the roof and shifts back to his human entity, grinning like a madman. Perfect. This works out perfectly.

~~~

GERARD'S POV

"You sure you're all set?" Ray leaned against the door frame, watching with a kind of concerned looked on his face.

On the walk home, Gerard had been dizzy and his stomach had been flipping over like a gymnast. The back of his neck was still tingling, and he knew Ray could tell that he was anxious and that something is very wrong.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." He took a deep breath and walked back over to Ray and laid his hand nonchalantly on the door, like he was going to close it. He wasn't going to, but he wanted to be alone. Ray got the message and frowned slightly, stepping away from the door.

"Well, goodnight, Gee." He patted Gerard's shoulder and strode down the hall, disappearing into his apartment as Gerard shut the door.

Gerard turned away and threw himself on the couch, letting out a groan. The demon knew where the music shop was now. Gerard was sure he'd be seeing Frank on a daily basis starting soon. He laid on the old couch and picked at the sleeve of his sweatshirt, thinking maybe he could go, run away and not come back. Find a different city.

However, his job was to find and destroy demons, as they were a threat to peace. Maybe there was a way that Gerard could learn about demons from Frank, but the prospect still terrified him. And he couldn't just leave Ray. Besides, he liked his job and Frank had shown he was persistent already; even if Gee moved, Frank would probably follow. Vaguely, Gerard wondered what it was that Frank wanted.

Finally, he pushed himself up off the couch, deciding he needed a hot shower to clear his head, and he needed to groom his wings as well.

He undressed quickly and stepped into the shower, lifting the concealing enchantment on his wings.

He kept the shower curtain open so that his wings could stretch out over the back of the tub. The water was warm and pleasant against his skin, and Gerard was glad that he had a good bathroom in this apartment. He closed his eyes and let the water run over his chest and shoulders and the place where his wings melded to his back. He sighed in contentment, basking in the simple pleasure of feeling clean.

Gerard found some shampoo and conditioner and washed his hair quickly, before turning so that his wings got the water falling full force on them.

He ran his fingers through the slightly disgruntled feathers, smoothing them into place. He cleaned up and tugged away some old primary feathers, and scratched at some molting down beneath the flight feathers. Once loose feathers had been cleared away, he used a bar of soap and scrubbed them clean.

After a while, he rinsed the soap away and stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing a clear circle into the steamy mirror with the heel of his hand. He ran his fingers up through his long, messy black hair, thinking vaguely that maybe he needed a haircut or something.

He sat on the edge of the tub and began to dry his wings and shoulders, when he heard a loud resounding thump echo through the otherwise empty apartment. He froze, listening, and then a short string of swear words leaked through the silence.

"Fucking shit, fuck you."

Gerard held his breath, the towel in his hands trembling. He knew that voice. He stood swiftly and wrapped the towel around his waist, creeping to the door, coiling, and ready to make a break for it.

Just when he was about to open the door himself and run, the frame creaked and the wooden door swung inwards.

"Oh, well isn't THIS a surprise."