Thirty Five Days

11: Wednesday

All through school on Wednesday I felt like Mikey was uncomfortable around me. I wasn't entirely sure why but if I had to guess I would have said it was because of Gerard's visit, which neither of us mentioned at any point. Personally, I could barely go five minutes without thinking about it and every time I remembered my heart fluttered with a mixture of excitement and anticipation. All I could do was play out every possible situation in my head. What if he got there and it was really awkward? What if we ran out of things to say to each other? What if my parents didn't like him, or worse, what if my mum said something to him about my feelings?
By the time the bell went after English, my last class of the day, I had worked myself up so much about Gerard's visit. I barely managed to say goodbye to Mikey before rushing home to do one last tidy up of my bedroom and change into more appropriate clothes. I was in such a rush to get back I didn't even put my headphones in as I almost ran up the street, despite the fact that there was a good couple of hours before Gee was due to arrive.
As soon as I got back I grabbed the hoover and dragged it up the stairs to my room, since my mother had still only been in once, despite having hoovered everywhere else so excessively. After hoovering, I straightened my posters, arranged my CDs by band and then release date, and put my DVDs into alphabetical order. Then I decided it looked too perfect so I went back around and moved everything to how it had been only minutes earlier.
The pile of black clothes on my floor grew as I rummaged through my wardrobe, looking for something old enough to be worn in but new enough to look nice. It turns out that almost all my band shirts had gotten faded and practically every hoodie I owned was washed out. On the bright side, I was small enough that I hadn't grown out of any of my clothes. Eventually, I settled on the same pair of jeans I wear for school since they're actually still black and my Misfits hoodie, which had been grey to start with and so didn't look to washed out.
I deliberated for a long time over whether or not to put eyeliner on – I had been practising by myself in the mirror for months but I had never actually worn it for anyone to see. The clock ticking in hallway alerted me to the time and I realised I didn't have time to argue with myself any more, so I put the eyeliner on, deciding that if my parents had an issue with it they were unlikely to say something in front of Gerard.
I moved into the front room and sat and watched as all the people from school began to walk passed my house on their own way home, feeling a slight pang of guilt when Mikey walked passed alone. I glanced at the clock on the wall.
Gerard was late.
Unsure of what to make of this, I made my way into the kitchen where my mum had helpfully laid out a note of all the things I could and could not offer Gerard before she got home. I think she thought that it might make me more likely to stay downstairs and "socialise" with her, but she was wrong – I intended to carry any food/drinks upstairs to my room when I took Gerard up. Trying to resist the urge to look at the clock again, I focused on calming myself down by looking at all the items in the kitchen and memorising their positions. After looking half way around the room (and three more times at the clock) I heard the doorbell ring, signalling Gerard's arrival. Desperately trying to appear calm and collected, I headed towards the front door.
***
Gerard's POV
Most days I wake up after Mikey had left for school, normally round about when Grandma left to volunteer at the café around the corner, leaving me in the house by myself for at least three hours. Today was Wednesday, though. Today, I was up before Mikey was even awake, never mind at school.
I lay in bed a long time, waiting to hear the tell-tale signs of Mikey or my grandma getting up. Once I was sure they were awake and going about their routine as normal I got up as well. Drinking the cold remains of yesterday's coffee rather than going upstairs to get a fresh cup, I lit my first cigarette of the day and began to set up my drawing things.
Really, I didn't even know what I was going to draw, all I knew was that I was nervous and drawing would help relax me. I heard the front door slam shut, the sign that Mikey had left for school, and that small interruption in my drawing allowed me to look at my sketch objectively and I realised that I had once again been drawing Frank. Smiling to myself, I continued with the sketch, deciding to pay more attention to what I was drawing in the future.
***
By the time my grandma got back from the café, I had finished my drawing and forced myself upstairs for another cup of coffee, which I was still drinking when she came into the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning, Gerard, how are you? You look more awake than normal today, is something happening?"
"Er, yeah, I'm going out this afternoon so I thought I'd better actually get ready this morning. I'll be out over dinner, so you don't need to make me anything by the way."
"Alright then. Where are you going, if I may ask?"
"Er...I'm just going to see a friend of Mikey's because his mum wants to meet me – he's the one that gave us the concert tickets."
I decided to stick as close to the truth as possible, opting to tell my grandma the same white lie Frank and I had told Mikey. Frank and I, I liked the way that sounded in my head.
"That's nice, dear. Make sure to tell her thank you for the tickets, not just the food, I know what you're like, Gerard."
She smiled as she spoke, laughing softly at her own humour.
"I will, thanks Grandma. I'll probably leave just after Mikey gets back from school, so that Frank will have time to get back as well."
"That sounds good. Why don't you go and have a shower now and I'll make you another cup of coffee before you go?"
Nodding at her proposal, I headed towards the shower, wondering if it would look like I was trying too hard by washing my hair. Deciding that it really needed washed anyway, I decided that I would just rinse out the shampoo as fast as possible, in the hope that that would only clean my hair a little bit.
***
After my shower and third cup of coffee I could feel myself becoming more and more anxious. More than once my grandma commented on how jittery I seemed however I couldn't stop fidgeting, no matter how hard I tried.
Eventually I saw the other pupils from the school starting to file passed the house, trudging home with the weight of the school system showing clearly on their faces. I put on my second best pair of converse, thinking that the new, clean ones would look too unnatural and waited for Mikey to arrive so that I could head across to Frank's.
Once Mikey slammed the door shut behind him (he was incapable of doing anything quietly in the house, although out the house he was almost silent) I made my way downstairs and out the door, calling good bye to Mikey and my grandma before I left. I could see Frank's house as soon as I stepped out the door. It seemed to be watching me as I walked across the street and up the path. I took a deep breath before plucking up the courage to knock on the door.

AN: OMG guys I am so sorry it took me so long to update this! I've had a lot going on in  my life and whenever I did write a draft of this I really didn't like it. I am by far the happiest with this version of the chapter, so here you go! Also, as a thank you for still reading this, you can have actual Frerard next chapter (which I will publish before next month, I promise!). As always, don't forget to vote/comment. Thanks again for reading this, I love you all. :)