Diseased [Frerard] [Petekey]

Chapter 23

Gerard-

As much as I didn't want to think about the lovely Frank, he was sporting a massive hangover by the time 3:00 AM rolled around and we left the hospital. Mikey decided it was best if Frank were to spend the night with us. My heart hurt as I looked down to his resting head on my shoulder as Mikey carefully drove way below speed limit, avoiding bridges and driving by creeks and lakes strategically. 

We finally got home, and I didn't know how to go about helping Frank out of the car.

I looked up at Mikey as if it were some urgent thing.

"Just wake him up", he laughed. "He's a grown ass man". 

I rolled my eyes and gently tapped the hungover Frank. Mikey didn't drink nearly as much as Frank did. Mikey threw the other door open and jerked him awake by shaking his arm.

"I have to wake up early to pick Pete up, I have no time for this", he teased Frank. 

Frank was only half awake as he stumbled up the stairs, complaining groggily about his massive headache. I knew the feeling and I cringed at the thought of the feeling of your brain pulsating against your skull to punish you for having a little too much fireball. 

Mikey guided him through the door. I thought he'd be laid on the couch and I'd just sleep on the floor or something, but he instead was guided to Mikey's cool and dark room. Frank was plopped down onto the bed.

"Goodnight", Mikey bid as he walked out.

"Wait, you don't have to sleep on the couch, I'll go", I offered.

He looked back with a look that said "Yeah right dude".  How was it so obvious to everyone that we were crushing. Or I was. Frank was just drunk and it didn't mean anything. 

He just left the room. This left me wondering if I should lay in bed with this hungover, slightly intoxicated, beautiful man who pecked my lips earlier tonight. I remembered how heavy my eyelids felt and decided that I might as well.

I threw off my tight jeans and crawled under the unwarmed covers on the opposite side of the bed. When my head hit the pillow, I didn't fall into sleep like I wished. I kept thinking about this perfect creature next to me, snoring his way through his bad headache. 

He began coughing profusely and I knew what that meant. I didn't even wake him up; I yanked him out of the bed and onto his feet. We made it in the bathroom just in time, but that didn't mean Frank didn't puke up a bit onto Mikey's rug. 

I soothed him by tangling my fingers into his hair as he emptied his stomach into my toilet. I left for half a minute to get him a glass of water and find some mints or something. The best I could come up with was a peppermint that was left in a Sonic bag that's been sitting on the counter island for weeks. 

I brought them to Frank and he thanked me before dry heaving. He threw his head back and rested it on my lap because I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, waiting for him to need his water. He began to snore again literally seconds afterwards and I woke him up. I made him drink sips of the water and gave him the peppermint before we went back into Mikey's room. I got into my side of the bed awkwardly as he held his arms out and fell onto the bed. 

He curled up next to me and rested his head onto my chest. He took a little longer to start snoring than usual, but by then I was half asleep. Time flew and I was suddenly awakened by a rush of cold air on my chest. The sweating Frank who wore his clothes to bed lifted his head and my shirt was drenched where he was laying.

That was the least of his worries, however. He instantly had a sharp intake of breath as the velocity of his headache hit him. It was instant cussing before I jumped out of the bed and went to retrieve him an Advil. Mikey was gone, presumably hanging with his new boyfriend. 

I got to Frank whose head was jammed into the nearest pillow and he was screaming.

"That's not going to help and you know it", I laughed.

"You wouldn't know, you don't drink", he snapped.

"I did", I informed him. "Here".

I held out the Advil and water and he turned to look at me. He suddenly looked at me like I was a savior and took the Advil and chugged the water. 

"Thank you", he said.

"Anytime", I smiled. "You'll need some fresh air to think. You wanna sit outside the door?" I asked.

"Let's take a walk", he suggested. "But first, I'm starving. What do you have to eat?"

"Probably just Ramen or something cheap. You wanna go to IHOP?" I suggested.

"I could go for their endless coffee thing. And some orange juice. And a heaping stack of french toast covered in strawberries or blueberries", he began.

"Same," I agreed. "First, I have to change and take a shower".

"That's fine, I'll be here", he laid back down.

He may need some actual clothes, but he had jeans and a regular t-shirt. Was that good enough?

"Do you need anything to wear?" I offered.

"I'll be okay in these", he shook his head stiffly.

"Okay, there's shirts in this drawer", I pointed out. "If you at least want a looser shirt. Surprised your abs didn't rip that in half".

He laughed at my joke.

"It's funny, I can't remember anything from last night. Or why I'm at your house wearing this outfit", he giggled.

Oh. So he was just too drunk to think. I nodded and went off into the shower.

As I was showering, the same mantra kept running through my head.

"Let it go Gerard. He was drunk. This is expected. Don't even worry. Who cares."

By the time I got out of the shower, I convinced myself it wasn't too big of a deal. I threw on some random band shirt and my jeans that I wear often and didn't even bother with my hair. I wasn't trying to impress him anymore.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Even when your hair is wet, you're still killing it", he complimented.

My heart began to beat erratically. Okay, maybe I did care. 

"Th-thank you", I smiled. 

"Of course", he beamed. "Ready to go?"  

"Yeah, of course. I work at five, so don't let me forget", I told him.

"Of course", he repeated.

We left and went down the stairs as Frank grasped his head. I'm sure there was a storm going all out in there.