Once Upon A Dream ♡ Frerard

Eight

There was a knock on Frank's door, startling him from the sleep that was gradually coming to him. He opened his eyes instantly, groaning when he felt his headache from earlier come back full force. The throbbing in his skull felt like it would not cease without a struggle this time around and it made him want to cry.

"Frank?" He heard his mother call softly from the other side of the door. "Can I come in, darling?"

Frank closed his eyes again and wished for her to go away, to leave him be so he could rot inside his dark room he had not left for three days except to eat or use the restroom, which was not too often and he made sure of it. He kept his curtains drawn over his windows and the pressed the red button on his wall that covered his skylight with metal covers to block the sunlight away. He laid underneath his covers, curled into a ball and sleeping all day, not even realizing that he had drifted until he woke up and checked the time. Frank did not want to be bothered, talk to anyone, or see anything.

Frank's mother still entered the room despite him not answering. He saw the strip of light coming from outside the door and her shadow on the floor, heard her footsteps as she walked into the room. He didn't act upon her arrival, he continued to hide underneath the sheets and not say a word. Surely his voice would crack if he tried to speak. He could feel the thickness in his throat from not speaking for three entire days.

"I just needed to come and tell you that we have a funeral to attend in two hours." Frank's mother said softly.

Frank tensed. A funeral? The last thing Frank needed to know was that a friend or family member had passed away, a funeral was not something he believed he could handle. The thought of seeing a loved one's dead body laying in his casket made him feel sick to his stomach. He shut his eyes tightly and took in a small distressed breath at the sudden tightening in his chest.

"It isn't someone from our family." His mother must have understood him because her cover up was quick. "She was a friend of Jamia's, they asked for us to come so you can be there for her."

The pressure went away, but Frank felt like he was still being dragged down. All he ever did nowadays was for Jamia - cheer Jamia up, take her out, talk to her on the phone, he had to do everything he could to keep her happy, all for the sake of her being his match. Long ago, the two had lost their close friendship and now it was nothing but sticking together with the glue their parents used to keep them close. If it were up to Frank, he would not have spoken to Jamia anymore or even try for her anymore because she never once did anything for him. It was entirely unfair, but his mother always told him to be a gentleman or she would think poorly of him. Frank, being forced to pretend that he cared about that, put his everything into Jamia. Not once on her blank expression did Frank see thankfulness.

"I don't want to go." Frank croaked. His voice was thick and gravelly, giving him the urge to clear his throat. He did not, he instead fell silent after he shared his thoughts. Part of them, at least.

"Frank, I think seeing Jamia would be best for you. I've never seen you act so upset before, maybe being near your match will help." His mother attempted taking on a cheery tone. Frank did not buy it.

Annoyance bubbled in Frank's body. It was sentences like those that made Frank tick, they made him feel like everyone thought he was nothing without that girl in his life. Sometimes, he thought he would be better off dead than be forced to marry a girl he never loved and be pulled away from the true love of his life, who was proven to be a real and living person in Battery City. Everything in the law screamed at Frank that loving Gerard was a crime, it went against everything Battery City had built. How was marrying someone he did not love no considered a crime as well if the City was so hell-bent on teaching everyone the "right" way to love someone?