I Will Protect You (A Frerard neko Au)

Baby Steps

Frank
GOD that was boring!
Frank thought as he downed his second coffee. Mr Bryar had been anything but pleased at his late arrival and the entire meeting overran by half an hour.
At that moment, Jamia sat down across from him. "Spill."
He didn't look up. "What?"
"You never forget meetings and I saw you in town this morning. What have you done?"
This was another reason he liked his secretary. She always knew when someone was acting out of character and could instantly get them to tell her.
Frank sighed. "You know that neko market that's on every month?"
Her voice went cold. "What did you do?"
"I brought one."
"Wait what?! I thought you hated that stuff!! What's gonna happen if the press finds out?!"
"Keep your voice down." He hissed. "And I didn't get him for work. I mean you should've seen him when he was there. Practically a skeleton."
"They all are!"
"Quiet. People are staring."
Jamia looked around before lowering her voice. "You still haven't told me why."
"I..." He paused. The whole thing had actually been rather impulsive. He didn't exactly know why. "Don't know. Just... Something about him."
Her face went deadpan. "Wow. So unheard of." She ignored his glare. "It's true. You never take finances into account when making deals unless someone brings them up, you sold your place in Beverly Hills for something about a quarter of the size, and now this. I understand that this is how you function, but you need to be a little less impulsive."
Frank groaned. "I get it. Just... Keep it low key?"
Jamia smiled. "Yes sir. Oh, here." She took out a small card and handed it to him. "Restaurant. I know the owner. They do take out and delivery. Which helps considering you pretty much only leave the house for business."
He took it and smiled. "Remind me to give you a raise."
"Okay. Give me a raise."
He laughed. "I'll fix it at home. Imma go pick something up from this place first."
"Take care of him."
"I promise."

Gerard
He stared at the clock. His owner was now 46 minutes late. After fixing the garden and cleaning the house a second time, Gerard had taken to kneeling in the hallway to await his master's return. However, he'd been there for almost an hour now and had virtually lost all feeling in his lower body.
He's gone back to the market. I didn't satisfy him and now he's going to send me back. What did I do, what did I do?! I just wanted to be good! Where did I go wrong?!

At that moment, the door opened and Frank stepped in. There was a long pause but Gerard didn't dare look up.
"What are you doing?"
He flinched at the sudden question but did his best to keep the rising panic at bay. "I... I-I was waiting for you to return sir."
He carefully watched as his owner put down the plastic bag he was holding and crouched down. To his great surprise, instead of grabbing his hair and carting him back to the market, he extended a hand.
"C'mon. You don't have to kneel"
Gerard opened his mouth to argue that, as a slave, he had to kneel. That he had to display submission at all times. But Frank had told him not to. Effectively. So he elected to just follow orders and took his owner's hand.
Unfortunately, the hour of kneeling had shut off his legs and the second he tried to stand, he stumbled forward into Frank; who, instead of dropping him like he expected, caught him and helped him regain balance. He felt his face heat up as he did so, embarrassed that he was clinging to his master like a small child. As soon as he could remain upright, he detached himself and bowed his head.
He followed Frank through to the dining room and watched as he looked around slightly puzzled.
"Gerard... Did you clean while I was out?"
Gerard froze up. He must of missed something. Why else would his master mention it? "Y-yes sir... I cleaned the entire house twice... And the garden. E-except for the locked room... I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?" He seemed oddly confused.
"W-well... I missed something... Didn't I?"
"No no! The place is spotless... But you really didn't have to." His master dumped the plastic bag on the table and look out a few steaming boxes. As the scent of chicken and herbs wafted around, Gerard clenched his stomach muscles in an attempt to mask his hunger.

There was the sound of a chair being pulled out and he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Sit with me."
He looked up at Frank with shock and then to the table. A chair had been pulled out and one of the boxes placed in front of it. Was he...? No. He couldn't be.
"I... Sir, are you..?"
The man chuckled. "Yes. Go ahead, eat. And call me Frank."
"I... T-thank you!"
Frank smiled and sat down. Heart in his head, Gerard took the offered place opposite him. Cautiously, he lifted the lid of the box and his face was bathed in steam. He stared up at Frank and he nodded. Still in a haze, he picked up one of the plastic forks and started to eat up, indulging in every bite. This was too good to be true.
Well it has to be. Why would he let me eat with him if he didn't want something back.
But he promised. He swore he wouldn't hurt him like that.
That doesn't mean I won't have to do it to other people. How could I be so blind? I wish he'd just stop acting and tell me what he wants.

Frank
As he ate, Frank noticed that Gerard had stopped and seemed lost in thought.
"Gerard?"
The neko jumped a little and looked up.
"Yes?"
"What's on your mind?"
He shifted in his seat and looked away.
"Well... I-I was wondering... W-what are the rules?... W-what am I... Doing here?"
He sighed. "I've already said, I don't want you to do anything."
Gerard shifted a little more and seemed to shrink.
"I'm guessing you're having a hard time believing that."
He nodded slightly.
Frank felt his heart break again. How? How could anyone screw another person up to the point where they were unable to trust anything even remotely kind? It was evil.
"I get it. You're not used to people being nice for the sake of it. But... Look. I wanna do everything I can to make you okay again. It'll take time. But I'll wait."
Gerard looked down at his food, seemingly processing this information. "You really won't hurt me?"
"No. I understand it's going to take a while for you to really believe that, but it's true." Frank pondered things for a moment. "I'd like it if you could join me at the table for meals. Is that alright with you?"
The boy sat there for a second before looking up at him and smiling a little. "I-I'd like that too."
He smiled back and kept eating.

A few moments later, he realised that Gerard was starting to look a little ill. He seemed to keep eating despite this, but a lot more slowly.
"If you can't finish it that's fine. It was a lot anyway."
He looked up at Frank before setting down his fork, looking rather relieved.
"Why did you feel the need to keep eating if you didn't want to?"
He played a little with a strand of his ridiculously vibrant hair. "I-I guess... I learnt that if you were offered food, not eating all of it was seen as ungrateful and you'd be forced to finish."
Frank stared in horror. "That's awful."
Gerard nodded. "I threw up quite a few times. I'd force myself to keep eating. I don't know how Mikes resisted."
His forehead creased. "Mikes?"
He froze and tears built up in his eyes. "I... I-I"
Sensing his distress, Frank cut him off. "You don't have to talk about it."
Gerard dried his eyes and sniffed. "I-I'd rather not."
"Okay." He checked the clock. "It's getting late. You can take the guest room."
He smiled. "Thank you."
"No problem."
They'd made progress. Frank was only just beginning to understand how long this rehabilitation process would take. But, at least he'd convinced Gerard to eat at the same table as him. That was something.
Baby steps Frank. Baby steps.