Frerard-Complicated

Chapter 3: Work

Frank:

When Frank woke up the next morning, body aching from sleeping in his clothes, he felt strangely excited. He was starting his new job this morning. He dressed in his best T-shirt and spent longer on his hair than usual -not for any other reason than that he wanted to start work in a positive manner- and bounced down the stairs wearing a cheerful grin. His parents had both gone out, which was another reason to be happy- Frank couldn't stand to be around them at the moment. Their fight had gone on into the early hours of the morning, not caring who heard them, let alone how their son felt about hearing the two people he loved most tear each other apart. Frank pretty much ran down the road to the record store, eager to start work and, although he didn't want to confess it to himself, see Gerard again. 

When he arrived at the store - ten minutes late as usual- Gerard was stacking CDs on the old stands. He looked up at Frank as he came in. His hair was greasy and his eyes looked tired but he gave Frank a weary smile. Frank beamed back, and started helping to stack the shelves. They stacked shelves for a few hours, going between the tiny back room and the main shop. Occasionally someone would come in and buy a few beaten up CDs, but mostly he and Gerard were left alone to talk. And talking to Gerard was one of the easiest things he had ever done. Gerard was a natural listener, and Frank soon found himself telling him about his home life, about the fights and the way his father looked at him as if it was all his fault. He told him everything, even things he hadn't told Jamia. And Gerard listened, nodding attentively and smiling sympathetically.

They talked for hours, and he found out about Gerard's home life, and his worries about his little brother's recent behaviour. Apparently, Mikey had been the model kid until he had hit high school. Then he just changed. He stayed out all night, drinking and god knows what else. He had stopped going to school and started acting out at home. "I can't stop thinking that this is all my fault. I mean, I wasn't the best role model," Gerard said, smiling sadly.  As they talked, Frank began to feel as if he had known Gerard for years. He felt a comfort being with him that he'd never felt before. For the first time in years, he let his guard down.

The next day, he came to work (it was a Friday, and he really needed to go to school but whatever) to find Gerard sitting cross legged in the middle of the store, back to the door, busily drawing on a small sketchpad. He jumped when he saw Frank, and slammed the book shut. He refused to show Frank what was in the book, but confessed that, since graduating from art school all he wanted to do was be a comic book artist. "But instead I'm stuck in this crappy job.....well it was crappy" he said, looking up at Frank and smiling. Frank stuck out his hand to help Gerard up. He pulled him up a bit too hard, and Gerard staggered against him. They stood chest to chest, smiling awkwardly at each other. Frank looked down and saw that he was still holding onto Gerard's hand.

Gerard:

Gerard felt Frank's hand still in his. He looked down into his face, and saw that his eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted. He felt a tug in his stomach. All he wanted to do was kiss him. But Frank was only eighteen, and besides he wasn't even gay. He has a girlfriend Gerard! A girlfriend....and yet he was sure he wasn't imagining the look in Frank's eyes. And why hadn't he pulled away? Fuck he was confused. He let go of Frank's hand, trying to laugh off the awkwardness of the moment. Then he grabbed a random pile of CDs off the floor: "Um I'll just go and put these in the back. You stay and wait for some customers." Frank raised one of his perfect eyebrows. He knew there weren't going to be any customers. They were lucky if more than one came in all day. "Friday's a busy day!" Gerard said defensively, before practically running into the back room. Even without looking back, he could tell that Frank was still staring at him.