Thirty Five Days

24: A Kiss Before You Go (Pt 2)

"Wow, Frankie, you look good like that."

I struggled to contain my laughter for a few seconds as I tried (and failed) to think of a reply other than thanking him and returning the compliment.

"Oh, thanks Gee. You look pretty good yourself, but are you sure I didn't wake you up?"

He raised an eyebrow as he replied, smirking slightly.

"Why? Does it look like I was asleep? I mean, other than what I'm wearing I don't see why you would think I had been asleep."

"Well, er, you bed's kinda messy and, you know, it is pretty late (or early I guess) so it makes sense that you might have been asleep."

"My bed? Oh. No, I was actually drawing before you came over, and if I'm just sketching I tend to do it in bed - it's comfier that way."

His confusion turned to a sort of embarrassed explanation after a quick glance at his bed made him realise what I was talking about.

"What were you drawing?"

"Just...just really rough sketches of...people. Well, more like person really. They were just really rough sketches of a person."

"Can I see?"

"Oh, well, er...I mean, I dunno. I..."

For a tiny second I wondered if I should stop asking, but my curiosity got the better of me. Besides, it was nice to see that he could be just as embarrassed as I could.

"Oh, come on, please? I played guitar for you when you asked."

"Yes, and then I played guitar for you."

"Okay then, I'll draw something for you if you show me your drawing."

I could see the conflict in his eyes but I couldn't tell if I was going to win or not, so I grabbed a blank piece of paper from his desk and started to draw. Unlike Gerard's guitar playing, I really couldn't draw so I was done very quickly. Resisting the urge to laugh at my own lack of ability, I handed him the piece of paper.

He glanced at the paper for a second, then back at me. Then he started to laugh.

"Well, it's certainly a unique style of drawing, Frank. And, to be honest, you might have to explain it to me a bit. Like modern art."

The last bit was added on a second too late, like he had realised that he might have insulted me and was trying to make me feel better.

"Well, I think it's a fairly simple piece, actually. This is me, asking - no, begging - to see your drawings, and that's you showing them to me."

Just to clarify the childlike image I took the paper back and added two labels, Frank and Gee, with arrows, to the appropriate stick figures and then drew a speech bubble from 'my' mouth saying "please?".

That made him laugh even more and I had a sudden moment where I saw, once again and with amazing clarity, just how attractive Gerard was. As he laughed, his tiny teeth became visible and I smiled at the fact that even his teeth were adorable.

"Okay then, I'll show you some of my drawings. Not the ones I was just doing because they're... well, like I said, they're just really rough sketches. More likes ideas of sketches really. But I'll show you my current sketchbook if you really want."

He handed me a black, A4 spiral bound notebook which, like his t-shirt, had bits of paint splattered across it.

The first page was a beautiful group of colours, blended together so that I couldn't tell where one colour stopped and the next began. Over the top of that was the letter "G", drawn in a heavier black, and enclosed in a box.