Here's to the Heartache (Frerard) *Discontinued*

32: Time Flies

Time passed in that fleeting fashion it has, proving the old saying true since it only seemed to fly by when Frank was actually enjoying himself, which he was now that he had Gerard in his life. It seemed like just yesterday that Frank had turned eighteen, but now months had slipped by, Christmas had gone, and January was quickly coming to a close as well.

This was the first time in years that Frank had been looking forward to the holidays. Typically he spent the day with his mother playing happy family until he could escape to Pete's home for a real Christmas celebration, which he still did, but then he headed over to Gerard's for the evening. He had helped him and Mikey make dinner, or attempted anyway, and although the turkey had been borderline inedible, falling asleep in Gerard's arms was the best gift Frank could have asked for.

The holidays had been a lovely blur to Frank, most of his days were lately, and for once, he wasn't just surviving, but living. The bad occurrences were drowned out by the good, mostly Gerard if Frank was being honest, even if they still had to be careful with their relationship.

It was hard at times to keep their secret, but Frank was becoming adjusted to it. The most important people in his life knew anyway, mainly Pete, Ryan, and Brendon. Gerard even came with Frank to spend time with his friends at the bar, not just to drink. His efforts to interject himself into Frank's life meant the world to him, although Pete wasn't willing to hang out with Gerard yet, he still didn't like when he was mentioned all that much, but that was fine, Frank didn't expect his friend to instantly accept the man again, if ever, although he hoped that one day he would.

Sometimes Frank wished that he and Gerard had a more traditional relationship, one that his best friend would approve of, one that he could flaunt proudly whenever he wanted, but Gerard was worth all of the worries, and the bouts of fear, and the hiding, because he made Frank happy, so he would do everything he could to keep their status just between them and the people he trusted. He wasn't going to fuck this up, because they deserved this joy, and Frank refused to lose it by slipping up in any way.

And Frank was determined to do just that. They had made it so far already, and now his graduation date was in sight, so they could do this, and then they could truly be together - hopefully. Frank knew all of their problems wouldn't magically disappear once he was finished with high school, he would always have his mother to deal with after all, not to mention Gerard could still get in trouble if anyone discovered that they had been dating while Frank was his student, but Frank was going to think positively for once until he was given a reason not to.

Frank had no idea what was going to happen once May came and went, when he would be officially considered an adult in society's eye, he never had actually, even before Gerard came into his life, but at least now he had hope. He always assumed he'd simply start working full time at the restaurant, that he'd take care of his mother until she became too much for him to handle, but he had no goals, no aspirations for himself, not really.

How could he when he always had his mother to worry about, and yes - she was vaguely functioning now, but Frank knew she would get worse, she was already declining, which meant that college was iffy, if not out of the question entirely.

Frank wasn't even sure if he could afford a higher education, they weren't exactly well off, but he could probably swing the local community college, especially if he got a scholarship or two, but so far he hadn't been approached by any colleges.

He was a good student, but he wasn't especially driven, he couldn't even pick what degree he'd like to pursue if he was asked, so continuing on with school always seemed pointless to Frank. Maybe he would at least complete his basics though, inspiration might hit him later on if he did, and Frank had a feeling that once he stopped going to school, it would be difficult to get back into it if he changed his mind later.