Illumination of the End (Frerard)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Hey, wait up," called out Gerard from behind Frank. He just kept his head faced forward and continued to walk in direction of... Well he didn't really know where he was going to be honest. Frank was confused by Gerard. No one ever bothered to talk to Frank, so why did this guy insist on talking to him. And the blanket... What kind of stranger wraps a blanket around a lonely kid in a cemetery in the middle of the night? And why was Gerard in the cemetery anyway? Frank knew the guy was weird; he heard rumors about him that were passed around the school from time to time. Frank whipped his head around and found Gerard half a step away from his face. He backed up and he noticed Gerard's hurried breathing... Someone obviously wasn't used to exercise...

"What do you want?" he asked, clearly annoyed as Gerard huffed and puffed trying to catch his breath. 

"Y-you forgot the blanket," he said holding it out for Frank to take. Frank didn't want to admit that he needed that blanket, for he'd lose some of his dignity if he took it now. Gerard's eyes showed that he was sincere; he wasn't going to try and poke fun at Frank like anyone else from school would've done. Frank didn't want anyone's help; he was perfectly fine on his own. 

"I don't need your fucking blanket, okay?" he said in a harsh tone. Gerard sulked back a little, and gave him a sympathetic, yet also sad look. A little part of Frank felt bad for being so rude, but the majority of his consciousness told him to block out strangers and to keep to himself like he normally did. 

"Look," said Gerard with a sigh,"I was just trying to help..." He brought his arm that was grasping the blanket back to his side and stick his other hand in his front pocket. For a split second, Frank thought about apologizing for acting rude, but instead, he kept up with his pissed off persona. 

"Just leave me the fuck alone, faggot." Frank immediately regretted the last word he had said. The rumors he heard about Gerard were normally along the lines of 'Did you hear that one kid finally came out of the closet' or 'Yea, I saw him making out with some guy the other day.' Frank had always hated that word. Faggot. He'd been called it many more times than he would like to admit. He knew what it was like to be called that, and he saw the hurt in Gerard's eyes as the word slipped out of his mouth. Gerard's face grew sad and he looked down to the ground, turned on his heels, and walked in the opposite direction back down the same way they had came. 

Well at least he was gone now... That's what Frank had wanted, right? Frank spent the rest of his day wandering around the downtown area. Maybe he'll go to school tomorrow... but that would mean that he would have to somehow get his textbooks from his hous- no 'the hell hole'. That's what he decided to call it from now on. The sun was making it's way back down in the sky, while the moon started to rise. Frank found his way back to the cemetery gate, but this time the padlock was secured on it. That must mean that Gerard wasn't there like last night. He climbed over the iron fence and found the familiar mausoleum door. 

There sat the blanket that Gerard had offered to him, neatly folded and leaned up against the wall. So Gerard was here? Maybe he just left it and then went home. Frank resented Gerard at that moment. He probably had a home and a family. All Frank had was a bag of clothes and apparently a blanket too. He tossed the blanket aside and sat there until the darkness brought the cold wind along with it. He glanced at the blanket as he sat shivering. "Maybe I should just use it" he thought to himself. But then again, what if Gerard was watching... It would show how weak Frank really was if he used it, but in the end, Frank gave in to the cold and curled up with the blanket wrapped tightly around his torso. As he sat there, the warmth of the blanket keeping him somewhat comfortable considering he was laying on a giant slab of marble, he felt bad for treating Gerard the way he had. He especially regretted calling him that one word. Faggot. His body shuddered as he remembered how mean he was. Gerard was just trying to help... but why? Why would anyone ever try to help Frank? He was an outcast, but then again so was Gerard...

"I'll apologize if I see him at school," he confirmed in his mind. He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning. Surprisingly, Gerard stayed in his thoughts throughout the night. Frank could remember the hurt look in Gerard's hazel eyes all too clearly. 

It was strange... Frank never let anyone phase him. He didn't give a flying fuck about other people's feelings, but there was something about Gerard that tugged at his heart; told him to drop his angst and attitude.  

Frank was woken again in the middle of the night; except this time, it wasn't because he was freezing, it was his stomach growling. Begging for food. 

When was the last time he ate? At least a few days ago. How was he going to eat if he had no money? He could steal... He'd done it plenty of times before, or he could go to school, they serve free breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria... Yes, he decided he would go to school tomorrow, but that also meant he would need to get his textbooks before his parents woke up. He groaned and stood up. After packing the blanket into his bag, he headed to the hell hole. He unlatched his bedroom window and climbed in. 

The house was silent, but Frank wasn't going to wander around. He came for one thing, so he grabbed his backpack and quietly climbed back out of his room, but then he remembered the coffee table in the living room... It was were Vick usually left his wallet... He hopped back inside and slid through the house. Sure enough, Vick's wallet sat on the table calling out to Frank. He didn't have to think twice before he took every last dollar bill in it. It certainly wasn't much. From the looks of the wad of cash in his hands, it couldn't be more than fifty dollars, but anything was better than nothing at this point. 

By the time Frank arrived at school, after walking from the hell hole, the sun was rising and the normal buzz of the town began. Soccer moms driving their kids to school. People headed off to work. The first bell rang, and Frank rushed to his class. School was boring, just as always. At least that offered Frank some sort of consistency in his life. He could always count on school to be boring, probably the only thing that he was certain about. 

Frank found himself scanning the hallways for Gerard. Finally at lunch, he spotted him in a corner of the cafeteria, picking at the food on his tray. But Frank had something more important to do before he could apologize. He needed food, so he loaded up his tray and then walked in Gerard's direction. Gerard lifted his head up as he saw Frank coming towards him. He glanced to his side, not expecting Frank to be coming his way. He say his tray down with a thump and sat in the seat across from him, yet he didn't look up to meet Gerard's gaze. Then he finally spoke. 

"I, uh, I'm sorry about what I said to you the other day..."

"What? Sorry that you called me a faggot? Don't be. I'm used to it now," replied Gerard as he stared into Frank's eyes trying to see if he was being sincere, or of he was trying to make Gerard look like an idiot. Frank reached down and took a bite of his slice of pizza then looked at Gerard and shook his head. 

"I know how it feels, okay? I just wanted to say sorry because... I felt bad." Frank surprised himself by his words. He had certainly never opened up to someone like this before. Gerard nodded and Frank continued shoving the food into his mouth. At last, his stomach didn't feel so hollow. 

"Well, thanks I guess... Uh, you seem pretty hungry..."

"I haven't eaten in days," stated Frank and then cursed at himself for revealing the gravity of his current situation to Gerard. 

"Oh.. Here take mine," he insisted as he pushed his tray towards Frank. Frank didn't object his offering this time and began devouring Gerard's leftovers. 

"Why do you keep helping me?" questioned Frank with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. 

"Because why wouldn't I?" 

"Well for starters, I'm a dick. I'm well aware of that." stated Frank appearing to be somewhat proud of acknowledging the fact that everyone knew he was a total dick. 

Gerard shook his head. "But you're not being a dick right now." 

Frank was annoyed at this. Being a dick was his trademark of sorts, yet when he was around Gerard he wanted to at least attempt to be civil with him. This made him uncomfortable and he shifted in his seat. Gerard noticed his awkwardness and let out a sigh. 

"Thanks for the blanket," Frank mumbled as he got up, threw away his food, and walked to his next class.