Illumination of the End (Frerard)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Mrs. Way had carefully explained the rules to Frank and Gerard at the dinner table that night while Mikey awkwardly sat off to the side picking at the food on his plate. According to the new rules, Frank was no longer allowed to sleep in Gerard's room for obvious reasons. They had to be back at the house by eleven on weekdays, and by one on weekends. All in all, the rules weren't too bad. Frank was some what pleased with them. It gave him a little bit of structure in his life, which he had been greatly lacking ever since he left his home.

Frank decided to help wash the dishes after dinner, and it gave him that warm fuzzy feeling inside when Mrs. Way commented on how nice 'Gee-bear's boyfriend is'. He still laughed at the pet name, but Gerard never seemed embarrassed of it. Maybe it was because Gerard was so comfortable in his own skin that nothing could embarrass him. Frank was jealous; he was one of the people who constantly worried about what others though of him, and he looked up to Gerard for that reason. When Frank was around Gerard everything was better. Simply everything. 

"Gee-bear, you should've brought your boyfriend over before; I've been needing someone to help me clean up around the house," she said while playfully winking. Frank laughed and dried off the rest of the dishes then took a seat next to Gerard on the couch. Gerard was lucky that his mom was so.. okay with all of this. It was weird how happy she seemed to be. Maybe she was just happy that Gerard had a friend because when looking at Gerard's social status at school, it was apparent that he didn't have many companions other than his little brother... 

"You wanna go to the mall or something?" asked Gerard. Then Frank remembered that he was supposed to meet back up with Marcus to tell him if the pills had worked or not. And they had. A little too well... How was he supposed to explain that to Gerard? 'Oh, gimme a seond to go tell my drug dealer how fantasitic those pills were.' That wasn't going to happen, but he had to talk to Marcus somehow because who knows what would happen if he didn't. That guy had connections... The kind of connections where you could get away with murder... those kind of connections. Frank was trying to get out of all of that. He needed to separate himself from those people. He had Gerard now, and that was better than any type of drug. He'd think of an excuse when they got to the mall so he could quickly talk to Marcus, and then he'd meet back up with Gerard. It would be easy.

"Sure! Let's go." replied Frank with a smile. Gerard stood up and grabbed the keys off of the counter. "Mom, Frank and I are going to the mall, can I take the car?" he called out from over his shoulder. 

"Sure thing, sweetie, you two have fun," her voice replied softly from somewhere down the hallway on the other side of the house. Gerard twirled the keys around his finger as they climbed into the little beat up car. He twisted the ignition and the car roared to life. Gerard turned his face to Frank as they were stopped at an intersection. 

"Frank, what do you think your parents would say if they found out that you were...gay?" The question had come out of nowhere, but it had been apparent that Gerard had given it some thought before he finally asked it. 

"Um, I'm not really sure. My step dad... he'd probably make fun of me for it, then my mom would end up feeling sorry for me, but she wouldn't do anything to stop Vick..." answered Frank. The light turned green and Gerard focused back on the road. 

"I wish I could meet them, your parents.." he stated. Now Frank was just confused. Why in the hell would he want to meet them? Everything that Frank had said about them was negative... Who in there right mind would actually want to meet them? Frank didn't reply and the drove in silence until the two arrived at the mall. The place was packed with teenagers. Most of which went to their high school. It wasn't the biggest town, and this was about the only place to get out, other than the movie theater. 

Gerard grasped Frank's hand in his as they walked through the front entrance. The way people's heads whipped around as they looked down at their hands tangled up in one another's was ridiculous. It was like they had never seen a couple before. So what if it was two guys instead of a girl and a guy. Gender doesn't matter...but no one in this town, other than maybe just Mikey and Mrs. Way seemed to agree with that. A couple jocks stared them down as they walked, but Gerard and Frank weren't paying any attention to their bystanders. Frank had finally realized that people are always going to judge you, but in the end, being yourself is what will make you happy. Sounds cliche, I know, but you can't deny that that's the truth.

Frank still felt his ribs aching, and the side of his jaw was throbbing. Is that what everyone was looking at? No, no. It was definitely the hand holding. Frank could see Jared up in the distance; he was leaning on the railing of the second floor. For a moment the old Frank contemplated running up to him and pushing that fucker over the edge where he could fall all the way down to the first floor, but then he felt Gerard squeeze his hand tighter, and he relaxed.

He wanted to prove that he was stronger than Jared somehow. Not necessarily physically stronger, but... He just wanted to show him that Jared had no control over Frank, so in a moments decision, he stopped walking. There in the middle of the mall, with at least a hundred onlookers he crashed his lips onto Gerard's and they stood there with eyes burning into their back as they sloppily made out. Frank could feel Gerard smile halfway through their kiss, but Frank didn't let up. Not yet. He had to prove a point to everyone there that he no longer cared what they thought of him. Gerard finally pulled back for breath.

"Wow, Frankie..." he breathed out. "That was...that was nice." Frank bit his bottom lip and grinned. People stopped staring and went back to their shopping and gossiping. Frank and Gerard walked into a little music store that was stacked with dusty old records. Gerard rushed to one stack in the corner and skimmed through it. He seemed occupied, so it was the perfect time for Frank to slip out and find Marcus. 

"Gee, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick." he murmured into Gerard's ear. 

"Alright" he said, not looking up, for he was busy searching the records. Frank made his way to the back parking where Marcus was always parked. He found his car in the same spot it had been last night and he tapped his hand on the cold glass window. Frank wanted to make this quick. No sense in hanging around the kind of people he needed to get away from. 

The window rolled down and Marcus smiled. Frank could barely make out his face in the darkness, but he could see his teeth shine. "So how were the pills?" he asked in a cheerful voice.

"They.." Frank hesitated. "They worked... really well. A little too well, but yeah. They're legit."

Marcus nodded his head. "Y'know, I thought that maybe you weren;t gonna come back to see me, and then I'd have to kick your ass." he chuckled. Frank didn't find it funny, but he laughed anyways. "Well, I've got these other pills, they're supposed to-"

"No, no... I don't need anything else..." said Frank, cutting Marcus off. He was done with drugs... Especially pills. He didn't want to be chased by tress ever again.. 

"Whatever man, your loss," said Marcus, tossing his cigarette out the window. Frank turned around to walk back into the mall, but instead, he bumped into a tall figure. For a moment he thought that maybe it was Gerard, but no, he recognized the figure's deep voice from the cemetery. 

"Put your hands behind your back, your under arrest for possession of illegal substances," said the cop in a harsh tone. Another cop rushed to Marcus's car and pulled Marcus to the ground. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. Frank had never been caught with drugs before. Sure he had gone to the holding cell once or twice for a little crime, but this was a big deal now. Stuff like this could get him years in prison. How was he supposed to get himself out of this one? And what would Gerard think?