Illumination of the End (Frerard)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Gerard's eyes grew big as he turned his head to Frank, who's eyes matched Gerard's. They stood there, frozen for a split second. Gerard felt as if his feet were glued to the floor, and the bad slung over his shoulder had become heavy with the stolen suit. What now? A tall man from behind the store counter started towards them. Frank pulled at Gerard's arm, knocking him out of his trance, and before he knew it, they were running again. Running as fast as they could, just like always, but this time, someone was chasing them.

Obviously, they had no idea where they were going, but when Frank turned his head around to see that the man behind the counter was gaining on them, he made a rash decision, for if they were caught, surely they would go to jail, then they would find that Frank was wanted for murder. Not okay with Frank. He'd rather not spend the rest of his life locked up in a cell, so he ripped the bag with the suit from Gerard's hands and opened it as they still bolted down the busy New York side walks. He dug his hand around in the bag until he found what he was looking for. The tie. He thought that maybe if he threw out the tie, the man would stop chasing them, thinking that it was all they had stolen. Not the best plan, but it was all he could think of in the short amount of time given to him.

Gerard shot a worried look at Frank, but he was too busy whipping his arm around to throw the tie behind them to notice. Just as he had planned, the man chasing them, stopped to pick up the tie, and he looked quite satisfied with himself. Little did he know, that wasn't all they had taken from the store. The tall man shouted some inaudible curses at the boys, but they couldn't hear over their heavy breathing. At least he had stopped chasing them, and he even turned back around in direction of the suit store. 

Gerard and Frank both suddenly slowed their pace to a fast walk; their adrenaline was pumping much too fast to resort to normal walking just yet. Frank smiled while Gerard shook his head and took a deep breath. 

"That was fuckin' close." Gerard said in between breaths.

Frank was still smiling. They had gotten exactly what they had needed, so Gerard should be happy. Now that Gerard had that suit, he could impress everyone at the interview tomorrow. Maybe their plan for getting the suit hadn't gone exactly as planned, but it had worked none the less. 

"Well, now you've got your suit." Frank stated.

Gerard finally smiled and nodded with his head tilted to the side ever so slightly. "Yeah, but we really need to stop the whole 'smooth criminal' thing. We can't keep running from things like that. If we keep this shit up, were bound to get caught..."

"I know, I know. Once you get this job, we wont need steal anything ever again. We'll be able to buy our own apartment and live together." They slowed down to a normal walking pace. Gerard was excited. Very excited... but then again, he was nervous too. What if he didn't get the job? He only had a few of his drawings that Frank had brought... What if it wasn't enough for Cartoon Network to hire him? They were a big company, and Gerard was sure they didn't normally hire homeless teenagers with a few decent sketches.

"What if I don't get the job, Frankie?"

"Gerard," Frank sighed. "Don't be a pessimist. You're going to get the job. I know it."

"But what if you're wron-"

"Gerard!" Frank shouted. "You'll get the job." 

Gerard cowered down and decided to end the conversation there. Frank was stressed because they needed to find the building where the Cartoon Network offices were; they would have to find a place to sleep close by the building. The shelter was too far away for them to make it to the interview on time the next day, so they needed an alternative.