Death Is Strange

FIVE

"Frank. Psst. Gerard's at the door." Ray tapped Frank on the shoulder. "It's like ten o'clock, dude."

Frank squinted against the sunlight shining through the crooked blinds. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He buried his face in his pillow.

"Buddy, I gotta go. Can I let him in?" Ray asked.

"Yeah," Frank mumbled.

The door opened and shut. Frank rolled over. "Fuck!" he gasped.

Gerard was standing by the bed, clad in a oversized black sweatshirt and ripped jeans. His hair was wet, and he'd smeared on some eyeliner.

It should be illegal to look hot in a sweatshirt. Frank swallowed hard.

"Hi Frank." Gerard didn't look uncomfortable. In fact, he was sort of raping Frank with his eyes. "I thought you'd be up."

Motherfucker. Frank realized belatedly he was wearing boxers and nothing else. And that the sheets were tangled around his legs. "Yeah. Hey. You can... chill in here. I'm going to get ready. Give me like five minutes, okay?" He grabbed a change of clothes and toiletries and headed to the bathroom.

The shower water proved to be lukewarm and low pressure, but at least the bathroom was empty apart from two guys shit-talking some quote on the bathroom wall as they washed their hands. Then they were gone.

An image crept into Frank's mind. Gerard pressing him up against the shower tiles, kissing him, his tangled black hair dripping on Frank's shoulders, his bare skin slick from the water... and then suddenly Danny Worsnop invaded the daydream, a knife in his hand, kicking in the door and stabbing Gerard.

"Fucking kill me," Frank muttered, toweling off and dressing quickly, fabric catching on damp patches of skin.

He was brushing his teeth when the door opened.

Speak of the fucking devil.

Danny Worsnop sauntered in, and smiled scornfully. "You're that faggot that wrote Homophobia Is Gay on the fucking mirror. It had to have been you. Gerard doesn't have the balls to vandalize anything. Or does he? You must be pretty far up his ass by now." Danny laughed harshly. "Did I catch you at a bad time? You busy brushing your teeth? Why? Did he make you swallow?"

Frank ignored him, hands shaking as he rinsed his toothbrush. A red haze danced in his peripheral vision.

"Gerard gives a better blow job than any girl, by the way. Don't tell him I said so." Danny knocked Frank's stuff off the counter, then laughed again and left.

Gerard saw that something was wrong the moment Frank entered the room. "Jesus, dude, you look like you got stabbed. What the hell happened?"

"Danny," Frank said stiffly. "Said some bullshit about you and left. That's all." He took a couple deep breaths, dug through his dresser to find his studded belt.

Gerard mercifully changed the topic. "I have the same belt on. You don't mind twinning?"

"What?" Frank blinked. "No, it's great. I mean, twinning is fine. It's good. Cute." Wait what? You're fucking rambling. SHUT UP FRANK! His brain screamed.

Gerard giggled, and Frank loved the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the jet black eyeliner framing his sparkling eyes. They looked almost gold in this lighting.

But Frank knew better than to say anything over the shouts of his brain.

Gerard was proud of himself. He'd taken a shower and gotten dressed. No, first he'd gotten out of bed. That alone was huge. Then the shower. He smirked as he stared out the truck window, realizing he knew for a fact he was wearing deodorant. And eyeliner. Who the hell am I? His smirk widened into a grin, and he looked over at Frank. "You okay with eating at Mom's diner?"