Welcome Home, You Fantastic Bastard (Frerard)

5 - The Other Guy

The sunny, early morning I finally got to leave the hospital was a huge relief for both me and Gerard. The two of us had grown exhausted of having to stay in the cramped, busy atmosphere. The amount of times the nurses came to check up on me and having to eat the bland hospital food had really started getting to us too. We couldn't wait to go home.

By that time, I was also feeling much better than I had when I had first woke up after the car accident. It may have just been the painkillers that were being rapidly pumped into my system, but I swore, I was in a lot less pain than I had been the first night, so I assumed that meant I was doing a whole lot better. 

Either way, I was going to be sent home with a prescription for even more lovely pills and a pair of crunches to keep me off my leg. I wasn't a huge fan of being restricted to that, but I had been the one who cluelessly walked into the middle of the road after throwing a temper tantrum. 

Gerard was surprisingly more than happy to drive me back to his (our) home, where he promised I could stay for as long as I needed to. Secretly, I suspected that he was still a bit hesitant about having me back around, but it seemed as though the guilt from the accident may have been getting to him. 

Once inside, he assisted me in walking to his (our) bedroom, but I stopped before I passed through the doorframe instead of following him in.

"What's the matter?" he asked, shooting me a confused look that forced me to clarify. "I know for a fact that you're not a vampire, so you don't need to ask permission to come inside".

"Are you sure you want me in here?" I questioned. It was his personal space after all, and I wasn't all too sure he was actually comfortable yet with letting me sleep in his bed rather than the couch.

He barely even considered it, "Yes, now go on. Go lie down". 

Being back in our old, shared bed definitely brought back even more memories than being on the living room couch did. I remembered the sweet moments in which I held him all throughout the night, being able to feel his gentle skin against mine and breathing in his wonderful scent that was always so unique to just him. I always adored burying my face in his long, tangly, black hair and hearing him giggle in response (that is, until he cut most of it off and dyed it pure white). 

Of course, there were the other memories in which Gerard and I had a little too much fun in our bed, but unfortunately he began speaking again before I had the chance to reminisce about any of those.

"Do you need anything?" He asked once I had managed to climb onto the bed and adjust my leg comfortably. 

I shook my head but offered him a thankful smile. In all honesty, I was beyond tired at this point in the day, and all the heavy-duty medicine from the hospital was starting to wear off. I really just wanted close my eyes and drift off to sleep for the day, even though it was still only midday. 

Gerard flashed a beautiful smile back and replied, "Okay, I'm going to go sit in the other room then and let you relax. Just call me in if you need anything". 

I was relieved we were on the same page, but at the same time, I felt a ping of sadness in my heart as he turned to exit the room. Truthfully, I would've preferred if he stayed in the room with me, lying alongside me, but I was still too timid about asking, not believing him about his opinion of where the two of us currently stood with each other. I knew he loved me, but I guess I was continuing to struggle to understand as to why he still did.  

I did end up passing out for a good couple of hours and woke up feeling unexpectedly refreshed rather than groggy and cranky. I soon realized though, that I was now in immense pain. My body ached and I craved my prescribed painkillers that Gerard promised he would pick up for me later in the day. 

However, I soon noticed something else, that temporarily distracted me from the pain firing itself around my body. The door to the bedroom was closed all the way, but I could have sworn I heard faint talking on the other side. I assumed it was just Gerard making a phone call or something along those lines, but after he finished speaking, I heard another unfamiliar voice being emitted from the other room with him. 

With my body desperately trying to resist me from standing on my feet, I struggled a bit with getting out of bed, but eventually, with my strength building itself back up, I was able to make my way over to the door and put my ear up against it to listen in on Gerard's conversation.

"Sorry, I'm just kind of busy right now, but I promise I'll call you another time, all right?" I heard Gerard say. He sounded uneasy and hesitant, which worried me. 

A slightly deeper and calmer voice that sounded just as equally unhappy replied to him, "Are you sure everything's okay? I feel like you've been purposely avoiding me lately, almost as if you don't want me around anymore. Did I do something wrong?"

Gerard was silent for a moment until he ended up taking a deep breath and suddenly shifting his tone to sound much more joyous, "Nothing's wrong. I've just been caught up with work lately is all. Don't worry. We'll be able to hang out soon". 

"Okay, I believe you... see you later, Gee. I love you". 

The unknown man's last three words are what shocked me the most. Who did this guy think he was, telling my Gerard that he loved him... was my Gerard not telling me something? What the hell was going on!?

"Yeah, see you later," Gerard called out down the hall as he shut the door to the apartment.

Then, I heard Gerard's footsteps approaching a little too close to the bedroom door for my comfort, so I rushed as fast as I could with a fractured leg back to the bed and lied down again, acting as if I hadn't moved at all since he had seen me earlier. I was very glad that I had done so too, because after a couple of minutes, Gerard did actually end up coming into the bedroom.

Within seconds, I squeezed my eyes shut, pretending I was fast asleep and definitely didn't hear the ominous yet exasperating conversation between him and a stranger a few minutes prior. 

For a moment, there was just peaceful stillness when Gerard reached the bed. During that time, my eyes desperately fought to open back up and gaze at him but I managed to win against them. 

Eventually, Gerard sat down next to me on the side of the bed, continuing to feed into the silence. Suddenly, I felt his fingers gently glide up my bare arm that I had rested on top of the sheets, and I tried my best not to jump or shiver out of surprise. 

Then, without me realizing at first, he managed to sneak up even closer and leaned down to give me a kiss that was so soft it almost felt surreal against my forehead. I couldn't help but to smile at that.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," he whispered. I mentally sighed at that. Luckily, he thought I had just woken up. I didn't want him to know I had overheard the conversation just yet. Especially, if there was something more serious going on that he didn't plan on telling me about.

I had heard the mysterious exchange well enough earlier to know that Gerard definitely didn't return the "I love you" to the other man. That calmed my nerves at little bit, but the fact that the stranger would've said it in the first place seemed odd to me. Who was he? I knew Gerard had a little brother, but I had met him before, and judging by the voice, I was positive that it wasn't him who had paid a visit. 

"I love you Frank," Gerard murmured as he leaned down again to kiss me, but this time on the lips. Just then, all my worries about that other guy melted away along with my overjoyed heart. I had to admit, after all these years, kissing Gerard always still seemed to temporarily fix everything.