The Trees Are Watching ~ Frerard

2. Between Mystery And Murder

Gerard's eyelids fluttered against the weight of sleep, an agonizing fight between mind and body as exhaustion pulled at his limbs. Something warm and wet tickled his forehead, but without even the strength to peel his eyes open, Gerard couldn't brush it away like he so desperately desired to. He imagined this was what being paralyzed felt like. The desire to move but unable to, as if he was cemented down by asphalt. He took time to focus on every individual limb, attempting to cause the slightest bit of action, but failing every time.

It was after a while a pounding sensation across the top of his skull came to his attention, the ache shifting his focus to relieve himself of the pain. Gerard soon realized that there was nothing he could do about that either, and thinking about the throbbing anguish only made it worse. Gerard wondered if he should merely allow himself to slip back under the trick of sleep, but just as he slowed his mind the teenager could feel his body relax and almost deflate, as if a tensing wire had been cut and everything attached to it went flaccid.

Out of nowhere, a shot of adrenaline allowed him to snap his eyes open, confusion consuming him when he was met with darkness again. Yet, he could make out darker shadows than the ones behind his eyes, informing him he was in fact awake due to the dimensions he saw. Gerard found he was able to move now, but only slow, turtle like movements else he feel a significant amount of pain throughout his head and upper body. He managed to heave himself into a sitting position, and attempted to take in his surroundings, but found it was difficult to see much due to the absolute darkness. He questioned what was surrounding him, for he didn't recall the occurrences that brought him here. Reaching out to graze his cold fingers against the darkest shadow, he discovered the material was stone.

Hard, icy rock formed a small cave completely around him. Gerard's heart sped up with panic as he wondered if he was trapped. He stood on shaky legs, taking a step forward to feel around the enclosure to confirm his theory, but something caught on his foot, causing him to trip and fall forward. His arms shot out to stop his fall, protecting his face yet doing nothing to prevent sharp pain from traveling through his limbs as he landed on his knees. When he collected himself and stood upright again, he turned back around to see what had caused his fall.

There on the ground laid Frank, unconscious and with a streak of blood starting at his temple and running down his poor, gorgeous face. The cheek that was pressed into the earth was covered with dirt, and his hair appeared ragged and filth-filled, fragments of leaves clinging to his ebony locks.

"Frankie!" Gerard shouted, hurling himself to his friend's side. Gripping the younger boy's shoulder, he shook his side  vigorously. "Come on, dude, get up! We're trapped in some fucking cave man, you've got to wake up so we can get the hell out!"

Frank didn't stir in the slightest, the only movement vibrating off of Gerard's desperate attempts to rouse his closest friend. Anxiety became a stronger force inside the older teen, dozens of questions raising in his mind. How had they ended up here, inside a cave with no entrance? Was Frank okay, did he need medical help? How long were they here? Could they escape? The last question made Gerard's stomach twirl and spin in acrobatic directions. Hundreds of scenarios ran through his mind of how he and Frank would never escape, and their skeletons would be somehow discovered years later. Gerard would have even less of a chance than he already did to confess his romance for his shorter friend, not even a sliver of a chance to date him as well.

Gerard knew if he could, he'd give his life to let Frank escape. If this was the twisted works of a killer, Gerard would distract and fight them off as best he could so the one holding his heart could run far away to safety. Even if he could never pursue Frank, Gerard would die happily knowing Frank would have other chances at love, and at life.

Gerard sat on his knees, leaning over his friend. Gently taking a strand of blood and dirt matted hair between his fingers, his pushed it aside to exam Frank's wound. With the pitch black strands out of the way, Gerard could just barely see a large scratch and a dark bruise forming right at Frank's temple, the red mark stretching down and thinning near the boy's eye. Seeing the injuries suddenly reminded Gerard of the hot, itchy feeling from only a few minutes ago, and the headache that followed it.

He reached his fingers up to his temple, and hissed in pain when they discovered a wound of his own, retracting instantly. Blood was smeared over his fingers, red and warm from an unknown cause. Glancing between himself and Frank, a sudden memory of the two tumbling downhill flashed in his mind, the pain of their heads clashing a reason for both their injuries. Gerard untucked his legs from his bottom and instead sat with them folded, leaning back against the wall. He took Frank's hand in his own, hope filling him at the warmth radiating from the younger.

"This is my fault," Gerard mumbled, "I shouldn't have let you come out here. What the fuck was I thinking?!" Everytime he spoke, Gerard desperately hoped Frank would wake up and respond, but something deep inside the older teenager said it would be at bit longer, and he shouldn't extensively worry yet, so he released Frank's hand and instead laid beside him on the ground, hoping he'd wake in his own bed, and the day's events would simply be a nightmare.