The next morning, Gerard woke up to find that Frank's side of the mattress was empty. He sat up blinking in confusion for a moment, wondering where the hell he could have gone. It seemed way too early to be doing anything. Gerard grabbed his phone from his bag to check the time, and was surprised to find that it was almost half nine. Holy shit, he almost never slept in that late, he was always awake at around eight. He must have been seriously comfortable last night.
Just as he was about to close his phone, he saw that he had a new message:
Frank - I've just gone to get us breakfast, didn't want to wake you up
Gerard - hurry back, i'm starving
Frank - almost done!
He was back about 15 minutes later, carrying a box of pastries with two cups of coffee balanced on top. Gerard rushed forward to grab them before they fell. They walked over to the bed and sat down, and Frank opened the box as Gerard handed him his coffee.
"It smells so good..." Gerard murmured dreamily, the warmth of the coffee spreading through his whole body as he took a sip. "Thanks Frank."
Frank laughed in disbelief. "It's only coffee Gerard; you make it sound as if I've given you the most amazing thing in the world."
"I like my coffee!" Gerard said defensively, clutching the cup to his chest.
"Yeah, I noticed." Frank smiled and leaned forward to take a pastry from the box. Gerard took a few more sips of coffee before eating.
When they were done, Frank gathered up everything that needed to be thrown out as Gerard got dressed. They figured that they should leave soon, since Frank had promised he'd be back home early, so they packed everything up and put the mattress away, along with all the props Frank had brought down. Then, they were ready to go.
It was Gerard that walked Frank back to his house this time, although only to the end of his street. Frank didn't want his parents to get suspicious if they saw the two of them walking home together. He hugged Gerard briefly, stepping back to glance around cautiously at the neighbouring houses. He had told Gerard that the neighbours hadn't been afraid to snitch on him before for whatever reason. It was a very different area to where Gerard lived, even though it was only a few streets away. Frank had also removed his lip ring, Gerard noticed curiously. He asked him why.
"Uh, well... My parents don't exactly know I've got it. I have an older cousin who's friend does piercings, so he brought me to get it done last summer when we went to visit."
"Doesn't it bother you that you have to hide so much from your parents?" Gerard asked.
Frank shrugged and looked away. "I guess. But it'll be over soon, as soon as I finish high school."
Gerard wanted to reach forward and hold him reassuringly, but then he remembered what Frank had said about the neighbours, and he had to restrain himself. It was hard, not being able to do anything about it.
"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow in school," Frank said when he looked back up.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. I had a great time yesterday," Gerard smiled.
"Maybe we'll get to do it again sometime." Frank smiled back and waved goodbye as he turned to leave. Gerard watched him go, wishing they had more time together. At least at least he'd see him in school tomorrow.
"Hi honey. Did you have a good time at Frank's?"
"Hey mom." She was just in the kitchen, making lunch apparently. Gerard went over to hug her. "It was great fun."
