Leila was in a rage after Frank and Gerard told her what James did, but much as they hated the guy, they convinced her not to kill him. They couldn't change the fact that everyone knew, so their main concern now was trying to keep the news away from Frank's parents. It wasn't going to be easy, because in a small town like theirs everyone knew everything about everybody. Frank was worried sick, and they met up a lot more frequently than usual. Gerard tried to comfort him as best as he could, but it was hard when even he knew that there was no way they wouldn't find out.
But then weeks started to pass and still nothing happened. Before they knew it, Christmas was a month away and London only a week. People were getting so excited about the trip that some of them were actually starting to forget about Frank and Gerard. It certainly made school slightly more bearable. Sure, they might still hear a nasty comment every now and then, but other than that they were pretty much left alone.
Until James happened. Again.
Clearly, he was afraid of Leila. Frank and Gerard hung out with her all the time so he tended to keep his distance, but one day Leila had to skip school for a violin recital and all hell broke loose. James became a lot more vocal around them and wasn't afraid to get all up and their faces now that Leila was gone. He waited until the end of the day to corner the two of them in the parking lot after school had finished, slamming Frank into the wall as one of his friends did the same with Gerard.
"Look, I don't want any trouble, so let me make this clear."
Frank attempted to shove back. "All you do is look for trouble!"
James only shoved him harder. "You really don't want to mess with me."
Gerard was struggling pretty hard in his own corner. "What do you want James?"
"I want you out," he said, spitting the last word out for emphasis. "I want you gone, both you and the other fag."
Frank couldn't help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation, which probably only made matters worse. "We can't just disappear like some kind of magic trick!"
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure..." A smug look flashed accross James' face. "How far away do you think mommy and daddy will be willing to ship you to be fixed once they find out you're going against every christian value they believe in? How much distance do you think they'd be willing to put between you and the fag that corrupted you?"
Gerard had stayed relatively still up until that point, but hearing someone threaten Frank like that filled him with anger. He managed to get an arm free and lashed out blindly as hard as he could, hitting they guy holding him down square in the chest with his elbow. The guy shouted out in pain and backed away slightly, cursing under his breath. James swore and let go of Frank, shoving him one last time against the wall, hard. He got hold of the front of Gerard's sweater and raised a fist, and Gerard closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact but a voice called out from behind them.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
It was mr. Urie, and at hearing his voice Gerard let out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes again. James let go of him and backed away until he was standing next to his friend. Gerard rushed over to Frank and put a protective arm around him, much to his protests.
Mr. Urie glared at James and didn't say a word, he only motioned for everyone to follow him back inside. He went straight to the principal's office and told Frank and Gerard to wait outside. He came back out only five minutes later, leaving the two jocks to be dealt with by the principal. He asked Frank and Gerard to follow him into his classroom, and made them sit down in the front row while he leaned back against his desk.
