Stockholm Syndrome (Frerard)

The Great Escape

Gerard spent the rest of the night in the hospital, buried under the dull, white, scratchy sheets of his bed. Due to the fact that no matter how hard he tried he could not fall asleep, he ended up staring blankly at one the walls, reminiscing about some of the pleasant times he had had with Frank.

In the other corner of the room, Mikey, who was tired from all of the commotion, had passed out on one of the chairs. Finally, he was quiet, which satisfied Gerard.

Mikey had tried telling him that the chances of Frank coming back for him were practically nonexistent, but Gerard wasn't convinced. Frank would come back. He'd find a way.

Gerard felt quite useless being kept away in a hospital room where Frank certainly wasn't going to think to look. He needed to get out of there, but based off of his latest outburst and the stupid Stockholm syndrome condition thing everyone was suddenly accusing him of having, he didn't know how easy it was going to be for him.

Although, the ticket out of there may have just been sleeping only a few feet away from him. If he could convince Mikey, who was apparently deemed sane even though he hunted down Gerard against his will like some sort of stalker, that he was perfectly fine, there'd be a bigger chance that he'd be able to get released much sooner. All he'd have to do is lie, and Frank had been a great role model to learn all about how to do that from.

So, the next morning when the nurses came to check on Gerard, he acted like an absolute doll in front of them and his brother. "Pleases" and "thank yous" were being spewed out left and right, along with adorable little smiles that lit up their faces. Mikey watched with astonishment from the corner of the room.

"How are you feeling?" Mikey decided to ask once all the nurses had left for a while.

"Much better," Gerard lied, just as he had to everyone else who had asked that horrid question to him every other minute of the day.

This seemed to please Mikey. Seeing Gerard safe and happy was all he wanted. But his version of that didn't involve Frank at all.

"I'm so glad you're back," Mikey added after a while. Gerard was leisurely with his response, as he really didn't care to talk with Mikey. He was much more focused with drawing on his breakfast napkin with a pen he had found lying around. But remembering his plan, he forced himself to spit out something kind.

"Yeah, so am I. I missed you". There went another lie, yet somehow Mikey still hadn't managed to catch on. This was almost too easy.

Gerard spent the rest of his day in the hospital coming up with all sort of false statements regarding the kidnapping situation. Suddenly, he didn't seemed fazed by the fact that Frank was gone, and told all the nurses all about how he was looking forward to finally getting to attend his dream school. With a few more innocent smiles added in, the red-head became adored by the staff.

"These idiots don't even realize I'm manipulating them into leaving sooner. Frank would be so proud to see me now".

After speaking with a couple of psychologists and therapists, Gerard was somehow sighed off to be able to go home within the next couple of days. His planned worked. 

When the day finally came, and everything was set for Gerard to be discharged from the hospital, Mikey drove him straight to his own home, rather than Gerard's. Mikey didn't mention it to him, but he was concerned that if Frank happened to be on the loose still, the first place he would go would be Gerard's house. And the last thing he wanted was to run into Frank.

Thankfully, the police were going to spent the next few days and nights parked outside the front of the house as well, for the protection of the two boys, so they could be there to arrest their little, murdering, kidnapper.

Gerard was relieved to finally be able to leave the hospital. The familiarity of his brother's house was oddly comforting and unintentionally distracting.

"You can sleep in my bed if you'd like," Mikey offered as Gerard lied down on the living room couch.

"It's okay. I'm fine here".

Gerard, who was exhausted once again, gently closed his eyes, hoping to just fall asleep. He was beyond stressed and really just wanted to be alone, but that seemed to be extremely rare for him lately.

Mikey stood awkwardly in one corner of the room, watching carefully over his older brother. It probably wasn't necessary to be so protective over him at this point, but he just wanted to be sure. Gerard was safe at his home right now, and Mikey needed to make sure that it absolutely stayed that way.

Grabbing a nearby blanket, Mikey laid it gently on top of Gerard, who surprisingly smiled slightly at the gesture. Then, with one last reassuring glance back at the couch, Mikey left the room to try to focus his mind on something other than his brother for the first time in weeks.

For the next couple of hours, Gerard drifted in and out of sleep as he tossed and turned on the couch. Every time he woke up, he took a look around, only to remember that he was trapped in his new, horrible reality again.

By the time night had fallen, he was growing sick of only dreaming of Frank returning rather than it happening for real. However, that's also when he realized he wasn't doing much to help. If he wanted reunite with Frank, then he was going to have to play his part.

So, without a second thought, Gerard jumped up off the couch and grabbed a jacket, heading to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice asked from behind him, sounding rather irritated.

Gerard rolled his eyes and turned around, "I need some fresh air". Meeting eyes with his brother, he knew Mikey didn't approve one bit.

He crossed his arms, "No you don't. You just want to run off looking for Frank, don't you?"

"No," Gerard argued. "I told you, I don't care about him anymore. I'm just going out to get some fresh air. That's it".

However, when Gerard reached for the door knob, Mikey grabbed ahold of Gerard's arm with one quick movement. Gerard gave him a look of hatred, trying to intimidate him with his eyes.

Mikey didn't back down though, "You're not leaving, you filthy liar".

"I'm an adult! You can't tell me what to do". Gerard tried to shake himself free of Mikey's hold, but he only tightened his grip in response.

"You're an absolute idiot is what you are," he shot back, now clearly becoming angry at an alarming rate. "What do you think is going to happen? You'll just somehow happen to run into Frank and the two of you will happily run off together into the sunset never to be seen again? This is reality, Gerard, and Frank is going to end up in prison no matter what, and you'll never get to lay your pathetic heart-eyes on him again".

"He's coming back for me," Gerard replied sternly. Suddenly, it was becoming difficult to stay calm. He could feel the rage surging through him, and he desperately wanted to release it on Mikey.

"Why do you even want him to?!" Mikey shouted in disbelief. "He's a fucking psychopath! He kidnapped you and kept you locked away for weeks, using you to only keep himself happy. Because of him, you've lost your goddamn mind! The only reason he's desperately clinging to you is because no one else can stand him. He doesn't really care about you! He doesn't love you at all!"

"You take that back, you asshole!!!" Gerard screamed.

Within an instant, Gerard threw his fist forward at Mikey at full force. It collided with the side of his fragile face, throwing him backwards. Gerard punched him again. And again. Pretty soon, Mikey fell to the ground, finally thinking to cover his face from Gerard.

While he was down, Gerard took the opportunity to bolt out of the front door and into the night. Mikey, with blood dripping down his face and out of his nose, somehow managed to stand himself up and was quickly able to inform the police officers outside that Gerard was trying to run off. With one quick glance at his beaten up face, they didn't hesitate in turning on their sirens and taking off after Gerard.