I'll Never Let Them Hurt You - Frerard -

4.

"Hey, who's that girl you normally hang out with Gee?" Hayley asks me.

Gee. Huh, that's new. Only Mikey really calls me that.

"Oh, that's Lyn-Z," I respond. "She's uh, not here today."

"Oh, shame," Jamia cuts in. "Her boots are sick, she have our lunch?"

"Yeah, she changed it for us," I say, motioning to Mikey.

"That's sweet of her," Ryan says with a small smile. I notice that he's sitting very close to Brendon, almost as if he's scared to be by anyone else. I can't help but wonder if there's something else going on between them two, but I'd never dare ask.

"So is it true that Lyn-Z has a key?" Hayley asks, which earns her slap on the arm from Ray.

"What?!" She asks. "I'm not being rude I just wanna know. I don't care if she's lesbian, if I cared about that kind of thing I wouldn't be sitting at this table watching Ryan and Brendon practically fuck every day during lunch. And I most definetly wouldn't be friends with them, or the rest of the gays sitting at this table."

"I mean, she's not wrong," Pete says. "I think that Ray's the only one that's not at least a little gay at this table."

Brendon chuckles at that. "I mean, you say you're straight Toro, but you hang out with this group of gay fools. I mean, Wentz here is practically fawning over this guy at our school but he won't just fucking talk to him," he says while giving Pete a glare.

It seems like Mikey frowns at that. If only he knew who Brendon was really talking about, he's kinda oblivious to shit like that.

"Wait," Mikey says. "Frank, aren't you and Jamia like, dating?"

"No no no!" They both say at the same time. "Just friends," Jamia clarifies.

"Just really close friends," Frank adds on.

"Anyway, so back to your friend," Hayley switches the subject again. "She gay?"

"I don't think that's really my question to answer," I say.

"Valid. Well, when she comes back, tell her to sit at our table. I'd love to get to know her," Hayley responds.

"Sure," I say with a shrug.

~

The rest of lunch wasn't that eventful. I learned that Brendon is dating Ryan, that Frank and Jamia are NOT soulmates, I learned that Ray has a crush on this cheerleader named Christa, and I learned that Hayley has a crush on Nicole (who's not here today.) I learned that Josh (who's also not here today) has a boyfriend named Tyler who goes to a private school in Summit (NJ.) I also learned that Pete had a past fling with Patrick, but it didn't work out and now they're best friends. Another thing I learned is to stay the fuck away from Dallon Weekes.

Apparently he's Brendon's psycho ex.

Yikes.

Anyway, after lunch period was over I head to my trig class, which I actually despise. Like, when am I ever gonna need to know any of this shit in real life?!

I'm walking to my trig class, trying to stall for as long as I could when I hear my name.

"Hey! Gee!" I turn around and see Frank walking towards me and I felt something in me change. I don't know if it's because he was alone, but when I looked at him he looked beautiful. His hair, his tatoo's, his eyes, everything. He was gorgeous. But, almost as quickly as the feeling appeared it was gone. But it did change the way I see Frank now.

"Wanna ditch 6th?"

"Sure," I say with a smile.

He smiles at that and we walk out of the side doors together.

"So where exactly are we going?" I ask him.

"You'll see," He says with a smile. "We're not going very far."

We round the side of the school to the back, and he stops there. It's a little corner that's hidden away from the roads where we can just chill out.

"It's really nothing special, it's just my "smoke-spot", you don't have a problem with smoking right?"

"Nah, I'm used to it it's alright."

"Okay cool," He says, then pulls out a cigarette package and lighter from his front pocket.

"If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious, what's the real reason you and your friends came to talk to us today?"

He flicks his eyes up to me, then he's quickly back to being focused on lighting his cigarette.

"You want the truth?" He asks.

"No, I want you to lie to me," I say sarcastically.

He slightly laughs at that. "Touche. Well, I think you might've picked up on this but Pete totally has a thing for your brother. Brendon was talking to Pete about it and he just so happened to see you guys. Brendon just wanted Pete to man up and talk to Mikey is all."

"Oh I see. So.. you guys just wanted my brother, not me."

"No no, shit, that's not what I meant," he says frantically.

"Well, it kinda sounded like that."

"No, Gee, that's not what I meant. If I only cared about Mikey I would've invited him out here, not you."

"He wouldn't have come anyway," I respond.

"See, I knew I liked you," Frank said.

"I'm sure you don't care that much," I retort.

"Why would I invite you to my "sacred spot" then?" He asks with a smile.

"To get me to trust you," I shrug. "You want me to believe you care. You want me to get so comfortable around you, so trusting and dependant on you. You want me to become your friend so the pain, sadness, and betrayal in my eyes when you walk away and hurt me is 10 times more satisfying for you."

Frank has a completely shocked look on his face and I almost think I see sadness behind his eyes. I wonder if I possibly overshared there, but before I can attempt to take it back Franks already talking.

"Have...have people done that to you?" He asks.

I remain silent for a few seconds, contemplating what to say. Be honest? Or tell him something easier for him to hear?

"People are cruel," Is all I decide to say.

Then, he does something I really wasn't expecting.

He hugged me.

It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, but once I did I wrapped my arms back around him and hugged him tight. And for some reason, I didn't want to let go.