Pretty Boy (You Make Me Want To Live)

Basket Case

i may have lied this is quite a sad chapter oops

"Where're your clothes?"

"I think they're on the end of my bed- in that bag..." Gerard trailed off as Frank held up the rucksack for his boyfriend to see before unzipping it and turning it upside-down, emptying the contents onto Gerard's feet, or where he assumed Gerard's feet were under the covers.

"What'd you wanna do first? Like... take of that thing-" Frank gestured to the papery gown Gerard was wearing, "Or do pants... and underwear?" He blushed at the last item of clothing he picked up, dangling them from his finger.

"Are... Are you completely-"

"I'm a free man, Frankie." Gerard grinned, watching as Frank's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Anyways-" The punk stopped laughing at his boyfriend, focusing on swinging his legs off the side of the bed, his voice cutting out completely and his face scrunching up in pain as he attempted to do so.

"Gee-"

"I'm fine."

Frank made an unhappy noise, but waited until Gerard had turned himself to a comfortable position, hesitating when he realised that his boyfriend had never answered his question.

"You didn't-"

"This, I wanna take this off first... it's gonna be the hardest part." Gerard groaned, his head hung so his hair covered his face, clearly still in pain.

Frank mumbled a quiet okay, moving to the other side of the bed and climbing on, kneeling behind Gerard and untying the knots running down the back of the gown, his fingers warm against the punk's cold skin. He watched as the papery material fell away, slipping off Gerard's slouched shoulders and more marks were revealed to him, and it was all he could to but bite down on his lip to stop any tears escaping.

Luckily for both of them, the knots stopped just past the waistline meaning Gerard wouldn't have to stand up to get the gown off.

"Your, uh, boxers then...?" Frank asked as he climbed off the bed, watching as Gerard nodded, knowing he would have to stand up for at least part of this.

"Lift your foot up..." Frank said softly, kneeling on the floor and slipping the leg hole over Gerard's foot, "and your other one..." Gerard complied.

"You're gonna have to stand up... can you do that yourself or can I help you?" Frank asked softly. He was fast becoming aware of the fact that Gerard didn't like accepting help of others, no matter the situation it put him in, but one glance up told Frank everything he needed to know.

He'd never seen Gerard look so broken, so helpless and tired as he sat there, his head still hung and the strands of red shadowing his face.

"Okay, just- " Frank moved one of Gerard's arms to be around his shoulders, "lean on me?"

He then hooked his hands under Gerard's arms, helping him into a standing position, pausing for a second to check that his boyfriend wasn't about to collapse. The blue gown fell loosely around Gerard's thighs, but stopped there from how it was resting on the bed.

Frank glanced down, a small smile appearing on his face;

"I don't think that's very appropriate for where we are Gee."

The punk just smiled and shook his head lightly, watching as Frank bent down to pull the boxers up over his legs and up to his waist.

"That's better- oh." Frank cut himself off with a quiet gasp when Gerard pressed a kiss to his lips. It wasn't too dissimilar to their first kiss almost four months prior, neither of them moving much until Gerard pulled away, their faces still incredibly close and he moved to tuck some of Frank's hair behind his ear.

"Thank you."

"I- it's okay." Frank smiled softly, choosing not to question why Gerard was thanking him, "Pants next?"

Gerard nodded, waiting for Frank to retrieve the sweatpants.

"Just, like, hold onto me or something, I don't want you falling over." Frank said as he unfolded the fabric, feeling Gerard's hand slip down to his lower back.

"Okay... Right leg..." Gerard balanced as best he could, "And left..." Frank pulled the elastic waist up to Gerard's, his hands lingering on the soft yet cold skin for a moment.

"Shirt?" Gerard asked, pulling Frank from the trance he was in.

"Yeah... yeah-" Frank mumbled back, more to himself than anything as he fumbled with the black top, straightening it out then slipping it over Gerard's arms and over his head.

"I- uh, Jamia is still waiting outside so we can go now?" He then added, stepping back and picking up the bag with the rest of Gerard's belongings in it.

"I brought a wheelchair if you- oh, you're dressed." A nurse smiled brightly as she pushed through the door but stopped in her tracks as she took in Gerard standing beside his bed instead of being in it.

"Could we use it to get him to the car?" Frank cut in before Gerard could reply.

"Yes, of course, do you need anything else? I can help you get to the car if you need to?"

"I think we'll be alright." Gerard said quietly, sitting back down on his bed, watching as the nurse turned to leave and Frank started packing up the few belongings Gerard had accumulated from around the room.

"You ready?" Gerard asked as Frank did one final scan of the room, giving Gerard a small smile and a nod in reply before swinging the backpack onto his shoulder and moving over to help Gerard into the wheelchair, which he pulled a face about, insisting he could walk and that he'd be fine, but eventually gave in to his boyfriends persistent pestering.

Frank pushed Gerard through the corridors, pausing only briefly to let the receptionist know Gerard was leaving.

"So Jamia's gotta be out here somewhere..." Frank mumbled, more to himself than anyone else as he stopped just outside the entrance doors and scanned the car park.

"Oh, there she is!" He said, pointing to the far corner of the car park, where Jamia was stood leaning against her car, looking like she was playing on her phone.