Beautifully Broken

Epilogue: Heart Beat Here

Ashley

Six months later

Frank and I fall into each other. He cooks and I clean. We buy new sheets for our bed. He buys potted plants and I watch as they slowly get over watered and under sunned. We stay up until the early hours of the morning, hiding the day away tucked up under the blankets together. I encourage Frank to reach out to Gerard. They attempted to heal their relationship over a weekend trip. Frank said it went badly and I've never quite had the guts to ask for further explanation. Frank puts on stupid sock puppet plays to cheer me up when I'm sad. I wake him up every morning with coffee in bed. We go on dates and write music and dance.

It's everything I ever wanted from a relationship with Frank. It's silly and chaotic but also beautiful and perfect in its own quirky way. Frank and I fit like two pieces of a puzzle. We talk more, share our feelings. Frank admits he's having a hard time forgiving himself. I let on that sometimes I'm still worried what happened last time will happen again. We help each other heal and grow stronger. It is exactly how I expected it to be, being in love with my best friend.

Together we write an album. Frank is planning on getting us a place to record it once we get back from tour. A new Claim of the Broken record means we'll be headlining. My Chemical Romance will be going on a European leg of tour before heading into the recording studio. After spending months holed up in each other, I can feel the anxiety between us. This will be a test for our relationship. I trust Frank with my whole heart. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me, not on purpose anyway. Still, it'll be weird not waking up next to him or having him there to bounce ideas off of at all hours of the day. I don't want to go from having him to talking on the phone.

"Are you sure we can't just open for you guys?" I ask over coffee, curled up against Frank's side.

My boyfriend chuckles, pulling me in closer as he presses a kiss to my forehead, "No. You wrote an album that deserves the headline. You're going to go out on tour and have a blast. I can't wait to hear about it. You will call me every night and tell me about it, right?"

"Of course you mush," I chuckle giving him a gentle shove. "I'm going to call you so much that you're going to want to block my number."

"Maybe I will. Unlike some people, I actually understand how to work a cell phone."

Setting my coffee mug aside, I flip around so that I'm straddling Frank, "Oh yeah. Well maybe that someone knew how to work a cell phone and they lied because they didn't want to admit they were still in love with the idiot on the other line."

"Yeah, is that how it happened?" Frank laughs, his fingers working against my ribs.

I let out a squeal of laughter, trying to fight back as Frank flips us around, pinning me to the mattress. He peppers my face with kisses, whispering about how much he loves me and how he's going to miss me like crazy while we're apart. In an attempt to end the tickling, I latch my lips onto the spot just above his collarbone. Frank's fingers still, his head tilting off to the side. I fall in love with the content smile, the way his body goes completely lax, becoming dead weight above me.

"I love you too, nerd."

~

Trees blur past the car window in a haze of browns, reds, yellows, and orange. The sun hangs low in the sky, casting long shadows across my lap. Frank's finger drum against the steering wheel, leg bouncing up and down. I watch as the city moves further away, the car carrying us toward the outskirts of town.

Lolling my head to the side, I smile over at the man I love. Frank brings a light to my life that was missing. We belong together like peanut butter and jelly. I see the man that he's become. The selfish version of Frank is gone. He tries every day to show me he's changed and what this new relationship means to him. Frank Iero is my past, my present, and has quickly become my future. The way he talks about our relationship lets me know he feels the same. After this next tour, we're thinking about getting a house. Being apart really isn't an option. We've grown too used to waking up next to each other, going about daily life together. He makes me smile and I feel safe in the relationship.