The New Kids (Frerard/Rikey)

Chapter 5 - Problems

Bob's POV

I was about to punch Frank's father out. He had no right to treat his own son like that, and I knew that wasn't even the worst he had done.

"That was behaving?" I groan, clenching my fists tighter in my jacket pockets.

"Yes. He was." Frank says from in front of us. He kept his slouched posture as he turned, only tilting his head up a little to peek at us from under his hood. He looked embarrassed, upset, and a little dissapointed. "Last time I br-brought someone over, h-he accused him of being m-my boyfriend. He ran out an-and never talked t-to me again."

"Your dad knows about...?" I trail off, hoping Ray wasn't paying attention.

"No. Y-You're the only pers-son I've ever told." He mutters, glancing back at Ray, who was listening and raising an eyebrow.

He opens his mouth but closes it, avoiding eye contact. "Do you think your gay or something?" He asks, sounding a little nervous. Frank looks down again and shrugs before nodding. "How do you know?"

"I have ju-ust found a few guys a-atractive before. I've n-never had a boyfriend or anyth-thing. Hell, I haven't even had a girlf-friend." He chuckles a little, "Why? D-Do you have a problem with it or something?"

"No!" Ray replies quickly, blushing. "I was just curious, y'know. I've always wondered how people know. Just in case."

"Just in case? Are you a little confused too?" I ask, smirking a little. I actually would never expect that out of Ray. He was tall, muscular, tough, but then again I am like that too. Look how that ended up.

He shrugged. "Does getting more turned on by the men on my packages of boxers rather than the women in those inappropriate magazines make me confused?" He mumbles.

"A little bit, dude." I mutter back, nudging him lightly. "So. I guess we are a group of confused little teenage boys, huh?"

---

When we are back into my room, cuddled up into the same positions as before, classic rock playing in the background, we hear my mom calling us down. "Fucking hell." I mutter. "We just got comfortable again. What?" I call back.

"Didn't you want to talk to me about something?" I look to Frank and he nods a little, signalling he was okay with talking about it. Ray gently put a hand on his shoulder, standing up.

"We will be right down!"

We walk down the stairs and meet my mom in the living room, Ashley sitting down on the couch with her. "Hey, Ash, could you go upstairs for a little while? This is kind of a touchy subject." I ask, having her roll her eyes and standing up.

When she is upstairs, I invite Frank and Ray to sit down. "D-Do you know how to deal w-with abuse?" Frank mutters after a little while.

"What?" She asks, a little taken aback by the question.

"Do you know wha-what to do if s-someones is being ab-abused by their parent?"

"Frank, why are you asking that? Is there something going on at home?"

I place a hand gently on his back, hoping there wasn't a bruise there. "Show her your arms." He looked at me in panic, unsure of what to do. "Frank, all of the proof is there, I've seen it. Come on, you can tell her." I didn't want him to be uncomfortable, but I wanted him to be safe. I knew that if he went back home, he wouldn't be.

"Bob, I-I shouldn't have even t-told you. He is going to be aft-after me if anyone d-does anything, I-I can't. I'm sorry." He looks down at his lap, not speaking anymore.

"Frank, is your father hurting you?" My mom asks gently after a small amount of silence. He just nods slowly, not looking at anyone. "Can you please tell me what he does? I can help."

He looks up slowly and swallows hard, bringing his shaky hands up to the zipper on his sweatshirt. He pulls it down and slides the sweatshirt off of his shoulders, revealing the ugly purple and yellow bruises, the red and pink burns, and the scars.

She covers her mouth and gives him a sad look. "Frank, he did this to you?" Frank just nods, looking down and crosses his arms over his chest gently. "How long has he been doing this?"

"A-About a year and a half. The f-first time he ever hit me was r-right before my junior year started."

"Why didn't you say anything to anyone?"

"I d-didn't have anyone t-to tell." He whispers, clutching himself a little tighter.

"No friends parents? Relatives? Teachers?" She reaches her hand out to rest it on his shoulder, but stops and brings it back.

"Bob was the first fr-friend I've had since the s-sixth grade. My grandparents are d-dead, my aunts and uncles live far aw-way. And the teach-chers have stopped b-bothering with me by now." He says this quietly, avoiding eye-contact. I was glad he was telling her everything; the more she knew, the more she could help.

---

Frank finished telling her everything after about an hour. It was about five o'clock at night now, and it was beginning to get dark.

"I should probably get going now." Ray says, standing up. He broke the awkward silence when Frank was done. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." He had a sad look in his eyes, and he even gave Frank a hug before he left.

"Bye Ray. See you." I say, walking him to the door. "Meet you by the front doors, okay?" He nods and walks down the walkway, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

When I get back to the living room, Frank was putting his sweatshirt back on, looking tired and sad. "Thank you." He mumbles to my mom, who nodded and lightly rubbed his back.

"How about some pizza? We can have some pizza for dinner and watch a movie or something, sound good?" She asks, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. We nod and I giver her a small smile, looking back to Frank.

My mom leaves the room, going to call the pizza parlour, and I sit in her place next to Frank. "I'm scared." He whispers.

"Why?" I ask, lacing my fingers together and looking down at the floor.

"If he f-finds out I told anyone, especially someone with th-the power to do something-"

"Frank, calm down. She is going to stop it. He isn't going to hurt you again."

"But what if he does?"

"He won't." I look at him and stand up, holding a hand out to help hi as well. "Let's go back upstairs."

He follows me and we sit in a comfortable silence for a while, until the pizza comes. We barely said anything to each other, and it was okay.

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Gerard and Mikey come in the next chapter