I Don't Think We Should See Each Other Anymore (Frerard) (slow updates)

Chapter 11 (F)

[i have never been to the US so i can only rely on stuff from the internet and if anything is inaccurate, i apologize

brief mention of anxiety and panic attacks stay safe]

The weekend was as relaxed as nothing had been in a while.

Frank finished his essay (with Jamia's help, of course). In the afternoon, Greg came over again and gave Frank the schedule, then left quickly again, probably still scarred from Frank's Foot Fungus Lie. The rest of the day was spent watching movies and talking until late into the night.

On Sunday morning, Frank and Jamia went to the diner with Brendon and Pete to get breakfast, and the four of them spent the day hanging out and playing Mario Kart. (Much to Pete's dismay, Frank and Jamia were both actually pretty good.) (Pete lost almost every round.) (He said he let Frank win on purpose and no one pointed out his obvious lie for the sake of his dignity.)

Sunday night, Frank slept as well as he hadn't in a long while. Ray was back, so Jamia had left, and Frank had a plan for the next day; drive to New York City to see Gerard.

Now, Frank didn't have a car (and couldn't drive without having a panic attack) and he couldn't ask Ray to drive him, could he? So, he decided to take the train. He searched for some way on the internet and immediately bought tickets that he didn't have to print out. Since he didn't have a printer, that was a way easier method. He got a code per email and just had to show that to the ticket collector and that'd be it. Less social interaction; littler risk of getting a panic attack. He felt like a genius.

Frank's classes usually only started at 10 am, so he could sleep until 9.30, take a shower and get ready, and still be on time. And he used that to the fullest. Taking the train would be pretty damn stressful, so he needed all the sleep he could get.

He actually went to sleep earlier than 3 am for once.

Of course, he had told Ray about his plan, who seemed surprised but encourage it.

"I think it's gonna be good if you talk everything out with him," Ray had said, and that made Frank's excitement only bigger.

Because Frank was actually excited for once. He usually didn't feel excited about things like that but he couldn't help it; in the past week, he had only noticed more and more how much he had missed Gerard.

The excitement turned into nervousness when he finally sat on the train, though.

He had his headphones sitting on his ears, some rock music blasting so he couldn't hear the people around him and the noises from the train. His leg bobbed up and down along the rhythm of the song and he couldn't help but drum his fingers on his knee. The A/C was right next to him, though, so he pulled the Emergency-Hoodie he had packed out of his backpack and pulled it over his head. With a toasty warm feeling and his favorite playlist playing, he was able to relax as much as possible on the train.

And like that, he somehow survived his 2-hour train ride to New York.

When he finally got off the train at the central station and stepped into the city, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Frank had never been to New York. Of course, he knew that there were a lot of people and a lot of people meant a lot of buildings and a lot of cars but he had underestimated all of this.

How the hell was he supposed to find Gerard's college in all of this mess?

People were everywhere, walking past him in both directions. Everyone talked, cars made so much noise, everywhere were blinking signs and colorful posters catching his attention- and where was this shitty music coming from?