There was a knock on the door.
It went on for a couple minutes before Mikey finally went to open the door. When he did, he found a short guy in a black hoodie, all soaked under the rain and crying. 'Hey,' the guy said. 'Is Gerard here?'
Oh, Mikey realized. So this must be Frank, the guy his brother has been talking about for two weeks. The one Gerard said was too good to be true, and that he would never hurt. But by the look in his eyes, it seemed the guy was already hurt. They'd barely known each other for a couple weeks, how could he be so ruined over his brother? Yeah, he had to admit Gerard was attractive. They were related, after all. But no one cries this much for someone just because they're attractive. And yes, he could be sweet too, and maybe some guys liked that, he thought. but this dude was crying like he'd been married to Gerard for years, had two kids and seven dogs, a home together and out of nowhere Gerard had just left him.
'You're Frank, right?' Mikey asked.
'Yeah,' he replied, a little confused as to how he knew who he was.
'You're pretty much the only guy my brother has talked to in the past few years.'
'Oh.' And to think for a moment, Frank was sure he was with someone else. 'I just – can I talk to him?'
Mikey hesitated. Gerard never thought Frank would look for him again. He was sure he'd forget about Gerard when he never replied to his texts. He was so much better to be stuck with Gerard. So he never told Mikey about avoiding him, nor he gave him any directions in case he'd show up. But Mikey knew his brother enough to know he wouldn't like to see Frank the second he came back. He had to ask him first.
'Wait here, okay?' Mikey told Frank. 'I mean. You can come in. But I need to ask him if he wants to see you?'
'Is he okay?' he asked, worried. The last time he saw his boyfriend he was sobbing, and definitely not okay.
'Yeah, he's just – let me go talk to him.' Frank stepped in behind him, staying by the doorway so he wouldn't get the floor and furniture wet.
Mikey found his brother crying in bed, like he'd been doing for the past couple days. 'Will you stop it?' he almost yelled at him. 'You're kinda pathetic, you know?'
'Fuck you,' Gerard mumbled against his pillow and flipped him off. 'You don't have to deal with me if you don't want to. Just let me die.'
'Well, it's too late for that, isn't it?' He pulled off the covers, leaving Gerard exposed in his boxers and hoodie. 'Get your ass off the bed. Your Frankie is here.'
Gerard didn't even try to say a word. He almost jumped off the bed, socked. 'But that wasn't the plan! What is he doing here?'
'Looking for you, obviously. He clearly wasn't aware of whatever plan you had.' He paused. 'Did you put a spell on him or something? He's like – taking it very hard. Sobbing and all.'
'No – I don't have any spell powers.'
'Are you sure?'
'I think so.' He paused for a moment. Frank came back. Even though he ghosted him, and told him he needed space to protect him, he came back. He really cared. Gerard didn't deserve him. 'He cares,' he said without realizing.
'I'm sure he does. So you need to talk to him.'
'But I'm scared. What if I hurt him? I would never forget myself.'
'Did you tell him that?'
Gerard nodded. 'He said he's not scared of me.'
'Well, then – I think he already made his choice. Maybe he deserves a second chance.'
