like ghosts in the snow ; frerard

forty-nine

four months later

Gerard and Frank were sound asleep on Frank's bed, limbs intertwined here and there. They had fallen asleep with their fingers laced together, which was honestly quite a cute sight. If someone were to see it, of course.

Frank slowly peeled his eyes open, the light shining in through the window practically blinding him. He pulled his freehand away from Gerard's torso and rubbed his eyes tiredly in an attempt to adjust to the bright room, which had worked.
It was actually darker than he thought, but then again, he was a dramatic person in general.

Frank looked down at his sleeping boyfriend, smiling softly to himself as he closely studied his sharp yet still somehow soft features for what felt like the thousandth time. Was the action creepy? Maybe. Did he care? No, not really.

But then he noticed something off about him.

Gerard had faint, purple circles under his eyes, and his cheekbones were far more prominent. Gerard had a good sleep schedule, which he was strict about, so he got the perfect amount of sleep. Strange.
He was also.. far skinnier than normal.
His eyes fluttered open slowly, and Frank just nearly didn't notice it due to paying close attention to how the hell he'd gotten skinnier overnight.

He had noticed his health deteriorating lately, for the past month or so- though it hadn't been anything too drastic, so he never brought it up or thought much about it.

"Frank?" Gerard croaked out, confused at why he was just.. staring at him.
Gerard's words snapped out of his trance-like state, and he made eye contact with him, noticing yet another thing. His irises had lost their prominent shine and liveliness.. they just looked void. Empty. Frank felt like he should have seen that coming.. he seemed so drained this past week.

"Frank-" Gerard repeated, and Frank finally replied. "Are you okay? Like, seriously.. you look.. different." He asked worriedly, a tinge of fear woven into his voice.

"Yeah, I'm.." he trailed off, seeming unsure about what had just come out of his mouth.
"I don't know." He said and looked away, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Frank pursed his lips as he thought about what possibly might have happened within eight hours, staring at his lover with sad eyes, the latter returning the expression faintly. "I'll go and make you some coffee, then we can talk about it, yeah?" He offered, to which Gerard just nodded.

He stood up and extended a hand for Gerard, which he happily accepted. His veins were prominent, his fingers thin and lanky, his skin was paler than usual. He stood up shakily, clutching onto Frank to steady himself. Once he could stand on his own, he let go, his arms going back to resting at his sides.

Gerard forced a reassuring smile and Frank turned around, attempting to pick out a clean shirt to wear before they went to the living room. Then Gerard spoke up.

"Frank..?" He said shakily, covering his middle with his arms. "I don't feel so good." He whispered, stumbling forwards into Frank's arms.

"Hey- hey, what's going on? Baby?" Frank asked in a panic, stroking his cheek as he gazed down at his boyfriend. Gerard didn't reply, his eyes nearly drooping shut. He looked so weak, and so, so fragile. Like if you made one wrong move he could shatter like a vase. "Mom? Mom!" Frank called out desperately.

Linda instantly came running just a few seconds later, bursting into her son's room when she heard the urgency in his voice.
She spotted Gerard, her face falling into a worried expression. "Oh, honey, are you alright?"

"No.. I feel like I'm gonna pass out." He grimaced, clinging onto Frank's torso tightly. He looked deadly pale at this point, skin lighter than alabaster, like he hadn't seen the sun in months.

Frank ran his fingers through his ebony hair comfortingly, whispering sweet things in his ear in an attempt to calm him down.
"Shh- it's okay, you're okay." He said softly.

"I'm not.. I'm not okay." Gerard said weakly as his breathing suddenly sped up, growing more and more shallow as seconds passed. "I'm so lightheaded- I'm seriously going to pass out-"

Okay, what the fuck?

Frank started to panic and sent Linda a desperate look, which she replied to with a simple nod. She made her way over to Gerard, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you some medicine, yeah?" She whispered, and Gerard weakly nodded in response.

He didn't make it past the kitchen before collapsing.

{~}

They ended up taking him to the hospital, and of course, called his mother.

The results weren't good.

A/N: strap yourselves in for the next chapter, everybody.