Tattered And Torn (2/?)
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2. I'm The Kind To Sit Up In His Room
As soon as the final bell rang, Frank was rushing to his locker to dispose of his books. He tried to keep it cool as he waited by the oak tree; he didn't want to seem like the annoying, desperate new kid, but he wasn't very good at playing it off. He kept looking around for any sign of Ray or Gerard, and couldn't help but get nervous when they still hadn't got there after five minutes.
Ray was making his way to the oak tree when he spotted Frank standing there, looking restless and constantly twitching. He raised an eyebrow and walked over. "Hey Frank," he called, "you waiting for someone?"
"Yeah, Gerard said to meet him here after school... he invited me to hang out with you guys. Is that okay? I mean, if it's not I can just go home. It's no big deal..."
Ray looked at Frank in surprise. "Gerard invited you?" he repeated. Just the sound of the sentence didn't sound right. But he shrugged, not wanting to think on it too much. "It's fine, I don't mind you hanging out with us," he finished.
"Really? Cool. But yeah, Gerard invited me. Is that weird or something?"
Ray shrugged, looking around him a little bit. "He's not a very... social person," he explained.
Meanwhile, Gerard had made his way through the crowd and finally reached the exit of the building, blowing out an exasperated sigh.
"He seemed pretty social to me... Oh, look, there he is," Frank said, pointing towards Gerard and smiling.
Ray blinked and looked over to the school. "If you say so," he concluded, taking note of Frank's excitement over Gerard. Gerard looked up to see Frank pointing at him with a huge smile on his face, and gave another awkward smile in return. 'I need to work on this,' he thought to himself. 'My smile probably makes it look like I'm in pain.' He quickly made his way over to the tree. Ray nodded, and Gerard nodded back. "Hey, Ray. Frank."
"Hey, Gerard! Where's your brother? I thought he was coming too?"
Right as Frank said this, Mikey crept up behind Gerard and gave him a little push in an attempt to scare his big brother. Gerard fumbled forward, colliding into Frank, causing Ray to laugh, while Gerard's face burned in embarrassment.
Frank smiled and nudged Gerard back onto his feet. Mikey was rolling with laughter and could barely stand up straight. "So," he said in between breaths, "You guys ready to go?"
"I'm ready when you guys are," Ray replied, still laughing a bit.
Gerard stood up stiffly, staring down at the ground, his face still burning. "Yeah. I'm ready I guess..." he mumbled. Frank only nodded awkwardly, afraid he might say something wrong at any moment.
"Toro, you driving?" Mikey put a hand on Ray's shoulder and gave him puppy dog eyes. He really hated driving. No real reason for it, but Mikey really wanted Ray to get behind the wheel.
Ray sighed and smiled, unable to resist Mikey's pleading look. "Alright, alright, I'll drive," he answered, pulling out his keys. He beckoned for the others to follow, "C'mon, guys, my car's over this way."
Gerard rolled his shoulders a bit and started to head that way, looking up to see if Frank was following. Frank followed directly behind Gerard, keeping such a close distance that he kept stepping on the back of his shoes. "Shit, sorry…"
Gerard stumbled a bit every time it happened, but he simply shrugged and said, "Nah, it's alright."
When they reached the car, Gerard instinctively climbed in the back, which was his usual spot, while Ray made himself comfortable in the driver's seat. Mikey shouted, "Shotgun!" and jumped into the seat next to Ray. Frank didn't complain as he got into the car, plopping down next to Gerard.
Gerard got himself comfortable in the back seat, and almost swung his feet onto Frank's spot like he usually did. He stopped himself and shifted a little more. 'I'm not used to sitting in the seats with someone... wow.'
Meanwhile, Ray turned on the car and started backing out of the parking space. "Everyone got their seatbelts on?" he asked, "I don't need a ticket."
"Yes, Toro. Drive already!" Mikey always got so annoyed when Ray asked if they had seatbelts on, they weren't five anymore for God's sake. Frank sat with his bag on his lap, looking awkwardly around the car as if waiting for someone to strike up some kind of conversation. Ray shot Mikey a look and grumbled a bit, making his way out of the parking lot.
Gerard could sense Frank's apprehension and awkwardness, so he decided to try and start up a conversation. "U-uhm, so, uh... how was... everyone's day?"
Frank was about to talk when Mikey cut him off, "Well, dear, it was shit, just like every other day, how was it down at the factory?" Mikey turned around in the seat and made a cutsie face at Gerard while batting his eyelashes.
Gerard shot Mikey a menacing glare. "Sheesh, someone's in a sarcastic mood today," he growled.
Ray sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can you guys go for one ride without arguing?"
Mikey huffed and turned back around while Frank fought hard to contain his laughter. Gerard pulled his legs up to his chest and pushed himself into the corner of the seat, letting out an annoyed sigh.
Ray gave his own tired sigh in response. "I was joking, Gee, lighten up."
Frank couldn't stand the awkward silence that followed, so he unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted closer to Gerard before poking him in the ribs and smiling. Gerard jumped unexpectedly when he felt Frank poke him. He had started going off in his own world, so he hadn't been paying attention. He shot Frank a glare a first, but his expression immediately changed to confused and curious when he saw the younger teen smiling at him.
"You need to lighten up, Gerard." Frank kept poking Gerard in the side. "Are you ticklish?"
"I'm fine," Gerard mumbled, squirming a bit. "And yeah... why...?"
Ray bit back a grin -- he had a feeling he knew what Frank was going to do.
"Just wondering..." Frank began poking Gerard in his sides quicker, trying to find the right spot to make the older boy burst into laughter.
Gerard started to squirm more. "H-hey! Stop!" He blushed a bit and tried getting away, which was hard since he was already in a corner.
Frank scooted closer to Gerard, tickling him furiously, smiling as he did so. "Come on Gerard! It wouldn't kill you to laugh!"
"No! Stop!" he gasped, biting back giggles as Frank tickled him. He tried to shove Frank away, but he was so much stronger than him.
Frank pushed forward onto Gerard, pinning his arms down with his upper body as he continued to tickle him. "Laugh or I'm not gonna stop!"
"N-no!" Gerard shouted as he started to laugh, squirming underneath Frank's strength. He suddenly felt himself start to blush a little more.
"Let it out Gerard, don't hold back!" Frank began to run out of breath as he tickled Gerard with all he had.
"Frank, stop it!" he gasped between breaths, laughing hard and struggling to push Frank off, trying to squirm away with no prevail.
Frank squeezed Gerard's side one last time before backing off of him, a little sweaty and out of breath.
Gerard pulled himself up, panting from the sudden use of energy. He wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead, and kept his head ducked a bit as he realized he was blushing hard. 'Wh-why am I blushing?' he thought to himself, alarmed.
Frank smiled, feeling victorious when he looked over and saw Gerard trying to hide his face. ‘What a weirdo,’ he thought.
Ray finally pulled up to Gerard and Mikey's house. "Alright, you two," he said, looking at Frank and Gerard from the rearview mirror. "We're here."
Mikey jumped out of the car and ran to unlock the front door while Frank grabbed his bag and stepped out of the car awkwardly. Gerard made his way out of the car, stumbling slightly, still a bit breathless, while Ray got out with ease and made his way to the door with Mikey.
When Mikey finally unlocked the door, he swung it open and stepped inside, flopping down on the couch. "Ahh, home sweet home." Ray laughed and rose up Mikey's legs slightly, then sat down on the edge of the couch, letting the teen's feet back down. Gerard made his way into the house, looking back to see if Frank was following.
Frank walked in behind Gerard, trying to maintain a distance. He looked around the house, taking in his surroundings. Everything in there was so weird... so very unlike his own home.
Gerard leaned up against a wall. "So, uhm... are you hungry or anything?" he asked, not sure of what to do.
Frank looked at Gerard and smiled. "No, just thirsty, you got any coke?"
"Uhm, yeah," Gerard answered before turning towards the hall that led to the kitchen, "Here, follow me." Frank set down his bag on the floor and followed him into the kitchen. Gerard opened the fridge and rummaged around for a few seconds, then pulled out a cold can of coke, and handed it to Frank. "Here ya go," he said, his fingers already freezing.
Frank took the can and opened it, chugging half of the soda down in one gulp. "Thanks, man," he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
Gerard blinked and nodded. "No problem," he replied. He yawned and stretched a bit, feeling worn out from the day and the events in the car.
Frank chugged the rest of the drink down and tossed the can into the trash. "So uh… what do you guys usually do?"
Gerard shrugged as he glanced towards the living room. "Honestly, we usually just sit around and talk. Ray and Mikey eventually go off and do their own thing, and I go to my room and rest or draw..."
"Well as fun as watching you lay on your ass and drawing sounds, how about we watch a movie?"
"Well, uhm... okay... what do you have in mind?"
"Anything really, I love horror movies though!"
Gerard squirmed a bit -- he wasn't big on horror films. 'But Frank's the guest,' his mannerly thoughts reminded him. "Well, I mean, Ray and Mikey are probably already talking and everything, so, uh... we have a TV down stairs, and I guess you can pick out a movie from down there?"
"Okay!" Frank waited for Gerard to lead him downstairs. He vaguely wondered if Ray and Mikey had a thing together, but it was mostly in the back of his mind because he was more focused on Gerard at the moment.
Gerard walked to the door that opened up to the staircase, and lead Frank down into the basement. He flipped on the lights and sat down on the couch, and nodded towards a shelf full of movies. "Take your pick, I guess," he instructed.
"Okay…" Frank walked over to the shelves and looked at the numerous titles. He finally decided on Dawn of the Dead and tossed it to Gerard before sitting down on the couch. "Can't go wrong with a classic."
Gerard stared at the movie for a few seconds, feeling nervous... he didn't have a strong taste for horror. He sighed to himself and turned on the TV, then popped the movie in and sat back down, shifting his feet anxiously. Frank saw Gerard fidgeting and became worried. "Are you okay?"
"What? Y-yeah," Gerard replied, trying to steady his voice. "I'm just scared easily..." He shifted a bit and looked away, feeling a little embarrassed.
Frank couldn't help but to laugh; it wasn't because he thought Gerard was stupid, he just thought it was really cute that he was scared. "Well, don't worry. I'll protect you from the evil zombies."
Gerard looked at Frank and forced a nervous smile. "Th-thanks," he muttered, blushing just barely. He felt strangely comfortable around Frank...
Frank returned the smile and then turned his attention to the movie. Gerard sat quietly, watching the screen. At one part Gerard yelped quietly and jumped a bit, then looked down in embarrassment. 'I'm being so pathetic,' he thought to himself. 'It's just a movie...'
Frank pretended not to notice Gerard freaking out and kept his stare at the screen while nonchalantly reaching over and taking Gerard's hand in his own as a form of comfort. Gerard turned slightly red when Frank took his hand, and shifted over towards him. He was avoiding looking at the screen for half the time, mostly enjoying Frank's company.
When the movie was done, Frank turned towards Gerard and smiled. "Did you like it? I mean... even if you're not into horror flicks, it's pretty decent."
Gerard smiled back and nodded, "I-it was pretty good," he agreed, but he hadn't even paid much attention to the movie. The whole time he felt somewhat distracted... but he couldn't figure out why.
"So…" Frank looked around the room, not sure what to do. "What do you wanna do now?"
Gerard shrugged, looking at the time. "I dunno... it's about five now... uhm... well, uh, is there anything you wanna do?"
Frank's eyes widened when he realized what time it was. "Ah, fuck, I should be going, still gotta help my parents unpack and everything… but uh thanks for having me over." Frank let go of Gerard's hand and stood up to leave.
"O-oh, uhm, okay..." Gerard replied with a hint of disappointment. "Uh, it was no problem... maybe we could, uhm... hang out again soon?" He got up and shifted his feet shyly.
"Yeah, totally!" Frank smiled before heading up the stairs and picking up his bag.
Gerard smiled and followed Frank up the stairs. He looked the couch to see that Ray and Mikey had fallen asleep. He sighed to himself softly. Frank laughed when he saw the two guys asleep, practically on top of each other on the small couch. "Well... uh, see ya at school." Frank opened the door and stepped out.
"U-uhm, yeah, see you," Gerard answered, doing his best to give another smile. Frank smiled brightly before turning and starting his journey home.
Chapter 3.