Chickens fic: chapter 6

[pretty_paulie]

Title: Chickens, Crop Hops and Newbs (6/?)
Author:
Pretteh Paulie
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: This is fiction. As far as I know Frank Iero does not live on a farm.
Summary: An AU: As a young boy growing up on a secluded mixed farm in rural Virginia, Frank had a thing for baby chicks. Yes, he knew that they would eventually develop into ugly, loud chickens, but he couldn’t help himself. He loved that they were all soft and small, with fluffy wings and adorable black eyes. He loved the way they waddled and they way they hopped awkwardly to him whenever he fed them in his family’s barn.
Warnings: Language, chickens and teenagers full of hormones.
Author's Notes: Sorry about how long it was since the last time I updated. I hope this makes up for it.

Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Two hours.

Two fucking hours and Gerard still hadn't come chasing after Frank or pounding on Frank's bedroom door to apopolgize or beg Frank for his forgiveness. Perhaps Frank was aiming a little high for that one. The most possible thing that could have happened is that Gerard could have at least tried to explain his behaviour. But he hadn't bothered even trying that. Or maybe, just maybe the situation would be more like Gerard would corner Frank up against the wall and shove his tongue into Frank’s mouth and run his hands all over Frank's body, sending shivers down his spine.

No. No, Frank reprimanded himself. It didn't matter how unbelievably hot Gerard was; he was still a manipulating son of a bitch who used Frank and just took off.

After screaming in Gerard's face - which was an immature response, he'd admit that - and running off to the house, Frank had taken refuge in his room with more meds than needed and an icepack. His face was hurting again and he was staring out his bedroom window in the direction of the barn, icepack held to his eye and it didn’t help that he had a fucking headache now, too.

He didn't even know why he was staring at the barn, well, it was more like the pine tree that was obstructing the view, which resulted in about half of the barn being visible from his window. Nothing worth seeing because he couldn't spy on Gerard thanks to the stupid tree. Why was he even thinking about him? Maybe, sort of, kind of, he had some little tinge of hope that Gerard would leave the chickens or sketching the chickens or whatever he was doing... and apologize to Frank.

Growing tired of staring out his window like some kind of newb or stalker, Frank went to lie down on his bed. As soon as he sank down on the soft navy sheets, he closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep or die because he had a really, really shitty day. Well, his whole life was relatively shitty. Quite abruptly, his stomach growled loudly disrupting his thoughts of self-pity. He figured he must have lost his appetite due to how fucked up everything was. But finally at - he looked at his alarm clock - three-thirty PM, he figured he was quite hungry. As another stab of hunger hit him, he got up from his bed and made his way to his bedroom door to go to the kitchen to make something for breakfast/lunch/whatever. He hadn't eaten anything since that annual Crop Hop Supper held the night before and now it really starting to show.

Shrugging, Frank ran down the stairs and made his way into the living room. When he entered the room with that disgusting green shag carpet - which he wished his parents would get fucking rid of, it wasn't 1970 anymore! - he found that half a cup of coffee was set on the arm of the sofa, the TV was on and one of his movies was playing.

"So that asshole can make out with me, ditch me and now he has to raid my movie collection and drink my coffee, too?" Frank muttered under his breath as he grabbed the remote off the sofa and switched the TV off.

"Frank?"

Frank whipped around, startled, the remote falling to the floor. He knew it was Gerard, probably asking for forgiveness or maybe he'd go all physco serial killer on Frank since he'd stopped the movie. He was stuck between wanting to talk to him and wanting to throw hot coffee in his face. The only thing he could come up with to avoid the whole confrontation was picking up the remote then running away.

He bent down to pick the remote up and tossed it on the couch, avoiding eye contact and staring down at his feet, wondering if he should run back to his room and stay there until Gerard left which was?... he didn't know. He could be locked up in his room for days. He didn’t really like the idea of that. He should run past Gerard and go out and hide in his tree house that he hadn’t used since he was twelve. He had to decide quick… tree house which equals getting to see his chicks and foraging for berries or locked up in his room which equalled his stereo and no food. The tree house it was. He could forage for food or something. He knew there were berries, around... somewhere.

Frank took a step toward Gerard, since he kind of had to, to get around him and out of the house and Gerard was kind of blocking the doorway. He didn't expect Gerard to speak up when Frank tried to sneak past him and Frank needed to get past him to get to the kitchen to get to the porch to go hide in the tree house and then forage for berries like they did... back when like, Frank's parents were his age.

Awkwardly, Frank walked past Gerard - more like stumbled, way to embarrass himself even further - and was about to enter the doorway to the kitchen when Gerard sighed, agitated. "Could we just talk? No matter how many times you run away from it, we’re still going to have to talk about this. You can keep procrastinating or we could just get thing this over with," Gerard said, voice hesitant.

Somehow Frank's legs must have gone paralyzed or something since for some fucking strange reason he was still standing in the doorway. Maybe Gerard had some weird power that made people immobile.

"Come on, Frank. Could you at least look at me?" Gerard pleaded in a soft whisper.

Again, Frank found himself too dazed from the paralyzed thing or maybe he was just too fucking unaware to notice, but Gerard was suddenly standing right behind him, almost too close for comfort. He could feel the heat radiating off Gerard's chest unto his back. He could hear Gerard's shallow breaths gently hitting his back of his neck causing the little hairs to rise up which definitely meant, yeah, Gerard was too fucking close.

Taking in a deep breath, Frank bit his lip and slowly turned to face Gerard. Raising his head and shaking his long hair out of his face, he finally met Gerard's gaze. Or more like, Gerard's almost hypnotic gaze or stare or whatever it was. His hazel eyes were illuminated from the bright light streaming in from the kitchen window, bringing out the green hue and the way he was looking at Frank was not nearly comforting at all. It was like his eyes were boring into Frank's soul, which made Frank feel like he was naked or scrutinized or something else that was freaky. Frank could feel his heart racing because his breaths were coming out all weird like he had just ran to the bus because he was late and about to miss it.

Frank tried to look down to avoid Gerard's gorgeous eyes - no, lying eyes, he told himself... this inner battle for hating Gerard wasn't working out too well - only to become more distracted by this weird little red mark under Gerard's eye at the top arch of his cheekbone. He couldn’t figure out what it was. Was it some kind of blemish? How could it be, he was fucking perfect. Was it there always? Did it have a different texture than the rest of Gerard’s porcelain skin?

Frank hadn't realized that he had raised his hand or closed his eyes - or maybe the space/time continuum had stopped because otherwise he would have fucking killed himself right there on the spot - but when he felt soft skin, a little bumpy bit in one area, but completely smooth everywhere else underneath his index finger, and a fluttering of eyelashes tickling against his top of his finger and soft breath streaming out against the side his thumb, his eyes snapped open and he quickly snatched his hand off Gerard’s face. His hand on Gerard's face. His fucking hand on Gerard's face!

He could feel his cheeks getting hot, his breathes becoming uneven and his eyes widen in shock and humiliation because that was just fucking weird. He averted his gaze, looking down, only to find that somewhere along the whole Frank-touching-Gerard's-face-thing, Gerard had placed his hand on Frank's hip and his fingers were gently stroking the exposed skin where Frank's t-shirt somehow magically was lifted just above Frank's belt, revealing a patch of skin.

Frank had never felt this automatically attracted to anyone in his entire life, it was like some weird switch was pulled on inside of him whenever he saw Gerard or was in the same room as him or in the same house. He swallowed the dry lump forming in his throat and kept staring at Gerard's hand moving slowly up from his hip to his torso, he could feel his t-shirt wrinkling up and the cool air from the air conditioner hitting his chest, goose bumps forming.

Gerard's other hand had joined this intrusion on Frank's chest, fingers flicking against Frank's left nipple, sending a wave of pleasure straight to his dick while Gerard's other hand was busy yanking Frank's t-shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor. This wasn't going how Frank had exactly planned it, because for some reason he had seemed to forget all about escaping from Gerard and now he just wanted to get closer. Gerard probably could read minds because he torn his gaze off Frank's body and stared at Frank like he was going to eat him alive or attack him or fuck him senseless. Either way, Frank finally rested his hands on Gerard's shoulders and pulled him closer, until all Frank could feel was the pressure of the doorway pushing into his back and Gerard flush against him, running his hands up and down Frank's biceps with that fierce look outlining his eyes. Frank could feel Gerard's heart beating through his shirt against Frank's chest when Gerard took once last look at him and placed his lips on Frank's mouth.

Expecting some harsh, needy, aggressive kiss, it was quite startling when Gerard kissed him lightly, just a press of lips against lips. It almost could have been described as chaste if Gerard's hands weren't suddenly cupping his ass and were now abruptly tugging at Frank's belt, quickly undoing the belt and popping the button and pulling the zipper down almost too agonizingly slow over Frank's hardness.

Frank inhaled quickly, lips opening against Gerard's, greeted by Gerard's tongue licking its way into his mouth cautiously and a little hesitant. When Frank responded and kissed back, Gerard kissed Frank like it was the last thing he'd ever do. All slow and passionate, his tongue tracing Frank's teeth, sliding against Frank's own tongue, slickly and lips smacking together, while Gerard's hand had found it's way into Frank's boxers. Frank gasped as how fucking cold Gerard's hand was, as Gerard slowly pumped his erection, thumb circling the head, gathering the precome as a makeshift lubricant as Gerard's other hand was tugging harshly at Frank's hair. They were breathing heavily against each other, foreheads pressed together, Frank flat against the wall, Gerard holding him up. Shaking and overwhelmed, Frank pulled Gerard closer, smashing their lips together, all teeth and tongue as Gerard's hand worked faster and faster bringing him almost to the edge... when suddenly, there was nothing.

Frank hadn't noticed his eyes had fallen shut after Gerard had pulled back from the kiss, gasping for air, but when he opened them to figure out why the hell Gerard had stopped touching him, his eyes widened when he realized Gerard was sinking down to his knees. Once settled, Gerard looked up innocently at Frank, completely ironic seeing the position he was in. When Gerard leaned toward Frank’s erection, red and throbbing and so fucking close to Gerard's parted lips, Gerard shifted and licked along the dip of Frank's hipbone.

Once again, Frank's eyes fell shut at the sensation. Then, Gerard was pawing at his balls and kissing hot and open-mouthed at Frank's inner thigh sending electric shivers up Frank's spine. When Frank thought he wasn't going to last any longer, Gerard was sucking and licking and running his tongue over Frank's dick, tracing throbbing veins and fuck, Frank couldn't take it. Frank's hands wandered down to Gerard's dark locks, running his fingers through the soft hair, mentally thanking him. Frank couldn't hold back anymore and was thrusting erratically into Gerard's warm mouth and Gerard was swallowing around him, taking him to the back of his throat, when suddenly someone who sounded a lot like Frank's Dad called out: “FRANK!”

Frank blinked his eyes open, confused, almost blinded by a strange bright light. Wait a minute... Why the hell was he suddenly in his bedroom? Where was Gerard? He sat up quickly and shoved his blanket down, revealing that he did indeed have a wet dream and yeah, he just fucking came in his pants. Wasn't he getting a little old for this shit?

Sighing and really fucking pissed off, Frank collapsed back down on his bed, irritated and disappointed that his fucking dream was a dream, not real. He pulled his jeans off, followed by his soiled boxers and aimed for his laundry hamper, but missed, the boxers hitting the wall, near the door. He yanked his pants back on, deciding he was too lazy to find another pair of underwear. What the hell was that about hearing Dad calling out to him which interrupted his dream? Thanks a lot, Dad, Frank rolled his eyes. He figured that his dad must have finally returned from the auction sales that he and Frank's grandpa were following for the last few days.

When Frank reached the kitchen, his dad and Gerard were seated at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and eating tea biscuits while Frank's dad gushed about how shitty the cattle prices were while Gerard just nodded politely, albeit a little disinterested.

"So you finally came to join us?" Frank's dad asked, sarcastically. Not good. He'd probably give Frank shit now because of the mess that was Frank's face. His dad could never understand why Frank couldn't put up a fight. He told Frank that if he stopped wearing eyeliner, stopped hanging out with chickens and if he would play on the sport teams, people would accept him.

"Got in another fight, I see. I don't seem to get why you can't stick up for yourself, boy. I don't really blame 'em comin' from their logic. You just make it too easy, playing the victim."

Frank rolled his eyes. What was the point even stating his side of the story? His dad would just interrupt him and tell him to quit being so weak and be a man. Frank was used to being constantly criticized by now and eventually just gave up. He'd be out of this house, this stupid farm soon. He'd go live with his maternal grandparents in Virginia Beach and get a job. He'd be alright. He hoped he'd be alright. It was all the reassurance he had.

"You could learn something from this Gerard character. He actually listens when I talk about the prices. And a college graduate too, something you should think about instead of sleeping all day, which I assume you were doing. You only have a week of school left and then graduation, have you given thought about your future?" Frank's dad said, snarling and motioning to an empty chair for Frank to take a seat.

Embarrassed, Frank tried to avoid looking at Gerard when he sat down - he could already feel a blush creep its way unto his face, because fuck! He just fucking had a sex dream about Gerard! - so Frank grabbed a tea biscuit and took a large bite out of it since he was really hungry... thanks to falling sleep to have a sex dream about Gerard's fucking mouth... or fucking Gerard's mouth or something. Frank wished he could just look at Gerard's mouth without him knowing because if Gerard knew Frank was fucking staring at his mouth, he'd think Frank was a stupid newb who had a sex dream about him. Okay, maybe Frank was getting a little carried away.

"Settle down there, Frank. You'll choke on it," dad said, laughing.

Frank raised his eyebrows at the comment, accidentally swallowing the biscuit too fast and choking because Hello flashback! He was about to cough up a lung, when Gerard quickly thrust his coffee cup at Frank.

After grabbing the cup and gulping down the strong beverage, Frank gave Gerard a small smile, mentally thanking him since Frank's dad had just laughed at Frank's choking.

"You don't think, boy," dad commented, getting up and walking over to the sink to drop the dirty dishes in. "Why don't you show Gerard around? Show him the tractors and the combine. Show him how they operate. I'm sure you know a lot about machinery."

Frank clenched his teeth together and tried not to make a scene. That was a low blow to Frank. His dad knew that Frank knew nothing about machinery and could care less about their farm.

"No. That’s okay. I'm not really into that kind of stuff," Gerard spoke up for the first time since Frank had joined them. "He doesn't have to. I'd like to see the animals though-"

"You mean livestock," interrupted dad. "That's the only thing Frank knows about. Or wait, what else do you know about this farm operation we have going here, Frank? You're supposed to take over one day... maybe when you outgrow this phase and stop that nonsense with that guitar of your's."

"Uh... What do I know about this farm? I know that you aren't supposed to feed the chickens grass? And guitar is my fucking life, dad," Frank said sarcastically, grabbing a biscuit and standing up, shoving his chair loudly back under the table. He was getting pissed off and wanted to avoid further humiliation and just get the fuck out of there.

"Hey, if you don't mind me interrupting here," Gerard started to say, as Frank's dad turned to face Gerard, grimly. "...but I think you if you really heard Frank play - if you already hadn't, sir, I wouldn't know - you'd see how gifted he in his music. I think Frank is really talented," Gerard said as Frank was about to leave the kitchen. Frank quickly turned around shocked that anyone would confront Dad.

"Excuse me?" came dad's voice, dripping with annoyance. Frank cringed.

"Well, I heard him play last night at the Crop Hop and everyone was like, completely blown away by his performance. He has a real talent and I've seen a lot of bands and been to a lot of shows, right? And I know when someone has a real passion and loves doing what they do. So maybe you should think about what Frank wants to do with his life instead of forcing him into something he wasn't made to do. It would be like, throwing his talent away, you know?" Gerard said, biting his lip, hesitantly.

Silence. Awkward silence. Not good.

"You're not telling me how I should raise my son and what I expect of him. You're just like him, living in a fantasy world. You're an artist you say? You're just a dreamer like Frank. You're not going to get anywhere." And with that, Dad slammed the door to the porch, leaving the house and Gerard just staring blankly at the door.

Gerard turned to Frank, mouth gaping open. "What the fuck was that?" He asked, confused.

"Shit. That was bad. I'm sorry he treated you like that," Frank said softly, gesturing to the door frame of the living room for Gerard to follow.

"No. I'm sorry that you have to put up with that shit on a regular basis. Like, Fuck! You don't deserve it. Nobody deserves to be treated like they are worthless, especially someone as talented as yourself," Gerard replied.

Frank sat down on the sofa, looking down at the biscuit in his hand. He wasn't even hungry anymore. He placed it on the coffee table and looked up at Gerard. Gerard's words were sort of ironic seeing that's exactly how Frank felt when he realized that Gerard had lied to him and left him that morning.

"I know what you’re thinking," Gerard sighed, stumbling around the coffee table and taking a seat on the loveseat across from Frank. "I’ll explain if you are willing to listen."

Frank nodded, meeting Gerard’s gaze. "I was kinda surprised you didn't come after me to explain all this shit."

"I respected your wish. You told me to stay back and I obeyed."

Frank blinked, shaking his head, he said: "Okay. I'm willing to like, listen now. So, uh, talk."

"Okay... The reason I did what I did," Gerard started to say, he paused and bit his lip, uneasily, tugging at his hair. "I have a girlfriend."

What? Frank felt his throat close up, he clutched his knees, looked down at the gaping holes in on his knee caps and tugged on the fraying fabric. Frank scratched at his knee, at least he knew for sure that Gerard was a manipulative, cheating son of a bitch. Too bad for the girlfriend... but then again Mikey said Gerard didn't have a girlfriend, that Gerard was just thinking of asking some girl out. Frank took a deep breath in and asked hoarsely, "What?"

"I'm really fucking sorry, Frank. I know it sounds like I am some asshole who cheats and fucks around with people, but that's not who I am," Gerard answered softly. He looked up at Frank, guilt and saddness lining his eyes. He gave a weak smile and said: "Um, okay. Okay, I'll just say it. Well, I just asked her the day before I left. And then when I saw you, I was stupid. I was an idiot and I just acted on impulse and completely forgot about my girlfriend and I really wanted to get to know you and then I did and fuck," he muttered, covering his face with his hands and ducking down far enough that all Frank could see was the shitty dye job, Gerard's roots showing over the red.

Frank rolled his eyes, about to get up and leave.

"Frank, please listen. I need you to know." Gerard said, as he moved his hands from his face. He looked so goddamn pathetic, Frank nodded and settled back down on the sofa.

"I was stupid. And after when we did what you know - what we did in that shed, I decided maybe me and you could like you know, work things out and maybe, I'd leave my girlfriend because what the fuck? I cheated on her a day after we started dating. What the hell does that say about me? When I saw you up there, fucking pouring your heart out on your guitar, I was never this fucking captivated by anyone and I needed to know you. I know that sounds really fucked, but then I woke up this morning, I guessed that maybe you didn't want anything out of what happened - the night we shared - so then some guy opened the door, I left because I thought you wouldn't want to-"

Gerard was red in face and rushing his long ass explanation - that completely insane explanation, Frank just sat back, confused. After contemplating things for a while, or at least until Gerard looked like he was about to burst, Frank spoke up: "Wait. You thought I wouldn't want anything out of it? You fucking gave that impression when I found out you fucking took off this morning! And you took all this fucking time to get to know me, so I thought you wanted something more... whatever. I was being a newb and just... nevermind. And this doesn't explain why you were in that chicken costume thing."

"Uh, my mom got pissed at me because I originally hadn't wanted to like, come here because I didn't get the job and just wanted to go out and get wasted. I kind of have a problem with that, but I can see her concern, anyway. So when I did come down here, she made dress up like that for her revenge on me or whatever and fuck, it was embarrassing. And the reason I didn't take it off or tell you my name because at first I just wanted to uh - fuck, hook up with you, but then I learned that you were not only really hot but also an awesome dude. And yeah, when you said who you were. I was like, shit, it's my mom's friend's kid. And then when I left, I was going to try to go back home since I knew you'd be here, since you like, live here. So then... I told my mom and she insisted that I stay and... I just messed it up okay?” Gerard said, taking in a deep breath and running his hand nervously through his hair, the black and red strands mixing together.

Frank didn't know what to make of the situation. So what just happened? Gerard has a girlfriend, but then didn't know who Frank was and then he wanted to hook up with him and then realized he liked him, but figured Frank wanted to just fool around? Was that it? Frank shrugged, hopelessly.

"I know that is no excuse for how I treated you. But I am really sorry for how I acted towards you and I can't imagine how you must have felt this morning," Gerard said softly and then raised his eyebrows. "Ha, and now I'm supposed to tell my girlfriend of two days that I cheated on her. How fucked is that?"

"Well. I don't know. This is weird," Frank answered, frowning and glanced around the room, gulping when he realized this was the room that his sex dream took place in. Oh, great...

"Frank, I'm doubting you'd even give me a second chance because come on, second chances don't fucking happen in reality, but... can we, uh? Just put this behind us? Like, I totally understand if you don't want anything to do with me while I'm here. But Mikey and Mom are staying for like, a week and I could just head home early, so you wouldn't have to see me or anything," Gerard said, rambling nervously and obsessively touching his hair. It probably was a nervous habit or something.

"Okay, that's just stupid. And quit touching your hair, you newb. Okay, let's just uh, forget about everything and yeah. Because yeah, it would be kind of a wasted trip and cost more money and shit if you go back. So I guess, we could like, start over?" Frank asked because yeah, this was really awkward and confusing as hell.

"You sure?" Gerard asked, a hint of a smile forming on the corner of his lips. Gerard sat up and sort of jumped over the coffee table, grinning down at Frank. "Hi," he said, holding out his hand.

"Uh what the hell are you doing?" Frank laughed.

"I'm Gerard Way. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Gerard said, thrusting his hand out to Frank.

"Oh my God, you are weird," Frank giggled at the bizareness of the whole thing and took Gerard's hand, shaking it firmly.

"And you aren't?" Gerard asked, as Frank was about to pull away.

"Shut up, newb," Frank laughed, yanking Gerard down unto the sofa beside him.

"Are we good now?" Gerard asked, smiling.

"Yeah. Dude, you stuck up for me when my dad wanted me dead, so that's mad good in my books," Frank grinned. He was about to grab his forgotten biscuit off the table when he realized his hand was still interwined with Gerard's. His hand was getting sweaty or breaking out in a sweat or completely doing what Frank didn't want it to do which was yes, sweat. Oh God. Frank looked up nervously from their hands to Gerard's face.

Gerard returned Frank's gaze and slowly lifted their hands to his lips and placed a kiss on the top Frank's hand, not breaking eye contact.

"Friends," Gerard said against Frank's hand, he then let go, Frank's hand dropping to the sofa.

Frank couldn't deny it. There was something weird, some attraction or something between them and he knew how things would turn out if he acted on his desires. RE: This morning... oh, and Gerard's girlfriend. Frank decided if they were going to be friends, he'd have to stick to friend-ish things or something. Frank was a newb at the whole friend thing in the first place and now this Gerard-is-hot-but-he's-my-friend-thing and he was getting fucking hungry, too.

Frank grabbed his biscuit off the table and took a giant bite out of it, grinning up at Gerard, chewing loudly. "Mmm."

"Hasn't anyone told you to chew with your mouth closed? Did someone not teach you any manners?" Gerard said, smirking and snatching the biscuit out of Frank's grasp and licking all over it at Frank’s dismay.

"Fucker!" Frank shouted, leaping off the sofa and tackling Gerard to the floor, landing on top of him. Frank grabbed the biscuit out of Gerard's grasp, threw it on the carpet - the whole eating it thing lost - and started to run his hands up and down Gerard's sides, tickling him. Loud giggles filled the air and Frank smirked down at Gerard, Gerard's hair spanned out on the carpet, eyes twinkling. He looked so amazing at this precise moment and carefree. Frank could feel a blush form on his cheeks and his heart start to race. WHAT THE FUCK? How was this friends thing going to even work? He tried not to straddle Gerard, in case anything happened seeing that he was a teenager and sometimes things just got started out of nowhere. Wait... why should he explain himself to anyone?

Considering Frank paused a little too long, thinking about sexual desires and whatnot, Gerard somehow managed to toss Frank off him and pin him to the ground, hovering and grinning evilly when surprise(!), a voice asked loudly, "Do I even want to know?"

Frank looked up to over Gerard's shoulders to see an upside down unimpressed Mikey. Gerard quickly scrambled off of Frank and just shrugged.

"He stole my biscuit," Frank said, pointing to the biscuit laying on the carpet.

Mikey looked at Gerard, sceptically, Gerard looked at Frank, Frank looked at the biscuit. The whole situation was just kind of lame so Frank giggled to ease the tension, if there was tension. It was like the laughter was contagious, soon Mikey and Gerard joined in.

"Wait," Mikey gasped, a beeping noise coming from his pocket. He pulled out his Sidekick, reading the message and he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he said, looking down at Frank and Gerard. "There's this party. We gotta go. It's at this girl's - that I met that the Crop Hop's - farm. She gave the directions," Mikey tapped out something on his Sidekick.

"Mikey. I still don't get how you manage to pick up so many chicks," Gerard shook his head, grinning.

"A skill, my dear brother. A skill," Mikey said picking up the biscuit and tossing it at his brother.

Frank smiled, feeling completely at ease for the first time that day.

*

After dinner and an extremely tiring walk to the lake - two fucking miles - which resulted in everyone getting soaked since Frank thought it would be fun to borrow an inflatable pool water raft that was left sitting alone on the beach. They managed to get it out in the water and sit on it - very still with little movement, let alone breathing - without falling off, then some girl started yelling at them to return her water raft before she'd get her boyfriend to murder them all. Of course, completely shocked by this girl's statement, the balance was thrown off the raft and everyone fell off into the shallow water. They managed to get the raft back to the girl and took off before her boyfriend would kill them.

On the way back to Frank's, Gerard kept walking diagonally because for some reason, he kept brushing his arm against Frank. Gerard would look up shyly at Frank and Frank would try to ignore it and listen to Mikey talk about "the hot chick from the Crop Hop".

When they arrived back at farm - after fucking freezing due to their soaked clothes - they got some odd looks from their mothers and quickly went to dry off for the party. Frank's dad of course mumbling that Frank shouldn't go because he'd get beat up again. But it didn't bother Frank this time, he had friends and that was all that mattered.

*

Blasting Black Flag on the highest decibel possible in car, they stopped in town at the liquor store and bought a bunch of booze. Frank was feeling pretty high on life, walking around in the liquor store because Gerard could actually buy alcohol. Yeah, Frank was hanging out with another older dude. A dude that was twenty-two. See? Frank wasn't no newb anymore! He smirked up at the cashier who he recognized from church as Gerard paid for everything. She just eyed him curiously and handed Gerard the change.

Gerard had climbed in the back seat with Frank after the liquor store stop and automatically opened the vodka, almost inhaling the thing. Mikey said something about the cops could stop them and that Gerard should think about taking it easy tonight, but Gerard just giggled and took another gulp and ran his hand over Frank's thigh.

When Mikey pulled the car up to the driveway, Frank couldn't help but noticing the large name stone that was displayed on the corner of the turn off. It read "The Kolibabas" only meaning one thing: Carter. Carter lived here. The girl that invited Mikey was that chick that found Frank that morning. Carter's cousin.

"Frank. Are you coming with us or are you just going to sit there all night?" Mikey asked. Frank didn't know the car had already come to a stop. Mikey was already outside with Gerard, holding the back door open so Frank could get out.

"This is gonna be fucking awesome!" Gerard said loudly, eyes unfocused, shoving a beer into Frank's hand and slinging his arm over Frank's shoulder.

The music was loud and streaming out of loud speakers and Frank could see some familiar faces of his classmates.

All Frank could think was fuck...

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