Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/9162589. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage Category: M/M Fandom: My_Chemical_Romance Relationship: Frank_Iero/Gerard_Way Character: Gerard_Way, Frank_Iero Additional Tags: Murder, Serial_Killers, Alternate_Universe_-_Serial_Killers, Abandonment, Frank_Iero_Is_A_Little_Shit, Masturbation, Mutual_Masturbation, Fluff Stats: Published: 2017-01-02 Updated: 2017-08-27 Chapters: 13/? Words: 14863 ****** Drop The Dagger ****** by Mini_Frankie Summary Gerard meets a strange kid while walking in the middle of the night and gets to know him, Frank just hopes Gerard doesn't ask too many questions Notes See the end of the work for notes ***** Chapter One ***** (Gerard POV) I sit down at the computer to check the local news. Another corpse was found on the edge of town. I’ve always been interested on serial killers, the way they think. I’m not crazy or anything, it is just... fascinating. So far, in the past 3 months they have found 7 bodies, they can't figure out what happened to them, and I’ve been trying to figure it out myself. Suddenly, I hear Green Day blast from the room next to mine, “MIKEY!” I spit loudly “Fuck off Gee” he utters back. God, that kid is so annoying. He is only 14 but he acts like he knows everything. I grab my aged black leather jacket and pull it on as I head towards the door, maybe a walk will help me clear my head. Just as I open the front door my mother shouts “Gerard! It’s getting dark, be careful”. I know she means well, but she treats me like a child. I sigh and close the door, making my way down the dimly lit street. I’m just now beginning to walk back, fuck, my mom is going to be so pissed. It’s at least eleven, probably later, and I have no idea how long I’ve been out. I don’t really want to deal with my family, but honestly I’m kinda freaked out. No bodies have been found in this part of town, but no one knows where they are being killed. I keep hearing footsteps or seeing movement in the thin woods that trace the road out of the corner of my eye. “Stop being so paranoid” I say to myself I hear a small laugh coming from behind me and I whip around, my heart drops and my blood runs cold. A kid is standing on the sidewalk a few feet away. He is short, and he looks to be about as old as Mikey, but it's hard to tell because he's so short. His hair is black on the top and in a long, unstyled mohawk, the sides of his head are bleached to near white, but I can only focus on his deep hazel eyes staring at me. After standing there for a minute, he stops scanning my face and takes a step forward. “You’re not being paranoid, you just need to pay attention” the teenager remarks with a smirk. I just wait there, paralyzed. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. “I’ll see you soon!” and with that joyful exclaim he leaps down the short trench separating the sidewalk from the forest. I attempt to follow him with my eyes, but it is hard to tell with his black clothes hid under the cover of night. I nearly run home, arriving at my door in only a fraction of the time it took me to walk out. After a moment to collect myself I step on quietly, not knowing if anyone is asleep. I sneak up the stairs and cautiously open my door. I shut the door harder than I should have and jump to find my sketchbook. I grab a pencil off my desk and sit on my bed against the wall as I begin to sketch the strange boy I saw. His eyes were sunken as if he hasn’t slept well in a while, yet they were full of life and emotion. The kid’s jaw was squared which contrasted with his soft cheeks. He has a thin nose that was adjourned with a silver ring, which matched the one on the opposite side of his lips that seemed to be stuck on a constant smirk. I try to remember more about the boy before I hear a bang on my bedroom door “stop fucking mumbling to yourself” my brother croaks, obviously still half- asleep I go back to my drawing, I think I captured his look pretty well. Realizing how tired I am with a yawn I glance over at my alarm clock to see it's three am, no fucking way was I wandering around for so long. Tomorrow is a Saturday, but I still decide it's better to at least try to get some sleep. I grab a piece of tape and stick my sketch to my wall, the start of a new mystery. I step back and look at it again, it could use some work but I’ll worry about that later. It's not like anyone else is gonna see it anyway. I turn off my light and fall back into bed, not even bothering to change out of my skinny jeans, but tearing my jacket off with a sigh. My head hits the cold pillow as I drift into a light sleep. I wake up to someone shaking my leg. I bat at them half-heartedly and say “go away ma” with a groan. “That’s no way to talk to your mother!” someone says in a mocking impression of a woman. I shoot up with the realization that the person on my room is not my mother, but the teenager I saw earlier. ***** Chapter two ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes The kid is sitting on the foot of my bed, laughing into his hand in an attempt to be quiet. “Hello sleeping beauty” he jokes. I look at him in shock, trying to hide my fear “How the hell did you get on here??” He nods towards my now open window, “you better be quiet unless you wanna wake up the whole damn neighborhood” I hear him utter softly. I clamp my mouth shut before a small apology escapes my lips. He hops off the bed and clicks my desk light on. After a quick look at the room, he steps back towards the bed with a grin, “remember me huh”, he points to my drawing of him. “Uh, yeah, I was trying to figure out who you are” I answer nervously. How the fuck did this kid find me and why is he following me? Please tell me this is just some stupid prank and he’s friends with Mikes or something. The boy looks confused for a moment before holding his hand out. “Oh right, I haven’t even introduced myself yet” he remarks “I’m Frank” I reach out to shake his hand, how did I just notice he’s wearing gloves? Well to be fair this is all weird as hell, and they are fingerless. With a voice nearly as shaky as my hand I tell him “I’m Gerard”. He grins to himself “Well Gerard, there’s no need to be nervous, let’s go for a walk, meet me outside” he states before disappearing out my window. I walk over and stick my head out a moment later. Cold autumn wind blows at my hair, but Frank is nowhere to be seen. I close the window and consider locking it, but decide I’d like to stay on contact with Frank, even if that means five am surprise visits. I grab my jacket for the second time this night and rush to the door, locking it behind me. I don’t have a problem with him, but I don't think mom or Mikey would appreciate a surprise visitor. He is leaning against the trunk of the old oak tree that resides on my front lawn. He nods at me and kicks off the tree. I follow him without another word. We walk along the sidewalk for a while before he jumps into the trench again, but rather than blending into the darkness he looks up at me, cocing an eyebrow “coming?” I half jump half climb down, with far less grace than him. His chuckling isn’t helping me feel less embarrassed at my sad attempt to get to the forest. I have to walk so fast I get winded in an attempt to keep him in my line of sight, after far too long he stops at a small rotting house, after glancing back to make sure I’m still near him he runs over to two metal doors sticking out of the ground against the back of the house, they look better than the rest of the house and are probably only a few years old. After a short struggle he manages to pry one of the doors open, he goes down into what I can only assume is the basement and a soft glow shines out, I hear his feet pound at the concrete steps before he steps back out. He grabs the door, pulling it up slightly before turning back to me “m’lady” he says through a grin, gesturing towards the door. As soon as I reach the bottom of the staircase I hear the metal bang as the door is shut. I take a look around the room. It is far larger than I expected, there are two couches and a TV taking up most of the room, the rest of the space is filled by a microwave, toaster oven and mini fridge that sit near a small black wooden table with two non-matching chairs. The whole area is plastered with posters of various horror movies and punk bands. I stand in awe, taking in this teenage paradise. Suddenly, Frank step next to me and places an elbow on my shoulder, “pretty cool huh” he says with pride. “Yeah” I manage to utter despite my anxious demeanor. He walks over to the fridge and pulls out two beers, “catch!” He yells, throwing one of the bottles at me. Surprisingly, I manage to grab it without making myself look like an idiot. Wait, he's only a kid, where are his parents? I decide to ask him, “Hey, do your parents know about all this?” He sighs and opens his beer “they moved away a few years ago. I said I wasn't going and I kept my word.” he throws the bottle opener at me. I look over at Frank, at a glance he looks fine but I can tell he is trying to hide the hurt behind his eyes. “Don't you miss them?” He spins back to face me, this is the first time I've seen him without a smirk “they were always dicks to me anyway. Now drop it, can't we just have fun?”. He looks genuinely pissed. I reluctantly apologize “yeah, what do you wanna do?”. The grin returns to his face, despite the odd introduction I'm gonna try to treat him like anyone else. He jumps over the back of his larger black couch and pats the spot next to him “Like horror?” Frank asks, turning the large tv and changing it so it's playing a dvd. “Frankenstein okay?” he asks, this time seeming like he actually expects an answer. I nod and he hits play. I take this time to get a better look at him. He is wearing a shirt with a rib cage printed on it under a leather jacket that is far too big on his small frame. There are tattoos poking out of the top of his collar, leading up to a black scorpion on the right side of his neck. I can see the bottom of letters that are mostly hidden by his skeleton gloves, and with letters further down on his fingers that say something I can’t make out. He catches me staring at his ink, with that familiar look on face and takes off his gloves, showing me more of his tattoos. “I know you're an artist, I thought you’d like ‘em”. I reach out and trace the lines that stain his pale skin. “How did you get these?”, looks at me with soft eyes “One of my friends does them for me, I just have to bring him the designs.” I look at his young face again, he is clearly independent, but that doesn't change his age. “Isn’t that illegal?’ He looks at me with knives in his eyes “So is leaving your 11 year old son behind to fend for himself” he stares at me for what seems like hours, his look making my blood sting with a rush of fear. I sit next to him silently for a few minutes until I see him relax a bit more. I look at him sadly.. “I’m sorry Frank… I didn’t mean to make you ang-” he cuts me off “it's fine Gerard, let’s just watch the movie, okay?”. He leans back, gripping his near empty beer bottle and sighing before returning his focus to the movie. It was awkward sitting next to him for the rest of the movie, but when it was done he popped in classic Dracula before walking back to the couch and sitting down so close to me he was practically sitting on my lap, I open my mouth to say something, but I quickly close it as he puts his arm around my shoulder. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever let anyone down here before” Frank said quietly, keeping his eyes on the screen and finishing his beer. “Why did you let me come then?” I say, turning my head to look at him. He keeps his head facing the screen, but he dawns a warm expression, “Because you, you are different” I want to ask him what he means by ‘different’ but I don't want to see him angry again, he acts completely different when he’s angry and honestly it scares the shit out of me. He turns to me, and as if he was reading my mind he says “You don’t do anything genuinely mean, you care enough to never hurt anyone if you can, even when you are angry. Most people get a thrill out of being a dick, doing something as small as starting a fight with their sibling to people who abuse animals, pretty much everyone does things that only causes pain. But not you. It is odd- in a good way of course. I usually don't talk to people, but I just had to make an exception for you.”. His words send shivers down my spine. It was by far the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me, but I just met this boy a few hours ago. Chapter End Notes This actually got hits. wow. I'm genuinely supprised. ***** Chapter Three ***** “Frank?” “Yeah?” I bite my lip “Why do you think I’m so different?” “I already told you, you are genuinely kind” “But you just met me, how could you possibly know that?” “Gerard, you ask a lot of questions.” he sighs, “You just met me tonight, but this isn’t the first time I’ve met you” I freeze, barely able to understand what is going on. “W-what” I mumble with a shaky tone “I’ll tell you more, but you can not tell anyone. You can't even say you have ever met me, oh-” he pulls my neatly folded sketch out of his pocket “I’m keeping this, and please, don't draw me again- or if you do, leave out my tattoos, piercings- my face on general, hair, pretty much just don’t draw anything that shows you have ever seen me up close.” I nod, unable to speak He sighs again, but he seems anxious, not angry like he was before. “Well, I’ve kind of been following you.. Don’t freak out. It's just I don't really have friends because I haven’t gone to school since my parents left- and I saw you walking one night, and you are just really… intriguing.” He pauses and looks at me, he looks very concerned. I try to relax and let him explain. “So, and I know this sounds creepy, but I followed you home, you went to get what I assume is your sketchbook, and you just sat in the park and drew. I kind of hung around near your house for a while, I really wanted to see you again, but I was too nervous to talk to you. I knew right away that you were different, and after only seeing you a few times I could tell I needed to be your friend…” He chews at his lip ring and stares at his hands, studying his tattoos. “I hope you don’t hate me now, I just haven’t really talked to anyone in a long time…” Tears fill his eyes, I hug him. What he told me was creepy as fuck, but god something about Frank. He just seems like he has been through alot and I just need to help him. “It's okay Frankie, just please knock next time?” I say, smiling as I let him go. He lets out a small laugh, wiping tears away “Yeah, sure”. He finally looks at me again with eyes red and swollen. “S-so you don’t hate me now?” I can see the hurt on his eyes, I look at him with soft eyes, “of course I don’t hate you.” He smiles and buries his head in my chest. I jump back at the sudden touch, than relax. He curls up on my lap, his tears soaking through my thin misfits t-shirt. We stay like that, I have my arms around him, drawing circles on his back until we both fall asleep. I wake up still on Frank’s couch, he is nowhere to be seen and I really need to take a piss. I stand up, kicking the half empty beer bottle I forgot I left on the floor. I swear under my breath before I notice the sudden silence that falls over the area when water is turned off. Franks voice comes from the hall that lies just beyond the small dining area, “Hold on, I’ll be out in a second”. I sigh and walk over to the kitchen looking for paper towels, thank god the floor is just concrete so I don’t have to worry about stains or anything. I stop looking when I see Frank appear from the shaded doorway, he has a black towel wrapped around his waist and water drips down the long black strands of hair that fall over his face. I can’t help but blush, but he acts like there is nothing weird about only wearing a towel in front of someone who you only started talking to. He steps over to me, “what’d you need?” I try to act normal and not get distracted by him, “uh- just paper towels- I kicked over my beer from last night when I stood up”. He opens a cabinet, “shit, give me a second I think I have some more” he walks down the hallway, I hear him open a couple cabinets before walking back, “there” he says with a sigh, handing me the roll. I look at the large tattoo he has on his chest, he follows my gaze and looks down. “Oh right, that. I should probably get dressed.” I open my mouth to protest, but stop myself before I do something stupid, and just enjoy the artwork on his back as he disappears into another room down the hallway. He comes back wearing a Black Flag t-shirt and black skinny jeans, his hair still dripping on his face, but it looks like he put gel or something in it to make it stay up, he fixes his shirt and checks his phone before looking up at me. “Fuck, it's like noon, I hope you didn’t have anything to do” he bites at his lip ring nervously, thank god it's a saturday and I sleep in so my mom probably doesn't know I’m gone. “Nah, I should probably shower though, can you tell me how to get home?” I say, standing up from the couch. “Damn, I wish you could stay, you can use my shower if you want and I can just go get you some clothes”. I consider his offer for a minute, wondering how he could explain to ma and mikey why he is getting clothes from my room before I remember that he just uses windows. “Sure”, it's not like I have anywhere to be. His eyes light up and he smiles, “first door on the left, towels are under the sink”. I turn to go into the hallway, hearing him stomp up the concrete stairs. I text my mom “I stayed at Ray’s, prob gonna be w him all day, see you tonight”. I lock the door and undress, the bang of the metal door telling me frank is leaving. The bathroom walls were painted a purple color, but the floors, counter, and cabinets are all black. There is a hand towel that matches the walls hanging over a large black towel on a sleek silver bar that matched the faucet and shower head. I step into the shower after grabbing a black towel from under the sink, not wanting my dyed black hair to stain a purple one. When I turn the water off I notice the light strumming on a guitar, I guess that means Frank is back. I step out, nearly forgetting to open the glass door. I dry my hair quickly before opening the door. There is a pile of my neatly folded clothes on the floor with a note, I pick the bundle up and close the door again. I throw the clothes on the counter before quickly picking up the slip of paper reading “thought you might need these, xoxo frnk”. I smile and throw on the outfit he brought for me, grateful he gave me both sweatpants and jeans, god I love my jeans but they are uncomfortable as hell. I pull on the sweatpants then finish drying my hair before putting on a shirt and stepping out of the bathroom. ***** Chapter Four ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes I step past the doorway and see Frank sitting on his couch, he is playing something I have never heard before on a white guitar. He hasn’t noticed me yet, but he looks so focused on his music that I don’t want to disturb him. After a couple minutes he stops playing and looks over at me, “Oh, hi, uh- how long have you been standing there?” he blushes. “Only a few minutes, I just heard you play that last song, you’re really good” I smile at him, he still looks embarrassed. “Were you just trying stuff out or-” he jumps in, excited “Actually I was working on a song, I think I’m gonna call it ‘Don Quixote’” he blushes deeper, I don’t see why he’s so shy about this, he’s really good. “Do you have a band?” he looks down and plays with his guitar, running his fingers along the strings. “Nah, I want one but like I said, I don’t really talk to people”. I don’t want to intrude anymore, neither of us are very good at being social, so I just stand on the doorway as he puts his guitar and amp away. “Fuck, neither of us has eaten” Frank says, looking at me nervously, he rushes to the kitchen and I finally step out of the door frame. “Wanna just have like sandwiches or something?” He asks while digging through one of the cabinets, pulling out a bag of paper plates. I’m concerned about the way he is acting, I should be more careful not to make him upset. “Sure” I say with a grin to assure him I’m not upset “Do you have like ham or something?”. He stops searching through his kitchen and looks at me, “fuck, I don’t. I’m a vegetarian, I could go get some..” he starts to walk towards the door and I grab his arm. He flinches at the sudden touch and looks at me with fear in his eyes. I try to show him that he hasn’t done anything wrong. “Frank, you are fine, you haven’t done anything wrong. I’ll eat whatever you have, I don’t want you to go out of your way for me” I feel him relax under my touch. “I think I have some frozen pizza” He tells me, walking over to his mini fridge. He pulls out two personal pizzas “Margarita okay?”. I nod and he rips open the boxes and throws them in his toaster oven. He jumps onto his table and looks at me, “So, what do you want to do while we wait?”. I look around the room, I notice a couple papers and pens in a pile. “Wanna just talk while I doodle?” he jumps off the table and pulls out his guitar again, along with a sketchbook and some pencils. He jumps on the loveseat against the wall after throwing the art supplies on the couch we slept on last night. He begins to strum something that seems random at first but comes together rather quickly, I forget that I was even going to do something before he reminds me I start sketching a human figure, using frank’s pose as a reference. I was just gonna use him to get the form but I realize that I’m drawing his hair and guitar before I can stop myself. “What are you drawing?” Frank asks, curious. “Oh-umm.. Nothing!” I jump to cover it up quickly. “You can show me!” Frank grins. “I-It’s a surprise.” I smile, nervous. “Fine,” he sighs. Oh god I’m blushing, fuck. Hopefully he’s as clueless as me and hasn’t noticed. I bet he thinks I’m drawing porn or something. I consider it, Frank, sitting down casually, the only thing covering him his guitar and the beautiful artwork that dances on his skin. I started drawing his swallows already, I erase them frantically, earning me a suspicious look from Frankie. I just smile nervously and start drawing his clothes, then I carefully trace the outlines of his tattoos before I remember he distinctly told me not to, I sigh, it's not like anyone but him is gonna see it anyway. He starts playing something that instantly makes my head shoot up to look at him. He looks at me confused “is something wrong?” It takes me a minute to realize he’s talking to me, “No- it just what you were playing sounds like something I sing- but I wrote that so I’m probably just crazy..” he looks at me and laughs. “Not at all, like I said earlier, you just need to pay attention.” “I heard you singing a couple nights ago when I was sitting on your roof. I wasn't even following you that day, your roof is just nice to sit on. Also because of you and your brother I haven’t had the cops called yet…” I start drawing again, trying to be as casual about this as he is. “... and I liked the way you sounded, so I started to think of a rif that would go along with it, the next night I came back with pansy-my guitar and sure enough you were singing the same thing, so I started to play.” he laughed a little “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t notice; like I had my amp as low as it could go but still, well I guess you just got so into it that you didn’t notice it wasn't just you anymore.” he continues to play the song that I wrote the lyrics to as I feel my cheeks grow hot from blushing. It takes me too long to realize I’ve stopped drawing again, but I am brought back to reality when frank jumps up with a loud “fuck” as he barely manages to keep his guitar from hitting the cold concrete. He throws Pansy where he was sitting and runs to the kitchen to pull out our burnt pizzas. He puts them on the paper plates he got out earlier and gets cans of coke 0 from his fridge, he throws the soda at me as he walks over with our food. He hands the slightly blackened pizza to me with a smirk that says he thought of something he finds hilarious, “Hope you like cajun” he sputters before bursting out laughing. I raise an eyebrow with confusion, I decide not to question him and just take a bite out of my ‘cajun’ pizza. After he calms down he moves his guitar so it's leaning on his chair and sits down, ready to explain his joke(?) “I am shit at cooking and pretty much burn everything, so it's not burnt, it's just cajun”. I half laugh to be polite and go back to my drawing. Frank scarfs his food down and sits down next to me with coke in hand. “Gerard…” he says like he’s a little kid trying to get my attention. “Yeah?” I mock his tone. “Whatca drawin’” he puts his soda on the floor and lays on his stomach, his face in his hands and kicking his feet behind him. I look at his big, warm eyes and can’t help but to smile. “You’ll find out soon”. He gets up and walks over to the smaller sofa before falling onto it with a dramatic groan, “Uggghhhh show meeeeee” he looks at me from the awkward position he fell into. I laugh, “Fine, but don’t get mad, come here”. He jumps up and bounds over to me like an excited puppy. I show him the rough sketch, he looks at it in awe for a minute before I turn it to face me again, he looks sad for a moment before I begin to rip it out. I give him the piece of paper. He looks at it like it is the most amazing thing he has ever seen, he rushes down the hallway without another word. Chapter End Notes I know it's not a lot compared to most of the stuff on here, but holy fuck over 30 people have read this already?? ***** Chapter Five ***** Frank popped his head out of the last door in the hallway, “Coming?” he asked me with a smirk, rhetorically of course. I walked down the hall, following him into what I assume is his room. I step into the chilly room, it has hardwood floors that were so dark they were nearly black. The walls and the ceiling were all covered on various posters, the only exception was the wall overlooking his bed, which had about 15 of my drawings plastered on it. He taped the new sketch to his wall, near a drawing of the male form I did no less than a month ago. I recognize most of them as sketches I thought I lost, but there was one that stood out to me. It was a character I made a few days ago, he was a part of the Killjoys, this stupid comic thing I wanted to make. His name was Fun Ghoul, and I realize now he looks strangely similar to Frank if he had the hair on the sides of his head long. It was the only finished drawing he took, and the only missing piece I really looked for. Frank noticed me looking at my Killjoy, “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind that I took a finished one” I look away from the drawing and turn my head to him. He looks nervous, as if he was expecting something horrible “I just thought it kinda looked like me and I really wanted one of your finished pieces… you can have it back if you want” he steps to his wall and reaches out to rip the tape off the wall. I jump forward to stop him, he flinches and I rest my hand on his shoulder. “Frank, it's fine, I want you to keep it.” He looks up at me with bright eyes. “Really? Gerard, you don’t have to, I would love to have it but I know you’re working on a thing with them and-” I jump in, “Frankie, I can just draw another one. Please, keep it.” He smiles along with me. He hugs me, pushing his head into the crook of my neck. I feel his warm tears on my skin, I hold him there for a minute. He pulls away, wiping his tears away with his collar. “I’m fine” he says, still crying. I hug him “no, you’re not, it's okay” he starts to cry harder. I pick him up and sit down on his bed, sitting him on my lap. Frank clings to me, his eyes soaking through my shirt. I run my fingers through his choppy raven hair. He continues to sob for nearly an hour. I just hold him and try to make him more comfortable. I’m not sure why he’s crying, but I don’t think that is important right now, I just want him to feel better. His breathing soon starts to calm, and his eyes dry. He looks up at me with shameful eyes, “I-I’m sorry, you c-can go if you want to. I-I wouldn’t want to deal with me e-either” I stare into his deep, broken eyes. I gently tip his head up and he looks away, “Frankie, I need you to listen, really listen, not just hear me.” he nods, tears welling up again, I have to suppress my urge to cry “You aren’t a burden to me, I want to help you, and I want you to be able to talk to me.” Frank looks up at me again, smiling through his tears. It’s not until twenty minutes later that I realize he’s passed out. I lay him on his bed and look around his room, I feel guilty, then I remember this is the guy who followed me and climbed through my window. The room isn’t big, but it isn’t the smallest room I’ve been in. He has His bed against one of the walls, his dresser sits nearby. I walk over to the desk that sits opposite to his bed. There is a small notebook open on the middle of a mess of cigarette butts and empty cans of energy drinks. The top line is blank but the rest of the page is filled with scribbles I can barely read. I see a description of someone’s appearance at the top, followed by a few short paragraphs and a T-chart, the right side of the chart is empty, but it looks as if he has ran out of space on the left. I stare at it for a couple minutes before I realize what it is. These are Frank’s notes on me. I feel nauseous, but I need to know what he says- so I keep reading. I hear Frank stir, so I take out my phone and snap a picture of the page before he knows what I found. I turn around, putting my phone back into my pocket, I’m happy to see Frank is still asleep, even though he looks like he’s having a nightmare. I go up to him and gently shake him awake, he jumps at first then sighs, “Hi Gerard”. I smile down at him, trying to act oblivious, “Nightmare?” I ask. He nods at me and I sit next to him. The younger boy puts his head on my shoulder. I rest one of my hands on his thigh, “What do you want to do?”. Frank puts his hand on top on mine. “Well, as much as I hate to say this, you should probably go back home before people wonder where you are.” I check my phone, it's already four, I know he’s right. “Yeah, I can come back though, right?” he shifts and our eyes meet. “Of course, you can always come back.” with that, Frank grabs my hand and pulls me up. “We better get going, it's kind of a long walk” I nod and walk back into the main room. He leads me back out to the sidewalk, his place is pretty well hidden. All I know is that it is in the woods, but all three times I’ve seen him he’s been in a different place along the edge. “I don't know where your house is, how will I find you?” I look at him, he just smirks “No one else knows where it is, just leave your window unlocked, and if you need me then text this number-” he stops to scribble a number on my hand “- and ask for me, I’ll find you from there” and with that he hugs me and disappears into the woods. How the hell does he do that in broad daylight? I sigh and start walking home, I’m just glad I know where I am so I don't have to waste time wandering around like an idiot.   Frank’s notes:   Name- ?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶ Gerard Hair- Black (not natural) Eyes- Hazel Age- 16-18 General- Pale, round face, wears dark clothes, 5’9” ish Lives with his mother and his younger brother. He goes out on walks on the middle of the night a lot. Likes punk bands. Draws. Smokes Marlboro Red Light’s. Caffeine addict. Attends Bellville high school. Likes comic books. Sings. No trouble in school. No police record. Detention for skipping gym. Stays inside most of the time. Usually leaves house at night. Friends with “Ray”. Does well in most classes. Shit at math. Not teachers favorite. Stays out of the way. Seems like a good kid. Kind -helped kid who fell -generally polite -nice to strangers while walking -gave kid $ for food - helped kid who got beat up -helped lost kid -didn’t kick my face in when I magically appeared behind him No mean acts so far ***** Chapter Six ***** Chapter Notes warning- drugs and violence This is one fucking creepy kid, but I don’t think I really have a choice on our friendship (if you can even call it friendship). I do feel bad for him, but he’s gone too far. He is a fucking stalker who lives in the middle of the woods… like what the hell. He could be dangerous… he could drug me or worse. But I’m pretty sure I have to act like I trust him if I want to live. I push through another day at Belleville High School, better known as hell on earth, as the real deal would have better heating. At least pretty much no one knows me so I can just skip class, smoke and draw and no one notices. As soon as I’m home I pass out on my bed before I can even take my shoes off. I wake up and jump, there’s a knocking at my window. It's him. I hide my shock and smile, opening the window for him. “Hey Frankie” He smiles back at me and jumps through the narrow space, his large hoodie nearly getting caught on the doorframe. “Finally awake huh? I kinda wanted to wake you up earlier but you seemed tired so I waited.” I rub my eyes and fix my hair, “It’s fine” I mutter. He nods, “So do you wanna come hang out at my place or sleep more?” I tell him I need to sleep because of school. “I get it, wanna come over later though” he says, already halfway out the window, I nod and close the window behind him, turning off my light before stumbling back into bed, I pretend to sleep for almost ten minutes, but every time I glance at the window he is still perched right against the glass. As soon as I see his silhouette disappear from the soft glow of the street lights I sneak out of the room and run down the stairs. I see him jump across the tops of houses that were built far too close together. He moves unnaturally fast for a normal person, but he isn’t very normal. He climbs down from the roof of a house that should have been torn down years ago before slipping into the forest. I follow him, careful to be as swift as him. He runs along the sidewalk for a while, far enough that I’m sure we are nowhere near his basement. I know where we are when I see the road that divides this town from roseville. This is where most of the bodies were found, but it's not like Frank could… no. He’s a fucking kid. He’s probably just exploring or some bullshit. I get drift back a bit as he moves into the town. He goes into an alley and leans against a wall. He starts to fake cry, if I hadn’t seen him cry before I would have thought it was real. It only takes like five minutes before a tipsy woman, probably around twenty five walks out of a door on the back of a bar. She immediately runs over to him and tries to comfort him. He talks to her for a minute before walking with her somewhere, he leads her back by the woods to a far less populated part of town. Then he takes something out of his pocket and puts his arm around her, she goes limp. He throws her down into the ditch, jumping down. I watch in horror as Frank throws the possibly dead person over his shoulders and walks deeper into the forest. I quietly follow him, it's easier this time as he is slower this time, and more careful to stay hidden. He walks far away from the town until we are both far from any other people. The short boy lays his victim down, quickly pulling a needle out of her shoulder. He checks her pulse and grins, his lip ring shining in the moonlight. He pulls out two syringes and a tube from the large pocket of his jacket. He puts what I can only assume is a needle on the end of the tube into her neck, thick blood starts to come out and he starts to drink. I gag and wait a few minutes, relieved to see the tube out of the girl when I look back again, Frank holds gauze to her neck, it quickly gets soaked in blood. He throws the bloody bandage into a nearby pile of random medical shit. He pulls off the cap from one of the syringes and I shiver, god I hate needles. He put the needle in her thigh, and injected her with a clear liquid then tries to stop the bleeding from her neck again. It slows to nothing and he smiles. He puts all the shit back into his pocket than throws her over his shoulders again. He walks only about half an hour more before stopping at what has to be a grave he dug earlier. He throws her in the hole and buries her. After the body is gone he walks back to his basement, I stop following him when I know where I am well enough to get home. I walk the rest of the way as I try not to have a panic attack. I sneak back up to my room and try to sleep. I am horrified, how could someone who seems so nice do such a horrible thing. That poor girl- my thoughts are cut short by my mom banging on my door. I convince her I’m sick with little trouble. I can’t go to the cops, he’d know it's me and kill me next. He asked me to go with him. He had all the shit to kill on him when he asked me. He could have KILLED me. Why did he even talk to me in the first place. Why did I ever have to meet this kid. What the fuck happened to Frank to make him this way? I actually feel sick now, but more than anything I just feel sorry for him. He’s only a kid, I doubt he ever had a real childhood. For the rest of the day I lay on bed. I try to draw a couple times but all I can think about is what I witnessed last night, so I stop trying to do anything productive. I grab some of the pills out of my drawer and down them. I can feel my blood under my skin, god why do I have so much skin? My teeth are touching my tongue and it's gross. My hair is soft. God my hair is really fuckin soft. What was I so worried about? I can just stay here like this forever, this is nice. My bed is nice. Oh look Mikey is here. “Hey Mikes” he looks mad. He should do what I’m doing then he wouldn’t be mad anymore.”What the fuck did you do this time Gerard?” I laugh, he sounds like a caterpillar. “Mikes, mikes, just pills, relax” I point to the drawer that I got them out of. He slams the door. I fall asleep laughing at his caterpillar voice. ***** Chapter Seven ***** Chapter Notes I finally got some motivation! You can thank Ali reminding me to write, sorry this chapter took so long. I'll try to be more consistent. I wake up around 7 the next night, fuck it's Wednesday too. If I knew where I got those pills I would not buy than from the same place again. My head is killing me, so of course I go downstairs and grab a cup of coffee. I run back upstairs drinking the bitter black coffee from the largest mug I own. I sit back on my bed and look at my window nervously, thankful to only see the houses illuminated by the streetlights. I check the news on my laptop, the woman was reported missing, they don't know what has happened to her. There is a picture, it is definitely the girl I saw Frank drain of her blood. I slam the computer closed, I can’t bear to think about this anymore. Then I hear the same tap at my window accompanied by his ghostly complexion. The silver ring that pierces his face shines just like it did when there was blood on his lips. I open the window and let him in, my movements mechanical and rehearsed. He jumps in and starts to talk excitedly, “Hey Gee! Did you like my show last night?” I feel the blood drain from my face. He knows I was watching him. My jaw hits the floor. “I’m sorry, did I scare you? You’ll get used to it, it's okay” He tries to put his arm around me and I move away. “Do. Not. Touch. Me.” Frank shrugs, “Okay, just so you know I wouldn’t have killed you if you let me feed” what the fuck. He sees my expression, “Yes, yes, I know I’m not an actual vampire, but I like the taste of blood and have no problem killing people if I feel they deserve it so that’s my new hobby” I can't speak. “Oh come on, don’t be that way, I wouldn’t kill an innocent person or like a dog, only people who deserve it!” He gives me a minute, waiting for a response, he sighs, “Fine, if you wanna talk I’ll be on the roof. “ and with that he’s gone, I hear light footsteps above me, than everything goes silent. I sit on my bed, trying to slow my breathing to a normal pace. I’m going to have to talk to him eventually, it’s not like I can ignore someone like him. I sigh and swear to myself, opening my window. The cold night air shocks my skin as I step out onto the roof that always marks Frank’s footsteps with a fine black dust. I give my eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness that shadows the world, Frank is leaning against the slanted part of my roof that cuts the ceiling of Mikey’s room at an angle. He is pretending to play the guitar, I watch is graceful fingers dance, his pale skin contrasting his colorful tattoos in the streetlights. His head shoots up, his strong eyes piercing the flimsy mask that hides my true fear. He grins, the ghost of a mischievous smirk rests on his face. “Hey Gee, I knew you’d come out eventually!” He gets up and comes over to hug me, I push him back and he frowns, “right, no touching…” He looks so heartbroken, no matter how hard I try I can’t help but comfort him, even though I know what he’s done. I sigh and go over to him, I hug him tightly and he buries his head on the crook of my neck. I hold back a gasp when I realize he’s crying softly. The short boy sniffles and looks up at me, his eyes red and swollen. “I-I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to scare you, I- I just-” he buries his face in my shirt again to muffle a sob. “Shhh, it’s okay Frankie, it’s okay” I rub his back and hold him. He looks up at me with big eyes, “we should go… wanna go to my house? I get it if you…” I hug him tightly before holding his shoulders an arms length away from myself. I study his clothes and see he is wearing a black hoodie. I sigh with relief when I am able to tell it is not the hoodie from that night. I look him over once more before staring into his eyes sternly, “Okay, IF you empty your pockets, then Imma have to…” I bite my lip, blush and look at my shoes awkwardly, he tilts his head and asks “have to what?” quietly. I look back at him with less confidence than last time, “I’m gonna have to pat you down” He smirks and giggles, “aww is little Gerard embarrassed?” I smile weakly and punch his arm. “Shut up! Now let’s go into my room so we can go back to your place” I instantly bite my tongue when I realize how I said that, that hot bastard winks, I sigh, happy my jeans are working with the darkness to hide my shame. I pry open my window, it's a hell of a lot harder to open from the outside. I jump into my room as warm air makes me realize how cold it really is out there, Frank enters after me and I have to grab his arm so the window slamming won’t wake anyone. He smiles at me apologetically and I smile back. “Okay, empty your pockets” He sighs and starts taking things out, it all seems pretty normal, a pen, some chapstick, a pack of smokes, and… “Frank?” he looks at his shoes. “Why” he doesn't look at me but he squeaks “why what” in an embarrassed tone he tried to hide. I look at him with my best ‘you know exactly what I’m talking about’ look and say, “A condom, really?”. His blush deepens and he lets out a little giggle, “a guy can dream” he bursts out laughing and I clamp my hand over his mouth so he didn’t wake up Mikey. He licks my hand and I pull away before shoving his own hand on his mouth, “god dammit Frank” I say under my breath. He calms down and I sit on my bed, not wanting to frisk him but knowing I have to for my own sanity. Okay I can’t even think that I don't wanna frisk Frank with a straight face. (ha ha straight face) I get up and sigh, running a hand through my too long greasy black hair. “Ready?” I ask him. He unzips his hoodie and throws it onto my bed, crossing his arms over his chest and spreading his legs slightly, “whenever you are”. I walk over to him, “can you hold your arms out?” he complies and laughs at how embarrassed I am. I pat down his sides, he is thinner than he looks under the layers and I can feel his ribs faintly under a thin layer of muscle. Stay focused gee. I get down onto one knee and start at the ankle, going up his left leg, I start to hesitate when I pass his knee. Frank looks down at me and smirks, “What? You said you just have to check everywhere” I look up at him with fake anger, at least this will keep my mind off things. “God dammit you’re not helping” I go further up his leg until I am almost touching his crotch, he lets out a small groan and I start laughing. I fall onto both knees and hug his leg so I don’t fall over. Frank hits the back of my head “knock it off” he whines. “Just do the other leg and lets go” I nod and start to collect myself. I do his right leg more quickly and I manage to contain myself when he chokes on his breath because of my touch. I get up off my knees and look at him, I feel like shit for laughing when I see his face, his eyes are red again and he is blushing profusely. His eyes dart around the room, looking everywhere but my eyes.   I lift his chin and his eyes lock on mine, “I’m sorry” I pull him into a much needed hug. “Thank you Gee” “Always Frankie, always” ***** Chapter eight ***** Chapter Notes Some light smut-ish stuff. didn't really plan it but oh well. Writers block leads to weird shit. See the end of the chapter for more notes As we walk through the woods I look over at Frank, it's too dark to tell if he is still blushing or not but I bet he is even though we’ve been out here for at least ten minutes. I can see the silhouette of the broken down house that he lives under on the moonlight. He runs ahead of me and goes to open the door, turning back to me with a wide smile with his hand firmly over the handle, “You don’t mind dogs right?” I shake my head. “Great!” he rips the door open and a large black dog bursts through and immediately pounces in Frank. The kid laughs as the monster of a pet licks the life out of him, “Fuck off X!” the dog jumps off him and bounds over to me. I wince and prepare to get knocked over when Frank’s suddenly commanding voice booms “EINFRIEREN!” and the jingle of the dog’s tags stops instantly. I open my eyes to see the beast sitting with a goofy smile. “Guter hund.” Frankie pets the dog roughly. “This is Xander, my puppy.” I nod and hold my hand out, Xander smells it and gives it a lick with his huge tongue, “aww he likes you, Xander, frei.” The dog runs into the woods and I follow Frank into his basement. Frankie turns in the lights and gets us both some soda, I crack open my can and sit on his couch. “So why haven’t I met your hound before” Frank looks a little bit offended, “He’s not a hound. Xander is a wolf dog, the best damn wolf dog there is. I let him free at night, he can’t get much exercise in here” I nod and take another sip. “German” he exclaims a moment later. I cock my head and raise an eyebrow. “I trained him in German.” I smile at him, “that’s awesome. Now come out of the kitchen and sit your ass down.” a deep blush blooms in his face, “I-I’m good” He looks at his feet. I go over to him and scoop him up bridal style, sitting on the couch with him in my lap and I could see what the problem is. He looks at me like I’m going to hurt him, I kiss his nose. He stays quiet and I just hug him “it’s okay Frankie, I’m not mad at you” Frank pulls me away and kisses me, just an innocent peck. He buries his face in my chest. I kiss his head, “Gee?” he asks, voice muffled on my shirt. “Yeah?” I feel him smile. “Wanna be my boyfriend?” I hug him closer. “Course Love!” Frankie jumps up and grabs my shirt and kisses me, still innocent but with more urgency than before. He pulls himself off but still straddles my legs, “Fuck, Gee, I love you but unless you wanna suck my dick I’m gonna have to go take care of myself.” with that he runs to his bathroom and slams the door behind him. I hear a few small moans and realize I am also hard. “Fuck” I whimper. I suspect he’ll take a few minutes so I unzip my jeans and start to jerk myself off to the sound of his moans. “Frankie” I groan, growing closer by the second. I flick my wrist a few times and I cum, just now realizing how loud I was being as I try to catch my breath. I look up and see Frank standing in the hallway, “Fuck that was hot” I smile, to tired to do anything else. I tuck myself back into my pants and zip up my fly. I get up and push past him to wash my hands. I dry my hands in the small black towel. Frank looks at me and blushes. “Listen, uh I know you’re all good and stuff but I gotta go again.” I nod and grab my soda, sitting back on the couch and taking sips. Frank slips out of the bathroom and I put my soda down. “Better?” I ask him, flipping channels. “Better” he sits down next to me and I put my arm around him. I kiss him and he steals the remote, turning on “The Babadook”, I chuckle and he hits me lightly. “What, it's a good movie” he whines, I laugh harder, “Badabing Babadook” Frank starts laughing before he grabs my face and kisses me. “Fuck I’ve been waiting for a moment like this for so long, you don’t even know” I smile and kiss him back. “Me too Frankie, me too” Frank giggles, which seems suspicious but I just shrug it off. I hug him into my chest again and we watch the movie. It's about half way through the movie when I can tell Frank is asleep as his breathing slows. I brush the swoop of hair away from his eyes, “poor kid” there is a deep scar over his eyebrow. He shifts and mumbles something about Xander, then something like “Ich habe… endlich... meinen Prinzen” I kiss his head one last time and snuggle him closer to me before I fall asleep as well. Chapter End Notes Sorry for my incompetence, hopefully the next chapter will be posted soon. Also this chapter isn't great cuz I kinda had to force it out of my brain. ***** Chapter nine ***** “Fuck” I mumble, my head is pounding and I’m dizzy as hell. I take a deep breath and notice the weight on my chest. “The fuck is going on” I look down and as my vision clears I see Frankie asleep curled up on my chest. Gently pick him up and put him back in the couch, he whimpers and I feel bad so I go to find a blanket. There’s a loud scratching coming from the stairs, “fuck” I walk over and open the door cautiously to see a large black wolf. “The FUCK is that!” I slam the door. I look over to Frank, he shifts but remains asleep. I run over to a small table that sits against the back of the couch and throw myself against it before I fall over, fuck I’m dizzy. That’s Frank’s dog! Right, fuck. God damnit why did the midget train him on german? I look down at the table to find a german dictionary, “I guess he isn’t too good either” I mumble to myself while looking through the post-it's. Suddenly, Xander’s low bark shakes my core. I find the note pointing to “quiet” and go to the door, I open it slowly to find the beast sitting. I look him in the eyes but quickly look away, that dog is intimidating as fuck. “R-Ruhig?” I say. The dog cocks his head and I flip to another page, over the word ‘in’ there’s a pos-it that says ‘come in- komm herein’. I look back at Xander and tell him “komm herein” and he calmly walks in. I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding as the dog walks past me, I follow him down the stairs and go back over to Frankie. I look over at Xander again, how did I just now realize he has one stunningly blue eye and the other is so dark it nearly blends in with his fur? I shrug and brush the hair out of Frank’s face, Xander growls and barks at me, lunging to put him in between myself and his master. Frank yelp as he regains consciousness, he sees me and grabs his dogs thick leather collar, “NEIN! Sei nett!” his dog is reduced to a puppy as it walks away shamefully. He stretches and stands up, kissing me lightly. What happened last night? I know it's light out now but I can't remember shit after I came in. “Sorry about him love, he’s a good boy, just protective.” Frankie smiles at me and goes to start some coffee. Wait- did he just call me love? “Hey, um Frankie?” “Yes Gee?” he keeps his focus on finding clean mugs “Can I ask you something?” I scratch my neck nervously “‘Course love, what’s wrong?” I can hear the warmth in his voice “What happened last night” Frank freezes, nearly dropping the oh so ironic skulls mug he just happens to have “What are you talking about love? You met Xander, came in, we kissed, you said you wanted to be my boyfriend, we both jerked off then fell asleep cuddling to horror movies. “   My blood turns to ice under my skin, “W-what? Y-y-you d-din’t see an-anything, ri-ght? I stumble over my words and I feel like I’m going to cry. I swear I wasn't drunk. I don't understand. His knuckles turn white and I can hear the anger in his sharp tone, “Yes. Gerard. I saw your dick. YOU are MY boyfriend. Any more questions, love” That last word scares me and I freeze. He sets the mugs down firmly and turns to me with a cold stare “I asked you a question Gerard” I shook my head rapidly. He smiles but his eyes stay cold. “Good. now stay put like a good boy. I’m going to get you some clothes.” He turns to go down the hallway, I stand, still facing the kitchen as I hear his footsteps in the cold concrete before a whistle pierces the stagnant air. “XANDER! BEWACHEN!” I turn my head to see the fear inducing boy pointing at me stiffly, then the large black dog walking in, head low and staring at me as if he is waiting for Frank to give him permission to finish me off. He sits a few feet in front of me, the silver cross in his chest the only thing separating him from the rest of the black decor. I stand there and watch him as he watches me as we both wait for Frank to come back. I get hit with another wave of dizziness and sit down, when I move Xander growls loudly and Frank looks at me, “ruhig” he commands calmly. The wolf goes silent but continues to watch me, his only movement being the turn of his ear so he can better hear the quiet sound of Frank walking back into the main room. I jump and squeak when a pile of clothes hits my lap. Frank looks at me, still stone cold. “Gerard, darling, shower and change. You know where the bathroom is.” His words are sweet but the voice he is using sends a shiver down my spine. I look up at him nervously. I bite my lip and try to speak. My attempt to sound confident comes out as a pathetic whisper, “I- I don’t really want to Frankie…” He slowly turns to Xander and points to his room, the dog walks away. His head snaps back to me and I flinch. “Gerard. Arthur. Way. I do not want you to be dirty. There is dry cum in your jeans. I went out the other day and got some nice comfortable clothes for you, I will even put them in the dryer to warm them up for you. Now get on the damn shower. You may wear a towel when you come out.” I nod and shakely hand him the clothes. “What do you say?” I look at him, his face is still cold and I feel the tears well up. “T-thank you” he smiles, his face stays cold. He kisses my forehead, “Good boy, go along” I walk to his bathroom, feeling like X after he got scolded. The genuine pride in his voice when I followed his orders scares me most. I shower quickly, only delaying to make sure the only thing around my crotch is dried cum. I am relieved to say that his story holds and he didn’t touch me. I get out and dry myself off, getting as much water out of my hair as I can before putting the towel firmly around my waist. Frank is sitting on his couch, petting Xander’s large head as he watches South Park. As soon as I step past the doorway he speaks to me without turning. “The clothes are in the bedroom. Warm as promised. Come back out here after you are changed.” I go into his room to see folded fluffy batman pajama pants on the top of a stack of clothes, I move them to the side, comforted by their warmth. Under is a pair of black boxers that I quickly pull in and drop my towel, glad to be covered. I put on the comforting pajama pants and the misfits shirt that was at the bottom of the stack, happy that it is large on me. I walk out of his room and stop in the doorway. Frank is nowhere to be seen but Xander is in front of the stairs. He walks over to me and lifts his head up, there is a purple piece of paper under his collar. I remove it and pet his head “Thanks Xander” I smile at him, even though he is scary I must admit he is a beautiful dog. He walks back over to the door. I unfold the note and read the scratchy handwriting, “Dear Gee, I have gone shopping. If you try to leave Xander will stop you. He will not hurt you. Please call your mother and tell her you are moving out. You do not need to get a job but do so if you wish. I love you. xoxo frankie” ***** Chapter Ten ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes I walk back over to the couch and sit down, as soon as I start to move I get hit with another wave of dizziness so intense I worry I’m going to get vertigo. I sit down with my head between my knees for a few minutes until I can see clearly again, then I sit up and read the note again. I really don’t want to leave the safety of my parents home for this place. Did I really just call my parents house safe? Fucking hell, that’s where he found me. Why am I even thinking about this so much? It’s not like I’m gonna make him angry on purpose. I sigh and look around, Xander huffs as if he is just waiting for me to make the call. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and open it, 7 missed calls from mom, the most recent from 3 hours ago, I sigh and call her back.   “Hey ma” “GERARD ARTHUR WAY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN” “I’ve been with bob, uh ma I think I’m gonna move out” I hear her gasp, “Gerard? Really? You don’t even have a job!” “Yes mom. I know. I want to move out. I’ll get my stuff later. Talk to you in a bit, love you” “I love you Gee, just be safe baby, you seem stressed.” “I will ma”   I hang up before she can worry more. Fuck I hope I can talk to her when I have to live here with him. I look over at Xander again, “c’mere boy” he stays still. I roll my eyes and grab the dictionary, “Konn heir” the beast walks over to me and I start to pet him, “the fuck am I gonna do X? What if mom calls Bob to check if I’ve been with him… FUCK” Xander looks at me and I apologize for yelling as I dial Bob’s number. “Gerard what the fuck dude why is your mom calling me?” “Answer her! Also cover for me, I’ve been with you for a few days.” “Sure, but where have you actually been?” I look at Xander and he stares at me as if he knows what I’m thinking “...Gerard? Are you okay man? Want me to pick you up?” “No, I’m fine, don’t worry about it. I’ll try to talk to you soon, thanks for covering for me” “ ‘course Gerard, just- uh be safe man. Bye” “I will, bye”   I hang up and pet Xander more. I lay down in my back and sigh, I flip through the dictionary then set it on the table, patting the couch. “Xander, Auf” the dog jumps onto the couch and lays down on my legs. I pet his plush fur more and try to sleep, the pounding in my head counting time like a ticking clock. ----- I wake up to the loud sound of the metal doors being pried open, followed by the sound of footsteps on the concrete steps. His cheery voice breaks the ominous quiet, “Hey Gee I’m back, how was Xa- WHERE THE FUCK IS XANDER?” I jump as his tone changes to the most terrifying thing I have ever heard. I let out a small, pathetic noise as he runs the rest of the way down and stomps over to the couch. The rage drains from his eyes and he smiles again, “aww, are my two little men growing to like each other?” “I-I’m sorry Frankie… I was an-anxious so I called him over… p-please don’t be mad…” I can't even bring myself to look at him. Why does he have this control over me? I should hate him. I should be fighting back… why isn’t he proud of me? Frank leans over and kisses me lightly, tilting my chin up so I look at him when he pulls away. I keep my eyes closed so I don't have to see his look of disappointment. I hate that I care. “Gee, love, look at me” he sounds sweet, a drastic change from a minute ago. I slowly open my eyes and focus in his warm, soft eyes as he gazes at me. He walks around the couch and Xander gets off. He sits down and puts me in his lap, fuck why is he so strong? He’s so small, when does he have time to go to the gym, wait he has to carry corpses… let’s NOT think about that while I’m on his lap. “Gee?” I look up at him again, realizing I broke eye contact when I spaced out. “I-I’m sorry, I know you wanted me to look at you…” he hugs me to his chest and strokes my hair “It’s okay sweetheart, I’m not mad, I was a little harsh earlier. You did call your mom though right?” I nod a bit, nuzzling into his warm chest. I look up at him and he smiles. “Perfect, how are you? The fuckbag told me that you wouldn’t feel sick in the morning but he’s gone now.” I try to ignore that last remark, pushing his terrible actions to the back of my mind and just trying to enjoy the fact that he isn’t mad at me right now. “Mmm I’m okay Frankie, just tried. How’re you?” he kisses the top of my head and the warmth of his affection spreads through me. “Don’t worry about me. I am here to protect you, not the other way around. I did get a few things for you though, I have to go grab them. I’ll be back in a few minutes” he picks me up and places me gently back in the couch. I whimper pathetically, “Don’t leave me” I look at him with my best puppy dog eyes. He looks at me sharply and I quickly look down, “sorry” I mutter softly. “Good.” feel a tear run down my cheek. How pathetic am I? He broke me already. I start to cry harder and curl up against the back of the couch. Why do I keep fucking up? How can I make him proud? Chapter End Notes Sorry this update took so long, I just can't consistency. ***** Chapter Eleven ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes I stay like that until he comes back a few minutes later, carrying bags from different stores and putting them on the table, rolling his eyes when he sees me, “I got you gifts…” I look up at him but can’t read his face. His expression is somewhere between annoyed, disgusted, worried, and confused, but definitely nothing good. I sit up and rub my eyes, “sorry…” he smiles and kisses the top of my head again, “it’s okay sweetheart, here you go!” Frank hands me a small black gift bag with light pink tissue paper peeking out of the top of it. I look at it for a minute before he nudges me, causing me to quickly pull out the tissue paper. Inside the bag sits a pile of powder pink clothes, so I cautiously start to take them out. I look up at Frank and he is just looking on and smiling, giving me a small nod, so I pull out the larger garment. I hold up the short, revealing dress and look at him confused. He just smiles down at me again then kneels down, “Oh honey, don't seem so ungrateful, take out the rest!”. I nod, then pull out a pair of white, thigh high socks that have little bows that match the dress. I reach in and take out the last thing, holding them up before quickly bunching them up in my hand to hide them as I blush. Frank reaches up to brush hair out of my face and gives a soft chuckle, “No need to be embarrassed little one, what do you think?” his eyes are soft so I just try to breathe, “I-they’re cute…” I whisper. He slides onto the couch next to me and hugs me lightly, “Well, try them on…” he smiles brightly at me. I feel my cheeks get even hotter as I gather up the outfit, than run off to the bathroom and close the door lightly before freaking out. I’m not going to do this, am I? But he’s being so nice and thought I’d like them… No, he wants me to be his fucking doll or something. But he’d be so happy if I was good for him… I sigh in defeat, not wanting to break his current mood before stripping and starting with the panties, which were surprisingly comfortable. No I shouldn’t think like this… fuck it, it makes things easier anyway. These are comfortable as fuck. As I sit there, deep in thought I am shocked by loud banging on the bedroom door. “Gee? You okay? It’s been a while…” I sigh with relief, thankfully he doesn't sound angry. “Uh- yeah I’m okay, just one minute”. I put on the socks and slip the dress over my head, checking myself in the mirror and fixing my hair, which doesn't help make me look any more masculine. He knocks again, harder this time, “Gerard, I’m opening the door.” he sounds irritated. I quickly go sit on the bed and cross my legs to try to hide what I can. He walks inside with a horrifying expression as he locks eyes with me, “Now you look presentable” he walks over to me and puts an arm around me and I tense up even more, I look down and speak softly, “thanks…”. Frank nods, “so princess, what do you want to do?”, I just shrug and he squeezes my shoulders roughly, making me look up at him. He looks at me and I feel like I’m going to cry, I really don't want him to hurt me. “Do not look so damn ungrateful, I got you a nice outfit and I’m asking you what you would like to do. I want you to be happy, but do not fucking test me. Now pick an activity or I’ll pick for you, and trust me you won’t like what I pick.” I keep eye contact and try not to cry, not wanting to upset him more. “Could we just watch a movie?” I ask, voice barely a whisper. He smiles and his eyes are soft again, “Movie and cuddles it is!” he stands up and starts to walk back to the living room so I follow him. Frank gestures for me to sit on the couch as he goes into the kitchen and gets two cans of Coke Zero. I curl up against the back and arm of the couch, but when he walks over, I uncurl so I don't make him angry. He puts down the soda then sits down extremely close to me, than puts and arm around my waist, pushing me into his lap. As uncomfortable and nervous as I am, having a warm body wrapped around me is extremely comforting. I move farther onto his lap and bury my face into his chest, ignoring his small ‘aw’ at my actions. He pets my hair and I look up at him nervously, and decide to finally ask him the question that has been driving me crazy, “Frankie… are you going to hurt me” my voice is barely audible and I shake with fear, I’m on the verge of a panic attack as he smiles at me warmly, as if I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen while he answers me, “Only if you disappoint me, but that isn't going to happen, is it?” I look up at him with fear in my eyes and shake my head. He kisses the top of my head gently and hugs me tighter to his chest, “of course it won’t, do you care what movie we watch?” I shake my head again. He keeps an arm around me and turns on Alien, I pull myself into his chest and cry quietly as I have a panic attack, he rubs my back softly and watches the movie. As I calm down I realize that seeing him as my enemy will help nothing. Maybe if I just keep doing what he wants he’ll let me out, it's not like I’m missing much anyway. Chapter End Notes Sorry I haven't updated in so long, the only computer I can use is one that is issued by the school and I didn't have it over the summer. I should be more active from now on. Also sorry the chapter is shorter than usual. Just wanted to get something done. ***** Chapter Twelve ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes When I wake up, he is nowhere to be seen. I’m still on the couch in the outfit from last night. I stand up and look around, the bedroom and bathroom doors are both open with the lights off. I don't see or hear anything so I go back into his bedroom to see if he went to sleep in there. I stop and knock lightly on the doorframe, it's too dark to tell but the bed looks like there’s someone in it, I go closer to check when Xander picks his head up and scares the living shit out of me. The large dog jumps down, revealing an empty bed. I sigh and go back over to the main room, looking for a note. He usually leaves a note if he leaves me alone. I check the couch and table behind it, coffee table, and the counters before I start to panic. He wouldn’t abandon me here, would he? No, Xander is here, he wouldn’t leave his dog to die. Would he? I think he cares about me. Can he care about me? Oh god I’m gonna die alone in a serial killer’s basement. I sit down in the empty corner parallel to the kitchen, that’s when I realize I’m crying again. I can't think. I can't breathe. This can’t be happening. Am I dreaming? Am I even real? The metal basement doors open with a loud creak, followed by hurried footsteps. Frank appears at the bottom of the stairs and drops what he’s holding before he runs over to me, hugging me to his chest. I can only shake as I cry into his chest, after I calm down a little more I bring myself closer to him, “I- I thought you left…”. He rubs my back and wraps himself around me, “I’m so sorry little one, I thought I’d be back before you woke up, I just got you a new outfit”. I snuggle into his chest and calm my breathing before getting the courage to ask him something else, “Frankie… can I please wear pants?” he looks at me with a puzzled expression, “This one is a onesie, but why?”, I look down and mumble, “well it’s kinda cold and they make me feel weird”. I can almost hear him roll his eyes. He picks me up bridal style as he gets up, then goes over to what must be the onesie he dropped. He manages to grab it without dropping me. He sits in the couch, keeping me in his lap as he hands me the clothes. “Go get changed, then we can do something.” I nod and walk to his (our?) bedroom. I unfold and lay out what he gave me, revealing a big onesie with a cute, cartoonish skeleton design on it, along with a pair of black panties. What’s with Frank and panties? I shake my head and take off the powder pink panties I’ve been wearing, quickly replacing them with the clean ones. Then I take off my wrinkled thigh-highs and throw the dress over my head before putting the oversized pajamas on,thankful for the more conservative nature of it, not to mention that it’s fuckin adorable and probably the most comfortable thing I’ve worn. I collect the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper that sits against the wall before walking out with my hood flipped up, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Frank with my legs over his. I hate to admit it but being close to him is getting more and more comforting by the day. He looks pissed and pushes my legs off of him, “Don’t fucking insult my house, whore” he spits, looking at the TV that’s playing South Park instead of me. I look at him, scared and confused, his eyes dart to me and I look at the floor and he goes back to the TV. “You said it was cold. It’s a fucking basement, generally they are a little fucking cold. Also it's kind of fall so yeah, Gerard, it’s fucking cold. Don’t thank me for the space heaters or the work I’ve put into insulating this place, or even for making sure you go to sleep warm. If you haven’t noticed it's not like I can just get heating. Living alone is fucking hard, especially when you have to make sure no one tells the cops so you can keep yourself out of jail or even worse, the foster system.” I look at him with wide eyes, I legitimately forgot that he’s just a kid. A fucked up, traumatized, sick kid who lives on the basement of a house on the edge of a long forgotten subdivision. I keep my voice low and am careful not to do anything to make him more upset “I’m so sorry Frankie… I didn’t mean it in a bad way, thank you…” I mumble the end, before cautiously putting a little more distance between us when I remember that he would flinch when I touched him the first time I came over here. It couldn’t have been long ago, but it feels like weeks. Chapter End Notes I think I'm going to keep with shorter chapters so I can try to update more often. Also if you have any ideas on how this should go dm me on instagram @satansavedmysoul because I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, I have a rough idea but I'd love suggestions and to talk over what I'm thinking with some of you guys. ***** Chapter 13 ***** We both sit there quietly, I just think as I wait for him to do something. “God fucking damnit Gerard, shut up.” I look at him and nod, even though he is still just focusing on the TV. I really need to stop mumbling when I think, but if I don’t know when I’m doing it how do I stop. Just don’t think? … this is boring I wonder when he’s gonna let me go. Fuck I wish I could ask him… I hope he doesn't hurt me. I’m a small guy. He is too but he’s strong, hell I bet even without his tools he could kill me. Stop shaking. Stop shaking. Stop shaking. Fuck. Don’t think about how the guy you’re sitting right next to can and probably will kill you. This isn’t working. I think the episode ended because Frank won’t stop looking at me. I think he’s mad at me. I try to tell him I’m sorry but my brain won’t work, I’m shaking even more now. I’m not sure if I have a pulse or it's just too fast to feel, why is he still looking at me? Is he planning something? I make him upset too much, he’s probably thinking about how he’s going to get rid of me. He reaches out slowly and brushes my hair of my face, I try to stay as still as I can but I end up flinching and yelping like a hurt dog the second I feel his hand make contact with my face, even though his touch was gentle. He cocks his head and I look down, I put my legs up and try to make myself as small as I can. “Look at me” he commands in a stern voice, but he doesn't sound angry. My eyes dart up and meet his. “Are you okay?” I nod my head, not wanting to make him even more angry or for him to worry about me. He sighs, “don't lie to me, I’ll ask you again, Gerard are you okay?” I bite my lip and look away from him, slowly shaking my head. “Why? You’re so dramatic with all this shit. I haven’t done fucking anything to hurt you. Why do I keep thinking it's a good idea to take things in and take care of them. At least Xander does something. You just piss me off and eat my food. But now I can’t even let you go or I’ll have to move. Pull yourself together and be a good little bitch. I don’t want to have to tell you again.” He stands up. “I’m gonna go smoke. I expect you to be doing something when I come back. Draw or something. Do not disobey me. Your drawing shit is right on the coffee table, goodbye.” With that he walks up the stairs and outside. I sit there, waiting for my shakes to calm, jumping when the metal door slams shut, signaling Frank’s departure. I have to pick up that sketchbook. I slowly put my legs down, making me shake even more. So after I am stable enough to grab my supplies I do, and then I go back and sit down again, sketchbook on my lap, shaking like crazy once again. After a few more minutes I am still shaking… a lot. So I decide to just give up on waiting and flip to a blank page, careful not to rip any pages. I grab my pencil and roughly start to sketch out a form, with out of place, terrible lines. Too dark in some places, and insanely light in others. The sudden din of the doors being pried open makes me jump, dropping my pencil. I rush to pick it up before he got to the bottom of the stairs. I get back into place and continue sketching, or trying to despite me shaking like there's an earthquake, just as he starts to be able to see me. “Well, at least you’re doing something for the first time in what, three days now?” he walks over to the couch, “so let me see it” I look at him with fear in my eyes, speaking just above a whisper “I-it’s not very good… I c-c-can’t stop s-shaking… I’m sorry F-frank” I hand him the sketchbook and he rolls his eyes and grabs the sketchbook roughly. I quickly pull my hand back against my chest and stare at him as he evaluates the drawing. “This is shit. The form is good but god damnit, I expected better. I am… so disappointed.” I try not to tear up. He looks down at me and throws my sketchbook on the floor, he grabs my wrist and drags me behind him to his room. He goes to one of the poster covered walls, unlocking a small padlock towards the bottom that I’ve never noticed before. He pulls open the concealed door, no more than four feet tall, and around two and a half feet deep and wide. He pulls me to the ground and pushes me inside. I look up at him, shaking more than I think I ever have. “If you’re still acting like this when I take you out, you will regret it. Stay. Quiet.” with that he slams the small door shut. The loud bang rings in my ears as I hear him fasten the lock, when it's secured he pats the door, “I’ll be back soon”. With that I hear his footsteps walk out of the room and down the hallway. I sit there, crying as quietly as I can and shaking so hard I can hear the lock rattle lightly. This continues for what seems like hours, until I eventually get light headed and fall asleep. End Notes I haven't written any fanfic before so I appreciate criticism. I'll update whenever I can. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!