Skin and Bones

Gerard is still holding my hand. He grabbed it when his grandparents came, and he hasn’t let go since. Neither have I.

“Gerard,” a woman says happily as she enters the living room. Gerard looks up to greet her, but he doesn’t get up – he doesn’t let go of my hand.
“Happy birthday,” she says – her voice a little lower than before – and hands him a present. It’s obviously yet another CD. No one in the family seems to have any sense of creativity when it comes to wrapping presents.
Not that I would do any better.
Not that I even have an actual gift to wrap.

“Thank you!” Gerard says excitedly – for the fifth time today – as he looks down at the cover. I’m too busy picking at my shirt to see what band it’s by.

“Is this your boyfriend?” I lift my head slightly, but not high enough to see her face. Instead I stare at her hand and the silver band around her ring finger. Her hand doesn’t look old, but not young either. I’m guessing she’s in her 40’s.
Hands says a lot about a person. This woman is definitely into gardening and possibly needlepoint, since her nails are greenish and her fingertips have a few red dots.

“Yeah, this is Frank.” Gerard squeezes my hand and I look up into the woman’s brown eyes, which are surrounded by a heavy layer of mascara. Her mascara must be old and dried out, ‘cause it’s crumbled off her lashes, leaving a black line around her eyes like a crappy, dry eyeliner would.

“I never knew you were gay.” She frowns and looks kinda confused, but by her tone of voice, it’s obvious that she’s disapproving of what she’s seeing.
I look down again.

“I guess my mom forget to tell you.” I hold back a sudden laugh and manage to cover it up as a cough. The way Gerard said it sounded so defensive and offensive; all at once. It boarded towards bitchy, and I’m fighting hard against the smirk that’s pressing at my lips.

“Well, I guess I’ll go find her now.” I let the smirk appear and glance up at Gerard. He’s smirking right back. He looks damn sexy.
I must look like an idiot, and either Gerard sees it and doesn’t want to look at it anymore or he doesn’t and just moves on impulse, but no matter what; he leans down and kisses me.
And I kiss him back.

The doorbell rings. The first time it rang, I flinched, but now I’ve gotten used to its shrill sound.

“Gerard! Could you get it?” Donna yells from the kitchen, and Gerard slowly pulls away from me by pecking my lips over and over.

“Sure,” he yells over his shoulder, and just before my stomach is about to curl and knot up, Gerard pulls me up with him as he gets up from the couch.
Hand in hand, we walk over to the front door and he opens it.

“Uncle Dave!” Gerard screams and steps forward to hug his uncle, but it’s only a one-arm-hug.
He still doesn’t let go of my hand.

“Hey, boy,” his uncle says and hugs him back. He looks over Gerard shoulder and meets my eyes for a second, but his quickly fall to Gerard and mine joined hands.

Dave pulls away from Gerard and pushes him away at an arm’s length. He frowns deeply – looking pissed – as he looks from Gerard to me to our hand and back to Gerard. I can feel my insides twisting around themselves and it seems like my heart is being strangled by my stomach.

In the end, Dave’s eyes settle on Gerard.

I feel scared, but try to swallow it down. I can see the anger and resentment in Dave’s eyes, and for a second I feel like it’d be better if I just ran off – if I left his nephew alone. Maybe then, he wouldn’t look so pissed. Gerard could just tell him that it was all a mistake and that it wasn’t what it looked like.
But then I’d have to leave Gerard – and his protective hand. I’d have to let go of him. I’d be alone.

“So, you know I really like you, boy, but how the hell could you get a boyfriend and not tell me, of all people?” I stare at him with huge eyes as his remain angry. Not even Gerard’s laughter softens them.

“I’m sorry, Unc. I have no excuse,” Gerard laughs.

Dave’s eyes fall on me and looks me up and down. I swallow down a lump, before he finally lets his frown fade and a smile rise.
Silence is kept for a short while, before Dave yells:
“Well, what’re you waiting for? Introduce me to the boy, boy!” I flinch at his loud voice, but smile once both him and Gerard start laughing.

“Uncle Dave, this is Frank. Frankie, Unc Dave.” Dave stretches a hand out towards me, but I don’t take it. My right hand is linked with Gerard’s.
I stare down at the hand before me, contemplating on shaking it with my left, but soon Dave starts stretching and fisting his outstretched hand, as if to shake off the rejection.
I regret not having the guts to shake it.

“Shy, huh? That’s alright. People tend to keep me at a certain distance. I think it’s the Way-gene that does it.” He bellows a laugh, and I actually manage to slightly smile up at him.
“Gerard! You’ve caught yourself a cutie, I must say. I might not be gay, but he sure is prettier than some of the fags I’ve seen on TV.” At that, I genuinely smile.
“So, are you gonna invite your Unc inside and let him shove cake in his pie-hole, or would you rather have me stand here and babble all day?” Gerard laughs loudly before he steps aside – pulling me along – and lets his uncle enter.

“The cake’s in the kitchen, but so is Cathy.” Dave, who was on his way into the kitchen when he first heard about the cake, suddenly stops, tenses up and turns around . His face is screwed up – his eyes squeezed close and his teeth bared, but clenched.
He peeps open one eye.

“Cathy’s here?” he whispers.
Gerard nods.
Dave’s eye closes again and he bites his lip.
“Damn,” he mumbles under his breath. I look up at Gerard, who’s only smirking down at me, obviously suppressing a laugh.

Dave suddenly sighs deeply, and when I look over, his shoulders are relaxed and his face is hanging low. He slowly shakes his head.

“Ex-wives.” He lifts his head and looks at the both of us.
“You’re both so damn lucky. What I wouldn’t give to be gay right now.” I fight a laugh, but I only manage to suppress it to a quiet giggle. Gerard’s hand tightens around mine.
Dave turns around and walks towards the kitchen. When he reaches the kitchen door, he stops, opens his arms and smiles widely.
“Cathy!” he yells, before he enters the kitchen laughing.

Gerard snorts beside me, and we both break down laughing. I turn and bury my head in Gerard’s chest in attempt to mute my laughs, but it doesn’t seem to help much. After all; he doesn’t have much to hide in. He’s thin.
My laughter dies down.

“And that’s my Uncle Dave.” I give one final laugh, before I stop and just stay snuggled against Gerard’s soft, safe chest.
He strokes my hair, before he buries his face in it. I can feel his warm breath tickling my scalp and my heart seems to beat faster and slower – all at once.
“I really do love you,” he whispers into my hair, and I hug him tight before I pull away to look up into his eyes.

“Not as much as I love you.” He doesn’t argue verbally, but I see the disagreement in his eyes.
None of us comment on it though, and instead we go back to our seat on the couch across from Donna’s mom.

“Mommy!” Dave screams and runs over to hug her – almost getting cake in her hair in the process.