If your heart stops beating

~*Bob’s Point of view*~

For the next week Frank was constantly debating with himself, sometimes silently, sometimes under his breath. He never voiced his concerns with us, even though I tried to persuade him many times. There were moments when he was almost cheerful, but these were few and far between.

Then Alec came home and everything changed.
Alec, having an arm and a leg in casts, required help in many things. He couldn’t write, as he was right-handed, so he didn’t go to school, and anyway he couldn’t walk or use crutches, so we either brought him the things he needed or I carried him.

A month later, Alec and I were sitting at the kitchen table clumsily eating breakfast left-handed when the door quietly opened behind him. I quickly looked back at my bowl, hiding my grin. Alec didn’t turn around as it was one of the movements that still hurt. Three people had just entered the room. Then Alec gasped and dropped his spoon as two small hands were placed over his eyes. He put his good hand to his face and felt the fingers obscuring his vision. Then he screamed and pulled them away.
“Katie!”
She giggled and threw her arms around him. He pulled her around so she was beside him, sitting backwards on the bench. Then he hugged her so hard she gasped for breath.
“Alec! Let go of me!”
He obliged rather reluctantly. Then he turned to Frank and Gerard, who had entered with Katie.
“You evil bitches!”
Katie giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth. Gerard grinned while Frank looked shocked and offended.
“Alec! We just flew your little sister over from Oregon at great personal expense and this is how you thank us? With profanities you’re too young to know?”
Katie tugged at Alec’s sleeve.
“Alec, Alec, I flew alone. Without Cheryl or anyone. And when the plane landed, everyone left, but the hostess said to stay because she needed to take me off and make sure I got to my family okay. And then- and then-” Katie swelled with pride “- And THEN the pilot came in. And he sat down and started talking to the hostess, and then he talked to me!”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. He asked me what my name was and how old I was. And I told him my birthday was in three weeks, and he said Happy Birthday and then he said he had a little girl my age. And then the hostess said she had better take me off the plane or else my parents would be worried.”
Alec hugged her again.
“Wow! You got to talk to a pilot!”
They talked for the whole day while the rest of us moved one of the beds from the smaller bedroom into the bigger one and set up a camp bed in there as well. Alec and Katie would have the smaller room while us five guys would have the large one. Frank immediately claimed the camp bed.
Gerard rolled his eyes.
“Right, like it’s a treat to sleep in a crappy bed.”
Frank stuck out his tongue and ran away to hide in the kitchen with Alec and Katie.

Two weeks passed happily. Frank was too busy taking care of Alec and Katie to mope about Jamia. Katie was going to spend her birthday in Jersey. Cheryl was quite happy about it as long as Katie stayed out of trouble.
A week before Katie’s birthday, Frank took Alec back to the hospital for a final check-up. Three hours later Alec bounced through the door screaming.
“I’M FREE! I’M FREE! NO MORE CASTS! YAAAAY!”
He pulled Katie to her feet and whirled her around the kitchen.

~*Gerard’s Point of view*~

“And just where do you think you’re going?”
Frank looked up sheepishly.
“Nowhere.”
I sipped my coffee, staring at him over the rim of my mug.
“Don’t think you can get past me that easily.”
“Oh yeah? Watch me.”
He darted out the door, slamming it behind him. I laughed.
“You forgot your shoes!”
The door opened slightly and he grabbed his shoes before disappearing again.
I chuckled to myself and went back to my coffee.

He didn’t come home until dinner time. We were all sitting at the kitchen table when the door opened, creaking ominously. I glanced up at Frank, who looked thoroughly depressed.
“What’s wrong, man? Where have you been all day?”
He shook his head.
“You know Jamia?”
I nodded. By this time everybody was staring at him.
“Well... I did what I had to do. We’re not going out any more.”
“Oh no...”
He shook his head.
“I know.”
A pair of arms snaked their way around his neck from behind him.
“We’re engaged now.”
Jamia’s head appeared over his shoulder.
“Hi everybody.”
Frank grinned widely as the whole room erupted, much as it had done the day he brought Alec home.
Alec jumped up and hugged first Frank, then Jamia. Katie bounced up and down on her seat, cheering. Then as Alec sat down, hugging Katie, Frank took Jamia in his arms and kissed her. Mikey wolf-whistled and we all laughed. Frank blushed, while Jamia hugged him tightly. Then Frank pushed Alec along the bench and sat down, still grinning.
“Okay, enough screaming. What’s for dinner?”

**Author's Note: This was one of those euphoric chapters. You know, the ones where you feel so damn happy while you're writing it that you can hardly breathe? Yeeeah... I like those. The one where Alec came home was one of those. XD I'm so random.**