Guy With a Tattooed Neck

Fucking fantastic.

I had a torn ligament in my ankle and a sprained shoulder. The doc had stuffed me full of painkillers and chucked some massive plastic thing on my foot to prevent it from moving. To top it all off I had crutches too.

Fucking fantastic.

On top of looking like a complete idiot in front of Gerard and almost killing myself, I was now causing conflict in the Way household.

When I had returned from the doctors, Gerard had led me upstairs with great difficulty.

I could still feel where his hands had grasped my waist.

He had said that he would bring up my things and that I would now be sleeping in the room I had not noticed was connected to his art studio. It was filled with arty-like junk, but at least it wasn’t as cramped as the hole in the ground.
He had reasoned that there was no way that I could get up and down the ladder with my ankle like this so it was only logical to move into the only other spare room in the house.

While I had seen the sense in his words, his wife had obviously not.

I could hear her screeching, annoying voice yelling at Gerard from downstairs. I caught some of what she was yelling, things like:
‘…you never let anyone up there…’
‘…sleep in the shed…’
‘…hidden agenda…’

I had tuned out after a while feeling massively uncomfortable, gazing around the art studio and out the large glass windows. I never heard Gerard's voice during this argument, whether it was because his voice was being drowned out by hers or simply because he was not yelling, I don’t know.

I drew in a deep breath and held it as I heard his heavy footfalls ascend the stairs, then frowned. There were two sets of feet.

I watched with avid anticipation as the door to the study opened and Gerard walked in, follow by the man with the giant afro that I had seen Gerard hugging previously.

The guys eyes found me almost as soon as he entered the room, smiling as he walked towards me, perched in my chair by the window.

“So you’re Frank, huh?”

I didn’t vocally answer him, only nodded. I was afraid that the savage monster, which had taken up residence in my chest at the sight of Afro-dude, would rip its massive claws at my vocal chords and make my voice come out in a harsh way, instead of the polite, pleasant note it was meant to.

I hated him, a lot.

He was carrying a medium sized wooden box and turned away from me to place it on a table, but not before he gave Gerard a meaningful glance. The meaning behind it, however, I wasn’t sure of.

Gerard glared slightly back at him before grabbing a different box, handing it to Afro-dude, pushing him out of the room and back down the stairs.
I sighed as I watched Gerard's back disappear from view.

*~*

While Frank was trying to understand the new and weird emotions coursing through his mind in his seat by the window, Gerard was downstairs, still glaring at Afro-dude, otherwise known as Ray.

“What?” He asked calmly once Gerard had led him to the door.
“Stop looking at me like that, you’re getting to be as bad as Lyn-Z.”
Ray sighed and looked at his friend seriously.
“I know you like him Gerard, there’s nothing you can say to deny it.”
“I don’t like him.” Gerard replied in a menacing voice.
“Look, I know you’re scared that he wont like you back and that if you let him know how you feel it’ll tear up your marriage and you’ll be alone again, but believe me, Frankie-boy up there, definitely likes you.”
“And how the hell would you know that?” Gerard growled out.
“Because he gave me the ‘Look’. You know, the one that says, ‘back off, he’s mine?”
And with that Ray exited the Way household with an amused look upon his face, leaving Gerard to traipse back upstairs to the boy he most certainly did NOT like….maybe….

*~*

I looked up as Gerard entered the room. He had an angry air about him. I hoped I wasn’t the cause, I probably was though.

He turned and met my eyes. I must have had a questioning look upon my face.

“That was my friend Ray. He came to lend me his camera obscura.” I didn’t ask what the hell the box was, afraid to appear even dumber than I was in front of the guy who was doing so much for me when he really shouldn’t.
I just nodded my head.

Gerard gave a great sigh and lent against his art bench, holding his head in his hands.

“Are, are you okay?” I asked nervously, afraid that he might get mad at me for prying into his private life.
He clenched his hands in his hair before turning around and sweeping a pile of art stuff onto the floor with a cry of anger.

I guess I shouldn’t have asked. I knew I would be an annoying problem the moment I walked into this house. I was used to getting in people’s way and annoying them, but for some reason, having Gerard mad at me hurt so much more.
I could feel tears sting my eyes and tried desperately to blink them away.

I swallowed hard and flinched as Gerard’s body landed heavily on the floor by my chair. He was kneeling down and swept his hair back with his hand before looking up at me with lost eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I’m not mad at you, I’m just… God I don’t know.”

He replaced his head in his hands and took a deep shaky breathe. I didn’t know what to do for him, How could I help him?
I did the only thing I could think of and placed my hand on his head. His hair felt so smooth and soft that I ran my fingers through it without thinking.
I was about to pull away from shock at what I had just done, thinking that Gerard would definitely yell at me now. But Gerard just pushed his head harder against my hand and placed his arms on my thigh, burying his head in them.
I continued to brush my hand through his hair, marveling at how good it felt between my grubby fingers.

I slowed the movements of my hand as I felt a soft pressure against my thigh, then stopped my ministrations completely when I felt it again.
If I didn’t know better, I would think that Gerard was kissing my leg.

“Uh…Ge…” I was about to question Gerard on his actions but my breath got caught in my throat as his body shifted and he began to, yes I wasn’t imagining it, kiss my abdomen, slowly making his way up my chest. He has his eyes closed and a desperate look on his face. His arms came up and wrapped around my neck as his kisses gained altitude and headed for my neck. I gasped slightly at the first feel of his lips on my bare skin. His lips felt warm and soft against my neck and I closed my eyes at the sensation.

The next thing I felt made me lose all oxygen from my lungs. Gerard's lips were on mine, hesitant and warm.
His lips moved slightly against mine. I had no idea what I was meant to do, so I just pushed against his lips slightly and tried to mirror his movements.
Gerard himself gave a gasp at this, and I immediately thought I had done something wrong. My suspicions were confirmed when Gerard pulled away from me and dropped his head back to my lap, before getting up and leaving the room.

I don’t know what I missed more, his lips on mine, his weight on my leg, or his simple gaze that had avoided my eyes as he left the room.