What the Frank

{Third person’s P.O.V}

“You don’t give a fuck about him.” Gerard said to his reflection as he wiped the condensation away from the mirror with his hand.

“He’s worthless.” Gerard was trying to convince himself that he no longer cared about Frank, and so far, he was doing well. He’d destroyed every picture of Frank, trying to erase every trace of him ever living in that apartment.

Actually, he and Lindsey were starting to get rather close. They went out on dates frequently; every night consisted of them dancing, dining, getting drunk, and having sex. Lindsey coming back into his life was the best thing that he could ask for.

Gerard pushed his wet, dripping hair away from his eyes as he walked over to his shower, grabbing the empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

“’Need more of this shit.” He thought aloud as he threw the empty bottles in the trashcan.

Gerard sighed as he felt the cool breeze of the air conditioner hit his face as the automatic doors opened. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked down the aisles, looking for the hair care section.

“Here we are.” Gerard said to himself once he entered the aisle, spotting his favorite shampoo right away. It was mango scented. Just a few aisles over, he could see a girl who vaguely resembled Lindsey. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to get closer to her; so that he could make sure it was her.

That’s her, he thought to himself. She was talking to a tall man who was holding Isabella. He wasn’t close enough to see what he looked like, though. Gerard was very confused as to who this man was; they looked like they were pretty close. He made a mental note to ask Lindsey about him. The man put Isabella in the shopping cart before walking into a different aisle, giving Gerard the perfect chance to talk to Lindsey.

“Hey.” Gerard said, smiling, as he walked up behind her. She jumped a little, before turning around to face him.

“Hey you.” She said, seeming uneasy.

“You know, I was j—“Before Lindsey could finish her sentence, the man came back, this time with groceries in his hand.

“Who’s this?” He asked, a confused look spreading across his face.

“Chuck, this is Gerard. Gerard, this is Chuck.” She said, nervously introducing the two. They shook each other’s hand, curious about how Lindsey knew the other.

“So, how do you know Chuck?” Gerard asked, as he tugged on a loose string on his navy blue shirt. He didn’t want to seem nosey, but he just wanted to know who his girlfriend was hanging out with. He thought that Lindsey was his girlfriend, at least.

“Chuck is my...m-my brother.” She said, letting out a nervous laugh afterwards.

“Oh,” Gerard said, surprised.

“I didn’t know that you had a brother.” He said. Lindsey never told him about her brother; he was only aware of her two sisters.

“Yep. He’s been away in…Maine.” Lindsey said, blurting out the first state that came to her mind. She was nervous, and she wanted to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Tiny beads of perspiration started to form on her forehead as she smiled nervously, earning curious glances from both Gerard and Chuck.

“Oh, would you look at the time? Chuck and I have to go to…my mother’s house. Bye Gerard. It was nice seeing you.” She said quickly, before pushing Chuck and the cart away. Gerard stood there, scratching his head, baffled by the entire situation.

Gerard wondered why she was so uneasy about him meeting her brother. She’d never told him about her brother, so she must’ve been ashamed of him. As Gerard stood in line at the checkout counter, he heard a familiar voice nearby. The voice started to get closer and closer, until it was directly behind him.

“Of course, honey.” The voice said. Gerard had heard that voice from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite remember who. He turned his head slightly, pretending to brush something off of his shoulder. He saw Mrs. Iero on her cell phone, looking down at her shoes as she talked. She was carrying a basket full of diapers and baby food.

Gerard started to grow anxious as he continued standing there. The line didn’t move at all, and he felt like Mrs. Iero’s eyes were burning holes in the back of his head. He started to feel claustrophobic as the seconds ticked by. He didn’t want Mrs. Iero to see him; that was one of his worst nightmares.

“Gosh, this line is long.” She said to Gerard, trying to make friendly conversation.
“Mmhmm.” Gerard said, trying to mask his voice by making it deeper. Gerard let out a sigh of relief as the line started to move. Eventually, after what felt like centuries, all of his items were ringed up. Gerard strolled to his car, wondering what would’ve happened if Mrs. Iero found out who he was. He’d parked at the very back of the parking lot; he liked the long walks. They helped him clear his head. He noticed a familiar looking car parked beside his. He thought that it looked similar to Mrs. Iero’s, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. As he put his things in the passenger’s seat of his car, he noticed a woman getting closer to him in his peripheral vision.

“Gerard?!” The woman screeched out. Gerard froze as his eyes grew bigger. It was Mrs. Iero.

“Oh, h-hi.” He stuttered out as he turned around, only to be met with Mrs. Iero’s furious gaze.

“How could you do that to my Frank?!” She shouted. Gerard put his hands up in defense as he backed away from her, almost backing into his car.

“What happened between us is our business.” Mrs. Iero only got angrier once she heard this. Frank was her business.

“Don’t give me that bullshit! Do you know how bad you hurt him?! He was crying for fucking days! You don’t know what he’s fucking going though!” She screamed, making Gerard nervous.

“Well he—“

“Shut up! I’m not done talking!” She yelled as she walked closer to him.

“What you did to my son was wrong and fucking immoral! You don’t know the fucking pain that he went through after you two broke up! I was the only one that was fucking helping take care of Gabe. You sure as hell weren’t! Have you even seen your son lately?!” Gerard was speechless. He’d never expected Mrs. Iero to act this way.

“You need to start acting like a man and taking some goddamn responsibility! Now, get out of my sight!” She screamed, sending Gerard running back to his car. He sped off, wanting to get away from that woman as fast as possible.