Something I Could Hold Onto

A slight blush crept across Gerard's cheeks, foreign and contradictory to his usually cocky demeanor. He hastily pushed his hand through his thick black hair before folding his fingers together in a nervous fidget.

"Sorry about that," he laughed, leaning farther into the padded booth. "I just-" he inhaled sharply "- I hate people like that," he finished in an uncomfortable choke. "I've had to deal with them my entire life, and it just gets me so…"

He allowed his thought to trail off and suddenly became enraptured by a hangnail on his thumb. Frank trailed his eyes over the taller boy's hands, his nimble fingers pulling at the loose skin until small drops of blood appeared around the nail. Gerard winced slightly, yet continued to drag the shred of flesh off, provoking a stinging pain to shoot through his finger.

"Shit," he muttered, quickly sucking the blood away.

Frank smiled slightly, amused by the childlike expression gracing his companion's face yet equally shaken by the sudden shift in confidence. Where the older boy had once seemed so strong and uninfluenced by his surroundings, he now sat unnerved and more anxious than his young friend.

But this realization did not cause Frank to lose any respect or to see Gerard in a negative light; on the contrary, he felt more connected and consumed by the boy than ever before.

With a new surge of self-assurance, Frank reached forward and gently took Gerard's hand in his own. He watched from outside his body as his hand rubbed the back of the older boy's, smooth and soothing strokes drawing lines of comfort across his skin.

"What do you mean 'your entire life'?" he quietly asked, making delicate eye contact with a now-flustered Gerard.

Although he tried to hide the fact, Gerard couldn't help but notice how affectionately slow the smaller boy's movements had become, and he couldn't help but smile at his concern. A deep sigh filled his chest, air painted with syrup and coffee and pancakes and home permeating his lungs. He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes and opening them calmly.

"My dad," he said simply.

Frank frowned. "What about him?" he questioned, hesitant and almost regretful.

Another sigh escaped Gerard's lips, and just as he parted them to speak two plates of breakfast appeared before them.

"Can I get you two anything else?" the waitress asked, eying the pair and their entangled extremities. She smiled brightly, teasing a pen from her curly blonde hair.

"No," Frank said quickly, eager to finish the conversation. "That's all for now."

After a brief reminder to "holler if you need anything", the two were again left in a thick silence.

"You were saying...?" the younger boy said, detaching his fingers and placing them stiffly in his lap.

Gerard took in a third breath. "So, it's like this…"