As the Leaves Change in Color

I sat on the couch, still dripping wet from the shower I just took, not caring if I ruined it. I am NOT happy about having to get an interview for a stupid job that I don't even want in the first place. I think Frankie can tell I'm upset about it. He's been shooting me these apologetic looks as if to say "Sorry man, it had to be done."

Frankie kept looking at me like that, so eventually I said "What?". "Um, Gerard...? Don't you at least want to dry or straighten your hair or anything? Make a good presentation at the very least, man." I rolled my eyes, sighed, and then went to go dry my hair. This Ray guy better be the man...

After I did that, I went to straighten my hair and then put a bit of eyeliner on. Might as well purdy up all the way, eh? Besides, what harm can it do? I mean, Ray apparently knows I'm with Frank, so he knows I'm gay at that much. If he's gonna come over, might as well see who I really am; the pretty boy who wears eyeliner.

I went back to the living room, to be greeted by Frank's laughter. What'd I do?

"You seriously had to put the eyeliner on, man?" I shrugged and laughed. "Might as well let him see me in my natural state, right?" He shrugged, and I went to go sit on his lap. I laid my head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me.

"You really don't wanna do this job, do you, Gee?" I sighed. "No, not really. But it looks like I have to do it, so I'll just suck it up and deal with it. Right?" "Exactly."

We both laughed, and then I sighed. How long exactly am I gonna have to wait on him to get here?

"Frankie? What time is it?" He looked at the clock on the wall next to us. "4:30. Ray will be here in about 3 hours." I frowned. What am I supposed to do for 3 hours?

As if reading my mind (it's so creepy how he does that!) he said, "Um, do you wanna watch a movie or something? While we're waiting on him? I don't really have many movies, but I'm sure there's SOMETHING here you would like..." I nodded, and then got off of him that way he could go look for a movie for us to watch.

He left for a moment to go search in his room, so I did what every bored child does at least once in their life; I laid on my back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to make out shapes or words or something. I saw the word "rawr" and a kitten. I honestly don't know if that's bad or not.

When he came back, he was holding 3 movies. I sat up, and he came to sit next to me.

"I have Sling Blade, Forrest Gump, and The Proposal. Don't ask why I have that last one. Which one would you wanna watch?" I laughed, and then thought over my three options. The Proposal is definitely out. Forrest Gump is okay, but I've seen it a million times...

"I'll watch Sling Blade. It manages to crack me up and scare me all at the same time." He smiled and put it on for us to watch.

We sat together and watched the whole movie, holding hands the whole time, and cracking up whenever the little boy Frankie was describing the gay guy as "Not funny ha-ha, funny queer!". And at other parts, but that was the part that got us the best.

.Almost right as the movie was ending, there was a knock on the door. I jumped, and Frankie laughed at me. Right as he was getting up to go answer the door, someone just kind of barged in.

"I have arrived!" said the guy I'm assuming must be Ray. Frankie facepalmed and I laughed at them both. Then Ray just came in and sat down like he owned the place or something. I looked at him funny, but he didn't seem to notice. He was too busy noticing my hand in Frankie's. Frankie cleared his throat, and then, FINALLY, he looked at me.

"O, um, hey. I'm Ray... You must be Gerard. How are you?" The way he said it made it sound like he was caught stealing the last cookie from a jar and then going "O, hey Mom! ...No, I wasn't gonna take it..." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yea, I'm Gerard. You can call me Gee if you want, though." I stood up and held my hand out to him, and he shook it. He looked at Frankie as if to say "Can I speak to you for a moment?", and so I excused myself to the bathroom. Even though I was gonna eavesdrop anyways, I figured I'd do it in a more... polite manner.

"Frank? Um, I'm sorry, but I just now remembered this... What happened to Mikey?" A pause.

"Um... he left. Why do you ask?" "Well, we stopped talking right as you started dating him, and then I got that call from you earlier, and I was so relieved to hear your voice again that I forgot to ask about him. When did Gerard come along?"

"Ah, not very long ago. A few days ago?"

"And how did you meet Gerard?" Another, more awkward pause.

"He's... He's Mikey's brother."