Frank on a Leash

Mikey leaned against the cold tiled wall in the boy's bathroom with a lit cigarette between his lips. Courtesy of his brother's stash, of course. Gerard shouldn't mind, since he had the money to buy them and he was old enough. Mikey wasn't cutting class like he'd like everyone who passed through to think. No, he still cared greatly about his grades, but today in English they had a test, and he finished it within five minutes of receiving it, so he was allowed to skip the rest of the period.

Frank, unlike Mikey, was not a Straight A Student, and had no reservations about skipping his history class with the teacher--male teacher, Mr. Roberts--who always checked him out. So, he found himself once more in the bathroom that period. The smell of nicotine greeted his lungs, and he was momentarily surprised when he saw Michael leaning against the wall, smoking. Frank could almost skip, this was so perfect. After Bob had told him earlier to stay away from the goth boy, Frank had decided that he was going on a quest to make Michael laugh.

Mikey heard the door open, and there stood the little kid from his math class. His eyes met Mikey's, and they showed no fear. Frank pranced over to Mikey and leaned himself on the wall beside him. He looked up at Mikey and smiled. "Hello." he greeted warmly.

"Um, hi." Mikey greeted awkwardly. Frank's eyes widened at the sound of Mikey's voice. He'd expected to get a grunt, or some other indistinguishable form of an answer. Mikey took a drag from his cigarette but didn't exhale. He let the smoke tendrils escape his lungs at their own pace. For a kid who's only been smoking for four days, Mikey thought he was managing himself pretty well. The kid beside him began rolling on his feet from his toes to the heel of his feet.

"I'm Frank, by the way." he added confidently. Mikey bit back his smile and just nodded,. Frank pouted at Mikey's anti-social behavior and put his hand on his hip. "It's your turn." he prodded. Wait, was he smirking?

"Okay, Frank. I'm Mikey." he said. Frank giggled at the name. Not that it was funny, but it was much cuter a name than Michael, and, well...he didn't associate cute things with Mikey. Mikey cocked his eyebrow at Frank.

"What are you laughing at?"

Frank didn't hesitate with his next statement. "It's a cute name. I like it." he said. Mikey was about to retort with 'I don't give a fuck if you like it', but, surprisingly, Frank was only slightly annoying. And not to mention he was the only person who would talk to Mikey. Instead, he settled on sticking the cigarette back in his mouth. Frank found that he really enjoyed watching Mikey's already sculpted cheeks sink in more as he took another drag. Frank poked Mikey in the side, getting his hand hastily shoved away.

"What, Frank?" Mikey asked irritably. He looked down at the boy who was chewing on his pink lip thoughtfully.

"Can I have one of those?" he asked, pointing to Mikey's cigarette. Mikey outright grinned and looked Frank up and down.

"You smoke?"

"Nope, but I'll start." Frank said, thrilled that Mikey was smiling. That answer just made Mikey's smile wider, and he was fighting the urge to laugh at this eager little whelp that was disturbing his free period.

"They stunt your growth. You don't need one." he said. Frank hated it when someone made fun of his height. Yeah he's short, so what? It's not like it wasn't obvious enough without everyone cracking jokes. Frank made a growling sound at Mikey, and that's all it took to make him snicker. Mikey thought Frank's height-challenged stature was cute, and he liked how riled up he got when teased.

Frank forgot the jab at his height because Mikey laughed. It was a small laugh, but it was genuine. Frank could tell from the way Mikey's eyes crinkled at the corners. He was so excited that he latched himself to Mikey and hugged him without stopping to wonder whether he'd get pushed away or not. When he felt no resistance from the other boy, Frank looked up.

Mikey was definitely surprised when Frank hugged him. No one other than family members had ever hugged him, and even that was a rarity. Frank looked up at him with eyes full of questions. "What's wrong, Mikey?" he asked quietly.

"Ahm...no one hugs me." he said, suddenly a little self conscious about his lack of contact with people. Frank's heart pained a little when he heard Mikey's words. Maybe Bob was wrong, and he wasn't just looking for attention.

"Well, here, you're not doing it right..." Frank reached out to grab Mikey's arms and pull them around his body, then returned his own arms to where they were originally around the boy's skinny waist. He snuggled into Mikey's chest and smiled against the fabric of his shirt. "There, I hugged you, Mikey." he said proudly.

Mikey nodded and rested his chin on the top of Frank's head. He was becoming suspicious of the younger boy. Why was Frank hugging him? Was this all about to blow up in his face, just a cruel Frank can laugh about later to his friends? If it was, Mikey'd be crushed. No one had ever been this nice to him at school before,and he wanted it to be real. "Frank, why..."

"Am I hugging you?" Frank finished. Mikey nodded. Frank felt another little pang in his chest for Mikey. Had he never been this close to anyone? Did he not have friends? "I always hug my friends" Frank replied. Mikey frowned. Frank couldn't have just said they were friends. Something here was wrong. He knew Frank had plenty of friends, so why would he want Mikey as one?

"You don't want to be my friend. I'm not stupid." Mikey said with a sigh. He let his arms fall to his side, but Frank still clung to him.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?" he asked. Mikey shook his head and backed away from the embrace. His cigarette had burned down to the butt by this time, and he discarded it.

"Just...I'm gonna go, okay? See you around, Frank." Mikey said, turning to leave. Frank reached out to grasp his sleeve, remembering the object in his pocket. He took it out and pressed it into Mikey's hand. Mikey closed his hand over whatever Frank had handed him, and finally was released. He walked out of the bathroom, more concerned with getting away than what was in his hand. He went to the library and sat down in a chair, and only then did he open his hand.

He could have cried. It was a rock shaped like a heart. What if Frank was telling the truth? Did he just blow the chance to actually have a friend like Frank? Shit.