Frank on a Leash

This is not the ending of Frank on a Leash. I have already posted the ending. This is the ALTERNATE ending that you probably don't want to read. I don't have the second part written yet, but it shouldn't be very long before it's posted. Thank you for reading Frank on a Leash, and thanks to everyone who asked for the original ending.

****************************************************************

Mikey's hand played at Frank's spine as they relaxed on his bed, exchanging quiet commentaries about the price of tattoos and whether or not getting matching ones would be too cliche. Their conversations lately had slowly and methodically been switching from characters in media literature and movies to their own lives, which was starting to really scare the shit out of Mikey. Earlier, they'd had the 'what do you think we'll be like when we're older' conversation, and Mikey had blurted out that he didn't care as long as he was with Frankie, when really he wanted to say something more like 'dead'. This relationship business was seriously starting to change him drastically.

"Maybe if they are really cool, it'll make up for the thought behind them, you know?" Frank lazily traced his finger on Mikey's stomach under his shirt, smiling when he felt his thumb brush over his happy trail. "No hearts, that's for sure. And no words."

Mikey agreed, nodding his head and letting his eyes drift closed. There had been more and more lazy afternoons with Frank, as well, just laying around on each other in his room and getting cooed at when his mom would pop in every now and then to make sure they weren't starving or anything. He'd started thinking of Frank's mom as more of a mother than his own. He was certainly more open with her, and he didn't get the grimy feeling on top of his skin when she would hug him. It must have been some kind of Iero gene, the ability to touch Mikey Way.

Soft black strands slid across his fingers as he let his hand hide in Frank's hair, scratching lightly behind his ears and breathing the happy little hums he got from Frank in return. "How 'bout dragons? Not the traditional japanese ones, but, like..." He squinted one eye open because he couldn't think with both eyes closed, getting greeted by Frank's butter-colored cottage cheese ceiling and crayola ceiling fan. "Spyro."

On days like these, nothing they said was taken seriously. Well, Frank may have been serious about getting matching tattoos, but they more than likely weren't going to be Spyro ones, not unless they get wasted and somehow get all sentimental and remember this day as one of the best in their lives. Really, it wasn't that much different than any others, they just lounged around all day and wished that weekends were longer, but it all seemed so much more relaxed than it had in weeks. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was that the cold depressing December weather had given away like magic into March, seeming to skip past January and February in a blur. Today had been one of the few days that Frank and Mikey could go outside for more than five minutes without getting forced back inside by the bite of mother nature. The whole earth was opening up, animals coming out of their winter hiding places to fill out the dead sticks that had constituted for nature in the last months, breathing life back into the fog that was a New Jersey winter.

"Maybe..." Frank let his head fall down onto Mikey's stomach with a plop and started to murmur against his shirt. "But that's a little odd, even for us." Underneath him, Mikey squirmed with each rise and fall of the syllables that Frank used. "What about...something on our fingers? I like those kinds of tattoos. It puts them where anyone can see, and if anyone asks, I can tell them that we're both pansies who are so pathetic we got matching tattoos." He popped up with a huge grin on his face because Mikey was absolutely dying now, clamping down on his lips to keep from laughing. "Aw..."

Frank crawled up Mikey's wiggling body, resting his elbows on either side of Mikey's face to hold himself up. The muscles in his arms burned from the new pressure suddenly exerted on them, aching under his skin until he let up and collapsed on top of Mikey's chest, snuggling into the cotton t-shirt that was probably his own, since it was red and had cracking pictures of Sonic and Tails. "Mmm, maybe I will get your name on me..." he went on, by this point only talking because he thought it sounded good in the comfortable silence of the room. "Right," he tapped the inside of his wrist over the veins "right here. So I can see it whenever I want and I can think of you." The lazy-drunken words didn't sound at all stupid to Frank.

Mikey smirked to himself once he went over just what Frank was saying, and how impossibly mushy it was. And how it didn't really bother him that they were beginning to sound like a real live couple instead of two dudes who hang out with each other and kiss occasionally. "Mmm, you dweeb," Mikey muttered before yawning and stretching out his stiff arms, wincing at the popping in his elbow. "Oww..." Mikey sat up, the muscles in his abdomen straining and shouting 'what the fuck', and reached his arms up above him.

He caught a glimpse of the grass outside the window and felt a little pull towards it. The fucking winter...he didn't know, but it sucked all the energy out of him. "Hey, wanna go outside? I'm bored."

Frank scoffed--who the hell could get bored when he was here?--but squirmed out of Mikey's lap anyway and joined him in looking out the window, resting his head on Mikey's shoulder. "Yeah, okay. Hey, I have some light sabers in my closet."

*

Mikey smirked at Frank across the yard/battleground and flicked his wrist. The plastic lightsaber doubled in size and he held it up in front of him diagonally, convinced that it was the coolest way to wield one. Frank smiled back and twirled his light saber around. He claimed that it made him appear more ninja-like, and what was more powerful than a jedi ninja?

"Okay, Mikey, attack!" Frank exclaimed, bolting down his yard and swishing his weapon at Mikey carefully. He didn't want to actually hurt him--that was the problem with attacking your boyfriend. Less real rough-housing and more...um, fake-hurting with the intent of kissing better later on. Mikey really loved that Frank was so much shorter than he was, because to be honest, he sucked at everything, but at least he had the advantage of being able to grab the end of Frank's light saber, wrenching it out of his hands, and holding it over his head.

"Hey!" Frank's surprised cry echoed across the few empty lawns around them. "That's not fair! If we were really in Star Wars, your hand would be disentegragted, mister!" He jumped futily for a few more minutes before Mikey threw both of the light sabers to the ground and threw his arms around Frank's waist and hoisted him up. Frank wrapped both of his legs around Mikey's waist and slinked both of his arms around Mikey's neck.

He really liked to be held like this. It was the best part of being short.

"If we were in Star Wars," muttered Mikey, nudging the side of Frank's face with his nose and smiling, "We'd also be in space, have a gigantic space ship, and my brother would be--I don't know, creaming his pants."

Frank tried not to, he really did. But honestly? Mikey just fucking set him up for the best incest joke, and even the wet grass seeping through his jeans weren't enough to make him regret saying it. And, to make amends, he smiled up at Mikey and held his arms open, intending to get a hug. Mikey smiled at him and sunk into the grass beside Frank. He wrapped his arms around Frank's waist.

"Why do I always give in to you?" he asked to no one, knowing Frank's love of answering rhetorical questions.

"Bee-cause, Mikey dear, you adore me," Frank informed him, curling his arms around Mikey's neck slowly and pressing a few kisses to his throat.

"That's true..."

"And you wanna spend the rest of your life adoring me." Another kiss placed to Mikey's throat.

"Mhm..." Mikey liked where this was going. He let his hands slide down Frank's back.

"And you don't really give a crap if I make incest jokes, because you know that if anyone, even your brother, gets too close to you, I'll gut them."

"Right." The grass felt cool and wet on his back when he laid down, and it made him shiver a little with the sensation and drag Frank's smaller body on top of his so he wouldn't get cold, but. It was okay.

*

He wasn't really sure when he started to blend into the human race, but sometime between the winter and the spring, it had happened, and now as he waited for Frank to show up at their meeting place, he shared part of his wall with Ray and Frank's friend Manny who was always stealing glances at his ass when Mikey didn't wear Tripp pants. When Manny would lean up to see past Ray and ask him something--what was Mikey's favorite band, how was he, stupid little meaningless questions that felt good to answer--Mikey didn't grimace at him and answer quickly, hoping that the conversation would end soon.

"Hey," Manny started, leaning up again and fixing his stare on Mikey. "Do you think that bricks have little cities of brick people living inside them?"

"Hm." Mikey chewed on the side of his jaw and didn't feel in any hurry to answer or to censor his words. "That's actually possible, you know. Bricks have complex infrastructures, and--that's actually a good question. I can imagine that." He could hear Manny's pleased little sound and feel the smile through Ray. Yeah, he wasn't blind, he knew that Manny had to be gay just a little bit, and that was nice too, that liking boys wasn't such a foriegn idea anymore at the school. It was almost like it spread, starting with Bob and just engulfing anyone who got sucked up into the drama. It was a wonder that Ray was still straight.

"Yeah, but bricks aren't living creatures, they're slabs of dried mud, or whatever they make 'em out of these days," Ray butted in, frowning at Manny's self-satisfied grin and donning his own when Mikey agreed with that as well.

Frank snorted as he walked up to his little cluster of friends, not ever noticing until now how gay they all sounded. And, he noted with a little jealousy, how Ray and Manny seemed to both want Mikey's attention, like some little boys fighting over a girl. Ahem, his girl. His girl that was being checked out by half the school nowadays because Tripp pants were really too hot to wear any time other than winter, Mikey complained. Okay, his boy, whatever.

"Mikey! I am here!" he announced, promptly demanding his boyfriend's attention. He wasn't too proud to admitt that he was a jealous little fuck. Mikey was his, and they had an unspoken agreement to get married one day and share Bella as their child. He stepped up to Mikey, planting his feet inbetween Mikey's and leaning up to kiss him on the chin. "Did you miss me?"

"Over the eleven hours that I didn't get to see you? Hell yeah, Frankie."

They were such saps.

"Good, because I missed you too." And, just because he knew that Ray and Manny and probably Wendy, Bob, his teacher, and all the other people who've fucked with them over the year were watching, he grabbed fistfulls of Mikey's shirt and dragged him down for a kiss that, earlier in the year, would have made Mikey run away. Hips braced against Mikey's, Frank pushed his boyfriend firmly to the wall, pressing into him with his whole body and letting his hands roam. He felt eyes on them, and it only made it better; he didn't mind an audience. They were just as sick for watching.

Mikey was so oblivious to the world, he really wouldn't have noticed an alien invasion unless one of the aliens crawled into his pants, and even then he probably would have assumed it was Frank's hand, because they might as well be having sex up against the school wall. That was pretty high on Mikey's list of distractions. Right under a really good Sci-Fi marathon. Or Michael turning into a real unicorn and tap dancing on his bed.

"Shit," Frank breathed, tilting back a little bit and holding onto Mikey in a death grip. And, as he knew they would, the whole student body had stopped to watch the spectacle because they're all just sick fucks. The silence was something to be laughed at. So he did. He snickered at the slack-jawed expressions hanging off his friends and enemies, off the people who really didn't give a shit but stopped to watch anyway. And no, no one shouted out homophobic slurrs against the two boys leaning on the wall, trying to catch their breath, but Frank could still feel one of his tantrums drumming up inside his chest. One of the moments where he was tempted to smash someone's skull into a wall or kick them square in the back because his body itched to do it. He wouldn't, of course, but he wanted to.

"Shit," Mikey agreed.

"Okay you two fuckers, come on, time for class," Ray said, a hint of teasing mixed up with the infinite jealousy he just couldn't hide.

*

The bathroom really wasn't anything other than a bathroom anymore to Mikey. It should have been--everything, because he met Frank here, he got beaten up here, he made out with Frank the first time here. It should be filled with so many memories he can't walk in without being taken on trips through his mind, but--it was just a bathroom. White, dirty tiled floor, stained walls, a cracked mirror, four urinals and five stalls. Even when Mikey leaned into the mirror that for a time had been inbedded into his skin to fix his make up, nothing groundbreaking happened. It didn't send shivers up and down his back, there was no foreboding message written on it in blood, nothing. His reflection just blinked up at him.

The door swung open and he ignored it, because there was no one at the school he was afraid of anymore. He had enough friends to protect him if he ever got in a fight again. So, when Bob's face popped up in the back of the mirror, he didn't give a shit. It didn't look like Bob did either, because he just headed over to the stalls and went in one. Mikey shrugged and went back to tracing the bottom of his eye in black.

At first, when he heard the shaky noise coming from the stall, he ignored it, because he didn't make it a habit of listening to what went on in stalls. Then he heard crunching, more shaking, and he knew what it was. Bob stumbled out of the stall moments later, one hand clawing to the side of the wall while the other clutched a bag he was trying to stuff back into his pocket. His eyes blinked focused and unfocused at nothing, light blue irises twitching around wildly. Mikey put his hand out to steady Bob and got pushed away with a little grunt of 'getoffame.'

"Bob," he sighed, wondering why he was even bothering. Bob was in the past as well, wasn't he? And this couldn't turn out well no matter what, but--the guy looked helpless, and what else was Mikey supposed to do? Just leave him here? "Bob," he said a bit more firmly, digging his thumb into Bob's shoulderblade.

"Ow, ow, get off! Get the fucka-way!" Bob batted at his hands with the bag while trying to regain his hold on the wall. He couldn't, and just slid down to land in a heap of legs and blonde hair. "Stop. Stop it, go away," he whimpered, wiping at his face with the back of his sleeve. "Leave me alone."

"No, Bob, give me that." Mikey reached out to grab the bag away from Bob so he could see just what it was Bob had been taking, but Bob grabbed him by the wrist surprisingly tight for someone who couldn't keep their pathetic ass from falling to the ground.

"Stop! You can't have them! Just GO! I hate you, go away!" Bob pushed Mikey's arm away and dragged the bag to his chest, cradling it as he pulled his knees up to his chest as well. "You've already taken everything else, you can't have these."

Mikey stooped down to rest on his knees in front of Bob. "What are they? How many did you take?" Mikey asked, praying against all logic that Bob wasn't dying. He hated Bob, yeah, but he didn't actually wish death on him. Well, no, he did, but not death like this. Not--just not this.

"...enough," Bob spurted, head lolling to one side. His left eye shuttered open and closed rapidly before just closing.

Oh, Mikey thought woefully. He's dying.

He stood up, intent to go get the nurse, but Bob reached out with that strength again and curled his hand around Mikey's ankle. "You're not going anywhere, Mikey. I'm not going to let you fuck this up." He pushed himself up with his legs, leaning against the wall the whole way and finally making it to his feet where he clinged to Mikey's shoulders. "You know ya wan' me dead anyway..."

"Bob, shut up. You're dying, alright, and I'm going to get the nurse--"

"No! What the hell did I just tell you! You're not going!" Bob pushed Mikey into the sink and growled. He pounced on the skinnier boy and grabbed his shoulders and slammed him into the mirror. Tiny shards fluttered around them, glinting off the lights in the ceiling. Mikey whimpered against the cuts in his back and the wet he could feel staining his shirt, and--yeah, he knew he shouldn't have tried to stop Bob.