The 10 Clues To Frank's Survival

Frank's POV
The room I was in was dark; pitch black. I tried to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness but my vision remained as if I was blind. I could hear nothing, it was silent and there was a throbbing pain all throughout my body. I couldn't move without crying out. I had no remembrance of what had happened, I just knew one; I was not home in my bed as I was the night previous and two; I was in trouble. I lay paralyzed on the floor, not even attempting to escape and work through the pain. What's the point.....right?

~

Gerard slammed the door to the vehicle and ran out of the car towards the 'Welcome to Lodi' sign on the side of the road, It was quite small so it took a few times driving by to spot it. Gerard pulled up his hood, attempting to shield his head from the pouring rain but it soaked through almost immediately. He had to admit, finding the second clue was quite easy, he expected it to be difficult and was surprised when he found the note on the back of the sign;

You found the 2nd clue! I gave you an easy start right? Not for long, here's the next; water cooler romance.

Gerard stared blankly at the sightly smeared piece of paper, water cooler romance? What the fuck is that suppose to mean? He searched his mind for something involving the phrase and after a few minutes a light bulb flickered on in his head.

"The water tower," he mumbled gripping the soggy paper tightly as he recalled the memory.

They had only been friends back then, Gerard was walking down the street one sunny afternoon, the day fading and beginning to turn into night and noticed somebody on the ledge on the water tower. The boy was small, his back to Gerard as he swung his legs back and forth over the ledge behind the gate. Gerard of course, being curious as to why the boy was up there, climbed silently up the ladder that was connected to the tower. He tiptoed towards the black haired and up behind him, careful not to scare him.

"Are you okay?" Gerard asked making the boy jump and snap his head around, it was Frank.

"Oh Gerard! I'm fine," he answered, lying through his teeth, Gerard could always tell.

"Stop lying Frank."

"I'm not!"

Gerard sighed and plopped himself down next to Frank, "I'm willing to listen, I won't judge." Gerard whispered.

Frank was silent next to him, tears in his eyes, "Don't cry," Gerard whimpered as the first tear fell from his eyes. He lifted his hand and wiped the tear away from Frank's face, keeping his hand cupping his cheek, "Talk to me, I can help." Frank stared at him blankly for a moment, the darkness of night over taking the sky, "No one cares," he whispered, "Nobody cares about me, no one even likes me!" he sobbed

Gerard didn't know what to say as the boy continued to cry right in front of him, "I care," he said.

Frank snapped his head upwards, the wetness of his tears covering his cheeks, "What?" Gerard shifted a little before repeating himself, "I care, you're not alone."

It took a few minutes for Frank to process what he had said to him before he spoke again, "Really?" Gerard nodded and a small smile spread across Frank's tear stained face as he leaned in to embrace Gerard.

No one had ever told Frank they cared not even made an effort to help him, Frank was convinced he was all alone and no one would ever care for him but Gerard cared. One person cared and that was all he needed to keep going. Once they departed from the hug, Frank, without thinking leaned in and attached his lips to Gerard's but quickly realized what he had done and back away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I-I didn't um so sorry." he stuttered nervously, jumping to his feet," I wasn't thinking, don't hurt me!"

The boy was visibly shaking, tears filling his eyes again but not falling. Gerard got up and walked over towards Frank, him flinching as he approached. Gerard wondered what should have happened to this boy to make him think he had no one, to make him fear everyone around him, to make him want to die.

"Hey it's fine." he whispered. It took Frank a few seconds to respond, "You're not gonna hurt me?" Gerard wanted to do so many things to the people who hurt Frank and beat them like they did to him and see what it feels like but he knew he'd never stand a chance against the big muscular dudes who picked on him.

"No never," Gerard assured him reaching out to swipe the hair that was over his eye away.

That's how their relationship began, that one small act of kindness turned into something so much more. Gerard was at the water tower in a flash, running out of his car, not bothering to shut the door and almost tripping over his own feet. He approached the place where the latter once was but it had been removed long ago by the looks of it. Gerard checked every square inch of the field but came up with nothing. He searched around for something he could use to climb it and thankfully, noticed a rope hanging just above his head, attached to the tower. The only problem with the rope was that it was wet with rain which made it to slippery to climb up. He couldn't wait for the rain to stop though, so he jumped with everything he had and attempted to get a good grip on the rope but failed and fell into the big puddle forming underneath the rope.

Gerard got up fast and thought of what he could do to get up there, if there were anymore options, but the only way up was the rope. He took a deep breath and stepped back getting a little bit of a running start he leaped into the air and got a steady grip on the rope, his knuckles turning white as he struggled to stay on ass it swayed back and forth. He wasn't usually strong but the motivation to save Frank made him stronger than ever, he wasn't going to let him die.