Someone Like You

Frank fully woke up the second he felt someone else’s body next to his. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to waking up next to someone, it was more that he was so used to having to get up and get out as quickly as possible, preferably before the other person woke up, so that the two strangers wouldn’t have to cross paths again. But this time when he woke up fully clothed next to Gerard, who he hadn’t actually slept with clearly, he realised there was no need. He didn’t need to disappear until he knew Gerard was gone, because they weren’t a one night stand. From what he could gather from his extremely foggy memory of the previous night, they seemed to only be in some kind of friend zone or something. Even if he was happy about avoiding the awkward one night stand situation, he still felt quite disappointed that they hadn’t connected very much. He couldn’t remember much, only a few hazy memories; some of which were incredible, and others of which were not quite as amazing. Such as the amount of awkwardness that had followed them around for most of the night. He had been hoping so much that he could have had something with Gerard. His crush on the college boy was only getting stronger, to the point where it was now beginning to get a little ridiculous, and now he was worried that he would be forced to settle for friendship, if even that.

With Gerard still asleep though, there was no awkwardness. Well, not in Franks mind anyway; he was loving the way that Gerard still had his arms wrapped loosely around him whilst gently snoring against Franks single pillow. Doing his best not to wake the older boy, he snuggled his head lightly against Gerard’s chest again and closed his eyes, trying to commit the feeling to memory for whenever he might need it. It was so nice waking up with someone else there. Someone he could trust anyway. Even if he did have a horrendous hangover, the usual bouts of slight depression that seemed to find their way to him on mornings such as this, after another pointless night, were kept away thanks to the other boys presence. Frank was just able to focus on having him there, instead of focusing on anything else. He wasn’t depressed, not properly. His mind was just a little fucked up, that was all. He wasn’t contemplating suicide, and he wasn’t hooked up to antidepressants. It was just that he didn’t feel like there was much point to most things so why shouldn’t he get high and wasted. And then the other thoughts were just extensions of his fucked up brain. That was all.

Gerard woke up not long after Frank, under the impression that Frank was still asleep. He was also enjoying the way that Frank slotted perfectly into his body, wrapped up in his arms in such a way that was so comfortable for the both of them. Because of this, he also made no move to get them out of their positions. Instead, he very lightly pulled the smaller boy gently closer, closing his eyes again slowly too so that he could enjoy the haze of consciousness in-between being awake and being asleep. He could also feel the hangover crawling through his head, although of course not to the extent of Franks, but he also did everything he could to ignore it.

It wasn’t until the sun had risen high in the sky to the point where it was shining directly through the window of Franks apartment, which of course had no curtains, that the two boys made any movement. It started with Frank carefully twisting round so that he was able to look up at Gerard’s face. The older boy looked down to meet his eyes and neither could stop the small smile that grew on their faces.

Maybe a connection of some sorts had been made after all, Frank thought, because he had never felt this way around anyone before. Maybe he just hadn’t recognised it before. It was so new and different. It was more than just lust. It was more than anything. And they were both sober now, although very hung over, so maybe this was Franks chance to convince Gerard he wasn’t completely hopeless.

“Hey,” Gerard mumbled lazily, his voice slightly croaky from last night.
“Hey,” Frank whispered in reply. That was that, apparently. Even if both had begun to feel something that could at least grow into some kind of connection, it didn’t eliminate the awkwardness. Things were still tense, but at least they were physically comfortable on Franks bed.

Both boys jumped and winced at the noise when a loud buzzing began, accompanied by the even louder sound of a phone ringing. After a second or two of being slightly confused Gerard realised that it was his phone and so he frantically searched the pockets of his jeans until he managed to find his phone and answer it. Frank listened to the one side of the conversation quietly, worried that this would be the thing that would cause Gerard to go home and then that would be it; his one shot would be over and completely messed up.

“Hello,” Gerard answered groggily, throwing his head back down onto the pillow and wincing, “Oh, hey Ray… I’m at a friend’s… no Ray… no… ugh, fine, you nosy asshole, later, but I wouldn’t get too excited. Where’s Christa?... oh, okay… why do I need to come home?... Seriously!?...” There was a pause in conversation where Gerard glanced down and his eyes met with Franks which were clearly displaying his disappointment as much as he tried to hide it. “I’ll be home later, ‘kay Ray… yeah… bye.” Gerard hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

“You can go home if you want to,” Frank mumbled, staring at Gerard’s chest which was still directly in front of him, “I don’t mind. I completely understand…”
“I’m okay,” Gerard said, “I’m not really feeling too active right now. I don’t really fancy walking all the way back home right now.”
“Oh… okay.”
“And besides,” Frank looked up at Gerard when he heard Gerard’s lighter tone, “Maybe now we’re both sober we can actually talk.” Both of the boys awkwardly chuckled, but it died out quickly into silence.

“Thanks for taking me to see Black Flag, by the way,” Gerard said eventually.
“No problem,” Frank replied.
“So, I’m guessing you like them?”
“Are you kidding me!? They’re the best, oh my God!” And with that, Frank lost it. As soon as he was given the opportunity to talk about music he cared about, he would never shut up. He pushed himself upwards slowly as he talked, so he was able to talk better and able to look at Gerard. Gerard watched Frank as he spoke so passionately. He watched the way Franks hands would flail about uncontrollably as he tried to articulate what he was trying to say, and the way his facial expressions would change so rapidly along with the words. He couldn’t help but be captivated slightly by Franks whole new being. He was no longer acting awkward, or unsure, or drunk or even hungover; he was lost in his passion and quite honestly Gerard was lost in him. Gerard was paying just enough attention to what was being said so that he could give a reasonable reply when one was necessary, but that was rarely because Frank had plenty to say. Mostly Gerard was paying attention to Franks little habits that he did subconsciously as he spoke which were, quite frankly, absolutely adorable.

Frank finished his speech quite breathlessly, ending with a quiet, “Um, so, yeah…” Gerard stayed silent for a while, speechless. He honestly didn’t know what to say, but in the best way possible. Not in the awkward way it had been up till now. The two boys stared at each other, Gerard in awe and Frank in worry about Gerard’s reaction. Without even realising it Gerard accidently said out loud, slightly dreamily, “You’re incredible.” Usually, this kind of thing would have embarrassed Gerard to the point where he became too flustered and awkward to function, but not this time. This time he was determined to stick it out and make the most he could out of the accident.

It did however cause Frank to become very flustered. His cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and he was unable to hold eye contact with Gerard as he subconsciously nibbled at his lip ring. He wasn’t used to such compliments. He’d been called ‘sexy’ and ‘hot’ by sleazy guys in bars as they groped at his pants, but that was about it. They were never genuine compliments, merely results of an overactive sex drive and a lot of alcohol. This was heartfelt, and real and it made Frank feel warm inside, as cliché as that may be.

His inexperience left Frank unable to think of a way to continue the conversation, so instead he blurted out that he needed to go to the bathroom and then rushed away. Gerard didn’t regret having said the simple compliment though. While it may have left Frank flustered, he also knew he’d managed to make Frank feel good too, which he had discovered within one night was quite a rare thing. Therefore, only good could come from it.

He climbed up off the mattress with the intention of getting dressed, before realising he was still fully clothed so there was actually nothing more to put on. Instead he wondered over to the kitchen to try and find some coffee. He didn’t even try to find food. After moving around even just a little bit he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it, and it would just make him ill. Gerard searched everywhere for coffee though, but he couldn’t find any.

Frank took a while in the bathroom, but when he came back out his hair was wet and he was wearing clean clothes. “Sorry,” the small boy mumbled, “I know I took ages, but I really wanted a shower because I just felt really ugh, y’know… I know that ‘ugh’ isn’t actually an adjective but fuck it my head hurts too much to care.” Gerard snorted in amusement at Frank, in a friendly way, and Frank smiled accidently and nibbled at his lip ring again.
“Um, I tried to find some coffee,” Gerard mumbled, “But I couldn’t find any.”
“Yeah, I ran out a couple of days ago… sorry… I forgot about that. Yesterday I had some at the coffee place, so I didn’t realise.”

Gerard pursed his lips as Frank slumped against the single grotty counter that made up the kitchen. “Do you wanna come to my place for a coffee?”
Franks head snapped up to look at Gerard, “Huh?”
“Well, I have coffee… and you don’t have coffee. I have to go home anyway, because apparently Ray has something to give me, I don’t know. And then, yeah, we can just hang out together for the day and stuff, if you want? That way I can get changed too…”

The younger boy stood in awe for a second, not believing this was actually happening. “Um, uh, yeah! Yeah, sure! Sure that would be, um, that would be great! Awesome! Um, yeah… yeah… I’ll just, um, get my jacket?” He was stammering like an idiot, and he knew it, so he tried to hide it by flicking his bangs over his face and turning away from Gerard to find his jacket. Gerard stood observing, finding Franks behaviour both entertaining and adorable.

When the boy was sober, Gerard thought, he was basically the epitome of adorable. There was really no other way to describe it. Even when he was drunk, from what Gerard could remember, Frank was still quite adorable, only with an added layer of self-confidence. While he would never wish the burden of self-consciousness upon anybody, he couldn’t help but admit that the way Frank reacted to any kind of positive reinforcement about himself was just perfect this way. It made him seem so sweet and innocent; like the kind of person Gerard had always expected Frank to be. This was the main reason why he had been so thankful that Frank had agreed to come and hang out for the day.

Soon enough both boys were leaving Franks grotty apartment into the perfectly cool day, heading towards Gerards house. As they walked they managed to naturally fall into a conversation about comics. They didn’t exactly know how they had gotten onto the subject, but it didn’t matter to either because Gerard was enjoying the way Franks hands and expressions moved again, and Frank was enjoying the way Gerard smiled showing his rows of small teeth as he laughed slightly as he spoke. For once their relationship, whatever that may be, was taking no active thinking. It was just working; they were finally clicking and connecting.