Hold You Close

It was Monday morning and I was slumped in the corner of the boys room. My nose was bleeding profusely and I could feel my upper lip beginning to swell. Great way to start my week off, huh?

I wanted to stand up and fight this bastard, or at least run, but I knew it was useless. My entire body was aching in pain. And even if I could get up before he hits me again, there's no way I'd be able to get past him or fight him off. He's probably twice my size, and the fact that I'm a vegetarian doesn't help.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for another painful punch in the face, but instead I felt the toe of one of his work boots collide with my stomach. The next thing I knew I was doubled over on the grimy floor. The pain in my stomach was unbearable. My vision started to blur, but I forced myself to stay conscious. I coughed and painted the bathroom floor bright red. I wanted this to stop more than anything. I just felt like I wanted to die.

"Fag." he spat at me as I attempted to get up. Every time I tried, I felt like I might be sick.

He kicked me hard in the spine and I fell back to the floor. I heard him leave, but I didn't bother trying to get up again. I knew it was useless. My entire back was in pain, and I could feel the bruises starting to form. Never in my life have I felt so pathetic.

His name is Brandon. He does this to me nearly every morning now. Sometimes it even happened twice a day. I've only been going to Belleville High for a few months, ever since I convinced my parents to let me go to public school, rather than that up-tight Catholic School. I was also hoping I might fit in better here. Obviously I was wrong.

A few minutes later, I pulled myself up and staggered over to the bathroom sink. I peered at the person looking back at me. I saw a small, weak boy with spiky black hair, who looked pretty fucked up. My nose was still bleeding some, and half my face was swollen and bruised. I had blood splattered on my shirt, so I zipped up my hoodie. After I washed off my face, I guess I didn't look too bad.

To make my day even better, the bell was about to ring and I needed to find my classroom. I was switching to a higher level Chemistry class today, and I had no idea where the room was.

I walk into class a minute late. As I open the door, everyone in the room looks over at me.

"Er...hi." I said to the teacher as I closed the door. I get nervous when people stare at me. "I'm new to this class. My name is Frank Iero."

"Ah, yes. Someone told me we'd be getting a new student." The teacher replied. "My name is Mr. Matthews. Why don't you just take a seat at any empty desk."

I quickly scanned the classroom and found and empty seat to the right of a cute guy with long, dark brown hair and wearing mostly black. I smiled a him as I sat down. He looked mildly surprised by this, but he still smiled back a little.

A few minutes into the dull class period, a note landed on my desk from my left. I quietly unfolded it. It said, "Hi. I'm Gerard Way. I like your hoodie."

Like an idiot, I look down to see what I'm wearing. It was a Black Flag sweatshirt. "Thanks. I'm Frank." I wrote back. I gently tossed the note back to him. Not too long later, I got one back saying, "Yeah, I know. (: Do you want to hang out sometime?" I couldn't believe it. This amazingly hot guy wants to hang out with me? I immediately write back, "Yeah, sure!" I give him the note and got one back that said, "Okay. You can go home with me today."

The rest of the day, I was anticipating going to Gerard's house. I could hardly wait. In the few months that I was at Belleville High, I had made no friends. I was just hoping I wouldn't fuck this up.

At the end of the day, I met up with Gerard outside. We walked to his car in awkward silence. I wasn't really sure was I was expecting his car to be like, but I sure wasn't expecting this.

Gerard's car is basically a mobile storage place for tapes, art supplies, comic books, fast food wrappers, and other random items. After he cleared room for me to sit in the passenger seat, he got in the driver's seat and started the car. I looked around and tried to think of a conversation starter.

"So, I take it your into art?" Great job, Frank. Real witty.

Gerard chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. I like to draw and paint a lot. So what kind of things do you like to do, Frank?"

I smiled and blushed a little when he said my name. I cursed myself internally and thanked God that didn't notice it.

"I play guitar and read comics."

"Cool, I like comics, too." There was a moment of silence as Gerard kept his eyes on the road, until he said, "Um, Frank? I wanted to ask you if you were okay. You looked pretty beat up when you walked into class today. What happened?"

Shit. No one has ever bothered to ask me why I always look like crap, not even my mom, and I was perfectly fine with that.

"I sort of... got beat up earlier this morning." I answered shamefully, not looking over at him. I didn't want to see his reaction. I hate being seen as weak and vulnerable, which unfortunately, happens to me a lot.

"Why would anyone do this to you?" he asked, surprised.

I looked down again. This is what happens when I try to socialize. I should have just told him that I couldn't hang out today. I should have just walked home like I normally do. I could feel my cheeks beginning to heat up.

"Because I'm a fag."

He didn't say anything at first. I knew I'd mess this up.

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I'm gay, too."

Now I looked up at him. "You are?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah... I just didn't want anyone to know. I was afraid of what people would think of me. Not even my little brother knows."

"Well, that's smart. I should've just done that. Then maybe I wouldn't have to deal with this shit everyday." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm not the smart one," Gerard said. "I think it's so brave of you to be able to do get up every day knowing what those assholes are going to do to you."

At first, I wasn't sure if I heard him right. No one has ever called me brave before. And I sure didn't think I was brave.