The Girlfriend from Hell

It was about 2:30 in the morning on a Friday night. Gerard was awake painting, after a dream left him wide awake and full of inspiration. He was opening a can of green paint in his deathly quiet apartment, when he heard someone knocking on his door.

Frank stood outside of Gerard’s apartment. He had spent the whole night in his own apartment pacing back and forth, his mind flooded with thoughts of Gerard. Frank needed to tell him how he felt of he would never be at peace again.

Gerard heard the knocking again, and decided to go answer the door. He peeked out the little window and saw that it was Frank. Gerard opened the door. “What’s up man? Are you drunk?”

Frank was chewing nervously on his bottom lip and staring at his shoes. “Gerard, I know that it’s late, and hell, I probably shouldn’t even be here, but I don’t think I will survive much longer unless I tell you how I feel.” He glanced up at Gerard and found himself staring at the small dashes of bright paint on his face.

“Why don’t you come in? I just put on a pot of coffee.”

Frank vigorously shook his head. He needed to say this now. “Gerard… I have feelings for you. I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, either.” His words came out in a rush.

“Well I guess that’s good, because I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” Gerard took one step down from his apartment so he was on Frank’s level. Gerard threw his arms around Frank’s neck and kissed him.

It took Frank a moment to register what was happening before he started kissing Gerard back with everything he had. He let his hands fall to Gerard’s hips.

Just a second later Gerard heard footsteps behind him and the hallway light flickered on. Frank and Gerard quickly broke apart. “Gerard? What’s going on?” a female voice called. “Shit, that’s my girlfriend. Frank, I’m really sorry, but you have to go.” He kissed Frank quickly on the cheek and shut the door in his face.

Frank couldn’t stop the tears that burned in his eyes. He punched the door as hard as he could, and then took off running back towards his house. For half a second he had actually let himself believe that he and Gerard could have something… Frank’s luck was too shitty for that. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

Gerard felt horrible. He didn’t even like his girlfriend very much. He turned around and leaned against the door. Just then his girlfriend from hell appeared from the living room. “Who was that?” she demanded. Shitshitshit. Did she see?

“Uh… No one. False alarm.” Gerard let out a shaky laugh.

“But I heard you talking,” she shot back.

“I told you, it was NOTHING!” Gerard yelled back at the girl.

Frank couldn’t make it to his house before he just broke down. He had made it as far as the park when he fell to the ground, his back against the wall and his knees to his chest. He tried his best to calm himself down.

Gerard knew Frank. He knew him well enough that he could not be taking this well. He took out his ancient cell phone and sent a quick text to Frank. ‘U ok?’

Frank fished his phone out from his pocket and opened the text. He replied with ‘What do you think?’ He stared at the stars and let out a soft sigh.

‘I’m so sry. I feel horrible. But we need 2 tlk. Meet me @ the café 2moro?’

‘Sure.’ Frank managed to make his way home. He slept on and off throughout the day. He sat up and rubbed his eyes when his alarm clock rang the next morning. He showered and got dressed. He then sent a text to Gerard saying, ‘Be there in 10.’

‘K’ Gerard typed back. He let out a sigh, said goodbye to his girlfriend, and headed out the door to meet Frank. Turns out, he got to the café before Frank, so he ordered two coffees and found a nice table by the window.

Frank walked in the door and spotted Gerard’s table. He seriously contemplated leaving when Gerard waved him over. He took a seat and kept his eyes low. “What do you want…?”

“I’d like to start off by saying that I really like you and I’m sorry about what happened last night.”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend you should be having sex with or something?” Frank couldn’t hide the venom in his voice. He was mad, but he had every right to be. If there was one thing that pissed him off, it was people toying with his emotions.

“I don’t even like her very much. I told you about her before, didn’t I?” Gerard took a sip of his coffee and it burned his mouth.

Frank nodded. Gerard’s girlfriend was a bitch, the one time he had met her, she had managed to criticize literally everything about him in the first five minutes.

Gerard continued, “She’s medically bipolar and suicidal. I don’t know what dumping her will do to her. I can’t be held responsible for something like that…” Gerard had gone through all the scenarios in his head before about what would happen if he broke up with her. None of them ended well.

“Yeah, I get it. Just… forget I was even at your house. Forget I told you anything.” Frank stood up, trying hard to fight his emotions.

Before he could run away, Gerard reached across the table and grabbed Frank’s hand. “But what if I don’t want to forget?”

Frank stared down at Gerard, he was obviously on the verge of tears and he knew Gerard could tell. “Gerard… I’m not going to be responsible if she finds out about us.”

“No. It will be me. We can make this work. I’ll find a way.”

“Gee…” Frank sighed. “I am going home… You can come with me if you want. We will talk there…”

“Sure,” Gerard agreed. He gathered up the empty coffee cups and threw them into the nearest garbage can. Then he followed Frank out of the café.

Frank looked up at Gerard. “I want to make this work… but I will feel like shit if I wind up hurting anyone. I don’t think… there is any way for us…” He rubbed at the back of his neck.

“So what are you saying? You don’t even want to try?”

“You know I do…” His voice was soft and nervous. Frank slowly pushed the door to his house open and then closed it behind both of them.

Before he could say another word, Gerard pulled Frank closer for a kiss. It was just a sweet, innocent kiss. Gerard whispered into Frank’s ear, “Everything will be okay.”

Frank tugged gently on the collar of Gerard’s jacket. “I really want to believe that…” he let his head rest on Gerard’s shoulder.

“Come here,” Gerard said as he grabbed Frank’s hand and pulled him towards the couch. He looked around and realized that he hadn’t been to Frank’s place in ages.

Frank had about eight different guitars and countless amps and pedals. His tables were piled high with sheet music but other than that, it was a pretty clean place. He sat down next to Gerard.

“What do you think I should do?” Gerard asked Frank.

“Does she love you?” was all he said.

“Some days, I’d say yes, but if I make one little mistake; one little thing she doesn’t like, she goes crazy. Some days I can’t handle it.”

“Then make her love you less. Get her to break up with you.” It was a stupid suggestion, but he couldn’t help but think that it might work.

“That’s actually a great idea. But it might take a while. I’m pretty lovable, apparently.” Gerard smirked at Frank.

Frank couldn’t help but kiss him. “Seriously though, Gerard.” Frank was quiet. “Please.”
“I’ll see what I can do. I know what pisses her off.”

Frank tangled his fingers in Gerard’s hair and kissed him again.

This lasted for a while until Gerard’s phone rang. It was her. He grabbed his phone and tentatively answered, “Hello?” “Where the hell have you been?” Gerard nodded to Frank and smirked. “Out.”

Frank wrapped his arms around Gerard’s waist and listened as closely as he could to their
conversation.

“Out where?” she screeched.

“Out with friends, is that okay with you?” Gerard shouted back.

Frank kissed Gerard’s shoulder gently and whispered, “Tell her it’s me, she hates me.”

Gerard nodded at Frank. “Who?” she demanded. Perfect. “Frank,” Gerard answered. Then, she screamed and hung up the phone.

“Should I be worried about her?” Gerard asked Frank.

Frank shrugged. “Go home if you are worried.” He kissed him softly again.

“Will you come with me? We can act like friends,” Gerard chuckled. “Have a beer. Piss her off…”

Frank nodded. He stayed silent until they reached Gerard’s apartment. “Well here goes nothing.” He followed closely behind Gerard.

Gerard took out his keys and unlocked the door. She was on the couch with her back to the door, reading a romance novel. Gerard quickly nudged Frank in the side and said, “Hey babe,” to his girlfriend.

Frank waved. “Hey, I’m Frank, I think you might already know me?”

“Why the hell did you bring him here,” she said dangerously.

“He’s my best friend?” Gerard answered her. Ignoring her yelling, Gerard turned to Frank and winked. “Beer?”

Frank nodded and sat down at the table in the dining room. The house was so un-Gerard it hurt to look at.

Gerard turned and went into the kitchen. Returning back to the dining room with two beers, he sat one in front of Frank and took a seat next to him. “So now what?” he whispered to Frank.

Frank shrugged and whispered back, “She’s your girlfriend, not mine.” He took a long drink and ran his hands through his hair.

Gerard sighed. Frank was right. Gerard decided to antagonize her a little more. Just a little. “Hey do you mind if me and Frank go to the bar tonight to see this band play?”

She turned around with hurt in her eyes. "But... it's our anniversary," she said quietly.

Shit, Gerard thought. He turned to Frank with wide eyes, looking for some help.

Frank stood up. "I should get going. See you around... We could always go see them another time." He nodded in her direction. "Happy anniversary." Frank couldn't do this. He just couldn't.

Gerard almost dumped his girlfriend on their anniversary. That's low. Gerard really couldn't blame Frank for wanting to leave after that. He turned to his girlfriend. "What did you have in mind? What did you want to do tonight?"

Frank left and went to Ray's house. He needed a friend right now and Toro was always there for him. He stayed there for a good few hours just bullshitting and playing guitar.

Turns out, Gerard's girlfriend only wanted to go to a restaurant, and that was easy enough. Gerard couldn't complain, it could have been worse. But the entire time he was at dinner with her, pretending to like her, he was thinking about Frank.

***

Frank decided it would be best to just avoid Gerard, and hope that things with him and his girlfriend went well. He spent most of his time over Ray's house. It was about three months before Frank accidentally ran into Gerard at the coffee shop.

For three months, Frank had been ignoring Gerard completely. He was ignoring all his calls and texts, and whenever Gerard would stop by Frank's place, he wouldn't answer the door. It hurt at first, but after a few weeks, he got the message. Frank didn't want him anymore. Until one day, he spotted Frank in the local coffee shop. Things were still a little awkward between them, so Gerard didn't go over to Frank. He picked a table nearby, and stared out the window. If Frank wanted to talk to him, he would come over to Gerard.

Frank sat down across from Gerard. "Hey."

"Hey," Gerard said shyly. He didn't know what to say to Frank.

"Gee... I am really sorry. I just wanted what was best for the both of you. She obviously needs you. I won't be the person to ruin that." He let out a shaky breath.

Gerard couldn't disagree. He missed Frank though. "Things are better between her and I," he lied.

Frank nodded. "That's good...” He spent every waking second of his life thinking about Gerard, about how it felt to kiss him, and how much he missed just having him around. "I have been doing pretty well," Frank lied.

"Great. I heard you started a band? How is that going?" Gerard just wanted to be around Frank for as long as possible, before he lost him again.

"Awesome," he said. And it was true, the band was great, it let him get out his anger, and that was his favorite part. "LeAthermouth. I'm the vocalist."

"Dude, that's really sweet. I'd like to see you guys sometime." He honestly couldn't see Frank singing, though. "I didn't know you sang." Frank seemed more of a screamer.

Frank let out a dry laugh. "We have a show tonight," he hinted. He couldn't wait to see Gerard's reaction if he actually decided to attend.

"Maybe I'll stop by," Gerard said. He would absolutely be going, but he didn't want to tell Frank that. He didn't want to seem desperate.

"Alright. See you then." Frank stood up and left.

***

Later that night, the show had gone flawlessly and Frank ran off the stage when it was over, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He loved this feeling. He felt oddly calm after every one of these shows. He shook a lot of hands backstage and engaged in stupid mundane conversation.

Gerard went backstage after the show, trying to find Frank. He finally spotted him in the corner, talking to some guys. As he was walking over, the guy leaned down and kissed Frank. When Gerard got closer, Frank put his arms around the guy's neck, pulling him closer and tangling his fingers in his hair. Gerard got there just in time for them to break apart, and that's when Frank made eye contact with Gerard. After that, Gerard didn't even really want to talk to Frank anymore. He turned and ran out the door.

Frank pulled away from the guy and sighed. He was just a groupie for the band; Frank had spent a lot of time making out with random guys lately. He ran after Gerard and grabbed him by the collar. "Gerard, it wasn't what it looked like!"

Gerard shook Frank off, and kept walking. "Frank. Don't lie to me right now."

"Gerard, he was just a stupid fan, alright? That's all. The most that happens is we make out, I sign something, and they go home."

"So this happens often?" Gerard spat at him. He disguised his hurt with anger.

"Just since we stopped talking..." He shrunk back from Gerard. "Why should I say no? I don't even deserve a freaking relationship with anyone." His voice sounded hurt, and he believed it. Ever since he stopped talking with Gerard, he valued himself less and less.

"Don't act all hurt. We stopped talking because you avoided me."

Frank knew he was right. "I don't know what to say to make any of this better." He just sat down with his back against the nearest wall and pulled his knees into his chest.

No matter how hard he tried, Gerard couldn't stay mad at Frank. He sat down next to him, their shoulders touching, and reached for Frank's hand. "I'm sorry," Gerard whispered.

Frank had tears in his eyes. "You have no reason to be sorry... it is all my fault. Come home with me?"

"Sure," Gerard agreed quickly.

Frank stood up and walked, his fingers laced with Gerard's. He pulled the door open quickly and locked it behind them. He wrapped his arms around Gerard's neck. "Kiss me already."

Gerard didn't have to be asked twice. He wrapped his arms around Frank's waist, pulling them together and kissed him. It started out sweet and innocent, but turned sloppy quickly. "I...missed...you..." Gerard said between kisses. He began kissing down Frank's neck.

Frank moaned and tugged on Gerard’s hair. “I missed you too.” He pulled Gerard towards his bedroom, removing their clothes on the way. By the time they were on the bed they were only wearing boxers.

“Do you want to?” Gerard whispered, as they got on the bed.

Frank nodded quickly. He didn’t just want it; it was all he could think about. He crashed their lips together again. His breathing was quick and ragged.

***

Gerard and Frank awoke the next morning, legs intertwined, Frank’s head on Gerard’s chest. Gerard had no idea what time it was.

Frank opened his eyes slowly and yawned. He sat up. “Gee…”

“Good morning…” Gerard said sleepily.

Frank smiled and kissed him softly. “Morning.”

Gerard returned the kiss and then said surely, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Frank pulled him close and sighed. “You should probably get home, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m actually surprised she hasn’t called yet. And when we were talking yesterday, and I said things were better between her and I, I lied. Things are worse. I absolutely can’t stand her.”

Frank ran his fingers slowly through Gerard’s hair. “I’m sorry… You can use my shower here so it’s not completely obvious that we…yeah.”

“Thanks…” he whispered. After kissing Frank on the forehead, he walked in the direction of the bathroom.

Frank laid back in the bed wondering what was going to happen now. When Gerard was done, Frank kissed him slowly goodbye. Gerard then returned home to find his girlfriend in bed with another guy that had apparently been sleeping with her for a long time.

Gerard was wandering around town, thinking. He couldn’t really be mad at her; not when he was doing the exact same thing. But in Gerard’s bed? That’s kinda low. And just plain weird. At least go to his house! He called Frank and told him everything.

“Want to meet at the café?” Frank suggested, just hoping to make Gerard feel better.

“That would be nice,” Gerard admitted. When Gerard arrived at the coffee shop, Frank was already there waiting for him.

Frank pulled him into a hug when he saw him. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly, like shit. But not for the reason you’re thinking. She has been doing this for months. She was going behind my back. Why couldn’t she just dump me? I could have been with you this whole time! It would have saved us all this drama!”

“So… are you guys completely over now?” Frank bit his lip nervously.

“Yeah. She took her clothes and left. I’m a free man again.” He glanced at Frank and winked.

Frank kissed him gently. “Not quite,” he laughed.