Dirty Hands

Frank Iero was having a bad day.

His car wouldn’t start, and he was on his last warning with his boss about not showing up to work on time. It wasn’t his fault that he had insomnia and rarely ever got any sleep. Although his body was physically exhausted from being on his feet all day, he just couldn’t stop his busy mind from stilling after working long shifts every day, therefore, he would lie awake at night for hours on end, waiting for sleep that wouldn’t come until the wee hours of the morning.

So on this particular morning, as he puffs angrily away on the last cigarette in his pack, he is in the parking lot of the apartment building that he lives in, formulating a game plan that will get him to work on time. He’s leaning up against his car, which still has the hood open as if the answer to his car woes would miraculously straighten out by having it open, and has already texted his boss to let her know that he would be running late due to car troubles. After trying three times, Frank is eagerly awaiting his best friend, Bob, to call him back. Bob was usually never awake around this ungodly hour of 8AM, but that didn’t stop him from trying to call him. Again.

So as the phone once again goes to Bob’s voicemail, Frank throws his cigarette angrily to the ground, and leans helplessly back against his car. The damn thing isn’t even more than five years old, yet it’s already giving him problems. He is three- count them, three, car notes away from having his silver Chevy Cobalt paid off; why, of all the times, must it choose to be a bitch and not start up now?

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, and buried his head in his hands. He stayed like that for what feels like hours, though in reality, it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two. Frank didn’t bother looking up, or retreating from this little sanctuary, until he heard a miraculous voice break the silence around him.

“Hey man, you need a hand?”

Frank lifted his head quickly to see an absolute angel of a man, for lack of a better word. He stood there, with his mouth hanging slightly open, positively gawping at him. He blinked a few times, before the kind gentleman placed a gentle hand on Frank’s slumped shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

After several molasses-slow seconds, he suddenly snapped back to reality. Frank couldn't help let out an embarrassed laugh as he realized that he had spaced out because of this gorgeous man that was expressing concern for him, and gave a small smile at the pale, raven-haired wonder in front of him.

“Erm- yeah. Hi, sorry about that,” Frank spoke then, suddenly finding his voice as he stood up straight. “Damn thing won’t start, I don’t know what’s wrong with it.”

The raven-haired man gave a slight nod, seemingly understanding straightaway what was causing his neighbor to be so distressed. “Mind if I take a look?” He asked, to which Frank’s eyes widened.

“Uh... yeah, of course. Go right ahead,” Frank replied, un-eloquently, as he followed the kind stranger over to the hood of the car, and watched with great interest as the gentleman began to fiddle with random things under the hood of his car.

“Do you have a napkin or anything in your car that I could use?” The stranger asked, to which Frank immediately nodded.

As a bachelor, he rarely ever cooked for himself. Most of his meals came from fast food joints, and now, all of those trips to Taco Bell and McDonalds turned out to do him some good. He had napkins from those places in his car for days.

“Here,” Frank murmured, as he went to hand several napkins to the hot kind stranger. His heart literally stopped, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, as he returned to the stranger, and noticed that he was quite literally the most mouth-watering thing his green eyes had ever seen. If Frank didn’t know any better, he would say that he was propped up like this on purpose. The stranger’s arms were reached up, extending out to the open hood as he awaited Frank to come back with that napkin. The thin-fitting t-shirt rode up and revealed just a small patch of porcelain skin underneath; teasing Frank and quite literally making his mouth water.

Frank quickly realized that he was ogling him, and placed the napkin in his now out-stretched hand. He accepted it graciously, before beginning to fumble with random parts of the car under the hood.

“Um, thanks a lot, really, for you know, helping me out like this.”

The stranger glanced up from examining the inner mechanics of Frank’s car, and flashed him a gorgeous sincere smile. “No worries! You looked like you needed a hand, and I was more than happy to lend my services,” he replied, his smile never faltering once. “I’m Gerard, by the way.”

Frank watched as the mind-blowingly hot gentleman named Gerard extended his hand out for him to shake, his face lighting up as he realized that this previously unknown man now had a name.

“It’s great to meet you, Gerard. I’m Frank.”

He slipped his tattooed hand casually into the extended palm of Gerard’s, grinning like a fucking idiot as he did so. He pulled away as soon as he realized how ridiculously dopey his smile must have looked, and did his best to play it cool.

“Uh... so, thanks again, Gerard,” Frank muttered, trying to maintain a casual demeanor. “Do you live in this complex, or...?”

Gerard glanced back up at him then, nodding his head. “Yeah, I live in the Y building,” he replied, flashing Frank another breath-taking smile. “What about you?”

Frank nodded. “Yeah, I’m in the X building, right there,” he murmured, pointing at the complex directly next to Gerard’s building.

“Well, nice to meet you, neighbor,” Gerard replied cheerfully, as he wiped his now dirty hands on one of the napkins Frank had given to him. “I think I know what’s wrong, I’ll be back in just a second.”

With those words, Gerard quickly excused himself, before jogging over to the Y building. Frank watched as he climbed the stairs that led up to the second floor. He took this time to literally let out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, grinning to himself as he realized that there were still kind people in the world that were willing to help others out that were in need. Even though he is a guy, and it’s some sort of rule, or stereotype, that all guys are required to know everything about cars, Frank Iero is the exception to this rule. He is completely ignorant of any and all car knowledge, and though he was mentally kicking himself because that lack of knowledge has made him undoubtedly late for work, it did introduce him to one of his neighbors... a ridiculously gorgeous neighbor, to be exact.

A ridiculously gorgeous neighbor, who was now making his way back toward him, with a jug of water, and two bottles of what could only be car products in his hands.

“I think I have just the thing to brighten your day,” Gerard said as he returned back to Frank and his car; that bright, vibrant smile of his still in place as he addressed his neighbor.

“Thank you so much,” Frank replied, sending a grateful smile over in Gerard’s direction. “Really, you must have really important things to be doing, I shouldn’t be taking up your time like this.”

Gerard laughed. “Seriously Frank, it’s no worries. I’m glad to help,” he replied, as he poured the water into a now-uncapped container under the hood. Frank watched curiously, mesmerized at Gerard’s kindness.

“Looks like your car is dangerously low on water,” Gerard informed Frank, pointing to the now-empty gallon jug of water. “Oil, too. When’s the last time you put any in her?”

Frank grimaced, as a guilty look overtook his features. “I... guess it’s been awhile,” he replied, shrugging sheepishly.

Gerard did nothing but continue to smile at his neighbor, as he continued to pour various liquids into various places in Frank’s car. “Hey man, it happens. Just, when it does happen, this sort of thing can happen,” Gerard offered, his voice thoughtful. “If I may offer up some friendly advice, you might want to keep an eye on your oil levels, as well as your water levels. Your car could overheat, you could blow a gasket or-worse, your motor. And that would cost a pretty fucking penny to replace.”

Frank nodded, almost furiously, in agreement. “I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help me. I seriously feel like an idiot for forgetting to check these sorts of things,” he murmured, blushing slightly.

Gerard popped all of the caps on all of the different components of Frank’s car back into place, and flashed Frank that unwavering smile of his. “I told you, it really is no problem! I just dropped my son off at school, and it's just he and I that live there. The only thing you are interrupting is my free afternoon of doing absolutely nothing but catching up on reality TV,” Gerard replied, as he walked away from the hood, and stood side by side with Frank. “I think that should do it, if you want to give it another try,” Gerard said with an accomplished tone in his voice, still all smiles as he shut the hood and eagerly awaited the result.

Frank nodded, before getting into his car as Gerard instructed, and turned the ignition. Much to his delight, the car rumbled for a brief moment, before the engine purred and the vehicle slowly came to life.

“Holy shit, you’re fucking amazing, Gerard!” Frank exclaimed, literally beaming because his car had started. He got out from the car and flung himself onto his hero savior neighbor; not caring one bit that Gerard was slightly dirty now because he had been fooling around with his car. He was hugging him tightly, if at the very least, to show his gratitude. “I can’t fucking thank you enough for helping me out. Thank you so fucking much!”

Gerard stood there, a bit shocked that Frank had reacted this way, though he allowed his neighbor to cling onto him. He went a step further, and wrapped his arms around Frank as well, patting his back gently.

“No worries whatsoever, Frankie,” Gerard said then, as Frank’s heart did a slight backflip as his ridiculously fucking sexy neighbor not only hugged him back, but called him Frankie, for fuck’s sake. “Remember, I’m in the Y building if you ever need anything.”

Frank nodded, savoring the feeling of being in Gerard’s arms for a few moments longer, before pulling away from him. “Thanks so much, again,” he replied, gifting Gerard with the brightest of smiles. “Maybe now I’ll have some sort of chance of keeping my job. She said as long as I made it in before ten, I wouldn’t be fired. You literally just saved my ass.”

Gerard felt his insides become a bit warm and fuzzy as Frank said those words to him. He felt really good about doing a good deed and helping his neighbor out like this, especially since it really did only take fifteen minutes out of his absolutely boring day off.

“It was a pleasure to help, Frankie,” Gerard replied once again, before taking a few steps back, toward his apartment building. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with my DVR. Get to work before you get in any more trouble!”

Frank did as he was told, laughing at Gerard’s last statement about his cable box. “I will, enjoy your TV time. You deserve it,” he stated, grinning as he got into his car. He shut the door, and rolled the window down so that he could still talk to Gerard. “See you around?”

Gerard nodded, as another smile graced his features.

“Absolutely,” he replied, stepping back so Frank could back out of his parking spot. Gerard couldn’t help but notice that his hands were dirty, thanks to Frank’s car, but he didn’t mind. He was just grateful that he could help his neighbor out. He waved one of those mechanic-worthy hands goodbye to Frank, and with that, Frank gave a final wave at Gerard in return, before rolling up his window, and heading off to work.

As he turned on to the main highway, he heard his cell phone begin to go off from its position hidden under empty water bottles and empty packs of cigarettes, and reached over for it so that he could answer it.

Glancing at the caller ID, he laughed out loud, and shook his head as he hit the button to answer the phone.

“Bob, you fucker. It’s about time you called me back,” Frank mused into the phone, though he was all smiles as he continued on with his drive. “You’ll never believe what just happened to me...”

~~~

When Frank returned home later that afternoon, he was even more frustrated than he had been that morning. His good mood of his encounter with his gorgeous neighbor was long forgotten due to his tiring day of countless annoying customers and bitchy members of upper management breathing down his neck.

As he pulled into his apartment complex, he journeyed down a short ways to find a parking spot just out in front of the X building where he lived, and gave a deep sigh as he shut off the engine. He gathered his cell phone and new pack of cigarettes from the now clutter-free center console, and began to walk toward his empty apartment.

He reached the sidewalk that led as a well-landscaped pathway up to his apartment building, pausing for a brief moment to pull a cigarette out of the pack. Lighting it up, he inhaled the sweet nicotine for a moment, shutting his eyes briefly as he let that first inhale overtake his senses.

He ignored the vibration of his cell phone from within its spot in his pocket, knowing it was probably his boss, or perhaps, someone even less appealing like an ex-boyfriend or something. Frank wandered around the sidewalk, pausing for a moment to actually appreciate the landscaped pathway. Bushes and various flower gardens adorned the outside walls of the apartment buildings, with a giant waterfall in the middle of his building and the Y building that was located just to the left of his building.

As Frank continued to enjoy his cigarette, his eyes fell upon a small orange container that was sitting on the ground, in an empty patch of the garden. He knelt down to get a closer look at it, and his eyes widened as he realized that the container was actually a porcelain pumpkin, with a small green plant amidst a bed of soil rested within it. There was a small opening in the pumpkin, with a tiny twig protruding from it that held a note attached to it.

“Please don’t move me, I’m catching some sun!” was what the note read, with a happy face drawn next to it. Frank couldn’t help but giggle as he saw how cute this little addition to the landscaped garden was in front of the Y building. It was obviously left here by a child, as the handwriting suggested, and the thought instantly made his bad mood disappear.

A brilliant idea then flashed in Frank’s mind. He finished up with his cigarette and rushed up the stairs to his apartment, heading straight for his windowsill where a small cactus lay, waiting to be fed some water, which Frank has to admit, he’s rather guilty of paying any sort of attention to the poor little plant. Maybe this is why he can’t have an animal, because if he can’t even take care of his cactus, which needs minimal care, at best, how could he ever care for an actual, living animal?
Sighing, he pushed that thought aside, and grabbed an index card from his stack of office supplies, as well as a permanent marker, where he wrote a note of his own.

“Me too!” was all he wrote on the note, along with a happy face of his own. He then rushed downstairs with the note, and his small potted plant in hand, and knelt down next to the small little plant in the orange porcelain pumpkin that inspired his next few actions.

Frank scooped up some of the soil next to the plant, digging a small hole that would be big enough for his cactus to fit in. He set the cactus inside of its new home next to the plant, and with a piece of string he had managed to procure before coming outside, tied the note around the cactus.

Once the cactus was safely in the ground with the note securely attached, Frank stepped back to admire his handywork. He literally had to hold back some tears as he thought of how the child that left his plant outside in the pumpkin to ‘catch some sun’ was going to feel when he saw that his plant now had a neighbor. The thought was so overwhelming for him; instantly filling him with positive thoughts that replaced all of the frustration and angst that this day has caused him.

Frank felt light-hearted and free as he took a picture of the two small plants that proudly displayed their little notes about sun-bathing, sighing to himself as he willed himself to go back inside to his empty apartment.

As he began ascending the stairs to his second floor apartment, he paused for a moment to light up another cigarette. He gave a small smile at the sight of his hands being a little dirty. There was still a good bit of dirt and soil on his fingers and under his nails, but he didn’t mind this one bit. He was just happy at the thought of possibly making whoever had placed the little plant down in the garden smile, and he would give his dirty hands a good scrubbing in just a few minutes anyway, after he was finished with his cigarette. He inhaled deeply, hovering over the balcony and peering over at the Y building across from him.

And almost as if on cue, the door straight across from him opened, and out came Gerard; the kind, good-looking neighbor that graciously rescued him and came to him in his time of need this morning when he was having car troubles, with a little boy around the age of four following closely behind him. The little boy’s hair was as jet black as his father’s, and he held what looked like a cup of water in one of his small hands, as his other hand reached to grab a hold of his father’s.

Gerard glanced up and noticed that Frank was outside on the balcony, and gave a small wave as he flashed him that gorgeous smile of his. “Hey, Frankie!” He called out to him, before descending down the stairs with his son.

“Hey Gerard,” Frank called out as he joined Gerard and his son, who was positively beaming as he peered upon the small orange pumpkin with its new cactus companion.

“Daddy! Look!” the little boy with the raven hair exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. “My punkin plant has a friend! Look!”

Gerard managed to tear his eyes away from Frank for a moment, to look over at what his son was exclaiming about, before an even wider grin broke out onto his attractive face than before as he knelt down beside his son, who was now hugging him tightly.

“Wow, that’s so cool, pal!” Gerard exclaimed just as excitedly as he cuddled his little boy, kissing the top of his head. He then turned his attention back to Frank, and gestured to the small ‘punkin plant’ and its new ‘friend’, the cactus. Frank’s cactus.

“Frankie, this is my son, James,” Gerard said proudly, as he gestured to the little boy whose eyes were glittering as he peered upon his plant. “James, say hello to our neighbor, Frank.”

Frank knelt down next to the little boy, whose wide, hazel eyes matched his father’s perfectly. “Hi, James. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” James replied, grinning toothily at Frank, who pointed excitedly at the two little plants. “Look Fwank, there’s two! Two plants! There was only one earlier, and now there’s two!”

James was so excited about there being a new plant along with the original one, he was literally jumping up and down, though doing so carefully so he didn’t spill the container of water that he held in his hands.

“Can I feed them both, daddy?” The little boy asked, as he looked expectantly at his father, to which Frank’s heart absolutely melted.

“Of course you can, sweetie. I’ll help you, so you don’t spill it,” Gerard replied, kissing his head once more, as he helped James pour some water onto the soil that surrounded either of the plants.

“Thank you, daddy,” James replied, as he flung his small body into his father’s arms. “I’m so happy my punkin has a friend. I was afraid he would get lonely.”

Frank felt his heart absolutely swell with happiness as he watched the interaction between Gerard and his son. When Frank had the idea to plant his cactus next to the plant that Gerard and James had left, he had no idea that it would make such an impact on the two of them. But as Gerard read what the note that hung so proudly off of the cactus to James, and James squealed with excitement, he was more happy than ever that he decided to purchase the little plant to liven up his home when he first moved into the apartment just a few months ago.

“I’m glad your punkin has a friend too, punkin,” Gerard replied to his son, before standing back up next to Frank. James had turned his attention back to the plants, gazing intently at either of them as if he was in awe.

“Sorry,” Gerard murmured to Frank, as a proud smile graced his features. “We were just coming downstairs to water his plant... and, well, now there’s two plants! I’m a little surprised, to be honest. I got home from picking the little man up from school about two hours ago, and the cactus wasn’t there then. I’m glad it is, though, whoever did this made my baby’s day. Which of course, means whoever did this also made my day.”

Frank let out a small laugh, blushing rather deeply as he saw the reaction of the two individuals that were responsible for brightening his mood with this sweet little plant idea in the first place.

“Where did the cactus come from, daddy?”

James’ small voice came from beside them, plucking the two grown-ups from their conversation. As Gerard thought about the answer to this, Frank simply held up one of his hands, which was still covered in remnants of soil from planting the cactus next to James’ pumpkin plant earlier, and gave Gerard a wide grin.

“I guess we’re even,” Frank replied, almost shyly. “You and James made my day, too.”