I'll Never Be What You Need.

Mikey and Frank began to eat the food that Linda made for them. "Dude, this is fucking good," Mikey told Frank.

"I know dude," Frank replied, shoveling more food in his mouth. His mother had gone to work, leaving the two boys by themselves. He watched as Mikey put some food in his mouth. How could he look cute even while doing that?

Then Frank gasped.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"N-nothing," Frank stammered, trying to forget what he just saw. The vertical and criss-crossed scars lining Mikey's pale white left wrist stood out even paler than the skin, and some of them were pink, meaning they were somewhat recent. It all meant sense now. The jacket. Wearing the long-sleeved shirt to bed. It all clicked in Frank's mind. His stomach churned. Should he say something? He was afraid of ruining this. He was getting him to open up to him more and more.

"You sure? You look like you just saw someone get killed," Mikey chuckled.

No, just you killing yourself slowly. "No, it's cool," Frank assured him, looking back to his plate of eggs. Suddenly, he wasn't very hungry anymore.

Mikey continued to eat, knowing something was bothering him, but not sure what it was. He decided not to push the matter further. Frank said he was fine.

"So... um... What do you want to do today?" Frank asked tentatively.

Mikey frowned, wondering why Frank was being so careful around him now. Then he noticed the scars on his wrist were fully exposed. "Oh my fuck," he mumbled, immediately hiding his wrist under the table.

"Ya, fuck is right. Mikey, what the hell?" Maybe Frank didn't have a right asking him that because he didn't know him for very long, but still.

Mikey sighed. "I don't want to talk about it, Frank," he said.

"Mikey-"

"I told you I didn't want you to fix me, remember?"

"I know, Mikey. But there's no reason for you to be doing any of that."

"How would you know?"

"Because nothing is worth hurting yourself over. That's why."

"I really don't want to talk about it Frank," Mikey whispered.

"Mikey, I'm your friend. I care about you. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm not hurt. I'm fine. Please, just drop it?"

"All right. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to talk about this some day."

Mikey didn't say anything at first. "Fine," he finally replied.

Frank took Mikey's empty plate to the kitchen with his still half-full one. "All right, Mikey. Let's go out."

Mikey nodded and walked over to Frank's room to retrieve his shirt and change his clothes. Changing his clothes didn't get that sick feeling from his stomach. He had been caught. No one had ever questioned him before, or the just hadn't noticed.

Why did Frank even care? He'd only known him for a week at the most. How could someone truly care about someone after so little time. He knew he cared about Frank, but it was impossible for someone to care about him that quickly. It seemed impossible.

But it wasn't. Frank really did care about Mikey. He was so helpless and shy, but there was more to him than that. Frank just wanted to be there for him whenever he was needed. Because that's what friends do.

"You okay?" Frank asked from the other side of the door.

Mikey fastened his belt and pulled up his boots. "Ya, I'm fine." He opened the door. "You mind if I do my make-up?"

"Go ahead. I need to change anyway," Frank told him.

Mikey nodded and headed to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. God, he hated the way he looked. His skin was a sick color that he couldn't even place. He began putting on the white powder to cover his insecurities. He then rimmed his eyes with black and sighed. That looked much better. It covered up his ugliness. He felt better that way. He wished he could be more like Frank; carefree, fun and attractive. He was so jealous of him. Frank could wear a toilet seat cover and still look cute. (Don't we know it.)

Mikey didn't know that Frank thought he was cute too. Mikey was so adorable even in that "back off, stay away from me" clothing. He loved his cute little glasses that he wore on the tip of his nose. Frank wanted to be able to act tough like Mikey. No one bothered him, except for himself. He passed by invisible and peaceable.

Mikey left the bathroom to see Frank waiting for him in the hallway. "Ready?" Frank asked.

Mikey nodded, glad to have his scars covered once again. Hopefully, Frank would soon forget about this incident. "Where are we going?" he asked.

Frank looked at him and cocked a perfectly defined eyebrow (that he swore over and over that he didn't wax). "Oh, you'll see," he replied mischievously.

* * * *

"Dairy Queen?" Mikey questioned in disbelief.

Frank nodded. "You need to eat you Skinny Minnie," Frank verified, poking Mikey's flat stomach.

"Hey! I'm not the Pillsbury Doughboy here," Mikey whined.

"Fine, fine," Frank replied. "What do you want?"

"Frank, I can't keep letting you pay for my stuff," Mikey said.

"You can and you will. Now pick something or I'll pick it for you," Frank threatened.

"All right, all right. I'll have... um... a small Butterfinger Blizzard."

"Medium," Frank corrected him.

"No..."

"Okay!" Frank exclaimed, completely ignoring him. Somehow he knew that Frank wasn't going to listen to him. Frank walked over to the window and ordered.

Mikey sat down at a circular table, waiting for Frank. It was a nice day outside. It was a bit chilly, but Mikey didn't even notice because of his large jacket and the black beanie adorning his head. He scratched at his neck, feeling anxious. He wanted Frank to come back and sit next to him.

Not too long later, Frank came and plopped himself next to Mikey, handing him the medium-sized Dairy Queen cup. Franks was the same size, but he couldn't tell what was in his. "What'd you get?" Mikey asked.

"Oreo Blizzard. They said they didn't "have" Skittles," Frank told him, putting air quotes around the word "have".

Mikey looked at Frank. "Don't you ever get sick of them?" he questioned.

Frank gasped and put his hand over his heart like he had been stabbed. "Blasphemy!" he cried.

"Drama Queen," Mikey mumbled, spooning a bit of ice cream in his mouth.

Frank stuck out his lower lip. "You're so mean," he complained.

"Frank, I was-"

"JUST KIDDING!" Frank exclaimed, putting a bit of ice cream on Mikey's strong nose.

"I can't believe you just did that," Mikey said, wiping the ice cream of himself with his sleeve.

Frank stuck his tongue out at him and took a bite of his ice cream.

Mikey chuckled and took a bite of his own.

Frank cocked his head to the side for a moment when his phone ran. He pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?" he asked.

Mikey almost laughed. He should have known Frank was the type to have a phone.

"Hello?" Frank asked. "Nothing much. Just hanging out... No, sorry, I'm busy. I'm eating ice cream with Mikey. Mikey's my friend you dumbtard... Okay. I'll see you at school. Bye."

Mikey frowned as Frank slipped his phone back in his pocket. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Bob, my friend from school. I think he's a little jealous."

"Of what?"

"That I'm hanging out with you instead of him."

"Oh." Mikey didn't really know what else to say to that. He spooned some more ice cream in his mouth, then pushed the cup away from him slightly.

Frank frowned. "Mikey, you need to eat. You're too damn skinny."

"I am not."

Frank took Mikey's spoon and scooped some up. "Open your mouth."

Mikey shook his head. "I don't want-"

"Open," Frank ordered firmly.

Mikey sighed in defeat and opened his mouth, letting Frank feed him.

Two girls walked by them. They looked snotty, wearing shirts that were identical except for the color and short skirts that barely covered their asses."Fags," the mumbled as if they weren't heard.

Frank narrowed his eyes at their backs. "Motherfuckers."

"Frank, chill. It's okay."

"No, it's not. Aren't two guys aloud to be friends these days without being suspected of being gay?"

Mikey shrugged. "It's not something that's too common yet. If you're gay, you're different. I bet one day gay will be a trend and everyone will be doing it."

"Ya... I guess that's the way things spread... But can't two people be happy without someone making a smart ass comment about it? I just don't understand people," Frank complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"People just shun things they don't understand."

Frank nodded. "Ignorant assholes."

Mikey smiled slightly. "Exactly. Now feed me some more."