I'll Never Be What You Need.

Bob looked at where Frank was sitting in his desk, chewing on the end on the end of his pencil and staring into the abyss. He looked so fucking hott when he did that.

You may be wondering why Bob is thinking about Frank this way. Well, that's simply because Bob has been in love with Frank since he met him just two years ago when Frank was in eighth grade and he was in tenth. The school was large and contained grades one through twelve, but when they both sat in the back of the gymnasium one day during a pep rally, hunched over and hating their existence, they became instant friends.

Bob knew Frank wasn't gay like he was, which was completely and utterly depressing all around. He wanted Frank to love him the way he loved him, and had been loving constantly every single agonizing minute. Frank was always so close but still just out of reach. Every time Frank touched him the slightest bit, it felt like his entire body was on fire.

Bob kicked the back of his chair. This was the only class they had together (Calculus. Teachers had always said he was too smart for his own good) and Frank had to pay attention so he could help him later. Bob was always been hopeless at math.

Frank's head jerked up and he pulled his attention to the board. He had been too busy thinking about Mikey's words the day previous.

"I-I don't know. It's just I can't really imagine... what it'd be like..."

"It sounds too hard. Besides, I don't think I'll have to worry about loving anyone."

"Because. No one would ever love me back."

For some reason, these words immensely sorrowed him. Why did Mikey feel so unloved ? Maybe he needed a hug...

Or something else.

Frank grimaced at his own thoughts. That was terrible. Terrible. How could he even think that ? He deserved to be shot.

Thought what you ask ? You may never know.

Despite the fact he deserved to be shot for his thoughts of Mikey, he still wondered how he was doing. Was he getting bullied ? Was someone hurting him ? He hoped not. He cared about Mikey too much.

* * * *

Mikey hunched over in his seat, doodling random lines on a piece of paper.

"Whatever, Mikey."

"You don't know how pretty you are, do you ?"

"So just shut up, because you don't know what you're talking about."

Frank's voice echoed in his mind. Did he really mean what he said ? Did he actually think he was cute ? In what way ? Like, "Aw... that puppy's so cute !" or "That guy is so cute..." ?

So confusing. Plus, he didn't know why he cared so much. It's not like he should. Because him and Frank are just friends. Friends tell each other stuff like that all the time, right ?

Mikey sighed to himself quietly. As he predicted, having a friend was so much work. Even though they had only known each other for all of four days.

* * * *

It was Friday now, the day Mikey had been dreading secretly. He wasn't working over the weekend.

Sound good, right ? Get to relax all weekend without a care...

But Mikey had bigger things on his mind. Most likely having to do with a certain Frank Iero...

What would he do all weekend ? There was nothing for him to do. He didn't want to be alone again. He wanted to have someone to talk to...

He sipped his coffee delicately as he leaned lazily against the counter, waiting for Frank to waltz in and make him happy.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Three hours into his shift had passed, and with no sign of Frank. He was felt sad, angry, and confused.

He was sad because he loved seeing Frank. It was the highlight of his day. He was angry because he felt that if Frank was really his friend, he would have told him he wasn't coming. He felt confused because he knew he shouldn't be angry at all. Frank had never said for sure he'd be coming by everyday. He didn't have to come. Mikey had never asked him to. What if Frank thought Mikey didn't like him ?

Mikey did like Frank, and he wished he was here with him, eating Skittles and babbling. He liked listening to Frank.

He blinked back tears. Maybe Frank finally realized that Mikey was a freak that he didn't want to hang out with. Maybe he finally could see how flawed Mikey was, in every single way...

"Mikey."

Mikey's head snapped up. It was his manager. "Yes ?" Mikey asked.

The manager put a box on the counter in front of him. "Can you shelf these ? Young adult section. Alphabetize. Not too hard ?"

Mikey shook his head and took the somewhat heavy box, shuffling to the section. He set the box down and opened it up. The first few books on the top was by someone named "Dessen." He put them on the appropriate shelf.

Next was Cabot, then Bray and Black. He shelved the books carefully and quickly, wanting to get this done. He thought he heard heavy footsteps behind him, and he turned slowly.

Frank Iero was standing before him, panting heavily. "Sorry," he managed to croak out.

Mikey shrugged. "For what ? Almost giving me a heart attack ?" he replied.

"No," Frank said. "For not being here earlier. My mom, my evil mother, dragged me- no, literally, DRAGGED me to go shopping with her. I was there with her for like three hours, nodding aimlessly at all of the stupid ass shoes she had to buy. Then she had to drive me back to the school parking lot to get my car, because she insisted on me sitting shotgun while she rambled about some new boyfriend she has."

Mikey frowned. "Shoes, huh ?"

Frank nodded. "Shoes."

Mikey gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it," he dismissed.

"I feel so bad, and like, I don't even think you have a cell phone, and if you do, I don't have your number. So I was like, "Crapppp."

"Seriously, it's cool."

Frank grinned. "Good. 'Cause guess what we're doing tomorrow ?" he teased.

"Um... sleeping ?" Mikey guessed.

"No silly ! We're having a sleepover !"

Mikey's mouth dropped open. "What ?!" he exclaimed.

"Aw, come on, Mikey ! It'll be fun !"

Mikey looked at Frank earnest face and didn't want to let him down. "Okay," he agreed, even though he really wasn't sure this was such a good idea.