FicWad

Mirror, Mirror

Chapter Twelve

A/N: A quick message to my Tumbleweeds: thank you so much for the reviews! :3 You guys are so great and inspire me to continue this. You also make me feel guilty about not updating it often enough but that’s something I can live with. So here’s the next chapter. I started this one quite a while ago actually but when I went back to finish it, my writing just didn’t seem right so the second half had to be edited quite a few times. Not that that is any excuse but I just thought I’d tell you because that’s what an author’s note is for isn’t it? Well because of all of your lovely reviews, this is the next chapter. The Frerard starts here. Enjoy :) XO

Frank quickly dressed himself into straight blue jeans and a black t-shirt bearing The Misfits. Gerard stood in the corner of the room and waited. He had turned around to face the wall when Frank asked him, about to change his underpants but after that he had turned back around again and watched Frank casually, as if that was normal, in a rather uncomfortable atmosphere. Frank turned red and looked toward the window, hiding his face as he pulled his jeans up, feeling Gerard's eyes on his back. Frank bent down and took his schoolbag in his hand, went to the bed and tipped the contents up, emptying it. A few books, a half box of cigarettes, several coins and hip flask fell onto the bed. Frank pocketed the cigarettes and the coins but he made do without the books and hip flask. He reached over to the side of his mattress and grabbed his lighter, putting it into the cigarette box also. Gerard watched him do all of this.

A shout drifted upstairs. 'Frank, I'm going out now, I'll probably see you tomorrow if you're busy today. Bye honey.'

'Bye mom.' Frank shouted back and a few moments later, he heard the door slam shut and the faint sound of the lock being turned.

Frank turned around to look at Gerard, who was still stood in the corner. 'Well, that's our cue to go.' Gerard stared at him, arms folded before unfolding them and walking to the door without a word. He opened it and began to climb down the stairs and into the kitchen. Frank remembered at last minute and took his key from his room, and then proceeded to follow him.
Once in the kitchen, Frank went over to the counter where his mother had left him some money. Frank didn't expect her to leave that much but he guessed that he had told her he wanted to do his whole room. 'Your mom is nice' Gerard commented as he looked interestedly around the kitchen. Frank grunted absent mindedly is response, rifling through a draw for a spare wallet and not looking up. Gerard ran his finger along the handle of a knife which stood in the knife rack, seemed to realize what he was doing, and then walked back over to Frank, leaning himself against the counter and staring at the back of Frank. 'You should be nicer to her.' Frank looked around at Gerard with a slightly confused expression as though he hadn't really been listening. 'Hmm?' he inquired. Gerard repeated himself. 'I was nice today, wasn't I?' Frank pondered.

'Well yes, but how long before that?'

'Erm, probably a couple of years.'

'She's worried about you, can't you tell. She wants to help you but you won't let her through.'
'She can't help me. You can though. You just...seem to be able to understand me somehow and you've helped me to make friends who also understand me.'

'Why can't you just give her a chance?'

'Maybe I will one day. Now I thought you said we had shopping to do?' Frank changed the subject unsubtly but Gerard seemed happy to go along with the new course of thinking.

'That I did Frank, that I did' he grinned.

They left the house and turned right, walking down the hill and towards the main part of town. Frank had to admit that his parents chose a decent location, and he would even like it if he didn't hate school so much and having to live in close proximity to it, rushing home to hide before some of the other kids passed by. Granted, most kids got the bus, which went the other way so he didn't have to deal with the jocks finding out where he lived.

The street was long and quiet but up ahead they could both see the faint outline of buses and bustling crowds which signified the beginning of the main part of town they were heading towards. The boys made small talk as they walked. It mainly consisted of Gerard asking many questions about Frank and his first two weeks here. Frank gave short closed ended answers, trying to break the talking by getting out his lighter and box. Frank opened it and offered the box to Gerard who graciously accepted. They both stopped in the middle of the street to light up, hands cupping the flames in case a rare gust of wind would pass through and blow it out. A middle aged woman with two young kids of about six and eight bustled by, giving Frank a glare as the boys exhaled, sending plumes of smoke into the air. Frank gave her a look of innocence and when her back was turned Gerard stuck out his tongue at her. Frank grabbed Gerard’s arm and roughly turned him around in case the woman looked back but he laughed nonetheless. Then he put his hand over his mouth in sight surprise. Laughing was a relatively new experience for him.

The boys finally got into the town center and stood awkwardly on the corner, deciding where to go first. Angry shoppers bustled by them impatiently. 'Well' Gerard began 'what do we need? If we're getting the main furniture out of your garage, we only really need paint and some small furniture and some cool stuff just to finish it off.' Frank nodded in reply. 'Yeah, okay.'
Gerard led the way to a nearby DIY shop and they stood for an age looking at all the different colors of paint on display. Frank couldn't decide. There were too many. He asked Gerard who wasn't sure either but picked out his favorites which included black, green, orange and red. 'Well that narrowed it down I guess.' Frank thought to himself, and chose turquoise. Gerard for his part seemed happy with the turquoise and the next big debate was how many of them they needed. They decided on three tubs and then they headed for the counter to pay for them. The guy serving them had a very bored, uninterested look on his face as he scanned the paint and Frank wondered if he would have been able to help anyway. With a salesman like that, this really was a DIY shop.

The next stop was a shop that sold flat packed furniture and Frank and Gerard spent a long time on choosing a desk. At first, Frank had grumbled that he didn't need a desk and it was a pointless waste of money but Gerard had convinced him that it could look really good if he put his computer on it. And perhaps bought a lava lamp or a Newton’s Cradle or something. Frank bought one of each of these too. This also meant that they would have to buy a chair but all the ones they looked at were far too expensive, so they left the chair. Next they went to a stationary shop and bought a pin board and wipe board. Frank had been telling Gerard about being asked to join a band and Gerard had taken this to heart, telling him that these two items would be good for writing his own notes for songs etc. They also dropped into the local music shop and bought sheet music paper. They spent a long time drooling over the guitars and basses on show but they were also far too expensive.

They left the shop, struggling slightly with the weight of their parcels. They wandered down the high street, people giving them strange looks as they went by, and Frank asked Gerard if he wanted a drink. They ended up in a diner, Frank with a Coke and Gerard with a strawberry milkshake. Gerard had also insisted on getting some fries and so they shared a carton of them too. Their hands touched as they both went for a fry at the same time and Frank blushed hugely, looking at Gerard to see his reaction. Gerard poked his tongue out playfully and Frank relaxed, smiling back. 'We should probably be heading back soon.' Frank told Gerard. 'If I want to get most of my room finished this afternoon, that is.' He continued. Gerard looked at him over the top of his milkshake. 'Sure, let me just finish this up. How were you planning on going about it?'

'Well I was thinking we paint the room first so it has longer to dry and then we can go down to the garage and put together the bed and desk and things and then we can move it into my room when the walls are dry.' Gerard nodded at regular intervals during Frank's mode of action and responded with 'that's a good plan.'

They left the diner and walked back to Frank’s house with some difficulty. They took turns in carrying the boxed desk and the paint and other smaller parcels as the desk got very bulky and difficult to maneuver after a few minutes. They finally reached home and they put the parcels at the foot of the stairs, except for the paint, which Gerard took up to Franks room as Frank himself hurried into the backyard and went to the garage to get some paint brushes. When he reappeared in the room, he was carrying, five brushes, a tray to put paint in and two glasses of water. Gerard accepted his graciously. Frank went to get changed into his oldest, raggiest clothes but Gerard simply stripped himself of his t-shirt and jeans and just painted in his boxers. Frank stared at him, unsure of what type of behavior he was meant to undertake right that second. He simply went for attempting to ignore and blushing whenever Gerard caught him looking.

It took them around an hour to finish the painting, by which time it was getting on for around half past twelve. They stood back to admire their work. Frank was very pleased with it: Gerard had been right, his room looked much better now it had some color to it. Gerard however, frowned as if he wasn't truly happy with what he was seeing. 'There's just something missing' he said aloud without Frank even asking. Gerard stood there for a few minutes in silence pondering the missing item he was talking about. Frank waited for him in silence, staring blankly at the wall as if something would come to him. 'Well I'm going downstairs to make a drink. Do you want something?'

'Do you have any crayons?' Gerard questioned.

'Erm' Frank paused, looking confused 'Is that some kind of drink or something?'
'No, I mean actual crayons.'

'Oh...There's some in the garage I think. My mom has this thing where she doesn’t want to get rid of any of my childhood toys. I guess you could have them though. Why, what do you want with them?'

'Can you get me them?' Gerard said eagerly, dodging the question.

'Err. Sure'

'You can go and start putting the desk together if you want, I'll finish up here.' Frank gave Gerard a slightly nervous look and Gerard laughed 'Don't worry; it'll look good, I promise.'
Frank nodded, relaxing again, returned the crayons to Gerard and then went down to the garage to start putting the desk together.

Half an hour later Frank looked up to the upstairs window at the back of his house to see Gerard sticking through it, yelling at him to come and see. He had a smile on his face. Frank abandoned his sorry attempt to put the desk together and joined Gerard at the top of the stairs where he covered Franks eyes with his clasped hands. 'No peeking.' he told Frank kicking open the door. Gerard took his hands off Frank’s eyes and Frank looked at the far wall. It looked amazing. Crayons of every hue had melted and streaked down the wall like rainbow rain. It really added a flare to the room. 'Wow.' Frank stated in awe.

'Like it?' Gerard asked smugly.

'Like it? I love it!' Frank exclaimed. Gerard smiled once more. 'I think I've seen something like this done before, but on a canvas. You put the crayons at the top and melt them and they streak down right?' Gerard nodded.

'It looks much better than plain old turquoise.'

'Gerard I had no idea you were interested in art.'

'Aren't you?'

'Well yeah, I like to draw I guess but I'm not, y'know like a huge fan. It's not like I go out to art galleries or anything. I prefer music to be honest. Y’know, like playing or writing. I used to play the piano when I was little.’

‘Well I love art. It’s just so deep you know. There’s so much you can express in art. Then again, there’s so much you can express in music too. You said Lolita and Mikey and Ray and Bob wanted you to join?’

‘Yeah, I’m not sure if I’m good enough to join though. I was thinking of maybe writing some lyrics. I’m not so great when thinking of a tune to go with it.’

‘Well I can help you if you want? I’ve been working on some myself.’

Frank smiled gratefully at Gerard’s offer. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds smiling slightly, before coming out of their daydreams. Frank looked away and coughed to break the awkward silence, his ears turning red.

Again.

Frank went downstairs and grabbed two glasses and the half bottle of Pepsi out of the fridge and carried them upstairs. He poured two drinks and both Frank and Gerard stood there in the room for a while, finishing up, with the strong aroma of paint hovering over the room, and the midday sun filtering in boldly through the open window. Gerard leaned against the window sill with the empty glass held casually in his hand; his posture sank into a lazy stance, one knee bent. The curtain fluttered beside him slightly.

‘We should probably get this room finished off this afternoon or it’ll never get done’ Frank stated after a while of comfortable silence.

They both headed out back towards the garage which Frank had left open after retrieving the crayons and went to sit on the concrete floor. Frank proceeded to finish off the desk and Gerard took a big bag from the corner of the garage, opened it to find some wood and screws, looked at an instructions sheet which told him it used to be a bed and began to assemble that. They made small talk as they worked.

‘So what do you think of your new friends then Frank?’ Gerard asked in a conversational tone.

‘Well, they’re nice I guess. I don’t really know them that well though. Lolita’s been really nice to me: talking to me in English, inviting me to join the band.’

‘What about the others? You’ve already told me a lot about Lolita.’

‘Ray is clever. Bob is loud. Mikey is shy. That’s as much as I really know so far.’

‘He’ll come round.’

‘Who?’

‘Mikey.’

‘Yeah I guess. Maybe he doesn’t like me much.’

‘He will, once he gets to know you. Can you give me a hand with this part please?’

Frank shuffled over towards Gerard without getting up and held the frame Gerard was building up whilst Gerard screwed the two parts together. Their hands brushed together slightly s Gerard moved to one side and Frank shivered. Frank looked at Gerard nervously who had his head down working, looking for a reaction, but Gerard showed none. He was staring determinedly at his work, his brow furrowed in intense concentration as though he was determined not to make eye contact. Frank wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he was sure he could see a small outline of a smile forming on Gerard’s lips.


‘Just move it to the left slightly! Not that left, the other left!’

‘How many lefts do you have?!’

‘Just don’t mark the wallpaper okay, my parents will go ape.’

‘Okay, I’ve got it, move up now.’

‘I can’t. It’s stuck.’

‘Just jiggle it around a bit.’

‘You know what. I give up, just put it down. I need a break.’

Frank collapsed exhausted on the stairs, Gerard six steps above him but blocked by the bed which now lay jammed against the walls. Perhaps assembling it downstairs and taking it back up wasn’t one of the best ideas.

‘You should quit smoking’

‘So should you then.’

‘Well that’s true. You okay to go again?’ Frank looked at Gerard through the slats on the bottom of the bed and gave him a mock glare.

‘Let’s get this done.’

Eight minutes later and a good amount of heaving, the bed cleared the stairs and they got to the entrance to Frank’s room.

Another eight minutes later and a good amount of heaving, they got it through Franks door, tugged the mattress on top and both collapsed onto their backs on top of it, staring up at the ceiling.

‘Remind me not to offer to help you do your room again.’ Gerard said still staring at the ceiling exhausted.

‘Got it.’ Frank replied as he sat up, pushing his sweaty fringe back from his forehead. ‘What now?’

Gerard paused thoughtfully for a second, pondering. ‘You know how to play basketball?’
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the back garden, throwing around the orange ball. The Misfits blasted out from the CD player in the garage and everything was perfect. Frank hadn’t had this much fun in ages, even if he wasn’t good at ball games. Gerard wasn’t fantastic himself but he was still fun to play with. They tossed the ball through the hoop and tried getting it off each other. As they both grew hotter, Gerard took off his shirt which he had put back on after they had finished painting and played in just his skinny jeans. He had blue in his dark hair. Frank once more tried not to look. But every time he did, he tingled slightly. Frank managed to intercept the ball off Gerard as he moved quickly towards the hoop. Gerard didn’t even notice the ball had disappeared out of his hands until he had almost reached where he would be able to shoot.

A surprised look came over his face as he looked around for the missing ball and Frank laughed aloud bouncing it on the floor. Gerard’s expression turned into a mock evil look and he ran towards Frank, leaping onto him as they both fell into the grass in a heap, laughing slightly. Frank lay on his back with a shirtless Gerard straddling him, pinning the ball to the ground. ‘That was a one off’ Gerard teased. Frank opened his eyes, smiling slightly, a come back on the tip of his tongue but it faded fast when he realized how close they both were. Frank could see every detail of Gerard’s face: his flawless pale skin in wild contrast to hid raven hair streaked with blue paint. His eyes, a light brown, the color of caramel flecked with swirls of darker shades, framed by long, black eyelashes. His lips…

Frank blushed profusely realizing what he was just doing, suddenly feeling a strange sensation. Gerard too seemed to recognize the awkwardness of the situation and proceeded to clamber off Frank, blushing too. He held out a hand which Frank took, and hauled him up.

There was a large bruise on Gerard’s side. Frank frowned. ‘What’s this?’ Gerard looked down to where Frank’s was gazing trying to work out what he was talking about.

‘Oh’ He said as he realized what they were talking about. ‘It’s nothing; I slipped in the bathroom and caught my side on the edge of the bath.’ Frank winced, imagining the scenario. ‘How did you slip?’

‘I don’t know!’ Gerard retorted defensively. ‘The floor was slippery.’

Gerard went over to pick up his shirt off the small wall leading up to the back door and proceeded to put it on.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…’ Frank trailed off but Gerard shook his head.

‘It’s fine’ He said turning around and smiling slightly to show everything was okay.

Frank smiled in relief. ‘So you’ll stay?’ He asked.

‘It depends. What time do your parents allow friends around until?’

‘My parents are out all night.’

‘Hmm...’ Gerard crossed his arms and tapped his chin thoughtfully with his finger.

‘Sleepover?’ He grinned.

Well that is that for this chapter. I was planning on making it longer and putting the sleepover in this chapter too but I thought that would make it a bit too long and I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the suspension so I’m splitting it across two chapters. On a serious note though, I’m a little worried I brought the Frerard on too suddenly, even though it is small up to now. I don’t want it to seem too rushed. So please tell me your thoughts on that if you review this chapter, of which I would be forever grateful if you would. Until the next chapter (although you probably already know this, I feel the need to confirm: it will contain more Frerard, although to what degree yet I’m not entirely certain.) Hope you like it so far. XO