FicWad

It was 1 A.M. on a rainy Friday night. Gerard found himself at the bar, slouching over the counter, keeping himself propped up with his arms. He was lost in drunken thought. The atmosphere of the bar around him was of high spirits. There were groups of drunken friends laughing and waving their drinks in the air, spilling them all over themselves and there were girls crying over scumbag men – the usual. Gerard sat alone as he drained his glass. He just as easily could have stayed in his apartment to drink, but there was something about going out to a bar that made him feel slightly less pathetic.

As the clock neared 2, Gerard decided he’d better head home. He got up, using the counter to keep his balance, and lit a cigarette as he made for the door. The rain had cleared a considerable amount but the roads were still soaked. They were glistening in the glow of the street lights. There was a cool breeze that rustled the leaves in the trees. Gerard pulled up his hoodie and took a drag from his cigarette as he continued walking down the sidewalk. It wasn’t a very long walk from the bar to his apartment, but at 2 A.M. in New Jersey it definitely wasn’t a safe one. Gerard kept a steady pace despite the amount of alcohol he had drank. He wasn’t tripping over himself or falling over. He took a long drag from his cigarette when he heard a loud crashing sound. He stopped in his tracks and looked around suspiciously. After a few moments of standing there, Gerard figured it was probably a stray cat that had knocked over a lid to a trash can or something. A loud scream proved otherwise. Gerard glanced around frantically. The roads were completely empty excluding the few parked cars on the side of the road. By now, Gerard knew, he should be used to these kinds of things. Living in Jersey his whole life, he was exposed to a lot of horrific realities. But Gerard couldn’t stand idly by as something potentially fatal was happening. The alcohol in his system told him he was ready for anything. It gave him the courage and motivation to find the source of the scream.

“You’re a fucking faggot!” Gerard heard someone laugh, then spit. It wasn’t coming from too far ahead. Gerard saw the alleyway he believed it to be coming from. As he followed the voice he heard another. It was louder and deeper, causing Gerard to jump a little.

“Get up, pansy! Don’t be such a bitch!”

Gerard now had his back leaning against the wall just around the corner of the alleyway. He heard shuffling and moaning. Then there was a loud thud followed by another scream. Gerard had heard enough. He bolted around the corner, now face-to-face with two dudes. One was fat, short, and bald with a long, coarse beard. The other was rather lanky, his upper arm covered in odd tribal tattoos. Lying on the ground beside them was a guy with short black hair. Gerard noticed that underneath the blood that covered his body, there was a scorpion tattoo on his neck.
“Leave him alone,” Gerard said firmly, his words barely slurring.

The two men just laughed.

“Who the fuck are you?” the fat one asked. “This pansy’s little boyfriend?” He pointed to the boy lying on the concrete.

Gerard took a few steps closer to the two. “Leave him alone.” he repeated. He glanced down at the unconscious body on the ground. He was still breathing. Good.

Suddenly the skinny one lunged at Gerard. Gerard’s reaction time was slow and he took a large fist to the cheek. The blow knocked him back a few steps and it took him by surprise. But it only fueled Gerard’s rage. He flung his fist forward, coming in direct contact with the attackers jaw. The fat man reacted then and came to his buddies rescue, Gerard noticed this and ducked the first swing, then retaliated with a sharp kick to the knee caps. The fat man groaned and crouched down. The lanky one delivered a second blow, hitting Gerard in the nose. He immediately felt the warm stream of blood starting to flow down his face. He wiped off what he could and tackled the man to the ground. He was kneeling over him punching him repeatedly in the face and gut, delivering as many blows as he could. The fat man pulled Gerard off of his friend and threw him against the cold and wet ground. His friend remained lying where Gerard had left him, still unmoving. Gerard panicked as the big guy approached him and quickly hurled himself to a stand. To his left Gerard saw someone’s old tire rim sitting next to piles of garbage, Gerard wasted no time and went for it.

“Get up, Saul!” the bearded beast shouted to his worn out friend. Saul remained where he was.
Gerard grabbed the tire rim and, using full force, smashed it against the fat one’s skull. He fell to the ground with a loud crash.

Gerard hurried over to the boy with the scorpion tattoo and checked his pulse. He was still alive. With no time to sit around and wait for this dick heads to come to, Gerard scooped up the unconscious body into his arms. Fireman style. He was pretty light and seemed kind of short, so making a run for it was slightly less difficult.

Gerard realized pretty quickly that he was in no shape or condition to be carrying a 140 pound guy as he sprinted down the street. At least they were only a couple blocks away. Gerard made sure to look over his shoulder frequently, to make sure they weren’t being pursued. He heard a small grunting noise underneath him. Gerard looked down and met eyes with the wounded stranger he held in his arms. He had a black eye and confused expression.

“W-Who the fuck…” he trailed off. Blood trickled out of his mouth and he appeared to have a broken nose.

“Later,” Gerard said breathlessly. “I’ll explain later.”

To Gerard’s surprise, his answer was accepted. But Gerard soon noticed that it was only because the poor kid had dozed off.

Gerard was thrilled when they finally arrived at his apartment door. He felt nauseous and his entire face felt like a pile of shit. He just wanted some coffee. Gerard’s enthusiasm quickly faded though as he stood in front of the door helplessly. He couldn’t get his keys out of his pocket.

“Hey,” Gerard whispered. No reply. “Hey, wake up.” he said, shaking him a little. To no avail, Gerard sighed and gently placed the bloody little punk kid down and fumbled around in his pockets for his keys. When he opened the door, the boy stirred.

“Can you stand?” Gerard asked. He really didn’t want to pick him back up.

He nodded and reluctantly began to stand. He used the wall and Gerard for balance. They walked into Gerard’s poorly lit apartment.

“I’ll make some coffee,” Gerard said. “And get you some ice. The bathroom’s the first door on the right down the hall If you wanna wash up a little.” he added.

“Thanks.” he mumbled.

“Oh, my name’s Gerard by the way.”

“Frank.”

Frank made his way down the hall towards the bathroom. He felt like absolute shit. When he saw his reflection, he almost choked. He was unrecognizable underneath all the blood and bruises. His white t-shirt had transformed into a red one. Frank was mortified by what he saw in the mirror. He had a black eye and dark bruises on his neck. He lifted up his shirt to reveal even more deep purple marks on his stomach. He sighed and looked away, turning on the sink to rid the gruesome events of the night.

Gerard washed his hands and face in the kitchen sink. His buzz was nearly gone, killed by what had happened. He wiggled his nose around. It hurt, but it wasn’t broken. He started the coffee and made Frank an ice pack.

When Frank emerged from the hallway Gerard handed him a cup of coffee and a bag of ice with paper towels wrapped around it. “Thank you,” Frank said. He felt uncomfortable. He hated being pitied. Especially by a complete stranger that just saved his life. Frank was embarrassed.

“Do you need a shirt? That bloody one doesn’t look too great.” Gerard managed a laugh.

“What? No.”

Gerard ignored him and walked away, leaving Frank standing alone in the kitchen. He came back with a black t-shirt and threw it at Frank.

“Just wear it. I know you want to argue, but don’t.” Gerard said

Frank forced a small smirk and wandered back to the bathroom so he could change. The shirt Gerard had given him was a little big on him, and it had a weird logo on it that Frank didn’t recognize.

When Frank walked back in to the kitchen he saw Gerard sitting on a couch in the den. “You should probably sit.” he said. Usually Frank would have declined, but he couldn’t manage to stay on his feet much longer. He collapsed on the couch next to Gerard.

Gerard had turned on the TV for background noise. Nothing good was on this time of night. “How are you feeling? Is anything broken? I probably should have taken you to the hospital…” Gerard said, suddenly worried he may have done the wrong thing.

“No, fuck hospitals. I’m fine. My nose might be broken, but it’s not the first time.” Frank lifted the ice pack to his black eye. It made him wince. “Oh, damn,” Frank said after he noticed the time. “I should really be going. Thank you for everything. I owe you.” Frank tried standing but failed, landing right back on the couch. Gerard laughed.

Gerard laughed. “I don’t think you should be going anywhere right now, especially at this hour. Stay here tonight.” he offered.

“Oh, no. No, I couldn’t do that.” Frank shook his head. There’s no way he could put Gerard out like that. Not after everything he’s already done for him. He tried standing once more, successfully this time.

Gerard took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. “Honestly, Frank. It’s not an issue. Actually, I didn’t stop you from getting killed just so you could go back out there for it to happen again.” He smiled and lit his cigarette. Frank couldn’t help but smile sheepishly. He liked the way Gerard said his name. That scared him. Frank let those kinds of thought slip into the depths of his mind.

Gerard turned to look at Frank. He couldn’t help but notice the scorpion tattoo on his neck.

“What’s it mean?” he asked

“What?”

“Your tattoo.” Gerard pointed to his neck.

“Oh,” Frank said and took a sip from his coffee mug. “Um, well I’m a Scorpio.” he shrugged. There wasn’t much of a story behind it.

Gerard nodded and stared off into space. “Wanna get drunk?” he asked.

Frank’s brow furrowed. Was Gerard being serious? It’ was nearly four in the morning and he was goingn to drink? Frank realized that he could use a few drinks himself, actually. He stopped his thoughts from going any further, though. He knew he couldn’t let himself get drunk around Gerard. Drunk people do stupid things and he’s already embarrassed himself enough for one night.

“No, thanks.” Frank answered.

Gerard shrugged and got up. He ashed his cigarette in an old coke can as he made his way for the kitchen. Frank noticed that Gerard was an attractive guy. He had thick, black hair. It came down to his shoulders in length. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and had gray jeans on. Gerard was pretty pale, Frank observed, but it wasn’t the sickly kind.

Gerard came back holding a filled glass in one hand, and the rest of the bottle in the other. He was sipping on his newly poured drink. “So, who were those guys back there?” Gerard asked the question he’s been thinking all night.

Frank sighed. He didn’t want to get into it. He looked up to meet Gerard’s gaze. He had big, green eyes and was staring at him innocently. “Their names are Hunter and Saul.” Frank answered quietly. He hope they could leave it at that.

“Why were they doing that to you?” Gerard pressed.

Frank hesitated. Why did Gerard even care? “Uh, because-“

“Because they’re fucking assholes!” Gerard bellowed. Frank looked over at Gerard, startled. He noticed that he was already filling up his empty glass with more scotch. Relieved by the interruption, Frank just nodded in agreement.

Frank felt completely drained. He yawned and stretched, careful not to hurt himself any further. Gerard glanced over at Frank. He was mid stretch and his shirt had lifted up slightly, revealing even more tattoos on his lower stomach. “Oh, shit. My bad!” Gerard said. “I bet you’re fucking exhausted.”

Frank just shrugged.

“Come on!” Gerard said, leaping up from the couch. Frank got up slowly and followed him down the hall. “You can sleep in here,” Gerard said as he opened the door. The room was pretty messy. Black t-shirts coated the floors. The walls were and off-white color and Frank saw some band posters hanging crookedly on them. Black Flag, Misfits, and Iron Maiden. Good music taste, Frank thought.

“Is this your room?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I’m staying up a little longer. Probably just end up passing out on the couch. Sorry for the mess.” With that said, Gerard stumbled off, and left Frank at the entrance to his room.
Frank walked in carefully. He tried his best not to step on anything, but It was harder than he thought because he clumsily tripped over an empty alcohol bottle. Thankfully for him, he landed on the soft mattress. Frank breathed in deeply and sighed in relief. Gerard’s bed had a very specific scent to it. Frank couldn’t place it, but he liked it. He planned on waking up early in the morning and being on his way. But for now, he just wanted to sleep.
That night Frank dreamt of Gerard.