FicWad

Mmk. This is based on something that happened to me. Wootlolz.
I nearly did what Frank did, and of course there was nothing that happened between that, but I got inspired. :]]
Enjoy! Written for KK and for meself...hurhur.



----



Frank gasped, pressing his forehead against the tree, encircling his arms around it while moaning slightly. “This is too difficult,” he said in a breathless voice, adding to the drama of the moment. He groaned, eyes closing. Suddenly, Ray’s hand gripped the back of Frank’s head, thrusting it into the tree. Frank’s eyes snapped open as his arms jutted out, waving wildly, trying to back up but unable to do so from Ray’s grasp. He tried to kick Ray, but failed: Ray was off to the side; having already anticipated Frank would do that. With a quick sweep of his eyes, Ray saw that Gerard and Bob were halfway up the trail. He let go of Frank, who spluttered madly as he toppled over and fell on his butt, onto the hard rock.

Glaring up at Ray, he hissed, “I hate you, Toro.”

Ray snorted. “Why?”

“Because you did that to me!” Frank said in an exasperated voice, pushing himself up and trying to steady himself to no avail. “Bastard.”

Rolling his eyes, Ray reached over and flipped Frank’s hair from his face, knowing it would annoy him further. “It wasn’t me who suggested we go on this goddamn hike up to the goddamn summit of this goddamn mountain.”

“That was a lot of ‘goddamns,’ Ray. I think you need to go into anger management. There’s no point in having that much anger towards something that doesn’t even move, that you want God to damn it.”

He sneered at Frank, who stuck his tongue out, just as Gerard and Bob rounded on them. Gerard looked exhausted already. They had only traveled about a quarter of a mile, give or take two hundred feet. Bob had been tired from the first one hundred feet, and he made a point to glare at Frank vehemently. Frank shied away from the glare, knowing that he probably shouldn’t have suggested they hike up the mountain.

Reaching up and picking a twig out of his hair, Ray stretched his arms over his head and grabbed a water bottle from his pack. Gulping down water, he watched as the other three boys followed his actions. Gerard ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, staring up to the steep trail with a weary eye.

“Where’s Mikey?” he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He slipped out of his sweat jacket and tied it around his waist, leaning his hand against the tree that Frank had just embraced.

Frank shrugged. “Dunno. He ran off when Ray and I hit the trail, and we haven’t seen him since.”

Grinning, Gerard put his water bottle back onto the side of his backpack. “He’s probably at the summit already. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Turning around, Ray shrugged, already moving his legs forward. His foot twitched upward, trying to find purchase on the rock but almost failing. He leaned to he side, gripping one of the plentiful trees, trying to pass off his slip off as if he had been aiming to do that. “Well, it’s four miles up. Steep hills. Last quarter mile is supposed to be hands-and-knees. So, I’d assume he was probably only at a mile or something.”

Bob groaned. “Four miles, up hill!?” he asked in an aghast voice. Gerard looked over at his friend, nudging him in the side and winking mischievously. He took off after Ray, taking huge steps as he did so, already at the place where Ray had slipped. Frank’s shoulder hitched up as he gripped one of the trees, hoisting himself up the trail. Bob’s eyes shot daggers at the back of Frank’s head. But, the message did not get to him: either Frank was too tired to receive them, or his head was just too thick. Bob was leaning on the latter.

Taking a deep breath, Frank tried not to let his breath hitch too much as they stopped, once again. The area was flat, much to his relief. It was a flat trail for as far as their eyes could see, which was, admittedly, not that much. His hands were dragging as his body stooped forward, hands pressed against his knees. Gerard, up ahead, had plopped down onto the trail. His head was titled back, green eyes locked behind his eyelids, head pressed against his backpack. Ray, who seemed to be the Mr. Incredible of hiking just stood there. Bob, however, was sprawled across the path with his eyes closed and bugs visibly crawling through his short blond hair.

“Bryar, wasp, five o’clock, in your hair,” Ray said in a calm voice. Bob’s eyes snapped open as his body froze. He was obviously trying to see the wasp, but was failing. Frank could see it, however. He rolled his eyes, leaning his back against a nearby tree and folding his arms across his chest.

After a few seconds, Ray said, “it’s gone,” and Frank could hear Bob’s sigh of release. His lip cricked up slightly, thinking about Ray and Bob and their possibilities as a couple. But, neither seemed ready to admit that they liked each other, so he wasn’t going to push it. After all, Frank felt the same about Gerard. So, technically, it would be hypocritical to push Ray and Bob together when he couldn’t gather the courage to openly kiss Gerard—except on stage, of course.

The boys started up on the hike once again, not bickering at all as they made their way slowly up to the top. The change in speech—as in, no speech at all—was unsettling for Frank. He was used to snapping, joking, saying sarcastically, and over all being the joker of the group. But, it seemed that all of their extra energy was going to the hike. No time to nudge each other and say, ‘hey, loosing enough calories? Be able to work out longer after this?’ or ‘Now, who wants to go to the gym after our little walk!’ or anything in that category. All Frank could hear was the slight ruffle of the trees, and their own breathing. It was peaceful and relaxing, in an offbeat and almost nerve-wracking way.

Frank’s legs began to burn. He had gotten caught on more than one of the fallen logs (screaming ‘fuck you, nature!’ each time he did), and now his legs were bleeding. He groaned inwardly. He had known better than to wear shorts, especially because in his childhood he had gone hiking and had had the very same thing happen to him. He sighed and figured it was his usual incompetence to remember and follow the rules. He reached down while they were walking down one of the few down hill parts, wiping the blood away, wincing slightly at the pain that his fingers caused his cut.

After a few more minutes of continuous climbing, his head tilted to the side, but quickly returned to it’s original, snapped-to-attention position. They were at one of the steepest climbs yet, all solid or crumbling rock. Hardly any trees, just a small ledge and then over the edge of the mountain. If he were to look down directly over the edge, he’d find nothing but a steep slope down, and then plenty of trees and rocks to either kill him or maim him permanently. He gulped, and felt his balance give way underneath a rock from lack of attention to the trail. He quickly snapped his arms out, trying to regain balance. Ray was already at the top of the stretch, so he hadn’t seen the near fall. He could sense Gerard behind him, but couldn’t for Bob. He assumed Bob was a ways behind, just as Ray was a ways ahead.

Taking another tentative step forward, he grew cocky, for he didn’t slip. But the moment of feeling conceited brushed away as quickly as it came. His foot gave way once again, but this time he wasn’t prepared. His foot slipped, hitting a muddy spot beneath the rocks, and his body pitched backwards.

“Frank!” Gerard screamed as he began to slip down the edge of the mountain. Frank gave out a startled yelp, digging his hands into the ground but failing in his attempt to stop himself. His hands came back muddy and wet. He was sliding down quickly, on his stomach, hands clawing the earth as his feet dug uselessly into the ground beneath him.

He raised his eyes, clenching his teeth together in concentration to stop himself. He was shocked when Gerard threw himself over the edge. Giving out another squeak, he watched as Gerard’s body smacked against the earth. But, surprisingly, he didn’t move, and he was within grabbing distance. “Grab my ankle, Iero, or you’ll be food for the birds,” Gerard growled. His fingers were clinging to a root, straining. He could see drops of blood spilling from them. “Now, or I’m serious, I’m not calling a helicopter to save you!”

Reaching out as quickly as he could, he latched onto Gerard’s leg. He barely held tight to his shoe, and was pleased that he was wearing boots instead of sneakers that would easily slip off. He pulled himself up, fingers digging into the dirt as he did so. “Okay, hold onto this root,” Gerard demanded. Frank did as he was told. Gerard spun himself around, reaching out and grabbing to a small baby tree that looked sturdy.

“Grab my ankle again,” he grunted. Frank did so, crawling up Gerard’s leg, holding on to the same tree that Gerard was. Without even saying anything, Gerard leaned over and gripped a rock tightly, pulling himself up on it and squatting for a moment before rising on his feet. “Do that.”

Frank obliged, holding tightly to Gerard’s shoulders once he was up. Bob stood a bit behind them, watching with wide eyes and an agape mouth. “Thank you, so much,” Frank panted, still holding onto Gerard for support. He leaned his head against his shoulder, trying to gain his breath back as he did so, and was surprised when Gerard’s arms wrapped around his body.

“For a second there I thought I lost you,” Gerard said, laughing weakly. “I was ready to throw myself beneath you so you’d have something to cushion your fall.” His head pressed into Frank’s hair, still holding him tightly.

Deciding not to question the moment but just go with the flow, Frank hugged him back. “I saw you literally jump off the edge. For a second I was concerned. Just…thanks. A lot.”

Gerard pulled his head away from Frank’s hair, tucking a finger beneath his chin and pulling Frank’s face up. And, before Frank could protest, Gerard’s lips were working against his. Frank stiffened and nearly lost his balance again, but kept it for need to kiss him back. He did, still holding tightly to him, not wanting to ever let go.

They nearly jumped out of their skin when Mikey’s voice boomed at them. “That is not the place to kiss!” he scoffed. Gerard and Frank pulled away quickly, looking up at Mikey, who was standing next to Ray. “If you want to know the most romantic place to kiss, it’s at the top. So hold in all your emotions ‘till then, okay?”

Gerard lowered his eyes slightly as Frank stole a glimpse at the smirking Bob. Looking ahead again, he was just in time to see Ray and Mikey start back up. He met eyes with Gerard, grinning slightly.

His hand reached out: Frank took it gratefully, enjoying the feeling of Gerard’s hand.

“Don’t go falling off any more ledges,” Gerard murmured after a few moments of hiking. Frank snorted.

“I promise the next time I do, I’ll make sure you come down, too, and you land on top of me,” he said, wagging his eyebrows.