FicWad

Gerard opened the hotel bedroom door. The air that rushed from the room was hotter, almost sticky on his skin. He could see an unmoving figure sprawled across the bed, sheets and limbs tangled underneath it.

Frank.

He was sick. He’d always gotten diseases easier than the others; his immune system being not quite up to the stress of being on tour with 4 or 5 other guys, who weren’t all what you could call clean freaks, for months at a time.

“Frankie?”

Gerard entered the dark, placing one hand on the main surface of the door to close it as quietly behind him as he could, shutting out the noise of the TV and other 3 inhabitants of the suite. His sock covered feet stuck to the rough green carpeted floor making small, almost undetectable, scratching noises.

Frank’s hair was drenched in cold sweat, his face flushed and giving off a sickly reflective gleam in the dim light that didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere in particular.
The corpse on the bed stirred, the white undershirt clinging to its skin as he moved. Gerard knelt next to the bed, his hands gripping the side of the yielding rectangle lightly.

“That…” A long pause ensued before Frank continued, his voice raspy. He made no move to open his eyes as he spoke.

“That you… Gee?”

“Yeah, it’s me, baby… you alright?” Gerard whispered back, using the affectionate tag just as innocently as he always did.

“No…”

Gerard smiled faintly and leaned over the bed, letting his black coat hit the floor with a dull thud. Frank shuddered, a thick feeling of nausea drowning the back of his throat.

Gerard brushed the damp hair from Frank’s clammy forehead, his hand sliding easily over his skin.

“Here… Let’s get you clean, okay?” Gerard suggested gently, moving Frank into a sitting position.

Frank complied gratefully and let Gerard lift his soggy pathetic body into his arms and carry him into the bathroom. He didn’t bother turning on the light, worrying that it would hurt Frank’s eyes after he’d been lying in the dark for days.

Turning on the tap, his fingers slipping absently over the metal of the unused spa buttons, Gerard let Frank lean against him, his arms limply around his neck and face buried in his chest as he undid the loose trousers hanging off Frank’s hips.

He slid the thin shirt off Frank’s torso, pale fingers sliding over scorching olive flesh.

He tested the lukewarm water, sticking his right hand an inch in, a minor shiver going up his arm at the sudden temperature change.

“Bubbles?” Frank asked childishly.

Gerard bit back the giggle on his lips, using one hand to skillfully unscrew a bottle and pour a capful of pink, fruit scented soap under the faucet.

He shifted his grip on Frank until he was able to rid him of the remaining lighter material around his waist.

“In you go…” Gerard announced softly, helping Frank lift his legs over the side of the plastic lined basin.

Gerard pulled his own black shirt over his head, the rest of his clothing following after a hesitant second. He let himself slip into the cool water next to Frank, who groaned contentedly.

Frank finally opened his burning eyes, looking over at Gerard and smiling weakly. He pulled himself over to the older man, the greenish-black tinted water swishing around him under the white foam, creating goose bumps up his feverish arms. He let himself back against Gerard’s chest.

Gerard picked up a damp washcloth hanging from the side of the bath, the hairs on his arms prickling in the cold air around them.

He brought the cloth to Frank’s arms, sliding soft but abrasive white over inked blue, black and red. The soap suds trailed tiny swirling pools behind the fabric.

Gerard moved the cloth to Frank’s chest, blue and black switching to tan.

Frank looked up at him, his eyes shining in the dim light of the night light stuck in the far wall.

“How can you do this?” he asked.

“Because I thought best friends were allowed to look at their best friends in completely a non-sexual way?” Gerard responded, his tone as calm as Frank’s.

“No, I mean how can you take time to? Like… Ray or Mikey could. You have like… other stuff to do… all the time.” Frank elaborated haltingly.

“I don’t know. I just care about you. I mean, I’ll get them to next time if you don’t want me to…” Gerard surrendered, the slightest bit of disappointment hinting his voice.

“No, that’s not what I meant… I like it when you take care of me… you’re the most gentle.” Frank told him sheepishly.

Gerard smiled back.

Despite his aggressive, slightly cocky, behavior and violent onstage antics, he was generally soft spoken and delicate around people, almost shy.

“Thanks…” he said, wiping the side of Frank’s face with the washcloth, clearing it of the sick sweat drying on the surface.

HALLOWEEN found Gerard’s idle fingers through the fading suds, slipping against different body parts as Frank fumbled feebly for his hand with his two.

Minutes later Gerard pulled himself from the water and dressed himself quickly and changing the bed sheets before returning to Frank. He helped him out and dried him off tenderly, trying not to make him feel suffocated. He put clean, softer clothes on Frank in the weak light.

“Thanks, Gee…” Frank croaked, admiring the way Gerard could perform what he would think to be discomforting tasks in the most chaste ways.

Gerard bit his lip in a smile, pulling new covers over the still-warm, but slightly more sterile Frank, kissing him innocently on the cheek. The smaller man’s eyes closed moments later, drifting into, thankfully peaceful, sleep.

He left the room, closing the door carefully to make sure Frank didn’t wake, sighing as he returned to the overly rampant chaos of video games, iPods, and not-so-silent texting battles.