FicWad

“Ya ready, buddy?”
“Yea Sure, Ray. Hang on!” Frank Squealed as he tried to carry his suitcase to the tour bus, after many failed attempts to snatch the bulging suitcase from his grasp, Frank had insisted on carrying it there independently. Resulting in failure, as Frank nearly toppled into a small pot plant in Gerard’s driveway.
“Give it here, babe.” Gerard hushed as he retrieved the suitcase and continued his speedy advance towards the bus.
Frank sighed and hobbled slowly towards the bus, even though he could walk quite a lot by now, and for long periods of time, he still needed to take it slow. Sometimes Gerard would insist on carrying him, but recently that had become annoying. Yeah, he was only being the “good, protective boyfriend” but Frank liked independence, having space. Yes, he did love Gerard, but maybe….
He shook the thoughts away and set his mind on clambering onto the bus, aided by Bob.
He smiled as he entered the familiar Living area, already scattered with Video games and comic books. Just that view brought back tumbles of memories, like times when Frank had leapt from his bunk to Bob’s resulting in a serious pummeling or the times they would stay up until 2AM just talking about what was to come, and what they had already experienced on tour. With that, though, he also vividly remembered times when Gerard had clung to him, Vomit-covered and confused, when Gerard had needed help. The times when Frank would talk Gerard out of suicidal thoughts before he passed out on top of him.
On Those nights, Frank knew he loved Gerard, He would cry for him, just wishing everything would be back to normal, he would dream of them being together. Gerard sober, of course.
“Grab your bunks!” Ray announced, as the guys all pounced for their own bunks.
Even though Frank was last, they had all left his favorite bunk for him, bottom right. He appreciated the kind gesture and began to set out his stuff on his bed. He Stuck Gerard’s portrait of himself at the end of his bed. Yes, it may seem vain for a man to have a picture of himself stuck up near his bed, but he wanted to show Gerard how he really was grateful.
“Heh, The picture I drew for you, babes.” Gerard stated, indicating to the picture before wrapping his arms around Frank’s waist and kissing his neck gently, taking in his warmth and scent , a zesty tingle mixed with lavender, two scents that would never usually mix, but on this one spectacle of excellence they smelled sweeter than anything Gerard had ever experienced. He loved Frank with every atom of his heart.
“So, You wanna go play video games with the guys??”
“Yea, sure, Gee!”
This had developed as a ritual whilst on tour, within the first hour the games console had to be connected to the television. If not it was against…. Religion!
They all piled around the television screen like they did every time, the only difference was the fact that now Gerard freely embraced his lover, without fear of arousing suspicion from Frank or the other band members.
They had been driving for at least four hours straight and Frank had began to get restless.
“Dudes! I’m /bored!/” He whined, “Where are we going, anyways?”
“Oh yea… Uhhm, That…” Mikey began, Ray let out an exasperated sigh, Frnak would have to accept it sooner or later, it was about time they just made it clear.
“Were stopping off soon to pick up the new Guitarist, remember?? You cant play yet, we need somebody else.”
The rest of the band turned to see Frank’s reaction. They could each see slight devastation in his eyes, he had always acted so understanding, but they all knew that he didn’t want to face the reality that it wasn’t going to be him on that stage on the opening night.
“Don’t worry though, babe, you’ll be back on that stage before you know it!”


--


Frank wrenched his eyes open as the bus came to a shuddered halt at an unrecognizable place. He rubbed his eyes with his balled fist and lifted his head from Gerard’s chest.
He heard the door open quickly and hears a pair of clunky footstep clamber onto the bus.
He knew who it was, and to be honest, he didn’t want to see his face right now, he didn’t want to accept that this was his replacement, another version of Frank, possibly a better one. He look at Gerard, who reflected back a look of understanding, then Frank lay his head back on Gerard’s chest and pretended to remain asleep, the rest of the guys had been to busy greeting the “New Frank” to realize that their friend had even awoken.
“Yeah, so here’s Gerard”
“Hey, Gerard” Sounded the voice of the intruder, Frank could feel Gerard’s arm waving in greeting.
“And there’s Frank” Mikey stated. “Maybe we should wake him up…”
“No!” Gerard insisted, “He’s tired!”
After a small debate, Frank felt a sharp shake.
“What??” He grunted, faking the haziness he would usually have after just waking up.
“Dude, the new guitarist is here, He’s one of my friends from college. Jack, meet Frank.”
Frank lifted his head to meet the gaze of the new guitarist. His heart sunk to the merciless pits of his ass.
Unless it was his imagination, this guy just seemed to be a much better version of him. Cooler Hair, Nicer smile, hell, he even had more tattoos than Frank!
Jet black hair caressed his wide shoulders and his smile was genuine and dazzling, illuminated with bright blue eyes. His skin supported numerous illustrations, more colorful and vivid than Frank had ever seen.
“Hey!” Smiled Jack, Damn, he even had a nicer sounding voice…
“Hello.” Frank replied, taking the tattooed hand the other guitarist had extended into his own and shook it. He could tell his smile looked fake, the sickly sweet smile on his face tasted bitter in his mouth as he controlled the temptation to lash out, it wasn’t the guys fault, after all.
The band spent time getting to know the new addition. He was 28, Single, Playing guitar for 14 years, yadda yadda yadda, Frank hadn’t really been paying much attention, he was growing more angry at the minute. He was sure his musical career was over, compared to Jack He was a nobody, they wouldn’t want him back. Gerard probably thought Jack was hotter than Frank, an was probably waiting to find out if he was a better kisser….
Gerard would never do that!
Frank had to get out of there, he was being driven crazy.
He excused himself from the conversation, ignoring Gerard’s worried expression, he wandered vaguely into the other room and dug into Bob’s rucksack, he got what he needed – some cigarettes.
He lit up one and lifted it to his mouth, he inhaled the smoke deeply and then exhaled in relief, relishing in the calming effect it had on him.
“-I thought you’d quit…” Came a voice from the end of the room – Gerard, “I thought we quit… /together/….Don’t you remember??”
It was true, they had. Gerard had suggested it, for Frank’s health, Gerard agreed to quit aswell to be fair, they had done it all together. Frank felt overcome with guilt at seeing Gerard’s crushed expression.
“Gee, I’m sorry..”
“Shh, Don’t worry.” Gerard assured, “It can’t be easy for you… I mean, with Jack and all that.”
Frank felt soothed in the way Gerard had said Jack’s name, with no adoration or lust, just with normal expression. It may have seemed strange to anyone else, but he felt more at ease at that sentence.
“He’s replacing me, isn’t he?”
“No! No way! Of course not!” Gerard replied fiercely, how could Frank even think that, he was valued so highly as a band member. They would never want to replace him, and even if they tried they wouldn’t be able to find anyone better.
“Frankie, Babe, You’re one of a kind, Nobody could replace you. Not in my eyes, anyway. And I’m just as sure that the rest of the guys feel the same! When you can play guitar again everything will be back to normal.”
“What if I never can play guitar again??”
“You Will! And if not… I’ll be there! We’ll leave the band, together.”
Gerard pulled Frank into a long hug, feeling his body begin to shake with Frank’s heaving sobs, he soothed him, a tear escaping from his eye also, he couldn’t stand seeing the person he loved in so much pain, but only Frank held the key to his own happiness at this point…