Chapter Text
“I read your ad on the blackboard in the supermarket. I mean that you were looking for a room mate,” the young man Gerard found standing in front of his front door when opening it explained, brushed his hand nervously through his unruly, shaggy dark hair that looked as if it had not seen a hairdresser for a longer time. Also his face seemed the one of a man who did not enjoy shaving overly much – but he had friendly eyes that almost seemed to smile on their own.
“I mean I tried to call before, but -”
“My phone is broken,” that was not completely true, more he assumed the young man had tried to call at daytime – when he would normally switch off his phone to sleep.
This was maybe also the reason why so far not anybody else had applied.
“And don't worry, I do not mind you came around,” Gerard nodded, blinked in the to his eyes horribly bright daylight.
He had in fact first toyed with the idea not to even open, but the doorbell had such an annoying sound he had seen no other option to shut it up except for simply answering.
“Is everything alright with you?” The stranger returned with a worried face.
“Don't worry,” Gerard moved a bit back inside the building to avoid the sun. “I am fine. I am just ...” he looked for a word. “different.” He smiled carefully, “And this is maybe why it's a bit trickier for me to find a room mate.”
“So you are in fact still searching?” He sounded as if he could hardly believe his luck.
“Hm,” Gerard nodded a bit absent-mindedly, avoided to hiss when the sunlight hit him for a second. “Eh … would you like to come in?”
“You are not much a fan of the sun, hm?”
“I would not say that, but … it's eh … tricky,” he had of course tried to come up with a good story, something that would explain why he never went out at daytime, why there were thick curtains everywhere so there was only dim light in the house and why there was never food in the fridge, only weird looking red stuff in bottles without label …
But it was quite tricky to remember that story he had so neatly made up when this human was looking at him with such friendly and caring eyes.
“Ok,” the stranger nodded, seemed to accept this explanation that was not even an actual one. “And eh, by the way, I am Frank.”
“Gerard,” the other man replied with his name. “And eh … the sun today really bothers me, so if you are not too scared, come in.”
Frank laughed. “Don't worry, it's not so easy to scare me. I … I have some weird issues myself,” he bit his lip. “Guess I should not have said that now, right? I mean at least not in the first minutes.”
Gerard shrugged. “As long as you do not turn out to be a serial killer or a cannibal -”
“I am neither,” Frank lifted his hands, “I am completely harmless, only … bit different sometimes.”
“So it seems you are a perfect match” Gerard laughed, “That won't be an issue. And eh … I hope you do not mind it's a bit dark in here.”
“Eh … no,” Frank replied, though his face revealed that he was confused by the dim light inside the house.
“I … I have trouble handling sunlight and this is why it's so dark in here. In your room you could of course keep the blinds and curtains open, also of course everywhere else around the house as long as I am not around,” Gerard glanced at his shoes. “I guess you are already frightened and regret you have come here, aren't you?”
“No, I am not,” he felt Frank's hand on his shoulder. “And it's alright. It is not your fault you have this allergies.”
“Oh well, sometimes I think it is,” Gerard sighed.
“No, it is not. Even if you feel like that, it is not your fault that you are sick,” Frank assured in a soft, but decided voice. “And it's ok for me. I ...” He hesitated, “I sometimes also feel … unwell,” he smiled. “I think all we can do is to live with our issues the best way we can.”
Gerard nodded, smiled carefully. “That's true. And I apologize for this whole weirdness here. I am still planning to redecorate the house. I started, but … it's still in progress.”
Frank nodded, followed him through the hall – he did not notice the slender figure sitting on the stairs, watching him with interest.
“Is that him?” The young man on the stairs asked curiously, pointed to Frank.
Gerard nodded briefly when Frank did not look at him, gestured the other young man with his hand to shut up.
“Why? I mean he neither hear or see me anyhow,” the young man replied dryly, got up and approached to the both of them. “See?” He moved his hand in front of Frank's eyes, which Frank did no seem to notice at all.
“Stop it,” Gerard hissed.
“Hu?” Frank blinked with surprise, turned around. “What did you say?”
“Eh … nothing … I was just talking to … myself,” Gerard replied hastily, gave the young man an angry look.
Frank nodded, wrapped his arms around himself.
“Is everything ok?”
“It is … I just felt a bit strange. It was some kind of shiver,” he laughed nervously, “I guess it is just as it is so nicely chill inside here, compared to the warm weather outside.”
“Or maybe it was one of the ghosts of my ancestors, who haunt this house?” Gerard suggested with a smile, made Frank laugh.
“I do not believe in ghosts.”
“And I am none of your ancestors! I might be a ghost, but I am still your younger brother and I am not haunting this house. I live here. Just like you. And it's fifty percent my home.”
“Sorry,” Gerard formed with his mouth, “Not now!”
“What if I scare him to death? I could be one of those ghosts that scare people out of their home!”
“This is not Amityville Horror, Beetlejuice or damn Poltergeist!” Gerard pointed out, held his hand before his mouth with shock when he realized he had spoken that out loudly.
“Good to know,” Frank smiled. “And I still do not believe your place is haunted, even if you pretend it is. It's in fact quite nice.”
“It's not actually haunted, there is only one friendly ghost and I assure you he will not pester you,” Gerard assured, gave the other man a warning look. “It's my parents' old home … and I think that shows a bit,” he gave Frank a crooked smile.
“You seem in fact not like the man for that kind of wallpapers,” Frank joked.
“Exactly. This is why I want to re-decorate it,” Gerard agreed. In fact he had that in mind since he had moved in, however he had so far neither found the time, even if that was the smaller issue, nor the money, which was the bigger one.
“And paint everything black, just like the walls in your teenage room, hm?” The other young man, who had claimed to be his brother finished his sentence in a scoffing voice. “Just over my dead and rotten body!”
Gerard hardly tried to stifle a laugh, pretended it was a cough instead.
“Are you alright?” Frank asked with a worried face.
“I am not terminally ill. I am in fact apart from my issues quite healthy,” Gerard assured.
“I am sorry … I think that comes with my job,” Frank rubbed the back of his head, which left his hair even more unruly than it had been before.
“What do you do for a living?” Gerard asked with interest. “And oh, speaking of living that is the living room over there”, he pointed to one room behind a chipped door frame, “And that across the hall is the kitchen.”
“I am a nurse,” Frank replied to his question. “I often work nightshifts at the moment, so I will not be in your way most of the time.”
“I often sleep at daytime,” Gerard returned, “So we might meet more often than you think.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Frank answered with a smile, then asked shyly, “So that means I can in fact move in? You do not even want to hear the whole speech I had prepared or to see proof that I have in fact a steady job?”
“If you still want to move in, yes,” Gerard replied, “Though … you have not even seen your future room so far.”
“It'll be alright, I am sure,” Frank assured hastily, bit his lip. “I … to be honest I am in fact very desperate for a place to stay at. I am at the moment technically homeless.”
“So you live with a friend?” Gerard asked with interest.
“Eh … no, not exactly,” Frank hesitated, then explained with obvious embarrassment, avoiding Gerard's eyes, “I sleep in the hospital lobby, in empty patient rooms … all that.” He dropped his glance. “I know this is kinda messed up, but I swear I am normally not like that. It's just … life had been a bit weird in the last time and I still haven't fully got grip again to normality.”
“It's ok,” Gerard assured. “Don't worry. I won't judge. You seem like a nice guy and I do not care what has happened in your past as long as you don't butcher anybody here in this house. And I also do not want to see any proof you have a job – I can in fact totally imagine you to be a nurse, you know?”
Frank laughed. “Thank you. And eh … don't worry, I can pay the rent.”
Gerard shrugged – he was normally not the most compassionate person ever, but somehow he already felt attached to that boy, felt he needed to give him a roof over his head – even if he was not able to pay immediately. No matter how badly he himself needed the money, Frank needed help way more desperately. “Ok. And … do you want to see your room?”
Frank nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds nice … to have a play to stay at.”
“It's in fact my parents' old room,” Gerard explained while he guided him the way up the stairs to the first floor. “I got of course the bed out and some of the furniture. And you could re-decorate it the way you like.”
“I bet it is not that bad,” Frank returned politely – though he could not keep from grimacing when he spotted the yellowish wallpapers with the rose pattern. “It's … ok, “ he decided as encouragingly as he could, was obviously trying not to say the wrong thing, “I mean I like it.”
Gerard laughed. “You are not a very great liar,” he stated. “And … we could overpaint it maybe.”
“In black, hm?” His brother, who had followed them, scoffed. “And wait, you take him in without asking me?”
Gerard shrugged, then whispered “Stop it. I cannot afford the place on my own and you know that very well” while Frank curiously peaked out of the window of his future room, which led to the backyard, which was full of a wild looking lawn and large tree.
“So this is why we have to take him in? As he is the only person, who answered that ad? Why don't we wait a bit longer? You know nothing about him at all!”
“He seems to be ok, Mikey. Calm down. I bet he is a nice guy and will not cause trouble. Also he needs a place to stay”.
“I really like your house and … you are sure I can move in and you do not wait for other people to answer the ad?”
“Ha, see he thinks himself already it is a bad decision!” Mikey stated in a told you so-voice.
“Why not? You seem like a nice guy. I bet we will get along.”
Frank smiled. “Thank you.”
“For what? The compliment?”
“No,” he shook his head “the chance.”
* * *
“So … since when are you the one to decide everything? Is it because you are the older one?”
“No, it's because I am the one that is still alive,” Gerard replied with a grimace. “And Mikey, come on, stop acting that way. I cannot afford a house like that on my own, the bills are already piling up … and your job as a Poltergeist is also not paying off so well either. So we need a house mate to pay the bills. Maybe we can also even afford then to re-decorate the place so it does not look so -”
“So what?” Mikey sat down at the kitchen table opposite his brother, looked at him with a truly shocked face. “That's the place we grew up at. It has always been like that.”
“True. And this is why I want to re-decorate!”
“But it's our home!”
“It would still be. I mean we live here. And we could decorate it the way we want so it in fact also becomes our home as adults,” Gerard returned in a calming voice.
“I do not want to change it! I do not want anything to change!” Mikey wrapped his arms around himself, avoided his brother's eyes. “I want it to be the way it is. As it's our home -”
Gerard put the half empty bottle he had been drinking from back in the fridge, then walked over to him with his mug full of thick, red liquid in his hands.
“What is that really about? I mean you are obviously not actually mad I took Frank in. It's something else that bothers you, right?”
Mikey shook his head. “True. He seems in fact ok. It is more … I mean we will have to hide and act in your own made-up little show all the time when he lives here. I mean we can't be the way we are when he is around – we might scare him to death!”
“We won't,” although he had to admit Mikey was probably not fully wrong there.
“So you will simply tell him you are a damn vampire, who shares a house with the ghost of his dead younger brother?” Mikey rolled his eyes. “He will for sure be totally cool with that and stay. Or otherwise, more likely either call the madhouse on you or simply run away as fast as he can.”
“No. I … I will make something up. Something believable. And he won't see you anyhow.” He took a long sip from his mug as his hunger kept him from thinking.
“And how are you for example going to hide the fact there is nothing but blood in your fridge? I mean … blood!” Mikey shook his head in disbelief. “What explanation could you use for that? No sane person got blood in their fridge.”
“I will find a way,” Gerard replied tiredly, took another sip, “Don't be so negative all the time.”
“I am not negative. I just don't want to have an annoying stranger snooping around the place and have to watch my home being destroyed while everybody pretends I do not exist,” he buried his head in his arms, “I cannot leave this house, not even if I want to. It is my past, my future, the only home I have ...”
“Same here,” Gerard smiled carefully with bloodstained teeth, wished he had been able to put his arm around his brother. “And you know what, I am glad you are here.”
“So you are happy I am dead and now stuck with you?” Mikey snapped angrily.
“So this is how you feel about me?” Gerard put his mug back on the table, looked at him with a bewildered face. “Am I in fact the person you want to haunt out of this place?”
“No, that was a joke,” Mikey smiled carefully. “I am in fact happy you are here and you see me. The last years were horribly boring.” He sighed. “Having eternity ahead of you is not so great if you are stuck at one place, you know?”
“You can also decide how things turn out about the house. I mean we could at least paint your room so it does not look any more like a teen boy's room.”
“But I am somehow a teen boy. I will technically always stay seventeen.”
“On the outside,” Gerard corrected. “And … I am sorry. We will keep it the way you want it. And if Frank turns out to be horrible -”
“Then I will haunt him out of the house within days, promise” Mikey replied with a smile.