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Frank was held close to me under my duvet, and it wasn’t the first time. That is, it wasn’t the first time I’d rescued him from his abusive parents and let him curl up safely in my bed. He held his eyes firmly closed, face right close to my chest, and his hands were bundled protectively under his neck, still shaking a little. Thankful that I was being listened to, I continued my supportive speech to Frank.
“I know it’s horrible now, but we can get you out of this mess.” I held him close with and arm around his shoulders, keeping away from the bruise on his face, which was very nearly a black eye. “Nothing can hurt you while you’re here. You’re safe here, okay? You don’t ever have to go back home if you don’t want to, not even for clothes because I’m fucking forcing you to steal mine. I just wanna look after you, Frankie. No one should ever be treated like that.”
“Thank you, Gerard.” Frank sniffled. The last of his tears had finally disappeared and he opened his eyes again, no longer needing full concentration on my words.
Shifting to be more comfortable, I let my hand move to Frank’s side and he squeezed my shoulder in gratitude. I could hear footsteps heading down to my basement room and I turned to peer at my door in the dim light.
“You two need any food or anything?” My mom called from the other side of my door.
“Nah, Frank brought snacks and movies and stuff.” I lied. Movie night was always the excuse when Frank needed to be rescued.
“Okay, but don’t you get staying up too late. It’s past midnight already.” She warned.
“We’ve got our eyes on the time. Night, mom.” I ushered her away with my ‘movies are a lot more important than talking’ voice and kept my eyes on the door until I was sure the footsteps had completely gone.
Turning back to the friend in my arms, I was caught off guard by Frank’s hand sliding up my neck, and my eyes widened as he spent not even a second kissing me. He broke off as suddenly as he’d started and I was frozen in shock. Frank turned away from me quickly, facing the rest of my room and pulling violently to bunch the cover up around his ears.
“Frank, what’s wrong?” I didn’t see any harm in the kiss. My reaction wasn’t exactly the best, but it wasn’t like I’d been disgusted.
He wouldn’t speak. I shook his shoulder gently and tried to get him to turn back to me with no success.
“Frank, I don’t care that you kissed me, okay? What’s the problem?” He shrugged my hand away but I kept it lower on his arm.
“It’s difficult enough when your parents already hate you, but now I’m a fucking faggot too.” I huffed in frustration at what he was worried about.
“Hey, don’t say it like that. It’s okay to be gay, Frank.” I tugged at his arm again and he compromised by lying on his back and listening properly once more. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not out to my parents yet. I’m pretty sure Mikey’s got me sussed…but he knows which blender I’ll be buying to obliterate his guts in if he tells anyone.” Smiling, I realised my hand had found Frank’s stomach and its weird pulses against my palm told me he was laughing inaudibly.
Finally, he turned to me once again. He didn’t care that I was holding my arms properly around his middle.
“I think you saved my life, Gee.” He stated, looking up to me, eyes glistening with the threat of new tears.
“I promise nothing can hurt you while you’re here, okay?” Frank nodded at me and smiled properly for the first time in a long time.
“Um…” Nervousness clouded his face for a moment.
“What?”
“Can… Can I kiss you again?” Frank asked, looking honestly at me and holding the back of my neck once again.
“Of course you can.” I smiled. “It doesn’t matter which way we take this though, alright? I want you to know that. Whether we stay friends or if we wanna be boyfriends, I’ll still wanna look after you, no matter what.” Frank was rolling his eyes when I zoned back in and realised I was rambling nervously. “…Okay, I’ll shut up.” I chuckled. The kiss was more of an equal approach that time; we both moved forward and met in the middle.
Our lips pressed together a couple of times, resulting in quick little pecks. Then, Frank went open-mouthed, forcing me to as well. I was reluctant with my tongue at first but Frank teased it out of my mouth with his own. They meshed together and rolled around for what seemed like a pleasing lifetime. We both seemed to slow down simultaneously, returning to a more sensitive kiss, and Frank’s hands were gentle as they combed through my hair.
He giggled a little as he broke away, smiling.
“Well, I think that’s settled that decision.” He beamed genuinely, all the day’s events forgotten. Arms fully stretched around each other, I hooked a leg behind one of Frank’s to feel like I was holding him more.
“Yeah, I’m definitely keeping you.” I chuckled.
“I think I love you, Gerard.” Frank said innocently, like he needed some kind of approval.
“Don’t worry, Frankie; I love you too.” I nuzzled my face in to the side of his without the bruise and he giggled again, stealing another peck on the lips. “You’re safe, right here, with me.”