1: When I Get Home, You're So Dead.

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~Frank's POV~
This was it. Today was finally the day. The assuring feeling in my gut gave me confidence and that definitely wasn't something I was used to. Not even bothering to wake Alex as I scurried near the road, the bog nearly swallowing my shoes with every step. I had been observing this house for weeks now, confirming that there were, in fact, no residents and that meant I was going to claim it for myself. There were several empty houses on the street devoid of humans. Well...live ones anyway. But there was something about this particular house. And the one next to it. I'd hear never-ending feuds through cracked windows several nights a week, when a tall, pasty, greasy boy would storm out to the front lawn with a cig to clear his head. I had never really been close to distinguish his features, I'm still too nervous to talk to him. A guy who wears sunglasses indoors isn't exactly the most approachable, and a good first impression was everything in a city like this. It's not like I watch him through the bushes or anything...
Okay. That was one time. Not like I like him or anything. Just in need of an alliance system, is all. I'm just a people watcher. See? Straight as a lamppost. After, you know, being obliterated by a double-decker school bus..but that was another thing entirely. This was a fresh start for me. A respectable reputation. A 2nd chance to make a new name for myself. And it starts right here.

I trudged up the wooden stairs leading up to a washed out front porch The house was obviously too old for a doorknob and the door looked like it would come down with a single knock. Not that I expected anyone to come to the door anyway. So I let myself in and let the déjà vu of living in an actual home wash over me. Not from the house itself, but the idea of making a space my own. Pacing the squealing floorboards and making a mental checklist of all the renovations I could make.
Cobwebs are a definite no.
I could get some air fresheners in here, maybe just crack open a window for now...
A paint job is mandatory.
The peeling floral wallpaper was a bit much, and that's saying a lot considering I'm gay. I admit it. Okay? I think I still had some black spray paint left in my bunker, and I could grab some power tools while I'm down there to stop the roof from completely caving in, or risk getting heatstroke from trying to repair the entire roof. Still no hetero.

I open another set of doors that lead to more corridors and then the master bedroom and bathroom, containing things I haven't used or even seen since my freshman year of military school, just lined with a generous amount of what I could tell by the consistency was mold, but something like that could only grow in water so I definitely had things to be hopeful for. I could just imagine it already, the heated, filtered water beating down on my aching skin, running my calloused fingers through the grime caught in my hair and watch it all run down the drain so I could do it all over again the next night. Not to mention it would help out with my quite literal swamp ass.

I was basically falling over the side of the tub and twisting the rusted faucet until my knuckles turned white, waiting for the anticipated droplets to stain my flesh.

Not a single drip. Of course.
My Barbie Dreamhouse needed more work than I thought.
I would be watching one of those home remodeler shows as my decoration skills were complete shit, but about the only thing you could get any type of signal on were walkie-talkies.

But for a split second I could've sworn I heard something coming through the pipes.
I turned around, thinking I spotted a raccoon behind me at first glance, but nope. Layers of leather with a silhouette almost as dirty as the fabric it radiated from was waiting for me outside the bathroom door. He was still nothing but bags and smeared eyeliner and beer breath, his presence bouncing off every nook and cranny in the house. A type of echo that linoleum floors just should not give off.
"You're not supposed to be in here."
It was clear he had the upper hand, along with a good half-foot on me. The walls were closing in, but I managed to slip past him before I was cornered. And like a deer caught in the headlights, I did the only form of defense I knew, I bolted. Slamming the front door flat across the exterior of the house.

To find Alex waiting for me, sat on his favorite tree stump, the stupidest of all half-smirks resting on his face. Once I was in earshot, he hollered "So your boyfriend didn't like you??"
I about slapped that smirk right off his face, sinking down into the moss bed beneath me.
"You couldn't even ask for extra napkins at the shelter, Iero. How the hell are you gonna make it in this world?"

And it was like our heart rates dropped just to spike again, as a shiny, metallic revolver was visible in the distance, following my muddy footprints back into the forest.
My sweaty palms shot from my pockets to Alex's shoulders, dragging him even farther down into the ditch, and back onto his feet.
"What did the warden tell us again about snipers? To run in zig-zags?" My best friend suggested, as he was the only one that paid the slightest bit of attention in school.
We picked up our pace a bit more, following along the drop-off. Hails of bullets already visible in the sky.
"I don't fucking remember, Alex. We broke out years ago."
"Yeah, and who's idea was that?" He spat at me, like it was my fault. Technically speaking, it was me that may have possibly trespassed, but I was the one saving our asses once again.

We continued bickering until we ran out of grass and there was nothing more but a 2 story high barricade, the only thing that separated us from the wars outside, just buzzing with electricity. I could only imagine what was waiting for us on the other side. But how much worse were they than the wars in our own backyards? The wars in our own heads? It doesn't appear that we're going to lose Twilight any time soon.
"The fence."
Alex spun on his heels to face me, his previous smirk twisting into a scowl.
"Are you insane? We're completely out of firear-"
"Jump. The fence!"

edit: holy shit this chapter is terrible how did I not realize it earlier I'm like having cringe attack because over 2,000 people have read this oh god

It's Like I'm Sleepwalking [Frerard/Jalex] [on hold, major editing]Where stories live. Discover now