Burn As Bright (Frerard)

17

The green beneath their feet sunk as Frank and Gerard moved away from the cork tree. It had been a few hours now, or it at least felt like a few hours. Frank carried a small pack full of prepared fruits on his back as he followed Gerard's direction. They had been fairly quiet throughout the journey thus far, like neither knew where to begin a conversation.

Frank let himself instead be distracted by the sounds and colors of the world around him as he followed Gerard. Chirps. Croaks. Shuffling. Blues. Pinks. Greens. He held the straps of his pack tightly as he continued to catalog the sounds and colors. No matter if they repeated or not, it was something to occupy his mind from everything it wanted to think about.

"We should be okay to take a short rest if your tired." Gerard called out. Frank looked up to see that he was positioned on a large rock, looking back towards the direction they had been moving away from.

Frank turned to look in the same direction, but he only saw trees that seemed to create a dark tunnel the deeper he looked. He turned back around just as Gerard leapt off the rock. He landed in a crouch before straightening himself and looking around the spot they had stopped in. "Seems like, a good spot." He grinned.

"Yea, sure." Frank nodded. He stepped up to the rock and let himself sink to the ground.

Gerard plopped himself down beside Frank and gestured to the pack he carried. "Let me get some fruit."

Frank shrugged it off and passed it to Gerard. The redhead dug through it for a moment before pulling out a brown bundle. He unraveled that to reveal slices of a deep blue fruit. He took a slice for himself before holding it out to Frank.

"No thanks." Frank shook his head.

"Sure?" Gerard took a bit of the piece he had taken for himself, "s'good."

"Not feeling hungry." Frank assured him.

Gerard frowned, but nodded. He rewrapped the fruit and stuffed it back in the pack. He took another bite of the piece he had taken out. "So," he took a moment to chew before continuing, "how's your chest doing?"

"Fine." Frank answered immediately, clasping his hands together in his lap to avoid them shooting up to his chest that no longer held the protruding dark mark. He hadn't shared the mark's absence with anyone.

"Hey, it's okay!" Gerard moved to reach out to Frank, but stopped himself. He instead held his hands up. "Don't freak out, we don't have Patrick's calming influence constantly around us anymore."

"I was supposed to feel calm there?" Frank almost laughed. He had gone through practically every emotion but calm during his time under the cork tree.

Gerard shrugged before popping the last of his fruit piece into his mouth. "Calmer than you would have been otherwise."

"That makes me feel so much better..." Frank muttered. Sure, he appreciated that Patrick had helped him through his shadowed memories, but part of him wished it had all stayed buried. Everything he had been feeling since... if it was that bad under a calming influence, how bad was it going to get now?

Something nudged his shoulder, making him turn to see Gerard had moved right beside him. He smiled and nudged Frank again. "You're not trying to get lost in your own head again, are you?"

"I didn't try the first times." Frank muttered. He scooted himself back closer to the rock. He straightened one leg against the ground while bringing the other up at an angle. "It was just like... I got stuck reliving the moments. I was right back where I was when they happened."

Gerard looked back towards him. There was a flash of something across his face before it settled into a frown. When he noticed Frank looking at him, however, he grinned and gestured towards him with the wave of his hand. "Well, at least there's no smoking arms this time."