The Chasing of Moons

Helena's Accidental Yet Indisputable Rant About Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Gerard's house is an unassuming, really very passable one on the street of very dissimilar, equally dingy looking coops. Each one however, has more character in a single brick than every square foot of the house Frank grew up in. Frank likes Gerard's house however, because, even though Frank knows Gerard had no say in the design of it, it looks like him.

The old, withering shingles, barely hanging on, as if only by a thread, look like Gerard somehow, and Frank's not sure how. It's the way that they're so different, he thinks. So unassuming, and completely easy to miss but somehow oddly beautiful. Just like Gerard. The way the paint is chipping away on the sides, revealing a coat of color from some previous incarnation of this house's existence. The almost Cookie Monster blue leaks out in spots from the heinously repainted beige that was obviously chosen for its unassertive qualities than for its overall appeal. There's a front porch, a sorry one at that, which you don't normally find in this sort of town, and the paint here is dwindling away as well.

All in all, it's one of the most charming houses Frank has ever seen. There's lilies in the flower pots underneath a sagging arch-like door front, a small welcome sign hangs crookedly from the middle of the door. Weeds are eating away at the old brick foundation peaking from the bottom of the house, and the front lawn hasn't seen proper treatment in several years, with the unkempt grass overgrown, but not unhealthy. The upkeep it must take to prevent the house from caving in on itself must be strenuous, but it's absolutely gorgeous in Frank's eyes.

It's much like Gerard, and he thinks that that's the reason for why his thinks it looks like him. It does, in a certain sort of way. It looks like the way people must see Gerard. An easily overlooked house for an easily overlooked boy. A not the typically pretty house, for a not the typically pretty boy. A house with more character and stories to tell than a cookie cutter only a few streets away, made just for a boy like Gerard, though his existence wouldn't have been even a wisp of an idea when this house, and even the neighborhood, were first erected.

Frank grabs his phone, ready to text Gerard when he sees Gerard opening the door, looking back and saying something to someone inside. Frank doesn't have to really wonder who, one of his parents, but he says something and then looks back in the direction of Frank's car, pulling the front door closed behind him.

Gerard looks, and of course Frank is biased, like a million bucks. His hair is messier than usual, but Frank's almost shocked to see that it looks like it's been washed. Honestly, he looks like the kid that you'd watch very closely in a convenience store, torn jeans which went out of style years ago, but somehow still work on him, baggy shirt for some metal band that only five people have heard of, and shoes older than Frank. Or at least they look it.

Frank feels his heart all but stop when Gerard pulls open the car door and sits down swiftly in the passenger's seat, barely even looking at Frank as he does so, almost like he belongs there. Frank's heart may not actually stop, but it does a whole slew of other things. It speeds up, slows down, skips a beat, clenches, stings, warms, and probably does several other things that can't all happen at once but do.

"Hey," Gerard says, pulling his buckle across him before he even really looks at Frank. When he does turn to look at him, he's a little caught off guard, because Frank looks nothing like he usually does at school. At school, he's scruffy, tired looking, bored, with great big bags under his eyes because he was up too late the previous night studying. He never bothers to dress up, he normally just throws whatever on, and Gerard kind of likes it that way, but he looks very uniquely different now. He looks perfect.

Like, Gerard is sure that he isn't actually sitting there, because everything about him is so on point that he might just be a robot with excellent creators. His hair looks like an expensive salon arrangement, and Gerard is positive his skin isn't actually that clear. Why is Frank dressing up for him? Or maybe this is just the way he likes to dress up for concerts. That might be it. He just wants to look good in case he meets some cute girl there.