Welcome to the Pride Parade [Frerard AU]

Part III: Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 – THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE HOLY

I couldn't keep my head up very much anymore, imagining Frank sitting in a cold house, ignored by parents who were supposed to be there for him when no one else was. Parents who didn't care.

I found myself filling my sketchbook with similar images all the time, but leaving them unfinished. I was distracted by everything else.

Frank said he didn't mind the idea of leaving, saying the house more damaging than not. Maybe that was true. Still, where else was he going to go? What extended family did he have to take refuge with?

The helplessness was depressing as anything. I offered all the support I could manage, but he kept insisting he was okay. The weird thing was, I believed him. I'd never caught him in a lie, so why would he make things up now?

I was well aware that Frank was open to any questions I had for him, but I really didn't have many at all. I could ask if he was okay over and over again but his answer would never change. I would ask where he was going or how much longer he had with me, but I knew he would tell me as soon as he knew.

We texted often, him having significantly less to talk about now that his parents refused to talk to him.

From Gerard Way: Are you afraid of the future?

From Frank Iero: Not the future. Just the change.

From Gerard Way: That sounds fair. How are you doing? For real.

From Frank Iero: I am truly okay. Thank you for asking :) I feel like it hasn't fully sunk in yet, that I'm leaving this house for another. I've only seen things like this happen in short films on YouTube.

From Gerard Way: I'm still a little in shock, too. What worries me is that I seem to be more upset than you are

From Frank Iero: Call me a sadist, but the fact that you're more upset than I am actually is comforting. I really, honestly know you care about me. That makes one person.

From Gerard Way: You bet I care about you. So so so much.

From Frank Iero: I appreciate that more than you can understand. I care about you just as much, sweetheart

From Gerard Way: <3

From Frank Iero: <3

Sending hearts back and forth for a while was something of a comfort. It was the closest thing to a virtual hug we were getting.

A quiet knock on my bedroom door set me out of the rhythm of it. My mother peeked through the door, opening it slowly. "Hi, honey."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?" she asked. I suppressed the instinct to reply with "of course," and instead only shrugged.

"You've been so quiet these past couple of days, and spending even more time than usual in here," she commented. "Did something happen that I don't know about?"

I hesitated, wondering how much I should tell her. "Yeah. Something did. It'll be okay soon, though, really."

"Are you sure? I'm here to talk about anything." She offered a warm smile, one that, somehow, I found welcoming enough to tell her nearly everything.

I told her that Frank hadn't yet come out to his parents when we first started dating, and that everything we'd done over the summer so far had been a secret, one well-guarded by stories and lies. Her face went from concern to genuine worry while I relayed all the times we were nearly caught.