Stockholm Syndrome (Frerard)

Hot On Your Tracks

There was a drawn-out, worrisome silence that filled the room as Gerard and Frank both stared wide-eyed at the television screen before them. The news segment on the disappearance of Gerard ended shortly after they had tuned into it, but the two of them were far too shocked to look away.

"That asshole!" Frank suddenly shouted, making Gerard instantly jumped in surprise. He wasn't sure if he should've been defending his brother from the insult obviously directed towards him, but in the end, he decided on saying nothing, knowing it was best not to argue with Frank. "Oh, Gerard, this can't be happening. Everyone is going to recognize us now!"

Gerard just frowned in response and Frank began his nervous pacing habit around the living room, muttering incoherent things under his breath.

"We can't stay here for long. We should stay on the move," Frank eventually stated loud enough for Gerard to clearly comprehend. "I think we'll be safe to leave during the day, we just can't let anyone see our faces for too long". Gerard agreed and the two of them began to prepare to leave the hotel and head back out on the road.

While Frank was busy in one of the other rooms, Gerard spotted a telephone resting on a small side table in the corner of the living room. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

A bit hesitantly, he walked over and picked up the phone. After a moment of consideration, he took a deep breath and dialed a number he had memorized.

Restricted by the phone wire, he awkwardly stood next to the table while the phone rang. It wasn't until someone picked up and Gerard said hello that Frank happened to come back into the room, looking up with fearful eyes.

"Hey Mikey," he calmly said into the phone. "I need to talk to you".

From across the room, Frank looked absolutely horrified and helpless. He couldn't believe Gerard was calling the very person they were trying to run away from. He felt betrayed and hurt, but could do nothing now but watch his entire world fall apart.

However, what Gerard told Mikey was the exact opposite of what Frank was expecting, "Listen, I'm fine. Stop trying to come after me. I'm not being kidnapped. I'm doing everything willingly, I promise. I love you Mikey, but I've made up my mind". And with that, Gerard hung up the phone, with Mikey being cut off from his pleading.

Gerard greeted Frank's astonished expression with a proud smile and went over to give him a hug.

"I can't believe you did that. I thought you were turning against me..." Frank finally said after they had separated.

"Of course not," Gerard smiled. "I want to be with you".

Again, the two boys hugged each other lovingly and soon after left the hotel in a hurry, knowing there was the slight possibility that Mikey wasn't going to listen to Gerard's demands.

After having fast-walked to the car with their eyes glued to the ground, they climbed in and took off in a new direction, still not completely sure where they were running off to. Frank was still beyond worried, but surprisingly Gerard wasn't as much. He was with Frank, and that's all that mattered at the moment to him.

As they drove down a long, bland road, Gerard checked up on Frank every once and while, and each time it was apparent that he was not comfortable; he was sitting straight up in his seat while tapping the steering wheel nervously. But once Gerard decided to reached over and interlock hands with him, Frank gave a relieved smile and seemed to relax a bit.

"I love you, Frank," Gerard announced out of nowhere.

It made Frank smile even bigger than he had earlier, "I love you too".

Eventually though, the cute moments being shared between them came to an end, as the car started struggling to drive. Frank pulled over off to the side of the road and felt a wave of anxiety rush through him when he checked the gas gauge.

"Empty... shit".

"There has to be a gas station somewhere around here, right?" Gerard replied, trying to stay hopeful.

Frank glanced around, but Gerard's statement didn't seem very true by the looks of it. All around them were fields of seemingly endless trees, without a single building in sight.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure we're in the middle of nowhere, so probably not..."

Slumping back into his seat in defeat, Gerard let out a quiet, "Oh".

Unfortunately, neither of them could come up with any other ideas on what to do, so they both just ended up sitting hopelessly in the car waiting for who knows what.

After about fifteen minutes passed by, a pickup truck came driving down the road, and Gerard gave Frank an excited look. Frank knew exactly what he was thinking, but wasn't so sure he agreed with him.

But before he had any time to argue, Gerard had jumped out of the car and waved down the truck, until it came to a stop. A young man with a crazy, curly fro hopped out of it, giving a friendly greeting to Gerard. Frank watched anxiously from his seat in his own car, praying that the stranger wouldn't recognize them or try to pull something on his beloved Gerard.

Thankfully, the two just chatted happily for a brief couple of minutes until Gerard ran back to Frank with good news.

"So, I learned that that man's name is Ray. I asked him if he happened to have any gas, but he said no. But he said he would be fine with towing our car and giving us a ride to wherever". When Frank gave an unsure look, Gerard continued, "Don't worry, I didn't tell him too much about us. I just lied and said me and my boyfriend were driving home from visiting some relatives and our car ran out of gas, that's all".

Frank chuckled at that, "Okay, fine. Let's go then, boyfriend".

Once Frank and Gerard helped hooked everything up for their car to be towed, they set off with Ray, hoping things would go well.

Meanwhile, the police finally managed to locate the old house where Frank had originally brought Gerard to when he first kidnapped him. They spent a long time investigating it, but there wasn't much left to discover; Frank had taken most of the things in the house with him. 

However, the police were able to confirm that Frank very much had something to do with the kidnapping of Gerard, due to them being able to inspect even more of his fingerprints, especially the ones on the knives, which Frank unfortunately had assumed were safe to leave behind.

News reporters were all over the case, because it was one of the most interesting events their small little town had experienced in a long time. As the days passed by, the news stations were beginning to announce it on television all over the state.

Coincidentally, the morning that Frank and Gerard had discovered their own faces on one certain news broadcast just so happened to be the exact one Mikey was watching from his couch at home. With Gerard already swirling around in his thoughts, he was extremely surprised when he glanced over at his phone and noticed who was calling. As fast as he could, he answered, attempting to ask Gerard a million questions.

"Gerard! Are you okay? What happened? Where are you? What has Frank done to you?" He spat out all at once.

Although, the answer Gerard gave him was not what he was expecting to hear, "Hey Mikey, I need to talk to you".

"Anything! Are you hurt? Please tell me where you are, and I'll come get you".

"Listen, I'm fine. Stop trying to come after me. I'm not being kidnapped, I'm doing everything willingly, I promise. I love you Mikey, but I've made up my mind".

Mikey sensed Gerard wasn't going to say much more after that and as a result, he quickly tried to persuade him to keep talking, "Wait! Gerard please don't-". But then, Gerard hung up, cutting him off and leaving him absolutely shocked.

Mikey didn't believe for a second that what Gerard was telling him was true. There was no way his brother suddenly preferred to run off with Frank rather than go to the art school he hadn't shut up about for the last two years. Something wasn't right. Whether it was Frank forcing Gerard to say the things he did on the phone call or his brother had just completely lost his mind, Mikey wasn't about to give up now.