Get ready for some intensity and plot movement.

__

Frank dreamt of things causing his sleeping body to toss and turn in the bed he sought little comfort in. Images, swirling colors, playing roles he'd never lived in before to make him the star of the chaos he found himself learning about in a time where distress came to claim every piece of him that remained unharmed during his experience. He couldn't remember a time where his dreams came so vividly, and in dreaming of such things, he lived through a restless night he'd originally hoped would bring him peace.

He dreamed of Gerard. Dressed in clothing from another century, gliding across the room to take Frank's hand and lead him behind bookcases he did not recognize, the fire blazing in the pit only a few feet away from him serving as the source of light. Gerard's eyes glowed brilliant green, his pale hands grabbing gently at Frank's waist, pressing him against the bookcase as he leaned in so his lips were close to Frank's ear.

"My life, my love, come away with me . . ." His words swirled in a hushed whisper through Frank's mind, dipped in silk and dripping onto Frank's skin to warm the pieces of flesh that Gerard's skin cooled. He allowed his head to be tipped back as lips skimmed over his sensitive skin, the tips of needle like fangs teasing it until Frank was gasping and wrapping himself around Gerard.

"Charlotte." Gerard murmured against his skin, kissing deeply, fingers tangling into Frank's hair and pulling his head to the side for his neck to be entirely exposed to him. Frank's eyes flew open in a panic, watching the room around them melt away into a scene of a bedroom and dim, yellow light coming from a lamp perched on a desk full of scattered objects much too distracting for him to fully realize that the name Gerard whispered was not his own.

Frank fell back against a bed, the fall almost never-ending until his body met the unusually soft sheets covering the mattress. He was filled with heat, terror and arousal, looking down to find Gerard slowly unbuttoning his shirt. His own shirt hung open, exposing his pale and glorious chest, his hair a disheveled array of black falling into his face, his trousers open as he began kissing Frank's skin again. Frank moaned, knowing this was sin and something too good to be true, but he was under a haze of lust and seduction, meeting the green eyes of the vampire sucking his skin, kissing, licking, his moans leaving buzzing sensations all across his flesh.

All was sweet, hot and erasing every inch of fright in Frank's body, until the vampire's green eyes were engulfed by a crimson red showcasing his deep hunger, and another pair of fangs slid out from his gums that he could see as he pulled his lips back menacingly from them and lunged for Frank's neck.

Frank awoke with a yell stuck in his throat, cold sweat covering the entirety of his body. As he shot up in the bed, he almost bumped heads with his vampire he hadn't realized was bending over the bed and shaking him gently, attempting to awaken him from his restless sleep and yank him out of his alarming dream which quickly transitioned into a nightmare. Gerard drew back sharply, looking at Frank with wide eyes, and drank in the shaking, terrified state of him.

"Frank, are you alright?" He reached out carefully, fingers barely brushing against Frank's arm. It was enough to make him flinch, unsure of whether or not he was still dreaming. The vampire covered up the faint trace of hurt visible in his expression, standing over Frank and gazing at him silently with worry.

Frank looked over the room, trying to get his teary eyes to absorb every detail in order to decipher what was reality and what was a dream. He recognized the dark shades of the room, the crackling fire, the lack of windows and the silken sheets lifted all the way to his torso. He fisted them in his hands, breathless, and color blossomed under his cheeks as he looked up at Gerard who was on the brink of bursting from concern.

Despite the dream classifying as a nightmare, the erotica of it haunted his mind, and all he could see was the lust driven green eyes of Gerard peering up at him through thick lashes while his lips did wonders on Frank's body. His face filled with blood, making his vampire step back as the wonderful scent wafted over to him, and Frank dropped his head in shame.

"Nightmares." He mumbled, sliding his fingers over the comforter and grasping it tightly.

"I should have expected you would be having them while trapped in this . . . hell." Gerard sighed softly. Frank looked up in mild surprise at the distaste dripping from his tone. Gerard perched himself on the corner of the bed, beautiful as ever as his silky black hair framed his pale face turned towards Frank's direction.

"Is it morning already?" Frank asked, swallowing against the dryness in his throat. He rubbed his tongue across the roof of his mouth, realizing how achingly thirsty he was.

Gerard seemed to read his mind. He stood up quickly, striding over to a wooden table with a pitcher full of water sitting on top of it. He filled a goblet with the liquid, making Frank's tongue feel heavy in his mouth. "Yes, morning is here, and unfortunately, the things we've dreaded are to come in just a moment."

Gerard came back to Frank with the goblet of water held out to him. Frank took it with a quiet thank you, parting his lips and tilting the cup slightly to let the water wash over his tongue. He gulped the refreshment, a droplet falling from the corner of his mouth and trailing to his neck, and soon it was drained completely due to his thirst. He placed it in his lap, processing Gerard's words with the weight of the world falling onto his shoulders.

"Lindsey." Frank choked out.

Gerard nodded, lips formed into a thin, pale line. "Your fate must be decided by her. And the news about Jamia will be delivered even if you feel you know what has happened."

There was nothing else that could have possibly happened. The mission was to murder Jamia in cold blood, and Lindsey held no mercy in her heart to give either her or Frank a chance, meaning her body must have been laying in a place where it wouldn't be discovered. Frank felt nauseous, his throat closing up as a following reaction. He didn't care if his fate was going to be decided when the life of someone he loved had been ripped away.

"I don't care what happens to me today." Frank slid out of the bed, looking around for the clothes he'd worn the day before. "Let's face her now. If she kills me, then so be it."

He was stopped from pacing around the room by a gentle hand grasping his wrist. Frank sucked in a breath between his teeth, whirling around to find his vampire standing there with the same expression he wore last night; the face of a man who was burning on the inside.

"I can't let her kill you." Gerard shook his head.

Frank refused to let his heart melt at the pain echoing in the gorgeous eyes of the vampire who hurt more than he would ever admit. "What am I to you, Gerard? A descendant of the woman you loved, yes, and what else? What importance could I possibly hold in your life?"

Gerard closed his fingers tighter around Frank's wrist, but the grip was no where near painful. "A friend. I never want any harm to come to you. Seeing your life taken away from you would be a pain I can't describe."

Frank didn't believe the words he was hearing. Gerard seemed to struggle for them, shutting his eyes and fluttering his eyelashes together as if they couldn't come to his mind soon enough. Frank hated himself for hurting over it, putting two and two together to realize he was Charlotte Iero in Gerard's vision, not Frank Iero.

"Don't say things you don't mean. My soul won't be able to rest if you lie to me now." Frank yanked his hand away and grabbed the clothes he'd folded that laid perched on a chair beside the bed. He unfolded them, going to strip while uncaring that Gerard was still in the room, but his vampire was touching him again. This time, a hand on his shoulder, turning Frank towards him to lock their gazes together once more.

"It seems like a lie to you, but these are things I can't explain to their full extent." Gerard's stare was intense, his throat moving as he swallowed to push more words out of his pale pink lips. "I have the most powerful urge to protect you. Your innocence, your understanding of my kind, I'm gravitated towards it. I know you feel the pull as well."

Frank wasn't sure how to explain it either. For the majority his life, he spent it obsessing over finding Gerard, feeling like his life wouldn't be complete if he never did. When they were near each other, they could see in one another what others couldn't. Frank swallowed hard and suppressed the emotions rising up in his throat. Looking into Gerard's eyes now, something new had sprung forth, something he hadn't touched in his entire time as a living human being, and it scared him too much for him to address it.

"Take me to her." Frank whispered. "There's only so much you can do for me. Thank you, Gerard, for extending my life as long as possible and taking so many risks for me, but it's all gone too far. Hasn't it?"

Gerard didn't answer. Frank believed he didn't posses the ability to as he stood there, frozen, his hand falling away from his shoulder. Frank looked into his pale face, the lock of hair tumbling from behind his ear to hang in his face. His vampire was at a loss of words, now slowly backing away, realizing that Frank was right.

"All I wanted was to keep you safe, my human." Gerard clenched his jaw, turning his back. "I'll be waiting for you outside the door." He was gone in an instant, the door clicking shut and showing no lingering sign of his presence.

Frank was drained of all spirit whenever he wasn't around his vampire. He hated that the man was a piece of him that made a home inside the jigsaw puzzle of his soul, but after that one night so many years ago, vampires and Gerard in specific became a part of his life without requiring him to become one of them. Frank stood in the same spot for a long moment, questioning whether or not this truly hurt Gerard. It looked and sounded like it was so, but Frank stood by his argument; what importance could he have to Gerard other than the fact that he came from the same bloodline as his dead lover?

Frank got dressed quickly, folding his night clothes and setting them on the bed after placing the covers back into a neat fashion over the soft mattress. He splashed his face with water from the pitcher on the table, rubbing at his eyes, drying his face with his old shirt to rid of the droplets staining his skin. For a man preparing to be met with possible death, he felt oddly calm. He blamed it on the fact that Jamia was gone, leaving him without his insides, and he could feel the air he breathed in swirling around in the shell of himself without a purpose or a source to be met with. His heart,  heavy in his chest, gave steady beats to remind himself that he was still alive for now. It would be gone soon, so he counted the amount of times it thudded, never paying attention to it until now.

Gerard was outside as he said he would be. An expressionless sculpture under the dull light of burning torches, skin a porcelain canvas and eyes swiped clean of the hurt swirling through the circular irises in the whites of them. He turned towards Frank robotically, giving him a nod.

"I'm sorry for being so cold." Frank whispered to him. "But I have nothing left. I wish I could be who you want me to be, but life just doesn't work that way."

Gerard finally reacted. His lips parted slightly, the ice melting away from his gaze. He blinked the fog away, grimacing. "I never wished for you to be anyone other than yourself. The only thing I wished was to never have been so weak, and that I had taken you and Jamia some place safe instead of bringing you here where everything that was buried rose to the surface."

Frank, stunned and feeling the whisper of pain in his chest, couldn't muster any words to comfort his vampire. His beautiful vampire, forlorn and carved from the hands of angels. He deserved to have someone to stand by his side to assure him that he wasn't weak, he deserved to have Charlotte with him as his beautiful wife like he planned to make her when she belonged to him.

He walked closer, walking through the gap between them, and laid his head on Gerard's shoulder. Frank's limbs moved slow as the vampire stiffened. He rested his cheek on Gerard's shoulder, smelling the scent of books, vanilla and the faint rust of blood. His arms came up to circle around him, embracing him in preparation for a goodbye.

"Thank you." Frank's voice melted away into the air, becoming thin wisps of nothingness. He could only thank his vampire for the good he'd done, forgetting the bad, and hoping an embrace would be something the man could carry with him if Frank was meant to die tonight.

Gerard brushed his fingers along Frank's shoulder, unsure of where to touch him, and settled one of his hands at the middle of his back. As Frank shut his eyes, he felt himself being held close, and they glided down the halls at an unknown speed he didn't peel his lids away from his eyes to see. He wondered if Gerard could feel how quickly his heart is beating, smell how the blood was rushing through his veins at double the speed as everything started to slowly sink in. His forehead was pressed to Gerard's shoulder, hands tightly gripping his vampire, and he tried to keep his breathing steady.

They'd returned to the room where Lindsey sat upon her iron throne, as if she knew the two of them would come to her to give Frank away that very moment. She sat with her  legs crossed, a fitted black dress clinging to her waist and a plunging neckline allowing her to wear her long string of black pearls around her elegant neck. The slit of the dress crawled up her legs obscenely, webbed fishnets wrapped around her curvy legs that remained white as milk as the rest of her skin was. The woman slowly slid out of her chair, spiked heels clicking against the swirled marble floors and her tubular curls resting heavily on her right shoulder. Her presence, though appearing as that of an angel draped in black, made a ball of heavy steel form in the center of Frank's gut. As Gerard let him go, he was filled with resentment, glaring at Lindsey with the force of a million daggers shooting in her direction.

"I've been waiting for you both. Such an annoyance that sleep is required for little humans." Lindsey spoke with great distaste, as if all of the events leading up to this morning had caused her the most unpleasantness.

"Belittling his kind is hardly necessary, Lindsey." Gerard stood close to Frank, his throat tightened as he withheld his emotions.

Lindsey caught onto Frank's disgusted gaze, her wine red lips curling up into a smirk and her hands slid down her curved waist to rest on top of her hips. "Perhaps I'll show you some mercy. I have something for you, young man."

Lindsey snapped her fingers, leaving Frank in a minor state of confusion, until another vampire stepped into the room. His face, framed by a halo of silken hair, was wiped clean of any emotion, a sculpture of an angel making his way to Frank. He held something balled up in his fist, and the object was tossed at Frank like it held little important to him. He recognized the vampire as Claude, the man assigned to bring death to Jamia.

Frank watched the vampire vanish from the room, and as he looked down at the object now in his hands, every living part of him left his body, including the spirit floating dully in the cage made of skin and bone. He unfolded the scrunched up familiar shirt in his hand, smelling the fruity perfume and the scent of Jamia coming off of it so strongly. Horror filled him as he realized it was splattered with blood, crimson staining the once white and blue shirt to confirm that Jamia had been murdered while wearing one of Frank's old shirts she claimed as her own many years ago. He dropped it to the floor, like the blood stained fabric shocked him with the force of a million lightening bolts.

"I told you we would bring back a little surprise! Hopefully that brings peace to your mind, instead of wondering whether or not she's dead. No need to worry, love, her death was as quick as it could be in a scenario where you're getting the blood sucked out of you." Lindsey beamed while Frank fell apart.

Gerard gripped his shoulder tightly, keeping him upright as his knees buckled. Frank couldn't look at the shirt he'd seen on his best friend countless times, the fabric having absorbed her scent and the blood shed from her body while she was being killed. No sadness came, only agony, all of his muscles clenching and holding in the horrified sobs trapped inside him.

"Breathe." Gerard whispered to him, trying to calm him down. Frank couldn't, not now and not any time in the future. Gerard bent down and picked up the shirt, grimacing at the blood stains. Frank's stomach turned uneasily and he thought he might vomit as images swirled through his mind, intruding every peaceful thought he may have had of his own death.

"And now, it's time to decide what happens to our darling human here." Lindsey skipped over to one of the painting hanging from the wall, observing the picture of demons pulling a mortal apart with her hands clasped behind her back. "I always give my lovely brethren the option to immortalize their pets or drain them completely. And, in Gerard's case, I assume he won't want to be the one to kill you, dear Frank."

"If he . . . must be killed, then I will do it myself." Gerard spoke, struggling to make himself sound strong. "I don't want him to suffer."

"Who says I would make him suffer if I took that responsibility?" Lindsey glanced stared at him from the corner of her sparkling eyes, unable to keep the smile from creeping onto her porcelain doll face.

The two vampires stared each other down, as if they communicated without requiring words being spoken. Frank shakily took Jamia's shirt from Gerard's stiff hands, hugging it close to his chest to grasp the last piece of her he had left. Never mind the blood, her scent clung to the fabric and reminded him of home.

Lindsey broke the tense silence with a giggle, her hand lifting to delicately cover her mouth. "My sweet Gerard, the vampire with the most humanity left out of all of us. Would you really want to relive killing little Charlotte again by giving Frank the same fate?"

Anguish burned in Gerard's eyes like smoking brush in a forest of dark green. His clenched his jaw tightly, hatred leaking out from every single one of his pores.

"I thought so." Lindsey sighed, turned around with the train of her velvet black dress dragging across the floor. "I won't allow you to change him. He's been nothing but a burden to us all. Gerard, he dies tonight, or I will have no choice but to kill him myself, and your brother will be here to assure that you watch every second of it."

"No, wait." Frank cut in, drawing their attention. "Please, kill me now. I can't wait, that's too much time, I can't let this sink in." He was trembling harshly, balling up Jamia's shirt in his hands and seeing how the blood soaked into every single visible thread on the spots it touched.

"Are you so desperate for death that you're begging for it now?" Lindsey raised her eyebrows, lips turning down in disgust. "You humans have no value for your lives. It's no wonder why so many of you take them away from your own selves." Lindsey stepped closer, holding her head high. "Or perhaps, immortality would be the best punishment for you."

"No," Gerard's voice filled the room. "I will take the job of ending his life, but one thing I will never do is give him the curse of watching everything around him rot while he stays frozen in time."

Lindsey pressed her fingers against her lips thoughtfully, her eyes squinting at the edges. Frank couldn't stand the thought of being forced to live with the burden of this pain for the rest of eternity. He couldn't find any words to say.

"I don't think you've earned it, Gerard." Lindsey concluded. "Knowing you, you would benefit from Frank living an immortal life, possibly make a lover out of him as you did with his ancestor."

The vampire and the human stiffened, eyes meeting in a flash and turning onto Lindsey with mirrored hate burning alive in their hearts. Lindsey laughed at their expressions, twirling one of her black curls around her bone white finger.

"His life ends tonight. Consider this . . . a mercy killing." Lindsey pitied Frank, coming forward and caressing his cheek with a pout set on her lips. Frank flinched away, forcing himself to stop his hand from raising to smack her away.

She giggled, trailing back to her throne causally. "How romantic." She leered at the two of them, smoothly sliding back into her seat of iron, an evil queen watching the world fall apart around her as she benefited from the countless amount of people suffering. Frank wanted to wrap his hands around her neck, force the air out of her lungs, drive a dagger through her heart to force her to feel what he did after his best friend was killed.

His body twitched, lurching towards her, but Gerard caught him in an unbreakable grip and took them away from the room. Frank's blood boiled in his veins with an anger he could hardly imagine belonging to himself. He tore away from Gerard and found himself in the room he stayed in for the mean time again, unsure of how to process every single bit of rage flooding through him.

"How can anyone possibly be so cruel?" Frank spat through clenched teeth.

Gerard wasn't paying attention. He flew across the room, opening and closing drawers, throwing piles of clothing onto the bed and drifting in and out of the room at a speed where Frank could only see smudges of color moving through the paths in front of him. Frank held his head in between his hands, fighting not to punch anything and hurt his hand.

"What are you doing?" Frank tried to calm down, feeling the confusion tickling the back of his mind.

Gerard slowed down, eyes wide and pupils pulsing wildly in his irises. "We're getting you out of here."

Frank watched Gerard shoved the clothes into bags, fumbling with them, and the agitated movements were unlike the usual grace Gerard carried with him. Panic sprung in Frank's chest instantly.

Frank stalked over to where Gerard prepared to streak out of the room again and tightly gripped his arm. His vampire flinched in surprise, staring at him in disbelief.

"No, Gerard, please." Frank begged, wanting to fall to his knees. "Do what Lindsey ordered you to do. Kill me, I can't live with all of this, even if you take me away from this place."

Gerard's eyes flashed, his jaw flexing harshly. "How can you value your life so little? Because of grief? You know nothing about the feeling, you've only lost one person in your lifespan."

Frank was shocked by his answer. Gerard yanked his arm away, flitting out of the room and returning with bottles of water. He shoved them into the bags, mumbling nonsense under his breath as he tugged at his own hair.

"You don't know what she meant to me. How the fuck can you say something like that?" Frank stood his ground.

Gerard kept his back turned to him, but he was stiff, breathing heavily. He gripped the bedframe tightly, so much that it groaned and began to splinter in his hand. "You humans are the most weak hearted creatures to exist. Weeping over the smallest things, taking your own lives at any time of weakness."

"You were human once." Frank's anger was beginning to direct itself to the vampire whose entire demeanor had changed in a matter of such little time.

"I have lost everything that is of value to me." Gerard slowly whirled around, his eyes flashing a bright red. "My parents rotted on the inside of disease, my humanity was ripped from me because I was a fool infatuated with a pretty woman, the love of my life died under my hands after being taken from me, my own flesh and blooded brother hates me because the woman he called his own was took her own life because of me!"

Frank backed away from the vampire closing in on him in what seemed to be slow motion, his heart pounding in his chest. He registered fear over the great despair he felt, not recognizing the glowing red eyes taking over the warmness of the vampire's stare.

"And you dare give up on your entire life after suffering one loss?" Gerard bellowed. "I've endured the remains of agony after watching everything I loved be yanked away from me, and I never once begged so pitifully for anyone to end my life!"

He pinned Frank against the wall, trapping him between the solid and cold stone and the vibrating, violent body of the vampire making tears rapidly rise to his eyes. The passion of Gerard's pain was searing as it formed into anger, radiating off of him and burning Frank where it brushed against his skin. He whimpered, trembling under the stare of the vampire's red eyes, and realizing that despite wanting to die only moments ago, he was afraid. Afraid of what would become of him.

"Stop." Frank cried meekly, pushing at Gerard's chest.

"You idiotic mortals, thinking you can't fight against pain, you . . ." The crimson red slowly melted away from Gerard's eyes along with the fuel to the fire. He held Frank there, a small and fragile human absorbing the meaning of the words Gerard spewed his way. He was more than right, but his broken heart couldn't handle it all in one bruising blow.

"The blood running through your veins is as precious as the blood that ran through hers." Gerard whispered shakily, fangs protruding from behind his lips, and Frank was melting against the wall. "Charlotte and Jamia's. Your soul is a light, a gift, and you don't have a clue how it feels to witness it being drained from you. You don't realize how precious life is until you see it fading away before your eyes."

Frank couldn't breathe right. Gerard's eyes were rimming red with bloody tears, and seeing them up close made him feel things he never had before. His breath stuttered, pain overcoming his chest.

"You are all I have left to hold on to." Gerard's expression fell apart, a true fallen angel weeping from the loss of his wings. "My human that I swore to protect from the evil in this world. It hurts me just as intensely to see you giving up over a broken heart."

Red tears welled up in his eyes, now slipping down his cheeks, trails of blood which he'd consumed from the victims he took when his coven rose again to feed. Frank felt light headed watching them spill, new emotions drowning out the great need for death carrying him to a place where no rational thoughts existed. Frank could see himself in this position. If Frank could have protected Jamia, taken her away from death destined to come to her, he would have taken her things and brought her to a place where no one could ever find her.

Gerard yearned to do exactly that for Frank.

"My vampire." Frank whimpered, the previous hardening of his heart disappearing and turning into pained warmth. He understood him at last, never wanting his vampire to suffer as he did. Perhaps he did have a purpose, one he never would have imagined having.

"Let me take you away." Gerard moved away from Frank, seeming to float in his movements. "I don't know what will become of us, but I promise to keep you safe. I will guide you through your grief. But, please, never give up on me again."

Frank looked down at all of the clothes packed away. Slowly, he moved towards them, shaky hands touching the duffle bags Gerard prepared for him.

"Where will we go?" Frank asked softly.

"A coven in London." Gerard wiped his bloody tears away. "Two vampires Lindsey created wanted nothing to do with her. They fled to London, turning their remaining family and friends into their own kind to keep themselves from succumbing to emptiness."

"That's across the ocean, Gerard, how will we get there before Lindsey realizes we're gone?" Frank clutched the strap of the bag.

"We run until we reach the airport, I'm too quick for anyone to see us. We will find a plane as quickly as we can, take the next flight to London. The reason I'm rushing is because of our limited time." Gerard reached into his pockets, pulling out multiple dollar bills that amounted to one hundred dollars in each bill. "I have enough more than enough to take us there, to feed and hydrate you as well."

Frank counted over one thousand dollars in the few bills in one of Gerard's hands, not even sparing a glance at the other because he knew it would be enough for the both of them to afford the trip. Frank nodded quickly, scooping up Jamia's shirt that had fallen to the floor. With a swell of sadness, he packed it away, hot tears pricking at his eyes.

"Let's get the fuck out of here. I might kill Lindsey myself if we don't." Frank wiped his eyes, needing to escape the cold stone walls trapping him underground.

Gerard nodded, zipping the bags and slinging one over Frank's shoulder while the other two hung from both of his own. He reached out for Frank, asking for his trust with his eyes that had returned to normal.

Frank walked into his arms, allowing himself to be enveloped. He could have swore he felt the ghostly touch of lips pressing to the top of his head, but he disregarded it, pushing down the unknown feeling he'd felt earlier in the hallway and moments ago to prevent it from adding more stress to himself. They flew down the halls, escaping, and Frank closed his eyes as he confided in the safety of his vampire's arms.

____

A/N; That was intense to write. My stomach kept dropping. But I liked this a lot, I'm starting to build up their connection so they'll start feeling more than friendship soon.

What do you think?

For some of you who didn't know, my thirty day smut challenge was reported and taken down, so whoever did it, I hate you! Anyways, I'm going to be creating another one soon, but I'm putting back the old ones as well and some of the days my readers were really looking forward to. I'm really sad.

I hope you have a good day.

"You were meant for this love, you're my flesh and blood."

-aprilxo