Chapter 12

The two of them were in shock-- no, the three of them were in shock. Million of questions ran across both Frank's and Pencil's minds, questions Octavia knew she did not have the answers two. Finally, Frank took a huge sip of him warm coffee and raised his gaze to meet Octavia's, "How?"

It was a fairly simple question, one she did know the answer to, one she answered as Pencil snapped out of his thinking state.

"Well, I was minding my business the other day, went grocery shopping, y'know, the adult life, when I saw it. It wasn't huge, but it certainly caught my eye from like, two blocks away or something. So I was like damn, y'all did a tag without me and didn't even show me? What a bunch of ratas, and it was out in the open too, like not even hidden or anything, just out there for everyone to see. And judging from the spot only, I would've guess it was made by pne opf those dumbass pendejos who buy a black spraycan once and think they're Banksy or some shit, but it was so well done! Must've used a great stencil and shit, like the edges were smooth as fuck, and the colors were super vibrant too,"

Octavia paused to drink a bit of her coffee, as both her friends awaited to hear more about this random art Octavia found on a wall, for they were both very curiopus to find out who had done it, what they had done, all the details.

"At first I thought it had been you, Ghoul," She pointed at Frank, who was about to object, but she continued, "'Cause it was a vampire, like with the fangs, cape and everything, but the edges were way too perfect to be something you dumbass did," Frank shot her a glare, yet urged her to keep on talking.

"Nah, but I was looking everywhere for your signature, to snap a picture of it and give you shit for doing it in such an open place yet congratulate you for not getting caught, but then I saw it, it wasn't your signature, no wicked smiley face with an eye crossed out and stitched on its' mouth, instead I found this,"

Octavia pulled her phone from her back pocket and unlocked it, going through her pictures and finally showing them the one: the signature was all red, and it showed what appeared to be a circle with a star inside it, the tips touching the circle around it, and the letters 'R.V.' on the free spaces between the star's legs. Pencil swiped to the left, and the next picture showed what they guessed was the full tag. It was a vampire, much like Octavia had said, cartoon-ish yet far more realistic than Frank's usual ghouls, but this vampire had its' brow furrowed, and appeared to be charging at something, a spear in one hand and a wooden shield on the other, positioned and ready for combat.

"Wow,"

Frank was unsure who had uttered the word, but it was honestly how all of them felt at the art. It was great, it was well done, it was smooth, it said something, it was simply marvelous; the mysterious R.V. had some serious skills. Frank voiced his thoughts, and both of his friends agreed with him.

On one side, a new tagger in their zone was great, especially such a good one like this RV dude, or girl, or neither. If they could get a hold of him and tell them about their little tagging group, he might even want to join and they could expand their clique. A new face that would be willing to exchange graffiti tips with them would be awesome, and coming up with a new nickname was always fun; discovering what their style was like, if they were an artist much like Octavia, or were only good with stencils, like Frank.

Meeting someone new sounded exciting, and Frank could tell that the three of them were already making someone up inside their minds from one tag alone, trying to descipher their face, their hair, their appearence and personality, because the person behind the art, any art, is putting themselves out there, they are pouring a piece of them into the drawing, into the sculpture, into everything they make. There's a piece of someone in every creation.

On the other hand, a new face might be something they had to worry about. What if they started to be a problem? They had already tagged in a quite dangerous and open place, what if they ended up getting the whole group in trouble? If they hypothetically agreed to join their group, that is.

And the three of them were already so close to each other, they were best friends for God's sake, a new person coming into their friendship would surely be weird.

But one thing was clear: they had to find the new tagger, quick and before the police.

--

The week had been fucking long as Hell, and it seemed pretty ironic, since they actually were in Hell. Or, well, that was the word most teenagers liked to use when referring to school, which wasn't far from reality, but still Frank thought if it was actually the kingdom of Satan, there should be way more gay people.

Frank had barely survived through the thousands of tests, pop quizzes and homework he had had to complete in one night, but it was mostly his fault, since he had spent the whole weekend with Pencil and Octavia, laughing and smoking weed and drawing and planning both his next tag and his next tattoo, and he had finished sketching the former. So he had to pull an all-nighter (or a few) on Sunday, and the days that followed, for it was his last year in school and did not want to be held back.

Surprisingly, he managed to do well in most of them, and only a few of them weren't passing marks, which he guessed he could raise paying a bit more attention in class or asking for extra credit.

Frank liked to class himself as an average student, he didn't have outstanding grades, but he liked to have nice ones, and stay on the passing side of all his subjects. It made him happy and it made his parents happy.

It was only on Friday when the weight of all those hours studying finally dawned on him, and he was struggling to even keep an eye open throughout a whole lesson, instead falling asleep on his desk and drooling all over it, wishing he was with Gerard at least, snuggling in between his arms and lazily kissing his neck. But no, there he was, head resting over his crossed arms on the table at lunch, not even bothering with ordering something to eat from the cafeteria, since he would end up with his face submerged in whatever food was on the plate.

His hood was up and his arms shielding his face form the sunlight, but still he couldn't sleep for some reason. It was most likely the uncomfortable position he was in, but it seemed that the only break where he was able to sneak in a nap, his brain was wide awake.

A loud sound in front of him made him jump instantly, and he raised his gaze to meet a tray filled with food and snacks inches away, then looking further up at Nathan, who gave the shorter boy a wide smile, which didn't quite reach his eyes, but Frank was unable to reciprocate.

"Hey, Frank, rough day?"

"Rough week," Frank groaned, the bags under his eyes only supporting his statement. He moved so his chin was resting on his forearms to look at Nathan, who was currently shoving an entire burrito into his mouth. "Fucking tests and shit, I need at least two weeks of sleep right now, man,"

"Yeah, I feel you," Nathan said, offering Frank a bite of his meat burrito, which Frank denied, but decided to steal his banana instead. Frank was in the midst of sitting straighter as he peeled the skin off his fruit when Nathan talked again, "I broke up with Delilah,"

"What? Dude, but you were like so perfect together? I'm pretty sure you were everyone's goals, y'know, the typical athletic dude with the cute girl, all that jazz," Frank rambled as he ate the stolen banana. Even though he never hung out with Nathan (or his now ex-girlfriend) outside of school, that didn't mean he didn't care about them. He knew Nathan really loved Delilah, so it was truly shocking news.

"Yeah, you know, as they say, shit happens,"

"Care to elaborate?"

Nathan sighed as both boys ate, "I loved her, I truly did, and you know that. But I couldn't help but think about what would things be without her, you feel? Like, what if I were to be single, how would my life change. And my mind kept wondering that, and I just couldn't do that to her, one moment be with her like nothing was happening and the next think about how much better my life would be without a relationship. It just wasn't fair to her, I couldn't do it anymore,"

"Is it?"

"Is it what?"

"Better, your life without a relationship. I mean, you miss her, I'm sure, but do you still think you did the right thing?" Frank wondered out loud, folding the skin of his banana and wrapping it in a napkin to throw it away later. He hoped Nathan didn't find his next action offensive, but Frank was really fucking tired, so he crossed his arms over the table again and rested the side of his face against them, trying to keep up with the conversation but unable to keep his eyes open.

"I mean, I guess. I can be with anyone I want, no strings attached, I can do anything I want I guess, without having to stop and be like 'wait, what would Delilah say', or think, because being in a relationship gives you many things, but it also takes away a lot, and I missed that, I missed going to parties and hitting on girls. I suppose that makes me a fuckboy, or afraid of compromise, but I feel way more free now,"

Frank nodded, understanding Nathan's point, yet being pretty sleep-deprived and tired and not thinking right. Because if he were the opposite of those things, he would've remembered Nathan doesn't know about Gerard, he would've remembered Nathan doesn't know he likes dudes, he would've remembered he doesn't know how Nathan would react to any of these news.

But Frank was those three things and more, and apparently out of his mind, because he just blurted what he thought would be comforting to his friend, when in fact it would make him the most uncomfortable he had ever been in a while.

"It's alright, I mean, I get what you're saying. I just think it's quite scary, y'know, like, how some people come into our lives and it gets a while to get to know them, it gets a while to get them to open up to you and vice versa, and then just cut them out of your life with a few words, that shit's scary. I mean, I wouldn't know what to do if that ever happened with me and Gerard, I don't love the guy, yet, but I still feel very strongly about him, and it'd be like a slap to the face if we suddenly split like that,"

"Gerard?" Frank didn't even see Nathan's frown of confusion, nor had he realized what he was saying were news to Nathan.

"Yeah, dude, my boyfriend. Y'know, from the art shop. Damn, he's cute, everyone always tells me to shut up about him, but I can't help it. You got a boyfriend you gonna brag about him, and I can't even begin to think about what would happen if he left me, or if I left him,"

Frank finally realized what he was blurting when Nathan stuttered out a confused, "Y-You're gay?"

His eyes snapped open and his head up, looking at Nathan and wanting to repeatedly slam his head against the table at what he had just said. He had told Nathan about his boyfriend, oh God. Everything seemed to go in slow motion after, and Frank opened his mouth to actually debate that no, he wasn't gay, he didn't like only guys, but no words would come out.

"I need to go?" Nathan suddenly said, sounding more like a question than a statement, and as quick as a bolt he was up and off with his tray in hand, leaving a sleep-deprived Frank behind, trying to reassure himself that he didn't care if Nathan stopped talking to him, though being unable to, because, after all, Nathan was his friend.

--
i havent written in 4 months bc reasons but this is the last pre-written chapter and i really want to finish this story for the 3 people that are reading it, but its really hard bc life

i wont bore you with excuses, just know that this story will probably finish around the year 2034 no but seriously, it will take a long time for me to get around to finishing it, it'd mean the world to me if you continue reading it, but i wont blame you if you dont :)

maybe you can keep it in your library and read it when i finish it idfk

i send love and shitty smut,
blue