The sunset sits crested over the rising stars, shining its magnificent light across the horizon, as far as the eye can see, and down the grey city lanes that Frank's roamed for years. The sky sits polluted peach and violet, toned around the edges with the rising dark black fade of nighttime. And finally, the local star disappears down the bend of Earth itself, burning a brilliant, painful red, slowly dying from light and waning from its full potential.

Despite the setting sun's glorious rays, Frank, Pete, Mikey, and Patrick can't see a damn thing. Chilled drops of rainfall from their great ascent in the sky, gravity pulling each droplet down to the ground. Frank feels one droplet fall in his thick, dark hair, barely reaching his scalp.

"Yo, Frankie," Pete calls, his voice echoing off the elementary school walls. His dark brown eyes rise to see the teen waving him down from the other side of the chainlink fence. Frank sighs, looking the seven-foot fence up and down wondering if he could scale it without help. He sees Mikey drop from the peak, right onto his feet and Frank isn't sure how he doesn't fall over in pain.

"I'm coming," Frank grumbles, moodily. This is one of the things he hates about visiting his old elementary school. It's nice to see the places he used to see, but at the same time, the fence is normally locked, as the school is abandoned, which means he has to scale it every time they visit.

Frank, though he's reluctant, is ready for the challenge and decides to follow Mikey's steps. He pulls his backpack closer around him and slowly starts to scale the fence. Hand, hand, foot, foot, hand, hand, foot, foot. He makes his way up, the underpart of his fingers stinging in displeasure. Frank pushes himself further up despite the pain and finally peaks the fence, throwing his backpack over before following, making his way down at first before falling the rest of the way into the dark, unlit grass.

Patrick's the last to follow, pushing himself up over the fence as well, Frank watches as his blond hair falls into his face, sweat sticking to his body. When he finally follows behind, they embark on towards the school building. They've been here hundreds of times before and this is just one of the many since they began high school. Frank's on his last year of schooling, pushed back into his senior year. Pete and Patrick are right behind him in junior year, and Mikey is in sophomore year. Nonetheless, they've stayed together through elementary school, middle school, and high school. Despite all the stupid fights and problems they've had with each other, they still love and respect each other. They've been friends for years.

Pete's always been the jokester, always doing the craziest shit to get even a droplet of attention. Mikey's been the calm and collected kid who makes sure they don't end up in jail. Patrick is Pete's supporting cast, always there to try to sort out whatever thoughts go through Pete's head. And Frank? Frank's been the loud, excited kid with a huge heart and the "father" of the group. He isn't sure how they ended up with their distinct personalities but it fits with the group, even better than they thought it would originally.

Patrick sighs, pulling his bag from the ground as they continue together in their tightly-knit group. They push on down the narrow sidewalk, avoiding the cameras that roam the school and sticking in the shadows as they've practiced over and over again. They've been caught here before several times by the cops, by security, by the Karens who decide to walk the streets at night looking to find someone who is "offending" them. Whoever it was, they've been caught before. So now, they know exactly what to do to avoid the dangers of the law. They know what corners to turn, which rooms they're allowed to enter, and where they can relax without being caught. At one point, Frank ended up being suspended from school for a week straight and he wasn't allowed back on the school grounds without an adult. Though, that didn't last long. So far, he hasn't been caught again. So hopefully, it won't be an issue.

They take a sharp left and stop in front of one of the classrooms. Pete is the first one in, leaving his bags behind for a moment as he climbs the windowsill and slowly opens the slightly ajar window, a curtain string being the only thing keeping it from shutting completely. It's a failsafe that's worked too many times to count. He finally ducks in the window and pulls in everyone's bags, setting them on the linoleum floor before he helps up Patrick, then Mikey, and finally, Frank.

Frank shuts the window behind them and they're alone together in the abandoned classroom. Cobwebs hang from the ceiling and tube lights line in strips above them, vacant of power and utterly useless the way they are now. Desks sit pushed against the far wall, empty and broken. On the wall beside the door sits a blackboard, covered in tags and spraypaint now. Different words and phrases they've graffitied over the years. "Dead Gang," "No Sleep For Cocksuckers," "Pete Wuz Hear," "Smegma," "I LIKE 8=3!!!!!!" Just the normal sort of thing you'd see from a group of queer teens. The usual.

"What song are we putting on today, pals?" Pete asks a bit too loudly. He's got his phone in hand, ready to play anything they need. Patrick is the first to suggest a song with a sharp, "Longview, man. I already requested it."

"Right, right," Pete presses a cigarette between his lips as he types in the song and finally presses play, turning up the volume to max and setting the phone down on the teacher's desk, now covered in mold stains and faded varnish. He lights up his cigarette, sitting on the desk.

"How are you doing?"

Frank doesn't realize the question is directed towards him until he realizes Mikey isn't moving from in front of him. When it's asked, he isn't sure how to reply at first. How has his life been? His mom's been worried about it him a lot lately (though, when isn't she?). His dad's been busy working and all of the time he doesn't spend at the house, he spends out with friends or at school. It's a good life, not too much schoolwork but enough to keep him busy. His friends genuinely care about him. Frank's happy. Like actually, genuinely happy. Probably for the first time in a long time considering...

"Good, actually," He finally replies, leaning back against the desk. He notices Pete out of the corner of his eye holding Patrick's hand flirtatiously. He rolls his eyes, turning his attention back to Mikey, "How about you?"

"It's... alright." He says it in a way that doesn't particularly sound alright. He trails off afterward, staring at the floor for a moment, thinking about whatever's been on his mind. Frank's eyebrows knot in confusion and concern. Mikey's usually alright, usually doesn't complain much about the shit that happens in his life. Because, honestly, nothing much ever happens in his life. Frank never met Mikey's family, but he knows that Gerard's already graduated and has his own place not far from Mikey's. He also knows that Mikey's parents tend to be slightly overprotective and now that they can't be that way about Gerard, they've harnessed all that nervous energy into Mikey. Frank wonders how in the hell Mikey managed to even get out tonight.

"What's up, man? You don't sound alright." Frank replies, genuinely concerned for his friend. Mikey avoids his eyes, sniffling his runny nose from the cold outdoors.

"It's fine, honestly. It's just some stupid shit that's gonna pass eventually, but right now it just sucks to deal with." Mikey replies.

"What is it?" Pete butts in, now paying attention to the conversation instead of Patrick. Frank eyes the man before turning his consciousness back to the friend in need.

"I don't know if I should say yet." Mikey seems anxious, trying to avoid the question as well as he can. He wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans, his breathing picking up in pace just slightly so as soon as he's done exhaling, he's immediately inhaling again and so on. He seems afraid of the consequences that might come.

"You know this is a safe place, we won't ever judge you and you should feel free to let anything out here, dude. Seriously. We've got your back," Patrick butts in gently, trying to give the brunette as much comfort as he can. Frank nods in agreement, trying to show how important his words are.

Mikey takes in a deep inhale before he sighs and says to them, "My parents have been assholes lately and they're threatening to take away everything that isn't related to school because they know I've been sneaking out lately. So, I'm considering moving in with Gerard so people will quit being on my ass all the time."

"You should, that's good for you." Pete says immediately, ashing out his cigarette, "Why are you anxious, though?"

"It's just... been years since I last talked with Gerard. They're, what, 21 now? They left three years ago and I haven't said much more than a single hello to them in all that time. What if they're different now? Or what if they don't like me anymore? What if we just don't get along like we used to?" Mikey's head is running and Frank can see it. He understands the situation must be hard. Mikey and Gerard have always had a complicated relationship, everyone could see that. But, in the end, they're brothers. They both have similarities that could never be taken apart.

"Gerard was really sweet the last time I talked with them," Patrick says softly, "I'm sure they haven't changed too much since you last saw them."

Mikey nods softly, still not completely assured from his anxiety, but it seemed like the thought helped. He licks his lips and nods again, meeting Frank's eyes.

"I need help moving my shit if I do end up going through with it, though." Mikey says, "Would you be up to help? I don't mean to be a burden but it would mean a lot. I know you have a car."

"Of course I can help, man," Frank immediately replies, a smile on his thin lips, "You know I'm always here to help you out."

"And us, too," says Pete, referring to himself and Patrick, "You just give us a date and time. Frank can come to pick us up, and we'll start packing up the car with your stuff. Just text the group chat, man."

"Yeah, for real," Frank agrees, "Let us know."

"Thanks, guys," Mikey grins, genuinely happy and grateful for the help. His expression shines through completely genuine.

"Of course," Frank smiles, "Come on, let's play some games." He pulls out his DSi from his bag, preparing to play the Pokemon Black and White they just recently bought together. It's their ritual. Every time they come up here, they play whatever Pokemon game they've been obsessing over together. Even if it's a different game from someone else's, it's just what they do. They've done it for years, ever since middle school when the new elementary school was announced and all security for the old one just left.

They pull snacks and drinks from their bags, sit down on the floor on the pile of blankets Patrick and Frank brought months ago, and just play until sunrise.

This was how it had always been. And that's exactly how Frank hoped it would always be.

Even if the world did change.