I could have sat there with Frank in my arms for ages and never gotten bored, but our time together was interrupted, as I knew it soon would be, but instead of a doctor like I had expected, a police offer entered the room with a grim look on his face.

Suddenly I remembered the less than ideal situation Frank had gotten himself into; I had been so worried about his health, that I had completely forgotten that he had been found with a decent amount of drugs in his possession.

"Which one of you is Mr. Iero?"

I heard Frank sigh when the police offer botched his name, and I had to suppress a giggle.

"That's me," Frank spoke up, and I removed my arms from around him reluctantly.

"I'm Officer Ross, I just need to speak with you for a second - if that is okay?"

This officer seemed much nicer than the initial one who had found the drugs in the first place, and I was crossing my fingers that he would be lenient with Frank.

"Yeah - that's fine."

I could feel Frank tense up next to me, so I slipped my hand into his underneath the thin sheet.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, we found drugs in the car that you were driving. Luckily you were just under the amount where we would have to assume you were intending to distribute them, but I have to ask - were you planning on selling them?"

"No sir, they were mine; I wasn't sure how long I would be away from home, so I took more with me than I usually would." Frank's face was honest and open as he replied, and I hoped Officer Ross believed him.

"Okay good, then this will go a lot easier. Basically the max fine for something like this is up to one thousand dollars and six months of jail time, but with your situation, and the fact that you weren't caught selling, we have lessened the sentence considerably. All you are looking at is a five hundred dollar fine, and you will be on probation for six months - instead of in jail, but this means you have to get clean; if you fail even one drug test, you will have to serve the rest of your sentence in jail."

"I understand, I was planning on quitting everything anyway...but I don't have any way to pay the fine until I get a job. How long do I have to scrounge up the money?" Frank's face fell, and I wanted to soothe the lines of worry away forever.

"Don't worry about the fine Frankie, I'll cover it," I spoke up. There was no way I was letting Frank get in trouble just because of something as superfluous as money, luckily I had a pretty well stocked savings fund, so this wouldn't set me back far at all.

"Gerard no! I can't let you do that for me, you have already done enough."

"Don't even try to argue with me, because my mind is made up; if it really bugs you so much, you can pay me back eventually, but I don't want you throwing yourself into a job right now just to get the money, you need to heal first." I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly, staring Frank down until he finally dropped his eyes.

"Fine...but I am paying you back," Frank grumbled sullenly.

"Okay - well if that's settled, then all you have to do is show up at the courthouse on the twenty first, they will assign you your probation officer, and you can pay your fine while you are there. Just be careful okay? I don't want to see you again anytime soon."

Officer Ross stood up, and I let out a sigh of relief at how well the meeting had gone.

"Thank you, and I will," Frank promised.

Frank sagged against me as soon as the door closed, and I put my arms back around his slim waist.

"Well that went better than I hoped." I smiled down at Frank, but instead of being happy like I had expected, he was almost on the verge of tears again.

"Fuck...I'm such a fuck up Gerard, I don't know why you are even bothering to help me," he choked out brokenly.

"Frankie - don't say that, because it isn't true, not at all. You made some mistakes, but that doesn't mean I am going to cut you to the curb, what kind of hypocrite would that make me? Do you remember how messed up I was when I was in high school, and did you ever give up on me, or write me off as a lost cause? No - you didn't, and I won't give up on you either, not now, not ever."

"Well that's because I loved you...and you couldn't possibly still love me now, so it's different."

His sure tone of voice cut me to the core; Frank really didn't believe that it was even remotely possible that I still loved him, not even after all the hints I had been pushing his way.

I weighed my options quickly; if I told him how much I still cared, he might get freaked out, or feel pressured into something that he wasn't ready for, but if I hid it away, it would eat at me the entire time, and it would be that much harder to tell him the longer I put it off, so I decided to take the plunge, even though I was terrified.

"But I do Frank...I do still love you. I know this is crazy, and I'm pathetic for never getting over you, but fuck - I couldn't. I tried - I really did, but you left this void in my heart that literally no one could fill. I don't expect you to love me back, but I don't want to lie to you and pretend I feel nothing, when really I feel everything for you. So now do you believe me when I say I will be here for as long as you want me? I waited eight years to find you again, and now that you are here...it's like my heart is going to explode with how happy I am, and I can't even believe that this is happening, and..."

Frank cut me off my pressing his lips against mine in a chaste kiss, and oh my god - I think I died and went to Heaven, because it was even better than I remembered; he still fit perfectly with me as if we were two pieces of a puzzle, and I literally melted against him.

"I love you too..." Frank whispered as we pulled apart.

"You don't have to say it if you don't mean it Frank." As much as I wanted to hear those words, I had to make sure he wasn't just telling me what I wanted to hear.

"But I do, fucking hell - I mean it, and I will say it a hundred times until you believe me. I tried so hard to pretend I didn't, but I was just lying to myself, and I knew it. Gerard - you are so special, and no one could ever replace you, and I am the luckiest guy in the world right now, because you should have moved on years ago, but I am so fucking happy that you didn't." An enormous smile split his face in two, and I couldn't resist leaning forward to kiss the tip of his nose.

"So Frank...does that mean you want to be with me?" I cursed my inner awkward teenage girl for making me sound like an idiot once again, but that was what Frank made me feel like, and I couldn't help it.

"Yeah I do, if you are willing to try and love this fucked up person that I have become that is."

"Frank - I would love you even if you were a male prostitute that ate cats for lunch, so shut the fuck up." I punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"Seriously though Gerard, it's not going to be easy; I mean...I...um...well basically - a lot of shit has happened, well I already told you that, uh..." Frank stammered nervously.

"It's going to be okay, I promise. If I ever do anything that makes you uncomfortable, or you want me to back off, just tell me." I didn't know what else to say to make him believe me, but he had to understand that he meant the world to me.

"I trust you Gerard - I do, I just feel so bad for all the shit I have put you through already, and I have only been here for two days," he chuckled grimly.

"Well you already hit my car and scared the shit out of me by almost dying, so it can't get much worse," I joked lightly.

"When you put it that way, I guess you are right."

Just then the door opened again, and this time Pete waltzed in, giving me a cheeky grin when he saw us snuggled together in the bed.

"Well Frank - you are officially free to go once you sign this form." He held his clipboard out to Frank along with a pen.

"Thank god - I hate hospital food," Frank grumbled as he scribbled his name at the bottom of the page.

"Oh come on now, the pudding is delicious!" Pete put a hand over his heart as if he had been wounded, and I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"You are such a drama king," I laughed, seriously I didn't know how he managed it, it was impressive really.

"Oh honey - you know you love it. Well anyway, your test results came back perfect, but you need to be under supervision for the next week just in case."

"He's going to be staying with me, and I am still out of school for winter break, so I will watch him."

Pete waggled his eyebrows at me, and I scowled at him in return. Luckily Frank didn't notice, he was too busy struggling back into his clothes now that he didn't have to wear that stupid hospital gown anymore.

"Well that takes care of that. Just one more thing, I am going to prescribe him some pills that should help lower the swelling on his brain faster, but it is possible that he might have a seizure or two before it is completely healed. If he does, just keep him safe and don't let him hurt himself, and if they last longer than five minutes, then call me okay?"

"Will do, can we go now?" I asked eagerly.

I had never lost my dislike of hospitals, mostly because they were full of needles, and I was ready to get out of here.

"Yes you can eager beaver, let poor Frank get his pants on first though."

"What the fuck Pete, no one says eager beaver anymore!" I exclaimed, while Frank snorted with amusement.

"Well I do, so suck it Way!" Pete snapped his fingers, and I dropped my face into my hands to stifle my laughter.

"So I assume you two know each other?" Frank asked curiously while buttoning up the aforementioned jeans.

"Mhmm, and you know me too, you just don't remember. I treated you the last time you were in here with your broken ribs." Pete pointed to his name tag, even though I doubted that would help Frank remember him.

"Wait...you are eyeliner doctor? What happened to your hair?"

The last time Frank had seen Pete, he had black hair, but for some unknown reason, he had cut it and dyed it blonde last year.

"Eyeliner doctor? Oh my god - I am so making a badge that says that! And about my hair, well I wasn't feeling it anymore, I guess I had to grow up eventually," Pete shrugged.

"Damn - this is crazy, I wonder who else I am going to run into today," Frank laughed as he slid his hand into mine, causing me to blush furiously.

"Get out of here you two, my hair has been insulted enough for one day - thank you very much."

"Bye Pete," I called out as Frank all but dragged me out of the room, but not before I saw Pete giving me the thumbs up while thrusting the air, seriously why was I his friend again?

As we exited the hospital - hopefully for good this time, Frank and I had spent more than enough hours inside of those doors - I felt as if my life was beginning anew, and I couldn't wait to experience everything with Frank.

I wasn't fooling myself, and I was well aware that it wouldn't all be sunshine and roses, but I meant what I said earlier; I was ready to face any hurdle as long as it meant that I got to keep Frank by my side.

So this chapter was kinda pointless, but I had to put it in to tie up some things before Frank got to go home. Once again I am not super happy with it (but that's nothing new) but hey it's an update right?

10k reads on this story...someone punch me in the face or something! When I started this, I had no idea it would ever get this popular, I really am amazed at all of this feedback, and I want to thank each and every one of you for reading my story.

This chapter is dedicated to _AdrenalineThreat_ because your comments make me smile and you are way too sweet.

Keep it ugly

<3 starr