Gerard had made dinner while Frank watched from the counter. His legs dangled over the edge, Gerard walking around his carefully as he put together their meal. In the end though, Frank had declined a plate for himself.
Gerard stood in front of him tilting his head a bit, the point of his nose creating a sharp shadow on his cheek. Frank's lips parted slightly as he took in the man's features he was so pretty, like a pixie but the slight scruff on his cheeks and bushy brows had a contrasting effect. Frank dug his nails into the counter a bit to stop himself from reaching his hand up and touching Gerard's face, just to feel how soft the skin was. He found himself too caught up in his admiration to be tense at the man's almost eerie silence, the only thoughts in his head right then were of how gentle Gerard's eyes were as they gazed into his own. He felt unmistakably safe right then, all of the excess panic from earlier dissolved.

He held his breath waiting for the older man's response.

Gerard didn't seem upset at all. In fact he looked sympathetic if anything.

"I'm sorry." Frank mumbled, breaking their eye contact and looking down, only to see how close their bodies were. He felt his face heat up as he looked away. "I'm just not feeling well?" He said with little confidence.

"Of course." Gerard said. "Would you like me to run you a bath?" He offered kindly.

"No." Frank said too quickly, be swallowed and cleared his throat. "I'm. . .okay, you don't need to do that for me. Thank you though. For the offer." His nervousness was blatant. He wasn't afraid of Gerard trying anything with him but the simple act of running him a bath felt too intimate, like he was agreeing to too much.

Gerard began to say something, Frank watching his lips part with trepidation in fear of the man asking any more questions. Before he could begin his sentence there were three gentle taps at the door behind him. They started at each other once more. Frank's eyes were wide with terror like the world was about to come crumbling down on them right in the middle of the kitchen. His hands were on autopilot as they grasped at Gerard's own for some kind of stability. Gerard's heart swelled in his chest as if an angle had touched him, in his mind one had. Frank looking pitifully desperate for him, grabbing onto him like a lifeline, it was nearly too much to take all at once. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the boy all while knowing that it wouldn't bring him any solace.

"You're okay." He said simply, running his thumb over the back of his boy's hand. "Go to your room and shut the door, don't come out until I come get you." Frank could feel the authority in his voice, leaving no room for argument. He trusted that Gerard knew what was best, without a second thought he headed quickly for his room.

He shut the door quietly, immediately bringing his thumb nail up to his lips to gnaw on. His chest felt tight from him holding his breath. He stilled himself, not moving one muscle as he heard the familiar creak of Gerard's front door. He could hear Gerard's gentle voice welcoming someone in, warm and inviting. The words being said were muted and fuzzy through the thick wood he had his head pressed against. The second voice was light and much harder to hear than Gerard's though as they stepped deeper into the house it became more clear. Frank attempted desperately to decipher the words being said between the two but it was impossible, especially with his heart pounding as loud as it was.

Mentally he was screaming at himself for being so spineless. He had the perfect opportunity to escape, the door was just about to be opened if only he'd stood his ground a bit longer. He assumed that the people Gerard associated himself with weren't also insane and wouldn't approve of what was happening to him. But the anxiety-ridden, pessimistic side of him made sure to heavily consider the idea of this undisclosed man being in on the whole thing. The more that he mused himself with the idea the less ridiculous it seemed to him. Up until this point he'd presumed that Gerard had conducted his capturing all on his own, not that it would've been difficult with him basically walking right into the man's trap almost willingly. There was no need for any help during the deed of abducting him but for what purpose was he taken in the first place? Gerard seemed to not understand himself, never giving much of an explanation for why he'd taken Frank. What if it hadn't been for Gerard pleasure at all, he thought. In that case, this room served as nothing more than a holding cell. The boy paced his room silently, his state of disquietude leaving him too nauseous to make any noise even if he wanted to. He brought both of his hands up to his face that was now damp with tears he hadn't noticed fall. He could almost laugh himself, feeling completely impuissant against his own emotions. He was a wreck, both his heart and body ached for Gerard and the reassurance he brought, the gentle touch of his fingers to his cheek. Even while he feared the man and his intentions he felt like the only escape from the terrifying thoughts that he'd created. The room seemed to sway a bit even when he found the control to stand still. A trembling exhale escaped his parted lips as his eyes focused on the door. As he stood still, his heart slowing from its erratic pace, he could hear the faint laughter of the two men. Quickly, he locked the door.

--

Gerard had expected himself to be a mess of nerves and sowed thoughts, so much so that he wasn't even sure how he'd be able to speak to his brother when he answered the door. He was greatly astounded when Mikey sat down next to him on the couch, the same one that Frank had sat in while shaking with fear, and he was still more than capable of carrying on their conversation. Unsurprisingly, his brother was much more of a listener than one to lead conversations.

At first he wondered why. With the only thing standing between his boy and freedom being a wooden door why was he still behind it. He hadn't planned to test his boy's trust this soon, especially while he was in such a delicate state. They still had not spoken about the incident at the store earlier. It had obviously left the boy a bit shaken, Gerard could tell by Frank's nervous glances as he had made them dinner that there was conflict happening in his head, something that he wasn't confident enough to tell Gerard yet. At first the thought of Frank being left all alone in his room along with his thoughts made Gerard's chest tighten with anxiety. He had an entire area of the house all to himself, he could easily slip away through a window and within minutes the police would surely be at his door with their handcuffs ready and a disgusted look on their faces at what Gerard had done. He couldn't let that happen, his brother couldn't know what was happening. He felt so stupid having bassicaly placed his life into Frank's trembling hands. In fact, nothing was stopping Frank from walking right out infront of his brother and pleading with him to save him. Mikey wasn't like him, he wouldn't understand why he needed Frank, surely he would never speak to him again.

Gerard tried to calm himself by listening to Mikey, at first he was only able to respond in short hums or nods which obviously make his brother uncomfortable but after a bit he'd forgotten to glance at the hall every thirty seconds. Slowly as time went on all of Gerard's worries faded away. He felt great pride in knowing that his boy had already learned to be obedient, listening to him without question. The smug feeling gave him enough confidence to fix the two of them food, he didn't feel comfortable being too far away from the hall that he couldn't hear if Frank were to open his door but he had already insisted that Mikey try some. They spoke over dinner casually, Gerard having to quickly come up with a reason for the amount of pasta he'd cooked. To Mikey, he should have only been cooking for one person. He kept his composure, simply saying that he'd measured incorrectly and Mikey seemed to accept his excuse fairly well.

His brother was usually a calm person, only really speaking when spoken to or when he had a joke that was almost guaranteed to make everyone laugh so it wasn't a surprise that he wasn't going to deep into his day as they spoke but gerard also knew that Mikey was a pro at avoiding things that were troubling him.

The man looked up from his nearly empty plate when Gerard spoke to him. "Huh?" He said.

"I asked if something was bothering you." He repeated.

"How'd you know?" He said with a small, sad smirk. "I wouldn't say bothering me. I mean I know what's happened. I'm just devastated. . . I guess."

He frowned, not really expecting something like that from him, "Shit, what happened?"

"Well I have a patient who I think I might've illegally told you about at one time, They stopped coming a while back and his mother recently told me that he's been missing." He said, shaking his head.

Gerard swallowed, he knew the chances were ridiculously slight but he couldn't help but wonder.

"God, that's terrible. Is the kid. . . is he stable? Maybe he ran away or-"

"No He wouldn't have done that. He's shy and he cares a hell of alot about his mom. Running away is just not something he just would do, just because he has a mental disorder doesn't mean anything." His cheeks tinged pink as he felt himself grow embarrassed.

Gerard was a bit taken back by Mikey's passion defending his patient. He apologized, not wanting Mikey upset with him.

"its alright, I didn't mean to be so dramatic. I'm just worried, you know? I just hate to imagine what could have happened to him, I just know he isn't wherever he is. . .voluntarily." Mikey said solemnly. He stared down at his feet as he spoke, almost like he felt guilty for all of this. Gerard wanted to assure his brother that he was in no way capable of stopping anything that might've happened but he had more concerning things on his mind.

"When was the last time you saw him? The boy. . . you haven't told me his name." Gerard said hoping desperately that patient confidentiality didn't still apply when said patient was missing.

"Oh. . . well it's been about a month or so. I'm not sure." He said with furrowed brows, "I suppose it doesn't really matter now, his name is Frank." Mikey admitted.

Gerard inhaled steadily, nodding. This was all too risky, he felt so stupid not having thought of this, there was no way that he could've known but still he couldn't help but beat himself up mentally. The lack of connection was what was keeping him safe, he was sure that by now the police had spoken to all of Frank's friend's and teachers, trying to pry out any bit of information that they could. Gerard could be next, they could be on the way right now as he sat waiting unknowingly.

He started at his brother, his sorrowful face no longer hidden now that he'd let out what was worrying him. Only briefly did Gerard allow himself to ponder the possibility of Mikey wearing a wire, or only being there to squeeze evidence out of him. He was able to read his brother much too clearly for that to work.

His panicking was cut short when Mikey spoke again. "I can get you a news paper if you want." Mikey offered with a small smile.

"Huh"

Mikey pushed his glasses up on his nose, " I see you're interested, I've got a newspaper that's got Frank in it. His mom's not wealthy or anything but people around town have been putting money together to help her with all the adds and all that. . ." He trailed off, waving his hand around, "Turns out it's pretty fucking expensive to lose a kid."

"I didn't mean to seem insensitive, it's just. . .interesting yeah." He agreed, "You don't have to, if the paper is important to you, I see why you'd want to keep that." Gerard said, still knowing that Mikey would be giving it to him anyways. He almost felt bad taking advantage of his brother's generosity.

"No i've got like 3 of them!" Mikey assured him. "I mean, yeah he was such an interesting kid, Is I mean. . ." He corrected himself.

Gerard looked over at his brother with false concern, still sympathetic, knowing how much his brother obviously cared about Frank. "You don't think he's-"

"Well I don't like to think he is. He's- He's tough. I know he'd go down fighting at least."

Gerard knew that Frank wasn't usually as docile as he acted with him. The boy's tough facade was put away around him, Gerard liked to think that it wasn't because Frank was scared of him but because he trusted him. Why else wouldn't he have at least attempted to lash out?

"I'm sure he would, he sounds great." Gerard said.

"He is, I know he'll come back soon, he has too, for his mom, you know?" Mikey said, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that it was true.

"One day." He agreed.

a/n:
i changed up the earlier chapters a bit and the cover ! hii