2045, Frank: 16 years old

Frank watched as the beautiful figment of his imagination hopped over the stream of water to get to the other side of it. He watched as the other turned around and smiled at Frank, gesturing for him to follow. Frank was in sort of a daze while he had been watching the person in his dream cross the stream. The other teenager laughed and started to run.

Frank chased after him. Just like every dream, Frank found himself chasing after Gerard in more than one way. He could hear the raven haired boy's giggles from the short distance between them. Gerard managed to stay ahead because his legs were longer than Frank's - yes, Frank had remained short even at the age of sixteen and he hoped to grow at least two inches taller so he would not feel like a woodland creature next to Gerard. And he, the person Frank's subconscious mind had grown up with, was certainly finished growing as it seemed.

Three years ago, Frank had conjured up a sanctuary in his dreams, a peaceful woods adorned with skies that were never cloudy and days that were never hot and sticky nor cold and bitter. Every inch of greenery was left untouched by humanity as all of nature should have been; this was Frank's belief. The dreamland that Frank landed in every night when he drifted off to sleep. And all of these nights, Gerard came along with the pieces of seemingly never-ending land. All of it was a perfect scenario that Frank yearned to escape to every day, a piece of mind that there was a place where someone there waited for him. The figment of his imagination, the beautiful hallucination roaming the woods of his dreams.

Gerard and Frank surely did not trust each other in the beginning. Frank was afraid of Gerard whilst Gerard was extremely weary of Frank's presence. The two were the same age and yet they did not have the courage to speak to each other. But Frank was constantly curious about the boy, about the strange things he did by himself like singing or speaking quietly to himself as he stared at his reflection in the stream in the forest. Most of all, Frank was intrigued by how unique Gerard was - but this was based on beauty. Frank had seen many beautiful girls, many attractive men, but none of them were quite like Gerard.

Gerard was delicate, fragile looking. His pale and soft skin did not turn red in the sunlight, it seemed to glow from how smooth and healthy it was. His eyelashes were curled and his eyes were two ponds of olive green and specks of golds and browns. His jaw was delicate but had a sharp structure, and his cheeks were filled out. Frank's favorite part of Gerard was his hands - the artistic thin pale wrists and the thick and long fingers, covered in his satiny pale skin, and the short fingernails that seemed to be chewed to stubs. The very tips of his fingers were a gentle pink.

Frank had observed Gerard from afar until the two finally cracked and began to speak to each other. Every night and every single dream over the course of three years, they talked and talked until there was seemingly nothing left to know about each other and the teenagers had a strong unbreakable bond. It was strange how they were drawn together and how easy it was for them to connect just by looking the other in the eye. They both grew and watched each other develop, grow taller and watched their faces change. Their understanding would have been envied by thousands if it were not all a dream. And as more time passed, a deeper bond was beginning to form.

It was an odd feeling that Frank was beginning to experience - he found that his heart began to stutter and pound whenever Gerard laughed at something Frank had said, and he longed for the ability of being able to feel Gerard when he touched him. He wanted to see if Gerard's skin was as soft as it appeared, he wanted to run his fingers through Gerard's inky hair to remove the tangles from it. But most of all, he felt the warmest churning in his stomach whenever he simply looked at Gerard. The boy was so beautiful, even more as time passed, and Frank felt like he was falling into a well whenever he looked into Gerard's hazel irises. Frank had not clue what this feeling was, he had never experienced it, but he knew if he asked Gerard, the boy would know. If Frank knew a thing or two about Gerard, it was that the teenager was intelligent.

The boys stopped running when they reached their destination. Well, by that, Gerard stopped running and Frank nearly barrelled into him. He had to grab onto a nearby tree to keep himself from toppling Gerard over and hurting the fragile looking boy. His eyes widened and his breath came out in short heavy pants from their adventure.

In front of them was the very plain of grass that Frank always appeared in when he entered his dreams. Sometimes, Gerard would like to come sit in the grass and talk with Frank for hours. The grass was soft as ever and felt incredible to lay in underneath the warm sunshine.

Gerard glanced behind him at Frank and his shell pink lips quirked up into a smile, a small giggle coming from him.

"Glad you could keep up this time, Iero, what with those short little legs." Gerard teased playfully. His Jersey accent made it sound like he was mispronouncing Frank's last name, but he was saying it correctly, the accent was just strong on his pronunciation. He laid down on the grass stomach down, folding his arms and propping his chin on them. His kicked his legs into the air, swinging them back and forth whilst Frank sat down next to Gerard in the same position.

"It's not my fault you have gazelle legs, Gee." Frank retorted to his friend.

Gerard snorted and rolled his eyes with a hint of a smile still on his doll-like lips. "Hardly. My thighs are huge and gross."

"Oh shush, you know I don't like when you bring yourself down like that. You're gorgeous." Frank meant to keep his playful tone, but the soft and caring edge to his voice made his friend melt just a bit beside him. Gerard smiled gently at Frank with affection swimming in his deep irises. He said nothing, he just chuckled and looked away again.

"I don't want to wake up any time soon." Frank whispered. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to soak up the sunlight into his pores, let the breeze fan across his face.

"And why is that?" Gerard asked.

"My mother has forced a date onto Jamia and I. Her parents and mine will be chaperoning so I have to act like the perfect gentleman."

"Jamia is . . . the girlfriend your parents want for you, correct?" Gerard asked slowly.

Frank hesitated, then nodded. He may have slipped a little white lie and told Gerard that Jamia was a childhood friend that his parents set him up with. He had not told Gerard about the Matching system and Battery City - apparently, Frank lived in America and his family was rich from owning a company that made wine. He did not want Gerard to think he was strange nor did he want to tell Gerard that Jamia was his soulmate, even if they still did not have feelings for each other. If he did not feel right about it, it was no use to leave the information to taint Frank's perfect fantasy world.

"Ah." Gerard said quietly. Frank opened his eyes to see Gerard frowning at the ground. A piece of his long black hair fell over over his eyes. Gerard did not try to move it and there it was again - the instinct in Frank to reach over and brush the lock of hair out of Gerard's face. His hand even twitched with the longing to do it. Frank internally scolded himself that he was thinking rashly and it made him sigh softly.

Gerard's eyes flickered over and met Frank's glance. Their eyes locked for a moment and searched as if they were trying to read each other's minds. Frank saw a shred of questioning in Gerard's eyes - he wondered what Gerard saw in his.

"Do you love Jamia, Frank?" Gerard asked suddenly. His soft voice cut through the strangely intimate moment between them. Frank wished he could keep searching through the windows of Gerard's soul, but the question was unexpected and made his eyebrows pull together.

"What kind of love do you mean?"

"I mean are you in love with her? Not the kind of friendship love, like . . . like . . ." Gerard struggled to find an example, but Frank found one quickly.

"Like us." Frank finished for Gerard. Funny, the strings in his heart plucked in a way that resembled pain when he mentioned their friendship love. Was it the word love or friendship that bothered him so much? He just could not figure it out.

Gerard's lips parted with surprise and his pale cheeks were colored with a light pink. He blinked quickly, his long lashes fluttering before he answered. "Y-yes, I suppose."

"Well," Frank smiled in spite of his situation with Jamia and spoke the truth to Gerard. "No. I'm not in love with Jamia, and to be honest, it feels like I never will be." This had to be the most truthful thing Frank had ever said about Jamia. Sure, they were together, but only to please their parents. It was uncomfortable at some times but they learned to suck it up. Holding hands and hugging was not bad, but kissing still felt as strange as it did the first time. It damaged their friendship, one thing Frank would never be able to forgive.

Frank felt no attraction to anyone. Except . . .

"I'm sorry you have to live like that." Gerard said, his voice coated with gentle sympathy. He stared at Frank with sad eyes that made Frank's chest tug just a little.

"It isn't your fault, Gee. If anything, you're the only one keeping me sane." Without thinking, Frank reached out and placed his hand on top of Gerard's. His olive toned skin seemed even darker compared to the milky white tones of Gerard's flesh. Their hands touched, but nothing had changed since the first time they met - they still could not feel each other. Frank felt like he was touching an invisible wall that stopped his hand from touching the ground. The wall was Gerard's hand, and Frank knew he should have been feeling his smooth skin underneath his palm. It frustrated Frank that he could not feel the boy in the slightest bit, it kept reminding him that Gerard was just a dream.

Gerard once claimed that this was his dream, that Frank was not real, but when Frank asked about it next, Gerard did not remember ever saying such things. Frank passed it off as a dream thing, since dreams often spewed nonsense. But ever since then, Gerard remembered everything.

"I wish you were real." Frank's throat tightened from the sudden swell of sadness going through his body. His eyes wanted to water but he fought against the useless tears.

Gerard's eyes widened at Frank's distress. Then his entire expression softened and matched Frank's sadness. Gerard's soft lips smiled sadly, and though he nor Frank could feel it, he weaved his fingers through the other boy's.

"I wish I were real, too. Maybe things could have been different. I would love to see America, I'd love to actually be able to smack you when you say something stupid." They both laughed at the last bit. "You wouldn't feel so lonely. I don't like it when you're sad, Frankie."

Frank sighed softly and just noticed the way his fingers were intertwined with Gerard's. He saw the other squeeze his hand, and Frank felt an odd kind of pressure on himself, but not the feeling of skin-on-skin contact. He craved it badly.

"You don't have to be real though. Maybe it's best that you stay a dream."

Gerard's eyebrows pulled together with confusion, eyes searching Frank's face. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that it's for the best that you stay a dream because I have something to look forward to every night. I'd never have an escape if it weren't for this place or for you." Frank smiled at his friend and felt his heart swell twice his size when Gerard smiled back. Yes, Frank definitely felt something that wasn't quite the normal for Gerard. It was warmth he didn't have with anyone else, just the beautiful teenage boy who understood him so well. He admired Gerard, and he did love him.

But Frank wondered if this love was going some place he had never been before. Was it strictly friendly? Frank did not know. He did not even know which gender he was attracted to, which was a monstrosity in the perfect society he lived in. Frank accepted that he was never normal, but this was a stretch that no one would accept, no one except for Gerard. Now was not the time to share his thoughts on this to him, but Frank knew he would like to figure everything out before he spared details.

Little did Frank know that his own swelling heart was beginning to fall in love with Gerard, whose heart swelled just the same.

(Hey there, so here's an update. Sorry for the wait. I didn't correct the errors if there are any, I didn't check. I'm just a depressed piece of shit today and I've been coped up in my room since the morning. I'll update again soon. Don't know when.)