Gerard was running again, because he was a coward, and even though every muscle in his body was pulling him back toward Frank, he was stubbornly ignoring the sensation; instead, he forced his reluctant legs to carry him even farther away from the unforgettable man.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see Frank again, because he did - more than anything, but he was scared that Frank would reject him, and if he fucked things up with Frank, he didn't know what he would do with himself after that - probably lay down and wait for the sun to rise, even though that did seem a bit dramatic, but Frank had become everything to him ever since he had first looked in his eyes.

So Gerard had fled from Belleville before he could rethink his actions. He probably should have gone back to the church and waited to see if Mikey and Ray turned up, but in his panic over escaping the allure that was Frank, Gerard had managed to forget about his brother entirely.

Well not really forget; he could never forget about Mikey, but he had definitely succeeded in pushing him to the back of his mind once again. Frank seemed to be an expert at making everything else that didn't involve him irrelevant, even when he wasn't actually present.

Deep down, Gerard was truly worried about Mikey and Ray, but he was in no state to search the town for them, and he knew if he even attempted such a thing, he would end up back at Frank's clinic within thirty minutes, which was the one place he was trying to avoid.

Gerard just needed to get away, because maybe some distance would lessen the feeling of Frank's emotions in his head. They were a jumble of confusion right now, laced with worry and a little bit of fear. Everything was coming through sort of fuzzy to Gerard, but if he had to guess, he would say that Frank was drunk.

Which of course, made Gerard wonder why he was drinking, and what he was doing that involved alcohol. Maybe he was out with friends, or a boyfriend, maybe even a girlfriend. Gerard wished he was the one sharing a cup with Frank, but he had run away, and he was determined to stick with his decision to leave Frank alone for the night.

Gerard had no idea where he was going, but he knew he wasn't truly leaving; he couldn't abandon Mikey and Ray, so for the time being, he was just wandering aimlessly throughout the forest which blanketed the outskirts of town, trying to distract himself by observing the wild scenery with an idle eye.

Putting a few miles between him and Frank had helped a bit, but he still couldn't stop thinking about him, no matter how hard he tried, and it was getting to the point that even a stupid leaf reminded him of Frank; its hazel brown color bringing his eyes to mind, and Gerard sort of wanted to smash his head against a tree until he started acting like his normal self again, not this sappy mess he was turning into.

Gerard knew he had decided to try and pursue some sort of relationship with Frank last night, but he had no idea how to do that. He was pretty sure that humans typically went on dates to get to know each other better, but working up the courage to approach him would have to happen first, and Gerard's limbs were trembling at the thought.

Gerard didn't know if he could pass himself off as a regular human, he had never even considered such a preposterous thing before, but he would attempt it for Frank - he would try to fly if that was what it took to make Frank love him.

But that would only work for so long, and eventually, Frank would begin to question why Gerard could never go out during the day, not to mention it would be hard to resist the allure of Frank's blood if they spent any extended amounts of time together, but what else could he do? Gerard couldn't just waltz up to Frank and casually announce he was a vampire, that wouldn't go over well at all.

Even the task of pondering this was beginning to make Gerard feel sick, his stomach was roiling, and a light sweat had broken out on his brow.

Actually, now that Gerard noticed, his entire body was shaking, and it wasn't just because of nerves. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed him, and he was forced to sit down before he fell over.

"Fuck..." Gerard gasped out as he collapsed to the leaf covered floor with a soft groan. Something was wrong with him, and this could be really bad. He didn't have Mikey or Ray to drag him to safety this time, and Gerard had never felt so alone in his life. At least the night was still young yet, and he didn't have to worry about being trapped outside in the sun for quite some time.

And of course, when Gerard glanced around for a safe spot to wait out whatever this was, he wasn't even surprised to see flickering flames at the corner of his vision. He had almost forgotten about his strange hallucinations; he had been perfectly fine since he entered Belleville, as if it was the eye of the storm that was his madness, but now he had left, and they were returning full force.

Gerard wasn't able to deal with this right now, he couldn't - not by himself. He wanted Mikey, or Ray, but really - he needed Frank. He wished he could bury his face in his chest until this all went away, he ached to breathe in his unique scent and have Frank comfort him; he needed his mate right now, but because of this whole fucked up situation, Frank didn't even know he existed.

Gerard was so tired, and overwhelmed, and lonely, and he didn't think he could do this for much longer. Silent tears streamed down his face as the flames crept closer to him, but he didn't have the energy to move, so he simply sat there and waited for them to eventually consume him.

~~~

"I'm so sorry Pete, are you okay?" Brendon asked the younger vampire after he had finished his explanation of how Mikey was mated, but Pete didn't know how to respond yet.

Brendon and Ryan had returned home from wherever the fuck they had been about twenty minutes ago, and when Brendon had sent Pete a sad look and informed him that they had something to tell him, Pete had been expecting something terrible - just not this.

He didn't know what to do, or say, so he did nothing; it seemed to take all of his energy to remember how to breathe, and he honestly wasn't sure how to begin to untangle what he was feeling.

This didn't make sense; it was as if Brendon's explanation had gotten all jumbled up and he was hearing a foreign language, even though the meaning was perfectly clear. He understood the words of course - he wasn't stupid, but it was as if his emotions were a few steps behind his brain, and he didn't know how to react. He knew he should be sad - heartbroken actually, but he just felt numb.

Pete had never imagined that this would happen to him, even though he knew it was a possibility; Billie Joe had suffered through this same situation, and even though Pete hadn't known him that well, he remembered it had driven him away from their coven entirely.

Pete had always pictured finding his mate to be a much happier experience; they would stare into each other's eyes, both of them instantly recognizing the other as their one true love. That would be it, and Pete would live happily ever after, even though he didn't think he would find his mate quite so soon - he was still very young for a vampire after all.

"Pete?" Ryan touched his shoulder gently, and it was only then that Pete realized he had been sitting on his friend's couch in utter silence for fuck knows how long.

"I'm okay...I think. So, he won't love me, right - like ever?" Pete had to double check, because even though he hadn't spoken a word to Mikey, and he hadn't known his name until Brendon had told him, he was still head over heels for him.

"No...Ray is his mate, so he loves him," Brendon sighed heavily.

"But, I'm Mikey's mate too...so does that mean he can be with both of us?" Pete pressed onward, because he couldn't imagine his life without Mikey in it now that he had mated with him.

"No Pete, that's not how it works. You can be his friend, but if I were you, I would try to forget about him. I know it will be hard, but in the end, it will be better for the both of you," Ryan spoke up again with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

"I don't think I can forget about him, especially not if he is going to be living here now," Pete mumbled quietly.

"It's going to take time, but it's not impossible," Brendon assured him.

"I - I don't know how to do that," Pete sniffled, finally feeling tears pricking at his eyes now that the fact that Mikey would never love him had set in.

"We will help you Pete, keep you distracted and stuff," Ryan promised, pulling Pete in for a friendly hug.

Pete accepted his gesture gratefully, and before he knew what was happening, he was crying softly against Ryan's chest as Brendon rubbed his back in a soothing manner.

Pete knew that his friends wanted him to let this go, but he couldn't, that would be like cutting out his heart and expecting him to continue on with life as normal. Pete had to find a way to be around Mikey, even if it was just as a friend for now, and who knows - maybe Brendon was wrong, and Mikey could find a place in his heart for Pete.

It was all Ray's fault, and even though Pete had never met the guy, and he was sure he was decently nice or whatever, Pete felt an unfamiliar surge of hatred rising in his gut. Pete never had bad feelings about anyone, even the people who treated him like he carried a disease, but in that moment, he despised Ray for existing, and he wished he would just fuck off somewhere so Pete could have Mikey all to himself.

Pete's stomach twisted uncomfortably under the assault of his irrational anger, but at the same time, he had never felt so empowered. All of his life, Pete had just laid down and let people make fun of him, or hurl insults at him, but he didn't think he could just walk away and leave his mate in the arms of another, no matter what his friends said.

And if Pete thought a little more logically, he would understand that Mikey was happy with Ray, and if Pete did anything to try and separate the two, he would be causing his mate extreme distress as well, but his mind was clouded with hurt feelings and repressed emotions, and Pete had buried so many things down over his lifetime that he didn't have any more room to shovel this in with it, so everything was bursting out all at once under the strain.

And if anyone had actually been paying attention - which they weren't - they might have noticed how all of the furniture in the room began to shake ever so slightly, and the way the lights flickered on and off erratically, but Pete had his lids squeezed shut to try and hold back his tears, and Ryan and Brendon had both closed their eyes as they attempted to comfort Pete, so the strange anomaly went undetected by all.

~~~

"I'm worried about him Ray...and he will never think to look for us down here," Mikey sighed, and even though Ray agreed with his mate, and he was also slightly terrified for Gerard, he was running out of things to say, because Mikey had been repeating similar versions of this phrase ever since he had woken up.

"I know you are babe, but Bert said he was going to send someone else to look for him tonight, and he doesn't want to organize large search parties until the hunters are gone," Ray tried to reason with his mate, even though he knew it was pointless.

"But he could be hurt, or dying, and we are just sitting here in luxury while he is out there all on his own!" Mikey groaned loudly, burying his face in a pillow once he was done.

"Gerard is tough Mikey, and you know that. We will convince Bert to let us go look for him soon, but until then, we just have to keep hoping that he is okay."

"I don't think I am going be able to sit here and do nothing for much longer." Mikey rolled back over so he was facing Ray again, and his mate didn't miss the subtle tear tracks on his face, or the damp spots on the pillow, but he wisely chose not to point them out, because Mikey was insistent on the fact that he didn't cry anymore.

"Do you believe he is okay?" Ray asked softly, shifting his position on the bed so he could run a hand through Mikey's hair as he spoke.

"I don't know..." Mikey mumbled weakly, letting his head fall forward onto Ray's chest.

"I realize I don't have a brother, but I think I would know if something happened to him, somehow, like a sixth sense or whatever."

"Really?" Mikey asked hopefully, snuggling deeper into Ray's side for added comfort.

"Well yeah, you guys have a bond, and even if it isn't the same thing as being mated, you would know if he was hurting or you know..." Ray trailed off mid-sentence, because he didn't actually want to voice the word "dead" just in case Mikey got upset all over again. Ray wasn't even one hundred percent sure if what he was saying was true, but it was cheering his mate up, and nothing else had worked so far.

"I guess you are right, and he's got to be okay..."

"He is, and we will find him soon." Ray hated making empty promises, but he just wanted to see Mikey smile again, and Gerard had to be okay, any other option was just too horrible to even consider.

"I love you," Mikey murmured before pressing his lips against Ray's bare chest, slowly traveling lower as he felt Ray tense up underneath them.

"I love you too - so much," Ray sighed out, internally congratulating himself at the fact that he had managed to distract Mikey from his brother's welfare for the time being.

He knew they would have to go look for Gerard soon though, and even if Ray was trying to act aloof and in control, he was just as worried about him as Mikey was, but he was also scared of pissing off Bert by not complying with his rules, and one of those had been that they weren't allowed to go into town without his consent.

Ray was sure there had to be a way to get out of here without Bert's permission, but just when he was trying to contemplate how to go about finding it, Mikey's hand dipped below the waistband of his boxers, erasing all traces of coherent thought from his head as he lost himself in the pleasure of being with his mate.

Sorry I took forever with this update, I don't even know what happened, I just lost track of time.

I think I started too many fics honestly, but I am doing my best, and I am still going to try to update this once a week, even though that didn't work out this time haha.

This chapter is dedicated to BeccaNevarez, because she commented such nice things on the last chapter, and I really feel bad that I made you wait so long for another updated.

Also, if you guys haven't checked out my newest fic yet, you totally should. It's called Here's to the Heartache, and I'm really proud of it, so maybe give it a read?

((((loving vibes))))

<3 starr