TALK TO ME ¯ᶠʳᵉʳᵃʳᵈ

-ˏˋｔｗｅｎｔｙ ｆｉｖｅ：ｍａｋｅ ｙｏｕ ｆｏｒｇｅｔˊˎ-

((a bit of sexual content at the end))

I woke up suddenly, looking around the room to make sure my father wasn't around. It was just a dream. The millionth one I've had. The room was dark now-well darker than usual since Gerard's window didn't do much-so I knew it was nighttime. I sat up, rubbing my head. I had slept too much and I had a headache. I reached over to the nightstand and flicked on the lamp. I was surprised Gerard wasn't here with me. Every time I had woken up earlier, he was there to hold me and shush me back to sleep.

I stood up off the bed, still feeling weak from all the sleep. I trudged up the stairs and stepped into the kitchen, but there was no one there. There were voices coming from the living room, so I walked towards there, but froze before they could all see me. They were talking about my father.

"He always does this," my mother sobbed to whoever was listening. "He comes around and just ruins Frankie. He makes him feel so..."

"There has to be a way to keep him away from Frankie," Gerard spoke, sounding beyond irritated. "He hits him, doesn't he?"

"Abuses him in every way possible," my mom said. "The things he says to him break my heart and they're not even directed towards me! I can't imagine how Frankie must feel."

"What does he say to him?" Gerard spoke, obviously through gritted teeth, like he was purposely looking for more to fuel his anger.

"Horrible things," my mom sighed. "He always calls him useless. Makes him feel like he's worth nothing. Makes him feel so much worse about not talking. Every time he comes and leaves, Frankie's just a mess. He starts to believe the things he says to him."

"Why can't you get a restraining order or something?" this time Donna spoke.

"He has enough money to get the best lawyers," my mom answered. "He'd find a way to keep it from happening."

"I don't get why he does it, though," Mikey spoke this time. I was getting a headache thinking about all the people gathered talking about my father and me. "Why would he put so much effort into keeping Frankie if he's just gonna mess him up?"

"It'll make him look bad," my mom answered. "Like this time, he came because people found out he had a son who he had left. He came to take his anger out on Frankie, as if it was his fault."

I really didn't like this. I didn't want them discussing what an apparent failure I was and how my dad was the only who expressed it. If they were, I just hoped they'd do it openly in my face. I stepped into the opening of the living room and all eyes shifted towards me. I wasn't sure what the fuck I planned on doing when stepping in there because now I felt my nerves go crazy with all their sympathetic eyes on me.

I just stood there, hands clenched into fists at my side and they all seemed like they didn't know what to say. What could they say without breaking the poor mute kid?

Gerard was first to get up and come to me. He took my hand and pulled me over to the sofa to sit down next to him.

"We were talking about your dad," he said quietly, scooting closer to me. My head automatically leaned against his shoulder and I just rested there, taking in his scent. "We want to find a way to keep him away from you."

I was honestly surprised that Gerard kept talking about it when I was around. He didn't avoid the subject because he was afraid I couldn't handle it. That's what people would usually do. It made me feel better that he didn't.

He was the only one, though. Everyone else kind of just stared at me, waiting for me to break, even Mikey. I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone to write something. They all watched my every move and it put me even more on edge.