Our Foundations from Decay

Gerards Pov

My first date with my boyfriend! I thought to myself, oblivious to the bustling after-school street I was on. I wonder where we're going? I'm so excited! I wonder how Frank feels. Did I remember to put deodorant on this morning? Oh no, I hope I don't stink.

Suddenly, I felt the force of Frank nudge me to the side, woah, did I almost get hit by a bike?

"I was hiding from some kid in our year. Didn't bother to remember his name"

Frank's familiar voice brought me back from my overthinking.

Frank hiding from someone? That's surprising.

"What's he look like?" I wondered which intimidating character managed to get Frank in to check as if he were a chess piece, "I didn't expect you to be the hiding type honestly."

"He looks like some alternate version of that bully guy in Back to the Future... but less harmful? I guess?" Is he talking about Biff? I love Back to the Future.

"And I don't run away," He added, sounding sure of himself, "I'm very heroic."

I almost scoffed at the boy next to me, but I suppose he was right, he's my hero after all. He saved me from my 9/11 terrors, he saved my voice, he saved me.

I had to stop myself from gushing, we weren't even on our date yet and I was already getting butterflies.

"His name is Biff Howard Tannen." I finally spoke after thinking about what to say.

"Huh? The guy who I hid from has a stupid name like Biff?" the boy unsuspectingly said.

No, I have no idea who that guy is," I chuckled, patting my simple-minded boyfriend.

"The bully from Back to the Future. Biff Howard Tannen. That's his name."

"Why on earth do you remember that?" Frank asked, almost baffled.

"You know me, Frank. I'm a nerd." I told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Gerard, who even are you?" The uncertainty in his voice shocked me, giving me my own feeling of doubt. What? Do I really still feel like a stranger to him? Did we rush into this whole relationship thing too quickly?

I looked at him, my face reflecting my worriedness, making me decide to look away.

There was a brief, mortifying silence, a tense uncomfortable fog surrounding us.

"Uh, I mean," the boy next to me mumbled, his hands tightening their grasp on my sleeved arm, "I just realised I know barely anything about you. I know you like singing and drawing, and that you're damn handsome, but other than that..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say or how I'd react.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I replayed Frank's sincere words through my head.

I'm 'damn handsome', huh. Frank thinks I'm handsome. I swooned causing me to giggle.

Right, what were we talking about again? Oh, yes.

"Well, I like Dungeons and Dragons, which is probably the nerdiest thing to be obsessed with." I didn't know if I should keep going, but Frank's urging look indicated me to.

"And... I've always loved comics more than anything. Watchmen, Hellboy, all of that crap. Nothing better than a good superhero story."

"Yeah, I totally agree."

Wait, Frank likes superhero comics too!?

those four words were sweet symphonies to my ears. I conjured up my response in an attempt to suppress my utter excitement as much as possible.