Two weeks later, Gerard was back at The Void. He had been attending whenever he was free, which was essentially every night, and he told himself time and time again that he was going for the music that, to be fair, was sometimes pretty good, or the atmosphere, which was dangerous on a particularly auspicious night and on all others lovably dingy. He knew, though, he was hoping to see Frank. His thoughts weren't lustful because the time he had spent with the kid had proven to him that Frank was too young to be, well, sexualized or anything like that. Gerard was just genuinely drawn to him.
Tonight, though, Gerard had more reasons than those to be stalking the brick walls of The Void. The evening's band was to be something special, for they had been some of his biggest persecutors in high school. What made it worse was that they had what Gerard could only dream of, a band and a following, but as it was with so many of the local bands, Gerard was pained by the knowledge that they had all the resources they needed but could do so much better. No matter how good Gerard could get his music, he would never get the appreciation that came with the popularity these guys had. As he watched the front man, James, ascend the step to the stage with wild brown hair that had been intentionally tussled backstage, he stiffened his resolve that the audience wouldn't be the only people having a bad time tonight.
Gerard tucked his obsidian hair underneath his hood as he flipped it up deftly, and he applied his full concentration to blending into the crowd as he slowly progressed toward the narrow and dimly lit corridor that led backstage. He edged his way through the crowd while being carefully to direct his eyes downward or anywhere away from James and his band assembling onstage; it was this maneuver that cause his chest to collide with a rigid, petite figure.
"You and crashing into people…" speculated the kid.
"You and being stiff in clubs," Gerard retorted as he looked down on dark brown hair cloaked in a black hoodie.
Frank's appearance was definitely not an unwelcome surprise, but this was a lot in one night. Life was always like that; there was nothing and then everything. It would be difficult to choose between revenge and enjoying the return of this new face. Did he have to?
Gerard wasn't yet sure how, but this was going to be a two-man job. "You see that hallway to the left of the stage?" he said while gesturing discreetly toward the place in question.
"The one with the bathroom?" Frank inquired.
"Yeah, that one. There is a black curtain at the end of the hall, and I need to get through it without being noticed. Any ideas?"
"Not really."
"There is someone hanging around there right now…" Then he had a stroke of inspiration. "Have you ever been into that bathroom?"
"Yeah, the last time I was here. Why?"
"The window… Can you fit through it?"
Frank had was lithe, but he thought for a minute before responding with, "Yeah, sure."
"Okay, just slip into the bathroom quietly. Then, I want you to lock the door, climb out the window, and wait for me outside, but I might be a while. Don't get caught doing the last parts, at least not until we're done."
"… Sounds like a plan, I guess."
"Thanks."
Gerard liked this kid. With his help, this plan might just work. The Void was an all-ages joint with no technical liquor license, but if teens wanted to get drunk, they had their ways. The Void was more than willing to turn a blind eye if it meant better business, and if you looked hard enough, sometimes you could even find an employee selling some beers inside the club to cushion the profit from his ecstasy dealings. It was a fucking classy place.
This activity would serve Gerard well tonight because kids who were out of school having a good time tended to have limited self-control. All those repressed teens were about to splurge and consume copious amounts of alcohol as soon as they got the chance, and damn it if they weren't going to have to pee. It was a simple plan, really, and Gerard almost found himself laughing as the dizzy mob proliferated in the hallway in front of the bathroom, thereby confirming the fact that this dumb plan he had formed on a whim was working. It didn't take long before he could casually slip through the amoeba of full bladders and duck behind the felt curtain to the shadowy backstage lounge.
With his best attempt to be casual, Gerard perused the sizable backstage room. He wouldn't mind being back here with a legitimate purpose someday, but he tried not to be distracted. After a few attempts to subtly peer into guitar cases and into jacket pockets, he saw what he was looking for sitting plainly atop a table.
Well, that's a little careless, Gerard thought as he moved to snatch the keys to James' Dodge Ram van. He was almost in the clear when he heard a familiar female voice behind him.
To Gerard's dismay, it clearly enunciated, "Who the hell are you?"