Gerard heard the sniggers from the table behind him. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"They're at it again," Gerard mumbled, staring down at the tray in front of him.

"How many times have I told you not to care about those assholes?" Oliver asked, stabbing at the school's bad excuse for a greek salad with his fork. Gerard winced and sunk deeper into his hoodie. Oliver was lucky, everyone actually liked him, despite the fact that he was dating Gerard. Oliver made friends easily. He didn't understand.

"Look, Gerard, if you don't stop caring about what they think, I'll go and sit with them instead. I can't take your self-pity anymore. It's depressing," Oliver went on carelessly, his voice rising more with every word. The cafeteria suddenly fell silent, and all three hundred and thirty two heads turned to stare at them.

"So, we're over?" Gerard asked quietly, not daring to look around at anyone else in the room. He knew they were all staring; he could feel it. Oliver picked up his tray and stood up; his chair scraping across the floor loudly. He turned on his heel and walked away quickly. Gerard stared at his back as he left the cafeteria. It stung.

Just then, Gerard felt a hard thump on the back of his head and his head jerked forward, almost hitting his tray.

"Go cut yourself, you faggot!" Someone yelled venomously. Gerard grit his teeth and walked out of the room with as much dignity as he could scrape up. He wasn't going to let those fuckers see him cry.

The bathroom was empty as Gerard washed his now-tear-stained face. He looked into the mirror and grimaced. He totally looked like shit. His smudged eyeliner his puffy eyes made him look like a sad raccoon. The door swung open, and Gerard turned his head sharply to see who was coming in. He didn't want to be seen like this by a douchebag; he didn't exactly want to be beaten up in a bathroom.

Frank barged in, ripping off his science-goggles and swearing under his breath. His friend, Ray, had spilt chlorine all over Frank's shirt, because he apparently thought it was the appropriate time to headbang. Big mistake. Frank then noticed he wasn't alone in the room.

"Gee, you okay?" Frank asked, still kind of pissed off. Gerard's heart lifted a little at the nickname, Frank was the only one who called him that.

"No, I'm not o-fucking-kay," Gerard snapped, glaring. "Oliver broke it off."

"Dude… That's fucked," Frank said, completely forgetting about the chlorine soaking his shirt. He yanked Gee into a huge hug, and Gerard wrapped his arms around Frank, wondering how such a small guy could make him feel so sheltered.

Gerard and Frank had met three years ago, at a Rob Zombie concert; when Gerard was fourteen and Frank was twelve. They had knocked heads while headbanging viciously to Dragula. Gerard was wearing his combat boots, and Frank was wearing his torn jeans. Both glared at each other before laughing hysterically. After exchanging cell numbers, they realized that they lived in the same area, and quickly became friends. They had been completely inseparable until Gerard became a senior at their high school. While Gerard fell hard for Frank, Frank made new friends. They had different schedules. As their lives grew busier, Frank has less and less time for Gerard. They hung out occasionally on the weekends, but Gerard had a feeling that Frank did that only out of sympathy.

Gerard wasn't all that upset about losing Oliver. He was upset about being alone again. Oliver had always just been a distraction from the fucking loneliness he had felt since Frankie drifted away. To Gerard, their friendship felt like a mere fantasy nowadays.

"Hey, Frank? It's a nice hug and all, but you smell weird," Gerard mumbled into Frank's shoulder. Frank giggled his pot-head giggle.

"Well, yeah. Got chlorine all over me, thanks to Ray," Frank said, withdrawing from the hug and attempting to rinse his shirt.

As Gerard shuffled past Frank, towards the door, he heard Frank call, "Hey, see you around?"

"Yeah. See you," Gerard said. With a glance over his shoulder, he walked out of the door.

Author's Note: Hey guys. C: This is for a contest I entered on Mibba. It's gonna be a three-shot; the other two chapters have already been written up, I just need to edit 'em. Hope you like!