who's gonna watch you die?

24/09/2012

mcrnut — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:10:39 GMT

After many years here on Livejournal, and many memories, I'm ready to put it away. I'll still be checking up on my friends list and messages now and then.

-

fic

mcrnut — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:05:09 GMT

Title: In smoke with all our memories
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: NC-17
P.O.V: third, Gerard centered
Disclaimer: Do not own, not true. The title and lyrics belong to Eminem.
Summary:

He screams when Frank slams into him and punches the wall beside his head. He was so sure he'd hit him, was so ready for it, but when his head twists painfully to the side he sees Frank's fist buried in the thin wooden wall,
dust swirling in the light around them.

Warnings: Sex, violence
A/N: Inspired by the song "Love The Way You Lie (Part 2)" by Rihanna and Eminem.
And also the music video for the original version.

Shove me, in the aftermath of the destructive path that we're on,
two psychopaths but we know that no matter how many knives we put in each other's backs that we'll have each other's backs,

'cause we're that lucky

Gerard falls quiet like he usually does, something heavy twisting in his chest.

Frank looks at him, palms rough against Gerard's cheekbones, he doesn't allow him to turn his head away, and Frank's jaw is clenched in anger, the bow of his right eyebrow twitching, once. The silence is too heavy as Frank searches his face, and Gerard can't make himself say anything, because he's so tired, so incredibly tired of talking. He narrows his eyes and he wants to rip Frank's hands off his face and shove him away, wants to see his body slam into the wall, but at the same time he wants to pull him close, to bury his fingers in his hair and feel Frank's breath on his skin, against his lips, hear his scratchy voice next to his ear.

Frank lets his arms fall and kicks at Gerard's bookshelf, yelling, "Jesus, Gerard, Jesus fucking Christ." And a couple of books fall, spreading out against the wooden floor.

Gerard doesn't even flinch. He doesn't even look at him as Frank growls angrily and storms out the door, slamming it so hard after him that everything in the small apartment shudders around him.

Gerard sits on the armrest of his couch and smokes, staring at the wall helplessly. He holds the smoke in his lungs to feel the burn, to make sure he can still feel something.

*

He screams when Frank slams into him and punches the wall beside his head.

He was so sure he'd hit him, was so ready for it, but when his head twists painfully to the side he sees Frank's fist buried in the thin wooden wall, dust swirling in the light around them.

"Fuck you!" Gerard says as Frank kisses him, pushes him up against the wall harder, biting his lip and touching his neck and face with bloody, bruised knuckles. "Fuck you." He says again, opening up and kissing him back with all his might.

Frank breathes harshly against his throat, teeth scraping against his skin.

They struggle across the hall and Frank throws him violently down onto the couch. His eyes are dark, and Gerard sits up, ready to push him away and close to him, all at once, when Frank grabs his wrists, hard.

"God," he says through gritted teeth as they fight. Gerard digs his nails into Frank's shoulders and feels them sink into his flesh, just to make him hurt as much as possible. He gasps when Frank pushes his legs apart and grinds down, pressing his forehead against Gerard's collarbone.

Gerard twists his hands in Frank's shirt, kicking off the rough material of the couch and Frank stumbles back. Gerard shoves him, watches as he falls back against the coffee table, cursing even before he hits it, and it slides several feet across the floor, glasses and magazines and ashtrays flying everywhere.

They both stand completely still, looking at each other. Gerard lifts his chin up, challenging, ready to punch, kick, kiss - anything.

Frank calms his breathing and wipes at his jaw, smearing around the orangey blood from a scrape Gerard left there. He blinks slowly before moving closer, shoulders relaxed and arms hanging loose by his side, and before he can think, Gerard throws himself at Frank, cups the back of his neck and presses his tongue into his mouth.

They moan and breathe against each other, stumbling over to the bedroom. Helpless, like there's not enough time in the world, and Frank is so careful, so slow and careful and violent at the same time and Gerard can't even hold onto one, single, reasonable thought, because the feel of their bodies sliding against each other, Frank hard and slick and loving and angry against him is too much, far too much.

*

"It'll get better." Gerard tells his hands as he looks down at them.

He's sitting in the middle of the living room floor to feel the strip of sunlight from between the curtains on his back. He lights up a cigarette and looks at the mess on the floor, the hole in the wall, and he doesn't know what he's feeling, hates himself for wanting Frank back here with him so he can dig his fingers up under his jaw where it hurts, and then kiss it better.

He doesn't know where Frank is. Probably out stealing something he could afford to buy, or starting a pointless fight, or fucking some nameless, stupid whore. Gerard bites down on his tongue and lets his head fall back on his shoulders.

He feels dead and he feels more alive than he ever has in his life.

He throws the last of his cigarette into a sticky, brownish puddle on the floor, watching it hiss and die.

It isn't more than half an hour later when Frank comes back, a deep, red mark blooming on his left cheekbone.

"I love you," he says, stumbling in and sinking down on his knees next to Gerard, leaning down against the floor and resting his head in his lap.

Gerard strokes his hand through Frank's hair carefully, tracing patterns down the side of his face and up behind his ear. "I know," he says, finally.

Frank rolls over slightly so he's looking directly up at him, eyes shiny, gold and hazel in the dim light. He takes Gerard's hand off his face and laces their fingers, watching his own thumb slide over Gerard's white knuckles.

They sit like that, touching each other, nothing rushed or hurried and Gerard leans down to kiss him after a while, just to feel his lips against his, slick up the red cut in Frank's lip with his tongue.

"How fucked up is that?" he whispers.

*

Frank is pressing their hands into the wall as he fucks deep into Gerard, biting on the side of his neck. Gerard lets his head loll back against Frank's shoulder and meets his thrusts, revelling in the feeling of being held against the headboard so hard he can barely breathe. He's on his knees, legs spread and he feels like he isn't even there, nothing can feel so good, and he exhales loudly while bringing their hands to his mouth so he can bite over their laced fingers.

Frank hisses behind him, nosing along his jaw line, giving his sweaty skin an experimental lick. Gerard turns his head so they can kiss, It's an awkward angle though and they end up just panting into each others mouths.

Gerard whines and arches, but Frank clamps a hand on his hip determinedly, keeping him from moving much at all. "No," he says, scraping his nails down Gerard's side. His pupils are blown and Gerard wants to smash his head back into Frank's face, but he doesn't, instead he claws at the headboard with his free hand and holds his breath as he feels it build in his stomach and tights and all the way up his spine.

"Fuck," he says.

He can feel Frank's smile against his skin as he slows down, rolling his hips into him with steady, long thrusts and Gerard makes a deep noise somewhere between a growl and a moan and Frank pushes off the headboard slightly to give him some room.

"Don't touch yourself," he warns and grips the inside of Gerard's thigh, holding him open and pressing him forward with a hand between his shoulder blades. He just goes for it after that, hard, deep thrusts and Gerard is moaning non-stop, barely able to hold himself up.

He comes and it's just endless, it lasts and lasts and Frank is fucking him through it, the firm hand on his back almost loving. Gerard is practically sobbing from the pleasure when Frank finally gasps and twitches inside of him, tipping over the edge and digging his hands into his neck and hip.

He curls around Gerard afterwards, possessive and gentle like he always is after they fuck. He touches his cheeks and kisses his mouth and just holds him until they drift off, too tired to think and too in love to move.

*

Gerard wakes up, limbs tangled with Franks on the soft double bed. He lets his eyes wander over his face, the streak of morning sun cast across his neck and chin. Frank's breath hitches and he blinks awake, too, unfocused and beautiful. Gerard bites down on his lower lip, unable to stop himself from smiling.

Frank rasps out something into his pillow and drags Gerard closer under the clammy sheets.

fic

mcrnut — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 11:25:59 GMT

Title: Nostalgia
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: R
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centered
Disclaimer: Don't own them etc.
Warnings: Non-graphic sex
Summary: The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form. The word is a learned formation of a Greek compounds, consisting of νόστος, nóstos, "returning home", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος, álgos, "pain" or "ache".

A/N: This is for slashxyouxup and xoxxblitz7, ilu both!

Gerard has his red nose pushed down into his scarf and his hands deep in his pockets as he walks down the main street in his old home town. Moving home will be good, he thinks. He's tired, and he's done finding himself or whatever. He had thought he needed to get away from everything he knew to be able to grow as an artist and a person. It wasn't like that though, he missed home, his roots, there was so much of him and what had come to define him as a person in this town, in the people here.

Every street lamp and park bench carries a memory, and for now, Gerard needs to surround himself with what he knows.

He sniffs and looks up, and that's when he sees him. He startles and comes to a halt for a second.

He recognizes Frank's silhouette even though he's barely visible, huddled in his coat at the far end of the street. Gerard hasn't seen him in years, hasn't thought about him in months, but he almost jolts at how powerful it is watching him walk towards him with his head ducked, rubbing his hands together for warmth. Gerard thinks, for a wild second, about spinning on his heel and running into one of the alleys before Frank sees him and hide behind a dumpster.

It's like listening to an old Smokie ballad. The person he is today would scream and turn off the radio, but the notes and lyrics are woven into someone else.

A person he forgot he was.

He curls his hands into fists in his pockets to distract himself from the sneaking melancholy burning in his stomach. He doesn't look away from Frank's calm form and he holds his breath as a car roars by and Frank is bathed in yellow lights for a moment. He doesn't look up, though.

It washes though him and he remembers the feeling of Frank's hair between his fingers, the way his pillow smelled in the morning and the row of light freckles on his lower back. He remembers the laughter, the secrets. The promises and plans that still lie years ahead of him.

His chest tightens as he gets a glimpse of a life he'll never live.

People he will never know, places he'll never see and children he'll never have. He swallows down the heavy feeling in his throat as Frank looks up, close enough now that Gerard can see the reflecting street lights in his eyes. He doesn't look away, keeping his pace slow, and it takes no more than locking eyes with Frank before the unbearable feeling of nostalgia swells in him again, edging out to the tips of his fingers and curling around his throat.

Frank smiles, quick and beautiful, and he's exactly the same, he looks exactly the same, but Gerard can feel it to the core of his bones. He's different, too. He doesn't belong to Gerard anymore, he lives a life and surrounds himself with people Gerard doesn't know, and an intense feeling of regret flares through him.

And just like that, Frank passes him, giving him a quick nod.

Gerard wonders, for a moment, if it's not a tragedy that two people who have planned a life together meet four years later and greet each other with nothing but a nod.

As the scratching sounds of Frank's footsteps fade into the night behind him he lets himself breathe properly, the cold air stinging in this throat.

~

He's staying with his parents until he can find an apartment, and he thinks it's going to take a while to get used to sleeping in his old bedroom again.

He drops his jacket on a chair in the corner of the room and drags in the smell. There's something about houses and their smells, it's like they never change. Gerard is flooded with memories again, from when he used to sit bent over his desk, drawing, to the first time he and Frank smoked pot on his bed. Frank would sneak out and climb in his window, covered in sticky leaves and dark thorns from the bushes in the Way garden.

Gerard shrugs out of his clothes and pulls on a pair of loose slacks and a thin t-shirt from his messy suitcase and wraps his arms around himself, sitting down on his bed. He snorts at the old Star Wars sheets, but can't help smoothing a hand over the covers fondly.

He jumps when his phone beeps in the quiet room.

He's gotten a text from a number he doesn't know and it reads "look out yr window". Gerard stares at the text for a second before he twists his head, fingers clamped around his phone.

At first all he sees is the row of thorny, overgrown bushes and the outline of the Iero house across the lawn, but then a light clicks on. Gerard jumps again, dropping his phone on the mattress and getting to his feet so fast his head spins.

And there Frank is, standing in his bedroom, giving him a dorky wave. It feels like he's been pulled back in time, because it doesn't feel like it's been four years since Frank stood there, looking exactly the same, and fiddling with the lock on his window. Gerard laughs into the back of his hand as he watches Frank climb out his window and slide down against the wall, one leg awkwardly bent up against the frame as he desperately flails and falls to the ground. Gerard almost thinks he can hear him cursing.

He hurries over to his own window and pushes it open, leaning against the window sill.

Frank crosses the lawn and more or less gracefully jumps over the bushes and the he's there, taking a hold of the window frame with tattooed fingers, almost eye level with Gerard.

"Hey." He says, a little breathless.

Gerard smiles and rakes a hand through his hair, pushing it back. "Hi. I, wow." He can't think of one single relevant thing to say and he isn't sure, but he thinks it has something to do with the soft lines next to Frank's eyes when he smiles. "So..uh..You still live at home?"

"Just for the weekend." Frank says dismissively and takes a careful hold of Gerard's chin, guiding his mouth to his own.

Gerard inhales sharply through his nose and tries desperately to organize his thoughts and feelings as Frank slides his chilly hand up under his jaw and to the side of his neck. He makes a soft noise and Gerard shudders.

Frank's body against his feels familiar, safe, scary and new at the same time, and he spends a long time sliding the tips of his fingers over the new pieces of ink on his skin. Frank pushes into every touch on the single bed and smiles, he looks happy and Gerard has to lean in and kiss him every other second, or he thinks he'll burst. He wonders why this is happening and if he wants it, if it's for him to want, but then Frank pushes him into the mattress and digs his fingers into the skin under Gerard's knee, holding his legs apart with a firm grip, and Gerard doesn't think anymore.

~

The room is bathed in moonlight, giving Frank's skin a pearly glow, the thin layer of sweat glistening on his body.

Gerard touches again, he can't not touch everywhere he sees that looks unfamiliar, and he feels like he needs to slide his palm over every stretch of skin on Frank's body to claim him again, he has to drag his lips up his chest and set his teeth into the arch where his shoulder meets his neck.

Frank is humming peacefully, hands in Gerard's hair. He makes noise when Gerard pushes his nose up under his jaw, giving a content sigh. "You know, " he starts, tracing the shape of Gerard's ear with a finger. "I thought I didn't wait for you."

Gerard tenses. "I.." he says, but Frank cuts him off.

"I didn't wait for you." He says, pulling back enough so he can look Gerard in the eye. "I don't think it matters though, because I belong with you anyway."

"Wow, shakespeare." Gerard blurts. "That's quite the declaration of love." Stupid, Gerard thinks, stupid, stupid but he can't stop himself from smiling so wide his jaw hurts.

Frank punches him in the shoulder. "Don't be an asshole, I'm trying to be romantic and shit." He leans in a bites his nose carefully, making Gerard squirm. "You know, I missed you, stay, let's try again, all that jazz."

Gerard feels like all the air is drawn from his lungs and he rolls over on his back, taking Frank with him and dragging him down for a kiss. He can't help the little whine at the back of his throat. "Okay." He says in between kisses, Frank moaning happily into his mouth, hard against him, like they didn't just come. Some things never change.

"Welcome home." Frank whispers into the crook of Gerard's neck. Gerard thinks moving home will be good.

fic

mcrnut — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:44:00 GMT

Title: Drawn between two lungs
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: PG
P.O.V: Third, Frank centered
Disclaimer: don't own, never happened.
Summary: Frank smiles, and the panic coiling his his stomach stills for a second.
Warnings: None.
A/N: Inspired by a prompt on my schmoop_bingo card. It's also completely ripped off the opening scene in the movie "Valentines Day". This is super silly, unbetaed fluff you guys, bear with me!

Frank is pacing around the room restlessly, his bare feet making little squeaky noises against the hardwood floor and he sighs, running a hand though his messy hair. He looks over at Gerard's sleeping form on the bed, sheets curled around his waist and one arm thrown over his chest, rising and falling with his body each time he takes a slow, peaceful breath. He's beautiful, as always.

Frank smiles, and the panic coiling his his stomach stills for a second.

When Gerard sniffs in his sleep, scrunching his nose up, though, Frank is right back to hyperventilating and messing with his hair. He rubs his hands together, and walks over to the bed, sinking down beside the edge and leans over the soft mattress. Gerard makes a small noise, rolling closer in his sleep, pushing half his face into Frank's pillow and getting the sheets even more tangled in his legs.

Frank reaches out to touch his cheek carefully. "Baby?"

"mm...shniffleplum." Gerard says, an eyebrow twitching.

"Morning." Frank takes Gerard's hand carefully in his and slides his nose along Gerard's milky cheekbone.

Gerard blinks awake, wincing at the golden morning sun in his eyes. "I..what?" And his voice is scratchy against Frank's skin.

Frank sits back on his heels, still leaned against the bed and he swallows down every 'what if' and 'maybe' and 'stop this oh god it will end in disaster' and strokes a hand through Gerard's hair, clearing his throat. He ignores Gerard's worried look and laces their fingers.

"When I was a kid.." He starts, running his thumb over Gerard's eyebrow and up over his forehead in careful strokes. "My dad used to say a lot of stupid shit. He still does, actually, but one of the things he said that wasn't complete and utter bullshit was that.. 'if you're ever with someone .. Someone that's better than you, marry them'."

Gerard leans up on one elbow and gives him a confused look. When he opens his mouth to speak, though, Frank just shakes his head and reaches into the pocket of his pajama bottoms, fishing up a clean, simple golden band. He slides it onto Gerard's white ring finger and they're both looking down at his hand, Gerard's eyes wide and confused.

"So I was just wondering.." Frank whispers, and Gerard looks up at him with shiny eyes. "If you'd marry me?"

Gerard goes from staring at Frank, to down at their hands, and back up to Frank again. He opens and closes his mouth, and Frank can't breathe. "I..." He says and blinks furiously. "What the fuck, Frank? Yes, yes, jesus christ, yes!"

And Frank exhales, dropping his head to the mattress, a startled laugh escaping him, and when he looks up again a second later, Gerard is pressing the heel of his palm under his eye. He pulls Frank up on the bed and they're both laughing, Frank fitting himself between Gerard's legs and burying his face in his neck. He smells like sweat and morning and Gerard. Frank can't think, he can't breathe.

He pushes himself up so he's looking down at Gerard. He half laughs, half sobs when he sees the wet lines down Gerard's cheeks and runs the back of his hand over them, pressing a kiss to the bridge of his nose. "You're such a girl."

"Fuck you." Gerard rests a hand at the nape of Frank's neck. "And kiss me, asshole."

"Happy birthday." Frank tries to say into Gerard's mouth, but it disappears into the smear of their lips and sound of their breathing, but it doesn't really matter, because he thinks Gerard gets it anyway.

of love and superpowers - part three

mcrnut — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:54:09 GMT

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

When someone shakes his shoulder and reality calls him back he imagines he's going to wake up in a hospital bed, because heaven doesn't feel like this.

But the red, dirty carpet is rough against his face and it's Paige standing over him.

"Frank, Frank! You need to walk, I can't carry both of you. And you need to hurry!" Her arm sneaks under and around his chest. "Okay, on the count of three. One," Frank doesn't know if he'll actually be able to, but his eyes focus and he sees Gerard on the floor, completely still. "Two." He tries to say something but his mouth is dry like sandpaper. "Three." He puts all his will into moving his legs. His right hand hurts with every move he makes and when he's standing up, the world is spinning like crazy, he has to lean against Paige's side for a second so he won't pass out again.

Paige lets him stand alone on shaky legs and walks over to Gerard, cupping his face carefully. Frank watches as she checks his pulse and lifts his eyelids, and he shudders, suddenly cold. Mikey is sitting against the wall, watching as well, blood smeared all over his face and clothes. He's shivering, pale as a ghost and their eyes meet for a second, and Frank nods. He doesn't know why exactly, but Mikey nods as well.

Gerard isn't responding to anything Paige does and she sighs helplessly and takes his limp arm, looping it around her shoulder. "Is he okay?" Frank asks, his voice so raspy he can barely make out his own words.

"He's completely out." Paige says in a frustrated tone. "But he's got a pulse. You need to help me get him to the emergency room."

Frank walks over on shaky legs and takes Gerard's other arm, something inside him stinging when he touches him and he grinds his teeth, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Mikey's following.

After a while of dragging Gerard between them he starts moving his legs, doing tiny but more than helpful steps on his own. His head is still hanging loose on his shoulder, bobbing from side to side with their movements.

The walk feels like forever, and Frank is just running on sheer willpower as they get him down the stairs, his heart hammering in his chest and his crushed fingers screaming for his complete attention.

Gerard opens his eyes and makes a couple of noises when they push the curtain in front of the emergency room aside. Frank squeezes his side carefully with his good hand and Gerard turns his head, looking at him, dazed and confused.

Frank helps Gerard in, then climbs after him, his fingers aching from holding him steady. He says "Come on, sit." But Gerard's already sunk down against the wall, head resting on his knees.

"Don't let anybody out, Iero, ya' hear me?" Paige says over the noise and slams the door shut.

And it's dark.

When Frank's eyes have adjusted, he sees that Gerard's stare is locked with Mikey's. They stay like that for a while, Gerard's hands twitching on his knees, and then Mikey nods, wiping a hand over his bloody cheek, looking away. Frank swallows and gathers himself up, slumping down beside Gerard's tense figure.

*

"Did you do that?" Frank asks later, when Gerard has been breathing evenly for some time. He adds, "To the guy that was holding you down?"

The crease between Gerard's eyebrows deepens for a second and he looks down. He says, hushed, "I don't know."

Frank takes his hand, like an impulse, curls his fingers around his sweaty palm and leans closer.

But they both know, they do, because who else, right?

"What happened?"

Frank sees Ray's stern expression from the other side of the room. At his words, a dozen kids turn to look at them, and Frank doesn't know what to say. He looks from Mikey's bloody face, to Gerard's hands and back at Ray. "Later," he says.

It feels like they're in there for days, and the fighting seems to have died out long ago. Frank wonders briefly if they're all dead, and for a second he sees Paige's limp body thrown over one of the humans' shoulders, but he forces himself not to think that, forces himself to calm down.

Gerard is kind of leant against his side, looking absentmindedly at the opposite wall, his breathing is deep and irregular, and Frank wonders if he's hurt. His eyelids are heavy and he looks so pale, his skin is almost grey.

"Are you okay?" Frank finally asks, shifting a little. Gerard’s distantly picking at a loose thread in his jeans.

*

Gerard is asleep against his side, most of the students are and Frank is dozing off too when the door creaks open. He doesn't have time to get scared before he sees Professor Fenris' furry head.

"Everybody okay?" he asks.

There's a low murmur from the crowd and people are shaking each other awake. Fenris pushes the door fully open and Paige is there, along with some of the other teachers. "Get everybody out, it's over," she says, climbing in and helping some of the younger kids to their feet. "Is anybody hurt?" she asks over the mumbling.

"Mikey is!" A girl says, Frank doesn't know her, and he sees Mikey protest furiously while Fenris pushes him out the door.

Everybody's packed at the exit, Gerard pressed hard up against Frank's side. His limbs are heavy and he seems to have trouble standing so Frank carefully sneaks an arm around his waist, holding him up. "Should we get you to the nurse?" he whispers in Gerard's ear.

Gerard shakes his head, blinking a couple of times. "No, I just need... I need to lie down." he says, and Frank swallows, strengthening his grip around Gerard's waist.

All of the students are immediately sent up to their rooms to rest, and Frank is doing his best to get Gerard up the stairs to their floor. Gerard makes a confused noise when Frank leads them both into his and Ray's room, flipping on the light switch.

"Mikey is in the nurse's office, and there's no way I'm letting you sleep alone like this," he explains, pushing a couple of books and bundled up socks off his bed, then he helps Gerard to lie down.

They're both lying as far from each other as possible on the small bed when Ray comes in, grunting in displeasure.

"My mom wants me home for the weekend," he explains, and then stops to look at them for a second. "Huh." he says, then slumps down on his own bed, kicking his shoes off.

All three of them have been quiet for a while when Ray breaks the silence. "Dude, what happened?" he asks into the dark.

Gerard's breath hitches in his ear and Frank looks at the bleak ceiling for a second. "Uh. Gerard went looking for Mikey and we just... we just kind of ended up in the middle of everything," he says. Gerard lets lose a breath and their hands brush under the sheets.

"Oh." Ray doesn't sound entirely convinced, but he doesn't say anything, and it takes no more than five minutes before Frank can hear his deep, even snores.

Frank tries to not think too much about how Gerard has moved closer and how warm he is against him. He tries to close his eyes and slow down his heartbeat because it's so stupid and he doesn't know why he has to feel like this now. He turns his back to him and looks at the door, waiting for sleep to overtake him and the constant pulses in his hand to crease.

It doesn't happen though, and he finds himself thinking about his Mom. He wonders if she'd want him home for the weekend, too, if she knew what had happened.

Frank is shaken from his thoughts when he feels three, separate spots of pressure on his back, and it takes him a minute to realise that it's Gerard's fingers, and they're moving over his t-shirt, creating gentle patterns, circling his shoulder blades and up to the nape of his neck, so slowly, and so carefully it doesn't make a sound.

Frank hums, and Gerard freezes behind him.

"It's good." Frank slurs, and the fingers move again, soothing his skin until he finally falls asleep.

*

He wakes up with Gerard's arm around his waist and his clammy body pressed up close against his back and it takes him a while to put the pieces together. He blinks against the sharp rays of light filtering through the window.

"Finally," Ray says from the other side of the room. Frank turns his head, not really awake and he hasn't been able to completely process the fact that Gerard is sleeping next to him and holding around him on the bed. Ray is stuffing clothes haphazardly into a bag, seemingly unfazed.

"My Mom's picking me up in half and hour," he says dully, studying a pair of boxers. He sniffs them, and then drops them into the bag as well. "You wanna go down and get something to eat?"

Frank sighs and closes his eyes. His body feels like it weighs a ton, but he's hungry as hell, too. "Sure, man," he says and carefully wiggles out from under Gerard's arm. He gets up on shaky feet and runs a hand through his hair a couple of times, rubbing at the sleep in his eyes.

He yells out and stumbles backwards, landing ass-first on the bed again. The pain in his fingers had come crashing back into him, hitting him like a slap across the face, and he has to take a couple of deep breaths just so he won't pass out. Gerard makes a mumbling noise behind him.

"Dude, are you okay?" Ray asks, walking over to him. "Are you hurt?"

Frank waves his good hand around a little and shakes his head. "I think some of my fingers are broken," he says, grinding his teeth until the pressure lightens a little and turns into a dull beat from his knuckles and up instead. He holds the hand as high up as he can and studies his red and swollen fingers. They look like sausages, he thinks, and tries to move one of them. He can't though, it's like they're paralyzed.

"Jesus." Ray looks honestly terrified. "We have to get you to the nurse."

"Ray, calm down, I have to eat first. I'll go after you've left." he says, standing up carefully. Gerard is still sound asleep between the warm sheets, his hair sticking out everywhere. Frank can feel the ghost of his arm on his waist. He picks up a pillow lying on the floor, it had probably fallen out of the bed during the night, Frank moved around a lot in his sleep. He puts it down by Gerard's head and steps into his shoes, holding back a gasp when there's a white spark of pain all the way up to his fucking shoulder.

"Crazy." Ray says, but he swings the bag over his shoulder nonetheless and follows Frank out.

During breakfast Professor Cado speaks to the students about what had happened the night before. He doesn't go into detail, but he explains that it was the HSA, and that they are definitely not coming back. Miraculously, none of the students had been severely hurt, and he has a proud edge to his voice when he says his thank-you to the older students who had helped their friends and classmates, and the teachers who had risked their lives for this school and the people in it.

"Thank god no one was killed." Ray says around a pierce of bread.

Frank is standing outside, watching Ray roll his eyes so hard Frank thinks they might fall out of his head when his Mom hugs him and kisses his cheek, then hugs him again, saying sad-sounding words in Spanish. Frank grins and waves as Ray slides into the car and yells "See you Monday!"

He drags himself up the long stairs and tries to ignore the pain in his fingers. When he pushes open the door to his room Gerard is sitting on the bed.

He snaps his head up when Frank enters and frowns. "How y'feeling?" Frank asks and sits down beside him.

Gerard shrugs and looks anywhere but at Frank, rubbing his hands together. "Okay."

"Good. I was just downstairs, Cado said no one was killed."

Nodding, Gerard sucks his lower lip into his mouth. He glances up at Frank then, all innocent and fragile and Frank feels his stomach swoop and turn like crazy and he lets out a quick breath, drumming his fingers against his thigh.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Gerard says, his voice is morning-hoarse, and Frank smiles, curling his good hand around one of Gerard's.

"You wanna come with me to the nurse? I gotta go get this hand checked out."

*

Mikey is looking a little too happy about the bad-ass bruises around his neck as he, Frank and Gerard exit the Nurse's office. She had healed one of Frank's fingers completely, but two of them she had to roll into a cranky looking bandage. Frank thinks he's looking pretty bad-ass himself with a faint outline of a black eye forming and a dark, knotty cut on his lower lip.

Gerard was fine, the nurse had poked him here and there and asked if this hurt or that hurt, and then given him a couple of aspirin and told him to get some more sleep.

*

The weekend passes quickly and before Frank knows it, Monday has rolled around with a new school day.

He doesn't see Gerard in any of the classes and when the bell rings after a really long theory lesson, he collects his books and hurries up a floor, until he gets to Gerard and Mikey's room.

He has to knock five times, really hard, before there's any kind of response.

"Yeah, what, come in." Gerard's groggy voice is heard from the other side of the door.

He looks terrible, eyes red and bloodshot, curled up in his bed. "Hi." Frank says. "You weren't in class today, I got worried."

Gerard smiles a small, stupid smile and coughs into his pillow. "I'm sick," he croaks.

Frank sits down on the bed gently. "I see that. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine." He coughs again, deep in his lungs and moans, rubbing the corner of his eye as he sniffs heavily. "Could you just… stay with me a little? We could watch a movie. I'm bored to death."

"Of course." Frank says and toes off his shoes, climbing closer on the bed.

They don't watch any movies, but Frank sits against the headboard and listens while Gerard talks about this comic he wants to make. The story is simple, but heartfelt, about a young superhero boy who is thrown out on the streets to live alone. Frank doesn't ask, but he thinks that maybe some parts of the story are more personal than others.

He wakes up to Mikey turning on the TV and yawns, rubbing neck. He had fallen asleep against the headboard. Gerard is snoring lightly to his right, fingers dug into his pillow and his hair covering most of his face.

"Hey dude." Frank says, rolling out and wincing at the pain in his hand. Mikey gives him a faint nod, not looking up and Frank grabs his backpack saying a quick good-bye before heading out the door.

*

Gerard snorts and Frank can't look away from that smile.

They're sitting in the library, the dusty smell of old books is comforting and Gerard is looking happy and bubbly, pulling out book after book on the shelves to show him. He's still a little pink around the eyes, and his voice isn't back to normal yet, but he's definitely better.

"This one is amazing," he says and hands Frank a heavy, leather bound book. It reads The Dragon and His Friend.

Frank blushes. "I've read it. It's really good."

They sit in the couch down by the window in between the fantasy and science fiction aisle, Gerard leaning against Frank's side and pointing and explaining as they flip through different comics. Frank listens carefully and grins whenever Gerard's voice cracks. He's talking about the characters with such passion, Frank is left tongue tied, feeling stupid because he has no input on anything. When Gerard takes a break to breathe after an especially long explanation of Wolverine's character traits and background history, Frank leans in and kisses him.

He can't remember how to breathe when he feels their lips touch, and it's so soft, softer than he'd thought it would be. Gerard is completely still, and his mouth was slightly open when Frank had leaned in, so he can taste the moist from his breath on his tongue.

"Oh." Gerard says when Frank pulls back. He's wide-eyed and looking straight at Frank, his breathing a little shallow. He touches his lower lip gingerly.

It hits Frank then, and he claps a hand over his mouth. "Oh god. I, wow, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay... I just--"

But then Frank kisses him again, and Gerard kisses back almost immediately, sighing when Frank lets his tongue come out to stroke the center of his lower lip and slide inside, all slow and warm. Gerard's hand comes up to touch his bicep and Frank smiles at the tickle of his nose against his cheek.

A book slides from Frank's lap and hits the floor and they jump apart.

"I --Yeah..." Frank says, a little breathless and a lot giddy. Gerard is looking pretty dazed himself, so it's okay. Frank brushes some hair out of his face. "I really like you."

Gerard's smile is so bright that Frank has to pull him in for another kiss. It's not working properly though, they're both grinning too wide, and Gerard laughs against his lips. Frank slides a hand over his jaw and says, "You want to get out of here?"

They walk in zig-zag between the aisles and bookshelves, Gerard balancing a bunch of books with one arm, and the other one pulling on and flattening his hair, and he sneaks glances over at Frank all the way up the stairs and Frank is just smiling and smiling and smiling and he doesn't care that his jaw is starting to ache.

The second the door is shut behind them, Frank drags Gerard close with a hand on his lower back. Gerard says, "wait, wait," and drops the books on Frank's nightstand. They tumble over to the bed, Frank's hands everywhere on Gerard's chest and arms. Gerard makes a noise into his mouth and clings to his shoulders, and Frank doesn't think anymore, just pushes him back into the pillows. They lie there kissing, tongues coming out to slide against each other shyly and everything is awesome, Frank doesn't give a shit about his aching arms or how his fingers are screaming Please Stop Now Pain.

He's getting really turned on too, and he should maybe be freaking out, but he's not, not in the domenating part of his brain at least, and he shifts a little and experimentally pushes his dick down against Gerard's thigh.

Gerard's whole body stiffens up and he drops his arms from Frank's shoulders, circling them around his waist, pushing back up against him. He breaks away from Frank's mouth, and they lock eyes, hips grinding against each other slowly.

"Mmh." Gerard says, and lets his head fall back, pressing up hard, and his fingers dig into Frank's sides.

The shelves next to Frank's bed shudder and something tips over, falling to the floor. Frank can't even be bothered to check what it is, he just presses his face into Gerard's neck, kissing the tender skin softly and dragging in his smell.

Gerard makes a strangled sound, his hips pushing up against Frank faster, heavier, and the shelf shudders again and more things fall to the floor.

Frank slows down his movements and leans down to rest his lips against Gerard's neck as he speaks. "Are you doing this?" he asks.

"I'm sorry." Gerard says breathlessly. "I just can't help it, I -- um."

Frank grins and kisses his ear, his temple, and runs a hand through his hair. "No, no it's fine." He laughs against Gerard's damp skin, low and effortless. "I knew you were telekinetic."

"Barely." Gerard snorts, and he's gone tense under Frank again.

They fall silent, Frank thinking about that one time in class he'd seen him move a pencil, fingertips white against his desk and eyes closed in concentration.

He slides down to lie beside him and touches his cheekbone, the freckles there, and then Gerard says, "I actually can't control it much." He pauses, eyes not meeting Frank's. "It's just when I… feel things. When I'm scared or angry or... you know, things like that." He turns to face Frank, and takes his hand into his, running his finger over Frank's knuckles delicately. "It's funny," he says, "when I was younger, I used to dream about being a superhero, and saving the world and stuff."

"You can do that." Frank says, looking at Gerard's pale hands, his thumb grazing over Frank's skin slowly. "What you can do is a gift, Gerard. And it doesn't matter that you can't control it, that's what you're here for."

Gerard smiles at Frank's good hand, sliding his thumb down between his index and middle finger ticklishly, half his face sunk down in the soft pillow. "I should go." he says. "I promised Mikey I'd help him with some homework."

Frank curses inwardly, but can't help crack a smile. "Yeah. I'll see you later, then?"

Pressing close again, Gerard kisses him, deep and just a little bit dirty. He smiles proudly when he pulls back. "Yeah."

*

They've been holding up forced small talk for a while when she drops the question.

"So, how's school?" his Mom asks in a light tone.

Like you care, he thinks bitterly. He worries the nail of his index finger between his teeth. "Fine. It's okay."

It's quiet, her breathing slow and sad against his ear. "Would you want to come home for a weekend? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. We could rent a movie or something?"

Frank feels something painful twist inside the pit of his stomach. He wants to have a reason to just hang up and not miss her, to be angry with her because she never calls. Instead he sighs and blinks away the prickle behind his eyes. "Yeah, we could do that. I guess."

"Okay, honey." Her voice is so familiar, and he thinks, for one second, about giving her a hug and dragging in her smell. She smells just like a mom should smell, warm and caring and soft. "I'll talk to you later." she says.

"Yeah, bye Mom."

He keeps the phone close to his ear until she hangs up.

*

Frank throws his backpack over his shoulder, and the second his right foot hits the doorstep, Professor Cado coughs.

"Iero, could I have a word with you?"

Cursing under his breath, Frank turns on his heel and slumps down in the chair in front of Professor Cado's desk. He didn't get why the Professor had been so hard on him this year, Frank had been good. He had done his homework and stayed behind to practice every time he'd been asked to, and he couldn't even remember the last time he skipped a day.

He grinds his nail against the old wood of the desk irritably. The classroom smells like used air and people and it's giving him a headache, a dull thud somewhere under his forehead. He winces and gives Professor Cado a long look of obvious annoyance, because the Professor takes his time with absolutely everything he does.

He stands in the doorway and nods and smiles to all the students filtering out, and when the door is closed behind the last one, he stands for a minute, looking at nothing in particular. He takes a couple of echoing steps closer to Frank, his hands behind his back, and studies some of the documents lying around.

"Frank," he says finally. "I know we didn't get along very well when you were new at the school." He sits down in his chair. "But you have showed me that you can!" He waves a hand at what’s left of Frank's little tester box from earlier, he had kept the fire alive for a long time. Frank nods, unsure of where this is all going. "Summer is only weeks away, and as you may know, I am the supervisor of the Leader training try-outs this year." He inhales deeply and gives Frank a serious look. "The judges will be here next Monday, and I do not think you are a class three. However, I am to bend the rules for students I believe should get the chance based on natural talents and effort, and I think you could learn a lot if you got into the Leader programme."

Frank blinks. "So what you're saying is that my class doesn't matter as long as I nail it at the try-outs?"

Professor Cado smiles. "Yes."

"I..." Frank blinks some more. When he collects the brainpower to think again, he grins so hard that he almost can't see and shoots a hand out over the desk to shake Professor Cado's warm, dry one. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Professor!"

Professor Cado smiles, the lines under his eyes deepening. "Now, off you go." he says, shuffling some papers around.

When Frank is outside and the door as clicked close, he does a little happy-dance and runs with light steps all the way up to his room.

*

Gerard is breathing heavily, touching Frank's face in between kisses, cold fingertips against his chin, cheeks and down his neck. He looks concentrated and maybe a little desperate, and it makes Frank even more eager, pushing down against him on the mattress.

It had started with them watching a movie on Frank's bed that night, innocently enough. Frank had smiled and touched Gerard's wrist, asked him if he wanted to watch a movie they had both seen too many times. His eyes were shifty and stomach jumpy when Gerard nodded, flashing him a smile.

They had barely gotten the door locked before they were kissing against it, slowly at first, but after a couple of minutes of roaming each other's bodies and trying to kiss at the same time, they stumbled over to the bed.

"Mh, Frank..." Gerard says, taking Frank's head in his hands to hold him still. "What if Ray comes back?"

"Whatever." Frank says, moving down to suck on Gerard's soft neck. "The door's locked."

"But he has a key." Gerard gasps, fingers tightening in Frank's hair. "Right?"

"He won't bother if it's locked, he knows I'm --" he slides his tongue into Gerard's mouth again, smiling against him as the bed shakes and the bookshelf on the other side of the room creaks, Ray's tiny tin soldiers tipping each other over like domino bricks. "-- that I'm busy." he finishes, licking Gerard's upper lip. "Maybe we should get everything out of the shelves."

Gerard blushes harder, glancing over at the bookshelves. He catches Frank's mouth with his before he gets the brain power to do anything about it, though, and they stay busy kissing. The wet, slippery noises, and the small hitches in Gerard's breath is enough to make Frank's skin tingle all the way down to his toes, and he chuckles silently as a couple of the tin soldiers roll over the edge and hits the floor, thump, thump, thump.

"Frank. Oh, uh. Frank?"

"What?" sitting back on his heels, Frank peels off his t-shirt and drops it to the floor.

Gerard smiles carefully, all flushed and beautiful. He looks up at Frank, eyes gliding carefully over his body, then back up at his face. He pushes himself up so he's sitting against the headboard, pulling Frank closer on his lap, sneaking his fingers around his middle, face pressing against his neck. Frank sighs and hugs him back, playing with the soft, wavy hair against the side of his throat.

"I can't believe you're real." Gerard says, wonder in his voice, his lips buzzing against Frank's skin.

Frank breathes out a laugh, "me neither." Gerard takes a deep breath against his body, and something inside him feels like it's going to explode. He pushes his face into Gerard's hair and giggles, unable to help himself, tracing small circles down under his shoulder blade.

"I just gotta..." he says, disentangling himself from Gerard. He puts all his books and movies on the floor, along with some of Ray's stuff before he climbs back under the sheets with an embarrassed Gerard, grinning and trapping his lower lip between his teeth.

As their hands get bolder and kisses hotter, Frank wonders how far they're going to take this and how they're going to do it. He feels himself harden even more as he thinks about touching Gerard, putting his mouth on him, and something jumps and twists inside the pit of his stomach. He makes a low sound against Gerard's cheekbone. He places a hand carefully over his belt buckle and pulls back, raising an eyebrow in a silent question, his heart hammering in his chest.

Gerard nods, eyes following Frank's fingers as he works the pants open.

Before he thinks about doing anything more, Frank kicks his own jeans off, pushing them back to the foot of the bed. He doesn't have any time to freak out or look or touch at all, because the next thing he knows, he's on top of Gerard again, and they're almost naked and it feels so good, his mind goes blank.

"Oh god." Gerard breathes, and his thigh is between Frank's legs, warm and firm and new.

Frank suddenly wants the underwear off too, fast, and he slides his fingers under the waistband of Gerard's boxers before he even has the time to think, feeling the smooth skin there, moving a hand to the front, suddenly a lot braver than he thought he was. He feels the hair and the damp skin under his fingers and then, Gerard's dick. He curls his fingers around him and feels him twitch inside his hand, making them both gasp.

Frank holds his breath as he moves his hand and tries to remember what feels good, and he's so turned on he thinks he could actually pass out. He leans down and kisses the base of Gerard's throat and as he starts getting a little more into it, he licks his way lower, down over salty, smooth skin and it should probably be gross, he thinks, but it's not, it's amazing. What's even better is feeling Gerard's rapid breath under his tongue, knowing it's him that's doing it, making Gerard's breathless and twitching, pushing up into his hand.

It's when he drags his tongue over Gerard's hip bone, hand loose around his dick, he thinks that maybe he's actually going to do it. He's a little dizzy and a lot turned on as he peels Gerard's boxers down past his knees, kissing his hip wetly. He looks up at Gerard, blood rushing in his ears. Gerard's eyes are clouded with want and his cheekbones are still smeared with a deep, pink blush. His fingers curles in Frank's sheets.

Frank licks the underside of Gerard's dick, a long swipe up to the tip, before taking him into his mouth. He has to close his eyes when Gerard's thighs fall open and a hand slides hesitantly over his shoulder. He wants to say 'hey, it's okay', but his mouth is kinda full, so he does his best to concentrate on moving and not gagging.

Gerard is making noises and kind of petting his shoulder desperately, so he must be doing something right. He doesn't really know what to do with his hands, the bandaged one ended up somewhere over Gerard's knee, and the other is trapped under him, twisted in a way that should be painful and distracting, but isn't because hey, he's pretty busy being so turned on me might just die. He manoeuvres the trapped arm down under himself and palms his own dick. He hums, unable to help himself.

Apparently, that was a good thing because Gerard whines, his nails digging into Frank's shoulders.

He curls his good hand around the base of Gerard's dick, and hums again, pushing down against the mattress for friction and Gerard's fingers are clawing at his shoulders and up the side of his neck. "Frank, I, uh-- Frank..."

But before Frank has any time to figure out what that might mean, Gerard is coming in his mouth, warm and salty. Frank swallows some of it, blinking, surprised with himself and looks up, meeting Gerard's gaze.

"I'm sorry." Gerard says, touching the side of Frank's face with trembling fingers.

Frank crawls up on the bed, wincing a little at the taste echoing in his mouth. He pulls the covers up over them, and lies down, facing Gerard, trailing a soft pattern down along his bicep. Gerard squirms and blinks, smiling.

He protests lightly when Frank kisses him, but melts against him fast enough and Frank groans, sneaking a hand down over his boxers and pressing the heel of his palm against himself. And if he wasn't so busy having his tongue in Gerard's mouth and his fingers scrabbling at his sides, his hand would be wrapped around his own dick in seconds, but Gerard beats him to it, dipping a hand into his underwear.

Frank’s startled at how overwhelming it is when Gerard squeezes him at the base and moves up with hurried, perfect strokes, flicking his thumb under the head, making Frank press closer. Gerard is panting against his ear and Frank can't see, kind of, he wonders if it's because he's closing his eyes or blacking out from the pleasure, he's not sure, but he feels his way to Gerard's face, guiding it to his own and kissing him hard, pushing into his hand.

He rides it out into Gerard's tight fist when he comes, every muscle in his body tensing, teeth clenching until his jaw hurts. When the wave has passed he's left with tingling and heavy limbs. He smiles with his tongue licking lazily into Gerard's mouth, vaguely noticing that he's is drying his hand off on the sheets.

After, they lie close together under the sheets, tired and stunned. Frank digs small half-moons into the skin of Gerard's shoulder with his short nails, watching it whiten, and then rubbing his thumb over them. They blossom into raw pink, a stark contrast to Gerard's milky skin.

"That kinda hurts." Gerard complains effortlessly.

Frank presses his tongue over the marks. He curls a hand around Gerard's wrist and slides it down until their fingers are laced.

Gerard turns his head so his nose slides along Frank's cheek and squeezes his hand. Frank squeezes back.

*

"So you guys are like, together?"

Frank had woken up to the very unpleasant view of Ray's face two inches from his own, his expression an impressive mix of confused, embarrassed and amused.

Frank feels his stomach drop and his ears redden and before he stops himself, he's glancing over at Gerard who's desperately trying to get his pants on under the blankets. "I... I think so?"

Gerard goes still and the blanket, which he has pulled up right under his chin, slides down a little over his bare chest. They have, like, a moment, eyes meeting and tiny, uncertain smiles all over the place.

Ray still looks confused and embarrassed and a little amused and Frank tries to shrug all casual, but the look on his face comes out pained. Gerard manoeuvres himself completely under the sheets, and Frank hears the fast drag of a zipper.

Ray quirks an eyebrow at him and picks up a comic book from his nightstand. "It's not like I care." he says, nose already buried between the pages.

Frank smiles down at his hands.

*

Frank falls asleep with Gerard a lot. Sometimes it's because they sit and talk for hours, Frank finds that he can talk to Gerard about almost anything, from his relationship with his mom to his bad habits and his deepest, darkest thoughts. It feels safe to have someone who really listens and doesn't zone out just to wait for their turn to speak.

But mostly though, it's because they have a lot of sex. Frank is having a lot of sex, with another person, who is real and it's amazing! Sometimes he wonders if it's normal, how he's turned on all the time. He can be sitting outside with Gerard and listen to him talk about how awesome snails are, maybe he licks his lips or touches his neck and Frank is suddenly there. Gerard isn't any better though, he's more shy and reserved, but when they're alone, he'll slide his fingers up behind Frank's ear, just where he likes it, and they're good to go.

He supposes they're lucky that they haven't scarred Ray or Mikey yet, but lately, Mikey has been spending a lot of time not being in his room, which might be a coincidence, Frank doesn't really care as long as he and Gerard has somewhere to be when Frank wants to have sex. Sex!

It's raining outside, thick and heavy drops crashing against the windows, echoing through the whole school. Frank wakes up halfway out of the bed with his face smushed into Gerard's hair.

"Gerard," he says, and Gerard grunts.

He hauls himself fully up on the bed and clings to Gerard's side, blowing on his ear affectionately. Gerard opens one eye and makes a grumpy noise, rolling over so he's facing the other way. Frank pushes himself up and leans over his body, whispering, "Gerard, wake up."

"No. Tired." Gerard says, but he's smiling.

Sneaking a hand down to the front of Gerard's sweats, Frank rubs slow, light circles. "How tired?"

"Very tired." Gerard assures him, but he pushes up into Frank's hand. "Frank…"

They end up with their hands down each others pants, just groping and moving and kissing when Gerard pulls back and gives Frank a strange look. "Frank, you're on fire."

Snorting at the pun, Frank leans in to kiss him again, but Gerard stops him with a hand on his chest. "No, I mean, you're actually on fire. And you're boiling hot!" Gerard turns Frank's head to the side with a hand on each side of his face. Frank gulps when he sees that there is indeed a thin, yellow flame licking its way up his shoulder. He cups his hand and kills it, blowing away the smoke.

"That has never happened to me before," he says.

And Gerard is a freak because he looks more than a little flattered when he ducks closer to Frank between the sheets.

*

Gerard is sitting under their usual tree with his knees drawn to his chest, his face just a couple of inches away from the book he's reading. There are leaf-shaped shadows cast all over his figure, and when Frank falls to his knees beside him, he smiles. Frank shuffles close and kisses his neck.

"I'm reading." Gerard says happily.

"I'm kissing." Frank replaces the book in Gerard's lap with himself, placing a knee on each side of his body.

A wind cast whips Gerard's hair around his face and he flattens his palm against Frank's belly, then his thigh. "Frank, there a people here."

Frank rolls his eyes and kisses his nose. "I came to ask if you wanted to come inside and eat with us, loner. Besides, Ray is hanging out with Mikey later, so we're all alone."

Blushing, Gerard touches Frank's belly again, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "Yeah, I'll come inside," he says.

Mikey has a new friend, who is a girl. Gerard is giving her suspicious looks as they eat, everyone’s sat around one of the heavy oak tables in the enormous dining hall. Frank slurps on his soup and touches Gerard's knee under the table, making him cough and wiggle closer. Mikey is absolutely not looking at them, and Frank wonders how he's able to appear so completely bored but at the same time get his point across.

When Mikey looks up, Frank makes kissy faces at him and kicks him under the table.

It's a warm and quiet Saturday, all the windows are wide open and there's a rich smell of food coming from the kitchen. Frank feels at home there, he thinks, at the school. He leans against Gerard's side and listens to him and Ray talk about a new video game that's coming out sometime during the summer.

It's just how it should be.

END.

of love and superpowers - part two

mcrnut — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:53:26 GMT

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Frank spends a lot of time reading after that. He falls completely into his own world, hand stroking the old paper carefully every time he flips a page. He falls in love with the characters and the worlds, and he can't seem to put the books down even for a second. He finds himself bringing them to the bathroom, to his classes and even reading with his night light on under his covers so not to bother Ray.

He's never been much of a reader, so Ray raises eyebrows at him a couple of times, asking him if it's porn mags hidden between the old covers.

He tries to pretend that he doesn't feel more connected to Gerard when he reads, because that makes him feel creepy again. Sometimes when he walks past him in the hallways or outside and he's sitting by himself with the sun on his face, a book resting in his lap, Frank wishes he had the nerve to sit down next to him. He's so strange and Frank almost feels like he's drawn to him, he wants to know him and talk to him, learn his favourite colours and bands and movies. He wants to see what he draws, too, if he is any good. He probably is, Gerard is the type to be good at drawing.

Most of all, though, he wants to know what Gerard can do, what his powers are and why Professor Cado never asks him to stay behind or places him in practice groups, or why he got to quit danger room sessions.

*

Frank lights up his cigarette with the tip of his finger, looking up at the puffy skies coming from behind the line of trees down by the school gates.

They're sitting outside, both him, Ray and Bob have the rest of the day off to just relax outside while the sun is still shining and the ground is warm under them. Frank smiles against the burn in his lungs, picking lazily at the grass tickling the side of his face.

"Can I have one?" Bob asks, already shaking a cigarette out of Frank's almost empty pack.

"Sure Bob, help yourself." Frank says sarcastically, taking another blissful drag.

The next second, all air leaves his lungs and he's blind and coughing helplessly, flailing. "What the fuck?" he says, muffled against some heavy body part.

"Hi, Frank!" Alicia says happily wiggling on top of him and stretching to grab the pack of Marlboros in Bob's lap. She shifts and Frank can finally breathe. He shouts as her elbow comes dangerously close to his crotch and holds his arm as far from anything flammable as possible.

"Would you be so kind--" he starts, gasping when she grabs his hand with the cigarette between her lips.

"Light, please," she says.

He rolls his eyes. "Can't you just use a lighter?"

"Baby, I don't need a lighter, I've got you." She smiles sweetly. "Hurry, I haven't got much time, meeting Brian in like, five minutes."

"I feel used." he says as she drops his hand and gets up, grinning down at Ray.

"Ray! Brian wants to jam, that means: you, guitar, Saturday night - over at his." She pokes a finger into his curls, and then turns to Frank again. "I'm expecting you to bring the weed."

Later, when she's left, her strange, long skirt and knotty dreads is just a dark shape in the distance, Bob pushes at Frank's foot with the toe of his shoe. "Do you guys fuck?" He asks.

Ray looks up at this, mildly interested and Frank laughs, startled. "I-- What? No! Why would you think that?" Bob shrugs and scratches his chin.

"You totally would, though." Ray comments, throwing a bundle of grass at Frank's head.

"No!" Frank says. "Dude, she's like a sister to me."

"Gay." Ray says, matter-of-factly.

Frank throws the bundle back and ignores the twist in his stomach.

He's almost asleep when he hears Ray shout, "Hey! Mikey, Gerard, over here!" He sits up too fast and blinks away the blurry stickiness at the corners of his vision before turning his neck to see the Way brothers punching each other's shoulders while walking down to meet them. Gerard gives an especially well-placed punch near Mikey's elbow and he trips and almost face plants, making them all crack up.

Gerard catches Frank's stare and offers him a lopsided smile.

"You know what would be fun?" Frank asks the lazy group of boys. He sits with his feet crossed, ripping a small flower into tiny white and green pieces, flicking them at Bob's head with his thumb and forefinger. "We should go swimming in the lake."

"No way." Mikey says into his arms. He's splayed out on his stomach, almost disappearing in the grass. "It's probably freezing."

Ray makes a lady-like noise of agreement. "Yeah."

"Come on, you guys." Frank says, getting up. "Please! Just. Come on. I really want to!" He wraps his arms around Bob's neck in an attempt to get him up on his feet.

It takes him a couple of minutes of begging and whining and jumping on Bob's head, but eventually he's got them standing and moving and thinking it's a fairly good idea. Mikey even gets up while quite impressively flipping him the bird with both hands. Frank counts it as a win.

After a pretty unpleasant, and barefoot , walk through some bushes that was supposed to be a short cut, they're down by the lake, the orange sun still showing right over the tree tops. It's kind of idyllic, the sand is soft under Frank's feet, the trees circle around the water protectively, making him feel like they're all hidden away from school and professors and homework.

Frank gets his head stuck when trying to take off his t-shirt, and when he's finally free he sees Gerard sitting on a rock down by the water, dipping his toes hesitantly into it, his socks curled up in the sand beside him. Mikey is still working on his shoes, but Bob and Ray are already in the water, Bob pushing Ray under the surface, making grumbling, victorious noises. Frank snorts and steps out of his sneakers.

The dark water is shocking against his skin and he gasps when he kicks himself up from the sandy bottom and hits air. He pushes his hair out of his eyes and tilts his head back, gazing up at the thin, white clouds over their heads.

He looks over at Gerard's sad figure on the rock, feet moving slowly in the sand, head ducked. He opens his mouth to yell for him to come join them, when he suddenly feels rough fingers curl around his ankle, warm and firm, and the next second, he's pulled down under water. He flails in slow motion, eyes wide and searching for who the fuck did this when he sees rusty curls sway peacefully somewhere by his knee. He closes his eyes and kicks in the general direction of Ray's head and hits something hard with his big toe. He swears and big bubbles of precious oxygen leave his mouth, making him kick again. When he's free, he's coughing even before hitting surface, water running out of his nose and mouth and he rubs his eyes viciously, gasping like crazy.

"Motherfucker." he curses weakly. "Ray, this is your dying day!"

There's an epic battle for survival between him, Ray, Mikey and Bob. Mikey almost actually dies several times, and Bob even lets him cling to his back.

Frank can't stop sending glances Gerard's way though, and when they're on a time-out to give themselves a chance to breathe, he touches Mikey's pale, bony shoulder. "I, uh. Why is he just sitting there?" he asks, running both his hands through his soaked hair. Frank thinks Mikey looks funny without his glasses, like a completely different person.

"He doesn't really like water." Mikey says, shrugging.

"Is he, like, scared?"

Mikey furrows his brow and kind of shakes his head. "I don't know, he's just like that sometimes."

Frank studies his yellow hands under the water and flexes his fingers while he runs it over in his head. He thinks a solid 'what the hell' and walks up to where Gerard is sitting, sticky underwater plants stroking his legs as he walks.

"Hey. Um. Isn't it boring just sitting here?" he asks awkwardly.

Gerard looks up at him and smiles. There's a round, grey and white pebble in his hand. "No, it's fine."

Frank tries to keep his breathing normal when Gerard looks at him, a glint of green in his eyes. "No dude, come on. It's not that cold."

Gerard actually looks like he's considering it, mouth closed in a thin line. He lets the pebble fall from one hand to the other. "I don't think so."

"Please. For me?" Frank tries. He sees Gerard's eyes move up his body and feels way too exposed, making him want to crouch down over his naked torso. Gerard doesn't meet his eyes, his cheekbones a deep red.

"Okay," he says, and he looks even more surprised than Frank feels.

Frank looks away when Gerard undresses, and moves into the water instead, sighing at how warm it feels now that he's been up and the wind has turned the droplets on his body icy cold. He ducks his head under to clear his thoughts. He sees nothing but the faint outline of his own feet, and some green plants swaying with the weak stream, almost like arms, green, underwater alien arms. Cool.

When he has to come up for air, he sees Gerard, waist deep already, looking kind of helpless.

"You okay?" Frank moves his arms lazily 'til his feet finds the bottom and shakes his head a couple of times. Gerard looks completely frozen, staring blankly down, not moving at all, he doesn't even look like he's breathing. Frank gets closer. "Gerard?"

Gerard looks up, and his smile is tight and forced. "I'm fine, just cold." A few strands of hair are stuck to his lower lip.

Nodding, Frank takes his dry hand in his own. "I got you." And he feels clumsy and stupid, but he can't really care about that because he's wet and Gerard is almost naked and in the water with him, clenching his hand tight.

Apparently there's a dip in the sand under them because Gerard sort of slips and ends up almost under water.

He makes a high pitched noise and grabs for Frank, arms and legs everywhere, water splashing in all directions. After a lot of painful scraping of nails against his shoulders and knees kicked into his stomach, he's gotten them a little closer to land, where they can both stand, but Gerard's arms are still wound tight around him, their chests slippery and hot against each other and Frank seriously can't breathe for a second.

"Jesus," he says. "Are you okay?"

He can feel Gerard's heartbeat quick and heavy against his own and it's so surreal. Gerard disentangles himself from him, clearing his throat, and his eyelashes are sticking together. He nods.

Mikey almost dies again and they all decide it's time to get out of the water and get dry. The sun is a reddish shine between the tree stems and the air is biting cold as they walk through the thorny bushes, hissing and cursing. Gerard is the only one of them who put on his clothes back on even though he's dripping wet, and Frank tries not to get too affected by the sight of him walking with them clinging to his body. It makes him feel creepy and stupid. He looks down at his bright pink, aching feet instead, biting on the loose skin on his lip.

*

Frank is sitting with Alicia on her bed watching 28 Days Later when she turns to look at him and asks, "Frank, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he says and stuffs a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"You seem distracted lately. Or, you know, like something’s bothering you."

He gives the screen a hard look and shrugs. "No, dude, I'm fine."

He sees her sceptic figure out of the corner of his eye and thinks about maybe talking to her about this Gerard thing. He feels something stir in his stomach at the thought, because, no, that would make it so real. He swallows and plays with his zipper for a while.

"Frank..." she says with a sad voice. "I'm here if you need to talk to someone. Is it your Mom?"

Frank shakes his head. "No, it's not...-" he inhales and says, "I think I like someone."

Alicia pauses the movie and scoots closer to him on the mattress. "Okay, spill."

"I can't really, you know, I shouldn't..." he looks up at Alicia and sees her sincere face all patient and soft.

Her expression falls a little. "It's not me, is it?"

Frank rolls his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. No it's not you, I just. Look, if you liked someone who you knew definitely didn't like you back, would you just try to move on?"

She tilts her head to the side and gives him her thinking face. "That really depends, Frankie. How do you know that she doesn't like you back?"

Frank sighs and stares at the frozen image of Cillian Murphy's face up close. "I just know. It doesn't matter, let's just watch the movie."

Alicia digs up a squished joint from her nightstand drawer and hands it to him. They smoke in silence, on their backs watching the mood in the room change with the light from the TV, and before Frank knows it, he's dozing off.

Its pitch black outside when he wakes up, and Alicia is sprawled out against the sheets totally hogging the bed and snoring like an old man. He smiles fondly and pulls the covers over her before turning off the TV. He's still fuzzy at the back of his brain and it takes him a while to get his shoes on properly before he exits Alicia's room and walk down the dark hall to the stairs. Alicia's room in on the fifth floor and his and Ray's in on the second.

He grips the railing pretty hard, the only thing he can see is a faint outline of the dark red wall-to-wall carpet and the thick panel walls.

The golden number on the wall tells him that he's on the third floor when he hears someone talking in low voices. He scratches his head and follows the sound until he sees a thin strip of light from one of the doors furthest to his right. He hisses when he stumbles and his ankle twists painfully. The voices come to a halt immediately and Frank bends down to squeeze his ankle.

There's a hushed mumble, and then the door is shut roughly.

There are no dorm rooms on the third floor, only offices and theory classrooms and the whole floor is often completely deserted during the night, so it's weird that there should be someone there right now, Frank thinks. He decides that he's too tired to care and hops down the last staircase and feels his way to his room. He's asleep even before he hits the mattress.

*

He wakes up to the world going under.

Or at least it feels like it. Everything is shaking, people are screaming and running out in the hallways and things are falling to the ground, books sliding off the shelves, light bulbs crushing inside the lamp shades and all his clothes are lying in a rumpled mess on the floor by his closet.

"The fuck?" he yells, rolling out of bed, steadying himself against the wall with one hand.

Ray seems to be thinking the same thing, locking eyes with Frank from across the room. "What's going on?" he says over the noise, gripping the headboard of his bed, as a particularly loud bang is heard from somewhere under them, making Ray's whole bed slide a couple of inches across the floor.

Then the door slams open and Paige is there, carrying a little girl as far away from her body as possible. Her knives are out. She screams "Get out," her knuckles white against the door frame, and she hands Frank the girl. "Get down to the emergency room, now! Toro, you're coming with me!"

Frank nods and awkwardly shifts the girl in his arms. She's really young, probably one of the juniors, she looks about six or seven. She clings to him all the way to the emergency room, up the long hall on the fourth floor and to the small door behind the heavy, red curtains.

He knows it well, he's been shoved in there a hundred times during live practice with his danger room class. It still it feels scary and unsafe, and he swallows a couple of times before he hastily punches in the five numbers on the code lock. There's a sharp click and the wooden panel moves, allowing him to push the door open.

He holds his breath when he hears a couple of heavy footsteps run by outside the curtain and he shushes the girl nervously, before lifting her in through the door.

When the curtain is brutally ripped aside, he thinks his heart stops for one, whole second. It's Ray.

"Move!" he hisses and yanks the curtain in place. Frank isn't gonna be asked twice, and he climbs in the door, stumbles down the steps until he's safely down in the emergency room. There's probably twenty kids there already, watching him with wide eyes.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ray asks from behind him, and struggles to close the door. Frank watches as the small strip of light thrown across the floor dies out, leaving them in complete darkness.

Frank knows, Ray knows, all the other kids in the emergency room probably know as well.

Feeling his way over to a wall, Frank slides down to sit. The wall is buzzing against his back.

"They should let us fight," he says darkly to Ray as he hears him slump down beside him. "We're the oldest one's here, we can fight!"

"Yeah," says Ray quietly.

"I could fight, I could help them take those motherfuckers out." Frank spits, kicking the heel of his shoe to the floor angrily. There’s a rumbling sound from above, and suddenly the dusty ground shudders under them. Frank hears startled noises from a couple of the kids.

"I can't believe this shit."

*

It's later when the door opens and three or four students tumble in. Frank gets a glimpse of Gerard before the door is shut again.

"Hey, Gerard!" he says into the dark.

He holds out his arm and concentrates on the warm spot in the middle of his palm. There's the cracking sound of fire, and then his hand lights up, the flames licking up to the tips of his fingers.

"I'm over here." Gerard says, the dim, orange glow lighting up his face.

"You okay?" Frank asks, crawling over to where he sits.

Gerard presses a hand to his forehead and closes his eyes. "I lost Mikey," he says. "He was there with me, and when I got to the door, he was just gone, and then people were shoving me and…" he exhales helplessly and looks up at Frank. "I gotta go find him."

"No, Gerard, we don't need you both out there, he's probably fine. One of the professors will bring him in."

"You think so?" And he looks so worried that Frank just wants to reach out and hug him close, tell him it's all gonna be okay.

"Of course," he says. He has to close his hand after that, the level of concentration he has to give the fire it tiring and he can't keep it up for too long, so he takes Gerard's hand instead (that is not butterflies, he's not that much of a girl) and drags him over to where Ray is sitting.

Frank has heard of this happening before. It's something that nobody mentions or really talks about except on the news and in political debates on mutant rights and equality. He's scared, he won't deny that, but he's more pissed than anything. He's fucking furious. He can't believe that there are people out there, close-minded, low human beings, who do this. The Anti-mutants.

The occasional sound of something breaking or exploding several floors over their heads feels like the murmur of a deep bass in Frank's chest. Unreal and far away in his head, even though he knows some of his best friends are up there, out there, in the middle of everything. He curls a hand around his ankle and tries not to think too much about it.

"How long has it been?"

He hears the sound of nails scraping over denim. "Like, an hour?" Ray says, dragging out the last word. He sounds sleepy. "My ass is so fucking numb, shit."

Frank groans in reply, straightening his back a little to relieve his poor behind from the cold, hard floor. He snaps his fingers and his thumb lights up, giving him just enough light for him to fish out his pack of cigarettes from his jeans. He doesn't care anymore, he needs one. He runs his thumb over the tip a couple of times until its glowing red while heavily inhaling the nicotine with an appreciative sound.

He looks to his side to see Gerard's longing stare fixed on the glowing cherry of Frank's smoke. Eyes all dazed, and the corner of his mouth turned down.

"You want one?" Frank asks, offering him the pack.

"Thanks." Gerard says, taking it. "Could I... borrow a finger?" he asks with the cigarette dangling from his lips, smiling faintly.

Frank giggles and snaps his fingers again, feeling a small swell of pride in his chest.

"It's funny that you two are friends, kind of." Gerard says suddenly, and Frank hears him exhale. "Since, you know, ice and fire. You're kind of opposites."

"That's true." Ray laughs.

"But opposites attract." Frank reasons, his eyes following a grey piece of ash as it swirls down and into the dark. "Isn't that what they say?"

"Yeah." Gerard sniffs, and Frank notices that he's still wearing the same scarf. He wonders if he sleeps with it.

Frank wants to see Gerard clearly, not just the pale outline of his smile. He wants to see the smoke curl up over his lip and his eyes shine.

The conversation flows around him for a while, Gerard talks about movies and music in a low, soft voice and Ray offers agreeing noises from Frank's other side, and it's peaceful enough that everyone else can't hear them over the steady sound of tired voices that goes through the room.

There's still that tense edge of worry in Gerard's voice though, everything he says sounds forced and a little pained. He keeps touching his hair nervously, more than he usually does, and after a while, he sighs, and Frank can see his hand moving over the cold stone under them, hears the scrape of it.

"Are you okay?" Frank asks and his voice is a raw, he can feel how tired he is all the way down to his feet. It's like his eyelids are made of something heavy, and they keep closing by themselves.

Gerard breathes a couple of times, and it fans over Frank's cheek. He's so fucking aware of the moist, warm breath, the smell of cigarettes and something sweet and familiar that he becomes dizzy for a second, leaning just a little closer.

"I need to go. I'm leaving." Gerard says stiffly. "I can't wait anymore, I gotta find Mikey."

It's takes some time for Frank to react when he feels Gerard's shoulder brush his as he stands up, a join cracking.

He reaches out into the dark. "Gerard, don't do that." He scrambles to his knees and blinks a couple of times, his head pounding painfully. Gerard's footsteps up the stairs are echoing through the whole room and Frank has to really concentrate on not passing out from the head rush, blinking furiously against the stars. He opens his hand against the ceiling and the weak flare of flames show Gerard as he pushes the metal lock to the side, click click, and opens the door.

"Hey, Frank what the fuck?" Ray says, grabbing Frank's ankle. "Are you really this stupid?"

Frank yanks his leg free and runs up the stairs, catching the door before it closes and says over his shoulder, "I can't let him go out there alone."

Gerard is surprisingly fast, and it takes Frank some time to catch up with him.

Frank grabs his arm and forces him to a halt, whispering, "Gerard, Gerard, slow down." They lock eyes for a while, and Gerard's expression is cold, but panicked, and for the first time since Frank was woken that night, it's completely still in the school.

"Go back." Gerard tests Frank's grip a little. "And let me go!"

"We need to be more careful, or else we're gonna get ourselves killed." Frank says hushed, dropping his hand instinctively.

Gerard searches Frank's face, his nose scrunching up. "You shouldn't have followed me." he just says, but when he starts walking again, he's slowed down.

Frank stays right behind him, and they both stop dead every time a noise is heard, hands braced against the panel beside them, eyes meeting and the air held hard in their lungs. Frank can feel his heartbeat in his throat and ears, and it doesn't help that Gerard seems to consciously be leading them to where the fighting is going on.

But the school is still surprisingly silent except the occasional gunshot and sound of footsteps and they don't meet anyone for a long time. Or ten minutes, it at least feels like a long time to Frank. He studies Gerard's back, the loose strand of hair sticking to his shirt and the curve of his spine.

He doesn't know why, but for some reason he reaches out and places a hand on Gerard's shoulder. "Do you even know where we're going?" he asks in a low voice, but then the floor creaks from somewhere close, and Frank's senses sharpen. He hears voices and it feels like icy cold water is running down his back.

He grabs Gerard's hand and drags him over to the closest door, turns the knob with his teeth clamped down on his lower lip so hard he thinks he'll break the skin. But the door gives in, soundlessly, and they slip in, Gerard's clammy palm still against his.

Someone walks by a couple of minutes later, whistling cheerily, and the footsteps are heavy and slow, not like the footsteps of a student. Frank pictures big and dirty boots as the light from under the door is broken for a second.

They stay there until they're sure whoever had been outside is out of hearing, and then they both allow themselves to breathe again. Gerard carefully withdraws his hand, flexing his fingers a couple of times.

"Sorry." Frank says.

They're hiding in the library, not the student's one, but the teacher's library, and it's small and dimly lit. There's a couple of old-looking chairs placed between the dark bookshelves.

"You think it's safe to go out?" Gerard has a cautious hand on the door frame, and Frank just nods.

They stay close to the wall, Frank's eyes always searching for a place to hide, somewhere close. A door, a curtain, anything that will keep them relatively hidden if they run into one of the intruders.

They have to hide behind a statue of some famous mutant rights activist a floor up, when someone talks in loud voices close to them. Someone laughs. Frank's hands feel rough against the cool surface of the marble statue, and he lets himself lean against it as he peeks out from under its outstretched arm.

Nothing more happens, the voices are still there, not fading away and not coming closer. Deep, men's voices, and it takes Frank a couple of minutes to understand that their tone is mocking. One seems to be doing most of the talking, Frank can't make out the words, and then there's laughter. Slippery, rumbling laughter, like the sound of a bully throwing some cruel joke at his victim with his friends snickering in agreement.

Gerard seems to do his best to make out the words as well, his forehead against the statue's blank shoulder and his eyes focused on one spot.

"We should go back." Frank whispers, but Gerard only raises his hand.

Frank sinks down to lean back on his heels, rubbing his wrists. It's not like they're going to find Mikey, let alone get him back to safety while the school is full of armed humans who wants nothing but to kill them. Frank is actually surprised that they got this far without something happening. He sighs, putting his head in his hands. Maybe it would be for the best if they just stayed there until it was all over.

He's shaken from his thoughts when a loud shriek breaks the air.

Before Frank can do anything, even fully process the fact that the young voice is familiar, Gerard is gone.

Frank curses before pushing himself up and running after him, out from behind the statue and across the carpeted floor. He bites the inside of his lip at the thump, thump, thump noises he's making, but it can't be helped. He pulls in a deep rush of air before sliding around the corner, nearly losing his balance. He's almost out of sight, and he stays completely still.

He counts them, one, two, three, four, five - six humans, one holding Mikey up against the wall with a hand securely curled around his throat. Something disgusting unfolds in his stomach at the sight of their grey, military-like uniforms accessorized with belts of knives that are almost as scary as the rifles hanging from their shoulders.

"Hey."

Their slick expressions freeze when Gerard throws himself at the one holding Mikey, slamming his body against his.

"Let him go!"

Mikey makes a struggling noise and kicks his legs. "Gerard --" he gurgles helplessly as the hand around his neck tightness.

They all seem frozen for a minute, staring at Gerard who is desperately trying to pry away the hand that is holding Mikey. There's a chorus of grunts and offended noises, and the closest one snaps his fingers. "Rick, get him on the ground."

A tall, muscled guy with blond hair sticking out from under his helmet grabs Gerard by his hair and twists one of his arms back, ignoring his scream in pain, and pushes him to the floor, one knee placed over Gerard's lower back.

"They're so stupid," he mutters as Gerard goes limp under him. "Thinking they could fight us."

Gerard makes a low sound of pain, and Frank tries to meet his eyes. His cheek is squeezed against the carpet, eyes glazed over and his lower lip is pulled down against his chin showing off two rows of tightly ground teeth. He moves his head, which results in the guy, Rick, putting on more pressure. The one standing closest to Gerard places his boot over his free arm, right below the elbow, and pushes down, grinning.

Gerard makes the sound again, saying "no, no, get away please," effortlessly, and his eyes close hard.

A noise fills the air, pained and high-pitched and it sounds like someone screaming under water or something muffled by a pillow. It fills the entire room, and a painting hanging on the wall by Mikey's head falls to the floor, the frame cracking into two pieces. Frank sees Gerard's face contoured in agony when the surreal wail stops, and he gasps for his breath.

Then, there's a slow, wet sound of something tearing.

Rick yells loudly and stumbles back with a panicked noise, dragging himself away from Gerard like he was burned. He rips one of his gloves off and holds his hand up.

Frank's eyes go wide at the sight of the hand. Three of the fingers are gone, leaving only dark, bloody stumps on his hand.

"What the fuck?" Rick bends over his hand, shaking. "What the fuck?"

Gerard sobs helplessly and curls into a ball on the floor, hands in his hair, rocking back and forth.

When someone yells "Kill him!" and it ching's in knives, there's a spark of realization in Frank's brain and he pushes off the wall and throws himself into the fight.

Frank thinks a lot of things as he slams his lit fist into one of the nearest guys' face. From the moment his knuckles mash against his blue eye and the bridge of his nose until someone yells "there's more of them", he's completely content with just fighting these guys off, no problem.

He gets hit somewhere above his left eyebrow and white stars appear all over his vision, he blinks but there's another hit, and he thinks that maybe these guys won't wait for him to compose himself.

One of them grabs his arm so hard Frank thinks it'll snap in two and he sinks to his knees under the pain. The guy has a wide jaw and black little eyes sticking out on each side of his pointy nose and he looks like the classical hero of some cartoon, complete with a dip in his chin and everything.

Looking to his side, he can see that Gerard is lifted to a somewhat standing position. One of them is holding him up by his hair, his head yanked back and the sliver of a long knife is pushed against his throat. Mikey looks like he's turning blue, feet still scrambling against the wall effortlessly and Frank never wondered how he was going to die, it always seemed so far into the future.

The one holding his arm lets him go and pushes him to the floor, and it's an immediate relief. He doesn't look away from Gerard's glazed eyes and shallow breaths until the one with the jaw and the black eyes holds his wrist down and slowly, slowly rolls his boot over his fingers, putting all his weight on the hand.

He doesn't think he screams, but his ears are ringing too loud and the white, clear pain is stopping him from breathing. He doesn't know if it's him or if he's blacking out, but the next thing he sees is a woman, oddly familiar, suddenly there, spinning around and hugging close the Anti-Mutant who is holding Mikey.

Everything sounds like it's far away and Frank remembers the time he fell off a chair and hit his head against the linoleum, it felt like this, thick and unreal, but when he hears the noise of tearing skin he sobers up a little.

He recognizes Paige the second she angles her head to the side. She draws back from the embrace, the row of knives sticking out of her torso are dripping with blood and the man lets go of Mikey's neck and drops to his knees, an orange line of blood and spit is siding down from the corner of his mouth. He takes a hand up to feel his stomach before he sinks completely down on the floor.

Frank has to close his eyes and he keeps waiting for the next punch to hit, for a knife to slide into his back or for a bullet to bore itself into the back of his head, but nothing happens. He listens to the hollow noises of bodies falling to the floor and hears the click of a gun somewhere over his head. His fingers are numb, his whole body is numb and he doesn't care anymore, he just wants to sleep.

Part Three

of love and superpowers

mcrnut — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:52:27 GMT

Of Love And Superpowers

Band(s): My Chemical Romance
Pairing(s): Frank/Gerard (background) Alicia/Brian
Word Count: 20,073
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 for sex, light gore
Summary:

Seventeen year old Frank Iero is in his last year at Mutant High. He has a couple of good friends, is doing okay in school and even though he has some issues with his Mother, life is pretty great. That is, until one day, when he overhears some of the professors talking about the well-known Anti-Mutant organization HSA and how they have already broken into two Mutant Academies and are heading their way. Frank and his friends have to stick their heads together and try to solve the mystery, and as if Frank didn't have enough to think about already, he finds himself falling for his friend's older brother, Gerard.

A/N: I would like to give a big, big thanks to slashxyouxup who beta'd this fic and encouraged me when I was freaking out over all of this! You are amazing ! And also blissful_sky who was sitting with me and talking about the epicness of a mutant!fic and writing the first paragraphs with me a year ago. ilu.

Check out the amazing art and mixes for this story!

Fanart:
Art by speep

Fanmix(es):
Just A Little Bit Deranged by synthvirus
Of Love and Superpowers: A Mix by eeka_specks

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

"No." He screams and covers his ears, his nails digging deep into his scalp. "No, please, stop it."

He's falling to his knees, shaking his head, black hair falling in front of his face, and Frank feels so bad for him. This is the third time. He hurries over to where he's sitting, ducks away from a falling tire that misses him by inches and coughs helplessly, doubling over because of the ash that's getting into his lungs.

"Hey," he calls out, stumbling over a rock on the dusty ground, cursing. "Hey, Gerard," but he doesn't seem to hear him at all, he just curls into a ball on the ground. When Frank finally reaches him, he sinks down beside him, carefully placing a hand on his back. "Gerard!"

"No." Gerard says over the noise of crashing cars and falling objects and trashes his head from side to side. "Stop it, please."

Frank sighs and shouts over his shoulder "We gotta stop it."

It takes no more than five seconds before the air clears out, sand, rocks, cars and houses around them disappear into thin air, and all they leave behind is four, blank walls and a group of annoyed looking teenagers.

Paige, their group teacher, whisks some of her dark, red hair out of her face and steadily walks over to where Frank is kneeling. She smiles carefully. "Iero, will you take Way outside and find him some water please?"

Frank nods and touches Gerard's arm. "Hey."

Sniffing, Gerard sits back on his knees. He looks confused, a hand coming up to tuck some hair behind his ear. "I…" he trails off, looking from Frank to Paige, and then back again.

"Are you okay?" Frank asks. Gerard nods and pushes himself up. The other students keep sighing and raising eyebrows and it pisses Frank off, so he glares at them, and then tilts his head towards the door. "Come on, we should go find you some water."

Frank doesn't know Gerard too well other than that he's Mikey's older brother. He doesn't really know what he can do either, he's seen him practice some minor telekinesis in Professor Cado's class once, which is kinda impressive. He's quiet, and shy, but Frank thinks he's really pretty. It makes him slightly confused, so he steals a couple of glances to his side as they walk down the hall in silence.

Yeah he is pretty, he thinks.

"You don't have to walk me, you know." Gerard says, and there's a hostile edge to his voice, but he's still pale and his fingers are shaking slightly against his jeans. Frank smiles and shrugs, but Gerard just looks down. Their shoes are making soft scratching noises against the carpet.

"I know."

"I'm fine, I'll just go back to my room or whatever." Gerard gestures awkwardly with a hand, before letting it fall down by his side.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asks Frank, giving him a considering look.

"Yeah I--I'm fine, just, I'll find the way myself." And then he's already sped up. He's got a scarf packed around his neck (even though it's not even cold anymore, and they're inside) waving behind him in slow circles as he walks. Frank can hear him sniff, then cough, right before he rounds a corner.

*

Frank tries to act all nonchalant when Ray comes in. He presses himself against the wall behind him, the headboard painful against his knees.

"Uh, Frank?" Ray raises an eyebrow and puts down his guitar. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Frank's eyes follow the spider as it crawls calmly up on Ray's bed. He tears his eyes away for a second and tries to shrug without falling down from the headboard. "Nothing," he dismisses. The spider is completely still, and it's huge, seriously huge and black and hairy, sitting there on Ray's sheets.

Ray follows Frank's stare and rolls his eyes when he sees the spider. "Seriously?" Frank has to close his eyes when Ray picks it up between his thumb and forefinger, he gets a glimpse of eight crazy, struggling legs between fingers, and he feels the chills all the way down his back. Everything is itchy.

"Just kill it, please. Get it out of here." Frank says, cracking an eye open to see Ray inspecting it closely. It's like, an inch from his face and Frank visibly shudders. "Freak."

"Spiders are beautiful creatures, Frank."

"No, they're disgusting and big and murderous." Frank grits out. He sighs in relief when he sees Ray disappear into the bathroom and hears him flush the toilet.

"You need to get over this phobia thing." Ray flops down on his bed, yawning, and Frank carefully climbs down, eyes searching the room. "It's really stupid. It's not like they're dangerous."

Frank pushes the blankets to the foot of his bed, picking up the latest issue of Man and Mutant, flipping through it lazily. "I know that."

"Hey, Frank?" Ray is zoned out on the ceiling, his hair making soft rustling noises against his pillow. "Have you noticed how the professors are all weird lately?"

"No," Frank says, "maybe." He thinks it over for a little while, the magazine resting in his lap. It was true, there had been a lot of meetings lately and they'd had quite a lot of substitutes over the last few weeks. And when he thinks about it, he had actually walked by the teacher's library the other day, he'd guess about two or three weeks ago, the door slightly ajar and there had been the sound of muffled, worried voices slipping through the gap. Frank had stood outside for a while and listened. He hadn't caught much, really, something about the jet and a mission the Leaders were going on. It wasn't anything unusual, the Leaders were often gone for days without a word. He folds one of the corners in the magazine. "Hey, what are you gonna do after this year if you don't make it to Leader training?"

Ray's calm breaths and thinking noises are so familiar and safe, Frank can't help but smile. "I don't know if I want to try out for Leader training at all anymore." Ray says quietly. "I just. I don't know."

The Leaders are, in a way, the school's police force, if you could call it that. Most of them are a part of the teacher staff as well. Their main purpose is to find young mutants and offer them a place at the school, but also to protect the school grounds. Even though these are times when a mutant can go outside without being arrested, it isn't safe to walk the streets alone, and it isn't safe to show your true form in public. A school filled with hundreds of young mutants isn't exactly the best place to hide from the Anti-Mutant organizations.

The students who are a class three or over can train to be Leaders after they've finished four years with their basic control and custom fight program. It's Frank's dream to become a Leader one day.

Frank nods at the grey cracks in the ceiling. "Me either. Or, you know, I really want to, but I feel like there's no point in even trying. It's not like I'm even near a class three anyway."

"You don't know that." Ray says carefully.

Frank rolls his eyes and flattens out the folded corner. "Come on, I can barely light up my hand."

"Well, who says your power is fully... you know, developed? Some people don't find out what class they really are until they're, like, old."

Frank turns his head and gets a mouthful of pillow. "Yeah, but either way, I won't get into Leader training."

*

Frank gets some wet hair out of his face with a jerk of his neck as he exits the danger room session, sweaty and hyper. Ray catches up with him and playfully hits his shoulder, grinning. "Good job, dude."

"You too," Frank grins back.

He sees Gerard sitting on the floor further down the hall, picking at his shoes. He looks up when Frank and Ray pass and Frank smiles, raising his hand in a silent wave. Gerard's eyes widen for a second, focused on Frank's t-shirt sticking to his body.

"Hey," Frank says, not really sure what to do with his hands.

Gerard snaps his gaze away and looks down at his shoes again. "Hi."

"Why weren't you in class today?" Frank blurts out. "Or, I mean."

"Um," a pink blush is tinting Gerard's cheeks and he rips off a piece of his sole, dropping it to the floor. "They said I didn't need to anymore."

Frank coughs. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, uh, I'll see you around then," he says, feeling stupid and awkward.

Gerard lets his teeth sink down into his lower lip, and it makes Frank's chest tighten up a little.

When he chases Ray down the hall, he jumps up and clings to his back, pushing his face deep into his hair. "Get the fuck off, Frank." Ray shrieks, but Frank sets his heels into his sides determinedly and raises his arm up in the air.

"Up, up and away!" he yells, and Ray laughs.

*

It's later that day and the sun hangs low in the sky when Frank is sitting behind the danger room hall, head resting against the cool stone wall, studying the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. Then he hears the sound of footsteps.

"I am aware of that, Fenris, but- "

He curses under his breath and crushes out his cigarette against the wall before slipping down behind a rusty trashcan. He's out of view just in time to see the top of Paige's head and Professor Fenris' hairy face. He leans back a little so he can peek out at them from under the corner of some smelly sheets hanging down against the trashcan's side.

"We need to evacuate the school!" Professor Fenris says impatiently.

"We can't do that, we don't even know this for sure..." Paige hesitates and rubs her temples. "We should at least send Cado and Gabrielle down to get some more information."

Professor Fenris growls, low in his throat and walks closer to where Frank is hiding and sniffs thoughtfully. "I don't think we have time for that, they.." he lowers his voice to almost a whisper, so low Frank has to hold his breath to hear it, "they've killed over a dozen mutants already. I don't think you understand how powerful these people are."

Paige furrows her brow. "This is a heavily guarded school. They won't get in unless we open the doors for them. Not here."

Frank sees Professor Fenris' hard stare and raised shoulders in profile. Frank's feet are in an unnatural position and are starting to ache, but he doesn't know if he dares move. He puts some more weight on the hand that's flat down against the gravel under him and tries not to wince as he feels the skin right under his index finger break.

"We have over a hundred kids at this school and what happened last week was a direct threat." Professor Fenris touches Paige's shoulder and she looks away. "I just hope you're right."

*

Frank sits with his back against the window, all alone in the enormous classroom, thinking about what he'd overheard the day before, and if he should tell someone. It's not like he's overly worried or anything, but it makes something at the back of his mind itch and he feels like he should talk to Ray about it. Ray is a smart guy. Ray knows when something is bullshit and when it's not.

He hops down from the windowsill and lands softly on one of the many pillows scattered around on the floor. He walks over to his practice doll, which is basically an iron pole with layers and layers of heavy cloth wrapped around it. Just as he lifts his hand and flexes his fingers to open the fire, Alicia waltzes in through the wall, waving her arms happily.

"Frank!" She says. "I found you!"

He manifests all the red, hot energy he has in that hand and swings it towards the doll. "Hi, Alicia." The flames shoot out of the center of his palm, it feels like they broke the skin or cut his hand open on the way out and he knits his brow together tight, focusing.

"Impressive." She says and drops down on one of the pillows, crossing her legs Indian-style.

Frank winces against the black smoke leaving the doll's head as the fire dies out. He picks up an old, stained sweater from the floor and wraps it around the doll's body, tying the sleeves together over its black-burned chest.

"You should make him a new face." Alicia suggests.

Frank quirks an eyebrow at his friend. "You should make yourself a new face."

"You're a freak. What are you doing here after class?" She asks, leaning back and stretching out on the floor. "I was looking for you all over campus."

"Professor Cado asked me to stay behind and practice. What's up?" He tries again, planting his feet on the floor steadily and throwing his arm against the doll's heart, spreading his fingers as far apart as he can, grinding his teeth.

"Because," she says, dragging out the word, "we never hang out anymore." Frank sees her lengthen her legs out of the corner of his eye. "And also, I got booze."

Frank spins around and grins. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

She lifts her head off the floor and raises one eyebrow. "You only love me for my booze, don't you?"

"No way," he says, sitting down over her thighs. He pushes his fingers under her arms and tickles her as best as he can. "You're good in bed too!"

She shrieks and knees him in the stomach, snorting and laughing. "Frank, don't be gross!"

He locks his hand around her wrists and holds them up over her head, ready to thoroughly tickle her sides when she sticks her tongue out and falls through the floor.

"That's cheating!" he yells at the blank floor.

*

When he gets to his room, Ray is there flipping through channels lazily. They greet each other with a nod and Frank sits down on the edge of his bed, rubbing his sore wrists. They tend to swell when he's been practicing.

"Cado's class?" Ray asks, putting the remote on his nightstand.

Frank lies back on his bed, folding his hands behind his head. "Yeah." He listens to the noises from the TV for a while, trying to figure out what Ray's watching. "Hey, so I overheard Professor Fenris and Paige earlier."

"Yeah?"

"They were talking about evacuating the school and shit." He turns to his side, watching the lines on Ray's forehead grow deeper. "Something about a threat."

"Hm." Ray says, putting whatever he's watching on mute. "You think it's something serious?"

Frank pops his head up on one arm and scrunches his nose. "I don't know. Fenris was freaking out pretty bad."

Ray nods, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner. "I noticed something was up. Have you watched the news lately?" Frank shakes his head and Ray continues, looking even more thoughtful. "There's some talk about these mutant killers. Supposedly it's a very well organized group, they've killed a lot of people already."

"Yeah, Professor Fenris was talking about that! About something that had happened, I don't know, he called it a direct threat."

"Maybe that's why the Leaders have been gone so much lately."

Frank rests his cheek against the cool sheets, feeling how tired he is and how much he doesn't want to talk about mutant killings. He rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand, making a non-committal sound. "Probably."

Ray is till making serious thinking noises when Frank feels himself drift off.

*

"I can't believe this shit." Frank falls back in the grass with a hand on his stomach. He can feel the sweat drops slide down his temples. "Jesus Christ."

"What?" Fucking Ray, who is of course cold as ice, the asshole, walks closer and kicks at Frank's foot. "You okay, dude?"

The weather was nice and there had been some problems with the danger room lately, so Paige decided to take them outside for their live practice class. And Frank isn't complaining, but it's so damn tiring. When the sun is burning his skin and he's excited already, he tends to get a little out of control and sometimes he can't shut down the fire for minutes. Its fun, he loves it when he can feel the warm pressure of clear energy all the way down his arms, but when it's over he's seriously beat.

"Paige asked us pair up." Ray rubs his nose. "Up for a round?" He has a thin layer of rime from his ear down over his cheekbone, and when he smiles, some of his falls down and hits his shirt.

Frank pushes himself from the ground and stands swaying for a second. "Sure, man."

"Okay, find your partner and stand beside him, I want you all lined up nicely. Every fight will last five minutes, do I need to repeat the rules?" Paige's tattoos are glistening with sweat and she points at a sandy circle in the grass. No one says anything, and there's the low sound of people arranging themselves and finding someone to pair up with. The line between her eyebrows deepens and she places a hand sternly on her hip. "There will be no shoes. No stepping outside the circle. No punching or kicking. No swearing," she looks at Frank pointedly, "and the one who gets their opponent on out of the ring first, is the winner."

Frank rubs his hands together and pushes at Ray with his shoulder. "You're going dooown."

"- And since Iero is so eager, we'll let him and Toro start." Paige finishes.

It feels so good to step into the circle bare feet, t-shirt clinging to his sweaty back and loose sweats rolled up right under his knees. He parts his legs and curls his toes in the sand, one arm raised by his head and the other one by his waist.

Ray grins from the other side of the ring and flexes his fingers, holding his hands up steady in front of him.

"Ready?" Paige asks, and shushes some of the students. They both nod and she claps her hands sharply as a sign for them to start.

Ray is, in theory, more powerful, but Frank is faster. Ray closes his hands into fists and there's a flash of blinding white and Frank ducks away, falling down on one knee and rolling on to his back. He throws his head to the side and sees the underside of Ray's chin, the muscles working in his biceps. And before Ray has time to close the bolts of ice, Frank stretches out his arms and grabs his ankle, opening fire and yanking it close to his shoulder. Ray slips, his heel sliding on the sand and he shouts, catching himself with a hand.

Frank jumps up to his feet in one, elegant, practiced move and grabs the front of Ray's shirt pulling him close to the white line painted on the grass. "Boo, motherfucker!"

He hears a distant "Hey!" from somewhere behind him, but can't make himself care.

Ray gives him a wicked smile and lifts his legs up, hooking one around Frank's arm and pulling hard so Frank flies forward. He face plants in real life, lying over Ray with his arm trapped under his leg like and idiot.

He lifts his head and spits out the sand prickling on his tongue before he growls, placing his free hand on the hem of Ray's shirt, biting down on the inside of his cheek and setting it on fire.

Ray rolls over to put it out and Frank is free.

He takes advantage of the distraction and presses his feet under Ray's side flipping him over, fists dug hard in the ground under him. Ray coughs and slides closer to the line. He looks up at Frank and flattens his palm against the sand, and immediately a blue layer of frost creeps his way. Frank is not fast enough and when it clings to his feet, he yells out in pain and looks down to see them covered in a thick layer of clear, blue ice.

He crouches down when Ray throws himself at him, and he feels Ray's whole body graze against his shoulders and back.

He hurries to cup his hands around his feet to melt them free, sure that Ray will be right behind him in a second, ready to grab him and pull him back over the line. When he looks over his shoulder Ray hits the ground with a strangled "Ooohff", and rolls over to the outside of the circle.

Frank laughs and wiggles his toes around, fist pumping. "That's too bad, Ray," he says, and Ray scowls.

When two of the girls are fighting, Paige comes over to where Frank is standing, slapping his back in a friendly manner. "That was good, focused fighting Frank."

He smiles gratefully "Thanks."

Frank folds his arms over his chest and watches the rest of his classmates, trying to pick up some techniques. When it gets too hot, he peels his shirt off and rubs dry parts of it over his face. He combs a hand through his soaked hair and looks up at the sky, exhaling.

As he walks over to where Ray it sitting against the thick stem of a tree, he sees Gerard walk up toward the school, head bowed. At the exact moment he spots him, Gerard looks up and catches his stare. Frank waves, tilting his head to the side.

Gerard just snaps his gaze away, though, burying his hands in his pockets. Frank is sure he can see him redden under his hair.

*

Mikey is an incredibly fast walker.

Frank is breathless before they're even inside, but to his defense, Mikey is walking faster than usual today, because he just bought a new record that apparently is so good that it might make the world explode. Mikey explained all this to him in his low, dull voice before looking at him meaningfully from under his glasses. Frank has a ton of homework and is completely exhausted but he's also good friend and a music lover so he agrees to come up for a listen.

The door to Mikey and Gerard's room makes a loud horror movie-like wail every time it's opened and Frank has to stuff his fingers in his ears so his tympanums won't burst.

Mikey points at his computer and says, "Open up, Harold."

"It's seriously freaky that you've named all of them." Frank says.

"Shh, don't be rude, they can hear you." Mikey's lap top slides open and clicks on, and Mikey asks it to find his music player. It's a weird power, Frank thinks, to be able talk to electronically driven gadgets.

The CD is good, not that he had expected anything else. Mikey has good taste. They sit in silence and listen through the songs when Gerard walks in, dropping his bag on the floor with a greasy lock of hair sticking up like an arrow coming out of his head.

"Hey, Gerard," Frank greets in his friendliest tone.

"Hi." Gerard says, pulling on his sleeves.

Frank scoots over to make room for him and says, "Have you heard this? It's amazing."

There's a spark in Gerard's green eyes and he smiles, a little unsure. "Yeah."

When the guitar of the last song dies out with a whine, Mikey turns on the TV with a grunt. "Sweet." Frank says, "Myth busters."

Frank gets easily irritated by things when he's watching TV, but when he hears the ruffling of bed sheets and the scratching sounds as Gerard draws from somewhere to his left, it's more soothing than annoying. He pulls on some loose threads on the knee of his worn jeans and slides lower against the side of Mikey's bed, yawning.

It doesn't take long before he's fallen out of whatever he's watching and is just listening to the long, sharp noises of pencil dragging over paper in the room, the occasional sniff and deep breath, and by the time the commercial comes on, he's almost asleep.

He stretches and sighs, his head feeling way too heavy for his shoulders. He nudges Mikey's foot with his own and covers his mouth as he yawns again. "I need to go shower and catch some hours of sleep," he says. "Later."

Gerard looks up at him from across the room when he kicks the door open, and the corner of his mouth twitches.

*

Okay, so. Daryl might just be the biggest asshole Frank has ever met. And that's including the guy his mom was dating a couple of years ago who had an anti-mutant sticker on his car. Serious shit.

Gerard had been extra pretty as Frank walked in, late for class, with a serious bed head and pillow creases still on his face. The teacher wasn't there though, and Gerard was sitting next to some new girl with his hair behind his ears, pen scribbling on the worn surface of his desk. Frank had high-fived Ray and tried not to look at Gerard for too long at the time when Daryl had snatched Gerard's sketchbook from him.

He had grinned slickly at Gerard's blushing, half-hearted attempts on getting it back and suddenly Frank had found himself throwing a book, aiming for Daryl's head.

"You're an asshole, Daryl." Frank spits out. "Give it back."

"Defending your boyfriend, flameboy?" Daryl asks, settling comfortably against the higher part of the wall, right under the ceiling, as he flips lazily though Gerard's sketchbook.

Frank climbs up to stand on his desk, and Ray shakes his head warningly at him. "What's your problem, Daryl?"

"You think you can catch me?" Daryl gives him a challenging look, biting down on the sketchbook, and putting his hands against the wall behind him, raising an eyebrow. Frank thinks he looks like a fat, ugly frog.

"Hey, it's not worth it." Gerard says quietly from the corner, but Frank ignores him and grabs a handful of the red curtain hanging heavy over the windows. He plants his feet on the wall and slowly pulls himself up, step by step, but Daryl just laughs at him and slides easily away, his tail curling around the sketchbook between his teeth. He holds it up over his head.

"I wonder if I should throw it out the window…" he says, looking at Frank out of the corner of his eye. "Or just rip all the pages out."

"Get down, Frank, seriously." Ray says.

Frank rolls his eyes and fits three of his fingers into a hole in the stone wall, holding himself up. He inhales deeply, looking Daryl in the eye before he kicks off the wall and jumps. He hangs in a free fall for about a second.

He reaches for Daryl's leg, misses by an inch and manages to curse before he even hits the ground.

"You're such a loser." Daryl mocks, looking down at him and waving the sketchbook around in slow circles where it's tight in the curl of his shiny, green tail.

Frank sits up and rubs the back of his head a couple of times before he stretches his arm out, snapping his fingers.

And it's not allowed, he knows it's not and his brain tells him this, but he can't help it, and it's just so satisfying to watch the bright flare of the flame as it leaves his hand and clings to the sleeve of Daryl's hoodie, blooming until it's crawling it's way up his shoulder.

"What the fuck--" Daryl says and drops the sketchbook, sliding down the wall uncontrollably as he manically tries to put out the fire, smacking his own shoulder over and over. Frank grabs the sketchbook quickly and holds it tight against his chest.
"Idiot!" Ray sneers and climbs over a chair to get to Daryl, but just as he's about to, Frank doesn't even know, freeze the flame dead or something, Professor Cado is there, forehead wrinkly and angry as he pushes Ray out of the way.

A splash of water from Professor Cado's powerful hands later, Daryl is soaked and smelling like a mix of wet dog and burnt food.

"Who did this?" Professor Cado asks, his voice dark and dangerous, studying Daryl's shoulder.

Still worth it, Frank thinks.

The rest of the day is entirely unpleasant because Frank hates detention with Mrs. Grossendaas. She looks like an overgrown mouse, and she's in charge of the gardening, not to mention that she hates children. Despises them, enjoys the sight of their pain and eats them for breakfast, Frank is sure.

At the end of the day he has angry, red marks on his fingers from the poison oak, and there are still rose buds dug into the skin of his palms.

When he pushes open the door to his and Ray's room, it's completely dark except the blue-ish flick of light from the TV. Ray, Bob, Alicia, Mikey and Gerard are there. Gerard is there.

"What the fuck?" he says, dropping his bag on the bed. "You invite everyone over for movies, and you don't tell me?"

"Dude, you had detention." Ray explains, eyes fixed on the screen.

"Yeah well, you could have told me, or waited for me to come back or something." He complains, sitting down on the bed beside Mikey. "I'm offended, Toro."

"Huh." Ray says absently.

They watch two and a half fairly bloody movies before Mikey falls asleep, legs curled and his neck bent in an unnatural position. Frank scoots back on the bed to give him some space and leans against the headboard. Gerard's sitting right beside him, hair getting into his face. He pushes it behind his ears all the time, like a nervous tick. Frank thinks it's adorable.

Gerard usually doesn't come with them when they do stuff like movie nights and weekends at Ray's cottage, but sometimes Mikey manages to drag him along. He doesn't say much, he mostly just sits in the back and makes everybody forget he's there.

Frank studies him, allows himself to let his glances linger for longer than he thought he'd get away with. Gerard has a sharp profile, but his features are still soft, and his eyes are huge, deep hazel. He's pale too, his skin almost white against his raven hair and the contrast makes it hard to look away.

Gerard sees him staring and clears his throat, looking wary, and a hand coming up to twist in a lock curling loosely up under his ear. Frank feels strange, and he looks back to the screen. He keeps falling in and out of focus and tries to concentrate on the movie, tries to not think about how he can see Gerard's chest rise and fall slowly out of the corner of his eye. He has to keep his hands busy for the rest of the movie, plucking imaginary threads off the mattress and messing with his hair.

When the end credits roll over the screen, Mikey is kind of awake and Bob is yawning, and they agree to call it a night. Ray blinks at the DVD player 'til Mikey sighs and pushes the right button, his glasses sliding lower on the bridge of his nose from all the effort.

"G'night Frank." Alicia's nose is twitching more than normally and she gives him a considering look before playfully hitting his shoulder.

"'Night." Frank says, hugging his arms around himself.

That night Frank has trouble sleeping. He tosses, turns, sighs and huffs into his pillow, irritated and tired. He has a tingling feeling in his stomach, something unfamiliar, but he can not deny the fact that he really just wants to jerk off.

So he does.

It's awkward, rolling over on his side, holding his breath hard, gnawing at his lower lip while his hand is desperately sneaking down into his underwear. From the way Ray is snoring, deep and even, Frank's pretty sure he's asleep, but he still pushes his face into his pillow to muffle whatever sounds he may make. He tries to find something to think about, searches his mind for some girl he's seen in a magazine or maybe an actress. No matter how hard he tries, and no matter how much he wants to deny it, images of Gerard flash by, short and vivid but definitely there. He bites down on the fabric of his pillow and squeezes the base of his dick, curling his toes. He closes his eyes and tries to think of something else, but he can't chase away the thought of how much he'd like for Gerard to touch him like this. His soft hand on Frank, moving just the way Frank's hand is.

He comes with that image stuck to his mind two minutes later, satisfied and more than a little freaked out. He's so fucked.

*

"Does Brian still hate me?" Frank asks, turning up the volume.

Alicia throws a dorito up in the air and catches it with her mouth before burping quite impressively. "Yep."

"You're so feminine and delicate, that must be what he sees in you." Frank rolls his eyes and gulps down some more beer.

Brian is Alicia's boyfriend. They've been together for as long as Frank can remember, they're like the couple you just know will never break up. Frank used to be madly, deeply, insanely on-his-knees-begging in love with her a couple of years back, when he was new at the school and Alicia was friendly and older and had blue hair. He was pretty obvious. Brian had kind of hated his guts since then, which was a shame because Brian seemed like a really cool guy.

She grins at the screen and effortlessly flaps a hand in his direction. "Be nice."

Frank still sometimes feels the sting of having been in love with her, a strange little tug behind his navel somewhere. He adores her, she's his best friend in the world, she listens, really listens to what he has to say and if he's feeling down, she grabs his arm and drags him along to get wasted or high or both and they watch romantic comedies so they can secretly wipe their eyes at the happy endings.

He wonders if he's maybe still a little in love her, but when he digs around his brain, thinking about kissing and holding hands and embarrassing shit like that, Gerard pops up, his stupid hair and nose all over his mental images. He blinks and clears his throat, turning his attention back to the movie.

"Are you getting sick again?" Alicia asks, looking at him worriedly.

He shakes his head, rubbing hand over his forehead. "No, I'm fine."

Its past midnight when he finds Bob and Ray sitting on the floor in his room, with serious expressions, Ray's tin soldiers lined up neatly between them like a small fence of toys.

"Hey, Frank." Ray says and looks up.

Frank creases his forehead suspiciously. "What’s up?"

"Bob heard the Leaders talk about leaving the school. Something about the HSA, you know, the Anti-Mutant organization."

"Yeah, I've heard about them." Frank says dryly sitting down beside Bob.

The Human Security Alliance is basically a group of terrorists with a family-friendly name. Some of the biggest names in politics are known members, even the president can be linked to them. And it sickens Frank because it's not only discrimination and physical violence against innocent mutants, not to mention corruption like nothing else, but its murder and hate towards ordinary people who never even asked to be treated differently.

It's like it makes it okay as long as most people agree and the ones who don't just look the other way.

"Apparently they've broken in to two other mutant academies, one in Sweden and one in France." Ray continues. "Bob says he thinks they've tried to do the same here before." He's frowning deeply, picking at the small tin men. Frank sees the collection box lying by Bob's foot. They're such geeks.

Bob scratches his neck thoughtfully. "There's more of them now, and I think they're heading this way. I bet the Leaders are going to try to surprise them."

"Shit." Frank says. He'd heard about the killings in Sweden and France, but he had no idea it was the HSA. "What should we do?"

"Nothing." Ray says, scraping at a dark stain on his jeans with his thumbnail, shrugging. "We'll just have to wait and hope that the Leaders can handle it."

*

Frank's walking down the hall to his classroom dragging his feet after him when someone calls his name. He turns to see Gerard, a tower of books in his arms and his usual scarf slung around his neck, doing his best to catch up with him.

"Hey, what’s up?" Frank slows down and gives him a half- smile.

Gerard hoists the books up in his arms. "I just wanted to say thank you, for the other day," he says breathlessly.

"Don't worry about it, Daryl's an asshole." He takes a couple of books from Gerard, almost dropping them. They were heavy. "What do you need all these for?"

Gerard's eyes soften and he gives a shrug. "Just light reading material."

They have basic control class that day and Frank sits down on one of the desks in the back, next to Gerard. Gerard's sketchbook is lying untouched and when Professor Cado asks if anyone volunteers to come up and demonstrate is point on matter manipulation, he nudges Frank's shoulder and gives him a challenging look.

Frank rolls his eyes at him and raises a hand. "I'll do it."

"Iero!" Professor Cado says. "Great. If you would come up here and demonstrate on this piece of cardboard."

There is a tiny cardboard box on Professor Cado's Desk, sitting on a glass plate. Frank nods and reaches out to let his hand hang low over the top of the box. He thinks of white hot surfaces and the orange center of a flame. He feels it in his whole hand, like a bolt of power all the way down to his elbow when his hand lights up and he smiles, closing his fingers tight around the box and watching the fire cling to it.

"Excellent, Iero." Professor Cado says, pushing the glass plate to the center of his desk so everyone can see. "You've improved a lot this semester!"

Frank slumps down next to Gerard again while Professor Cado talks in monotone about the different effects element-related mutations has on their testers. Gerard is moving his pencil with quick strokes in his sketchbook, angling it away from Frank when he sees him craning his neck for a peek.

"What are you drawing?" Frank asks in a whisper, leaning even closer.

Gerard looks at him from under his hair. "Nothing," he says defensively, blowing his bangs out of his face.

Frank goes to the library that evening and picks up a couple of books, all of them titles he had caught when helping Gerard to carry his 'light reading material'. They're all lengthy fantasy books about dragons and wizards and young, heroic boys. He smiles sweetly at the librarian and takes a couple up to his room.

He reads all night until the horizon turns purple and birds start chirping brightly outside his window.

Part Two

sequel

mcrnut — Sun, 23 May 2010 23:13:49 GMT

Title: Noisy Late Nights
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Do not own them.
Summary: Sequel to Gerardwantstohavebabies!ficlet
A/N: Huh. For picture challenge 5 over at picturethis_mcr. Again.

Gerard blinks awake at the sound of a weak, muffled cry.

"Your turn." Frank mumbles into his pillow from somewhere to his right.

Gerard waves an arm around, rolling out of bed. He hisses at the cold floor and steps into his worn slippers, shuffling into the nursery.

Leaning over the crib, he peers down at the bundle of angry baby. Her little face is scrunched up and red and she kicks her legs unhappily. "Hey Em." He murmurs and slides a hand carefully up behind her neck to support her soft head. He says, "hey, little Angel." and lifts her up to his chest.

She coughs into the thin material of his t-shirt and curls a tiny fist into a lock of his hair, pulling.

"Ouch." He says quietly and pushes her higher up on his shoulder. "Let's go find you something to eat."

He gets out a bottle from the fridge with one hand and clicks the microwave on. He has to take the bottle out and set it back in three times before it's the right temperature, and then closes the slightly greasy door with the back of his hand.

Em makes a gurgling sound when he sinks down on the couch and arranges her to lie in the bow of his arm. She feeds enthusiastically, breathing heavily though her nose and looking up at him with round, dark eyes. He awkwardly uses his chin to hold the bottle upright while he grabs the remote from the coffee table, turning on the tv.

Unsurprisingly, there's nothing interesting on and he mutes it, letting it light up the room at least. He leans back and sets his feet against the edge of the couch so his arm isn't taking all of Em's weight.

After a while she stops drinking, her eyes droopy, and she makes some unsatisfied noises, flailing uncoordinatedly with her chubby little arms.

"Shhh," Gerard soothes, rising from the couch and stroking her back carefully. "Shh, little Angel, calm."

He walks around their small living room and whispers against the side of her head.

It takes a while, but she calms down. Gerard keeps whispering to her, talking about how she's gonna be everything she wants to be, how she's going to be so beautiful and smart and if she wants to play with cars instead of barbies, that's just fine. He holds up the one-sided conversation until the birds are chirping cheerily outside, murmuring and sliding his palm in calm circles over her back.

She's been asleep for a while when he carefully lays her back down in her crib. He braces one hand on the wall and holds his breath when she huffs and wiggles, but she falls right back to sleep.

His heart grows several sizes when she makes a low noise in her sleep, gripping the blanket under her firmly. 'My daughter', he thinks for the hundredth time since they took her home, and he's not about to deny that his eyes are watering, just a little.

He probably looks like a zombie at this point, he thinks, rubbing a hand over his stiff face. He sighs and walks back in to their bedroom to find Frank sprawled out in the middle of the gigantic bed, mouth half open and hair sticking up everywhere.

He opens his eyes and looks at Gerard blearily for a second. "You feed her?" he croaks.

Gerard toes his slippers off and climbs back under the sheets. "Yeah."

"She still hot?" Frank asks, closing his eyes, and finds Gerard's hand under the covers lacing their fingers.

Gerard squeezes and shakes his head. "No, she's fine. Was just hungry."

Gerard is drifting in and out of sleep, half-heartedly listening for more cries. Several minutes later, Frank twitches and says, "good. I'll..I'll get up with her, you sleep in."

Squeezing Frank's hand again, Gerard breathes and lets himself fall.

fic

mcrnut — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:33:57 GMT

Title: Gerard Does Not Have A Crush On Adam Lambert or Gerard Is Asexual Just Not With Frank
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own them
Summary: The title pretty much explains it all.
A/N: idk. 1k words of boys being domestic.

Frank is not gonna lie, he's bothered by it. Gerard sighs helplessly and gives the magazine a dreamy look.

"You have a crush." Frank says.

Gerard looks up, startled. "What?"

"On that glossy idol guy." He picks up the bundle of letters on the kitchen counter and starts looking through them.

"I do not." Frank can see his stiff posture out of the corner of his eye. "I really don't, I just admire his talents, that's all. He's a very interesting person too, you should read this interview."

Frank snorts and drops the bills back down on the counter. "Does his ass count as one of his talents, 'cause you sure seem to admire that."

"Jesus, Frank, you know I'm not into guys."

Frank rolls his eyes. "I don't get why you keep saying that." He pushes off the wall and stands up on the tip of his toes to grab a glass from the cupboard. He flips on the cold water and holds a finger under the stream, waiting for it to cool. "Last time I checked, I had a dick. You also seemed pretty into me last night."

Gerard sighs exasperated, like Frank's the one talking nonsense and closes the magazine. "That's the thing, Frank, I'm into you, I'm not into guys." He meets Frank's look as he fills the glass and bites down on his thumbnail. "I'm not into girls, either, for that matter."

"I don't get it." Frank says. "So, you never wanted to be with anyone until you met me?"

Gerard looks like he's thinking it over, zoned out on the still running water. "You could say that. I mean, it's not because you're a guy that I like you, it's because you're you."

Frank breathes out a laugh and closes the distance between them, leaning his side against the sharp counter. "Well, that's flattering." He takes a gulp of his water and kisses Gerard's forehead, leaving a wet mark on his skin. "What's on tonight?"

Gerard scrunches up his nose and shrugs. "I don't know." He wipes his sleeve over his forehead and walks over to the couch, slumping down. Turning on the tv, he takes a handful of old popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table and glances over at Frank. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure." Frank smiles. He looks at the abandoned magazine, split open in the middle with light text and glittery pictures all over the two pages. "I love you." He says over his shoulder and opens the fridge to get out two cans of coke and some snacks.

Gerard has his unfocused I'm-watching-tv-voice on when he says, "Mhmmm, you too, baby."

It's later, halfway into the movie, when Gerard leans in and breathes hot air on Frank's neck, his eyes half-lidded. Frank gets it and takes Gerard's hand, leading him to the bedroom. They're making out like horny teenagers even before they hit the mattress in their chilly, dark bedroom.

"You can't say you wouldn't do him, though." Frank says a little out of breath, pulling back.

Gerard is already reaching for the lube in the nightstand drawer. "What?"

"The Idol guy."

"Oh god." Gerard sits up and rubs three fingers over his eyes roughly. "Frank, why are you thinking about this?"

"I just. You can't not be attracted to anyone!" Frank takes the lube from Gerard's hand and puts it down beside them.

"I'm attracted to you."

"Except me."

Gerard peels his shirt off and starts working on Frank's belt, taking his time. "Yes I can."

Frank leans in to kiss Gerard's paper-white shoulder affectionately. "I don't believe you. What about high school?"

Sliding his hands under the waistband of Frank's jeans, he huffs. "What about high school?" The bridge of his nose is already reddening.

"You're not gonna tell me you never got one single hard-on during your teenage years." Frank helps him get the rest of their clothes and they fall back on the bed. Gerard is rolling his eyes again, both annoyed and embarrassed. Which is stupid because he is naked in a bed with Frank, he should be able to talk about his past hard-ons without blushing. Frank tells him this.

Gerard pushes both his hands into his hair. "It's not about hard-ons, asshole. It's about who I want to be with, it has nothing to do with sex. Or, I suppose it has a little to do with sex, but that's not even the point. It's about wanting to be close to someone, you know, in a romantic sense. And I've never wanted that until I met you."

Frank lets himself slide down so he's lying half on top of Gerard and rests his chin in his hand. He makes a considering noise. "So basically, I don't ever have to be jealous?"

Touching the side of Franks face, Gerard smiles. "Never."

Frank fucks Gerard slow and lazy and it's pretty much the best sex he has ever had. Gerard is desperate and loud and Frank's muscles feel like warm syrup, sticky and slow. They finish too fast, Gerard's nails digging so hard into the skin on his back that it breaks.

"I'm sorry." Gerard whispers breathlessly, running his fingers over the deep marks by his spine.

They have a cigarette and Frank watches the ceiling. He exhales through his nose and turns his head to the side heavily. "I do turn you on though, right?"

Gerard's laugh is loud and startled, and he looks at Frank with wide eyes, all his little teeth showing. Frank sort of wants to hit him and kiss the shit out of him at the same time.

He settles with throwing a pillow at his head.

ficlet

mcrnut — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:23:49 GMT

Title: Gerardwantstohavebabies!ficlet
Author: mcrnut
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Rating: idk, PG?
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary:

"Frank, I want to have kids."

"Uh huh," Frank says, then "what?"

A/N: ahahah I have no excuse for this /o\ AT LEAST I WROTE SOMETHING.
For picture challenge 5 over at picturethis_mcr

Sun filters through the thin curtains and leaves warm spots on Gerard's t-shirt as he stretches between the sheets. He yawns and twists, curling up close to the figure beside him.

"Frank?" He whispers, stuffing his toes under Frank's warm legs.

Frank makes a grumpy noise into his pillow.

"Frank?" Gerard says a little louder.

Moaning, Frank lifts his head up and opens a cranky eye at Gerard. "Time 's it?"

"Early." Gerard says, wiggling closer under the damp sheets.

Frank gives him a half-smile and lifts a heavy arm to pull Gerard close. He sighs and pushes his nose against his cheek. "Go back to sleep." He slurs, his moist breath hot against Gerard's jaw and neck.

Gerard strokes a hand over his hair and makes a non-committal sound, fingers sliding soothingly through the brown locks. He ghosts his lips over Frank's forehead and says. "Frank, I want to have kids."

"Uh huh," Frank says, then "what?"

"I want to have kids." And his stomach is doing all sorts of weird jumpy things. The bed creaks when Frank leans up on his elbows to look at him, searching his face for a couple of minutes.

"You want to have kids." He echoes, blinking.

Gerard swallows and nods, running a nervous hand through his hair. "I mean, I think we're ready." He touches Frank's bare chest absently. "What -- how do you feel about that?"

"At ass o'clock in the morning? I have no fucking idea." He rubs his face, frowning.

When Gerard withdraws his hand and picks at his nails, looking at a ray of light cast across their sheets with his mouth pulled in a tight line, Frank sighs. "That sounded harsh, I didn't mean it like that." He turns and sits up fully on the bed scratching his belly. "You've thought about this a lot haven't you?"

"I, yeah. I have." Gerard says. He pulls the covers up around his waist and leans against Frank's side. "I've always wanted to be a Dad, you know. And I can't," He inhales deeply and murmurs against the side of Frank's dry, warm throat. "And I want to do it with you."

The sharp exhales of breaths tickle against Gerard's hair and he can almost hear Frank thinking. "You're serious about this." He says quietly, a hand coming up to squeeze Gerard's shoulder, rough fingertips sliding under his shirt.

Gerard pulls back slightly. "We both have stable jobs and," he smiles, "and we could paint the guest room."

Frank laughs, short and beautiful, and cups the side of his face, kissing him slowly. Gerard gives him a confused look and drags his thumb over the smoothness of Frank's hip, eyes falling shut at the feel of Frank nipping carefully on his lower lip.

"Okay." Frank says when he pulls back, resting his forehead lightly against Gerard's. "If you think we can do it."

Gerard makes a happy noise and wraps his arms around Frank's neck. "Really?"

"Yeah." Frank grins, flattening his palm against Gerard's lower back, hugging him close.

Later, while Frank's in the shower, Gerard makes coffee. He looks at their tiny kitchen table, just big enough for Frank and Gerard and maybe one more. He smiles into his mug.

Falling

mcrnut — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 02:46:32 GMT

Title: Falling.
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: NC-17
Length: 1,5k
Disclaimer: Never happened, not true.
Summary: "The Notebook"-ish drabble. Basically young boys in the forties being in love.
A/N: If you're a big sap like me, you've seen The Notebook and cried like a loser etc. etc. So, I just watched it again the other night, and felt like writing a F/G snippet. Here you go! Oh, and please let me know if you catch any mistakes!

The afternoon sun is warm and the grass is soft around Gerard’s ankles. He looks sideways at Frank who is biting at a straw, leaned comfortably against the wall of the old barn; legs sprawled in the high grass. His dirty cap is drawn down over his eyes and the fluffy end of the straw sways lightly with the breeze.

“You look like an old man, Frank.” Gerard says, pulling on a chunk of grass by his knee.

Frank’s smile makes the cap slide further down over his face and he says, “well, Gerard, you look like an old lady, how about that?”

Gerard rips out a dandelion from the ground, root following and all, and throws it in the general direction of Frank’s head.

They chat for a while, watching the sun go down between the tree stems. Frank talks about this house he’s going to buy that’s right down by the lake. It’s old and dusty, but Frank is sure he can make it in to something. Gerard smiles and listens, awed by how warm the tone of the other boy’s voice is.

“How about you?” Frank asks, tilting his head to the side. “What are you going to do after summer is over?”

The summer days had flown by in a warm blur of Frank and and new things and new people who weren't at all like his friends back home, they were careless and loving and for the first time in years Gerard had let go a little, and just let himself fall in love with this small country town and it's people.

He spent the days eating ridiculous amounts of ice cream, going to the carnival and having late-night conversations with Frank and his Father on the front porch. And sometimes he and Frank would sit down by the lake, pale feet swaying in the dark water, talking about everything and nothing.

He looks down and gives a half-hearted shrug. “College.” He says finally.

“Oh. “ There’s a pause and Frank picks at a splinter sticking out from the wall behind them. “Do you know where?”

“Probably New York.” When Gerard looks up, Frank is right there, sitting back on his knees leaning against the barn with one arm.

“That’s far.”

“Yeah.” A light breeze tickles the side of Gerard’s neck and he raises a hand to scratch it, weighed down by the sudden tension between them. “But it’s what we decided.”

“We?”

Nodding, Gerard says “me and my parents.”

“They seem to decide everything for you.” Frank murmurs. “Do you ever do anything just because you want to?”

Gerard thinks it over, then he touches Frank’s knee with his knuckle lightly, without really thinking about it. “I like to draw.” He says, clearing his throat.

And then Frank pushes his lips to Gerard’s, quick and awkward with their nose squished together and everything. Gerard gasps against his mouth, in sheer surprise, and he can the feel the raw smell of sweat and daylight against his face.

When Frank pulls back he doesn’t meet Gerard’s eyes, and he’s pale, a strange contrast to his usual confidence.

Gerard hasn’t been able to process what just happened, touching his fingers to his lower lip gingerly, when Frank says “That was inappropriate, jesus Gerard, I’m sorry. I, um. I’m not one of those people. I swear.”

Gerard watches a drop of sweat and dirt slide down Frank’s arm, all the way from his rolled-up sleeve to his wrist, and he doesn’t understand because he’s not outraged or offended, rather the opposite.

He reaches out and drags his thumb over the drop on Frank’s wrist, smearing it out, and then Frank’s breath hitches and before Gerard knows it, they’re kissing again, slow and hesitant.

It’s strange how his heart is beating so fast.

The kisses are lingering and making Gerard feel dizzy and he has never kissed anyone before, not like this, long presses of Frank’s lips against his, their heads moving just a little. He finds himself flattening his palm against Frank’s chest, wanting to get closer, not really knowing how to do things. When he feels Frank’s tongue against his mouth, he opens it automatically, meeting him with his own, and it’s really quite amazing.

Frank makes a sound deep in his throat, almost like a groan, and places a hand on Gerard’s side, pulling him closer and Gerard goes willingly, pressing himself against him so they are both standing on their knees, leaned against the warm wood of the wall beside them. His heart is pounding in his head and wrists, along with other places. He blushes at the realization, his face heating up in embarrassment.

Frank keeps pushing at his shoulder softly, and it takes a while for him to realize that Frank wants him to lie down in the grass. He pulls back then, Frank's lips wet with spit and Gerard has to clear his throat again.

“I, uh. Okay.” He squirms and desperately wants to taste Frank’s mouth again, but this is completely crazy, and he needs to think for a moment.

Frank rubs the side of his face, looking more than a little baffled himself. He stutters out something, then touches Gerard's arm, then his thigh before letting it rest in his own lap. They stay like that, and Gerard is absolutely not able to keep still, his skin feels too tight and raw against his shirt. Frank's eyes on him aren't helping much either, and he tries his best to scan his brain, to understand what is going on and when the adoration he felt for Frank had turned into him wanting something like this. He can't make his heart slow down.

He sighs hopelessly before cupping Frank’s face and kissing him again. Frank is unresponsive for a minute, but when Gerard slowly lets himself fall back, he hums and catches himself with one hand on each side of Gerard's head.

They kiss like before, Frank’s tongue stroking Gerard's, and the sensitive skin behind the upper row of his teeth and his lips. He lets his legs fall open and Frank fits himself between them, pushing down against him. He goes perfectly still, holding his breath against the waves of pleasure, and he can’t stop a small whine from escaping him as he circles his arms around Frank’s back and pushes up to meet him, hard and warm and strange.

The fact that this is madness hits him again, and makes him dig his fingers into the back of Frank’s sticky shirt, but those thoughts are quickly chased away when the other boy pulls back suddenly and starts to work on getting Gerard’s trousers open with shaky fingers.

He finds no time to protest, he doesn’t really know if he can, before Frank has dipped his hand into Gerard’s underpants and circled them around him. He's throbbing in Frank's hold and it feels so good he wants it to last forever, he doesn't even care how wrong it is. His back lifts off the ground and he pushes up into Frank’s dry, firm fist and he can’t think, he’s completely lost control of what he’s doing. Frank’s name is vibrating on the tip of his tongue and he wants to say it out loud, wants to let him know just how amazing this feels.

The warmth of Frank’s palm his gone for a second and Gerard opens his eyes to find him unbuttoning his own trousers, pushing them down past his thighs and positioning himself on top of Gerard again.

He doesn’t hesitate on putting his hand back where it was, and Gerard slips his own into Frank’s clammy underwear, gripping him tightly. His vision is unclear and he shudders out a breath when Frank moans against his neck. He can't get past how strange it is, touching someone else like this, touching another boy like this.

It's fast and desperate, until Gerard can’t take it anymore and releases, warm, sticky fluid spurting onto Frank’s hand and on his underwear and he shakes with it, letting his head fall back and he's breathing so harshly his throat hurts, pushing his hips up so he slides slickly into Frank’s fist a couple of more times.

When he’s taken some slow breaths, calming himself, he notices Frank is touching himself with his wet hand, the one he used on Gerard just seconds ago, moving his it with fast, erratic strokes, and Gerard twitches violently with aftershocks.

He leans up on his elbows and watches in wonder as Frank slows down his movements, letting his head fall back on his shoulders as every muscle in his body seizes up.

They lie together after they’ve pulled up their pants and wiped their hands off. Gerard is terrified, but giddy and lightheaded at the same time, and he is still kind of shaking, grass tickling his ear and the side of his face. He swallows and kisses Frank carefully, not knowing whether it’s allowed or not. The smile in Frank’s eyes are reassuring and they drag each other’s limp bodies closer, feet tangled, hidden in the high grass.

They spend the last week of summer pushing each other up against walls in broom closets and behind Frank's house and by the lake, late at night were all sounds are too loud and the water is too cold and they talk about everything and nothing.

Tied up

mcrnut — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:48:30 GMT

Title: Tied up.
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
Rating: NC-17
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centred.
Length: 4,2k
Disclaimer: Not real, never happened.
Summary: Gerard is into BDSM, but he doesn't know how to ask Frank for it.
Warnings: Dominant/submissive roleplay, sex, language etc.

When Gerard gets home from work he drops the keys on the kitchen counter, flips on the coffee maker and gets out a warm cup from the dish washer. He sighs, rubbing his forehead as he leans against the fridge.

Thoughts about Frank are bugging him.

You see, this thing with Frank is pretty new. They’ve only been going out for a couple of months, but they are already so comfortable around each other it feels like Gerard has known him his whole life. Frank is funny, smart, romantic and not to mention hot. He doesn’t laugh at Gerard when he rants about X-Men or the ridiculous injustice the Fantastic Four movies did the comics, he joins in, he kisses him at odd moments just because he wants to, and he takes him to the beach after sunset so they can talk under the stars.

He is perfect, really. Everything Gerard could ever ask for.

But there is one thing that is bothering him, that is keeping him constantly dissatisfied and jittery and he has no idea how to ask for it.

Gerard wants to be held down. He wants Frank to push him down on the bed, tie him up, bite him, tease him, do whatever he pleases with him. He wants, no he needs, to be dominated and pushed, needs for Frank to own him. But when they have sex, Frank is gentle, loving, he does everything slowly and carefully and keeps asking Gerard if this is alright or that is alright.

And that’s good, but it’s not what he needs.

-

They’re sitting in Frank’s couch, curled up together with empty take-out cartons on the table and the ending credits of Nightmare on Elm Street rolling over the screen.

“So,” Frank says, kissing Gerard’s shoulder and rubbing his thumb over the back of his neck. “You want to stay the night?”

Gerard smiles and catches Frank lips with his own, pressing closer to him on the couch. “Yeah.” He mumbles into Frank’s mouth, sliding his arms around his neck.

Gerard pulls Frank on top of him, closing his eyes when he fits himself between his legs, pressing down and making Gerard's breath hitch. Frank leans up on his elbows and looks down at him, rolling his hips against his slowly.

“God, you’re so sexy.” He says, sliding one hand into Gerard’s hair and leaning in to kiss him again. He tugs his hair just a little bit and Gerard can’t help but moan, pulling Frank closer with his hands on his back.

Frank continues tugging his hair now and then, not hard, but just enough to make Gerard gasp and buck up against him. Suddenly Frank’s elbow slips on the shiny leather of his couch and he bites down on Gerard’s lip by accident, deliciously hard, a raw pain shooting right down to Gerard’s cock and when Frank breaks the kiss to apologize Gerard makes a desperate, embarrassing noise and cups Frank’s face, dragging him down again, wrapping his legs around his waist.

He whines when Frank pulls back, feeling himself blush a little, but he’s too turned on to care.

Frank looks a little confused, searching Gerard’s face. “You liked that?” He asks a little out of breath.

Gerard swallows and shakes his head. “Just kiss me, okay?”

Frank’s smile is filled with mischief when he bends down and takes Gerard’s earlobe between his teeth, tugging and gnawing, then licking over the swelling skin.

“Oh god,” Gerard whispers, letting his head fall back.

Frank sets his teeth in Gerard’s neck, holding the skin tightly between them before licking over the marks wetly. Gerard doesn’t know what to do but to squirm and whine. “You like pain.” Frank says with wonder in his voice, sitting back on his heels.

“No, I don’t.” Gerard knows it’s pointless when Frank pushes his t-shirt up past his navel and presses his nails deep into Gerard’s soft sides, grinding down at the same time. “Frank.. Frank, please.”

“Oh my god.” Frank says in a delighted tone. “Why haven’t you told me?” He kisses the skin right under Gerard’s left nipple, then scrapes his teeth over it.

Gerard tangles his fingers in Frank’s hair to keep him there. “I don’t know, ahh, I – it’s just, it’s.. embarrassing.”

Frank grins and cranes his neck to kiss him softly. “No, it’s not. What else do you like?” He pops his head up on his elbow and looks up at Gerard expectantly, toying with the curled up hem of his shirt.

“Nothing.” Gerard says childishly and his face grows even hotter.

“No, Gerard, tell me!” Frank rests his lips on the base of his throat. “I want to know, I want to know everything you like.”

Gerard is quiet for a while, stroking Frank’s hair out of his face. He sighs, defeated, and says, “you know. maybe bondage..and stuff like that.” He clears his throat and looks up at the ceiling when Frank’s head snaps up.

“So you want me to tie you up?” His eyes are shining and he looks so excited. “Like, to the bed and stuff?”

Gerard smiles helplessly and presses his face into the backrest. “Jesus, Frank, I can’t talk about this.”

Ignoring him, Frank pushes himself up so he’s hovering right over his face. “But you’re so shy! Is there anything more I should know?” He forces Gerard to look at him. “Should I buy handcuffs? A whip? Leather pants?”

“Fraaaank!” Gerard covers his face with his hands and giggles, squirming.

“No, listen, listen! It’s important that we talk about this, I want to do the things you like!”

Gerard looks at him from between his fingers and Frank’s face is so earnest and encouraging. Gerard feels more than a little in love. And this is what he wanted, right? He’s got this perfect guy right here who wants nothing but to do whatever Gerard wants. So he takes a deep breath and lets his hands fall, resting one on Frank’s shoulder.

He fixes his stare on the curve of Frank’s left eyebrow. “I like to be dominated.” He says in a rush. “You know, not having control.”

Frank smiles and kisses him, soft and lingering, with no tongue. “You’re so amazing.”

After that, he ushers him out the door, saying he’s dead tired and that he’ll call him the next day, instead. Gerard is left standing outside Frank’s apartment, ridiculously turned on, but also terrified that he has scared Frank off.

-

Frank doesn’t call him the next day, and not the one after that or the one after that, either.

It’s Saturday and Gerard is sitting in his living room, his whole body a big knot of nerves and thoughts and he can’t understand what went wrong. He’s sipping his lukewarm coffee, wearing woolen socks and soft pajama pants, sunk into the corner of his couch watching a terrible romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan.

He’s snorting at the dramatic ending scene when his cell rings, making him jump. The screen flashes “Frank” in neon green letters, and Gerard’s heart is beating so fast he has to do some stress control breathing before picking up.

“Hi, Frank.” He says, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Hey! So I was wondering if you wanted to come over?” It sounded normal, casual, not like a ‘I’m asking you over to break up with you’.

Gerard bites down on his thumbnail. “I- yeah, sure. I’ll be there in ten.”

He runs around the house, picking up relatively clean clothes from the floor and pulling them on. He tries to flatten down his hair as best he can, and he brushes his teeth in record time.

-

It takes him exactly twelve minutes to drive to Frank’s apartment, and when he rings the doorbell it takes exactly two seconds before Frank opens. Gerard opens his mouth to say something, to ask why Frank hasn’t called him for a week, but before he has any time for that, Frank pulls him inside, closes the door and pushes him up against it, kissing him almost violently.

Frank is stroking the side of his neck, and he flattens his palm over Gerard’s stomach as he slows down the kissing. Frank's hand circles around his neck, carefully, and he pulls back, staring Gerard right in the eye.

He leans in right next to him and whispers hotly into his ear, “go to my bedroom and get undressed.”

Gerard stares at him with wide eyes for a second. “Frank..”

Frank tightens his grip on Gerard’s throat. “No talking unless I ask you to. Go.”

Gerard’s head is swimming when Frank releases him, and he gives him one last stunned look before hurrying to Frank’s bedroom.

The bedroom is big and simple with a king-sized bed placed right in the middle of the room, a couple of posters up on the walls and a closet placed against the opposite wall of the bed. It’s a chilly and Gerard is shaking slightly when he kicks off his jeans and is left naked, standing by the bed.

He hears Frank walk around the apartment, and he wonders what he's doing. He’s already half hard from the excitement and he’s about to curl a hand around himself, just to feel something, when Frank walks in with a black shopping bag in one hand. He rakes his eyes over Gerard’s body hungrily and smiles, dropping the bag onto the bed.

“Did I say you could touch yourself?”

“Sorry.” Gerard says, and then snaps his mouth shut.

Frank fishes something dark out from the bag and shakes his head. “No talking, I told you. It would be wise of you to act like a good boy, Gerard.” He walks up to him and twines his fingers into his hair, pulling his head back roughly. He mouths around his neck a little, soft nips and scrapes of teeth, and then flips him around and pushes him up against the cold wall. He grinds his clothed crotch into Gerard's ass and gently tugs his earlobe between his teeth. The pain from Frank's hand in his hair mixed with the friction from the wall and Frank pushing up against his ass is making Gerard dizzy with the intense sensations. He looks at Frank out of the corner of his eye and catches his profile, his soft lips on Gerard's own shoulder and his brow furrowed.

He makes a choked noise when the sharp metal of Frank's belt is being pressed deep into his flesh, and he draws his lower lip into his mouth, the scrape throbbing under his skin. Frank pushes off the wall and loosens his grip on Gerard's hair, then grabs him by his neck, steering him to the bed and pushing him down on it with a firm hand between his shoulder blades.

“Turn around.” He says, and Gerard obliges, rolling over slowly on the soft mattress, his cock heavy over his belly.

What Frank had gotten out of the bag was a pair of dark-brown leather handcuffs, and Gerard watches with big eyes as Frank grips his wrists and clicks the cuffs on.

Gerard can’t move his arms further than a few inches apart and Frank places them over his head so they’re not in the way. The leather is firm around Gerard’s wrists. He shudders, he’s all laid out before Frank and he can feel his eyes on his body. He can't help but wiggle uncomfortably, he's so helpless and turned on and Frank is just watching him, eyeing his chest and stomach and groin and thighs like Gerard belongs to him, his intense, hazel eyes burning him. Gerard needs to be touched so bad.

His cock twitches and Frank makes a satisfied noise. He sits down on the bed comfortably, smoothing a hand carefully over Gerard’s white belly, down to his hip and in between his clammy thighs, squeezing the flesh there. “God, you’re so pretty.” He says, leaning down and running his tongue over one of Gerard’s pink nipples.

He lets his nails sink into the skin of his inner thigh at the same time as he bites down on the nipple and Gerard’s head falls back and he gasps, arching off the bed.

“So pretty..” Frank says, climbing up on the bed fully. He spreads Gerard’s legs and bends them at the knees, dragging his chin along the inside of Gerard’s thigh, and there’s a slight scrape of stubble there. Gerard watches him with heavy eyes and let’s out a small, high pitched noise when Frank’s calloused thumb finds its way between his legs, where his thigh meets his groin, and slides it back and forth over the slick, sensitive skin.

"All mine." He says, lifting one of Gerard's legs back against his chest, licking at the inside of his knee.

He uses his free hand to grab the shopping bag from somewhere behind him and Gerard lifts his head to see him pull out a bottle of lube, a pearly white vibrator and two leather straps.
He fastens the black straps around Gerard’s upper thighs, then spreads them wider, so he’s open and ready for Frank. He slides his hands up his chest and pinches both his nipples, making Gerard whine and push into it, and dips down to lick at his chest teasingly before moving up and hovering over his mouth. Gerard wants to kiss him so badly, but Frank only licks at his upper lip, gently, not allowing him to meet their mouths together.

“Turn around and lie on your stomach, baby.” He says, and he’s so close Gerard can feel his moist breath against his lips. Gerard obeys and rolls around, his arms stretched out in front of him and he tests the grip of the leather a little, feeling it dig into his skin.

“Such a good boy.” Frank says ghosting his warm hand over the swell of Gerard’s ass. “Lift up for me.”

Gerard does, so his ass is in the air and he shudders when he feels Frank’s palms at the back of his thighs, the leather straps just tight enough, and Frank slides his fingers over them lovingly. “Open up.” He says, and Gerard spreads his legs, pushing his face into the pillow.

He almost screams when he feels Frank’s tongue at the skin behind his balls, long, slow drags over and over again, and Gerard is scared he’s going to come just from that. But then Frank is licking higher, spreading his ass with his nails digging into his cheeks; he licks over his entrance, careful and at first, then he presses in.

“Oh god.” Gerard sobs, biting his lip.

Frank pulls back immediately and Gerard wants to cry, arching his back. “I said, no talking.” Frank warns, his grip on Gerard’s ass is harder now, and he blows lightly over Gerard’s hole so the spit there cools.

Gerard sobs helplessly again, but he doesn’t say a word.

Frank’s tongue doesn’t come back and when his hands disappear from Gerard’s skin, he almost panics, he’s so turned on he doesn’t even remember his own name and he can feel the imprint of Frank’s nails on his ass and the straps digging into his thighs, but then he hears it, the click and then the steady buzz of the vibrator. He tries to turn his head to look, but all he can see is his own back and Frank’s shoulder.

Frank slaps his ass and he startles, letting out a surprised ‘ah’, and then he moans when he feels the press of the cold vibrator up behind his balls.

“When I give you an order, you’re going to listen, Gerard.” He says, slapping Gerard’s other cheek just as hard. Gerard’s toes curl when Frank bites down right where it stings, and then he cries out at the feeling of the lube-slick vibrator sliding up along his ass crack, sending shocks of pleasure through his whole body.

“I bet you like being bad.” Frank murmurs, pressing the vibrating toy against his hole, keeping it there. “I think you need another punishment.”

Gerard stays completely still and it’s taking all the willpower he has not to push back against the toy. Frank laughs low under his breath and drops the vibrator on the mattress. He grips Gerard’s leaking cock and squeezes around him, rubbing a finger right under the head and Gerard makes a sound out of this world and pushes into Frank's fist, biting down on his pillow. Frank takes a hold of Gerard’s hip with the other hand to make sure he doesn’t move, but aside from that, he doesn’t do anything, he just holds him in the rough curl of his palm, and Gerard is trembling so bad, trying to stay still, waiting for Frank to jack him or slap him or bite him, waiting for anything.

But Frank stays still, and it feels like hours.

Gerard is so desperate for Frank to do something that he thinks he could pass out from the need, but Frank is motionless, the steady, deep sound of his breathing and the muffled buzz of the vibrator left on the bed is the only thing heard. He's so aware of everything around him, of the smell of sweat in the thick air and the bitter taste on his tongue, he’s so aware of Frank’s hand around his cock and the smear of cold lube on his ass and he bites down on the inside of his cheek.

Pulling in a deep rush of air, he rolls his hips just a little bit, a small move that makes Frank’s hand slide on his cock and his fingers clap harder around his hip.

“Do you want me to fuck you, Gerard?” Frank asks, squeezing him lightly and Gerard nods frantically against his pillow.

Frank releases his cock and picks up the toy, pressing it to Gerard’s hole once again.

“I’m not going to.” He says. “Not yet.” He finally slides the vibrator into Gerard, just about halfway in, not deep enough to hit Gerard’s prostate, but enough for him to feel it all the way to his toes. The toy is big, probably around the same size as Frank, and Gerard turns his head to bite at his own shoulder as Frank pushes it a little bit deeper, so slow it’s almost unnoticeable, small hitches tugging at his entrance.

“Fuck yourself on it.” Frank demands and Gerard exhales in relief, pushing up so the toy slides all the way in.

He pushes up against the toy again and again, moaning at how it fills him almost right, and how his ass hits Frank’s fingers when the toy is as deep as it gets. He scrapes his nails on the headboard and he’s almost there, the tension, the feel of Frank's palm resting on his ass and the toy inside him is almost enough, if only Frank would touch him.

Before the pressure is allowed to build anymore, the vibrator is removed. Frank plays with his balls and licks around for a while before he scrapes his nails down Gerard’s spine.

“On your back.” He orders, helping Gerard to twist on the bed.

Gerard is nothing more than a writhing mess by now, his whole body screaming to be touched, his heart hammering inside his head and wrists and cock. Frank opens one cuff so his right wrist his free, shhh’ing him when he makes a pleading noise as he loops the loose cuff around one of the bars in the headboard, then he clicks it back around Gerard's wrist.

“I’ll be back in a little while.” He says, holding Gerard open with one hand while sliding the vibrator back into him.

Then he casually leaves the room.

Gerard wants to yell at him, scream for him to get back in there, because he’s cuffed to the bed with a vibrator in his ass and he needs to get off so bad. He doesn’t though; he knows that would be a bad move, so he stays there, grinding his hips down into the mattress under him to make the toy move, to get any kind of friction at all.

He stares absently at the ceiling, he's panting and his skin is slick with sweat. He's so restless and horny he can't seem to focus on anything, and he lets his legs fall open and contracts around the vibrator, exhaling shakily at the feeling.

Luckily, Frank isn’t gone for long, and when he comes back, he’s naked and carrying a bottle of chocolate sauce. He stuffs his hand in the black bag again, coming up with what looks like a silky blindfold, then throws the empty bag in the general direction of the door.

"You like chocolate, Gerard?" He asks, looking down at him, pressing the bottle of chocolate sauce down on his chest.

Gerard breathes against the weight and the bottle is ice cold, probably right from the fridge. He nods.

Frank hums approvingly and lets the bottle stay on Gerard's chest as he drapes the blindfold over his eyes. "Lift up your head." he says, then he ties it hard, the knot pressing against the back of his head. Gerard can't see a thing and he swallows thickly, lying completely still to be able to hear what Frank is doing. He feels the bed dip somewhere beside him. A click, which he guesses is the opening of the chocolate sauce, startles him because it's right by his ear. He hisses when he feels the cold, sticky sauce hit his neck, the substance thick and lazy like caramel.

Frank makes a 'mmm' noise and scrapes it off with his teeth, then bites down so hard the skin almost breaks. Gerard gasps and bucks his hips up.

Thick blots of the sauce is dropped onto his stomach and he clenches the muscles there, waiting for Frank's tongue to lap it up.

Frank's teeth are all over his abdomen, it's not enough, it's just small bites, teasingly light, and they leave Gerard's skin tingling and itching. He tries to follow Frank's mouth when it leaves his skin, but Frank smacks his tounge, saying a "nah ah!", then swiping the tip of his tongue over one nipple. He sucks it carefully, it's so good it's almost painful, and then Gerard feels Frank's thumb on his lower lip, full of sticky chocolate. He opens up for it and Frank smears it around, along his lip and over his little teeth, and then pressing his sweet-tasting finger to his tongue. Gerard sucks it willingly, and Frank murmurs something low in his throat, Gerard can't catch it, and suddenly the blidfold it pushed up over his forehead and back, and he can see again.

Smiling down at Gerard, Frank runs his hand slowly up the underside of his cock. He spreads the pre-come around a little, making the head slick. Gerard gives Frank his best pleading look and spreads his legs wide, pushing up into his touches, gnawing at his lower lip.

Frank pulls the vibrator out crawls up between Gerard’s legs. He snaps open the hand cuffs and drops them to the floor somewhere by the bed. “You’ve been good.” He says, pushing Gerard’s legs back so his knees almost hit his chest. He kisses Gerard’s neck softly while he slicks himself up with the bottle of lube that had been abandoned on the bed.

And finally he pushes into him, fills him just right, sliding over his spot and making him cry out and claw at Frank’s shoulders.

Frank pounds into him, hard and deep and fast until he can feel his release just out of reach. Frank says, “Come, Gerard. Come on. Now,” and Gerard whines and holds on to him for dear life, and he’s so close he can feel it in his toes and up his spine and he throws his head back as it hits him, washing over him and lasting and lasting and lasting and then Frank is twitching inside him and coming, too, and they ride it out, panting and sweating against each other.

Frank rolls off him and they lie close on the bed for a while, breathing.

“Oh my god.” Gerard moans, turning so he’s lying his side, draping an arm around Frank’s middle. “Is this a dream?” He asks.

Frank laughs and slides his hand down his side lovingly until he hits one of the straps. He loosens it easily and flings it off the bed. Kissing him, he takes off the other one, throwing it somewhere behind him.

“I did some research, you know, to see what I needed to do.” He says after the last kiss, then smushes his face into Gerard's neck, lying half on top of him. “And I found out that I maybe had a tiny S&M kink, too. I hadn't really thought about it before.”

“And you bought a dildo and fucking leather straps.” Gerard moves a hand lazily over his back. “Jesus Frank, I don’t even know what to say.”

“We should go visit the Sex Shop just down the street.” Frank says, kissing Gerard’s eyebrow, his cheek, and his mouth. "Together. They had this red spreader bar, it was so hot."

"Yes. God." Gerard says and kisses him back. “I can't believe you're real, I'm keeping you forever.”

Frank smiles at him, all beautiful and exhausted with his hair sticking to his forehead in wet swirls. “You better.”

Situations

mcrnut — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:33:35 GMT

Title: Situations
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centered.
Disclaimer: Not real, never happened.
Summary: He sees the guy on the bus again, like he does every Monday and Wednesday.
A/N: This was supposed to be "Water" for 20 stories. And then suddenly is wasn't anymore.

75

Gerard's bottled water is stuck to the dark surface of the greasy bar counter, and he sighs, wincing as the half-naked lady next to him starts singing again.

He yanks the bottle free and gulps down some, eyes searching the bar for his date. As on cue, Gerard's blond, dead-drunk date climbs up on a table, shouting something incoherent and the sweaty crowd cheers.

Gerard sighs again, dropping his head to the counter.

5

He carefully opens the first ever issue he bought of Hellboy, holding it in his hands like it's gold. He found it in an old box, stuffed carelessly away, and he has no idea how it happened.

He sits down on the couch, pressing his knees to his chest, and starts reading.

19

He sees the guy on the bus again, like he does every Monday and Wednesday. Gerard can't help look for him, and even though it's probably creepy, he gets disappointed every time the seat behind him is taken. That way he can't see what the guy is reading, or study the tattoos on his neck.

Their eyes lock as Gerard walks past him, and he thinks he manages to produce a decent smile. The guy smiles back, quick and pretty.

48

"I'm way, way too old to wear something like this." Gerard says, looking at himself in the mirror. The dark circles under his eyes are extra dark today.

Heather, his cousin who is too nice to be hanging out with him and too cool to be taking him shopping, rolls her eyes and fixes his hood. "No, you look great, trust me! We should find you a pair of sunglasses too!"

She takes his elbow and grins, dragging him with her.

14

"Hi, I usually don't do this kind of thing, but I see you on the bus all the time and I love your t-shirts, you have a great taste in movies by the way, and music, dude, Black Flag is my favorite band and. And I'm rambling." He scratches the back of his neck and smiles. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to.. do something sometime?"

Then he laughs, nervously, the most adorable thing Gerard has ever heard in his life.

Gerard's petty sure everyone on the bus can hear his heart beat, even the old lady in the back who always talks to herself and the punk kid with the enormous headphones.

"I.. sure. Yeah, I'd love to!"

"Great! I, um. I'm Frank."

"I'm Gerard."

7

He squints as he tries to figure out the drawings in the user manual. He makes an unsatisfied sound, glancing over at the flat box and the pieces of wood that's supposed to be a bookshelf. Apparently he doesn't have a hammer and apparently he has to get up from the floor so he can google half of the text that should be helpful and understandable to the average American. He grunts and lies down flat on his back, tossing the user manual somewhere behind him.

100

There are probably five hundred bills on the kitchen table, staring at him like the leaning tower of pisa, fucking mocking him. They're out of coffee (something they swore on never letting happen when they moved in together), and it's cold because the heating broke and Gerard hates his life just a little bit.

He sits down on the squeaky chair, his back cracking several times, and starts going though the bills.

*

Frank presses his face against Gerard's neck and kisses the skin there, running his fingers through his hair.

The air is clammy and the tv is still on, something with shooting and cars, throwing a wild light against the walls of their bedroom. Gerard pulls the blankets over them and slides a hand down Frank's back, kissing the side of his face, right over his eyebrow.

"What do you think your mental age is?" Frank asks into his hair.

Gerard smiles at the ceiling. "Varying."

Twelve

mcrnut — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:49:41 GMT

Title: Twelve
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centered
Disclaimer: Not true, never happened.
Summary: When Frank stopped coming to the fence, the bluebirds stopped singing.
A/N: Entry for picturethis_mcr's first contest. It's just a small WW2 snippet thingy.

Berlin, Germany. 1944.

Gerard sat with sun in his eyes, fingers clamped tightly around his sketch book. Some of his hair was tickling his cheek.

He was getting a little numb from sitting on the ground, and just as he thought of getting up and moving around a little, he saw a familiar figure approaching, the sun making the silhouette stand out, plain black. But Gerard knew him, knew the shape of his shoulders and the way he walked.

The bluebirds chuckled from somewhere above Gerard, he heard the light snap of wings in the air, and he scooted closer to the fence, dust swirling up around his trousers. His mother would yell at him later, but his nose almost touched the warm, metallic fence and Frank was right there, pushing the wheelbarrow to the side before falling to his knees.

Frank smiled, moving a hand over his hair carefully, flattening it.

Gerard smiled back, turning the sketch book in his hands a couple of times, ducking his head.

Their eyes met as Frank worked, ripping up the poison oak from the dry ground and dumping it into the wheelbarrow, a layer of sweat on his brow. Gerard mostly sat and watched, opening and closing his sketch book a couple of times. The dark, red binding was rough against his skin, and he pressed the pads of his fingers against it, then watched the white imprint fade away.

The sun hung lower on the sky when Frank started wiping the back of his hand over his forehead, sending glances over at the full barrow.

Gerard watched him watch the bluebirds, how fondness grazed his features as his eyes followed them gliding across the sky so freely. They flew high up, up over rooftops and trees. Fences.

Gerard opened the book in his lap, turning the pages carefully till he got to the last one. He tore it out, one finger following the paper down the page as it ripped. He looked up to catch
Frank's curious stare and rolled it so it could be small enough, then pushed it through the fence.

Frank held out his raw, sore hand and caught the paper as it unrolled on the other side.

Gerard held his breath as Frank examined the drawing, the careful strokes of gray lead stood out across the blinding white page, and Frank barely touched it, letting it rest on his palms as if it was sacred.

He let out a shaky breath and caught Gerard's stare, pushing his hand, as far as it went, into a hole of the iron net.

Curling his fingers around Frank's, Gerard smiled, happiness swelling in his chest.

Frank folded the drawing gently and stuffed it under his shirt, before he had to go back, waving his hand goodbye. When Frank was only a small dot, down by the houses where the others were, Gerard hugged the book to his chest, watching the dark smoke rise from one of the buildings. The one farthest down by a corner in the enormous enclosure, partly hidden in the shadows. Where people went in, and didn't come out.

-

When Frank stopped coming to the fence, the bluebirds stopped singing.

-

London, United Kingdom. 1956.

Gerard's portfolio was digging into his hip and his shoes were making wet noises with every step he took as he was walking down along the sidewalk. The air was clammy and cold; tiny, tiny droplets of water still swirling around, and they clung to his hair and clothes.

He shifted the portfolio on his shoulder, sliding his thumb over the plastic covering his art.

He noticed, before it was too late, that his shoes had come untied, and as he was straightening up after re-doing them, he saw the flick of a weak light out of the corner of his eye. It was the sign above a small bar, and Gerard suddenly felt itchy for something to drink.

He crossed the street with his hands in his pockets, studying the colorful, blinking logo.

Inside, it was warm and damp. A low murmur of voices filled the small space, and Gerard made his way over to the bar, walking in zig-zag between tables.

The Bartender was scrubbing glasses intently with a washcloth, and Gerard had to clear his throat to catch his attention.

When The Bartender turned around, Gerard's fingers froze against the wood of the counter.

It felt like Time had stopped, something was rushing in Gerard's ears and as they stood, both men completely still on each side of the counter, Gerard had to struggle to draw his breath.

He was standing so still, not moving a muscle and his heart was pounding in his chest, in his wrists and on the side of his neck. He leaned more of his weight on the counter, afraid he might lose consciousness if he didn't.

Frank's fingers were shaking as he lifted them, one hand slipping into his chest pocket. He didn't look away from Gerard's eyes as he pulled out a small piece of paper, laying it gently down on the counter. He folded it out, four times, smoothing his hand over it.

Gerard watched the faded lines of the bluebird's puffy chest and proud bow of it's tiny beak. The small details in the feathers stretched along it's wide-spread wings were smudged, but Gerard could still recognize every stroke of pencil he had once made.

Frank's hand was still resting on the paper and Gerard placed his hand next to it. He pushed his fingers under along Frank's palm, feeling the old damages in the skin. His own smile was ringing in every part of his body, from the corners of his mouth down to his toes.

In the distance somewhere, he heard bluebirds sing.

Elephant Love Medley

mcrnut — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:07:30 GMT

Title: Elephant Love Medley
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third, Frank centered
Disclaimer: Not true, never happened
Summary: Love is a many splendored thing.
A/N: This is really silly, you guys ♥

Frank grins and climbs up the last step. "Oh, but love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong - " He grabs Gerard's hand between his and pulls him closer "all you need is love." He whispers.

Gerard rolls his eyes, and moves to turn away, running a hand through his hair. "Please, don't start that again."

"All you need is love, all you need is love!" Frank sings, dancing his way around Gerard to face him. "I was made for lovin' you baby, you were made for lovin' me!"

The night air whips Gerard's hair around his face and he hides a smile, leaning against the cold, golden wall behind him. "The only way of lovin' me baby is to pay a lovely fee."

Pushing Gerard up against the wall, making him huff in surprise, Frank touches their noses together, smiling. "Just one night, just one night?"

Gerard lets his lips linger over Frank's for a second before he slides away. "There's no way, 'cause you can't pay."

"In the name of love, one night in the name of love!"

And Frank chases him between columns clad in heavy fabrics, hears him laugh, feels him laugh as they both round a corner and almost runs into each other. Gerard is still laughing when he leans over and places a hand on Frank's chest. "You crazy fool, I won't give in to you."

"Don't.." Frank says, lightly touching Gerard's cheek, letting his fingers slide down along his neck and to his shoulder. "..leave me this way. I can't survive without your sweet love," He lets his thumb graze over Gerard's lower lip slightly. "Oh baby, don't leave me this way."

Shuddering, Gerard swallows and carefully moves away. Frank looks at his skin, it's so beautiful, so, so white, and it emits a pearly glow, making his eyes shine against the moon. Clear and green, clear and green.

"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs." Gerard sighs, looking out over the the sleeping city, and Frank wonders if he looks sad or just confused.

"I look around me and I see it isn't so, no."

Gerard smiles lopsidedly. "Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs."

"Well what's wrong with that? I'd like to know," Frank moves close, so, so close and Gerard shuts his eyes for a minute. Frank can feel their breath mingling, feel it hot against his skin, before Gerard jerks away and walks over to the elephant's head, exhaling, and rubbing a hand over his face.

"- 'Cause here I go again!" Frank sings out, running over to the edge of the elephant's forehead, lifting his arms up against the deep, blue sky. He ignores Gerard's surprised yell. "Love lifts us up where we belong." He smiles against the wind when he feels Gerard's arms close securely around his middle, keeping him from falling. "Where eagles fly, on a mountain high!"

"Get down!" Gerard says against his neck, but Frank can hear a smile in his voice as he drags him back to safety. "Love makes us act like we are fools." He argues, his arms still loosely circled around Frank's waist. "Throw our lives away for one, happy day."

"We could be heroes!" Frank says, pushing his nose into Gerard's raven hair and running his palms down his back, along his spine. "Just for one day."

Gerard is hesitant when he hugs back, and they breathe together. "Frank.."

"We should be lovers." He whispers, his lips moving over Gerard's jaw.

"We can't do that."

"We should be lovers, and that's a fact."

Gerard's hands are shaky against the nape of Frank's neck and he says, "Nothing will keep us together.." And it sounds effortless and weak. Frank licks under his ear.

"We could steal time, just for one day."

And Gerard's fingers tangle in his hair and they kiss, they kiss and there are fireworks and waves and thunderstorms and Frank holds Gerard's face in his hands, closes his eyes, savors the moment. They kiss and he can feel Gerard's heart giving in, feel the tingle under his skin, and he's in love. He's in love.

For ever and ever.

When you almost gave up everything

mcrnut — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:48:37 GMT

Title: when you almost gave up everything
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centered
Disclaimer: Not real, never happened
Summary:

"I really like you." Frank said, rolling over and
touching the side of Gerard's face carefully.

A/N: Drabble for you guys. Also, the next part for
"20 stories" will be up very soon.

Before Gerard had any idea of it, he knew what the drawer under the stove was for.

Gradually, without noticing it, he didn't play his records anymore. Not even when he was alone. And the parties he held were of the kind that didn't leave marks on his coffee table. Only empty wine glasses and dark cigarette butts squashed against his marble ashtray.

Suddenly, plates and cutlery were twelve and twelve, and all his friends were two and two.

He knew names of soccer players, imported beer and expensive cars because he was good at listening.

To everybody but himself.

And he knew that time was passing because he had a set of curtains for every season.

But he couldn't remember the last time he walked barefoot in the grass, feeling the light tickle of summer between his toes. He forgot to dream when he was not asleep.

He felt like he was dancing to the rhythm of everybody else's heart.

-

"I really like you." Frank said, rolling over and touching the side of Gerard's face carefully.

Gerard didn't know what to answer to that, had no idea, his brain was set on pause, so he sighed, turning away from Frank's touch so his cheek was left cold. "Frank, I can't. You know, my job and all. This is just..We're just.."

"No it's okay, I get it." Frank's eyes hardened, and appeared sore and hurt at the same time. He sat up between the soft sheets, leaning against the headboard. "I think you should go."

-

It was night when Gerard sat with his knees to his chest, studying the cigarette between his fingers. The orange glow of the ash seemed unreal in the dark apartment, and he exhaled the thick, silver smoke through his nostrils. Out the window he could see the thousands of yellow lights dotted onto the shadows of black buildings, standing tall and dark in the night, strange and scary. The police sirens and rumble of cars worked as a surreal, but familiar soundtrack in the night, and his chest tightened suddenly.

He had dinner with his mom the next day, and she would ask about the girlfriend she hadn't gotten the pleasure of meeting. Gerard couldn't remember what name he made up. Mary? Anna? Something like that. She'd start talking about uncles and aunts he'd never met, about wanting grandchildren, and he'd wave it away, hug her close when it was time to get her home, and then press his head against the wheel when she was out of sight.

He was thirty-two years old and a coward, more afraid of not following every unwritten rule or fitting into his pre-ordained place in society than he was of losing himself along the way.

He couldn't take it.

Stomping out the cigarette, he slid down from the window frame. He stood looking out for a little while, feeling numb and slightly dazed, before he made up his mind, got his jacked and left the apartment.

It was cold and raining as he ran, doing his best to push the wet hair out of his face to at least see where he was going. A car flew by, just a flash of front lights and an icy splash of water against his ankles, making him curse under his breath. He couldn't really talk because of the burn in his lungs. He needed to quit smoking.

He knew where he was going, he really did, he could feel it lurking behind his ribs and swirl at the back of his mind, and he started counting the buildings as he ran, cutting through the rain.

25,

27,

29,

31,

Frank..

And he stopped.

He couldn't tear is eyes away from the figure he could see inside the apartment, through the small window, bent over his shitty guitar, hair falling in front of his face. Frank was so beautiful, he was so beautiful and so kind. He tucked Gerard's hair behind his ear when they watched movies together, he sent the warmest smiles his way when they were cooking by the tiny counter, making a complete mess, and he kissed the side of his face, his neck, everywhere he could reach, when it was late and they were tangled up in sweaty sheets, eager, panting, moving.

Gerard felt regret seep down along his back and curl painfully inside his stomach.

It took him so long to knock the door, he thought he might just end up standing there until morning creeped on. His feet were cold.

"Frank," He said the second their eyes met, before the door was even fully open, and his fingers were shaking. He reached out an arm, moving a little on the wet concrete. "I'm sorry."

Frank's expression was unreadable for a second or two, he looked confused in a way, but his eyes were blank. "Gerard.." He said, blinking. He grabbed Gerard's hand, then, and pulled their bodies together, Gerard's cold, wet chest crashing with Frank's steady, warm one. "Thank god." Frank said, placing his hand on the back of Gerard's head, holding him close. "Thank god."

all this time

mcrnut — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:30:49 GMT

Title: All This Time
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third, Gerard centered
Disclaimer: Not true, never happened
Summary:

"Dear friend,

I'm writing this to you now because I'm afraid there will come
a day where you will make my boyfriend leave me"

A/N: So, I posted this on an old account, but I re-wrote it
and thought I'd post it again. Tell me what you think!

Gerard sat down at his kitchen table, soft pajama pants on, and a warm cup of coffee in one hand. He was home alone, and he silence was loud in his ears as he sipped his coffee and picked up a pen. He started writing on a piece of paper lying empty and open in front of him.

"Dear friend,

I'm writing this to you now because I'm afraid there will come
a day where you will make my boyfriend leave me"

He sighed and let his eyes wander around the small kitchen, their kitchen, and memories of them fighting over what colors would fit the walls came to his mind. He remembered defending pink because it was modern, okay, and he didn't care if it was too gay, he was gay, damn it.

"..And I don't wanna lose him."

He put the pen between his lips.

"I don't know why, but you can be so mean. And ignorant.
..Almost cruel sometimes."

The warmth from the morning sun was lingering on his skin, and he blinked against it.

"I know you can't see it now, but he's so good for me"

The pen ran over the rough paper freely as he wrote, filling the air with small, scratching noises. They were so familiar, calming in a way, and they reminded him of being a kid, of the cold window against his back and the small sketchbook in his hands. The cheap crayons his scary aunt got him every christmas, clamped between his careful fingers. He saved the world in that sketchbook.

"He's holding my hand when I need it the most.

He kisses me every night when he thinks I'm asleep.

He makes me a greater person than I ever was before I met him"

He smiled at the picture of a grimacing Frank placed on the window sill, felt how it warmed his heart.

"The people I've dated before have been too easy to replace,
but if Frank leaves me, I know I'll always miss him."

He grabbed the framed photograph and put it down on the hazel surface of their kitchen table.

"So please:

Step carefully

Think before you talk

Don't do anything you'll regret."

His hand was resting on the cool glass of the picture as he wrote down the last words.

"I beg you to remember what you now have forgotten.

I love him"

He folded the letter nicely and slipped it into an envelope he had dug out from
an old box of paperwork that same morning. On the envelope he made sure to write
with big, readable letters.

"To myself.
On a bad day."

Taste.

mcrnut — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:30:33 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 09/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Rating: Like, super light R?
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: Sometimes people fight .
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Taste.

Gerard closes his eyes hard when their bodies crash together and drags in the safe, familiar scent of Frank. He touches the soft hair at the back of his neck and sighs with his whole body.

"I'm sorry. Don't go." He says, and he feels Frank's smile against the side of his face.

It's later when Gerard digs his nails deep into Frank's thighs and breathes damp air over the slick skin of his hip. He smiles and rests his mouth on his salty hip bone, humming when Frank makes a low, appreciative noise.

"I'm sorry about the records." He says.

Frank's breathing halts when Gerard skims a hand carefully over his stomach. "I'm sorry about the sketch book." He replies airily.

"I know -- Yeah," and then Gerard can't speak because Frank pulls him up and fits their mouths together softly, tracing patterns against the side of his neck and down along his spine, then flattens his palm against the small of his back, pressing him closer. Gerard bites down on Frank's warm shoulder, then runs his tongue over the teeth marks. He feels like he's a little too heavy to be lying on top of him, but Frank's breathing is even and his arms are strong and secure around his body.

"I'll unpack my things." He says with a smile, and Gerard kisses it carefully.

"They're not in the suitcases anymore." He looks over at their open bedroom window, a blush tinting his cheeks. The curtains wave at them peacefully. "They're on the sidewalk."

When he looks up at Frank again, he can't help laugh at the look of complete shock written across his face.

"You threw my shit out the window?" He asks disbelievingly.

"Yeah." Gerard says, stroking one finger delicately down the bridge of Frank's nose. "Sorry about that, too."

"I feel like I'm in a really desperate romantic comedy." Frank whines, "And we should probably go get my clothes." He sounds slightly dazed because Gerard is kissing his way down Frank's body, thumbs pressed to the insides of his thighs.

"Make up sex first." He says between mouthfuls of skin.

"It's all gonna get stolen." Frank complains, but he's got his fingers in Gerard's hair already. "And you're gonna have to get me new ones."

"Tight pants." Gerard says, nuzzling the softness of Frank's belly. "Really tight ones. I'll get you that."

Frank grins, running his hands though Gerard's hair, then tugs slightly. "Okay."

***

A/N2: I'm sorry, this one really sucks and I haven't posted in forever, but
the next one will be up soon!

Touch.

mcrnut — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:40:41 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 08/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: Naked boys and a dark room.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Touch.

It's dark in the room. The only illumination is coming from the dim light spilled out by the bedroom lamp in the corner. It's just enough that the lines of Frank are slightly blurry, he almost blends in with the painted walls behind him, but if Gerard blinks, Frank is right there, knees digging into the mattress on each side of his body and his his fingers ghosting over his skin.

He looks down on his own stomach, it stands out a bit more in the dark because he's so pale, but his eyes are following Frank's movements. Frank's got one hand pressed down on his hip, palm warm on his clammy skin, and the other one slowly sliding all over his abdomen, just barely touching, fingers flexed. It sends sparkles up Gerard's spine and he's panting, forcing himself to keep his eyes open so he can watch.

Frank looks concentrated, he glances up a couple of times, smiles carefully when their eyes meet.

"Frank.." Gerard says thickly, because Frank is straddling him, pressing against Gerard's crotch and his touches are so small and slow it's driving him crazy.

"Yeah." Frank whispers and leans down to press a kiss to the center of his chest. He drags his lower lip up to his neck, then bites down.

Gerard gasps and grabs Frank's hair tight between his shaking fingers, bends one knee, and Frank just slides into place between his legs. He fits like he's meant to be there.

"Oh," Gerard says and Frank kisses the side of his face, and he's everywhere, until Gerard can't see anymore, can't think anymore. "Oh," he says again and lets go of Frank's hair so he can dig his fingers into his shoulders, because Frank's started to roll his hips heavily down against him and Gerard can't be held responsible for his actions anymore.

His favorite thing about having sex with Frank is how he always reaches for him before he comes. He usually grits his teeth, searching desperately for Gerard's hand so he can lace their fingers. Sometimes he just kisses him, other times he threads his fingers though his hair, rests his lips against his skin as he breathes noisily. It's like Frank always needs to touch him, and it makes Gerard feel wanted.

This time, Frank slides his arms around him when his back arches off the mattress and holds him close as they shake. Gerard first, then Frank, and Gerard groans as he feels the burn of Frank's nails scraping down his back, along his spine.

But Frank is still eager even though their skin is sticky with come, he's still eager, and he runs his thumbs under Gerard's eyes and kisses him over and over, touches his neck and lets his fingers travel down over ribs as if he was counting them.

Suddenly, the lamp in the corner makes a buzzing noise and dies, and the complete dark scoops them up and closes around them, packing them in.

Frank giggles quietly, touching the soft spot under Gerard's ear with feather like strokes, before their mouths meet again, as easy as a handshake, as familiar as breathing, and almost as important, too.

Sound.

mcrnut — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:57:23 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 07/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: Tired boys and David Letterman.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Sound.

Frank touches the side of Gerard's face and he jumps a little because apparently he was almost asleep. He can feel the rough textile of the couch against his cheek, and he's suddenly shuddering from the cold, his body disapproving of this waking up shit.

"I'm sorry." Frank says, and Gerard's eyes slip closed again.

Gerard hears Frank scratch his nails over denim, hears him muffle a cough into his arm. He's so tired he could just die, but no matter how long he stays completely still on the couch, he can't fall asleep again. He tries to relax every muscle in his body, tries to let go of reality, but it's just not happening.

There's a low murmur from the tv and he can feel the blueish light flick across his face every now and then. A pipe cries from somewhere inside the wall. It so peaceful Gerard can't make himself open his eyes, so he just wraps his arms around his body tighter, stretches his legs out over Frank's lap, and then Frank's hand is there, resting on his ankle.

"Mmm." Gerard sighs and blinks his eyes open for a second, catching David Letterman on the screen, and Frank squeezes his ankle carefully.

.

Smell.

mcrnut — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:07:06 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 06/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: Burnt food and floor wrestling.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Smell.

The eggs snarl in the frying pan, sending off a smell of burnt food, and Frank's arm hangs limp by his body, oil from the spatula dripping on the floor. "What?"

It makes Gerard nervous, seeing Frank's so obviously caught by surprise, his eyebrows raised comically high.

"I just thought I'd let you know."

It's quiet for a long time, or maybe not, but it feels like it for Gerard, and he's suddenly sure that he made a big mistake. He kicks at the ground, and doesn't look up from Frank's green socks that he bought for him because they had tiny frogs on them. He hears the click when Frank turns off the heat on the stove.

It happens really fast, suddenly there are arms around his waist, and he slips on the floor and falls. He manages to yell "no, no, no" and grip at Frank's shoulders before his back hits the blank wooden floor and all the air is drawn from his lungs. He tries to say what the fuck, but Frank's mouth is in the way, and he's not really sure if he can speak just yet because Frank is actually quite heavy.

So he just gives up, melts against him, kisses him back.

Frank's mouth is red and his eyes are shining hazel in the light when he pulls back. "Gerard." he says and places a warm hand on the side of his face. "I love you, too."

"Idiot." Gerard wheezes, but he smiles giddily. "I can't breathe!"

"I love you, I love you," And Frank kisses all over his face, then puts his tongue in his mouth again.

It's uncomfortable and cold, and Gerard is pretty sure his hair is white with dust, he doesn't clean very much. He can't make himself care even just a little bit.

Red.

mcrnut — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:28:14 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 05/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: There's a stain on the wall from that time he dyed his hair red, and it seems so long ago.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Red.

There's a stain on the wall from that time he dyed his hair red, and it seems so long ago.

He smiles, head ducked as the warm water hits his body, his hair sticking to his skin, Frank's nose soft against his neck.

It's damp, and the sound of water hitting the tiles is calming, familiar, and so is Frank's touch, mouth, breath. It feels like they're in another world. Locked in by something beautiful and real, and nothing else exists.

Nothing but them.

Frank's hands are on his shoulders, and his lips against his own, barely touching, just breathing against each other under the spray, and Gerard can see the drops running down Frank's face, getting caught in his eyelashes, sees him blink them away.

He smiles. There's nothing else to do, and he couldn't not even if he wanted to, because the tingling in his chest, in his whole body, is almost unbearable.

The tips of Frank's fingers are running down his slippery back with the stream of water, and he feels them sink into the skin by his spine as Frank drags him close. He slips a little, and they smile wider.

It makes him want to capture the moment in every way possible, and it makes him sad because he knows it will fade with time. Like everything else.

"Do you think.." He starts, closing his eyes, licking away a drop on his upper lip. "Do you think we'll forget this? How things are now?" And his voice hits the tiles, bunching back.

Frank's expression is unreadable for a couple of seconds, before he carefully cups Gerard's face, softly pushing his lips to the bridge of his nose. "Yes." He says, then tilts his head a little. "Maybe."

Gerard nods, leaning into Frank's right palm, closing a hand over it.

"Even more the reason to make it memorable." He adds, swiping his thumb across Gerard's cheekbone.

Sunset.

mcrnut — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:30:14 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 04/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: The sun is melting, splashed purple over the waterline.
Warning: This is getting sickingly fluffy, I promise I'll stop soon.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Sunset.

The sun is melting, splashed purple over the waterline. Deep, red fire is exploding dramatically across the sky, and it's so surreal to watch, Gerard feels like he's looking at an overly photo shopped postcard or one of those mellow commercials on National Geographic showing peaceful animals and beautiful sunsets in countries he's never even heard of.

He feels like he can fall asleep right there, sand sticking to his clammy skin, Frank's dozy body sinking against his.

"Maybe we should get inside." Frank murmurs unenthusiastically. "It's getting late."

Gerard looks sideways down at him, twitching as an instant itch suddenly screams for his attention. "Yeah." He kind of desperately scratches his upper arm, but in a slow, effortless way. "It'll get cold soon, too."

But none of them even tries to move. Gerard doesn't have the energy to get up from the warm sand, and he leans against Frank, eyes focused on the orange sun as the water swallows it, darkening the colors of the world around them.

It's then, right then, in that moment, as his eyes slide down to look at the almost-sleeping, almost-drooling Frank in the sand, that he realizes one thing. It makes his heart skip a couple of beats, and all he can do is watch Frank's chest rise and fall heavily, steadily, watch the corner of his mouth twitch like it always does when he's seconds from falling asleep.

He realizes that he loves him.

Sensitivity.

mcrnut — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:41:24 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 03/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: Two boys in love. And a closet.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Sensitivity.

When Frank drags his teeth down his chest and over a nipple, his back arches off the cold wall and he gasps audibly, hands coming up to tangle in Frank's hair, slide down his neck.

"I love that," Frank breathes against him, mouth still moving over the nipple, licking carefully, making Gerard dizzy. "I love hearing you." he says, biting down softly.

"Oh god," Gerard cries out, head falling back, hips bucking, and his eyes roll up at the feel of Frank's hard cock through the two layers of denim, thrusting against him.

Frank smiles lazily and moves up to his neck, biting down on the skin there, holding it between his teeth. Gerard doesn't know up from down or left from right at this point and can only focus on breathing, moving.

It's dark and damp in the closet, hard to breathe almost, and Gerard doesn't know if it's because he's having public sex for the first time in his life, and finds it ridiculously exciting, or if it is the fact that they're using up all the air in the small closet.

He closes his eyes and hikes a leg up and around Frank's waist, sinking his teeth down into his bottom lip to try stifle the noises that keep escaping him. His fingers knead at Frank's shoulders, nails scraping over his skin and it's makes Frank moan into his neck, tongue coming out to lick at the whitening teeth marks he made there.

"I'm gonna come," Gerard says, and he places his hands on each side of Frank's face, guiding him up to his lips so they can kiss. They're thrusting against each other rhythmically, Frank's body pressing Gerard up against the back of the closet, and he whines because he's so close, yet it's just not enough.

"Come on," Frank whispers when they break away for air, "come for me, baby."

"Frank," and Gerard has lost all control he has of his body, it just moves on it's own accord.

"Now,"

"Oh god,"

"Now, Gerard,"

And then his back curls again and his leg tightens around Frank's waist as he comes, head trashing back and forth, nails digging deep into the other man's skin. He feels Frank exhale roughly into his neck as he joins him, groaning his name.

"Oh my god," Gerard giggles tiredly after a couple of minutes, running a hand through Frank's sweaty hair. "we can't get out of here like this."

"I'm in so much trouble." Frank says, but he doesn't sound too worried, and Gerard can feel the low murmur of his voice against his cheek.

"You know, I used to come here every Monday, just because you work here."

Frank chuckles and strokes his slick, exposed hip with his thumb. "Gotta find a new coffee bar now." he brushes his lips over Gerard's. "I'm so fired."

"Yeah. As long as you work there, I'll be fine."

"Good. Can't leave you with some younger, hotter coffee bar employee, you'll forget me."

"No," Gerard assures, wrapping his arms around the other man in a sweet hug. "There's only one coffee bar employee for me."

Lovers.

mcrnut — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:05:07 GMT

Title: 20 stories. 02/20
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Author: mcrnut
P.O.V: Third
Disclaimer: Don't own, didn't happen.
Summary: He needs some fucking curtains.
A/N: So, I'll be writing 20 of these little ficlets about the life of
Gerard and Frank. Each fic is inspired by these words that I found on a prompt
table online. :)

1. Beginnings 2. Lovers 3. Sensitivity 4. Sunset 5. Red 6. Smell 7. Sound
8.Touch 9. Taste 10. Water 11. Winter 12. Smoke 13. Summer 14. Sexual 15. Rain
16. Death 17. Broken 18. Birthday 19. Dark 20. Silver

Lovers.

The sun is burning uncomfortably over his closed eyelids, snatching his unconsciousness away, dragging him up to reality. He needs some fucking curtains.

It's a funny sensation when you're not really awake and every puzzle piece from the night before is slowly falling in it's place to give you the whole picture. He wiggles irritably and blinks a couple of times, frowning at the warm rays of early morning sun hitting his skin. His whole world is blurry at the corners and he finds himself heavily rolling over to be met by..

Well, nothing.

He was hoping to be met by a warm, sleeping body, inked, golden skin glowing against the white of his covers. But there is only cold, rumpled sheets and the familiar scent of sleep and Frank there, much to Gerard's dismay.

"Good morning,"

He hears the voice from the door and turns to see the item of his thoughts walk in, pajama bottoms hanging loosely over his hips.

"Mmm," he says lazily, stretching out an arm toward him. "get in here with me you freak, how can you even be out of bed at this inhumane hour?" And his voice is groggy and stupid and Frank smiles and obeys immediately, sinking down beside him.

"It's 10 am." He says, calloused fingers stroking Gerard's naked side lightly.

"Inhumane." Gerard repeats, closing his eyes at the feel of Frank's hand moving over his skin. "It's Sunday."

"And what a beautiful Sunday it is." Frank says against his ear, palm sliding down his back and over his bare ass, pressing him closer to himself. He puts his lips against Gerard's neck, making him utter a soft noise of approval, rocking his hips against him a couple of times.

"Frank," Gerard says contently, scraping his teeth over his shoulder. "Let's stay in bed all day."

Frank huffs softly, wetly licking up behind Gerard's ear. "Okay," he says, pushing his nose into his hair, "okay."