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Chapter Text

Frank knew Mikey had an older brother. His name was Gerard, and apparently he was out of art college and working for a comic book company. Frank never expected to meet him, and he guessed he was alright with that. He didn’t have many friends and didn’t especially like meeting new people. He was always curious to meet Gerard though because Mikey talked about him constantly.

One weekend, when Frank was staying the night with Mikey, he caught Mikey scrutinizing him over his glasses. They had put on some classic horror movies and kicked back with various snacks and chatted away with the movies in the background. When Mikey caught Frank staring back, he narrowed his eyes and stared hard for several seconds, then abruptly said, “I think it’s time you met Gee.”

“What?” Frank blurted. That was a non sequitur if he’d ever heard one. One moment, they were talking about how modern music was ‘overly simple and mind numbing’, in Frank’s opinion, and now Mikey was getting off the couch and beckoning Frank to a door under the stairs. It was one Frank was always curious about, but he was always brushed off when he asked about it, being dismissed as a broom closet or something of the like. The door was heavier than most and had a foot long cane bolt lock attached to it. It was never locked when Frank noticed, but why would someone need to lock the door from the outside anyway?

Mikey stopped in front of the door and did some sort of special knock, waited three seconds, and opened the door. When Frank peeked around him to see the room, he only saw a set of stairs that descended into pitch blackness. Mikey knocked again on the right side of the stairwell next to a light switch, waited three seconds once more, then flipped the switch on. The stairwell lit up with a dim yellowish light, just enough to see to the end of the stairs. Mikey took a couple steps down the stairwell, then motioned for Frank to follow. When they reached the bottom, Mikey stopped and Frank halted abruptly, waving his arms a bit and trying not to knock into the other. The room opened up to the right of the bottom of the stairs, and was equally as heavy with lack of light as the flight of stairs had been.

Mikey cleared his throat delicately and said in a small voice, “Hey Gee. Can we turn on a light? You got your glasses with you?”

There was a small grunt in reply, which Frank looked to Mikey to interpret. Mikey moved to the wall and flipped on a switch, revealing a rather large and messy room. A bed pushed into one corner, a mini fridge and microwave with an abundance of mugs on and around them, and various clothes, comic books, and art supplies strewn about the floor. There was a large drafting table with countless sheaves of paper stacked on it, and more books scattered around the desk.

While Frank was busy gawking at the room, he failed to notice a pale arm dart out of the nest of blankets on the bed and grab a pair of dark glasses before retreating back into the pile. Mikey noticed however, and said, “Come on out Gee, there’s someone I want you to meet. He’s cool, but he doesn’t exactly… get it yet, so go easy on him.”

 Frank stiffened at Mikey’s odd comment and shot him a questioning look. What did he have yet to understand? He was just meeting another member of the Way family. He knew they were a little eclectic, but it was charming.

Suddenly, a black mass appeared in front of him without so much as a sound. Frank squeaked and stumbled back into Mikey, who scoffed and pushed Frank away from him.

“Gee, honestly? Could you bother to make some noise every once in a while?” Mikey huffed. The pale figure crossed his arms and mumbled back, “Well yeah, but it wouldn’t be any fun…”

Mikey crossed his arms right back and said, “It’s not about fun, it’s about not scaring people shitless.”

Gerard giggled and relaxed his posture, seemingly giving in to the argument. He pivoted towards Frank and said with a small upward twitch of the lips, “So you gonna tell me who this is, Mikes?”

“Oh, right,” Mikey said. “Frank, Gerard. Gerard, Frank.” Gerard grinned at the newly acquainted boy and said, “Pleased to meet you, Frank.”

“Uh, hi…” Frank said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He raised his head enough to look through his eyelashes at Gerard. He had a disheveled halo of shoulder length black hair, a pallid complexion, a small batlike nose, and little teeth, but… were those fangs too?!

“Holy shit!” Frank yelped. Mikey and Gerard snickered at each other, as if sharing a private joke.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Frank stuttered. He looked to Mikey and asked, “Is this some kind of weird ass joke? Because I’m not too amused if it is. Are you guys for real?”

Gerard nodded earnestly, and Mikey said, “Yeah dude. That’s why not too many people get the privilege of meeting Gee. Well that and he’s not allowed outside anymore.”

“So you keep him down here to rot in the dark? And what the hell do mean he’s not allowed to go outside? He’s a fucking adult, why does he need monitoring?” Frank asked incredulously.

Gerard peeped, “Well, I like it down here. Not a lot of noise, no light, the fridge… I’ve got a pretty good deal here.” He wrung his hands a bit, shifting from side to side. Frank squinted at him and asked, “So what is the deal here exactly?”

The brothers exchanged a quick glance, and Mikey cut in for Gerard, saying, “Listen. We’ll give it to you straight. You’ve been my best friend for a long time, Frank, and I already talked to Gee and he’s okay with me telling you.”

Mikey heaved a large sigh and said, “Listen, you gotta believe us when we say we’re not jerking your leg here. Gerard… Well, he’s a vampire.”

Frank scoffed and said, “Yeah, and I’m a leprechaun. What’s the real deal?”

“You dumbass!” Mikey said, smacking Frank’s arm. “This is the real deal! Why would we set you up for some dumb prank? That’s Pete’s shit, not mine.”

Frank covered his face with his hands and moaned, “Oh my God, you can’t be serious. Vampires aren’t real!”

Gerard shuffled some more, and volunteered, “I could, uh, show you? If you want?”

Frank’s head shot up from his hands and stared at Gerard with wide eyes. “How’re you gonna do that?” he asked warily.

“Just look,” Gerard said, pointing to his mouth and opening up. Frank peeked into his mouth, gawping at the four sharp incisors on Gerard’s upper and lower jaw. The bottom ones were sharp and pointy, but not nearly as threatening looking as the top teeth. They were almost an inch long, curved lightly to fit in Gerard’s mouth. They looked absolutely deadly, and frighteningly real.

Frank paled, and weakly said, “Well, I mean, I guess that’s uh, one way to prove it.” He was all the sudden a little more aware of all the blood rushing through his body, and his heart accelerating in shock and possibly fear. He looked at Mikey, and swallowed a little thickly.

Mikey saw his slight discomfort, and tried to alleviate Frank’s fear by saying, “Gee wouldn’t hurt a fly, you know. He still cries and shit when the dog dies in a movie.”

Gerard gasped and said, “I’m not heartless! I’m just not human anymore, that doesn’t make me immune to emotion!”

Mikey laughed, “Of course it doesn’t, Gee. I didn’t say anything of the sort.”

Frank was still a little off kilter. He kept looking between Gerard and Mikey, wishing that maybe this was a joke after all. But on the other hand, a real life vampire? That’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to him! Hell, it was probably the coolest thing to happen to anyone, meeting a vampire. Frank floated back into the conversation and abruptly asked, “So what’s with the glasses then? Sensitive eyes?”

Gerard stopped talking suddenly, and adopted a slightly defensive stance. He looked a little embarrassed at the same time, for some reason. “Yeah, about that…” he said.

“What? Was that offensive or something? Oh Jesus, I’m sorry, just ignore what I said,” Frank stammered. Five minutes into meeting the most awesome dude ever and he was already fucking up.

“No! You’re fine,” reassured Gerard. “It’s just a little humiliating, that’s all.”

“He looked at the sun too long and literally went blind,” Mikey butted in. “The extra sensitivity to light just fucking fried them.”

“Mikes! What the fuck! My cool mysterious persona is fucking gone, man!” Gerard sighed, exasperated.

Frank giggled and said, “That totally sucks dude, but it doesn’t take away from your tall, dark, and mysterious vibe, I promise.”

Gerard elbowed Mikey. “I like this guy, why didn’t you bring him down here sooner? He’s a real ego booster,” he said while smirking at Frank.

Frank blushed, and unfortunately for him, Mikey caught it. Mikey pointed to Frank’s quickly reddening face and said, “That’s why! Right there! I knew he was gonna get fucking enamored or whatever! How can you do that without your goddamned eyesight?!”

Gerard put his hands in front of him in a placating manner and said, “It’s not me dude, I swear! I can’t do that shit anymore!”

Mikey rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Thank God for that…” while Gerard cackled.

“It’s not my fault I couldn’t control it when I was newer! I don’t regret any shenanigans that ensued, but I didn’t make anyone do anything terrible!” he said, tilting his head upwards with a small smile as if reminiscing.

“So you could mind control people and shit?” Frank asked with awe in his voice.

“Sure could, Frankie,” Gerard drawled. “One time I got Mikey to chug a gallon of lemonade outside in his underwear, and I told him couldn’t come inside until he drank it all. And if someone asked him what he was doing, he had to tell them he was the ‘lemonade man’. During Halloween,” he added.

“Shit dude!” Frank snorted. He could see himself becoming fast friends with Gerard.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Mikey muttered darkly. “I got him back for it though,” he said.

After the chatter died down, Frank asked timidly, “So, can I like, see your eyes? Are they really fucked up or something? Are they burned out of your sockets?!”

Gerard scrunched up his nose and sniffed, “They aren’t burned out of my sockets, Jesus. Take a look.”

He took off his sunglasses and leaned down a bit. Frank gasped in wonderment, lifting his hand a little towards Gerard’s face. Underneath the glasses were the most entrancing eyes he’d ever seen. They were a pearlescent white, milky and spellbinding. They looked like a pale galaxy colliding in crystal balls, and Frank was in love with them. All too soon, Gerard leaned away and replaced his glasses on his face.

Frank shook his head, clearing the fog that crept into his mind. And Gerard said he didn’t even have powers of suggestion anymore! Frank could only imagine how strong the pull of his eyes were before he went blind.

“So? Not gross?” Gerard asked, snapping Frank completely out of his daze.

Frank shook his head again rapidly. “Oh no, of course not! I didn’t really think they were going to be bad in the first place,” he said adamantly.

“Well thanks sugar,” Gerard tittered. He was really getting to like this little snack Mikey brought downstairs. He was quite entertaining. At the small term of endearment, Frank’s face promptly caught fire. Or, that’s what he felt happen. In reality his face just exploded into red like a firework. Gerard noticed the smaller man’s propensity to blushing, and made internal note to make it happen as much as possible.

“Anyway,” Mikey said, “If you tell anyone about Gee I will kill you, burn you, and dance on your ashes.”

Frank looked at Mikey for a second, then said, “You’ve probably been told this before, but wow, you are intense, Mikeyway.”

“We look out for our own,” Mikey said with a shrug.

“’Our own’?! Are you a vampire too?!” Frank shrieked.

“No you stupid shit! Family!” Mikey slapped the back of Frank’s head lightly.

“Jeez Mikes, you’re awful handsy today,” Gerard chuckled.

“Just trying to knock some sense into this boy,” Mikey said nonchalantly.

“Well, I think he’s mine now, so hands off,” Gerard said as he clutched Frank’s shoulder and drug him under his arm, making the smaller man erupt into a blush again.

A little sick of the manhandling, but definitely not sick of Gerard’s arm around him, Frank said, “I wanna go back to watching those movies… You wanna come up, Gee?”

“Only if you keep calling me Gee,” Gerard giggled.

With that, the three guys trooped upstairs to finish the horror movies Mikey and Frank started.

Chapter Text

A few weeks had passed since Frank’s discovery of Gerard, and subsequently he has gone straight to the basement whenever he went to the Ways’ without so much as a ‘how do you do’ to anyone else in the small home. He was spending all his spare time with Gerard, and Mikey some of the time, and he was happier than he had been in months. Gerard had broken the monotony of Frank’s daily life; something he badly needed but never knew.

One afternoon Frank practically skipped down the basement steps, saying a, “Hi Gerard!” when he noticed Gerard lying on his bed with headphones on. He stood still at the bottom of the stairs, not quite sure what to do. He stepped cautiously around the various piles on Gerard’s floor, picking his way to the bed. Gerard had his eyes closed, not that it really mattered, and was tapping an unheard rhythm on his thigh. Frank pondered how to get his attention for a second and decided sitting on the bed was his best bet. He didn’t want to startle Gerard, but still announce his presence. As soon as the bed shifted, Gerard’s eyes shot open and he pounced on Frank. They both landed on the floor with a thud, and Gerard hissed like a cat above Frank, dangerously close to his neck. He had pinned Frank’s forearms to the floor and crouched over his sides. Frank let out a very undignified squeak, and pressed his face into the floor. Gerard snuffled into Frank’s neck for a second and, when he recognized Frank’s scent, scrambled off him. Frank let out a relieved puff of breath and sat up slowly. Gerard started spewing out half profanities, half apologies, when Frank interrupted, “No, Gee, it’s cool. I shouldn’t’ve snuck up on you like that. It was my bad, bro.”

Gerard stood up, gave a weird little chirp, then extended his hand down to where Frank was laying. Frank gladly took his hand and was helped up promptly. Gerard rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, and said, “Sorry… I totally didn’t mean to. I should’ve been keeping an ear out for you.”

Frank shook his head and said, “Nah, it’s alright. I kinda just come and go around here like a stray anyways.”

“Well, what brings you over here today?” Gerard asked as he curled back up on the bed. It was about 5 p.m., not quite time for Gerard to ‘rise and shine’. He had been trying to wake up earlier for Frank’s visits, but was never fully awake until the sun went down, just in a hazy state of awareness.

Frank sat back down on the edge of the bed, saying, “I don’t have to have a reason to visit my vampire bestie.”

Gerard made grabby hands at Frank, to which Frank gladly indulged. He scooted towards the center of the bed, kicking off his shoes as he went. Gerard scooped him up and squished Frank to his side. They collapsed in a fit of giggles, pillows and blankets cushioning their short fall. Once the giggling stopped, Frank looked into Gerard’s pearlescent eyes. He was still just as entranced with them as day one. Shaking himself out of his mini stupor, he noticed Gerard making that odd chirping noise again. He watched as Gerard tilted his head a little, like he was hearing something Frank couldn’t. Then, he sat up on the bed and grabbed his phone with the headphones attached and flopped back down.

Frank ogled a bit at the accuracy in which Gerard snatched up his device, then asked, “How the fuck did you do that?”

Gerard let out yet another chirp, and turned to look Frank right in the eyes. “What, grab the phone?” he asked.

“Yeah, and what’s up with the chirping?” Frank probed.

Gerard let out a little chuckle and said, “Have you heard of echolocation, Frankie?” At that question, Frank’s jaw dropped. Did Gerard really use echolocation? Like a bat?!

“I’m guessing from a lack of an answer, it’s either a no or you’re too freaked out to say anything, am I right?” Gerard sighed.

Frank stuttered for a couple seconds before spitting out, “Echolocation?! That shit’s crazy!”

Gerard grinned and said, “Well, it works for me! It helps me find smaller things like shoes and my phone, like just now. Also if someone’s not moving or making noise, I can ‘see’ them.”

“That’s amazing! How did you learn how to do it?” Frank asked, bewildered.

“I don’t really remember? I have sharper senses than a human, and I knew that bats did it, so I tried it and it worked like a charm!” Gerard recounted.

Frank shook his head and smiled, saying, “Only you, Gee. Only you.”

Gerard huffed and crossed his arms. “Whatever,” he mumbled.

Frank snuggled up to Gerard and nuzzled his face into his friend’s arm. “Aw c’mon Gee, you know I’m just messing.”

Gerard wrapped his arm around Frank’s waist and smiled. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “Can you help me with some work? I got a deadline coming up.”

Frank giggled, “Sure! I love doing work with you.” Ever since Gerard lost his sight, the comic book company he worked for moved him from illustration to storyboarding and organization. He regularly recruited Frank or Mikey to write down his thoughts and ideas for new and ongoing comic book issues.

“Cool,” Gerard said. “Go grab my notebook and a pen off my desk please?”

Frank sighed and levered himself off the bed, dashing for the desk against the wall in the room. He had to look for a hot second to find a pen, and let out a little triumphant noise upon finding one. He trotted back to the bed and launched himself back into the warmth of the blankets and wriggled back into Gerard’s arms.

Upon hearing Frank’s movements around the room, Gerard laughed at the smaller boy’s antics and started speaking. “So, we left off when the main character…”

Chapter Text

One cool summer night, Frank raced down the stairs to the basement of the Way household. Gerard heard the footsteps down the stairs and laughed quietly to himself. Frank was usually excited to see him, but never this excited. He turned his head towards the basement landing just as Frank tumbled down the last steps.
“GEE!” Frank squealed, bouncing over to the bed.
“FRANKIE!” Gerard cackled back. It was absolutely endearing how much energy the younger boy had.
“Get your shoes on, we’re going outside!” Frank screeched, throwing shoes and a windbreaker at Gerard. Gerard let out a little ‘oof’ as one of the shoes hit him in the head lightly. So this is what Frank is so excited about…
“Any special occasion?” Gerard asked, wrestling his shoes on. He hadn’t really been outside much with Frank because school interfered with any midnight plans, and on the weekends Frank was too sleepy to do anything but cuddle and watch movies with the Way boys.
“Yeah! We’re having a picnic!” Frank said with a huge grin plastered on his face. Now that summer was here, he could do so many more things with Gerard without feeling guilty about falling asleep halfway through a movie marathon or nodding off while reading comic books with him. He was going to try his hardest to become nocturnal so he could stay on Gee’s sleep schedule.
Gerard looked up in surprise. A picnic? That didn’t sound like a half bad idea.
“And where are we having this picnic?” Gerard contemplated.
“It’s only gonna be on the lawn, but it’ll still be great, I promise,” Frank giggled. “And if we want more food or blankets or something we just have to go inside and get them instead of tromping back on home to get ‘em.”
Gerard raised his hands in a sarcastically placating manner and said, “It doesn’t matter to me where we go, as long as we’re having fun.”
“Damn right we’re gonna have fun!” Frank said. He then proceeded to turn around and march back up the stairs, with Gerard trailing after him.
Gerard’s mother was in the kitchen, packing up a small basket. “Have fun out there dears,” she said, patting the boys on the head and guiding Gerard’s hands to the basket. “And if you need anything else, don’t hesitate!”
“Thanks, mom!” they both called back at her. They found an especially soft patch of grass on the lawn, and Frank spread a blanket on the ground with a pleased noise. Gerard bent down to put the basket on the blanket and ending up plopping down with it. Frank sat on the blanket, rifling through the basket. He gave a little ‘aha’ as he held up a package of Oreo’s.
“Nice,” Gerard remarked. He stuck his face in the basket and sniffed around until he found a red popsicle in a Ziploc bag. “What would mom have done if I didn’t find this on time and it melted all over?” he mused.
“She’d bust out the hydrogen peroxide and give you what for, I bet,” Frank said through a mouthful of cookies. “What’s so great about that super sniffer if you’re not gonna use it?”
“I guess,” thought Gerard. “I get too much blood on my clothes for her to get mad anymore though, I think.”
Frank laughed. “Yeah, you were never the neatest eater, drinker, whatever,” he snorted. He took a veggie sandwich out of the basket and took a massive bite out of it.
“Says you!” Gerard said, pretending to be outraged. “At least chew with your mouth closed, you nasty!”
“Why, ‘cuz it’ll offend your delicate constitution?” Frank taunted.
“Just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean that I don’t know it’s happening,” Gerard scoffed. “I could hear you pigging out a mile away!”
Frank playfully shoved Gerard’s arm before saying, “Oh shaddup, you!”
“Thanks for doing this by the way, even if it’s just out in the yard,” Gerard said with a small smile. “It’s good to get out once in a while.”
“No problem Gee. Besides, if I wasn’t here who would you hang out with?” Frank responded.
“You got a good point there, I guess. I’m grateful nonetheless though.” Gerard said softly. He looked up at Frank, who was turned to him with the usual attentiveness. Frank looked into Gerard’s eyes through the dim light coming from the house, and his breath caught. Why did Gerard have to be so… Gerard?
“Like I said, no problem,” Frank murmured. He took a chance and reached out for Gerard’s hand, and was happily surprised when Gerard squeezed his hand and grinned at him. They stayed out for a little while longer, just talking and nibbling on treats, holding hands the whole time.

Chapter Text

“Gerard, I’m going to work!” Mrs. Way called down the stairs at 6 am.

After she heard a groggy, “Coming!” from the basement, she wandered to the front door and put her shoes on. When her son came up from his room, she turned around to give him a hug. Her son embraced her, nuzzling at her cheek and neck. Giving her a final peck on the side of her face, he said, “Have a good day at work, ma.”

“You have fun with whatever you get up to,” she laughed as she closed the door behind her. Gerard went back down to the basement to turn in for the day. Since it was a weekend, he didn’t have to repeat the ritual with Mikey.
_

After a couple weeks of observing the vampire’s ‘ritual’, Frank took Mikey aside to ask about it.

“Why whenever anyone comes or goes in the house, Gerard’s all over them? You guys even tell him when you’re leaving or when you’re back from whatever so he’s right there, what’s up with that?” Frank asked.

“Oh, that?” Mikey giggled. “Have you ever seen a cat rubbing up on somebody?”

“Yeah…,” Frank answered, not sure where the conversation was going.

“Well,” Mikey explained, “You know what the cats are doing, right?”

“Besides getting hair all over you?” Frank wondered. “No idea,” he concluded.

“They’re marking you!” Mikey laughed. “The cats rub their scent on you so other cats know you’re already ‘owned’; and if another cat rubs on you and you come home, your cat is not a happy camper.”

Frank thought for a minute before uncertainly asking, “And it’s the same principle here?”

“Yep,” Mikey said, smiling.

“Oh, so vampires have territory and stuff?” Frank questioned.

Mikey nodded, explaining, “Gerard’s turf is the house and the backyard, he just mostly makes sure other vampires don’t mess with family, you know?”

“I guess,” Frank shrugged. He didn’t know much about vampire behaviorisms, but he figured it made sense.

Because of the nature of the conversation, a thought popped into Frank’s head.

“Would… would he ever do that to me?” he asked warily, not sure if he wanted that or not.

Mikey contemplated with a smirk on his face. He decided, “I don’t rightly know! You’ve spent a lot of time in the basement, and that’s got his scent all over the place, so maybe you don’t need it? Have you ever borrowed clothes from him?”

“Some sweatshirts, yeah,” Frank blushed.

“There you go, you’re covered in eau de Gee!” Mikey cackled.

“Shut up,” Frank groaned, hiding his red face in his hands.

“Oh my God, Frank,” Mikey wheezed, slapping Frank on the back, “Go have a crush on my brother somewhere else!”

“Stop, I’m begging you,” Frank said miserably. So what if he had a teeny tiny crush on the basement dwelling creature of the night?

Frank walked down to the basement, still a little flustered from the events that took place upstairs. He collapsed onto Gerard’s bed, curling up with the older boy.
“Hi Frankie,” Gerard mumbled contentedly.

“Hi Gee,” Frank repeated.

Gerard draped himself over Frank, burrowing his face into the younger smitten boy’s neck. “Nap with me?” he asked sleepily.

“Sure Gee, go back to sleep,” Frank whispered softly. With a sigh, Gerard fell right back into unconsciousness.

Frank laid there, thinking for a while, before drifting into a light sleep.

Chapter Text

Frank and Gerard were in the basement, as usual, when Frank started to ask questions. At first it was mundane inquiries about the activities and moods of the day, then it slowly moved along to more personal questions. It seemed like Frank had been thinking about how to ask the questions for a while but hadn’t gotten the courage until then.

“If you don’t mind Gee, can I ask you some questions about your… condition?” Frank timidly asked.

Gerard feigned nonchalance, saying, “I think you’ve known me long enough to get some answers. Shoot.”

“Okay, uh…,” Frank pondered, not expecting to get this far, “how about we dispel some myths?”

“Sounds good to me, bud,” Gerard answered. “What do you wanna know?”

“Just the basics, I guess,” Frank supplied. “Anything stupid from pop culture you want to rant about?”

The vampire giggled, “Oh God, yes! There are so many inaccuracies in movies and books that I could go on forever about.”

“Well get to going on about them then!” Frank smirked.

“Even in real life there are wildly inaccurate myths that people subscribed to, like putting bricks in dead peoples’ mouths, suspicions about people who rang safety coffin bells, all kinds of stuff,” Gerard ranted.

“Wait, wait, what’s a ‘safety coffin’?” Frank interjected.

“Well,” Gerard continued, “lots of people were presumed dead before they actually died back in the old days, so cemeteries and graveyards installed bells that went down into the coffins of the recently ‘deceased’. People watched over the graves for a couple days to see if any bells would ring so the not-so-dead people could be dug up. Sometimes superstition got in the way, and the ones who got dug up were accused of being witches or vampires or other supernatural beings. Very rarely was that actually the case,” he concluded.

Frank snorted. “Very rarely, you said?”

“Well, yeah,” Gerard retorted, with an attitude that implied ‘duh’.

“So there were instances where the poor fuck in the coffin got turned into a vampire,” Frank mused.

Gerard gave a cheeky smile at that. “I mean, with the whole coffin stereotype, it’s bound to happen.”

“But you could definitely benefit from a coffin, Gee,” Frank pointed out.

“The basement is lightproof enough for me,” the vampire dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Frank laughed, “Whatever works for you, I guess.”

“It does, thank you,” Gerard fake pouted.

The smaller boy flopped from his sitting position on the bed and ended up sliding halfway off the mattress before Gerard caught him and hauled him back up. They shared a laugh before they grew serious once more. Frank became lost in his thoughts, fidgeting less than usual. Gerard squeaked to use his impeccable echolocation skills and put a hand on Frank’s, which was sitting in the human’s lap.

“What’s wrong, Frankie?” Gerard asked, voice tinged with concern.

“What’s it really like?” Frank asked suddenly. “Being a vampire.”

Gerard sighed and lay down next to his friend. “In all honesty?” he replied. “Lonely.”

Frank turned to look at Gerard, noticing his suddenly melancholy demeanor. He put his other hand on top of the vampire’s, making a sandwich out of his friend’s hand.

After a small smile, Gerard went on. “Even without the restriction of being blind, I still couldn’t have half the life I was supposed to. I’d still be cooped up in the basement, unable to really work or do any recreational activities outside. I miss the sun; even though I didn’t see much of it before this,” he joked lightly.

“I can’t do things an older brother is supposed to do with Mikey, like pick him up from school or go to an amusement park. We can’t go on vacation as a family anymore because they won’t leave me here, even though I’ve insisted they stop revolving their lives around me. There aren’t many things to do in this dumb old basement either. I just feel like I’m kind of rotting away down here,” he finished, worrying his bottom lip.

“Fuck, Gee, I’m so sorry,” Frank comforted. “People really only think about the dumb perks, but don’t have the foresight to realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I’m sorry I made you think of all the bad things…”

Gerard chirped again, then used his free hand to cup Frank’s face. “It’s okay Frank, really. You’ve been one of the best things to come into my life for a while. I’m really glad I have someone to talk about all this with.”

Frank blushed, and Gerard automatically felt the blood rushing under his hand to the human’s cheeks. He carefully took his hand off the other’s face to both their disappointment.

They continued talking about everything and nothing until the sun was about to rise and both boys were sufficiently tired. They curled up together on the bed in the basement and had sweet dreams of the sun and unbreakable friendship.

Chapter Text

“Crosses?”

“No.”

Holy water?”

“No.”

“Stakes to the heart?”

“Anyone would die that way, dumbass.”

They were at it again. Frank’s curiosity bubbled over every few days, and Gerard had to satiate him with answers. Ever since that first late night Q&A session, Frank had been coming to his vampire friend to gather as much information as he could about the other’s way of life.

“Can you eat?”

“Only like snacks and stuff, nothing too big. I thought you’d seen me eat before…”

“Yeah, but this time I’m writing it down. For science.”

Frank had a notebook and pen, sitting at attention across from Gerard at the kitchen table. They each had a mug of their drink of choice, Frank’s being coffee and Gerard’s being a half and half mixture of coffee and blood.

“Obviously sunlight is an issue, but I’ll write it down anyway,” Frank muttered, scribbling in the notebook.

“An issue,” Gerard huffed, sticking his face in his mug.

“You ever tried sunscreen? Or is that stupid to ask?”

Gerard squeaked, perking his ears up. He shuffled over to the coffee maker and poured himself some more of that liquid gold.

“I don’t know if I should dignify that with an answer,” he grumbled. It was about seven in the evening, an absolute ridiculous hour to be up at by the vampire’s standards.

“Then is garlic too stupid as well, your Royal Prince of Darkness?”

“Shaddup, garlic doesn’t do anything.”

“Vervain?” Frank asked with a cheeky grin.

Gerard laughed, “Have you been watching the fuckin’ Vampire Diaries?”

“Well if it’s in pop culture, there’s basis in it somewhere!” Frank defended.

“Yeah,” Gerard sniffed, “Just like god damn sparkling…”

“Everyone wrote that off the second they heard it Gee.” Frank waved a hand disinterestedly.

“Mikey had the nerve to ask me,” Gerard pouted. He knew it was Mikey’s weird way of coping, but it sure didn’t make him feel any better when he was first turned.

“And your fangs are always out, right?” Frank questioned, still jotting down sentences like his life depended on it.

Gerard ran his tongue over his elongated canines. “Yep,” he confirmed. “It’d be awfully painful to bring ‘em in and out like that. They’d surely bleed, not to mention the gum inflammation.”

“Since when do you care about oral health?” Frank snorted.

Gerard wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, sending his human friend into a fit of laughter.

Eventually the laughter died out. Frank wiped errant tears out of the corners of his eyes, saying, “Alright, alright, let’s get back on topic here, shall we?”

“Sure, fire away.”

Frank flipped to another page in his notebook, seemingly looking for something. His eyes widened in recognition and he let out a small ‘aha’ as he looked back up to Gerard.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this one for a while,” he said with a devious smirk. “Arterial or venous blood?”

“What.” Gerard sat unmoving across the table.

“You heard me, which one do you prefer? Arterial or venous?”

Gerard scrubbed his hands over his face, thinking. “Do you really wanna know?” he asked wearily.

“Of course I do! I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t,” Frank assured.

“Okay, well if you feel like throwing up after this, you can only blame yourself.” The vampire conceded.

“One. Venous blood is the crappy water fountain of the vampire world,” Gerard started. “It just slowly oozes out and clots before you get anything good. Arterial pressure is higher and you can get a lot out in a short amount of time.

“Two, venous blood is more acidic. It has more lactate, like lactic acid? And it has more carbon dioxide in it too. The acidity is bad for you. Nasty gastric reflux. It also clots a lot easier. That shit’s gross.

“Three. The lymphatic system drains extravascular fluid back into venous circulation, like a storm drain. You wanna drink storm drain water? Me neither.” Gerard completed his spiel, leaving Frank open mouthed.

Frank just sat there for a minute, completely astonished. Had Gerard really put that much time into thinking about that?

“Wow,” Frank finally got out.

“You okay there, Frankie?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Just uh… processing I guess?”

“Was that kinda creepy?” Gerard asked nervously.

“Um…”

“You can say yes, I won’t get mad.”

“Okay then, yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Gerard muttered. He squeaked again, then reached for his friend’s hand lying on the table.

“Think of it this way,” he put delicately. “It’s like someone interested in cooking, yeah? They care about what they eat, right? I do too, but I can’t afford to be that picky,” he laughed.

Frank nodded. It made sense, in a way. A kind of fucked up way.

Gerard patted his hand comfortingly before asking, “Any more questions for the night?”

“No,” Frank finally said. “Let’s play some video games or something.”

Gerard led his human to the couch, sitting him down. “You want a snack or something, Frankie? You seem a little shaken.”

“No, I’m alright,” he said distantly.

The vampire subtly monitored his friend’s pulse, worried he’d broken him. Humans were fragile sometimes, he had learned. “Well, let’s just watch some tv, okay?”

Frank nodded, still caught up in his thoughts. Could Gerard smell him? Sense that he was rattled? Did he ever get super hungry from hearing all that blood flowing? Like, feral and starving? He looked over to his friend on the couch, watching the tv wash out his face. His dark, long hair, clean for once. The large dark circles under his pearlescent eyes. He couldn’t ever imagine Gerard hurting anyone to get what he needed so desperately, much less just doing it for fun.

That put Frank more at ease with his nocturnal friend. He scooched towards Gerard, nosing his way into the crook of his neck. Gerard put an arm around him, appreciating the younger boy for still wanting contact with him.

Frank put a hand on Gerard’s chest; right over his heart. He could feel the faint, slow beating of the vampire’s heart, and that put him at ease. He slowly drifted off in the other’s arms, mind finally slowing down from the whirlwind of his thoughts.

Chapter Text

The next time Frank went over to the Way’s house, he caught Gerard crunching on a chocolate bar with the freezer door open. After a bewildered look, the enigmatic vampire sheepishly said, “It’s good when they’re frozen! Don’t look at me like that, I can tell you're making a face!"

“Look at you like what?” Frank asked smugly, folding his arms and leaning on the counter opposite the fridge. “Like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar? ‘Cuz that’s how you’re acting.”

“This is my chocolate, why would I be guilty?” Gerard laughed. “Besides,” he continued, “dark chocolate has a shit ton of health benefits for vampires.”

“No shit, really?” Frank questioned. He didn’t know chocolate was healthy; he was told quite the opposite growing up.

“Yeah, but it’s only dark chocolate. The milk chocolate has too much sugar and milk in it.” Gerard shut the freezer door and motioned for Frank to follow him into the dining room. They sat down and Gerard gave Frank a square of the frozen chocolate.

“But this kind of chocolate has a lot of iron in it, just like blood does. It also lowers blood pressure and improves the flow. I even read this article about how one ingredient can prevent sun damage! It’s good for your skin in other ways too,” Gerard rambled. While he was on a chocolate tangent, Frank took the time to notice just how passionate he was about subjects he found interesting. The way he gestured with his hands to punctuate the conversation, or the exited look when he relayed particularly remarkable facts about whatever his newest interest was.

“Frank?”

His lovesick musings were interrupted by Gerard himself looking concernedly at him. “You okay?” he asked. “You kind of wandered off there.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Frank shook his head a little to get him back on track. “You were saying?”

“Oh, well I was just saying the chocolate in the freezer is especially good because it gives like a delayed release type thing? Like the more you chew it the more flavor comes through.”

“Huh,” Frank thought aloud. “I never noticed it.”

“You gotta be quick though, cuz that effect doesn’t last a long time. You gotta eat, like, a square at a time from the freezer or else it’s ruined.” Gerard got up to put the rest of the bar back in the freezer.

“You know what else does the trick Frankie?” he asked, probably rhetorically.

Frank decided to answer anyway. “What?”

Gerard poked his head out of the freezer when he was done and said, “An orange. A really cold orange, and you just bite into it. It’s the best thing ever. Sometimes my fangs would get… Itchy? I don’t know how to describe it. But if I just chomped into one of those babies I was right as rain again.”

“That’s so weird,” Frank snorted. “How’d you find that out?”

“Well,” Gerard started as he came back to the table, using his echolocation skills, “I always complained about it to ma, and she said, jokingly, that she thought I was teething. Turns out she was kind of right.”

“When was that?” Frank probed.

“Uh.” The vampire got visibly melancholy, and a little uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong Gee?” Frank asked quietly. He had a feeling it was a delicate topic, as he had never mentioned it before in the months they’d known each other. He held his hand out for Gerard to take if he needed reassurance.

Gerard immediately put his hand in his friend’s, squeezing lightly. “I guess you should probably know now, huh…”

“If you don’t wanna talk about it, we certainly don’t have to,” Frank soothed, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the other's hand to assuage any fear the vampire had.

“Why don’t we go downstairs and get comfortable? I'll tell you everything then,” Gerard suggested, his voice becoming shaky.

They both got up from the kitchen table, still clasping hands. Frank led Gerard tenderly through the house and down the stairs to the bedroom. He knew this story was going to be sensitive, judging by Gerard’s behavior. A few tears might be shed; emotions will come out. But ultimately, they’ll emerge through the heavy words and feelings as better friends, or maybe something more. Something the spoken word couldn’t describe.

Chapter Text

Once they were comfortable on Gerard’s bed, lying facing each other with their legs all tangled, the vampire took a fortifying breath and said, “Before I get into it, please promise what I say won’t drive you away. I don’t think I could handle it if you ran away like I’m some sort of monster…”

Frank intertwined their fingers on one hand, saying, “Nothing you could say would make me run for the hills, trust me. If I couldn’t handle it I would’ve been gone a long time ago.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Gerard cautioned. “It’s… a lot; even my family had to stay away from me for a while before they came around. I was kinda just down here by myself for a while, replaying what happened in my head. It was awful.”

“Oh, God, I wish I could’ve been there for you, that sounds horrible,” Frank lamented.

Gerard sighed. “Well, I don’t think I was quite fit for society either after what I had done.”

“Let’s just start from the beginning, okay?” Frank proposed. “If you need to stop or anything just say so.”

“Okay,” Gerard said reluctantly. “So I was coming home from work at the Cartoon Network. I worked there as a pencil pusher. Y’know, low on the ladder type stuff. The train was late getting home, and it was dark out by the time I got off. I could’ve called ma on a payphone, but I really didn’t think anything would happen because we’re so close to the station, right?

“So I was walking home those couple blocks when I heard something from the alleyway. I thought it was just a cat or something, but my dumb ass has to save everyone I guess...”Gerard chuckled, a little watery eyed. “Ma always said I was too altruistic for my own good.”

“Anyway,” he continued, “I peeked around the corner into the alley and I see something rustling around in there. I take two steps into the alleyway and next thing I know I’m pinned like a butterfly in a glass case. I’ve got hands on my shoulders and I’m crowded into the wall.”

Gerard paused then and took a couple deep breaths. Frank rubbed his shoulder, understanding something big was coming up, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

“It hurt so much when he bit me,” Gerard sniffled. “It’s not supposed to hurt. I don’t know why he wanted me to suffer like that… I guess he was just sadistic or something.”

Frank shifted closer, putting his arm around his friend’s back and petting soothing circles in between his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry, Gee,” he whispered. “Do you want to stop? I can get you some tissues if you need them…”

“It’s okay Frankie,” the vampire mumbled. “I wanna tell you everything; you deserve to know.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” he comforted.

Gerard took another couple shaky breaths before he went on. “Well, next thing I knew I was on a fucking slab in the morgue. They kept me in one of those locker things. I pounded on the door for someone to let me out, but nobody came,” he sobbed.

“By the time someone did come around I was out of my God damned mind. I thought I was dying again; I got really weak and I was so hungry… When somebody finally opened the door, I just kind of blacked out. When I came around again…”

Gerard was howling by then, so overcome with grief from the past. All Frank could think to do was try to calm him down. He sat them up and had Gerard lean on him while he hugged his poor weeping friend. He rocked them lightly back and forth, whispering reassurances. “It wasn’t your fault,” he murmured, “you didn’t know what was happening.” A few tears leaked from his eyes from seeing how badly the experience had affected the vampire.

When Gerard had calmed down enough to speak again, he whimpered, “But I killed someone, Frankie. Someone with a family, with friends.”

“But I know you’re sorry Gee; that proves you’re not a monster. A real monster wouldn’t think twice about what they did.” Frank was a little scared that his friend possessed the ability to slaughter someone like that, to just tear them apart like a piece of paper. But he couldn’t dwell on that right now. He knew Gerard really wouldn’t have done it if he had his wits about him. He was just blinded by his overwhelming survival instincts.

After the tears had stopped, Gerard began telling his story again. “When I saw what I had done, I ran out of there as fast as possible. I must have looked like I crawled out of some kid’s nightmare, with nothing but a flimsy morgue sheet around me, covered in blood.”

“When I finally got home and knocked, ma screamed and slammed the door on me. That woke Mikey up I guess, and then he opened the door. His eyes got so wide, they looked like saucers.” Gerard seemed to be better now, but Frank still offered his support via comforting touches.

“We found out I have to be invited into places that night… That was an interesting experience,” he laughed humorlessly.

“What happens?” Frank asked quietly.

“I just can’t come in… Something physically stops me. I tried not to buy into any of the supernatural shit. It could’ve just been a communicable disease, right? Contracted like rabies? But all rationality went out the window when I couldn’t get in. I ended up begging them to let me in for like, five minutes before they realized that I wasn’t joking. I said I’d explain when I could get inside but they just wouldn’t say ‘come in’ for the longest time. Mikey finally extended the invitation when I showed them I was leaning on thin air.” Gerard fell silent after that. He was fidgeting nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the memories. Just when Frank was thinking about stopping Gerard from going on, his friend spoke up again.

“I had been declared missing for three days. I was gone for more than that, though. They’re usually reluctant to declare adults missing, because adults can just leave and it doesn’t matter, you know? Ma thought I was dead for sure. I guess in a way she was right though…”

“Anyway, none of us had any idea of what to expect. I didn’t want to hurt anyone so I holed up down here and I insisted they put that big ‘ole lock on the door to the upstairs. They never used it, even though I think they should have a couple of times,” he grumbled.

“Your family had faith in you, I think that’s very telling of them in how much they trusted you weren’t gonna do anything to harm them,” Frank told the vampire.

“Or maybe how dumb they were being,” Gerard retorted. “They just weren’t careful, and that led to some… unfortunate circumstances.”

“Let’s maybe talk about those some other time,” Frank redirected. He could tell those stories would reveal disasters.

“It got even worse after I lost my sight,” Gerard sniffled. “They just ended up being tethered here because I can’t take care of myself. All because I wanted to see the sun one more time.” Wetness gathered in the corners of his eyes, broadcasting his regret and sorrow.

Frank delicately brushed them away, saying, “You didn’t know that was gonna happen. If I were you I probably would’ve done the same thing.”

“That’s what Mikey said,” Gerard smiled. “But we wouldn’t have lost dad if I hadn’t have done it.”

Frank gasped softly. He didn’t know the real reason for their dad’s departure from the family. He imagined that must have made Gerard miserable if that’s the excuse his father made to leave.

“He said it was too much,” Gerard informed. “He couldn’t deal with all the weird shit that happens around here, so he left.”

“Jesus Christ,” Frank whispered. “Listen,” he said confidently, “if your dad said that shit to you, good riddance. He doesn’t know what a wonderful, gentle, loving person you are. Sure you might have changed a little, but that’s no excuse. When things get hard, you fight back with kindness and hard work. If you run, you’re just a coward. You, Mikey, and your ma are fighters. You all face adversity head on and come out of the struggle closer to each other and stronger together. If your dad didn’t want to be a part of the team, then he can get left behind. He’s missing out.”

Gerard was crying again, but it wasn’t for the same reason as before. He needed to hear those words of reassurance and love from someone other than his brother and mother. He just couldn’t bring himself to believe it when they said it, but when someone outside the situation said his father was in the wrong, he could accept that maybe it really wasn’t his fault.

Gerard tackled Frank into a hug, showering little kisses all over his face. “Thank you so much Frankie,” he cried, “I really needed to hear that. I can’t stand that I’m such a burden to this family.”

“You’re really not though,” Frank giggled. He looked into the vampire’s milky white eyes and breathed, “You’re the best thing that’s happened to anyone, like, ever.”

Gerard laughed and climbed off Frank, saying, “I’m pretty sure that’s fake, but okay.”

“No! It’s very real!” Frank enthused. He flopped back onto the bed, grabbing Gerard to lay down with him again. “Now, how about we just kick back and cuddle, maybe put on a movie.”

Gerard snuggled into Frank, resting his head in the crook of the other’s neck. “Okay,” he hummed, “I might grab a nap too. That was fucking exhausting.”

Frank grabbed the remote from the bedside table and pointed it vaguely towards the tv. “You can say that again,” he agreed.

Frank found a good action movie he had wanted to watch for a while and cuddled into Gerard, both of their eyes drooping. Before long, both of them were gone to the world, off in a dreamland.

Chapter Text

“You want to go to New York?”

The question was completely out of the blue. Frank blinked, processing the words. “Sure?” he concluded. He looked to his vampire friend to see what he was doing. They had previously been off in their own worlds, Frank reading comics and Gerard listening to music.

“Cool,” Gerard responded, nodding his head absently. “Can you drive? We could also take the train…” he trailed off.

“I can drive, but which would you prefer? And how long are we staying?” Frank asked. He was concerned for Gerard’s comfort level in the traveling department.

The fanged boy thought for a minute before saying, “I think a car would be best. In case we want to travel outside of the city limits. I was only planning to go to the City for the weekend, but being stranded wouldn’t be ideal, you know?”

Frank nodded in agreement, before remembering that duh, he can’t see you, idiot. He quickly covered his mistake by vocally approving. “Sure, sure, of course,” he mused.

“Awesome! I’m sure mom won’t mind us using the other car for the weekend,” Gerard assured. “Okay, so, pack when you get home and we’ll leave Friday evening!”

___

It was Friday afternoon, and Frank was packing. Should he bring a lot of money? He didn’t wanna get mugged, but then again he didn’t look like someone who would have a lot of cash on them. He shoved clothes haphazardly in a duffle bag, throwing some of his extra cash in there too.

At sunset, he walked over to the Way’s house, excited at what Gerard had planned. He had been to New York a good dozen times, but this felt different. Special.
He didn’t even have to knock before Gerard swung the door open, grinning from ear to ear. “Come on, I’m just finishing up with the packing,” he said, ushering Frank in.

They successfully navigated down to the basement, Gerard using his echolocation chirps to find the last few items he wanted to pack.

When he was done, they trooped back upstairs to say goodbye to everyone. “Bye Mik- wait, why are you eating goldfish with chopsticks?” Frank asked, bewildered.

“So I don’t get stuff on my fingers,” was the reply.

“Goldfish don’t have anything on them…” Frank retorted.

“They’re flavor blasted, jackass. Expand your goldfish horizons. You’ll thank me later,” Mikey said.

Gerard jumped into the conversation then. “OKAAAY! See you, Mikes, c’mon Frank.”

After they were at the door Gerard whispered, “He’s sensitive about his goldfish, just let him do whatever he wants. Even if he’s gluing them into a fucking goldfish cracker castle, just let him do it.”

“Oh…kay?” Frank whispered back. Just another weird Way habit, he guessed.

They left the house with lots of shouted goodbyes and waves, and finally got out of the driveway and onto the road. Frank sighed, ready for the trip. He’d only have to drive for about an hour, but they were going to be on a major interstate because of their destination.

Gerard sat in the passenger seat beaming. He hadn’t been out of town for a long time, and he was surprised his mom even let him go. On one hand, he was an adult and should be able to make his own decisions, but deep down he knew his mother was just concerned for his wellbeing.

He clapped his hands once, saying enthusiastically, “NYC, here we come! The boys are hitting the town!”

“Okay buddy,” Frank laughed. “What’s on the itinerary?”

“I think we’re just winging it, to be honest,” Gerard replied. “I don’t know how well I’ll be able to do anything during the day, but I really want to try to go to an art museum. Any kind is good with me, as long as they have those things where you can listen to the explanation of the art.”

“That’s fine by me, as long as you think we can do it. Just tell me anytime you want to go back to the hotel, for any reason. Overstimulation, being tired, anything,” Frank emphasized.

“You don’t gotta baby me, Frankie,” the vampire pouted. He was secretly grateful for his friend’s concern though.

Frank scoffed. “There’s no babying here! None at all. Do you smell something? That’s the absence of babying, that smell.”

Gerard cracked up.

“Yeah, yeah…,” he tried to say while still laughing. “How about some tunes?”

“Awh heyull yeeauh!” Frank yelled in an imitation of Jenna Marbles. “Get that aux in there son!”

“You’re gonna have to do it, stupid,” his companion snorted.

“Oh shit, you’re right,” he realized. “Okay kids, don’t try this at home,” he mumbled as he set his phone up to the car speakers.

After having successfully not gotten into a car accident while taking his eyes off the road, Frank sat back in satisfaction as Green Day filled the car.

“Ooh, good choice,” Gerard complimented.

“You’re god damn right it is,” he said back. “Okay, it’s smooth sailing from here on out. Or, at least until we get into the city. Where’s the hotel at?”

Gerard told him the hotel address and he punched it into google maps for when they entered the city limits.

---

When they got to the hotel parking lot, Frank set out a plan. “Okay, so, let’s check in before we drag all of the luggage in with us. Sound good?”

Gerard nodded, knowing Frank was looking at him. “Yeah, we’ll sniff around a bit. Literally for me,” he joked.

They got out of the car and went to the front of the building. The sliding doors opened for them and they stepped into a very nice hotel lobby. “Wait, is this the right place?” Frank asked, looking around shocked.

“Is it too much? I just told Mikey my price range and he picked the hotel out online for me,” his fanged friend confessed.

“Uh, yeah! It’s fucking lush as hell!” Frank exclaimed softly, gaping at the large glass elevator, the lounge area, and the indoor pond. “And you already paid for this, Gee?”

“Well, it’s not like I have anywhere to go to spend my money,” he reasoned. “I just help mom pay the bills and occasionally order pizza. Why not live it up a little?”
Frank just stared, bewildered.

---

Once they checked in and hauled their luggage into their room, they collapsed onto the bed. Yes, THE bed. Gerard thought it wouldn’t make a difference because they already slept in his bed together all the time, so why would it be weird? At the same time, it made Frank blush when he first saw there was just one bed when he initially entered the room.

“Alright! So, do you wanna take a nap or grab something to eat, Frank?” Gerard asked his human companion. He remembered there was more maintenance in being a human.

“I guess some food would be nice,” Frank mused. He wondered what exotic food they would find while walking the streets.

Gerard stood up and stretched. “Okay, do you have something in mind, or do you just want to wander around?”

“I wanna explore,” Frank concluded. So with that, they headed out to find some delicious New York cuisine.

Chapter Text

After some walking, they came upon a delicious smelling Indian restaurant not far from the hotel. Frank insisted that was where he wanted to eat and dragged Gerard along into the establishment. They had a wonderfully filling meal (well, Frank did; Gerard was happy to pick some choice morsels off the other’s plate) and were now practically rolling back to the hotel. While Frank was chattering on about what they could do in the city despite only being allowed to go out in the nighttime, Gerard caught a strange scent. It smelled almost like…

“Frank! Where’s the nearest alleyway?” he whispered urgently.

“Why? What’s wr-“ Frank started to say, before Gerard covered his mouth hastily and shushed him.
“I think I smell another vampire,” he explained.

Frank was going to smack the hand clamped on his face away from him when the words his friend said to him registered. When he realized the gravity of the situation, he led Gerard into the nearest dark corner between two shops.

They ducked down behind some stray wooden crates and a foul smelling dumpster. Not a moment later, four figures appeared at the mouth of the alley.

“The scent leads into there,” one of the individuals said. “It just goes into the alleyway. But there’s another smell too, human from what I can tell. It smells familiar, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

“Well then shut up and turn on the flashlight!” another hissed.

Gerard was shaking in fear of what the voices were saying. One of them was definitely a vampire, but the other three were human! Why would a vampire work with humans to track down other vampires? Would Frank be safe when the four got to their hiding place and discovered them?

A beam of light appeared in the small confines of the alley. A different voice rang out this time, “We know you’re in here! Don’t give us a fight and we won’t hurt you.”

“I’ll go out first,” Frank whispered as quietly as possible while still ensuring Gerard could hear him. “They won’t hurt me.”

Before Gerard could protest, Frank slipped out from behind their hiding spot. He slowly put his hands out to show that he meant no harm. He saw four figures cloaked in shadow of various heights and sizes. One had large, unruly hair and another was wearing a baseball cap. The other two had their hoods up, hiding their faces.

“Hey fellas,” he started nervously. “What’s a group of kids like you doing out at this time of night?”

“Don’t play it cool dude,” the one holding the flashlight into Frank’s eyes said, “You’re the same age as us, if younger.”

Frank dropped his hands and stood up taller. “Rude!” he exclaimed with a grumble. “Coming from the two of you,” he pointed at the two shortest figures that were around his height.

“Anyway,” he continued, “nothing to see here; just a weird kid hanging out behind a dumpster. Move along, thanks.”

“Not so fast,” one of the shorter ones cut him off. “There’s somebody else here. Get them to come out.”

Frank scoffed, “There’s no one here but me, and I’ve had about enough of this. So if you’ll excuse me…”

All of the sudden he was pushed back against the alley wall so fast that he had no time to register the movement. A hand rested on the wall next to his head, closing him off from escape. Frank caught a glimpse of the other boy’s dark fringe, fangs, and glowing amber eyes before he squeezed his eyes shut in fear. But before the assailant could do or say anything, a spine shuddering growl came from behind the two.

Gerard came out of the shadows, face scrunched in anger and fangs showing in a threatening display. “Get away from him,” he hissed.

The three figures at the end of the alleyway started forward, but the vampire who had pinned Frank to the wall held up a hand to stop them. He turned around to meet his aggressor with a hiss of his own before he stopped with a shocked look on his face.

“Why do you smell like Mikey?” The other vampire asked.

“What?” Gerard asked, a bewildered look on his face. “How do you know Mikey?”

The boy looked back at Frank, and then again at Gerard. Realization spread across his face as he said, “Mikey never told me you were a vampire!”

“He’s not supposed to tell anyone about me in the first place!” exclaimed the poor blind vampire. He had never known any other vampires hung around his baby brother. A part of him was too shocked to think, while a possessive instinct rumbled underneath the surface. Mikey was his. How dare another vampire take his claim!

“I’m sorry, but what the fuck is going on?” the baseball capped kid interrupted.

“We messed up Patty,” the other vampire sighed. “This is Mikey Way’s brother.”

Frank stepped out from against the wall. “Then who the fuck are you?” he challenged.

“I’m Pete. That’s Patrick, Joe, and Andy.” The boys all raised their hand in greeting as Pete called their names.

“You’re Pete?” Gerard questioned. “Why did I never smell your scent on Mikey?”

Pete gave his friends a look and pointed his thumb at the blind vampire, as if to say ‘this guy, huh?’ He said, “I know what it’s like to have a loved one come home smelling like another blood sucker, dude. Because I could smell the scent of another vamp on him, I never touched Mikey or anything. I made sure to keep my distance for this exact reason.”

“Oh,” Gerard faltered, not quite knowing what to say. “Thanks, I guess?”

Pete laughed and responded, “No worries bro. I just keep Mikes safe when you’re not around, that’s all.”

Frank walked over to Gerard and held his hand. “Well I’ve had enough excitement for one night. Maybe we can all meet somewhere tomorrow and swap origin stories?”
The blind vampire made a face. “Is that what we’re calling it?” he grumbled. Nobody heard, and if they did, they didn’t pay attention to the grumpy comment.

“Sure!” Pete agreed. “There’s a really good pizza place not far from here if you wanna meet up? It’s called Mancino’s.”

Frank smiled politely and said, “Meet you there at midnight?”

Pete winked and confirmed, “It’s a date!” Gerard grumbled again.

“Okay guys, I guess we’ll keep patrolling,” Patrick reminded the group. Pete zipped back to the others in the blink of an eye, and they said their goodbyes as they wandered off.

Gerard and Frank stood in the alleyway for a moment, not knowing how to react to the crazy situation that just happened. Frank finally cut the slice with, “Small world, huh?”

The vampire groaned, “Let’s just go back to the hotel.”

Chapter Text

The two boys got home from the big apple tired but satisfied with their short vacation. They went to the pizza shop with the boys they met from the first night and heard all about their hunting exploits and the story of how they made their group. Pete said he was in the group as a human before he turned and he saw all the terror and destruction vampires were able to cause, and he didn’t want to participate in any of those malicious acts. He told the boys he lived off a smoothie concoction Patrick had formulated from him instead of feeding off of people or blood bags. Gerard secretly was disgusted by the smoothies’ ingredients and was thankful he wasn’t forced into trying it. After that night he and Frank traipsed around the city that never sleeps and found numerous fun activities to do and sights to see. They went to the Met like Gerard wanted and even though he couldn’t physically see any of the paintings or statues anymore he still liked to hear about all the pieces in the gallery. Frank stopped to listen to almost every busker in the city with wide eyes and a smile; Gerard thought it was charming.

Back at home, they collapsed on Gerard’s basement bed. The ride back home felt long for the two of them because they were tired and a bit sad to finally be leaving the city. They dropped all of their luggage in the vampire’s room making it even messier than before, but they didn’t care. They’d pick it up later. As they were almost asleep, Mikey came down the stairs.

“Gee, I got some news for you! Ray is coming to check up on you next weekend,” he announced.

Gerard popped his head up immediately with a grin and said, “Really? Great! He can meet Frank!”

Voice muffled in the covers, Frank mumbled, “Who’s Ray?”

“He’s like my surrogate sire, I guess,” Gerard responded. “Since whoever turned me went AWOL, I was really distressed and scared, and I guess he could pick that up. Ray tracked me down after about a week and offered to teach me the ropes. He’s a very maternal figure- very sweet. You’ll like him, don’t worry. And I’m sure he’ll love you.”

“You’re so sure of that, huh?” Frank asked teasingly.

“I’m positive! You passed Mikey and my vibe checks so I’m sure you’ll pass his,” Gerard laughed.

“VIBE CHECK!” Mikey screamed, slamming a pillow into the back of Frank’s head still burrowed into the covers.

“Hey! What the fuck!” Frank yelled, outraged. Gerard was hunched over cackling and gasping for breath.

“Sorry Frankie,” he spit between giggles, “I didn’t even know that was coming!”

Frank jumped on the bed and roared, “You will be tried and hanged for your insolence, Michael James Way! Mark my words!”

He then proceeded to leap off the bed and tackle Mikey to the ground with a loud thud and lots of tangled limbs.

“Oww, Frank!” Mikey whined. “Get offa me!”

Gerard, still laughing, remarked, “He passed that vibe check on my end!”

Frank jumped back up onto the bed and kissed the vampire’s cheek. “Of course I did,” he replied smugly.

“Okay! That’s where I leave, goodnight weirdos!” Mikey said loudly, interrupting the cute moment. He ran back up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him in a rush to get out of the basement where things were getting a little too touchy-feely for him.

Borrowed blood rushed to Gerard’s face in a bloom of red. He stuttered, “O-oh. Well, um, do you want to stay the rest of the night here? We can drop you off later in the day if you want. Or, at least mom can.”

Frank snuggled back into the covers and sighed dramatically, “Oh, if I must! If I absolutely have to, I think I can stand it.”

“Shut up you dork,” Gerard snickered. “Let’s get into some pajamas then. I think I’m gonna throw my stuff in the washer too before we go to sleep.“

Frank wrestled with his pants, dragging them off his legs and laying down properly. “Done,” he said with a little shit eating grin.

“Fine, I’ll let you off easy this time,” the vampire mock scolded his friend. “I’ll be right back. Don’t fall asleep before I get back or I’ll be so sad and cry forever.”

Gerard hurried to dump his luggage in the washer and get on some pajama pants. He got back to the bed in record time, it seemed, as Frank was lightly dozing upon his friend’s arrival back to the bedroom.

“…So Ray, huh?” Frank asked sleepily.

Gerard sighed, laying down in the bed and pulling the fluffy, squishy covers up to his nose. “Yeah, he usually checks in once every six months or so. For him, that’s like once a week though.”

“He’s that old, huh?” Frank wondered out loud.

“Yep.”

“Okay, I can tell that’s enough talking for now. But I’m definitely asking more questions in the morning,” the human grumbled out. He could tell that this may be a touchy subject for the orphaned vampire. Maybe he could talk about it to Mikey…