Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Gerard’s POV)

“You may work on this project in groups of two, and you may choose your own groups. All right, get to work,” Mr. Miller told the social studies 11 class.

I looked over across the room at Frank. He was already looking at me. Everyone was moving seats to go sit with their partners, so I turned and motioned for Frank to come sit next to me. He nodded and brought his books over to my desk.

I’d known Frank for almost five years—we’d met in grade seven, and had been best friends ever since then. We did almost everything together—we were almost like brothers. I admired him for his intelligence and the way he always made me feel like I was worth something. I couldn’t have asked for a better best friend. He was the first person I came out to. I’d told him I was gay about a year earlier, even before I told my parents. He was really supportive of me and made me feel, well…normal. I felt I could be myself around him.

“Okay, so…what do we have to do? I asked dumbly—I’d been doodling during Mr. Miller’s explanation of the project.

“We just have to make a time-line of World War I and we need six pictures. Pretty easy stuff,” Frank explained. He began chewing the end of his blue pen, something he did when he was thinking.

“So are we doing the usual—you write, I draw?” I asked.

“Sure, I can’t draw for shit, anyway,” he laughed.

I smiled, and then frowned.

“What?” Frank asked.

“I can’t sleep over this weekend.”

“You’re still grounded?” he exclaimed.

“Yeah. I was like, ‘Wow, mom…that’s bull…’” I rolled my eyes.

“Just tell her we have to work on a project,” he suggested.

“Yeah, I will. Cross your fingers,” I grinned.

The bell rang for lunch a while later, and I walked with Frank to the theatre room where we always ate lunch.

“Gerard, we actually do have rehearsal after school today!” Kim said once we entered the room.

“Oh, okay. I’ll be there. Is it just leads?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think to,” Kim nodded.

Frank went across the room to go talk to Shayna, and I sat down on the couch next to Chloe.

“Hey Gerard,” she smiled.

“Hey Chloe,” I smiled back. I got my turkey sandwich from my backpack and started eating.

“Is Frank watching the rehearsal today?” asked Chloe.

I finished chewing before answering, “I’m not sure. I didn’t know we had rehearsal today so I told him we could drive to my house after school… But I dunno, he might just want to go home if he has to wait two hours for me,” I said.

“I’m actually going to be so busy today. I have rehearsal until five, and then I work until ten. Then I do homework…” Chloe said.

“Ah, that’s a shitload of stuff to do!” I commented.

“Yeah, pretty much,” she chuckled.
I looked over at Frank, across the room, and he was still talking to Shayna. I thought he had a crush on her, but I wasn’t sure. He hadn’t told me.

“He’s taking so long…” I complained.
Chloe chuckled, “Just call him over here then,” she said.

“I don’t want to interrupt…” I said.

Just then, Frank wrapped up his conversation and headed over to Chloe and I.

“Hey, Frankie,” I said.

“Hey,” he said, sitting down next to me on the couch.

“I can’t drive you home right after school,” I said.

“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you,” he said.

“Are you sure? We’re gonna be two hours…” I said.

“That’s about how long it takes me to do my math homework,” he smiled.

“All right, that works,” I said.

*

(Frank’s POV)

“You must be starving. Did you have lunch?” Gerard asked me.

“No, I didn’t. I’ll survive the ride home, don’t worry,” I said as we got into his car.

I tossed my backpack into the backseat as Gerard started the engine up.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you: tomorrow is movie night at my LGBT group, and they’re encouraging us to bring guests. I was wondering if you would be interested in going with me,” Gerard said, backing out of the parking space.

“Yeah, definitely. When does it start?”

“Seven o’ clock. I think we’re watching horror movies though…I know you don’t really like them.”

“It’s fine. I’ll suck it up. At least you’ll be there.”

“So now I can show you the guys I always tell you about,” he laughed.

“Oh yeah, like the ones you’ve made out with,” I laughed too.

“And that Riley kid who’s asked me out three times,” Gerard added.

“Yep, that should be fun,” I said. I was actually very interested to see what these guys looked like. I seemed to be paying more attention to things like that lately.

We got to Gerard’s house a few minutes later, and got out of the car. I got my backpack from the backseat and then we headed inside.

“My mom’s making spaghetti,” Gerard said.

“It smells so good,” I commented, taking off my shoes.

We went upstairs to the kitchen where Laurie, Gerard’s mom, was stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce.

“Oh, hi boys,” she smiled as we walked into the room.

“Hi Laurie,” I said.

“How was your rehearsal?” she asked Gerard.

“Tiring, but it went well,” he replied.

“Don’t forget to put your clothes in the dryer—they’ve been sitting in the washing machine since this morning,” she told him.

“Yeah, okay,” Gerard said. He headed out of the kitchen and I followed him downstairs to his bedroom. I went straight for the computer.

“Going on Facebook?” Gerard guessed.

“Yep. I haven’t been on in two days.”

“Shit. That’s a new record for you, hey?”

“Shut up,” I laughed. “Ahh, I have so many new wall posts!” I said.

Gerard came up behind my chair and looked over my shoulder at the screen.

“What did Shayna write?” he asked.
I clicked on her name and it took me to our “wall-to-wall” page.

Shayna wrote: “Frankieeee! Movies on Friday?? I’m going with Bert and Kim…you can invite whoever you want :)”

“Well, I can’t go to that, but I’m not interested anyway…” I said.

“Why aren’t you interested?”

“Well, I don’t even like Bert, and yeah…I just wouldn’t feel like going.”

“Do you not like Bert because he asked you if you were gay that one time?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I just think he’s really rude. He probably doesn’t even realize it either,” I said.

Gerard laughed and messed up my hair. “You’re a weirdo, Frankie,” he said, sitting down on his bed.

“Well, don’t you think that’s a rude thing to ask? I mean, you don’t just go up to someone randomly and question their sexual orientation…” I explained.

“Yeah, I completely agree with you. But what if he wanted to know because he wanted to ask you out?” Gerard grinned.

“Oh, shut up. I don’t even think girls are interested in me,” I shook my head.

“Why wouldn’t they be? You’re smart, funny…cute,” he said with a slight smirk on his face.

“Okay, now you’re just making fun of me,” I laughed.

“Shayna probably likes you a lot,” he said.

“Nah, she flirts with everyone,” I said, logging off of Facebook.

“You say that about every girl…” Gerard rolled his eyes.

“No I don’t,” I argued.

“Uh, yeah you do, Frankie,” he nodded.

“Whatever…” I shook my head.

“I’ll be right back,” Gerard got up from the bed and left the room.

I stood up and went and sat on his bed. He came back in a minute.

“So, I’m allowed to sleep over tomorrow,” he grinned, sitting down next to me on the bed.

“Awesome!” I said excitedly.

“Yep, I’m a genius,” he said.

***Friday***

(Gerard’s POV)

“Hey, have you seen Frank?” I asked Bert, who was checking the lights in the theatre room after school.

“Nope, sorry,” he shrugged.

I threw my bag on the couch and took out my phone. Just as I was about to call him, Frank showed up at the door.

“Where were you?” I asked.

“Getting you this,” he held out a Grande Starbucks latte and handed it to me.

“Aww, you didn’t have to do that…thank you,” I smiled, taking a sip.

Frank put his backpack on the couch and sat down.

“Did you skip D block?” I asked him.

“Yeah, it was fucking English, so I was like, whatever,” he said, adjusting his position so he was sitting cross-legged on the couch. I went over and sat next to him since we hadn’t started rehearsal yet.

“I have a game on Saturday,” he said. Frank was a soccer player. He played for the U-17 Silver team.

“What time?”

“Two. I have to leave home at one though,” he said, sipping his drink.
I nodded. Frank’s phone started ringing a second later.

“Hello?” he answered. He looked slightly annoyed as he spoke, so I guessed it was one of his parents on the other end. He hung up a moment later and looked at me.

“I have to go watch Kate until six…” he said. Kate was his five-year-old sister.

“That sucks.”

“Yep. So when are you picking me up?” he asked, getting his stuff together.

“Quarter to seven,” I replied.

“Okay,” Frank nodded and stood up. I walked with him to the outside doors.

“See you later,” I said.

“See ya,” Frank smiled.

I went back into the theatre room and sat next to Bert on the couch.

“Did Frank leave?” he asked.

“Yeah, he had to go home and watch his sister,” I explained.

“You guys hanging out tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Shayna invited him to the movies tonight…I guess he’d rather hang out with you,” Bert smiled.

“Well, we’ve had plans for a while, so yeah…” I laughed.

“Oh, I see,” he nodded. “Shayna likes him. Like…a lot,” he added.

“Was she really disappointed he couldn’t make it tonight?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, of course,” he said.
I shrugged, “That’s too bad,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.

*

(Frank’s POV)

“Hey,” I smiled as I got into the front passenger seat next to Gerard.

“Hey Frankie,” he smiled back.

“How was rehearsal?” I asked.

“It was good,” he nodded. “Bert says Shayna likes you a lot and that she was disappointed that you couldn’t make it to the movies tonight,” he added.

“Why would he tell you that?” I asked.

“I have no clue,” I laughed.

“I didn’t know what to say, I was like…okay,” Gerard said.

“He’s probably lying,” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t be like that—why can’t you just accept that someone likes you?” he laughed.

“I just don’t believe anything that comes out of Bert’s mouth!” I laughed.

We got to the youth centre a few minutes later. I felt kind of nervous as we walked in, for some reason. Maybe it was the thought of being practically the only straight person in the room…

We walked into the movie room, which was full of people. There were about ten guys and five girls there. There was also a male youth worker and a female one, too.

“Gerard’s here,” a guy called out.

“Hey guys,” Gerard smiled and waved as we walked over to where everyone was sitting on the floor and on the two couches in the middle of the room.

“Who’s your friend?” a brunette guy asked.

“This is my best friend, Frank,” Gerard introduced me.

Everyone said ‘hi’ to me and I waved and said ‘hi’ back, feeling my face going red.

Gerard and I sat down on the couch—I sat next to the brunette guy and Gerard was on the other side of me.

“Do you know what we’re watching?” Gerard asked a guy who was sitting at his feet.

“I think we’re watching Disturbia and Final Destination,” the guy replied.
He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.

“Yay! I’ve wanted to see Disturbia for so long, but ‘this one’ wouldn’t go with me,” Gerard said, nudging me.

The guy laughed and brushed his brown hair out of his face.

“Why didn’t you go?” he asked me.

“I’m not really into horror movies—especially in the theatre,” I replied.

“He gets scared,” Gerard whispered, as if I couldn’t hear.

“Shut up,” I laughed, blushing.

The guy laughed again. “It’s okay, I get freaked out easily, too,” he admitted.

“Okay, good… so I won’t be the only one screaming,” I laughed.

“Aww, you’re so cute,” he chuckled.

Once again, I blushed.

“So are you in theatre, too?” the guy asked me.

“No, I’m not much of an actor. I play soccer though,” I said.

“Oh, that’s cool,” he smiled. “I can’t play soccer very well, but I like watching it,” he added.

“Yeah, but Adam watches it for the guys,” Gerard laughed as he told me.
I chuckled, “Yeah, a lot of people do,” I nodded.

“All right, we’re just about ready to start…” the male youth worker said loudly. Everyone quieted down. “It’s awesome to see that some of you brought a guest along tonight, and I hope you have fun and decide to come to some of our meetings in the future,” he continued.

“For those who don’t know us, my name is Derek, and this is Lisa. We run this club every Friday at seven, and everyone—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, straight—everyone, is welcome to drop in anytime if you have any questions or concerns about anything, or if you need help or advice,” Derek spoke.

“Tonight we’re going to watch Disturbia first, and then Final Destination. In a minute I’ll turn out the lights and pass around some popcorn and drinks,” Lisa said.

After the leaders were done speaking, everyone started chatting again.

Gerard leaned in and whispered something to me. “Just to warn you, some of the guys here like to make out during movies…” he said.

“Including you,” I said.

“Well…yeah, sometimes,” he laughed.

“Well, it doesn’t bother me,” I assured him.

Lisa turned off the lights as Derek put on the DVD. The beginning of the movie wasn’t so bad, but when they discover that their neighbour is a murderer, I started to get jumpy. I shivered in my t-shirt as I felt a draft in the room.

“You’ve been shivering for half an hour,” Gerard whispered to me.

“Sorry; I’m cold,” I whispered back.

“Do you wanna wear my sweater?” he offered.

“No, that’s okay—I’ll live,” I whispered.

Gerard shifted a bit and then put his arm over my shoulder, rubbing my upper arm so I would warm up.

“Thanks,” I whispered, scooting closer to him for more warmth.

Closer to the end of the movie, I started to get really jumpy…

(Gerard’s POV)

Further into the movie, Frank was really freaked out, and was grabbing onto my sweater tightly. I leaned in close to him again. “You don’t have to watch, you know,” I told him. I paused to smell his soft hair, and then drew back, feeling a like a creep.

Frank buried his face in my sweater, and I laughed quietly at how young he seemed. The top of his head was right at my nose, so I didn’t have to feel like a creep as I took in the scent of his shampoo. I accidentally brushed my nose against the top of his head, and he looked up at me with a confused expression.

“Stop that,” he smiled.

“Sorry,” I whispered back. I looked down and saw Adam looking at me. He didn’t look away when I met his gaze, but I went back to watching the movie anyway.

*

Lisa turned the lights back on when the movie was over, and we all groaned at the sudden brightness. Frank was leaning against me still.

“Did you like the movie?” Adam asked us.

“I thought it was pretty good,” I nodded.

“I was pretty freaked out, so I didn’t watch the last twenty minutes,” Frank laughed.

Adam smiled at him. “Well at least you didn’t scream,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Frank chuckled.

“Where’s the washroom?” he asked me.

“Just down the hall and turn left,” I told him.

“Okay. I’ll be right back,” he said.
I moved my arm from his shoulder and he stood up and went out the door. Adam got up and took his spot.

“You two are pretty close…” he grinned and nudged me.

“We’re just friends,” I smiled and rolled my eyes at him.

“You’d make a good couple though,” he said.

“He’s straight.”

“Get out!” Adam said, surprised. “I thought for sure he was gay…” he said.

“Nah, he’s straight,” I nodded.

“I bet you’re crushing on him though. Are you?” he asked with a smirk.

“No, I’m not…” I replied.

“He’s such a sweet guy. And really cute,” Adam commented.

I nodded awkwardly.

Frank was back in a minute.

“Hey, where do I sit?” he asked.

“You have to sit on Gerard’s lap,” Adam grinned.

“Nah; his legs will fall asleep,” Frank smiled at me and sat down on the floor.

“I’m kidding,” Adam said, standing up. “Have your seat back,” he said.

Frank stood up as Adam sat down on the floor. “Thanks,” he said and sat
next to me again.

*

Halfway thought the second movie, Adam tapped my leg and I leaned over to hear what he wanted to tell me.

“What?” I whispered.

“Can I sit on your lap for a few minutes?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

Adam got up and sat on my lap, leaning against my chest. I saw Frank look over at me from the corner of my eyes. It was kind of awkward because he’d never seen me get close with another guy before.

(Frank’s POV)

I was surprised when Adam sat down on Gerard’s lap. I tried not to look at them, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Adam put his arm over Gerard’s shoulder, and Gerard put his arm around Adam’s waist. As I looked at the screen, I guiltily concentrated on listening to what they were whispering about, although I could barely hear anything.

(Gerard’s POV)

“You’re so laid-back tonight…we’re usually making out by now,” Adam whispered in my ear.

“Not in front of Frank,” I whispered back.

“What, are you embarrassed to make out in front of him?” he asked.

“No, I just don’t want to make him uncomfortable,” I replied.

“One kiss?” Adam reasoned.

“All right, just one,” I nodded. Adam’s lips found mine, and our lips began moving together…

(Frank’s POV)

From the corner of my eye, I saw Adam lean in to Gerard and kiss him. It was extremely awkward for me, but I couldn’t help looking. I turned my head slightly and watched Gerard’s lips. The way he sucked on Adam’s bottom lip was something I’d never seen before. I wondered absentmindedly what it would feel like… Their kiss lasted only a few seconds, and then Adam got off of Gerard and sat down on the floor again. At least I’d been warned…

*

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank and I got into the car at around eleven o’ clock after the movie night was over, and I started driving us to his place.

“Which movie did you like better?” I asked.

“The first one,” he replied. “For multiple reasons…” he added.

I nodded, knowing what he was hinting out.

“Sorry for the awkward moment,” I said.

“It’s fine, I understand…”

“Well, did you enjoy yourself other than that?”

“Yeah, of course I did,” he laughed.

“Good. I was afraid you were bored,” I chuckled.

“Nah, I don’t get bored that easily,” he said.

“What did you think of Adam?” I asked.

“He was nice, really friendly,” Frank nodded.

“He thinks you’re really cute,” I grinned.

Frank looked at me. “Does he know I’m straight?” he asked.

“He did after I told him—when you were in the washroom.”

“Do I give off a gay vibe?” he asked.
I burst out laughing.

“Frankie, don’t worry about it—he probably just assumed you were,” I smiled.

Frank laughed, “It kind of seemed like he was flirting with me at first,” he said.

“Yeah, he obviously was,” I laughed.

“That’s so weird…” he smiled, shaking his head.

“What’s weird? That you flirted back?” I teased.

“I did not!” he laughed.

“Well you got all shy when he called you ‘cute,’” I went on.

“Well I was embarrassed,” he admitted.

“He probably thought you were flattered,” I said.

We got to Frank’s house soon and went inside.

(Frank’s POV)

“Warm at last…” I said as I kicked off my shoes at the doorway.

Gerard followed me to the living room where my dad was up watching TV.

“Hey dad,” I said.

“Hi guys, did you have fun? Where’d you go?” dad asked.

“We just went to see a movie,” I said, getting two cans of Fresca from the fridge.

“Oh, okay,” he said.

My dad was quite homophobic, so I would never tell him that Gerard and I went to a LGBT movie night. My parents didn’t even know that Gerard was gay.

“Want anything else?” I asked Gerard.

“Poptarts for sure,” he laughed.

I got a pack of Poptarts from the cupboard and then we headed to my room. Gerard put his backpack on the floor and I put the food on the bed and sat down. Gerard sat down next to me and opened a can of Fresca. I watched his lips as they closed around the edge of the can and as he took a sip.

“What?” he asked.

“What?” I asked back, dumbly.

“You were staring at me,” he laughed.

“Oh, nothing,” I shook my head and laughed, too.

“Weirdo,” he smirked.

I opened my Fresca and took a sip, and then put it down on my bedside table. I got up and got my PJs from the top drawer in my dresser.

“Are you coming to my game tomorrow?” I asked, taking off my shirt, facing away from him.

“Yeah, for sure,” he replied.

I put on the soccer t-shirt I wore to bed and then took off my jeans and put on my PJ pants over my boxers. I turned around and Gerard was looking at me.

“Perv…” I laughed, putting my dirty clothes into my laundry hamper.

Gerard smiled embarrassedly. “I wasn’t watching the whole time,” he defended.

“Only when I took off my pants?” I laughed.

“No…” he laughed.

I went back to the bed and got my can of Fresca from the bedside table.

“Do you kiss Adam all the time?” I asked, curious.

“Not all the time, but often enough,” Gerard laughed.

“Is that all you’ve done? Just kissing?” I asked.

“Why do you wanna know?”

“I’m just curious—you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I said.

“I gave a guy a hand job once,” he said.

I almost choked on my drink.

“You asked…” Gerard shrugged.

“That’s true,” I said.

“That’s all I’ve done though,” he said.
I nodded.

“Are you grossed out?” he asked.

“No, not at all.”

(Gerard’s POV)

I took another sip of my drink and noticed Frank staring at me again.

“Okay, now is when I ask: What the fuck?” I said.

“Nothing, Gerard,” he shook his head.

“You’re so weird, Frankie.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“I have no clue how to kiss,” he said, blushing a bit.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I just know,” he laughed.

“Maybe Shayna can show you. I’m sure she would if you asked her,” I said.

“What if she didn’t know how either?”

“Well it’s not hard, Frankie. When you kiss someone, you just do what feels natural…” he smiled.

“Can you show me?” he asked innocently.

I looked at him, confused. “You mean actually show you?” I asked.

“Yeah… Would that be too weird?” he asked, his cheeks going red.

“Yeah, Frankie…a little bit,” I laughed awkwardly.

“Sorry,” he bit his lip and sipped his drink again.

I was totally caught off guard by his question. He actually wanted me to kiss him. Why would he want me to kiss him?

“Wouldn’t it be weird for you, since I’m…a guy?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, of course,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry I asked—it was stupid,” he shook his head.

“Well, don’t worry about it,” I said.

(Frank’s POV)

Why did I even ask him? It was obvious that he’d say no. I was just curious to know what it was like, kissing someone. It didn’t even seem to matter to me that he was a guy. Wait. Of course it mattered! I was straight. Why would I even consider kissing Gerard? I felt so confused…

“Stop it,” Gerard suddenly said.

“I’m not doing anything,” I said.

“Yeah you are—you’re acting all weird. And you’re not talking.”

“Well what do you want to do?” I asked, opening the pack of Poptarts.

“We don’t have to do anything,” he said and took one of the Poptarts.

“So you just wanna sit here?”

“Yeah, he said, taking a bite of his Poptart.

I got up and got my laptop from my desk before sitting on the bed again.

“Well I want to do something,” I said.

“Facebook?”

“Of course,” I smiled. I signed onto Facebook and checked my updates. “New wall post from Emily,” I said and clicked on our ‘wall-to-wall’.

“What did she say?” asked Gerard.

“She wrote: ‘Frank, you skipped English! I was lonely, haha. Well, we didn’t do much so you didn’t miss anything. Later<3,’” I read aloud.

“You sit next to her?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Do you wanna go on your account?” I asked.

“Sure.”

I passed the laptop over to him and he logged on to Facebook.

“I’ve been tagged in three photos…and they probably all look like shit…” Gerard said. He clicked on the first picture, which was of him and Eric in the theatre room.

“That one’s good,” I commented.

He went to the next one, which was of him sitting outside wearing his square-framed glasses.

“Bert took this one for his photo class,” Gerard said.

“You should put that as your profile picture, I really like it.”

“Thanks, maybe I will.”

The next one was of Gerard laughing and hugging Bert.

“This was taken the same day that the one before was taken.”

“That’s a good one,” I smiled, and then yawned.

“Tired?”

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah, I’m getting there.”

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth,” I said, getting up.

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank went into the bathroom and I decided to change into my pyjamas. When I was done, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth too. Frank was finishing up when I went in, and left while I was putting toothpaste onto my toothbrush. When I finished, I went back into Frank’s room, where he was under the blankets in his bed.

I went in and got into bed next to him under the blankets. I laid there facing him, studying his face. Frank was one of the best-looking guys I knew, but I’d never told him that—I didn’t want to freak him out.

I thought about kissing him…about what it would be like… But then I didn’t want things to be weird between us afterwards. Maybe he was curious about his sexuality, and that was why he wanted to kiss me. He was so confusing.

“Now it’s my turn to ask: What the fuck?” he smiled.

I chuckled lightly. “I was just thinking,” I said.

“About what?”

“Nothing much.”

“Liar…” Frank laughed.

“Do you still want me to show you how to kiss?”

(Frank’s POV)

I stared blankly at Gerard for a moment. “Is that an offer?” I asked.

“Yeah. Are you still interested?”

“Yeah…”

“All right...”he said. Gerard moved a bit closer to me and leaned in slowly.
My heart was racing as I felt his breath on my lips.

“Wait. You have to promise me something,” he said, just as our lips were about to touch.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Promise me that you won’t get weird after.”

“I promise.”

A second later, Gerard’s lips were on mine and my lips parted, letting his tongue into my mouth. I felt a sudden rush of pleasure go through my body as his lips began to move more urgently against mine. My heart skipped a beat when he started sucking on my bottom lips gently… It felt amazing.

Gerard suddenly pulled back and I saw that my saliva was all over his mouth and even on his chin.

“I’m so sorry…” I blushed and laughed a bit, wiping his chin with my hand.

Gerard smiled back. “It’s totally fine, Frankie. You’re doing great. Just try to use your tongue more,” he said.
I nodded and eagerly began kissing him again, gliding my tongue along his lower lips and over the tips of his teeth.

“Yeah…like…that,” Gerard breathed out between kisses.

I’d never felt so sexually attracted to anyone before… I was just hoping and praying that I didn’t get a boner. I decided to stop before I did get one, so I pulled away.

I looked at Gerard and he looked back at me with this expression on his face that I had never seen before. It was an intense look…maybe lust.

“Was I okay?” I asked.

“You were really good,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” I smiled back.

(Gerard’s POV)

I looked at Frank and couldn’t believe that we had just made out. He really seemed to enjoy it.

“How was it for you?” I asked.

“I thought you were really good, too.”
I smiled.

“Let’s sleep,” he said.

I nodded and he reached over and turned off the lamp.

***

(Frank’s POV)

I opened my eyes the next morning and saw Gerard lying next to me, still asleep. It was then that I started freaking out. I remembered from the night before that I’d felt sexually attracted to him, and what freaked me out was the fact that I still felt that way.

I didn’t know how I would be able to talk to him normally now. The strange thing was that at the time, I didn’t feel weird around him. Well now I was screwed because I’d promised him that I wouldn’t get ‘weird’ about it. I looked at the clock. It was eleven thirty. I decided to go get some breakfast.

(Gerard’s POV)

I woke up at noon and sat up in bed. Frank had already gotten up, so I went out into the living room to see if he was there. He was sitting on the couch watching MuchMusic.

“Hey, Frankie,” I said, sitting on the couch across from him.

“Hey,” he replied, barely even looking at me.

“Did you eat?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, not looking away from the TV.

“What did you have?

“Cereal,” he shrugged.

I got up from the couch and got myself a bowl of cereal from the kitchen also. I sat down again and Frank got up.

“I’m going to change,” he said, tossing the remote beside me on the couch.

I stared at him as he left the room and suddenly it hit me: He was getting ‘weird’. My appetite disappeared. I got up and put my bowl into the sink before heading back down the hall to his room. I knocked on the door.

“Can I come in?” I asked.

I waited for a second until Frank opened the door. He already had his shorts and jersey on, and held his socks in one hand. I went in and shut the door behind me.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Nothing’s the matter,” he said defensively, concentrating on pulling up his socks.

“Are you getting weird about last night?”

Frank didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself.

“Fuck, Frank. You promised you wouldn’t,” I said, frustrated.

“I know I did…” he said quietly.

“So what now?”

Frank began lacing up his cleats silently.

“Are you just going to stop talking to me? Stop hanging out with me?” I asked.

Once again, I got no reply.

I couldn’t believe it. I was losing my best friend over a fucking kiss.

“This is so ridiculous, Frank,” I said, feeling a lump rise in my throat. “It was just a fucking kiss!” I said, raising my voice as I started to get more upset. “Just get over it,” I said.

“I don’t think things could ever be normal between us again. I just can’t do it. I really thought I could…” Frank finally spoke.

I bit my lip hard as I fought back tears, and then quickly grabbed my backpack and stormed out of the house.

(Frank’s POV)

I heard the front door slam and Gerard’s car start outside the house. The tears I’d been holding back overflowed down my cheeks, and I curled up into a ball on my bed. I cried my eyes out on my pillow, knowing that my best friend was gone, and that I had pushed him away because I was insecure.

***2 Weeks Later***

(Gerard’s POV)

I was getting sick of everyone asking, “Why aren’t you and Frank talking to each other?” I just told them that we’d had an argument and he decided he didn’t want to be friends with me anymore. I didn’t say what the argument was about, just to spare him the embarrassment.

I’d been hanging out with Bert a lot lately, and I was getting to know him better. Frank and I had a lot of mutual friends, so I saw him quite a bit. However, I hadn’t talked to him since that morning at his house. I’d heard that he and Shayna were going out now. I wasn’t surprised that he’d find someone to replace me so quickly. I was so angry at him. How could he feel okay throwing a five-year friendship away over a fucking kiss? It was ridiculous to me. But I couldn’t force him to be friends with me. He obviously didn’t care for me anymore, so I was trying to forget about him, too, although it was extremely difficult. We used to do everything together—it was always “Gerard and Frank.” Now it was as if we’d never been best friends…

(Frank’s POV)
I hated seeing Gerard with Bert—they were literally inseparable now that I was out of the picture. I would often read their wall posts to each other on Facebook, just out of curiosity and jealousy. Why was I such an idiot? Gerard meant a lot to me. Why had I lied to him? It was because I didn’t have the guts to tell him the truth.
I couldn’t tell him that I was in love with him.

I’d started dating Shayna just to see if my feelings for Gerard would suddenly disappear, but it was hopeless. I didn’t even feel anything for Shayna. All I thought about was Gerard. But if I was still friends with him, things would have been so awkward for me… I wouldn’t have been able to stay sane, being so close to him all the time and not being able to tell him how I felt out of fear of rejection, and embarrassment. When I’d kissed him, it was like I finally found myself, and I didn’t want to admit it to myself, or to Gerard, so I pushed him away, hoping my feelings would leave with him. I was too much of a coward to actually talk to him about it.

I was sitting in the theatre room with Shayna and Kim that day during lunch. The girls were talking and I couldn’t stop glancing over at Gerard, Bert and Chloe as they sat down on the couches, talking and laughing. I was so jealous of Bert—he had his arm over Gerard’s shoulder. They seemed to be getting really close and it really pissed me off.

“Frank, the bell rang,” Shayna laughed, bringing me back to reality.

“Oh, right,” I smiled, getting up. “See you later,” I said to Shayna. I gave her a quick kiss before heading off to my next class.

***1 Week Later***

(Gerard’s POV)

I was in the theatre room at lunch as usual that Friday. I was waiting for Bert, while sitting on the couch. Frank was sitting on the floor across the room with Shayna and Kim as usual. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was happier without me. I tried not to miss him because he was such an asshole for tossing away our friendship over something so small. I would never have done that to him.

“Hey Gerard,” Chloe smiled and sat down next to me.

“Hey,” I smiled back.

“What’s up?”

“Not much, just waiting for Bert.”

“Oh, I just saw him in the hall a second ago.”

“There he is,” I smiled, watching Bert walk through the door.

“Hey guys,” he smiled sitting down next to me.

“Hey. How’d you do on the math test?” I asked.

“I got 72%,” Bert grinned.

“Yeah! High five,” I said, holding up my hand to high-five him.

“Yeah, I was so surprised because I usually get like, in the 60s on math tests,” Bert said.

“I knew you’d do well,” I smiled.

“And of course Frank got like 94%...” Bert rolled his eyes, jealous. “How is he so smart?” he added.

I shrugged. “I guess he just is,” I said.

“He’s in my English class and he gets like, 100% on everything. It’s ridiculous,” Chloe said.

“Hey, do you guys wanna walk to Starbucks?” I asked, eager to get off the topic of Frank.

“Sure,” Bert replied.

“I would go, but I have to study for a test I have next block,” Chloe said.

“Okay, we’ll see you later then,” I said, standing up.

Bert and I left the theatre room and headed outside.

“So, I have another photo assignment…” Bert started.

“Yeah, and…” I said, although I knew what was coming.

“I was wondering if you could be my amazing model again,” he smiled.

I looked at him and made a face. “Model? Psht, I’m no model, Bert,” I laughed.

“Why not?”

“Do I look like Alex Evans to you?” I rolled my eyes.

“Even better than him.”

“Yeah, right,” I blushed.

“Especially your eyes—you have way nicer eyes than Alex Evans,” he said.

I looked at him. “Seriously?”

“Fuck yeah,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” I smiled back.

As we walked to Starbucks, my mind was going crazy thinking about Bert. He was always so sweet to me, always complimenting me and always wanting to be around me… I think I was beginning to like him in a more-than-friendly sort of way. It was obvious that he liked to flirt with me and all, but I wondered if he had a crush on me, too.

***

(Frank’s POV)

I felt like such a loser. I had nothing to do on a Saturday night except for look at pictures that Bert took of Gerard on Facebook. Bert had just posted the pictures a few minutes earlier, but if looked like they’d been taken the day before; Gerard was wearing the same clothes from Friday. There were 21 photos in the album and I looked at all of them, reading the comments on them as well. On one of the photos, Bert commented: “Gerard, you’re gorgeous,” and Gerard replied, “Thank youu <3” He was gorgeous. I stared at the picture for a good 5 minutes, taking in his features. I never really got to look at him anymore since I didn’t see him as much. To say that I missed him would be the understatement of the year. I hated how Bert flirted with him so much…

(Gerard’s POV)

It was Saturday night and I decided to go on Facebook. Four people were online: Chloe, Emily, Matt and Frank. I was disappointed that Bert wasn’t online. Chloe started a conversation with me a minute later.

Chloe says: hey Gerard

Gerard says: hey, what’s up??

Chloe says: nm, you? Oh, I have something to tell u btw

Gerard says: same. What do you want to tell me?

Chloe says: just a sec…

Gerard says: k…

A moment later, Bert came online. I smiled to myself and started talking to him.

Gerard says: Bert!

Bert says: Gerard! How r ya?

Gerard says: I’m great, u?

Bert says: Pretty good

Chloe says: okay nvm about what I was gonna tell u.

Gerard says: that’s no fair! Lol

Chloe says: I have a question for you

Gerard says: ok

Chloe says: do you like Bert?

Gerard says: why…lol

Chloe says: nothing. You don’t have to answer lol

Gerard says: if I said yes, would u tell him?

Chloe says: can’t promise I wouldn’t tbh lol

Gerard says: lol…

Chloe says: it’s okay, don’t answer

Gerard says: you still there Bert?

Bert says: yeah

Gerard says: I would tell u if you promised not to say ne thing to him

Chloe says: well it’s obviously yes then…lol

Gerard says: not necessarily…

Chloe says: sure…

Gerard says: are you talking to Bert right now?

Chloe says: yeah

Gerard says: Oh. He’s being so quiet…

Gerard says: wake up Bert :)

Bert says: sry, I’m checking emails

Gerard says: oh, I see

Gerard says: do you know if Bert likes me??

Chloe says: not sure. Want me to ask?

Gerard says: okay, but don’t say “Gerard wants to know” lol

Chloe says: okay, I won’t

Bert says: okay I gtg now Gerard

Gerard says: aww, ok bye. Ttyl

Bert says: bye xox

Bert went offline after that, and I smiled at the “xox” he had written.

Chloe says: he said, “yeah, a lot”

Gerard says: he actually said that??

Chloe says: yeah!!

Gerard says: omg :) did he know u were gonna tell me what he said?

Chloe says: yeah, that’s why he went offline lol. He was embarrassed.

Gerard says: really?? Omg he’s so cute lol

Chloe says: you two would make a great couple… :)

Gerard says: I’ve never asked anyone out before! I’d be so scared lol

Chloe says: aww, well I guess he’d have to ask then, haha

Gerard says: I would hope so :)

Chloe says: ok I gotta go. See you Monday

Gerard says: see ya!

Chloe went offline and I thought about talking to Frank… But then I changed my mind because he would have just ignored me. I got up from the computer chair and lay down on my bed. Bert actually liked me! I was so happy—liked him quite a bit also. So now he knew that I knew that he liked me, but he didn’t know that I liked him, too. Monday was going to be interesting.

***Monday***

(Frank’s POV)

I’d made up my mind—I was breaking up with Shayna that day. I found her at her locker before the morning bell rang.

“Hey, Frankie,” she smiled happily when she saw me.

“Hey Shayna,” I smiled back. She hugged me momentarily and I hugged back. “Okay, there’s something I need to tell you,” I began.

Her face became a serious expression.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Okay, well I really like you, Shay, but I think we should just be friends,” I told her.

She looked at me silently for a moment. “Why? What’s so different now than from three weeks ago?” she asked.

“I’m different, Shay. I just don’t feel like we connect that much anymore. It has nothing to do with your personality or anything, and I’m trying so hard to say this so no feelings get hurt.”

To my surprise, Shayna smiled.

“Look, I understand. I actually was starting to feel the same way. Let’s go back to being just friends?”

“Yeah, of course,” I smiled.

We hugged again and then went to class when the bell rang.

*

(Gerard’s POV)

“Have you seen Bert yet today?” Chloe asked as I sat down next to her in social studies class.

“No, not yet,” I smiled.

“Well, just to let you know, he kinda knows you like him…”

“Ah, whatever,” I shrugged.

“Okay, good. I thought you’d be mad,” she smiled.

“Nah, at least I didn’t have to tell him myself.”

Mr. Miller introduced a new project to the class.

“You will be working in groups of four for this assignment…” he finished.

“Okay, we need to find two more people…” Chloe said as everyone started getting up and looking for groups of four. Most people already had their groups, so Mr. Miller came over to Chloe and I.

“Alright, you two can join with Frank and Sean,” he said, pointing across the room.

Frank and I made awkward eye contact for a moment, but he quickly looked away.

“I can’t fucking work with him, Chloe…” I whispered as Frank and Sean brought their chairs over and sat down with Chloe and I at our desks.

“Hey guys,” Chloe said cheerily.

“Hey,” Frank smiled at her.

Sean just mumbled a ‘hi’ under his breath.

Chloe organized everyone’s tasks and we all got to work soon. I couldn’t help looking at Frank every second—he looked different, in a way. I felt like I barely knew him anymore. He didn’t look at me once.

“So Frank, how are things with you and Shay?” Chloe asked.

“Oh…we actually broke up this morning,” he said, not looking up from his work.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s too bad,” Chloe said.

“We’re still friends though,” Frank said.

“Wow, Frank—you’re a bitch,” I blurted out suddenly.

Everyone in the group looked at me oddly.

“What the fuck?” Frank said.

“You’re a smart boy; you’ll figure it out…” I said.

“You make no sense at all…” Frank muttered.

(Frank’s POV)

So Gerard thought I was a bitch. That was just great. The one person that actually meant something to me thought I was a bitch. And why? It was because I was still friends with Shayna but not with him. He didn’t understand how different the situations were though. It wasn’t easy to accept that I might be bi-sexual. And I didn’t want anyone to know. I hated working with him. I felt so awkward and disliked around him.

*

(Gerard’s POV)

I was glad when the lunch bell finally rang. I walked with Chloe to the theatre room where Bert was sitting in front of the light board. I went up behind him as quietly as I could.

“Gerard, I can see you in the computer screen,” Bert said.

“Damn,” I laughed.

Bert stood up and shook his head at me. “Nice try though,” he smiled.

“Were you busy?”

“No, just finishing up some programming for Metfest,” he said.

“Sounds fun…” I chuckled.

“Oh, it is,” he winked.

We went over to the couch and sat down with Chloe. Bert casually put his arm over my shoulder and I leaned against him slightly.

“So, Bert, guess who Gerard and I have to work with on our socials project…” said Chloe.

“Hmm…Frank?” Bert replied quickly.

“Yeah. Pretty obvious, I know,” she said.

“Did you talk to him at all today?” Bert asked me.

“Sort of…” I laughed.

Chloe chuckled and Bert just looked at us, confused.

What do you mean?” he asked.

“Gerard called Frank a bitch,” Chloe explained.

“You did? How come?” Bert asked.

“Hard to explain… I feel kinda bad about it though,” I said.

“Ah, he probably deserved it,” Bert grinned.

“Maybe,” I smiled at him.

“So…are you busy Friday night?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Nope. Do you wanna hang out?” I replied.

“Yeah, I was thinking we could go see a movie,” he suggested.

“Sounds good,” I nodded.

***Friday***

“We’re fifteen minutes early,” Bert said as we walked up the aisle of the movie theatre. We sat down in one of the back rows. There weren’t many other people in the theatre—maybe only ten.

“I love it when the theatre’s practically empty,” I said.

“Yeah, so do I,” Bert agreed. “So…” he said after a while of silence.

“Yeah…?” I laughed.

“You know that I like you, right?” he said shyly as he smiled at me.

I blushed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, do you like me?” he asked.

“Yeah, I do. Didn’t Chloe tell you?”

“She did, but I just wanted to be sure,” Bert said.

“Oh, okay,” I nodded again. I was so nervous and embarrassed now that we were actually talking about it.

“Gerard,” Bert spoke.

I looked at him and waited for him to continue.

“Would you, um…be my boyfriend?” he asked nervously.

I felt my cheeks flush again and my heart skip a beat. Bert had just asked me to be his boyfriend!

“Yeah, definitely,” I smiled at him.

Bert looked relieved when I finally answered, and he smiled back at me. “I’m happy you said yes.”

“I’m happy you asked,” I chuckled.

We talked until the previews came on, and when the movie started, Bert held my hand. I felt really happy with him, and was glad that my first boyfriend was so sweet.

***

(Frank’s POV)

I was woken up suddenly on Sunday morning when my mom burst into my bedroom yelling at me.

“We have to leave in fifteen minutes, Frank! Get up!” she yelled, standing in the doorway.

I sat up and looked at my digital alarm clock that I’d forgotten to set. It was 11:30 in the morning and I had to leave for my soccer game soon.

“Well don’t just sit there!” mom yelled before walking away down the hall.

I put on my soccer gear and that only took five minutes, so I went on Facebook. When I logged on, my mouth fell open as I read the first item on my “News Feed.” It said: “Gerard Way is in a relationship with Robert McCracken.”

I was pissed. I was jealous.

I quickly shut my laptop as my eyes welled up with hot tears. I missed Gerard so much, and it really hurt to know that he didn’t miss me. He probably never thought about me. After all, I was just a bitch to him, anyway.

I dried my eyes and headed outside to the car where my mom was waiting for me in the driveway. I got into the front seat and shut the door as mom started the engine.

“Dad had to work today,” she said.

“Of course he did…” I sighed.

Kate was whining about something in the back seat and mom told her to be a good girl before turning back to me.

“You know how busy he is with this new project, Frankie…” she said.

I nodded. My dad was an architect and he worked really long hours at the office, plus he worked overtime—like today.

“Were you rubbing your eyes? They’re all red,” mom said as we stopped at an intersection.

“Yeah, a bit…” I lied, looking in the mirror above my head.

“You shouldn’t do that,” mom said.
I nodded again.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Gerard dating Bert. Why him? They’d never really been good friends before, and now there were suddenly going out. It was weird. And I didn’t like Bert one bit.

***Two Weeks Later***

(Gerard’s POV)

Socials class was a bore. And it was only Monday… But there was one good thing—winter break was the following two weeks! I was so excited. Bert and I were planning on hanging out a lot over the break.
After Mr. Miller gave his lesson, he told the class to work on questions from the textbook.

“What did you get for number two?” I asked Chloe.

“Here…” she said and showed me her sheet of paper which had her answer on it.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

I jumped slightly when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and saw that I had one new text-message from Bert. It read: “Starbucks at lunch? xox – Bert”

I smiled and texted back: “Yeah. I so need a latte right now, lol. xo.”
I put my phone on my desk.

“Was that Bert who texted you?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, it was.”

My phone vibrated again and I read Bert’s message: “lol, well I’m doing lights in the theatre room right now so meet me there, k?”

I texted back: “ok, sure. See you in 15.”

“Did you guys hang out this weekend?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, we hung out on Saturday. We went to Chapters and then had lunch.”

“Aww, that sounds like a good date,” she smiled.

“Yeah, it was. I had a good time. I didn’t buy anything at Chapters, although I saw this book from “Oprah’s Book Club” that I really wanted to get.”

“Oh really? What book is it”

“It’s called A Million Little Pieces, and it’s about a drug addict who goes to rehab. It sounded really interesting,”’ I explained.

“Cool. Well, Christmas is coming up…” she smiled.

“Yeah…” I smiled back.

“I’m so excited for Christmas,” she said.

“I’m excited for the two weeks off, but not for Christmas.”

“Why?”

“Because I have to spend Christmas with my dad this year…”

“Oh, I see,” she nodded.

“And he lives in Seattle, so I won’t get to see Bert for a few days.”

“Aww, that really sucks.” Chloe said.

When the lunchtime announcements came on the PA, I packed up my stuff and put my messenger bag over my shoulder. Everyone stood at the door as we waited for the bell to ring.

“Gerard,” I heard someone say.
I turned around and saw Frank standing there. He held out a textbook to me.

“You forgot this on your desk,” he said, handing the book to me. I took it.

“Thanks,” I said.

Frank nodded, somewhat nervously, and walked away. I was so shocked that he’d actually voluntarily spoken to me. It had been a long time since he’d done that. I missed talking to him.

The bell rang a second later and I went to my locker with Chloe before heading to the theatre room with her. Bert was testing lights at the computer when we walked in.. I went over to him and kneeled down beside his chair.

“Oh, hey Gerard,” he smiled down at me.

“Hey,” I smiled back. He leaned over and kissed me quickly before finishing up on the light board.

“Okay, let’s go now,” he said, standing up. I stood up and followed him outside to his car.

(Frank’s POV)

It made me sick to my stomach seeing Bert kiss Gerard, and how Gerard was always so happy to see him. I knew I shouldn’t have been feeling such hate towards Bert, but I couldn’t help it. I kept telling myself to feel happy because Gerard was happy, and I wanted him to be happy.

I thought about how he’d looked at me silently when I’d given him his textbook after socials class. He’d been so caught off guard that I’d actually spoken to him. I’d actually been nervous to talk to him because I knew he probably didn't like me much anymore after how I’d treated him before.

But I’d been even more nervous because I loved him. I didn’t want to look stupid around him.

“Frank, you’re so quiet these days,” Shayna said as we sat in the theatre room.

“I know…it’s just…there’s a bunch of stuff going on…” I said.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Thanks, but I don’t really want to. Even though I probably should…”

Shayna nodded and smiled understandingly. “You’d feel better if you did, though. I’m sure of it,” she said.

I just smiled and shrugged, “I dunno…”

***

(Gerard’s POV)

On Wednesday after school I stayed in the theatre room while Bert set up the audio for the band and choir concert that was happening that evening.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” I asked him as he walked by me for the hundredth time.

“I’m sure, babe,” he laughed and plugged some cord into the amp.

“I feel like I’m just taking up space,” I said.

“Well I’m almost done down here and then we can go up to the sound booth cause I have to check the lights.”

“Okay.”

Bert finished setting up the mics and then we went up to the sound booth. He sat down on a stood in front of the light board and I sat down on a stool next to him.

“How do you understand that stuff?” I asked, looking at the blur of green numbers on the computer screen.

“Practice,” he said with a smile.

“Do you know what? Frank talked to me today,” I told him.

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. I’d forgotten my textbook on my desk and he came over to me and was like, “Gerard, you forgot this,” and I just said, “Thanks,” because I didn’t know what else to say…” I explained.

“Well what else would you have said?”

“Oh, I dunno. Maybe, “How are you?” or something… Or, “Class was pretty boring today, hey?””

“Well, you can always talk to him tomorrow, Gerard,” Bert said.
I watched a purple light go on above the stage.

“I know, but I don’t wanna go up to him randomly… It doesn’t even matter, anyway. He’s the one who stopped talking to me.”

“Exactly. So you shouldn’t worry about it. He’s probably realizing that it was a shitty thing to do.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I nodded.

Bert hopped off his stool and went over to the couch behind us and sat down.

“You’re done?” I asked.

“Yep. Just needed to make sure the programming was still right.”

“Okay…” I laughed. “I’m just going to pretend that I know what you mean…”

Bert smiled and patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Come sit,” he said.

I got off the stood and sat down next to him.

“Wanna watch something?” he asked, nodding towards the TV.

“Sure. There’s probably not much on, though.”

Bert switched on the TV and went to the listings channel.

“Oh, it’s 4:07—Oprah’s on,” I said.

“I didn’t know you watch Oprah,” Bert said, turning to channel eleven.

“Yeah, all the time. Remember that book I saw in Chapters on Saturday? I heard about it on Oprah,” I said.

“Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you know,” I smiled.

Bert leaned closer to me and kissed me, letting his lips linger against mine for a moment before he pulled back slightly. I closed the small gap between our lips again and kissed him, more urgently this time. Neither of us pulled back this time, and I parted my lips. Bert then did the same and I felt his tongue on mine, slowly moving around the corners of my mouth. I ran my own tongue along the tips of his teeth, and then along his bottom lip. My breathing hitched in my throat as I felt his hand on my thigh, and I pulled back to take a breath. Bert moved his hand away from my leg and I blushed a little.

“You’re a good kisser,” he told me.

“So are you,” I said.

He kissed me again and I started sucking on his bottom lip. I took his hand and put it on my thigh like before, and he moved it to my hip, which was just as good. This was the first time we were making out, and I was enjoying it so far. We made out for about five more minutes before we decided to go get something to eat.

***One Week Later***

Bert and I were in his room, lying down on his bed together, talking.

“So, four days until the dreaded journey to Seattle…” I sighed as I faced Bert on the bed.

“So you have to spend Christmas Eve there, too?” he asked.

“Yeah, my mom told me that today. I have to spend the whole day there. And she’s the one who suggested it, too.”

“That really sucks, Gerard…”

“Yeah, it does,” I agreed.

Bert brushed my hair from my face with his fingers and I smiled.

“I really wish I could spend Christmas with you, babe,” he said softly.

I moved closer to him and buried my face against his chest. He put his arm over me and rubbed my back soothingly.

“I’ll be texting you like, every second. I don’t even care that it’s long distance,” I laughed into his shirt.

Bert chuckled. “Of course.”

(Frank’s POV)

I’d been thinking about what Shayna had told me about talking about my problems, and I figured I should give it a try. I decided to go to the youth centre that Gerard went to, and talk to one of the youth leaders there. When I walked into the centre there were about eight kids there, and Derek, the youth leader, was there. I was about to go over to him when someone called out, “Hey, I know you.”

I turned and saw Adam, the kid I’d met when I’d gone to the movie night with Gerard.

“Oh, hey,” I smiled and waved.

“Come here,” Adam said.

I went over to him where he sat down on a couch.

“You’re Frank, right? Gerard’s friend?”

“Yeah. Well, I’m not really friends with Gerard anymore…”

“How come?” Adam asked.

“It’s a long story…” I chuckled.

He nodded. “Well, what brings you here?”

I sighed and sat down next to him.

“I’m just, well…confused, I guess…”

“You think you might be gay?”

“Well, I’m still into girls…”

“So, bi-sexual?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Do you find some guys sexually attractive?”

“Sure…” I admitted awkwardly.

“Do you feel like you have a strong emotional connection with some guys?”

“Yeah, definitely…” I replied, thinking of Gerard.

“Well, you’re most likely bi-sexual then,” Adam concluded.

“That’s all there is to it?” I asked.

“Well, yeah,” he laughed.

(Gerard’s POV)

I was so glad to come home from my dad’s place after Christmas. He’d had his annoying girlfriend there the whole time and I’d really missed Bert. I’d invited him over that day, Boxing Day, while my mom was out shopping. He’d been over for a couple hours now, and we were in my room listening to music and talking.

“Wow, I’m so glad Metfest is over. I was so busy that week…” Bert said.

“Yeah, you had to stay after school every day that week,” I said, sitting down next to him on my bed.

Bert smiled and pulled me onto his lap. “That’s better,” he said.

I smiled and kissed him deeply, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Bert put his arms around me and trailed his hand up the back of my shirt slowly, making me shiver slightly at the feeling.

At the worst possible time, my bedroom door suddenly flew open and my mom stood there for a moment, shocked, before closing the door quickly. I got off of Bert and stood there processing what had just happened.

“Well, this really sucks…” I said, biting my thumbnail.

Bert’s cheeks were flushed from embarrassment as he sat on my bed and nodded in agreement.

“Do you think she’ll get mad at you?”

“I dunno…maybe. I didn’t tell her I have a boyfriend…”

Bert raised an eyebrow at me, surprised. “Well that’s even worse then,” he said.

“I know…” I said, pacing the room.

“I guess maybe I should go then…” Bert said.

“I really don’t want you to go…” I whined, sitting down on my bed next to him.

“I know, baby,” he said. He kissed my cheek and then stood up. “I don’t want to upset your mom even more by staying.” He really looked worried.

I nodded and stood up. “Yeah, I guess,” I sighed.

Bert smiled at me and we kissed for a moment before we left my room to go down to the front door.

“I’ll call you later,” I said as he walked down the porch steps.

“Okay, talk to you later.”

I closed the door and went upstairs to the kitchen, where my mom appeared to be waiting for me.

“Sit down,” she told me sternly.

I sat down on one of the stools at the counter and waited for the lecture to begin.

“When were you planning on telling me you have a boyfriend?” she asked.

“I dunno…” I shrugged.

“So then you weren’t planning on telling me?”

“I just didn’t think it was that important.”

“Well, it is that important, Gerard. I need to know what you’re up to, and I need to make sure you’re safe. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“What’s his name?”

“Bert.”

She nodded. “How long have you been seeing him?”

“Almost a month.”

“Does he go to your school?”

“Yeah, but he’s a year older.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “And I’d really like you to ask me before you invite your friends over next time,” she said.

“Okay, sorry.”

“And I know you guys are teenage boys, and you’re going to get curious about sex and whatnot, but just remember to keep it safe, okay? Have you been sexually active with Bert?” she asked.

My face went all hot as I became embarrassed by the topic of my sex life.

“No, we haven’t done anything…” I told her.

“Okay, but just know that you don’t even have to do anything you’re not ready for. Talk to Bert about it before you rush into anything. I’m going to give you some condoms in case you decide to have oral sex, because you always need a condom for oral sex. You can get infections if you’re not protected. Understand?” she went on.

“Yeah… We learned all this in health class…” I said.

“Well, I’m just reminding you of it. I want you to be safe,” she smiled.

I nodded and stood up. “Can I go?” I asked.

“Sure,” she nodded.

***Two Weeks Later***

(Frank’s POV)

It was the second Monday in January. School had been back in session for a week now, and there was only one month left in the first semester. In semester two, I had PE with Gerard… That was going to be interesting. I didn’t have a very eventful winter break. I had to babysit Kate on New Year’s Eve while my parents were at a party, so I didn’t get to go to this party that some guys from my soccer team were having.

On Facebook, Gerard had put up pictures he took at Bert’s house on New Year’s Eve, and from what I saw, they had a good time. I was super jealous of Bert. It should have been me that Gerard spent New Year’s Eve with. Not Bert. And now at school they were always cuddling on the couch in the theatre room, and kissing and laughing… I couldn’t help noticing how happy Gerard seemed.

I wasn’t happy at all.

I wanted so badly to be friends with Gerard again. I would try my hardest not to think about my feelings for him, and try to apologize to him. It was going to be so hard to do that, but I was determined.

The whole time in socials class that day, my mind was racing to think of how I was going to apologize to Gerard after class, and when the bell rang, my stomach was turning with nervousness.

Gerard was with Chloe as usual, packing up his stuff. I took a deep breath and walked over to them

“Hey,” I said as I stood in front of his desk.

“Hey, Frank…” he said, sounding somewhat confused as to why I was talking to him. Chloe looked surprised, too.

“Um, I was just wondering if I could, like, talk to you for a bit… if you’re not busy right now…” I said, looking directly at Gerard, for once.

“Uh, sure, I’m not busy,” he said.

“I’ll tell Bert you’ll meet him later,” Chloe said to Gerard as she walked away.

“Okay, thanks Chloe,” Gerard said.
The classroom was now empty except for Mr. Miller, who was working at his desk.

“So, what is it?” Gerard asked patiently.

“I just wanted to say sorry…for everything… And I don’t expect you to forgive me for anything, but I just wanted to let you know that the reason I stopped talking to you had nothing to do with me not liking you or something…it was just that I was so…insecure, and I wasn’t thinking… I feel really, really bad, Gerard, and I really am sorry,” I explained.

“But I don’t understand why it was so hard to talk to me after that. It’s not like we did anything really major…” Gerard said.

I sighed. “I don’t know, Gerard…” I said. I bit my lips and tried to force back the tears that I felt coming, but failed at my attempt as I felt them roll down my cheeks. I looked down at my feet and wiped them away, even though Gerard had already seen them. I suddenly felt his arms wrap around me and I hugged him back.

“I’m not mad at you or anything, Frankie,” he whispered.

I nodded against him.

“Let’s just forget about everything that happened—start over.”

“That sounds really good,” I managed to chuckle as we let go of each other.

Gerard smiled at me. “I really missed you,” he said.

“Really?”

“You seem surprised,” he laughed.

“I am… You didn’t seem like you missed me.”

“Well, you didn’t seem like you missed me,” he pointed out.

“But I did miss you a ton, also.”

“Well I guess things aren’t always as they seem.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess not.”

“Anyway, we have so much to catch up on! Do you realize that?” he asked.

“Yeah! We’re going to have to hang out really soon.”

“Why don’t you come and hang out with me, Bert and Chloe in the theatre room?” Gerard suggested.

I hesitated for a moment.

“You don’t want to hang out with Bert, is that it?” he laughed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, but I’m just not a big fan of him… Well, I guess I’ll just suck it up today.”

“Okay, thank you,” Gerard smiled.

(Gerard’s POV)

It was really annoying how Frank didn’t like Bert, because now he was so unwilling to hang out with me because of him. When we got to the theatre room, Chloe was shocked to see us walk in together.

“Are you guys friends again?” she grinned hopefully.

“Yeah, we talked and it’s all good now,” I smiled.

“Aww, that’s great, you guys,” she smiled and hugged us both.

“Where’s Bert?” I asked, sitting down on the couch next to Frank.

“I actually have no clue… He was here earlier though,” Chloe replied.

“So how was your Christmas and New Year’s?” Frank asked.

“My Christmas was horrible, but my New Year’s Eve was amazing,” I said.

“What happened on Christmas?” he asked.

“I was at my dad’s place…self-explanatory,” I laughed. Frank knew that I didn’t really get along with my dad.

“Aww, that sucks. What did your mom do then?” he asked.

“She spent Christmas with my aunt,” I replied.

“Oh, I see. Well on New Year’s Eve I had to babysit Kate, so that wasn’t much fun really,” Frank said.

“Did you just watch the countdown on TV and stuff?” I asked.

“Yeah, I let Kate stay up until midnight and then we watched the countdown, and then I put her to bed and watched a movie cause I still felt so awake,” he said.

“That sounds so relaxing,” I laughed.

“More like so boring…” he laughed, too. “So what did you do on New Year’s Eve?” he asked.

“I went to Bert’s house and his family was there, and we played capture the flag outside with his cousins who are like seven, eight years old. It was pretty fun,” I told him.

“Sounds a lot better than what I did,” he smiled.

I looked towards the door and saw Bert walk into the room.

“Where have you been?” I smiled at him.

“I was in the photo room. Did you miss me?” he smiled back, putting his backpack on the floor.

“Of course I did. What were you working on?” I asked.

“Just editing for a project,” he said, glancing at Frank. “Are you guys speaking again?” he asked.

“Yep, we are,” I smiled.

“Great,” he smiled back, on the verge of sarcasm.

I frowned at Bert and he went over to the light board. I looked at Frank.

“I don’t think he likes me either…” he whispered to me.

I shrugged. “I dunno, but it sucks.”
“Bert, what are you doing?” I called to him as he fiddled with switches on the light board.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“Well why don’t you come sit down then…” I said.

“Just gimme a minute, babe…” he said.

I rolled my eyes and Frank snorted quietly. I grinned at him and shook my head.

“Do you wanna watch movies with me, Bert and Chloe this weekend?” I asked him.

“Well, I would…” Frank began, and I knew fully well what the problem was.

“Well come on, Frankie, it’s not like you have to talk to him,” I whispered.

Frank nodded slowly. “I’m going to have to think about it,” he said. “I’m sorry if I’m sounding like a bitch for not liking Bert…” he added quietly.

I smiled. “Well, it is unfortunate, but it’s not like I can force you to like someone, so it’s fine.”

Frank nodded. “So are you guys going to your house?”

“Yeah, we’re just gonna rent some movies and stay up late.”

“Sweet, sounds fun,” he smiled.

*

(Frank’s POV)

After school I went home and sat down in front of my laptop, on Facebook as usual. I was sitting on my bed, thinking about Gerard’s invitation. I was frustrated because I really wanted to hang out with him, but I felt so uncomfortable around Bert. It made me super jealous and pissed off just knowing that Bert was close with Gerard in a way that I would ever be. I’d been friends with Gerard first, and for a longer time than Bert had been friends with him, and still they seemed like they’d known each other for years. It wasn’t fair.

(Gerard’s POV)

I was at Bert’s house after school, doing homework while he edited photos on his computer.

“So how come you’re friends with Frank again?” he asked.

“Because he apologized to me. And because we’d been friends for so long before all this,” I replied, erasing a misspelled word on the worksheet I was doing.

“You must really like him…”

“Why do you say that?”

“You forgave him so easily, even though he treated you like shit.”

“Well, I dunno…I was never really angry at him; mostly frustrated that such a little thing turned into us not speaking for months,” I explained.

“So yeah, it wasn’t that hard to forgive him,” I finished.

“What was the reason for him not talking to you, anyway?” Bert asked, turning his chair to face me.

I shook my head. “Nothing…” I said quickly.

“Why don’t you want to tell me? It’s over now anyway…” he said.

“I know, but it’s just kind of…personal. I don’t think it needs to be discussed…” I explained.

Bert raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s that personal?”

“Well…yeah…” I said, focusing on my worksheet. I really wanted the topic to change.

“It’s not like I’m gonna tell anyone, Gerard… You can trust me.”

I bit my lip and thought quickly. “I know I can trust you, but it wouldn’t be fair to Frank if I told you,” I said, hoping he would understand.

Bert turned back to the computer and continued his photo editing silently.

I sighed. “Are you upset?” I asked after a minute of silence.

“Nope,” he replied unconvincingly.

***Thursday***

(Frank’s POV)

“So, you haven’t told me if you’re coming over on Saturday or not…” Gerard pointed out as we walked down the crowded hallway to the theatre room at lunch that day.

“Oh, yeah… Well I don’t think I’m going to come…” I said apologetically.

“Fine then…” Gerard said.

“I really want to hang out with you, but it’s just…awkward if Bert’s going to be there,” I explained.

“Why? Because he’s my boyfriend?”

I felt my face flush. “No, it’s not because of that,” I shook my head, lying. “I just can’t stand him…” I said.

“Well you’ve said it enough times…” Gerard murmured. I could tell he was annoyed at me.

“I know…sorry.”

When we got to the theatre room, Gerard sat down on Bert’s lap on the couch and kissed him. I looked away and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

***One Week Later***

It was after school the next Thursday when I got a phone call from Gerard.

“Hey, Gerard,” I said into the phone.

“Hey, Frankie. Are you busy tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Do you wanna come watch movies at my youth meeting again?” he asked. “—without Bert,” he added.

“Yeah, sure!” I chuckled.

“Yay! We’re finally going to hang out again,” he laughed.

“I know! It’s been so long.”

“So I’ll come to your house at 6:45 and then I’ll drive us there,” Gerard said.

“Okay, sure. Sounds good.”

“All right, see you tomorrow!”

“See ya,” I said before hanging up the phone.

***

(Gerard’s POV)

It was lunchtime on Friday afternoon at school, and I was in the theatre room, as usual. Bert and Chloe were sitting with me on the couch, but Frank was with Shayna and Emily on the other side of the room, avoiding Bert.

“Do you wanna hang out tonight?” Bert asked me.

“I can’t—I have a youth meeting,” I told him.

He made a face at me and I smiled.

“Well what if I went with you?” he suggested.

“Well…I sort of already invited Frank to come with me…” I said as nicely as I could.

Bert’s happy expression fell. “Oh. Okay…” he said, obviously disappointed.

I felt really bad. “I would have asked you to come, too, but you guys don’t really get along…and I haven’t hung out with Frank in a long time…” I explained.

“Well, it’s okay—I don’t care if you hang out with him,” Bert shrugged.

“We can hang out tomorrow,” I told him.

*

(Frank’s POV)

“So, are you coming home tonight or are you staying over at Gerard’s house?” mom asked as I waited for Gerard to pick me up that evening.

“I dunno, I’m probably coming home though,” I replied.

“Okay, well just call home to let me know if you decide to stay,” she said, opening the fridge.

I sat down at the kitchen table and looked at the clock. It was 6:40—five more minutes.

“Kate wants to go to the park tomorrow, but I’m going to be busy running errands. Can you take her, please?” mom asked, taking out some chicken from the fridge for dinner.

“Okay, sure,” I nodded.

“Guess what time your dad is getting home tonight…”

“Nine-thirty?” I guessed.

“Eleven,” mom said with an annoyed expression.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I know, it really is. He always says he’ll be home early but then something always comes up,” she shook her head.

The doorbell rang a second later and I stood up. “I guess I’m going now.”

“Okay, see you later,” she said.

“Bye,” I said as I left the room.

“Have fun!” she added as I went down to the door.

I opened the door and saw Gerard standing there in his black-and-grey-striped scarf, black coat and grey skinny-jeans. He looked really hot. It felt weird to think that—just because he was my best friend.

“Hey, let’s go,” he smiled.

“Okay,” I smiled back and shut the door behind me.

“It’s cold out tonight,” I said, pulling my sleeves down over my hands as we walked to Gerard’s car.

“Good thing you have your sweater this time,” he laughed, opening the door on the driver’s side.

I chuckled and got into the car on my side. “So, what movies are we watching tonight?” I asked when Gerard finished backing out of the driveway.

“I’m not exactly sure… I think there will be a few to choose from, and we’ll all vote.”

“Oh, okay. As long as it’s not a horror theme again, then I’m good.”

Gerard laughed. “It’s like we get there and find out it’s a Saw marathon,” he said.

“Then you’d be driving me back home!” I laughed.

“Nah, I’d make you walk,” he teased, making a cute expression at me.

“Of course you would,” I smiled, shaking my head.

We got to the youth centre a few minutes later and Gerard parked the car. We got out and walked inside the building, and into the rec room. There were more people than the last time, and it was pretty loud with everyone talking. I recognized a lot of the people from the last time I’d been there, but there were also some new people, hence the room being more full.

“Come here, I wanna introduce you to someone,” Gerard said.

I followed him to the other side of the room where two guys were talking. One looked a bit older than Gerard and I.

“Hey Brian, hey Caleb,” Gerard greeted them. The older one was Caleb.

“Hey Gerard, how’s it going?” Brian asked.

“Pretty good,” Gerard replied.

“Who’s your friend?” Caleb asked, giving me the once-over.

“This is my friend Frank. Frank, this is Caleb, and this is Brian,” Gerard introduced us, pointing to each of the guys respectively.

“Hey, guys,” I smiled.

They both said ‘hi’ back, and Caleb winked at me and smiled. Gerard rolled his eyes at Caleb and then turned around when he heard someone call his name. Gerard smiled and waved at Adam as he came over to us.

“Hey, you,” Adam smiled as Gerard hugged him.

“Hey, did you just get here, too?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, I did,” he nodded. “Frank!” he exclaimed when he noticed me standing there.

“Hey, Adam,” I smiled as he hugged me.

“I haven’t seen you in so long,” he said.

“I know, if definitely has been a while,” I agreed.

“Hey, let’s go sit somewhere,” Gerard suggested.

We all agreed and found a spot on the floor, against the side wall. Adam was sitting in-between Gerard and I, and Brian sat next to Gerard on the other side. Caleb had gone over to sit with another group of people.
Derek and Lisa spoke to everyone for a short while before introducing the movies that we had to choose from. There was Rent, The Illusionist, and The Dark Knight. We all voted and the most votes went to The Dark Knight. The lights went off a moment later and the movie began.

*

About a quarter through the movie, I felt Adam’s foot tap against mine. I ignored it at first, but when he did it two more times, I turned my head to look at him. He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and tapped my foot against his. In a moment, we were playing “footsie” and trying not to laugh.

Gerard leaned forward and made a confused face at us. “What are you guys doing?” he whispered.

“Nothing,” Adam grinned.

“He started it,” I whispered to Gerard, nudging Adam’s arm.

Adam nudged me back playfully and Gerard rolled his eyes and went back to watching the movie.

(Gerard’s POV)

Did Frank not realize that Adam was flirting with him? It was pretty obvious… I was surprised that he went along with it.

“Hey,” Adam whispered to me, getting my attention.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you think he’d make out with me?” he asked, barely audible.

“Who?” I asked, confused.

“Who do you think? Do I have to say the name out loud?”

“Are you talking about Frank?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Adam nodded.

“I thought I told you he’s straight…”

“What?” Adam said with a confused expression.

I made an equally confused expression back at him. “You forgot that he’s straight?” I asked.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t he tell you he’s—” Adam’s voice broke off as he realized what the situation was.

“He’s what?” I whispered, urgent and confused.

Adam didn’t answer.

“Did he tell you he’s not straight?” I questioned.

Adam nodded reluctantly. “He told me he’s bi…”

I felt a wave of shock pass through me. Frank was bi-sexual. A ton of questions soon filled my head.

“When did he tell you this? And why would he tell you and not me?”

“I don’t know why he didn’t tell you. I assumed he did, since you guys are like BFFs. And he told me on winter break sometime…” Adam explained.

“Well that was when we weren’t talking to each other…” I shook my head, still in shock.

“Don’t tell him I told you… I feel like such a bitch for outing him, Gerard…”Adam said.

“He’s gonna know how I found out anyway, but I’ll try not to… He’s a really sweet guy though; he’ll understand,” I told him.

Adam nodded, looking worried.

I could not believe Frank hadn’t told me…

*

(Frank’s POV)

The movie was over soon, and the lights came back on again. I stood up and stretched momentarily before going over to Gerard.

“Did you like the movie?” he asked.

“Yeah, it was really good!” I replied.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” he agreed.

I yawned just as Adam came over and stood next to me.

“Tired already, hun?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, I’m always tired after I watch a movie,” I smiled.

“Yeah, whenever we watch movies together, you’re always asleep the second the credits come on,” Gerard mused.

Adam chuckled. “Are you guys heading home right now?” he asked.

I looked at Gerard. “You’re the one with the car,” I told him.

“Well if you’re tired, we could go…” Gerard said.

“I’m not that tired, actually,” I said.

“Do you wanna sleep over at my house?” he asked.

“Sure. I need to call my mom and let her know though,” I said.

“Okay, sure,” Gerard nodded.

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank went off to the side while he called his mom, and I turned to Adam.

“To answer your question from before: No, I don’t think Frank would make out with you,” I told him.

“Why not?” he asked.

“He’s just not the type to make out with some guy he barely knows…” I shrugged.

“Well how would you know?”

“I’ve known him for a long time.”

“Well, the fact that he told me personally that he’s bi-sexual definitely says something about how he feels about me… I kinda think he’s into me,” Adam smirked.

I rolled my eyes, suddenly pissed off. “I wouldn’t count on it,” I said bitterly.

“Whoa, someone’s jealous…” he laughed.

I just ignored him until Frank came back a moment later.

“Ready?” I asked him, eager to leave.

“Yeah,” Frank nodded.

“See ya, Adam…” I said.

“See ya,” he said back.

“Bye Adam,” Frank smiled.

Adam gave him a long hug. “Are you coming back next week?” he asked.

“I’m not sure yet, but I’d like to,” Frank said.

“All right, see you later,” Adam smiled.

Frank and I left the centre and walked to the car.

“Fuck, it’s cold…” Frank shivered as we walked to the car.

We both got inside and I started the engine. Frank turned up the heat and turned on the radio and I just couldn’t stop thinking about what Adam had told me earlier…

I wasn’t angry at Frank for not telling me; just confused. What pissed me off was the fact that Adam wanted to do stuff with him. I didn’t want Frank to get hurt—Adam was one of those guys who would do anything to get in someone’s pants. I didn’t want Frank to get involved with someone like that.

We soon arrived at my house and we got out of the car and walked up to the front door.

“Mom, I’m back!” I called up the stairs once we got inside.

“Okay! How was it?” she called back down to me.

“It was good!” I replied.

“Bert called earlier, he said to call him when you get in!” mom told me.

“Okay, thanks! Good night!” I called back.

“Night!” she said.

Frank followed me to my room and I shut the door.

“Mind if I take a shower? I feel cold and gross,” he said, taking off his sweater.

“Sure, I’ll get you some PJs and stuff,” I said.

*

(Frank’s POV)

After my shower, I put on the shirt and pyjama pants that Gerard had lent me, and brushed my teeth with the toothbrush I always used when I slept over. I left the bathroom, still drying my hair with a towel, and went into Gerard’s room. He was on his computer when I walked in, talking to someone on MSN.

“Is that Bert you’re talking to?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Yeah…he wants to hang out tomorrow,” he sighed.

“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

“Because we hang out every weekend, all day… I just need a little break. It’s not like I don’t enjoy spending time with him—of course I do—but honestly, I’d rather hang out with you this weekend,” Gerard explained.

I smiled at his last comment. “Well if you told him that, he’d hate me even more.”

“I’d never tell him that! I’d sound like such a bitch!” he laughed.

I laughed, too. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”

“I don’t think Bert hates you, though,” Gerard said.

“I think he does, but he doesn’t say anything because you’re friends with me.”

“I dunno then…” he shrugged. He signed off MSN and spun the computer chair around to face me.

“Is it okay if I go on the computer?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Gerard said, getting up from the chair so that I could sit down.

I signed in to Facebook for a moment and then checked sports highlights. As I looked down at the keyboard, something to the left of it caught my attention. It was an opened condom packet. I stared at it for a moment, knowing that he and Bert had probably used it. It sort of made me sick knowing that Gerard was getting sexual with someone I could not stand. I decided to ask him about it, out of curiosity.

I turned around in the chair, but Gerard wasn’t there—probably in the bathroom getting changed. He came back into the room in a t-shirt and pyjama pants a moment later.

“Have you used a condom lately?” I asked bluntly.

Gerard gave me a puzzled look. “No…why?” he asked.

I held up the empty packet to show him.

“Oh…that,” he blushed.

“So you did use it?”

“Well…Bert used it…but yeah…” he explained. I’d never seen his face so red before.

“Oh, I see…” I laughed awkwardly, logging off of the computer.

Gerard was sitting on his bed and I went and got under the blankets.

“Frank,” Gerard said as he turned to face me.

“Yeah?”

“Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” he asked. He didn’t look angry or anything, but he said it like he knew there was something I was keeping from him. The only two things I could think of were that I was bi-sexual, and that I was in love with him. It suddenly occurred to me that Adam was the only person who knew I was bi…and Adam had been talking to Gerard earlier that night…

I just wanted to disappear. This was not how I wanted Gerard to find out.

“Well…?” he asked after a minute of silence.

“Yeah, I guess there is something…” I admitted.

“Do you want to tell me now?”

I looked down and stared at my fidgeting hands. “Well, I think you already know, anyway…” I said quietly.

“Just give me a hint so I know we’re talking about the same thing.”

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to just tell him.
“I’m bi…” I said quickly, still not looking right at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he asked calmly.

I shrugged. “I was just…not that comfortable with it…I dunno…”

“I know these things can be really confusing. Trust me—I’ve been there. But I want you to know that you can always talk to me about it, okay? You’re my best friend and I’m here for you no matter what,” Gerard assured me.

I looked up at him and smiled slightly. “Thanks,” I said.

“Adam didn’t mean to out you, by the way—he thought I already knew.”

I shrugged. “I feel much better now that you know, anyway.”

Gerard got under the blankets next to me and put his arm over my shoulder. “I love you no matter what, okay?” he said.

“Okay,” I nodded, feeling much warmer all of a sudden.

He loved me. That was all I needed to hear to feel better.

***Two Weeks Later***

First semester exams were finally over! This semester I had B block P.E. with Gerard, which was fun. It also worked out well because we could both skip class together once in a while, since neither of us really cared that much about P.E. Today we were outside for P.E. class, and I walked to the field with Gerard. It was kind of cold outside that morning, but our teacher, Ms. Brandsma, would make us run laps to warm up.

“So, what’s new?” I asked Gerard as we made our way from the change room to the field.

“I had an interesting weekend which I have to tell you about,” he said, folding his arms across his chest to keep warm.

“Well what did you do? Hang out with Bert?” I asked the obvious.

“Yeah, as usual…” he laughed.

“So what was so interesting?”

“I’ll tell you when we’re running laps,” he said as we got to the edge of the field.

Ms. Brandsma called the class over to where she had cones and footballs. “So, today we’re starting our football unit. You’re going to run two laps around the field, then grab a ball and a partner,” she told us.

Everyone began running after she’d finished speaking.

“Okay,” Gerard began as we started running our warm-up laps. “So, Friday night I went to Bert’s house, and we were home alone watching movies and whatnot… And then we went to his room and we were making out, which isn’t a big deal most times, but that night he was getting really serious about it…and he was like…on top of me, and I was like thinking, ‘Oh, okay, as long as he doesn’t do anything else,’ but then he started putting his hand like…down my pants, and he told me he wanted to have sex…and I had to sort of push him off me, and it was really, really awkward after that cause we were kind of just lying there… But then he was all like, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” and stuff, so I thought that was nice… So yeah, that was my interesting weekend,” Gerard told me.

“Whoa, that’s crazy,” I said, slightly out of breath from running. “So you’re not ready for that stuff yet?” I asked.

“Fuck no… I’m not even in love with him. Plus, I want to be really sure that I want to go the next step, rather than do it just because we were in the moment.”

“Well you definitely did the right thing, stopping him. I guess you just have to do what feels right for you, not for him,” I added.

“I completely agree,” he said.

***Friday***

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank was over at my house that evening while we waited to go to our youth meeting. He was going to start going every week with me, which I thought was really great. As usual, Frank was on my computer, and I was finishing up a drawing for art class while texting Bert every now and then.

“Hey, guess who added me on Facebook?” Frank said, spinning the computer chair around to face me.

“Who?” I asked, looking up from my pencil-art.

“Adam,” he told me with a smile on his face.

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh… He barely knows you…”

“Half the people on my friends list barely know me,” he pointed out, turning his seat back around to face the computer screen.

I went back to my art, but was momentarily interrupted by Frank again.

“He has really nice photos,” he commented. He was going through all of Adam’s pictures. I was curious to see which ones he liked, so I got up and looked at the computer screen over his shoulder.

“Do you think he’s hot?” I asked out of pure curiosity.

Frank shrugged and his face went red.

“Jeez, it’s okay if you think he is…” I laughed.

Frank laughed, too. “Yeah, he’s hot, I guess,” he admitted.

“Do you like him?”

“Just as a friend.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Does he like me?”

“I’m not sure… I know he thinks you’re hot, though.”

Frank laughed again. “I can’t see him saying that.”

I rolled my eyes and sat down on my bed again. As I smudged a line on my artwork I thought about how annoying it was that Frank couldn’t see how good-looking he was. The truth was that he was very attractive: dark brown hair, hazel-green eyes, cute smile—not to mention his body. Whenever he changed or took off his shirt in front of me, I couldn’t help looking and then blushing when he caught me. My best friend was hot—but he didn’t even know it.

My phone vibrated as I received another text message from Bert. It read: “Do you want to spend the night at my place tomorrow night?”

I got a sudden feeling of butterflies in my stomach as I read the message.

“Shit,” I said aloud, causing Frank to give me a curious look. “Bert just asked me to spend the night with him at his place tomorrow,” I told him, biting the inside of my lip nervously.

Frank looked about as shocked as I felt—which was very shocked.
“Really? Well it’s obvious that he probably wants to do something…”

“I know, but I don’t even want to do anything… Like, it makes me so nervous just thinking about it!” I said, putting down my pencil.

“Well tell him you’re busy,” Frank suggested.

“I already told him I was free tomorrow night.”

“Tell him you’re not allowed to.”

“He’d tell me to say I’m going to your house.”

Frank shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t want to go—I do. I just don’t want to have sex or anything…” I said.

“Well, you should probably tell him that…” Frank said, turning back to the computer screen.

I texted Bert back: “Sure, that sounds great <3. Your parents r away again?”
I pressed the send button on my phone.

“I told him yes,” I said.

Frank just nodded his head. “Okay,” he said.

Bert texted me back a minute later: “Awesome :) And yeah, they r away all wknd.”

I texted back: “Nice! I’m going to call u now :)”

I dialed his number and waited.

“Hey, you,” Bert answered.

“Hey, what are you up to?” I said, smiling as I heard my boyfriend’s voice.

(Frank’s POV)

Gerard was talking to Bert on the phone, and I was bored. I was contemplating changing my Facebook information to ‘interested in men and women,’ but decided against it because of all the comments I would probably get asking me questions…

I was annoyed that Gerard was going to be spending the night alone with Bert. I was actually more jealous than I was annoyed—I didn’t even feel like going to our youth meeting anymore. The only reason I didn’t tell Gerard I wasn’t going was because Adam was always looking forward to seeing me every week at youth—I didn’t want to disappoint him.
Gerard was off the phone with Bert a few minutes later.

“So, do you wanna go now?” he asked, standing up.

“Sure, let’s go.”

We both went and got our shoes and coats on, and then went out to Gerard’s car.

“Are you sleeping over tonight?” he asked once we were on our way to the youth centre.

“I have soccer at nine tomorrow morning, so I don’t think I can.”

“You have a game tomorrow? You didn’t tell me…”

“I know. I forgot. Are you gonna come watch?”

“Yeah, I’ll come,” he nodded.

“Maybe you could sleep over at my house instead then,” I suggested.

“Okay. Are you sure your mom won’t mind? I remember she got mad at you the last time I slept over without her knowing…”

“She won’t care. I think she was just in a bad mood that time cause Kate was sick,” I explained.

“Oh, okay.”

We got to the youth centre soon and walked inside from the cold parking lot. We were a bit late and everyone was already setting up games and stuff.

“Hey, do you wanna go play Taboo with Brian and some other people?” Gerard asked, looking across the room.

“Sure,” I nodded, seeing Adam among the group of people.

“Oh, hey guys,” Brian smiled, seeing us join the group.

“Hey, everyone,” Gerard smiled and waved.

I said hi to everyone and then sat down on the floor beside Adam in the circle around the centre table.

“Hey, Adam,” I smiled.

“Oh, hey Frank,” he smiled back.

“How was your week?” I asked, taking off my coat.

“It was amazing. I found my cell phone, which I lost a week ago. So, I was pretty happy about that,” he said.

“Awesome. So now you can ask me for my number,” I flirted.

Adam laughed. “Yeah, I guess I can, right?” he said, taking out his phone.

I gave him my cell number and then also added his number to my phone.

“So, are you guys gonna play, or what?” Brian asked.

“Nah, I’ll just watch,” Adam said.

“Same with me,” I said.

I looked at Adam and saw him mouth “whatever” to someone in the circle. I looked and saw Gerard roll his eyes in annoyance at Adam and then I knew that Adam had been mouthing to Gerard.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” Adam shook his head.

“Are you keeping secrets from me?” I joked.

“Now why would I keep secrets from a cute face like that?” Adam smiled.

“Hmm, I dunno…” I smiled and blushed.

Adam and I watched two games of Taboo while we sat in the circle on the floor, and when the third game started, Adam told me he was bored.

“Me too… What do you wanna do?” I asked.

“Let’s go sit on the couches,” he suggested.

“Okay,” I agreed and stood up.

Adam and I went and sat down on the couches where some kids were playing Guitar Hero.

“I’ve never played that game before,” Adam commented, watching the TV screen.

“Really? I play it all the time at Gerard’s house,” I said.

“Oh, I see. Do you guys hang out like, every day?”

“Well, we used to, but he’s mostly with his boyfriend now.”

“Oh, okay,” he nodded.

There was kind of an awkward silence between us for a moment.

“So…” I laughed awkwardly.

Adam smiled. “Where’d you get your shirt?” he asked, pointing at my black V-neck shirt.

“I think it’s from Urban Behaviour,” I told him.

He nodded. “It looks good on you.”

“Oh, thanks,” I smiled.

Another awkward silence as I blushed and tried to think of something to say.

“Pink’s a good colour on you,” Adam teased, touching my cheek. I blushed even more.

“Yeah, I only wish I didn’t wear it so often…”

He chuckled. “That’s okay, it’s cute,” he said.

I forced myself not to blush again and decided to flirt back.

“You think so? Maybe I should blush more often then, get you to notice me…”

“You think I don’t notice you? You’re so wrong about that, Frank,” he smiled.

“How am I wrong?” I asked, curious to hear what he had to say.

“Well, it’s kinda hard not to notice you when you’re the hottest guy in the whole room, Frankie.”

I just sat there, shocked, for a moment. “You don’t actually think that…”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”

“Wow, well I sure haven’t heard that before,” I smiled.

“Well, it’s about time, cause it’s true,” he smiled back.

We went back to watching the kids playing Guitar Hero, and the whole time my mind was overloaded with thoughts about Adam and thoughts about myself. Adam was the first guy who had ever flirted with me, and it was a whole lot different from when girls flirted with me. I didn’t think I’d ever blushed so much in my life! After I’d gotten over my nervousness, I had a really good feeling inside me. I felt wanted.

(Gerard’s POV)

As I was playing on Brian’s team in Taboo, I kept glancing across the room at Frank and Adam as they sat together on the couch. I just knew that Adam was telling Frank everything he wanted to hear—the way Frank would smile at Adam and then look away for a second like he was being all shy. I knew what was going on, and I didn’t like it at all. I had told Adam to stay away from Frank, but typical Adam—he didn’t listen. It made me so angry.

As soon as the game was over, I got up and went over to them over by the couch.

“Hey, Frankie,” I said and sat down next to him, leaving him sitting in-between Adam and I.

“Oh hey, Gerard,” Frank smiled.

“Do you wanna play Apples to Apples with us?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, standing up. “Do you wanna come, too, Adam?” he asked.

“No, thanks,” Adam smiled, shaking his head.

“Okay, see you later then,” Frank said.

We went across the room to where Apples to Apples was being set up.

“It’s called ‘Games Night’ for a reason, you know…” I said.

“I know, I know…” Frank rolled his eyes.

“What were you guys talking about?” I asked as we sat down.

“Nothing. Why does it matter what we were talking about?” he asked.

I sighed. “Nevermind, Frank.”

The game of Apples to Apples was long, and Frank didn’t talk to me much. I think he was annoyed at me. Caleb ended up winning the game.

“Are you gonna go hang out with Adam again?” I asked.

“Yep,” Frank nodded and did just that.

I tried my hardest not to care.

(Frank’s POV)

I headed over to the couch again and saw that Adam had joined the game of Guitar Hero—he wasn’t bad at it, for his first time.

“Nice job,” I said when he’d finished the song.

“Thanks,” he smiled.

“How was the game?”

“It was all right.”

“Do you wanna go outside?” he asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s kinda cold out there…”

“Well put your coat on—we’ll take a walk,” he said hopefully.

I liked the idea, so I went and got my coat before we headed out together. I shivered as the cold air hit my face as we walked around the building.

“I don’t really like games night,” Adam admitted as we walked.

“Why is that?” I asked, kicking a pebble on the ground.

“I dunno…it’s just one of those things that doesn’t really interest me.”

“Oh, I see.”

“But I have to say, this is turning into a great night just being with you.”
I looked at him and smiled, unsure of what to say back to him.

“We should hang out more…like, instead of only at youth meetings.”

“Yeah, we should. Well, we have each other’s numbers now, so we can call each other.”

“Mhm,” he nodded.

“Did you drive here?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we go sit in your car? I’m actually freezing…”

Adam chuckled. “Yeah, sure.”

We turned around and walked into the parking lot where we found his car.

“Wow, is this yours?” I asked, looking at the white Mazda that he was unlocking.

“Nah, it’s my dad’s. I wish it was mine though.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Adam opened the back door for me and I got in, with him getting in behind me and shutting the door.

“Still kinda cold, but definitely better,” I said.

“This should help,” he said, putting his arm over my shoulder.

I nodded. “That helps.” I was glad he couldn’t see how red my cheeks were in the dim light from the street lamps.
I leaned my head on his shoulder and let out a breath I’d been nervously holding in.

“I could sit here for hours with you…” Adam whispered.

“I know…” I whispered back.

I lifted my head off his shoulder and looked at him for a moment before he leaned in and kissed me. His lips moved against mine gently and my mind was lost for a moment, feeling the bliss of the moment. I let his tongue slip inside my mouth and I suddenly found myself thinking of Gerard.

I was imagining myself kissing Gerard.
I quickly shook the image from my mind, feeling guilty. I jumped slightly as my phone started ringing, and pulled my lips away from Adam’s.

“I’m sorry,” I smiled shyly. I took out my phone, looked at the caller I.D. and saw ‘Gerard’.

“It’s Gerard…” I said.

“Don’t answer. Let’s just go back inside,” he said.

“Okay.”

Adam opened the car door and we both got out and made our way back into the youth centre. Gerard saw me walk back into the room with Adam, and he started walking over to us.

“Where the fuck were you?” he asked me.

“Oh, I was just outside with Adam,” I replied casually.

“Doing what?” he asked.

“Just walking around, talking,” I told him.

Gerard gave Adam a dirty look before turning back to me.

“Well, are you ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess so, if you are,” I shrugged.

“All right, let’s go then,” Gerard said.

I turned to face Adam.

“I’ll call you,” he told me.

“Okay, sounds good,” I smiled.

“Bye,” he smiled back. Adam gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before I left with Gerard.

“Well that wasn’t obvious at all…” Gerard said sarcastically as we walked to his car.

I didn’t say anything back to him. We both got into his car and then he started the engine and began driving.

“So what happened while you were outside with Adam?” Gerard asked.

“He kissed me,” I said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” he said.

“Are you saying it’s a bad thing that we kissed?”

“If it was any other guy I’d say it wasn’t a bad thing.”

“What’s so bad about Adam? He seems like a really sweet guy.”

“I’m warning you now that he’s just going to use you for sex,” Gerard said.

“And how would you know?”

“I know people who have dated him.”

“Whatever.”

“Look, I’m not meaning to sound like a bitch, but I just think it’sbest if you don’t get any more involved with him.”

“It’s not like I’m going to just jump into bed with him, Gerard…”

He laughed. “Yeah, sure, Frank…” he said.

“Are you calling me a slut?” I gasped dramatically.

“I’ve never met a bigger slut. I can’t believe I’m friends with you…” Gerard said sarcastically.

We got to my house soon and went inside. Everyone was asleep; most of the lights were off. We went into my room and I shut the door.

***

(Gerard’s POV)

The next morning, Frank’s mom drove us to the field where Frank’s soccer game was going to be. It was nine o’ clock and the sun had just come up from behind the clouds. Frank’s mom pulled up into the parking lot.

“So I’ll be back at ten o’ clock then,” she said to Frank as I got out of the backseat of the car.

The trunk of the car opened and I took Frank’s soccer bag out for him before shutting the trunk closed again. Frank got out of the car a moment later.

“Thanks,” he said, taking his bag from me.

His mom drove away and we started walking towards the field where some of his teammates were already beginning to get warmed up for the game.

“Are you still going to Bert’s house tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah, I told him I would…”

Frank nodded, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

“I’m not sure yet… I might hang out with Adam later.”

“I wasn’t joking about what I said last night, you know…” I told him.

“I never said I thought you were…” Frank returned.

“So you just don’t care that he’s going to use you?”

“I can take care of myself, Gerard, all right?”

“Fine. Whatever,” I shrugged. I went over to the bleachers as Frank continued over to the field.

As I sat there by myself, watching the soccer players warm up, the feeling I had was driving me crazy. Frank hanging out with Adam—alone—did not sit well with me. I didn’t think it was a good idea, but telling that to Frank wouldn’t make a difference at all. Jealousy was the feeling that was driving me crazy. It was driving me crazy because I knew it was so wrong to be jealous of Adam, just because my best friend had a crush on him.

At ten o’ clock, Suzanne—Frank’s mom—came back to the field with Kate following her. I waved at her from the bottom of the bleachers, and they came over and sat with me.

“Hello again,” Suzanne said.

“Hi,” I smiled.

Kate went to go play with another young girl who she usually played with when she was at Frank’s soccer games.

About thirty minutes into the game, Frank was on a breakaway with a player from the other team close behind. Suddenly, the other player tripped Frank and he fell to the ground. For a moment, he didn’t move and I was worried, but then he sat up, holding his right ankle in pain.
I stood up as someone from his team helped him up—he couldn’t put any weight on his right foot—and supported him as they walked to the sidelines.

“I’m going to go see if he’s okay,” Suzanne said.

“Me too,” I nodded.

I ran down to the field and got there before Suzanne. Frank was sitting on the grass, grimacing in pain as his coach slowly removed his right boot.
Frank looked up at me. “Messed up my ankle,” he said.

I looked down at his now bare foot and saw that his ankle was severely swollen.

“Whoa, are you okay?” I asked, kneeling down next to him.

“Yeah, as long as I didn’t break it… It hurts so much…” he said, biting his lip.

Suzanne came over a moment later and looked at Frank’s foot. “You okay? You need to get some ice on that right away,” she said.

“I’m all right, except I’m in so much pain…” Frank said.

“He should have an x-ray done as soon as possible, Sue,” Frank’s coach said.

The coach gave Frank an ice pack to put on his ankle.

“Gerard, could you please help Frank to the car while I get Kate?” Suzanne asked.

“Yeah, of course,” I nodded.

The coach helped me get Frank onto his foot and Frank put one arm over my shoulder for support while I held him at the waist.

“I can’t put any weight on my right foot at all,” Frank said as we slowly made our way to the parking lot.
“It’s okay, you can lean on me as much as you need to; I’ve got you,” I assured him.

We finally got to the car where Suzanne and Kate were waiting for us. I opened the back door and helped Frank in next to Kate.

“Thank you so much,” he said.

“No problem,” I replied.

I got into the front seat and Suzanne drove to the hospital. When we pulled up in front of the emergency room, I helped Frank out of the car and inside. Suzanne checked in with the receptionist while Frank and I sat down in the waiting area.

“You’re sweating so much,” I said, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with my hand.

“I’m exhausted,” he sighed.

“We’ll probably be here for a while,” I said.

“Yeah, that sucks. I hate hospitals.”

“How does your ankle feel?”

“Like…fire? It’s throbbing and it hurts so fucking much…”

“You should put the cold pack on. Here, put your foot on my lap,” I said.
Frank raised his leg and placed his foot over my knees so I could hold the cold pack on his ankle.

“You’re just…amazing,” Frank smiled.

I smiled back at him.

*

A couple hours later, Frank went in for an x-ray. The doctor said he had torn a muscle in his ankle and that it would heal in a couple weeks. He was also going to be on crutches for those two weeks. After the doctor wrapped up Frank’s ankle, he gave him the crutches and a Tylenol-3 prescription, and that was that.
I went home with Frank, and Suzanne told him to take a pill, have a rest, and keep icing his ankle.

“Ugh, I’m so fucking tired…” Frank groaned, handing me his crutches so he could lie down on his bed. I leaned the crutches against the wall by the bed and then laid next to him.

“Do you need anything?” I asked.

Frank shook his head. “You’ve done more than enough for me today,” he smiled.

“Do you have a fever or something? You’re still sweating.”

“I don’t think so; I’m just really, really warm right now. And I probably smell, too. Sorry if I do,” he chuckled.

“You smell fine to me.”

Frank sat up for a moment to pull off his soccer jersey, and then lay down again.

“I would take a shower, but I’m too lazy right now…” he said.

“It’s okay,” I said, trying not to stare at his beautiful body. My eyes wandered down his happy trail, which turned me on so much that I had to close my eyes.

“Are you falling asleep?” Frank whispered.

“Nope, just lying here,” I said, opening my eyes again.

“What time are you going to Bert’s house?”

“I’m not going,” I decided.

“You’re not going? Why?” Frank asked.

“I’d rather stay here with you tonight.”

“Gerard, seriously. You don’t have to cancel on him just because I hurt my foot. You should go spend time with your boyfriend,” Frank told me.

“It’s not a problem for me—I can hang out with Bert tomorrow. Come on, we can just lie in bed and watch old movies all afternoon,” I smiled.

Frank sighed. “That does sound fun… Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be sexing Bert tonight?” he smirked.

I laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“Okay,” he smiled. “You can go through my DVDs and pick whatever you want,” he added.

“All right,” I said, getting up from the bed. “So did you cancel with Adam yet?” I asked as I looked through the DVDs.

“I never actually had plans with him…I made that up…” he said.

“Okay… Why…?”

“It’s a really stupid reason…”

“Doesn’t matter; I still wanna know,” I said, choosing a few DVDs and bringing Frank’s laptop over to the bed.

Frank sighed. “Okay, I made it up because I was, well…jealous that you have a boyfriend who really cares about you, while all I have is a guy I hardly know who clearly only wants to make out with me and tell me I’m ‘hot’... Basically I just wanted you to think I had someone, too. It’s really stupid, I know. Not to mention embarrassing…” Frank explained.

“Come on, Frank, you just need to give yourself time. The right guy or girl just hasn’t come along yet, but they will soon—trust me,” I assured him.

“Yeah, you’re probably right—as usual,” Frank said.

“What do you think about these?” I asked, showing him the movies I chose.

“Perfect,” he smiled.

***Monday***

At lunchtime that day, I went to the theatre room and saw Bert sitting on the couch.

“Hey,” I smiled and sat down next to him. I kissed his cheek but he didn’t say anything.

“Did I do something?” I asked, confused.

Bert sighed. “Look, we need to talk…” he said.

“Okay… About what?”

“Well…Gerard, I don’t think it’s gonna work out between us…”

I felt like I’d just been punched in the stomach. I felt my heart sink and a lump form in my throat.

“What? I mean…why? I don’t understand why…” I croaked, shaking my head, trying not to cry.

“Well, I know you’re not ready to like, have sex …and to be honest I’m just getting bored of our relationship. I’ve tried waiting for you, but it’s really difficult…” Bert explained.

I suddenly felt anger swell inside me. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

“Gerard, I’m really sorry…”

“So, you’re telling me you’re breaking up with me because I won’t let you fuck me? Are you fucking kidding me, Bert?” I said, raising my voice. I was fucking pissed.

“Well, Gerard, the main reason I think we should break up is that I…I sort of had sex with someone else a couple weeks ago…” Bert admitted.

I couldn’t take any more of this. I got off the couch and stood in front of Bert.

“You are a pathetic piece of shit and a fucking liar. I fucking hate you and don’t ever talk to me again,” I spat before stomping out of the room.

As I walked aimlessly down the hallway, Chloe ran to catch up with me.

“Gerard, are you okay? I heard everything…” she said.

I shook my head, unable to speak for the empty feeling I felt inside.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she said.

“Not your fault,” I said. I surprised myself by being able to hold back the tears so well. I wished Frank was at school—his ankle was hurting a lot that morning so he stayed home.

“Let’s go outside and walk,” Chloe suggested.

I just followed her.

Throughout my last two classes that day, all I could think about was how I couldn’t believe that Bert had cheated on me. That hurt way more than him wanting to break up with me because I wouldn’t put out.

*

Right after school I drove to Frank’s house. I rang the doorbell and Suzanne opened the door.

“Oh, hi Gerard,” she said, inviting me inside.

“Hi, Suzanne,” I said.

“Frank is just in his room. He might be asleep, but you can check,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t care about crying in front of Frank, so I just let myself go as I went up to his room. I knocked on the door.

“Come in!” he said from inside.

Frank was on his bed sitting up with his back against some pillows, with his laptop on his legs. I shut the door.

“How was school?” he asked.

I went over to sit on the bed and then he realized I was crying.

“Oh my God, Gerard… What’s the matter? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

I couldn’t talk. I was crying so hard that my chest was hurting. I laid face down on the bed and Frank rubbed my back comfortingly.

“It’s okay, tell me when you’re ready…” he said.

He waited patiently as I continued to cry, soaking the pillow my face was buried in.

“Take as long as you want; it’s okay…” he said softly.

It took me about ten minutes to contain myself and stop crying. Then I turned onto my side, facing away from Frank.

“Bert broke up with me…b-because I’m not ready to have sex…” I managed to say.

“Aww, Gerard… I’m so, so sorry…” Frank said. He lay down behind me and I felt his arm holding my body from behind. It comforted me knowing he was there for me.

“A-and he cheated on me,” I said, feeling more tears come to my eyes.

“That fucking asshole,” Frank said. I could feel the anger in his voice. “You deserve so much better than that, Gerard. That’s horrible…” he said.

“I feel sick from crying so much,” I said.

“I know…” Frank said softly.

I sat up a while later and Frank did also.

“Thanks for letting me cry on your bed and everything,” I smiled.

“Any time,” he smiled back and hugged me. I hugged him back.

“You’re so much better than him, Gerard. He did something really low and he’s going to have to live with that guilt forever,” Frank said.

“Thanks,” I said after our hug.

Frank kissed my cheek in response. I got butterflies in my stomach and smiled at him, trying to decide whether or not it would be right to kiss him back. But I was too late, because he started talking.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

I shook my head. “My stomach feels funny right now.”

“Okay.”

“What did you do today?”

“Took pills, slept, went on my laptop for three hours, took more pills, slept, went on my laptop again, and then spent time with you.”

I laughed. “Wow, very repetitive day, huh?”

“Yep,” he laughed.

“Does your ankle feel any better?”

“Yeah, a lot better,” he nodded.

“That’s good.”

“It turned purple though,” he wrinkled his nose and I laughed.

***Three Weeks Later***

(Frank’s POV)

It was the week after spring break, and I finally could walk without crutches. My ankle had healed pretty well, the doctor had said. I’d been spending more time with Gerard, now that he was single again, which was nice. That evening, I went skating with Gerard, Chloe and Emily, which was a lot of fun.

“Well, you didn’t fall, so that was good,” I said as I walked with Gerard to his car after skating.

“My feet are killing me though,” he said.

We both got into the car.

“Do you wanna sleep over?” Gerard asked as he backed out of the parking spot.

“Yeah, except I have nothing to sleep in.”

“Then sleep in nothing,” he laughed.

“Haha, right…” I grinned.

“I have extra PJs and stuff.”

We got to Gerard’s house and got out of the car.

“It’s surprisingly warm out,” he said.

“Are you kidding?” I asked, shivering.

“You’re always cold, Frankie,” he rolled his eyes.

We got inside and went to Gerard’s room. I sat down on his bed as he went over to the closet to find me some pyjamas.

“Okay, here,” Gerard said, handing me a pair of blue pyjama pants and a black t-shirt to wear to bed.

“Thanks.”

We both got changed and I pretended not to notice Gerard staring as I pulled down my jeans. I smiled to myself.

“Let’s watch a movie,” I suggested when we were both done changing.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

We went upstairs to the family room where the big TV was, and I chose the movie.

(Gerard’s POV)

I got a blanket from the chair in the corner and brought it over to where Frank was sitting on the couch.

“Thank you—I’m freezing,” he said as I draped it over us both.

After I started the movie, Frank took my arm and put it over his shoulder. I looked at him, but his eyes were focused on the television screen. I decided to play around, so I took his arm and put it around my waist. He didn’t look at me; he just moved closer to me and continued to watch the previews on the TV screen. He was holding me and I was holding him and we were watching movie previews but I wasn’t actually watching them. I was thinking about why we were holding each other, and why I enjoyed it so much, and why Frank wouldn’t look at me. The movie finally started a few minutes later. We continued to hold each other throughout the whole two hours of it.

***Monday***

(Frank’s POV)

It was Monday morning and I was trying to pay attention in chemistry class but I kept thinking about Gerard. About how deeply I felt about him, and about how ultimately right it felt being in his arms. I couldn’t stop thinking about him…

“…So Frank, how would you balance this equation?” Mr. Brown asked, bringing my mind back to class. I stared blankly at the chemical equation on the whiteboard for a moment before replying.

“You wold put a two in front of the first and last compounds,” I said.

“That’s right…” Mr. Brown said, writing the answer in on the board.

I suddenly felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and saw that I had one new text message from Gerard. A smile played upon my lips and I opened the new message. It read: “downtown next block?”

I replied: “Yeah defs. Where should I meet you?”

I was always glad when Gerard and I skipped P.E. together. It was fun hanging out with him and we usually got Starbucks or something else yummy.

My phone vibrated again. “At my locker.” Gerard had texted back.

“Okay, I’ll see you there.” I sent back.

When the bell rang, I literally jumped out of my seat and hurried to Gerard’s locker. He was already standing there waiting for me, dressed in his skinny jeans, black coat and red-and-black-striped scarf. He was also wearing his black-framed, square-rimmed glasses. I loved it when he wore his glasses.

“Hey,” he smiled as I walked over to him.

“Hi,” I smiled back.

We walked together down the crowded hallway until we reached the exit doors and went outside.

“Do you want to just go to my house and skip the rest of today?” Gerard asked.

“Sure, why not?”

“Sweet. I’m gonna be in so much shit with my chem teacher though, cause I’m missing a test last block… But oh well.”

We both got into his car and he started driving.

“You can just write it tomorrow.”

“Yeah… I have no clue what I’m doing though. It’s so confusing,” Gerard sighed.

“I can help you study later, if you want. I pretty much understand most of the stuff,” I suggested.

“That would be really helpful.”

We got to Gerard’s house a few minutes later, he parked the car in the driveway and we headed inside. I wrinkled my nose as Gerard shut the door.

“It smells like cigarettes in here,” I commented.

“I know. My mom had company over last night and they were all smoking.”

“I didn’t know your mom smokes…” I said as we headed upstairs.

“Only socially, but yeah, she does.”
I nodded and tossed my backpack onto the couch in the family room as Gerard dumped out an ashtray in disgust.

“That’s gross,” he said, washing his hands in the kitchen sink.

“What do you wanna do?” I asked. I sat down on the couch

“I dunno. What do you wanna do?” he returned.

“Can we watch a movie?” I asked. Part of me just wanted to watch a movie so that I could sit really close to Gerard.

“Sure. Do you want something to eat? I can make popcorn or something.”

“Popcorn would be good,” I nodded.

“Okay, choose the movie while I make it.”

I went over to the entertainment centre and chose a movie.

(Gerard’s POV)

I finished pouring the popcorn into a bowl and brought it over to the couch where Frank was sitting.

“What movie did you choose?” I asked as I sat down with the bowl of popcorn.

“The Day After Tomorrow,” Frank replied.

He started the movie and we sat and watched and ate popcorn. I put the bowl on the coffee table when we were done with it, and Frank scooted closer to me on the couch. It reminded me of how we had held each other so close on the weekend. A while later, I felt Frank lean his head on my shoulder. I was a little surprised when he did.

“Comfortable?” I asked.

“Yeah, very.”

He was getting a lot more touchy-feely with me these days. It didn’t bother me, but it was just really different from what he used to be like. Like when he kissed me on the cheek that day when I told him Bert had broken up with me—he would have never done that four months ago.

Frank yawned once the movie was over. It was almost three o’ clock now. He stretched his arms up and sighed.

“You about to fall asleep over there?” I smiled.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m so tired now,” he yawned again.

“Well go take a nap then.”

“But then you’d be bored,” Frank said thoughtfully.

“I’ll take a nap with you, then,” I suggested.

“Okay.”

We both got up and went downstairs to my bedroom, which was less than clean. Frank lay down on my bed and I did the same, lying down next to him. He put an arm under the pillow he was lying on and then a confused expression came to his face. It was then that I realized what he had discovered.

Frank pulled out a magazine from under the pillow, glanced at the cover with a shocked expression, and then sat up against the wall. I sat up as well, feeling my face turn a shade of burning red. Frank held the gay porn magazine out in front of him.

“…Didn’t mean to leave that there…” I said awkwardly.

“Where’d you get this?” Frank asked.
I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or curious, but I hoped for the latter.

“I got it from Caleb last week,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

Frank began flipping through the magazine and I concluded that he was curious. He looked up at me and saw me fidgeting nervously with the blanket.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed Gerard. It’s not like you’re the only one who looks at porn…” he smirked.

“Do you look at gay porn, too?”

“Yeah,” he replied, nodding.

I watched him look through the magazine and wondered if he was getting turned on—he sure didn’t show it if he was. I was getting really turned on just watching him, noticing that he lingered on the pages with blowjobs on them. It wasn’t long before I felt myself start to get hard, which was a problem I could not solve at the moment. I only hoped Frank wouldn’t notice.

When he was done looking at the magazine, Frank handed it to me and I put it in my bedside drawer.

“That was interesting…” he laughed.

I blushed and nodded.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep now,” he said.

I looked at him, unsure if he was hinting that he wanted to do something else.

“What do you wanna do then?”

“I dunno,” Frank shrugged.

We sat there for a while until I gathered up enough courage to ask him a question.

“Are you hard right now?” I asked.

Frank smiled and turned red. “Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, also blushing. “Do you want a hand-job?” I blurted out nervously, unsure of what he’d think.

Frank waited a moment before replying. “Well, yeah, sure…if you wanna give me one,” he said.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

Frank reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans before pulling them down to his knees as he sat up against the wall still. He didn’t pull down his boxers, and I hadn’t expected him to. I put some lotion onto my hand before I moved closer to him on the bed and slipped my hand down the front of his boxers.

I felt Frank’s body naturally tense as I took hold of his dick and started rubbing it up and down the shaft.
When I looked up at him I saw that his mouth was slightly open and that he’d already been looking at me. I started rubbing the head of his dick and rolling my thumb over his slit as we stared each other down. Frank’s breathing hitched in his throat for a second and I felt the moistness of his pre-cum on my thumb.

I felt a sudden urge to kiss him, but I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to. I decided to do it cautiously, just in case. I looked him in the eyes and slowly moved my face closer to his until our lips touched. I started kissing his lips softly and slowly, and was relieved when he started kissing me back, equally as soft and slow. I kept on kissing him and he kept on kissing me, and when I heard a soft whimper escape from between his lips I pulled away a little. But Frank put his hand on the back of my neck and gently pushed my lips back onto his.

His quiet whimpers continued as we kissed each other, and grew into louder moans right before I felt his warm and wet cum spill onto my hand. Frank pulled his lips away this time and I heard his soft but fast breathing escaping his lips. I pulled my hand out of his boxers and wiped the cum off it with Kleenex. I handed a tissue to Frank, too.

“Here,” I smiled.

“Thanks,” he smiled back, blushing considerably as he wiped up.

I threw the tissues away and then laid down as Frank pulled up his jeans and buttoned and zipped them. He lay down next to me.

Sometime as we lay there in silence, Frank fell asleep and I lay there awake with a restless mind…thinking about how I might actually have a blossoming crush on my best friend.

***Friday***

(Frank’s POV)

Throughout the week I had not stopped thinking about Monday afternoon at Gerard’s house. I felt so connected to Gerard now; my feelings for him had become considerably deeper. We hadn’t gotten close again since Monday, and I secretly hoped that it hadn’t been just a one-time thing. Gerard and I hadn’t even talked about it after that afternoon on Monday—I think he was embarrassed about the whole thing.

I really wondered why he’d offered to give me a hand-job in the first place… I wondered if he liked me as more than a friend, or if he was just horny after seeing that sex magazine. I wanted to think that Gerard had a crush on me, but I couldn’t see him falling for me—his best friend. There were so many other guys who he was probably more attracted to. I didn’t think I was his type, either. I mean, he’d dated Bert, who was like, the complete opposite of me. Bert was a theatre kid, like Gerard, and he was super artsy, like Gerard. That just wasn’t me—I was the athletic, preppy kid.

My mom knocked on my bedroom door as I got ready for Chloe’s 17th birthday party that night.

“Come in,” I said as I styled my hair with gel.

Mom opened the door. “What time do you want to drive there?” she asked.

I didn’t have my full license yet, so I had to drive with an adult still.

“Ten minutes,” I replied.

“Are you sleeping over?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Only if Gerard is, though.”

“Oh, okay. Tomorrow Dad and I are both working all day, so you’re going to have to stay home with Kate, okay?” mom said.

“Are you serious?” I whined.

“Yes, I’m serious,” she said.

“I’ve had plans with Gerard for tomorrow all week,” I complained.

“Well you’re going to have to cancel on him. You spend so much time with him anyway, Frank.”

I rolled my eyes as she left the room. I was annoyed that I’d have to cancel my plans with Gerard. We were planning on going downtown all day since the weather had been good.

My phone started ringing in my pocket a moment later and I took it out to see that it was Gerard calling.

“Hey,” I said into the receiver.

“Hey, Frankie. Are you leaving now?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, in a few minutes; I’m still getting ready.”

“Oh, okay. Well I’m just about to leave now. Oh yeah, and I decided to sleep over.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep over anymore… Cause I have to be home with Kate all day tomorrow since my parents are working. And yes, that means I can’t go downtown with you tomorrow, which fucking sucks.”

“Aww, really? That really does suck…like, majorly. Well now I don’t know if I want to sleep over anymore cause I thought you were going to be sleeping over too,” he said.

“Well no, I don’t want you to not sleep over just cause I can’t, Gerard. You should if you want to.”

“But now I don’t want to, cause you can’t,” he laughed.

“Okay, then don’t,” I laughed as well.

“Yeah, I won’t. Your parents should have told you earlier that you have to watch Kate tomorrow.”

“I know. My mom just told me a few minutes ago. Hey, maybe since we’re both not sleeping over at Chloe’s, do you wanna sleep over at my house tonight?”

“Yeah, sure. That would work out cause you’d be home to watch Kate in the morning.”

“Yeah, it all works out.”

“Okay, well I’m gonna leave now. I’ll see you in like ten minutes.”

“See ya,” I said before hanging up my phone.

I went downstairs where my mom was waiting with Kate—my dad was working, as usual, so my mom had to bring Kate with her to drop me off at Chloe’s. We all got into the car in the garage and I backed out into the driveway. I drove to Chloe’s house and parked by the cub.

“So can you pick me up later?” I asked my mom.

“I thought you were sleeping over…” she said.

“Well I have to watch Kate tomorrow, right?”

“Not until 9:30.”

“Well I wouldn’t want to leave that early anyway.”

“Okay. When should I pick you up?”

“Sometime after midnight. I’ll call you.”

“I’ll get your dad to pick you up.”

“Okay, bye.” I said, opening the door.

“Bye, Frank,” Kate said from the back seat.

“Bye Kate, see you tomorrow,” I said to her.

I got out of the car and mom went into the driver’s seat while I walked up to the door. The door was open so I walked inside and through the streamers in the doorframe that led to the music. I walked in and saw lots of people sitting on couches and chairs talking and laughing and eating chips while the music played.

“Frank!” Chloe grinned and came over to hug me.

“Hey Chloe, happy birthday!” I smiled, hugging her back.

“Aw, thank you,” she smiled.

Emily waved to me from across the room and I went to go sit next to her.

(Gerard’s POV)

I saw Frank walk into the room full of people and Chloe went over to give him a hug. He didn’t see me and went to go sit on the couch with Emily. I was sitting and talking with Kim on the other side of the room.

“Are you gonna go say hi to him?” asked Kim.

“I will eventually,” I smiled.

“I hear that Shayna still likes him a lot,” Kim said.

“Really? Who’d you hear that from?” I asked.

“Bert. But he said Chloe told him,” Kim replied.

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Bert. “Wasn’t he invited to this party?” I asked.

“Yeah, Chloe said he was busy so he can’t come, though,” she said.

I laughed. “He probably just didn’t want to see me,” I said.

Kim laughed as well. “I can’t say I would doubt that,” she said

I looked across the room at Frank and he finally saw me and smiled. I smiled back and waved and he got up and walked over to Kim and I.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey guys. I didn’t even realize you were over here, Gerard,” Frank said.

“I was wondering when you would,” I said.

“Do you wanna sit down, Frank? I’m gonna go talk to Melissa,” Kim said, standing up.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks,” Frank said and sat down next to me in the now empty chair.

“So is your mom okay with me sleeping over tonight?” I asked.

“I didn’t tell her, but it should be fine,” Frank replied.

“I hope so… She gets into these weird moods sometimes, and it seems like she’s annoyed at me sometimes,” I said.

“I know, she can be really strange like that. She’s never said she’s annoyed at you though,” he said.

“Well she might now say it…” I laughed.

“Your mom’s so cool, seriously. I wish my mom was more easy-going like her,” he said.

“I know, I have to admit, my mom is cool,” I laughed.

“Yeah, it’s true,” Frank nodded.

“Hey, do you guys want drinks? They’re in the fridge down the hall,” Chloe said as she walked by us.

I looked at Frank. “Do you wanna come with me to get a drink?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

We both went down the hall to the fridge and looked inside. There was mostly coolers and beer, but there was also some soda. I took out a cooler from the fridge.

“Are you gonna drink?” I asked.

“I think I’ll just have a Coke,” Frank replied.

“Okay,” I said.

We headed back to the main room and found new seats on the couch.

*

Later on, at around midnight, most people had gone home except for me and Frank, and the people who were sleeping over at Chloe’s house—Emily, Shayna and Kim. We were all sitting on the floor in a circle and talking. I was sitting next to Frank, who looked exhausted.

“Do you guys wanna play truth?” Chloe asked.

“Sure,” I replied. Everyone else agreed on it, too.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” said Kim. “Emily, have you ever had a crush on a teacher?” Kim asked.

“Nope, never,” Emily replied, shaking her head.

“Gerard, are you a virgin?” Emily asked.

I raised an eyebrow as the girls giggled at Emily’s question for me. “Yes, I’m a virgin, surprisingly,” I laughed.

“Oh, okay. We’ve all been wondering that for a while,” said Chloe.

“Whether or not you and Bert...you know...” Kim added.

“Oh... That’s not awkward at all...” I laughed. “Anyway... Kim, if you had to kiss one person in this room, who would it be and why?” I asked.

“Ooh, a tough one...” Kim laughed. “Okay, I would kiss Chloe, ‘cause you know, she’s the birthday girl and all,” Kim said.

“Good answer,” Chloe laughed.

“Frank, what’s one thing that turns you on?” Kim asked.

Frank laughed. “Um... I guess when someone plays with my hair. I like that a lot,” Frank replied.

“Good to know...” Emily joked.

“Shayna probably knew that already, hey?” Chloe grinned.

Shayna blushed. “You’re funny, Chloe,” she smiled.

“Chloe, are you a virgin?”

“No...” Chloe blushed.

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” I said.

“Shut up,” Chloe laughed. “Okay, um... Shayna, would you go out with Frank if he asked you out right now?” Chloe asked.

“Hmm...probably, yeah...” Shayna shrugged.

I looked at Frank’s expression and it had a hint of surprise. We all just kind of nodded silently.

“Emily, who do you think is the most attractive person in the room?” Shayna asked.

“I’d say Frank,” Emily replied without even having to think. “Gerard, would you rather make out with Eric or Frank?” Emily asked.

“I’d rather make out with Frank,” I replied.

“Aww,” Chloe grinned.

“Kim, have you ever been high?” I asked.

“Never have been, never will be,” Kim replied. “Chloe, which two people in this room would make the cutest couple?” Kim asked.

“This is so easy: Gerard and Frank,” Chloe said.

“Aww, that’s so true you guys!” Emily said.

I just laughed awkwardly and Frank sat next to me blushing.

“Frank, do you have a crush on someone?” Chloe asked.

“Yep,” Frank replied.

“Really? Who?” the girls were asking.

“I’m not telling you guys,” Frank laughed.

So it was left a mystery.

*

Frank’s dad cane and picked us up at 12:45 a.m. and drove us back to the house. Me and Frank were both tired and we went to his room right away.

(Frank’s POV)

Gerard flopped down on my bed right away when we got to my room.

“Do you want some PJs to sleep in?” I asked, standing by the closet.

“Yeah, sure—I didn’t bring anything,” he said and sat up on the bed.

I went to my drawer and took out one of my soccer tournament t-shirts and a pair of PJ pants and tossed them both at him. Gerard and I both changed into our PJs and I smiled and blushed when he didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was staring at me as I changed out of my clothes. He smirked and looked away when I was done. If only he knew how much I enjoyed his attention...

“What’d you think of the party?” I asked, getting under the blanket beside him on the bed.

“I thought it was good; I had fun. The beginning was kind of dull though,” Gerard said.

“I had fun, too. It was a good party,” I agreed.

“I thought playing Truth was the best part,” he smiled.

“Haha, yeah, that was interesting for sure...” I said, turning onto my stomach.

“I didn’t know you had a crush on someone,” Gerard said casually, but I could tell he wanted to know who it was. And how could I tell him who it was? It was him. I definitely was not prepared to tell him I liked him. Not at all.

“Well, now you do,” I smiled.

“So you’re not going to tell me who?” he asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Aw, no fair,” he pouted.

I laughed. “Let’s go to sleep now. I’m tired...” I said.

“Okay,” Gerard said.

I turned off the lamp on the bedside table and closed my eyes. After a while I felt Gerard roll over to face me. I opened my eyes and saw that he was awake and looking at me. I looked at him for a long moment, not even sure if he knew I was looking at him in the dark. He was so attractive, even in the dark, and I laid there admiring him for the longest time.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable by what happened on Monday,” Gerard suddenly spoke.

“Is that what you’ve been laying here thinking about?” I asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s just that I barely even gave you a choice—I just put you on the spot and made you feel like you had to say yes, which I didn’t mean to do at all, Frank. I’ve just been worrying about the whole thing because you never told me how you felt about it...like, was is weird, was it good...? I don’t even know...” Gerard said.

“Well, first of all, you didn’t make me uncomfortable at all, Gerard. I would have told you to stop or something. And I didn’t feel at all pressured to say yes—I said yes ‘cause I wanted to. I guess we should have talked about it after...I had no idea you were so worried,” I said.

“I just needed to know if everything was cool. And yeah, we probably should have talked about it after...but oh well,” he said.

“So was that like an ‘in the moment’ sort of thing...? Or...” I trailed off, embarrassed to finish the sentence.

“Depends on what you want it to be,” Gerard said, placing all the pressure on me.

“I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t a one-time thing...” I admitted.

“I’d like that, too,” he agreed.

“All right, cool,” I said, unsure of what else to say after my best friend—and crush—agreed to give each other handjobs in the future.

“Well, good night,” Gerard said.

“Night,” I said back.

Gerard leaned in close to me and gave me a soft kiss on the lips before rolling over and leaving me with pleasant butterflies in my stomach. It was amazing how this boy could make me feel so happy.

***1 week later***

(Gerard’s POV)

Even after a week, Frank still hadn’t told me who his crush was. I was starting to hope that it was me he had a crush on. Well, we’d gotten really close since our little encounter while skipping school...maybe it had started then. He was always flirting with me, too. I really hope he felt the same about me as I felt about him. I liked him so much. I loved him...

Well, it was another Friday night and I was waiting for Frank to knock on the door—he was staying over that night. It was 9:00 and he was supposed to be at my house at 8:30. Just as I was about to call his cell, there was a knock on the door finally. I got off the couch, went down to the door and opened it.

“Hey Frankie,” I smiled, inviting him inside.

“Hey,” he smiled back, kicking off his Vans in the forrest before following me upstairs.

“Sorry I’m late; I had an argument with my mom and then she refused to drive me so I had to walk,” he said.

“Woah, that’s pretty harsh,” I said.

We both sat down on the couch.

“Yeah I know. I was like ‘mom, what the hell,’” Frank laughed, taking off his jacket.

“Do you want anything to eat?” I asked.

“No thanks, I’m good for now,” he replied.

“Is your mom home?” he asked.

“No, she’s out. She’s coming home late, she said,” I replied.

Frank nodded. “Can we go to your room?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

We got up and went downstairs to my bedroom. I shut the door behind me. Frank sat down on my bed and I sat in the beanbag chair on the floor in the corner of the room.

“Come here,” I smiled, patting an empty spot next to me on the beanbag chair.

Frank came over to me and sat down beside me. I put my arm around his waist and he smiled shyly and put his head on my shoulder.

“I’m supposed to go camping with my parents and Kate next weekend—that is if they decide to take me,” Frank said.

I could feel his warm, sweet breath against my neck as he spoke to me; it felt really nice.

“Why wouldn’t they take you?” I asked.

“I don’t know...I just feel like I cause so much problems for my parents. Like, my mom was yelling at me earlier about how I never am around to help out at home and that I might as well not be part of the family, if I don’t contribute anything to it...” Frank explained.

“Woah, is your mom PMSing or something? She sounds like she’s been such a bitch today, no offence,” I said.

“She is being a major bitch—she’s been like that all week, actually. It’s so fucking annoying. That’s why I like to get out of the house so much, ‘cause she’s always yelling at me about something when I’m at home...” he said.

“You can always come over here if you need to, you know that,” I assured him.

Frank nodded. “Yeah,” he said. He hugged me around the waist with one arm as we sat together, holding each other. “Would you come camping with us if my parents said you were allowed to?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, I would for sure,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll ask them. I’d have so much more fun if you were there,” he said.

I smiled to myself and kissed his forehead gently. Frank lifted his head off my shoulder and pressed his soft lips against mine, kissing me slowly as we held each other. We stayed that way for a while until he parted our lips and put his head back down against my shoulder. It was clear now that we both liked each other, but none of us wanted to admitt it. I could tell by his shyness and our sensual kiss and our closeness. I wasn’t ready to say anything yet though.

“You’ve become an excellent kisser,” I smiled.

Frank chuckled, “Thank you. No more of my spit on your face,” he smiled.

I laughed, “Nope, that stage has passed,” I said.

“Mhm,” he nodded.

“Do you want to go upstairs and watch a movie?” I asked after a while.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he replied.

We both got up and went back upstairs to the family room, where we sat down on the couch.

“You choose the movie,” Frank said.

“All right,” I said.

I went through my DVDs and finally chose ‘Wedding Crashers’ before sitting next to Frank on the couch again.

“Hey, didn’t we go see this at the theatre when it first came out?” Frank asked as the movie started.

“Oh yeah, we did see this together,” I smiled.

“That was like...grade 9 or something,” he said.

“Haha, those were fun times,” I said.

“Yeah, for sure,” he nodded.

“Would you mind if I laid down on you?” Frank asked.

“No, go ahead,” I replied.

He laid down and rested his head in my lap as he stretched out his legs. I looked down at him and smiled—I could totally imagine us as a couple. I started toying with his dark brown hair as we watched the movie, but I was only half-watching because I was distracted by the gorgeous boy with his head in my lap.

About half-way through the movie my mom suddenly walked into the room.

“Hello, you two,” she said, giving me an odd look.

“Hey, mom,” I said.

“Hi Laurie,” Frank said.

“You guys look very comfortable...” she said from the kitchen. Neither of us said anything. “Do you guys want some ice cream? You should finish it so I won’t be tempted to have some,” mom chuckled.

“Do you want any?” I asked Frank.

“No,” he replied.

“I think we’re good, mom,” I called back to her.

My mom went to bed soon and the movie was just about over.

“Frank?” I said as the credits rolled across the TV screen.

“Hmm?” he said, sounding half asleep.

“Were you sleeping?” I asked.

“Yeah, for a bit,” he yawned and sat up.

I got up and took the DVD out of the DVD player before putting it back in its case.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said, standing in the doorway.

Frank sighed and tiredly got up from the couch, following me downstairs to my room.

***

(Frank’s POV)

***Thursday***

So I had asked my parents about Gerard coming camping with us, and they said her he could come. I was so excited! We were going to be leaving on Friday afternoon. We didn’t have school that day, so it all worked out well. We were going down to Seattle by car, which would take about 3 hours, and then we’d be setting up our stuff at the campsite.

By now, my feelings for Gerard had become really strong, and so knew I had to do something about it. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. I had to tell him how I felt. I told myself that sometime during the camping trip, I had to tell Gerard about my feelings for him.

Gerard had invited me over that evening, and I was in his room sitting on his bed while he packed for camping.

“How many shirts do you think I’ll need?” he asked, going through his drawers.

“Well, we’re gonna be there for 2 days and 2 nights...I guess just bring 4 or 5, just in case I push you into the lake,” I smirked.

“Oh, you’d better not,” he laughed, throwing some t-shirts into his backpack.

“Bring a couple sweaters, too,” I suggested.

“Does it get really cold at night, sleeping in a tent?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, sometimes,” I nodded. “Have you been camping before?” I asked.

“No, this will be my first time,” he said.

“Really? How could I not know that?” I said, surprised.

Gerard shrugged and laughed, “Maybe we just never talked about camping before this...” he said.

“Yeah, maybe,” I nodded.

“Well what should I expect?” he asked, sitting down next to me on his bed.

“Well, my parents like hiking, so we might have to do that, and the showers are communal, we’ll most likely be eating hotdogs on the first night and I’m not sure about the second night, and we might have to have Kate with us a lot...anything else?” I said.

“Do you have an extra tent? ‘Cause I don’t own one. I have a sleeping bag though,” Gerard said.

“No, you’ll have to share a tent with me, then,” I said.

“Aw, darn,” Gerard smiled sarcastically.

***

The next day was the day we were leaving to go camping. Gerard’s mom would be dropping him off at my house any minute. I was with Kate in her room, getting her backpack to bring to the van.

“Frank, when is Gerard gonna be here?” she asked.

“He’s gonna be here pretty soon,” I replied.

Kate was looking for something in her closet.

“What are you looking for in there?” I asked.

“My boots,” Kate replied, holding up one pink rain book for me to see.

“Sweetie, you don’t need your rain boots. It’s supposed to be sunny all weekend,” I told her.

“But what if it rains?” she asked.

“It won’t rain, trust me,” I said.

“How do you know?” she asked.

“The weather man said so,” I replied.

“Oh,” she said, and there her boot back into the closet.

The doorbell rang at that moment, and I quickly left the room to go open the door.

“Is that Gerard,” Kate asked, following me to the door.

“I’m pretty sure it is,” I replied. I opened the front door and saw Gerard standing there with his backpack on, and holding his sleeping bag in his arms.

“Hey,” I smiled.

“Hi,” he smiled back, stepping inside.

Gerard’s mom waved at me from her car. “Have fun you guys!” she called to me.

“Thank you, we will!” I waved back. I shut the door when she drove away.

“Hey Kate, what’s up?” Gerard smiled at my sister.

“Hi,” she waved and smiled shyly before running upstairs.

“All right then,” he laughed.

“If you want, you can put your stuff in the van right now. My dad’s out there I think,” I said.

“I didn’t see him...” Gerard said.

“Maybe he went in the garage for something. I’ll go with you, I just have to get Kate’s stuff,” I said.

“Okay,” he said.

I ran upstairs to Kate’s room to get her backpack and her sleeping bag, and then ran back down to the front door where Gerard was waiting for me.

We went outside to the van where my dad was loading the portable barbecue into the back.

“Oh hi, Gerard,” he said when he saw us.

“Hi Simon,”Gerard smiled.

“Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s it going?” dad asked.

“Oh, pretty good, you?” Gerard said.

“Good, thanks,” dad replied. “You guys can just leave all the bags and such beside the van; I’ll load it all in,” he added.

“Okay,” I said.

Gerard and I set down the bags we were carrying and thanked my dad before going back inside.

“So what time are we leaving?” Gerard asked as he took off his shoes at the doorway.

“2 o’ clock...so we have a couple hours to chill,” I said.

“Awesome,” he smiled and nodded.

“Have you eaten lunch yet?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t eat,” he replied.

“Okay good ‘cause my mom’s making a bunch of sandwiches and stuff for lunch,” I said.

“Oh, okay. That sounds good,” Gerard said.

“Well let’s go upstairs,” I said.

“Yeah. that would probably be better than hanging out in the doorway,” Bkaje chuckled. We went upstairs and Gerard followed me into my room and I shut the door.

(Gerard’s POV)

I sat down on the bed and Frank sat down next to me.

“My moms in a not-so-good mood today, so be prepared for her yelling either at me or my dad,” Frank told me.

“Seems like she’s always yelling at you,” I said.

“‘Cause she is. It’s so fucking annoying and it pisses me off so much. We can’t even sit down and eat dinner without her making a scene. I don’t blame my dad sir staying late at work,” Frank said.

I put my arm over his shoulder. “I hope things get better,” I said.

“So do I... Sorry for the rant—I just tend to do that,” he said.

“I don’t mind at all. It’s better than not talking about it,” I said.

“I guess so,” he agreed.

“And don’t worry about anything this weekend—we’re going to have fun,” I smiled.

Frank smiled back and nodded, and I kissed his cheek, letting my lips linger against his skin before I pulled back.

“Thanks,” he blushed.

*

So we left the house at 2 o’ clock after eating turkey sandwiches for lunch. Frank and I were sitting in the back of the van, Kate sat in one of the middle seats, and Simon and Suzanne were in the front—Simon was driving.

It had been three hours since we’d left the house now. Kate was asleep, Frank and I were sharing earbuds while listening to my iPod, and his parents were talking quietly in the front. I was getting kind of bored sitting there in the car; Frank and I had talked ourselves out and had grown tired of playing games on his cell phone during the past three hours. The fact that Kate had fallen asleep an hour earlier hadn’t helped either—she’d been a source of entertainment, to me, at least; Frank had seemed annoyed at all the questions she kept asking me.

I paused the song that was playing on my iPod and Frank gave me a questioning look.

“Why’d you pause it?” he asked.

I leaned closer to him, not wanting to be heard. “Can you ask your mom or dad how close we are to the campsite? I’m just curious,” I said in almost a whisper.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Frank nodded. Then he smiled at me, “What, are you too shy to ask them yourself or something?” he asked quietly.

I chuckled, “No, I just don’t want to sound rude,” I said.

Frank laughed slightly, “That’s so cute,” he said, smiling his gorgeous smile again.

I smiled back at him, not wanting to lean away from him again, but I did anyway.

“Hey dad, how close are we?” Frank asked as I sat up straight again.

“We should be there in around forty-five minutes,” Simon replied.

“Oh, okay,” Frank said back.

“Thanks,” I said to Frank.

He just nodded and pressed the ‘play’ button on his iPod again.

*

Just like Frank’s dad has said, we arrived at the campsite in Seattle about forty-five minutes later. We all got out of the van and Kate woke up.

“Hey, you missed all the fun while you were asleep,” Frank teased his sister as he lifted her out of her booster seat in the van. Frank and I started setting up the two tents while Suzanne and Simon unloaded the other stuff. It took us a while, and quite a bit of help from Frank’s dad, but we eventually got the tents up and then ate dinner, which was hotdogs.

It was seven o’ clock when we were finished eating.

“So, are you all up for a hike tomorrow morning?” Simon asked excitedly.

“I think that’s a good idea, yes,” Suzanne replied, looking at Frank and I expectantly.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” I smiled and nodded.

I looked over at Frank and he nodded.

*

Later on, after we’d all had our turn at a cold shower in the communal washrooms, Frank and I said goodnight to Kate and Frank’s parents.

“I hope you two are all right sharing a tent,” Suzanne said to me apologetically before we both got into the tent.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured her with a smile.

She nodded and went into the larger tent in which she was going to be sleeping with Simon and Kate. I got into the tent that I was sharing with Frank, and he turned on the flashlight so we could find the opening to our sleeping bags in the dark.

“So, do you really think hiking sounds good for tomorrow?” Frank asked me once we were both in our sleeping bags. The flashlight was still on.

“No, not at all,” I said honestly.

Frank and I looked at each other, grinning, and then we both burst out laughing.

“Who knows,” I began, regaining my composure, “we might have fun,” I said.

“We could probably get out of it though,” Frank said.

“Then what else could we do?” I asked.

“Go take a walk by ourselves, or go swim in the lake or something,” he said.

I liked both of his ideas a lot—in both instanced we would be alone.

“We could do both,” I said, smiling.

“That always works,” he agreed.

“So what are you gonna say to your parents?” I asked.

“I’ll just say we want to go swimming instead, and that we’ll go hiking with them on Sunday instead, and hopefully they won’t want to go again,” Frank explained.

“That sounds like a plan—as long as you say everything,” I laughed.

“Yeah, sure,” he laughed, too.

***

(Frank’s POV)

I woke up in the morning with my back wet with sweat—the sun was beating down on the tent and it was heating it up quickly. I sat up and reached over Gerard to zip open the tent, letting some air inside. I got out of my sleeping bag, kicking it off my legs, apparently waking Gerard up in the process.

“Its really warm,” he said, getting out of his sleeping bag also.

“Yeah, I was being baked alive in my sleeping bag,” I said.

“Not fun,” Gerard commented.

“Do you have your camera in here?” I asked.

“Mhm, it’s in my backpack. Front pocket,” he said.

“I reached over towards our feet where Gerard’s backpack was, and for his camera out. I laid down beside him, on my back as well.

“We need to take pictures of our bedheads,” I grinned, holding Gerard’s camera above us.

“Okay, wait, wait,” Gerard said, scooting closer so that our faces were almost touching. When we were ready, I pressed down on the shutter-release button. We took about a dozen photos of ourselves, and in one of them I kissed Gerard on the cheek.

“Okay, enough photos—my arm is getting tired,” I said, sitting up and putting Gerard’s camera back into his backpack.

Gerard sat up next to me. “Ready for hiking?” he grinned.

“Yeah, right,” I chuckled. I was really looking forward to having some token alone with Gerard while my parents and Kate went hiking. I was determined to tell Gerard how I felt about him, even if the thought scared me to death. I kept telling myself that it was now or never—I was ready, I knew how I felt about Gerard, and it was time to be completely honest with him.

As we all sat at breakfast talking, I decided to bring up the question I wanted to ask my parents. “Dad, is it okay if Gerard and I skip hiking today? We wanted to go walk around on our own for a bit,” I said. Both my mom and dad were silent for a moment. “We’ll go with you tomorrow...” I added.

“Well, I guess it’s all right with me, if that’s what you guys want to do. I’m not gonna force you to go hiking,” dad said coolly.

I looked at mom, whose lips were pursed. “Is that okay, mom?” I asked.

“Well...I was looking forward to doing something all together, you know. That’s kind of what this trip was meant for; some fault bonding... But, whatever you choose to do, Frank. It’s not like we’re all not used to you taking off like this...” mom went on, speaking firmly, but with a forced smile.

“Great,” I said, standing up and going over to the tent.

Of course my mom just had to say something like that. I should never have asked for her permission. At least dad hadn’t sent me on a guilt trip. I sat down on my sleeping bag, feeling annoyed. Gerard suddenly came into the tent and sat down beside me.

“What’s up?” he asked, although I was sure he knew.

“It’s so like my mom to say something like that,” I said.

“Yeah, that was kind of harsh, like, the way she said it,” Gerard said.

“I don’t even know why I’m letting it bother me,” I said, pulling at a thread on my shorts.

“Yeah, just forget about it. We can go for a walk; that will help,” he suggested.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Come on,” Gerard said, getting out of the tent.

I followed him out. “We’re going for a walk,” I told my parents.

Mom ignored me, but dad said, “Okay, we’ll be back from hiking in a couple hours,” with a smile.

Gerard and I started off, walking along a trail by the lake. There were kids playing by the water, their parents sitting in the sand.

“Hey, your birthday’s coming up in a few weeks,” I said, suddenly remembering.

“Yep, it is. I’ll finally be 17,” he smiled.

“Are you having a party? I asked.

“I dunno, it’s kinda late to plan one...” Gerard shrugged.

The trail took a turn into the forest.

“You have like, three and a half weeks. And it’s not like it has to be a huge party,” I said.

He nodded, “Well, you’ll help me plan it, won’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah, for sure,” I said.

“And of course my mom will help, too,” he said.

“Mhm, your mom’s good at stuff like that,” I said.

“Oh, look,” Gerard said as we walked into a grassy clearing in the forest.

“It’s so nice here,” I said as we stopped walking.

“Let’s sit down,” Gerard suggested.

We both sat down on the dry grass, enjoying the forest around us. This was it—I had to tell Gerard now. I took a deep breath—several deep breaths, preparing myself for the confession I was about to make.

Three, two, one—

But Gerard caught me off guard when he reached his hand up and stroked my cheek softly. I looked at him and gave him a small smile, placing my hand over his as it rested on my cheek.

“I’m really glad you invited me on this trip, Frankie,” he said genuinely.

“Me too—I really wanted you to be here. And I’m glad you are,” I said.

He nodded in agreement and let his hand fall from my face. I took another breath before going for it.

“Gerard, I think that I should tell you something,” I said, beginning to pull up blades of grass from the ground.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I...I have feelings for you. And I’ve had them for a while now—ever since that time when I asked you to kiss me. The reason I stopped talking to you for a while after that was because I was scared. I’d never felt so strongly about a guy before, and I was just scared of how I felt towards you.

“And the whole time you were with Bert, I was so jealous...that’s why I disliked him so much—because you had feelings for him and he was dating you. And then now, we’re always kissing and being all cuddly, and I enjoy that, but it’s just time that I let you know that my feelings for you are serious and not just like, in a ‘messing around’ sort of way...

“And I really hope that everything I just told you doesn’t make you uncomfortable and like, I don’t know how you feel about me, but I’d like to know...and please just be really honest, I don’t care if you just like me as a friend, just...I want to know...” I spoke.

By now there was a good-sized pile of grass by my feet as I was pulling up the glades as I spoke.

“I’m...wow, that’s a lot to take in,” Gerard said.

“I know, sorry,” I chuckled, still looking down at the grass.

“Well, um... I guess I should let you know that I have feelings for you, too, Frankie,” he said.

I looked up at him and saw that he was blushing.

“I don’t know how you feel about me asking you this, but I’ll ask anyway... Do you want to be my boyfriend, Frank?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I do,” I said.

I did it. I finally told Gerard how I felt, and I was so happy.

He leaned towards me and kissed my lips softly before pulling back. “I’d say this is better than hiking,” he grinned.

“I would definitely agree with that,” I nodded.

***

(Gerard’s POV)

On Sunday, Frank and I went for a short hike with his parents and Kate, who me and Frank took turns giving piggy-back rides to. We hadn’t gone swimming in the lake because the water was way too cold, but we did play a couple games of volleyball in the sand. I had a lot of fun with Frank and his family.

That evening we all helped pack up the tents and sleeping bags and everything else before our three and a half hour drive back home. We left the campsite at six o’ clock that evening. On the drive home, I think we all fell asleep except for Simon, who was driving the van. I conveniently woke up just as Simon was turning onto the street where I lived. I put my hand on Frank’s shoulder and he stirred awake.

“Hmm?” he said.

“We’re almost at my house. I just wanted to say bye to you before I left,” I whispered, taking off my seatbelt.

Frank nodded sleepily. “Did you have fun?” he asked.

I smiled, “Yeah, I had a lot of fun. Thank you again,” I said.

“Make sure you go to school tomorrow. No taking the day off as a longer weekend,” he said.

“I’ll be at school. Do you want me to pick you up in the morning?” I asked.

“Yeah, please,” he nodded.

Simon parked the car in my driveway. “You’re home, Gerard,” he said quietly.

“Okay,” I replied,

“Bye, Gerard,” Frank said.

“Bye,” I said back.

I got out of the van and Simon got out to help me with my stuff.

“Got it?” he said as he handed me my sleeping bag.

“Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on your trip with you. I really enjoyed it,” I said.

“No problem, Gerard. It was great having you with us,” Simon smiled.

“See you later,” I said.

“Yep, you too,” he said back.

I went up to my house and rang the doorbell. My mom opened the door a few seconds later, wearing flannel pyjamas.

“Hey, honey!” she smiled and hugged me.

“Hey, mom,” I smiled back.

Mom waved at Simon, “Hope he wasn’t too much trouble!” she joked.

“Not at all, we were glad to have him!” Simon said back.

“Good night!” Mom waved again and Simon waved back to her.

I went inside and mom shut the front door.

“So how was it?” she asked, helping me carry my stuff to my room.

“Oh, it was great, mom. I had a lot of fun. Apart from the cold showers...” I said.

Mom chuckled and I dropped my backpack in the corner of the room.

“You look exhausted, Gerard. Are you going to school tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yeah, I promised Frank I would go,” I said.

“Well that’s good; you’ve missed enough school anyway,” she said.

I nodded tiredly.

“Well, you can tell me more about the trip on the morning, okay?” mom said.

“Mhm,” I nodded.

“Okay, goodnight, Gerard?” she said.

“Goodnight, mom,” I replied.

That night I fell asleep thinking of my boyfriend, Frank.

***1 week Later***

It had been a week since Frank and I had been in a relationship. We hadn’t told anyone yet but we were planning on doing that on Monday. However, I decided to tell my mom that day, Saturday, since Frank had told me he didn’t mind if I told her now.

I went into the family room where my mom was sitting reading a book, and sat down beside her on the couch.

“Yes?” she asked, looking up from her reading.

“I just wanted to let you know that I have a new boyfriend,” I said.

Mom looked at me in surprise. “Since when?” she asked.

“Since a week ago,” I replied.

“Well who is this boy? Tell me about him. When do I get to meet him?” Mom went on curiously.

“You already know him...it’s Frank,” I told her.

“Really? I never knew he was— Well, that’s just...that’s wonderful, Gerard,” she smiled. She seemed lost for words.

“Thanks,” I smiled back. “He told me he liked me while we were camping and I asked him out since I liked him, too.”

“He’s a very sweet young man. You two make a great couple,” she said.

“Aw, mom,” I chuckled, hugging her.

“Is he coming over this evening?” she asked.

“Yeah, in like, an hour,” I told her.

“Okay,” she nodded.

“And he’s sleeping over,” I added.

Mom gave me a mildly disapproving look. “Just make sure you don’t rush into things you’re not ready for, okay?” she said.

“I know,” I nodded.

“Do his parents know about him?” she asked.

“No, I don’t even know if he’s planning on telling them, to be honest,” I said.

“Oh, okay,” she nodded.

“Do you want to have a family birthday party this year, or just one with your friends?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Can I do both?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” mom said. “Is there anything in particular you’d like for your birthday?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Not really...you can get me anything,” I said.

“All right, then,” she said.

At around seven-thirty the doorbell rang, and I went down to open the door.

“Hey, Frankie,” I smiled when I’d opened the door for him.

“Hi,” he smiled back, stepping inside the house.

I closed the door as he took his shoes off, and then gave him a hug. He smelled really nice, and I told him so.

“Thanks, it’s probably my hair gel—it’s this fruity stuff I bought,” Frank chuckled as we let go of each other.

“Oh okay,” I nodded.

Frank gave me a peck on the lips. “Did you tell your mom?” he asked.

“Yeah. She seemed pretty happy about it, actually,” I said.

“Oh, that’s good. I’m happy,” he smiled.

“Come on,” I said, and took his hand, leading him upstairs.

(Frank’s POV)

Gerard led me upstairs to the family room where his mom was making dinner.

“Hi, Frank,” she smiled when we walked into the room.

“Hi, Laurie,” I said back.

“Did Gerard cause trouble on the camping trip?” she winked.

“Nah, I had him under control,” I joked, nudging Gerard.

“Hey, I haven’t uploaded our photos from that trip yet,” he said.

“I’ve noticed. We should do that later,” I suggested.

“Have you eaten dinner yet, Frank?” Laurie asked.

“Yeah, I ate before I left,” I replied.

“Oh okay,” she nodded.

“I already ate too, so it’s all good,” Gerard told me.

“Do you wanna go downstairs?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

We went downstairs to his bedroom and I sat down on his bed as he sat at his computer chair.

“Are you uploading the photos now?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

I got up and stood behind him, putting my hands on his shoulders. He put the photos onto the computer and then began uploading them to Facebook.

“What should I name the album?” Gerard asked.

“Name it...’camping in Seattle,’” I shrugged.

“Yeah, why not,” he said. “I wanted to think of something more interesting though,” he added.

“Oh well—you can always change it later on if you don’t like it,” I pointed out.

“That’s true,” he said, typing in the album name.

I started massaging Gerard’s shoulders as the photos uploaded into the album.

“That feels really good,” he said.

“Does it?” I whispered.

“Mhm,” Gerard sighed, leaning his head back.

“I can give you a full back massage if you want,” I offered.

“Yes, please,” Gerard replied.

“Okay. Well you need to by lying down then...” I said.

“I know, Frankie,” he smiled as he got up from the computer chair. “You’re just too eager to see me without a shirt on,” he added, laughing.

“And why wouldn’t I be?” I smiled.

Gerard shrugged and kissed my lips softly. My heart melted. He pulled off his t-shirt then, and laid down on the bed, on his stomach, putting his arms above his head, underneath his pillow. I got on top of Gerard, straddling his legs, and then leaned forward with my hands on his back.

“I don’t have massage oil, but it’s okay,” Gerard said from underneath me.

“Yeah, it’s fine. As long as you don’t mind,” I said, working my fingertips on his shoulder blades.

“I don’t mind—it feels really good still,” he replied, as I continued to massage him.

“Good,” I said.

After fifteen minutes of massaging, Gerard told me that I could stop.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I could keep going...” I said.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I just wanna lie here with you,” he said.

“That sounds good,” I said, getting off him and lying down next to him on his bed.

“Can we get under the blanket?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, sitting up.

We both got all covered up and I smiled as he pulled me closer to him and put his arm around me.

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank and I were cuddling together under the blankets and I felt so comfortable with him, just holding him close to me and looking into his gorgeous eyes.

“Thank you for the amazing massage,” I said.

Frank smiled and kissed my lips. “No problem, he said after.

I adjusted myself and put my arm out so Frank could rest his head on my upper arm.

“Comfy?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, smiling and running his hand up and down my bare arm, which felt really nice.

I kissed him softly and our lips began moving together as one. I felt Frank open his mouth against mine, and I gently slipped my tongue inside, brushing it against his. I felt Frank movie his hand up to my face and rest it on my cheek as I moved my hand up the back of his t-shirt, rubbing it all over the soft skin on his back.

Hearing Frank’s soft but quick breathing made me smile against his sweet lips. Feeling him press his body as close as possible against mine, made my heart beat faster and faster. I could feel myself getting hard. Frank suddenly stopped kissing me and sat up for a second to pull his shirt off. I smiled at him as he laid down again, and he kissed me.

As we laid facing each other, kissing, I moved my hand down between our bodies to rest on Frank’s dick. I rubbed it slowly, feeling how hard he was.

“Is this okay?” I asked against his lips.

“Of course,” he replied.

I continued to rub Frank’s dick over top of his jeans, and moved my lips down to his neck, sucking and kissing his skin.

“You wanna take off your pants?” I asked.

“Yeah...but only if you do, too,” Frank replied.

“Yeah, I will, too,” I said, kissing his neck once again.

“Okay,” he said.

We both took off our pants underneath the blanket and then laid there, facing each other. Frank smiled at me and then I felt his hand on my dick, over my boxers. I smiled back at him and kissed his lips once.

“You’re so hard,” he said, rubbing me.

“Mmm, yeah...” I half moaned as Frank increased his speed.

“Can I see your dick?” he asked, a cute smile on his face.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” I smirked.

He grinned and nodded, and then took off his boxers underneath the blankets.

“You take yours off too,” he said.

So I pulled down my boxers and tossed them onto the floor.

“Done,” I smiled.

“Okay,” Frank said.

I watched him as he slowly pulled down the blanket, revealing his hard dick. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he laid there, completely naked—he was beautiful.

“You’re just...so perfect, baby,” I smiled.

Frank smiled back and touched my hand.

“You pull the blanket off me,” I said.

“Sure, I’ll do the honours,” he said.

Frank pulled the blanket away from my body and I felt myself being exposed.

“Simply gorgeous, Gerard, really,” Frank smiled, snuggling up to me. “I never knew you were so big” he whispered.

I chuckled. “I’m not that big,” I said.

“Mister Modest...” Frank laughed and I kissed his cheek.

“Let’s do something...” I whispered, sitting up and leaning against the wall.

“Like what?” Frank asked, rolling onto his stomach and looking up at me as he leaned on his elbows.

I shrugged. “Whatever you feel comfortable doing,” I replied.

Frank smiled and then sat up. He got on top of me, straddling my legs between his knees as I leaned against the wall. I smiled back at him and kissed him. I reached my hand down and wrapped my fingers around his dick, beginning to stroke it slowly.

“I’m probably going to cum really quick ‘cause I’m really horny right now,” Frank said.

“That’s okay,” I said.

I soon felt Frank’s hand start stroking my dick, too, and I took in a sharp breath of air. My eyes were on Frank, and the way he was biting his bottom lip, trying to hold in his moans was making me crazy.

“Don’t hold back, I wanna hear you, baby,” I said, rubbing the head of his dick.

“But...your mom is upstairs...” he breathed out heavily.

“She can’t hear us down here,” I assured him.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

I rubbed my thumb over his slit, and he let out a sexy moan which which turned me on so much. I felt the wetness of his pre-cum on my thumb. Frank stopped rubbing my dick and put his arms around my neck instead as he kissed my lips. I started pumping my hand up and down his shaft in a steady rhythm as he moaned against my lips, and I wished he was still jerking me off.

“Gerard...I’m gonna cum...right now...” Frank moaned.

I soon felt his body shuddering and felt his warm, sticky cum squirt onto my stomach. When his body relaxed again, Frank rested his head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around him.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said, kissing my neck.

I was caught off guard when Frank laid down between my legs with his face right above my dick.

“You’re gonna blow me?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just surprised—in a good way though,” I smiled.

Frank rolled his warm, wet tongue over the head of my dick slowly, playing with my slit. I let out a moan and gripped the sheets tightly. He then took the head into his mouth and sucked it, closing his lips right around it, and still working his tongue on my slit.

“Uhhh, yeah, Frank...” I moaned as he took me further into his mouth.

When I felt my head hit the back of his throat the first time, I felt my pre-cum leak out of my dick. He started on steady rhythm, sliding his lips up and down my shaft, and I started thrusting my hips upwards, trying to get myself further down his throat. I didn’t think Frank liked it that much, ‘cause he put his hands on my hips and held them down.

“Wait. Frank, stop,” I said, as a thought suddenly dawned on me.

Frank took my dick out of his mouth and looked up at me. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“We should be using a condom,” I said.

“But neither of us has had sex before, so how could we have an STD or something?” he said.

“Yeah, but still, we’ve never been tested before...” I said.

“Well if you’re worried, then put one on. But I’ve been sucking your dick for a while already so it wouldn’t even matter,” Frank said.

“Yeah, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. Just keep going then. We most likely don’t have anything anyway,” I said.

Frank nodded and went back to sucking my dick. I was very close to cumming, and I wondered if he would spit or swallow.

“I’m close, Frankie,” I breathed, gripping the sheets tightly.

I was soon taken over with pleasure and spilled my cum into Frank’s mouth. He continued to suck me as I came, and when I was done, he took me out of his mouth and sat up, pointing to his closed lips.

“Oh, you wanna spit?” I asked, cluing in.

Frank nodded.

I reached over and grabbed an empty glass from my nightstand for Frank to spit into.

“Didn’t like it?” I asked once he was done spitting.

“Well it didn’t taste bad, I’m just not used to it...” he explained, lying down beside me.

“Yeah, I get that,” I nodded.

(Frank’s POV)

I snuggled up close to Gerard, smiling to myself as he kissed the top of my head. It was crazy how just a week earlier Gerard and I were just friends, and now we were boyfriends and I’d just giving him oral sex.

“I’m kinda worried about telling people on Monday,” I admitted as we laid there.

“Well I don’t blame you for being worried. I mean, coming out isn’t easy... We don’t have to tell people yet if you don’t want to,” Gerard said.

“But the main thing I’m worried about is that my parents will find out somehow... Do you know how quickly they’d making me stop hanging out with you?” I said.

“Well, come on, how would they find out? Even if someone told them, you could just deny it if you had to, ‘cause they wouldn’t have any evidence,” Gerard explained.

“Well yeah, that’s true... I’m just so paranoid about it, that’s all,” I said.

“So I guess they’re really homophobic then,” Gerard said.

“Well, yeah. Why don’t you think I never told them you’re gay?” I replied rhetorically.

“That really sucks,” he said.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“So do you wanna tell people tomorrow or not?” he asked.

“I do, really. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just being paranoid,” I said.

Gerard chuckled. “Okay,” he said.

“Well how are we gonna tell people?” I asked.

“Like this...” Gerard took my hand and we laced our fingers together gingerly.

I looked up at him and smiled. “That’s more than okay with me,” I said.

Chapter Text

***Monday***

I woke up with a knot of nervousness in my stomach on Monday morning. I would basically be coming out to the whole school that day, and that was what made me nervous. I quickly got ready for school and then I called Gerard.

“Hey, Frankie,” Gerard answered the phone.

“Hey. Are you driving or bussing today?” I asked.

“I’m bussing—my mom has the car today,” he replied.

“Oh okay. Well I’m taking the 8:30 but, are you?” I asked.

“Yeah. So I’ll see you soon then,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, see you. Bye,” I said before hanging up.

I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs to the doorway.

“Are you just going to leave without saying bye?” mom yelled from in the kitchen.

“Bye!” I yelled up at her before leaving the house and slamming the door. We had had an argument the previous night and I was still pretty pissed off at her.

I walked to the bus stop, which was only five minutes away from my house. It was a nice, sunny and cold morning, and there were three other people at the bus stop when I got there. The bus arrived a few minutes later and I got on. I saw Gerard sitting in a seat In the middle of the bus, and I went and sat next to him.

“Hey,” I smiled as I sat down.

“Hey,” he smiled back.

If we hadn’t been on a bus, I would have given him a kiss, so I just reached for his hand and held it instead.

“So you haven’t changed your mind then,” he said.

“No,” I said.

Gerard began gently stroking the back of my hand with his thumb.

“You thought I would, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Well, I wasn’t totally convinced on Saturday,” he said.

“Well that’s ‘cause I’m just nervous about everyone knowing,” I said.

Gerard nodded knowingly and smiled at me. “I’m glad you didn’t change your mind,” he said.

The bus ride was short, and eight minutes later, Gerard and I were standing up to get off the bus. I was still holding his hand as we walked down the aisle to the exit door in the middle of the bus, and I braved myself for the stares as we stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“You okay so far?” Gerard asked as we crossed the street.

“Yeah, I’m taking deep breaths...” I replied.

We passed by a group of grade 10 girls and I heard one of them say, “Oh my God, look at those guys...” as we walked by.

“Did you hear that girl?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, Frankie. You just have to not let stuff like that get to you,” said Gerard.

We walked inside the school and I immediately noticed some people staring and whispering, though I didn’t hear anything being said.

“Let’s go to the theatre room,” I suggested.

We made a left turn into the room where there were a bunch of people lounging around. I noticed Chloe’s eyes go wide when she saw us holding hands and I couldn’t help smiling. She bounded over to us excitedly.

“An explanation would be nice,” she said, grinning.

“As if it isn’t obvious...” Gerard said, laughing slightly.

“But when did this happen, you guys? And how? Explain!” she insisted, the broad grin still on her face.

“Gerard asked me out last weekend, so it hasn’t been that long,” I said.

“It’s just so surprising ‘cause I never knew Frank liked boys!” Chloe laughed.

“Well, I like boys and girls...” I said.

“Oh, okay, gotcha,” she nodded.

“Gerard’s my first boyfriend though,” I added.

“Awe, you guys are such a cute couple,” Chloe smiled.

I smiled back at her.

After Gerard and I finished talking to Chloe, we went and sat on the couch with Kim and Eric.

(Gerard’s POV)

“So how long have you two been dating?” asked Eric.

“Oh, just over a week now,” I replied.

“Aw, that’s really nice. I’m happy for you guys,” he said.

“Thanks, Eric,” I said.

I looked over at Frank, who was rummaging through his backpack. “What are you looking for?” I asked.

“My phone, I felt it ringing a minute ago,” he said.

“Oh,” I said.

“Are you presenting your monologue today?” asked Kim.

“Oh fuck. I totally forgot we were presenting those! Well I sort of have it memorized, but I don't think I’ll go today,” I said.

“Oh okay, yeah well you have till Wednesday anyway,” Kim said.

“Yeah, that’s true,” I nodded.

“Found it,” Frank said.

“Good. Who called you?” I asked.

“Emily. And then she texted me… Oh, she’s just asking about the chem quiz today,” he said.

“Oh, okay. Ew, you know what I just remembered? We’re doing a run today in P.E.,” I said.

“Oh yeah… Well, it’s not that bad,” he said.

“Yeah, cause you can actually run the whole thing,” I laughed.

“Well, yeah I guess,” Frank said.

The bell rang after that and Frank got up to leave. I had acting class first block so Ineas staying in the theatre room.

“Have fun in French and chem,” I said as I stood up too.

“Yeah, you bet,” Frank smiled sarcastically.

“Well I’ll see you later then, okay?” I said.

“Yeah, okay,” he said.

I peaked his lips lightly before he walked out of the room.

***Two Weeks Later***

My alarm clock woke me up on the Friday morning of my 17th birthday, and just like every other morning, one of my first thoughts was of Frank. ‘I can’t wait to be with him today,’ I thought to myself.

I stretched and got out of bed, already anticipating the day and the weekend. Saturday was the day we were having family over for my birthday, and Frank would be there, too. I had decided not to do anything else for my birthday that year.

When I was dressed I went upstairs to the kitchen where my mom would be, and I was surprised at what I saw. My mom had made me a beautiful breakfast of crepes and fruit, and she sang happy birthday to me as I smiled and stood there.

“Awe, thanks mom,” I said and gave her a hug.

“Happy birthday, and you’re very welcome, Gerard. Now eat up and enjoy,” she smiled.

I sat down at the kitchen table and started my breakfast.

“Delicious,” I said.

“Good. Are you and Frank going anywhere later on?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure, he said he has soccer, but he could get out of it. It doesn’t matter really, but it would be nice to hang out on my birthday,” I said.

“Well either way, I’m sure he’ll make the day special for you,” mom said, sipping her coffee.

“Just seeing him would make the day special,” I said.

“Isn’t that sweet,” she smiled.

After I finished eating, I went downstairs and brushed my teeth. My mom had given me a card and a cheque for $200 since I hadn’t told her what to get me. As I was on my way back upstairs, the doorbell rang.

“I’ve got it!” I called up to my mom.

I went to the front door and opened it to see my boyfriend standing there, looking cute, as usual, in his white V-neck and jeans and his dark brown hair styled into a faux-hawk.

“Hey, Frankie!” I smiled, surprised.

“Hey, birthday boy,” he smiled back, coming inside.

I shut the door as he took his shoes off.

“I’m so surprised, I didn’t know I’d get to see you before school,” I said.

“I couldn’t wait,” he chuckled, putting his arms around my neck.

“You’re so sweet,” I told him.

“Happy birthday,” he smiled and kissed my lips softly.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and opened my mouth against his, letting his tongue slip into my mouth. After our lips parted, I kissed his cheek and smiled.

“So what are you doing tonight? Are you going to soccer?” I asked.

“I’m not going to soccer, so we can hang out and do whatever,” he said.

“Sounds good. You want to sleep over?” I asked.

“Of course,” he smiled.

“Great. Have you eaten breakfast? My mom made crêpes and there’s still some left over,” I offered.

“I think I will definitely have one,” Frank replied.

We went upstairs to the kitchen.

“Hi Frank, how are you?” mom asked as we walked in.

“Hi Laurie, I’m good, thanks,” Frank replied.

“Would you like a crêpe?” she asked.

“Oh, yes please. Gerard actually just offered,” he said.

“All right, you just have a seat then, and I’ll get you a plate,” she said.

“Thanks,” said Frank.

I sat down next to him at the table as he waited.

“Do you want me to give you your gift now or after school?” he asked.

“Hmm...well, since I have a choice, now seems good,” I laughed.

“Now it is, then,” he said.

He took out an envelope from his bag and handed it to me.

“Thank you,” I said.

I opened the envelope and took out the card. There was a smaller envelope inside the card. I read what he’d written in the card first: ‘Happy 17th birthday, Gerard! Hope your day is awesome. You mean so much to me and I’m so glad we’re together. Hugs and kisses. Love, Frank.’

“Aww, Frank, thank you,” I said.

He smiled and kissed my cheek. “You’re welcome, hun,” he said.

“Can I read it?” mom asked.

“Yeah.” I handed her the card. I opened the smaller envelope and pulled out a ticket to a Jack's Mannequin concert. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Frankie!” I smiled.

“No problem,” he smiled back.

“Did you pay for this yourself?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Awe, that’s so sweet of you,” I said.

“Well I know that we both like them so I decided that it would be fun to go together,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s going to be so much fun, for sure,” I said.

*

At school that day, everyone was wishing me a happy birthday, and I was shocked that even Bert did, too. I hadn’t spoken to him at all since we’d broken up, so it was really weird. Frank went home after school to get his stuff since he was sleeping over at my house, and then he came over at around 5. We ate dinner at the table with my mom, and then we all started watching a movie after dessert.

(Frank’s POV)

Gerard’s mom was curled up with a blanket in the armchair, while Gerard and I were on the couch as we watched the movie. Gerard sat against the arm of the couch as I sat between his outstretched legs, leaning against his body comfortably. Every so often he would kiss the side of my face sweetly, and I would smile up at him and kiss him, too. This time he let his lips linger near my ear.

“I can’t wait til later, when we’re alone…” he whispered to me.

“Me too,” I whispered back.

As soon as the movie finished, Gerard announced that we were going downstairs.

“All right then, good night,” his mom replied.

I followed Gerard to his room and he shut the door behind us as I laid down on the bed.

“I’m gonna take a shower first, okay?” he said.

“Oh, okay,” I nodded, adjusting the pillow I was lying on.

“Do you—,” Gerard began before apparently changing his mind.

“What?” I asked, noticing his cheeks flush.

“Do you wanna take a shower together?” he asked quickly

I sat up on the bed and smiled at him. “Sure,” I replied.

Gerard went to get another towel while I got out my PJs to change into after. My heart was pounding nervously and I didn’t exactly understand why. I mean, Gerard and I had already seen each other naked before. I don’t know. I guess it was just the fact that I’d never taken a shower with another person before.

Once I had all my stuff, I went into the bathroom, where Gerard was starting up the water in the shower. It was one of those stall showers with the glass walls that slid open. I shut the bathroom door audibly and put my clothes down on the counter as Gerard faced away from me, still checking the water temperature. I pulled off my shirt, thinking of something to end the silence that continued.

“How’s the water?” I asked, immediately feeling stupid.

Gerard turned around and I saw his expression change to involuntary surprise when he saw me undressing.

“Oh...it’s fine,” he chuckled, watching me tug my jeans down my legs and then kick them off.

My heart beat even faster when he came close to me and put his arms around me.

“Sorry I’m staring,” he smiled.

“I don’t mind at all,” I said, feeling my nervousness begin to melt away as he held me.

“I’m just...still getting used to the whole ‘seeing you naked’ thing,” he said.

“Are you gonna take your clothes off…?” I asked.

“Patience, Frank,” he laughed.

I smiled at him as he let go of me and pulled his shirt off, and I took my boxers off and got into the shower. The water was pleasantly hot and felt good as it hit my skin and soaked my hair. I turned to let the water hit my face as I closed my eyes. A moment later I heard the shower door slide shut softly, and felt Gerard’s arms wrap around my waist from behind, and his lips kissing my neck. I smiled to myself and put my hands over top of his, where they rested on my lower stomach.

“Frank?” he said.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“Thanks for making my birthday so amazing,” he said.

“Awe, that’s so sweet, Gerard. I’m so glad you had a great day,” I said.

I turned around to face him, still in his arms.

“And also, for making every day that I’m with you amazing, too,” he said.

I hugged him close to me and our lips met. His fingers tangled in my wet hair as we kissed and he let my tongue slip gently into his mouth. Pretty soon, my back was pressed against the wall as our lips moved all over each other, and Gerard was rubbing his dick against mine as we both began to get hard. I suddenly felt his hand move down between us and begin stroking my dick.

“You’re so hard, Frankie,” he breathes against my lips.

“Yeah,” I nodded, gasping as he rubbed my slit.

Gerard suddenly kneeled down in front of me and took my dick into his mouth, sucking it deeply while jerking himself off. I’d never had a blowjob before, and I was really enjoying what Gerard was doing.

“I’m close, Gerard,” I moaned, moments before spilling my cum into his mouth.

He swallowed my cum, and spilled his own cum at the same time, then stood up.

“How’d it taste?” I asked.

“Not bad,” he smiled and kissed me.

I held him tight when we finished kissing, and then we got out of the shower and dried off before going back to his bedroom and lying down together, in just our boxers.

(Gerard’s POV)

“So what time are you coming over tomorrow?” I asked as I laid in bed with Frank, smelling his soft hair as he rested his head on my chest.

“I should be here around 5:30, or earlier. My practice ends at 4, and I have to get ready after that, so…” he said.

“Okay,” I nodded.

“Your family’s getting here earlier?” he asked.

“Yeah. My mom told me that they’re all excited to meet you, apparently,” I said.

“Really?” said Frank.

“Mhm,” I replied.

“Well I better make a good impression then,” he smiled up at me.

I smiled back and kissed his forehead.

***

I awoke to the feeling of Frank’s gentle fingers caressing the bare skin of my back as I laid on my stomach. I opened my eyes and I looked into the face of my beautiful boy, who was smiling serenely, continuing to touch me sensually.

“Hey,” I smiled at him.

“Hey,” he said, moving his hand up my back to gently stroke the hair on the nape of my neck.

I closed my eyes again, enjoying his touch. I didn’t want to get up, I just wanted to lie there forever with Frank. I opened my eyes and moved over towards Frank, putting my arm around his waist. He was playing with my hair again, and I leaned in and kissed his lips. I sucked on his bottom lip softly and I heard a quiet whimper escape his mouth as his fingers threaded through my hair. I got on top of him carefully and laid myself on him, between his legs , and he wrapped his legs around my body. I looked down at him and smiled.

“You’re so beautiful,” I said softly.

He reached up and placed a hand gently on my cheek.

“You make me feel that way, too,” he said.

I lowered my face close to his and kissed him again before resting my head down on his chest while he caressed my back. I loved the feeling of our bodies being connected together in the position we were in, loved being so close to him...and I wanted to be even closer to him. But I knew we weren’t quite ready for that yet, as much as I wanted it.

“Tell me if I’m getting too heavy,” I whispered, too absorbed in the amazing closeness to speak any louder.

“It’s fine. It feels really nice,” Frank said softly.

I felt so comfortable, so relaxed… I wanted to tell Frank that I loved him, but I want sure if it was the right time. But when was the right time to tell someone that you love them, I thought.

“I love you, Frank,” I said against his chest.

I looked up at him and he had the most heartwarming smile on his face.

“Gerard, I love you too,” he said.

I smiled back at him. “I just thought you should know,” I said, kissing along his jawline.

We laid in bed that way until noon, just talking and kissing while holding each other close, before we decided to get up. I got off of Frank and we both got out of bed and put our clothes on.

“Do you want to stay over again tonight?” I asked as Frank zipped up his jeans.

“Yeah, definitely,” he smiled.

Frank had to leave for soccer an hour later, so after he left I had to help my mom clean up for the party later.

(Frank’s POV)

I thought about Gerard all through soccer practice and the whole time I got ready to go to his house again afterwards. I had really enjoyed the morning we had spent together. I kept thinking about how my heart melted when he’d told me he loved me. I was so happy and in love with him.

As I sat in the car as my mom drove me to Gerard’s house, I decided to ask her if it was okay that I was staying over at his house again.

“So, it is okay if I stay over at Gerard again tonight?” I asked.

“Again, Frank?” It’s almost as if you live at that place. I don’t understand why you always have to be over there,” mom said.

I knew she would react that way.

“So is that a yes or a no?” I asked.

“Just do what you want,” she said frustratedly.

We soon got to Gerard’s house and I said bye to my mom before getting out of the car and walking up to the front door. I could faintly hear people talking and laughing from inside, and I suddenly got nervous. I took some last minute deep breaths before ringing the doorbell. I heard someone coming down the stairs from inside and then the door was opened by Gerard, who looked really good in his simple skinny jeans and white T-shirt.

“Hey, come in,” Gerard smiled.

I went inside and took my shoes off.

“You look hot,” I smiled back at him.

“Thanks,” he said.

I went closer to him and kissed him briefly before pulling away.

“That’s a teaser for later,” I said.

“I can’t wait,” Gerard said.

“I guess we should go up now,” I said.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he agreed, leading the way up the stairs.

I started getting nervous again. I followed Gerard into the family room where there were about ten people waiting to meet me. They were all talking when I walked in with Gerard, and I was glad, because all the attention was not on me.

Then Laurie said loudly: “Oh, Frank’s here!” and my face went red as nearly everyone turned to look at me.

People said hi, and I waved and said hi back. Gerard put his hand on the small of my back and led me across the room to introduce me to his family. We went over to a girl who looked to be in her early 20s and Gerard introduced us.

“This is my cousin, Hayley, and Hayley, this is my boyfriend, Frank,” he said.

“Nice to meet you, Frank,” Hayley smiled at me.

“Yeah, you too,” I smiled and nodded.

“How long have you two been dating?” she asked.

“A few weeks. But we’ve been friends for 5 years,” Gerard said.

“Ah, I see. That’s cool,” Hayley said.

“Do you want a drink or something?” Gerard offered me.

“Yeah, I’ll get one a bit later,” I said.

I loved how he was rubbing the small of my back slowly as he introduced me to everyone. There were 3 aunts, 2 uncles, 2 grandparents, 4 cousins, and Hayley’s boyfriend was also there. After I had met everyone, Gerard and I squished onto the armchair, with me half-sitting on his lap.

“You two look comfy,” said Gerard’s Aunt Leslie, smiling as she sipped a glass of red wine.

“Yeah, he’s comfy to sit on,” I laughed, looking up at Gerard, who just smiled.

“So, what’d you do for your birthday yesterday, Gerard?” asked Aunt Leslie.

“I didn’t do much really, just school and then I hung out with Frank after school. But my mom made me a nice breakfast, and then Frank gave me tickets he got us to a concert this summer,” Gerard told his aunt.

“Oh, I see. That sounds like a good day. What’s the concert you’re going to?” she asked.

“It’s a band called Jack’s Mannequin,” Gerard replied.

“I haven’t heard off them,” said Aunt Leslie.

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have,” Gerard laughed.

I adjusted my position on the chair so that I was sitting between Gerard’s legs, which was more comfortable for both of us.

“So you go to the same school as Gerard, then?” Aunt Leslie asked me.

“Yeah, I do,” I replied.

“Oh, okay. So are you in the theatre program as well?” she asked.

“No, that’s not really my thing. I can’t act at all,” I laughed.

Aunt Leslie smiled. “I see. I wasn’t into acting either when I was in school. We’ll just leave that to the pros, like Gerard,” she said.

“Yeah, he’s such an amazing actor,” I said.

“But you’re an amazing soccer player,” Gerard pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled at him.

“I’m pretty average,” I said.

Gerard shook his head at his aunt and she smiled.

After a while of talking with Aunt Leslie, Laurie announced that dinner was ready.

(Gerard’s POV)

After everyone had eaten, Frank and I went into the living room where the rest of my younger cousins were. There was Paige, who was a year younger than Frank and I, Julie who was 13, and Karina who was 7 years old.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked as Frank and I sat down on the couch.

“Not a lot,” Paige replied. “What about you?” she asked.

“Nothing. You guys excited for summer?” I asked.

“Yeah, I can’t wait,” said Julie.

“Only a few more weeks...but I have 2 exams, so that’s blah…” said Paige.

“Ha, I had mine last semester,” I said.

“Lucky…” Paige said.

“Do you have exams, Frank?” asked Karina.

“No, but I still have finals and stuff,” Frank replied.

“Oh yeah, we have that chem final, right?” I said.

“Yeah. We can study together,” he said.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“I’m confused, Gerard… So, do you guys kiss and stuff even though he’s a boy too?” asked Karina.

“Karina, what do you think? Frank is Gerard’s boyfriend. Would you kiss your boyfriend?” Paige said.

Karina giggled. “Yeah…” she said.

“Well, there’s your answer then,” said Paige.

“But...I’m a girl…” said Karina.

“Well sometimes boys have boyfriends, too,” said Paige.

“Oh,” Karina said.

“So you kiss Frank, and it isn’t gross?” Karina asked me.

I laughed. “No, kissing Frank isn’t gross,” I shook my head.

“Oh,” Karina replied, still looking confused.

“What are you gonna do when your sister starts asking you stuff like that?” I asked Frank.

“I don’t know… Well, she doesn’t know yet, so I have some time,” he said.

“How old is your sister?” asked Julie.

“She’s turning 6 soon,” Frank said.

“Oh, okay,” said Julie.

“Are you guys out at school?” Paige asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“That’s good,” she said.

Hayley walked into the room and sat down next to me.

“Are these girls pestering you?” she asked.

“No, it’s all good,” I said.

“Okay. Well your mom wanted me to tell you guys that it’s dessert time,” Hayley said.

“Okay,” I said.

“And she also wanted you to get the vanilla ice cream from downstairs,” Hayley added.

“Sure,” I said, standing up.

“I’ll go with you,” said Frank.

We went downstairs to the deep freezer in the garage and I got out the ice cream. Frank turned to leave, but I said, “Wait.” I smiled and put an arm around his waist.

Frank smiled back. “I told you you’ll have to wait til later,” he said.

“Just one more teaser, please?” I said.

“I can’t resist your begging,” he said and pressed his lips against mine.

I felt his arms wrap around my neck as he opened his mouth, letting my tongue inside.

“Are you guys—,” a voice said.

Frank pulled away from me and we both saw Hayley standing there.

“Oh, don’t let me interrupt, I just need this—,” Hayley took the container of ice cream from me, “—and you have 5 minutes; they’re still setting up,” she said before leaving.

Frank looked at me. “She’s awesome,” he said.

“I definitely agree,” I said.

We made out for a minute more before we decided to go upstairs.

When we went into the kitchen, the candles on the cake were lit, and everyone started singing Happy Birthday to me as they stood around.

“Don’t forget to make a wish!” Paige said tf before I blew out the candles.

There was one candle left after my first blow.

“That one’s for my boy,” I smiled at Frank.

Everyone “aww’ed” and I kissed Frank’s cheek.

“Such a sweet couple,” said Aunt Deeanne as I blew out the last candle.

After dessert, I opened the presents that my family had given me, and after that, they started to leave to go home.

“Bye, thanks again,” I said as I hugged my aunt goodbye and closed the front door. She was the last to leave. I went back upstairs with my mom and Frank.

“The evening turned out really nice, didn’t it?” Mom said.

“Yeah, it was great,” I agreed.

“Your family is so warm and nice,” Frank said. “I really enjoyed meeting them.”

“I’m glad you did! Everyone really liked you too, Frank,” Mom said.

Frank smiled.

***Two Weeks Later***

I was in my room that Thursday night, trying to figure out my chemistry homework. I would have called Frank and asked him for help, but he was at soccer practice. I looked out my window at the pouring rain, and felt bad that Frank had to be out there on the field, in the rain. Over the past two weeks he had come over almost every day after school and I did tell my mom we were doing homework, when really we were mostly making out, talking, and making out some more. We did manage to fit some homework in sometimes though.

As I sat on my bed, forcing myself to continue with homework, my mom knocked on my door and asked if she could come in.

“Yeah, come in,” I said.

She came in and sat on my computer chair.

“I just want to talk to you about something,” she said.

“Okay…” I said, putting down my pen and sitting back against the wall.

“Are you and Frank sexually active?” she asked.

I immediately felt embarrassed and felt my face go read.

“You already gave me the talk, mom…” I said, trying to avoid her question.

“I’m not giving the talk, I’m asking a question,” she said.

“Well the answer is yes,” I blurted, getting it over with quickly.

The situation felt so awkward.

“Have you had anal sex?” she asked.

No. We’ve never…“ I replied quickly.

“Good. You guys are too young to be doing that. You have to be very educated about it, and really trust your partner. Because, as I’m sure you’ve heard, it can be very painful if it’s not done properly, and it can cause tearing and—,” mom said before I cut her off.

“I know all that already. And we aren’t going to do it anytime soon, but I think we will later on, when we are ready. Just don’t worry, we know what we are doing…” I said.

“Just consider my advice, please,” Mom said, getting up and leaving my room.

(Frank’s POV)

I was soaking wet after soccer practice that day, and on top of that, practice had been horrible that day. There was a guy on my team that I went to school with, and he told everyone on the team that I had a boyfriend. I didn’t care that he told everyone, but then I kept hearing this one guy call me a ‘faggot’ and I heard him telling someone else that I was ‘disgusting.’ I was so relieved when practice was over. I hurried to the car and my mom backed out of the parking lot.

“Why do you look so upset?” she asked.

“I’m soaking wet,” I told her, leaving out the ‘faggot’ part.

She looked over at me curiously as we stopped at a red light.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

I turned away, figuring that she was noticing my watery eyes.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“Why don’t you talk to me for once?” she asked.

“It’s not… I can’t. You wouldn’t understand…” I said.

Mom was silent for a moment before she spoke again. “We might as well be strangers then,” she said.

“Why do you always have to make me feel like such an awful person?” I asked, frustrated, while hiding my tears.

Mom didn’t say anything after that, which didn’t surprise me. When we got home I went straight up to my room to put down my back, and then I had a long shower to defrost myself from the cold rain. It was almost painful how much I long for Gerard to wrap his arms around me and comfort me right then. I needed him, even if it was just talking on the phone.

I got out of the shower, changed into my PJs, and went to my room to call Gerard.

“Hey Frank, how was practice?” Gerard asked when he answered the phone.

“It was absolute hell…” I said. I went on to tell him about being called a ‘faggot’ and ‘disgusting,’ and by the time I was done there was a lump in my throat from holding back tears.

“People are so shitty sometimes, it makes me sick,” Gerard said, audibly distressed.

“I know… I feel like quitting so bad now…” I said.

“No, don’t quit just because of one ignorant guy. Then he would have won,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t care. I don’t wanna be on a team with someone who thinks I’m disgusting and talks shit about me,” I said.

“What would you tell your parents?” he asked.

“I’ll just say I am done with soccer. I’ve had enough. I will say it’s getting tough to keep up with school and stuff,” I replied.

Gerard sighed.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m just kind of disappointed that you’re going to quit. You have so much talent,” he said.

“Oh well. I was planning on quitting next year anyway,” I said.

“Oh, okay,” he said.

“I wish I was with you,” I said.

“Me too. You sound like you could use a hug and some kisses,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, I definitely could,” I said longingly.

“Do you want to go to the rec dance next week?” he asked.

“I dunno, I wasn’t really planning on going…” I admitted.

“Well I really want to go, but I’d only go if you come with me,” he said, and I could hear the sweet sincerity in his voice.

“Is it on a Friday?” I asked.

“Yeah, the last day of school,” Gerard replied.

“Oh okay. I just don’t really have anything good to wear…” I said.

“Neither do I. We can go shopping on Saturday if you’re free?” he suggested.

“Yeah, I’m free, sure,” I said.

“Good. So, what are you up to?” he asked.

“Nothing, I just had a shower and now I’m lying in bed,” I replied.

“I was doing chemistry homework, but I’m getting really sick of it so I think I’ll stop now,” Gerard said.

“I hate chemistry right now, it’s so confusing…” I sighed.

“I know, I have no clue what I’m even doing,” he said.

“We can figure it out together tomorrow,” I said.

“Can you stay over tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Yeah, you bet,” I said.

“Okay good,” he said.

“Well I’m gonna go to sleep now; I’m exhausted,” I said.

“All right, have a good sleep,” said Gerard.

“You too. Good night,” I said.

“Night,” he said.

I hung up my phone after that, and went to sleep.

***

Friday flew by and soon I was at Gerard’s house once again that evening, enjoying some movies while having the house to ourselves. I was sitting between Gerard’s legs on his bed, and leaning against his chest as we watched a random movie that was on TV. I could tell by the way Gerard was rubbing his hands all over my bare chest that he wasn’t even paying any attention to the movie.

It was still pouring rain outside and I could hear the drops it starting the window pain as I cuddled with Gerard. His hands stopped rubbing me and arrested on my thighs as he proceeded to kiss the back of my neck softly, and I felt a pleasant shiver radiate through me as I felt his lips on my skin. We’d had a shower together earlier that evening before the movie, so I figured that he was still turned on from the amount of touching and making out we’d done, as much as I was still turned on from it.

“Do you want a massage?” Gerard asked me softly.

“Yeah, please,” I replied.

I laid down on my stomach across the bed and Gerard got on top of me, straddling my body. His strong hands worked my back really well, and I enjoyed every minute of it; feeling his body pressing down on mine and hearing his soft pounding above me was making me really turned on. Gerard’s hands soon moved down to the elastic of my boxers and he began tugging at them.

I lifted up my lower body so that he could pull them off, down my legs. I felt the bed shifting as he got off me and tossed his boxers onto the floor before getting back on top of me. My breathing sped up a lot and I began feeling butterflies in my stomach—Gerard and I had never been this close to each other while naked—I could feel his balls grazing against my butt as he continued to massage me, and that made me really nervous but turned on at the same time. I was longing to be even closer to him, to feel physically connected to him… I just yearned for that closeness with him.

The TV suddenly got louder as the movie went to commercial, so I reached my arm out for the remote and turned it off

“That’s better,” I said.

“Yeah,” Gerard said.

He leaned over so that his lips were on the back of my neck, and started kissing my skin all over while massaging my shoulders. His body was pressed against my back and I could feel every inch of his skin on mine: his chest, his toned torso, his dick…all pressed against me. I loved it, so I let him know.

“Gerard, this feels so amazing,” I said.

“It does feel amazing, I love this,” he said, his lips against the back of my neck.

“I wish you were inside me,” I whispered to him.

Gerard was silent for a moment as he kissed along my shoulder blade.

“I wish I was inside you, too,” he said.

Hearing him say that made me smile. I shifted underneath him and he raised up for a second to let me turn over onto my back.

“Sorry, I was getting hard and it was uncomfortable on my stomach,” I said.

He smiled down at me and kissed my lips gently. I wrapped my legs around his body as we kissed and I heard him on the softly as his dick rubbed against mine.

“I’m not ready for sex yet, babe. Just so you know. I will be soon, though,” Gerard said.

I nodded as I laid beneath him. “I know. I’m not ready either. But I just want that closeness with you so bad. I can wait, though, and I will. I want it to be really special with you,” I smiled.

“I know, and so do I,” he smiled back.

“Do you want me to finger you, in the meantime?” he suggested.

“Yeah, I’d love that,” I replied.

(Gerard’s POV)

I got off of Frank and hopped off the bed to get some lotion to use as lube. Frank was watching me curiously as I looked around in the top drawer of my dresser. I found some hand lotion in the drawer and held it up.

“Bingo,” I said.

“Hand lotion?” he asked as I sat down on the bed.

“You use what you got,” I said.

“Well my skin is pretty sensitive… It better not give me a rash or anything,” Frank said.

“It won’t; it’s not even scented—I made sure,” I assured him.

“You take such good care of me,” he smiled, lying there bare naked and totally relaxed—he was so beautiful.

“Well you’re important to me, of course I’m gonna take good care of you, babe,” I smiled back.

I got up on my knees on the bed in front of Frank, who then pulled his knees into his chest, spreading himself open for me. I squeezed some lotion out of the bottle and onto my middle finger and then irrupt it in slowly around his whole.

“Ahh, cold…” Frank said.

“Sorry,” I said, putting more lotion on my finger. “Okay, so now just relax as much as possible while I put it in…”

He nodded and then I slowly pressed my lubricated finger inside of his tight hole. I started to pull out slowly and then I asked him how it felt.

“It feels so, so good,” he said breathlessly.

I began stroking my erection as I fingered Frank. I could tell by the moaning and by the expressions of pleasure on his face, that he was enjoying being fingered. After about five minutes he was begging me to put another finger in him.

“Okay, I can try, but it might hurt a bit,” I told him.

“Okay,” he nodded.

I squeezed more lotion on to my index and middle fingers and slowly began working them both inside him.

“Does it feel okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. It hurts a bit, but it’s not that bad,” he replied.

After a lot more lotion, I got my two fingers inside him, and he loved it. I started trusting them in deeper and deeper until I started hitting his prostate.

“Gerard, that feels so fucking good, keep doing it right there...” Frank moaned as my fingers continued to brush against his special spot.

I was so turned on at that point, and so close to cumming.

“…so fucking close, Frankie… Can I cum on you, babe?” I panted.

“Yeah, do it… I want you to,” Frank nodded.

A few seconds later I was moaning and my cum was spurting out onto Frank’s stomach and chest. I was still thrusting my fingers in and out of him quickly and he was jerking himself off.

“Are you close?” I asked.

“Yeah, any time now…” he said.

I made sure to go really deep before he came, and when he started morning and arching his back I knew he was going to come. A moment later, Frank came all over himself, morning and panting loudly, and I pulled my two fingers out of him and just slowly rub them against his home. Frank was lying there on his back, panting softly with his eyes closed. I got off the bed and he looked at me

“Gonna go wash my hands,” I said.

He nodded and smiled in response.

I went into the bathroom smiling to myself, glad that I had been able to give Frank so much pleasure. I washed my hands thoroughly and then wet a clean washcloth to wipe off Frank’s stomach with before heading back into my room and back onto the bed

“Here,” I said, gently wiping down his chest and stomach with the washcloth.

Thank you, hun,” he said, looking up at me with those bright hazel-green eyes. His soft brown hair was tousled but that didn’t ruin the picture of perfection that his beautiful, naked body painted before my eyes.

“Come here…lie down,” Frank said softly, taking the washcloth from me and putting it aside on the bedside table.

I laid down beside him and put my head on his chest and my arm across as body

“I love you so much,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” I said.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in his arms.

***Friday***

Today was the day of the rec dance, and also the last day of school—I was so excited about the dance. Frank and I were carpooling with Chloe and Emily to the dance, and then we were going to Chloe’s house afterwards for a party. After my shower that evening, I decided to gel my hair a bit—which I rarely did. The only thing that didn’t go well with getting ready was that my contacts were really bugging my eyes, so I had to put on my glasses instead. I thought I looked better without glasses on, but there was nothing I could do.

Emily texted me a while later telling me that they were here, so I quickly said bye to my mom and went out the door to Chloe‘s car.

“Hey, you,” Chloe smiled as I got into the backseat—Emily was in the front passenger seat next to Chloe.

“Hey girls. You both look great, from what I can see from here,” I said.

“Aw, thanks. You’re looking hot yourself,” Chloe said.

“You should call Frank and tell him we’re almost there,” said Emily.

I got out my phone and dialled Frank’s number.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Hey, babe, we’re almost at your house,” I said.

“Oh okay, see you soon then,” Frank said before we both hung up our phones.

We got to his house soon and he came outside and got into the backseat next to me.

“Hey guys— Gerard! You’re wearing your glasses!” Frank grinned happily.

I chuckled. “Yeah, my eyes were bugging me,” I told him.

He looked me over and kept smiling. “Well, you look really, really sexy,” he said and kissed my cheek.

“Thanks. You look amazing, as you always do. I love that shirt on you,” I commented, gesturing at his tight, black V-neck shirt.

Frank smiled in response and put his seatbelt on.

“So how late can you guys stay for the party afterwards?” Chloe asked.

I looked at Frank and he shrugged.

“Well I can stay as late as it goes since my mom said she’ll pick me up anytime,” I said.

“Okay good, cause I’d be sad if people had to leave at midnight. I’m thinking like, ending at 2 or something,” Chloe said.

“Okay,” I noted.

“Did you ask your mom about giving me a ride home?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, she said it was fine,” I said.

He nodded and took my hand and his, and we intertwined our fingers.

“You look tired,” Frank said quietly as Chloe and Emily conversed in the front seats.

“Probably just my eyes—I was rubbing them earlier; they’ve been so irritated today for some reason,” I said.

“Maybe you need some eyedrops or something,” he suggested.

“Yeah, maybe. If it doesn’t go away in a couple days I’ll get it looked at,” I said.

“Which reminds me,” I started, turning to look at him, “there’s something I wanna talk to you about. Remind me tomorrow,” I said.

“Oh, okay…” Frank said, looking confused and curious.

A moment later, Chloe announced that we had arrived at the rec center. We all got out of the car and walked up to the front of the building where a line was forming. I brushed my hand against Frank’s and he took it and held it as we joined the line. I saw a lot of people from our school, plus a lot of people that I didn’t recognize, and most of them were girls…dressed in skimpy clothes.

“When are they gonna let us in? It’s cold!” Emily said.

“I dunno, it’s already 8 so they should be letting us in soon…” said Chloe.

“So what are you guys’ plans for the summer?” Emily asked.

“I don’t know… I don’t have much plans yet. Probably going camping sometime, but nothing big,” said Frank.

“What about you, Gerard?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Nothing set in stone yet, but my dad wants me to stay at his place for a couple weeks, I’m not sure when. So yeah, that should be…interesting, considering I haven’t seen him since Christmas,” I said.

“How come you didn’t tell me that?” asked Frank.

“Cause it’s not for sure yet. And I only found out last week that he wanted to do that,” I told him.

Frank nodded, and I knew what he was thinking as his eyes of her to do the ground.

“It’s just two weeks, it’ll go by so fast,” I said, nudging his side.

“Yeah, but still… I’ll miss you a lot,” he said.

Someone suddenly announced that the doors were opening.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow…along with the other thing I wanted to talk to you about,” I smiled at him.

He smiled back and we gradually began moving up in the line.

***The Next Day***

(Frank’s POV)

After sleeping at Gerard’s house the previous night, we went to my house in the afternoon since my mom wanted me home. As Gerard and I headed upstairs, my mom called after us.

“So how was the dance last night?” she asked.

“It was fun. Is Dad home?” I asked, looking down the stairs at her.

“No, he went in early today,” Mom replied.

I rolled my eyes and continued up the stairs, followed by Gerard.

“Why do you look so pissed off?” Gerard asked as he closed my bedroom door.

“Cause my dad’s a fucking workaholic,” I said.

Gerard looked like he didn’t know what to say, so I changed the subject.

“I guess we should study for the chemistry final…” I said, sitting down on my bed.

Gerard groaned and sat down next to me.

“I don’t feel like studying…” he said.

“I know, neither do I. But it will keep our minds off of ‘other things’ that we can’t really do at my house…” I said, looking over at him.

I could tell he knew I was right. His eyes suddenly lit up behind his glasses, which he was still wearing since his eyes were still irritated.

“I just remembered that I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said.

“Oh yeah, the thing from last night?” I asked, and Gerard noted.

“Yeah. Well remember last Friday when I said I wasn’t ready for sex?” he began.

I nodded and he continued.

“Well, after I fingered you and all, I just felt so much more comfortable… And I think I’ll be ready soon. But I think that before we get into that, we should get tested for STDs and stuff, just so we’re sure we’re safe,” he said.

“Yeah, I agree about getting tested first,” I noted.

“Great,” he smiled.

“So, do you think you’re ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, I feel really comfortable with you, and I trust you,” I said, taking his hand in mine.

Gerard smiled and kissed me, softly sucking my lips.

“I feel the same way,” he said.

“So when do you want to get tested?” I asked.

“As soon as possible,” he said with a chuckle.

“Why don’t we go right now then?” I suggested.

“Sure, why not?” he said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s go!” he laughed.

I got my wallet and then Gerard and I went outside and got into his car.

“There’s a walk-in clinic somewhere nearby,” Gerard said as he drove.

When we found the clinic, we both got out of the car and walked inside. The receptionist was talking to a patient when we got in, so we waited in line. I was looking around the clinic: there was an elderly lady in a wheelchair, a young mother with a toddler who was reading a book, and a few other patients waiting to see the doctor.

When the receptionist was done with the patient ahead of us, Gerard and I went up to the counter. Gerard started talking, so I let him take charge.

“Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist, Julie, asked.

Gerard replied no.

“Do you have your insurance card with you?” Julie asked.

Gerard handed her his card and then she asked him to fill out a form since he’d never been to the clinic before.

“Would it be possible if we could go in together?” Gerard asked, motioning to me.

“Certainly. If I could just get your insurance card…” Julie said to me.

I handed her my card and repeated the same process Gerard had done. Once we were done, we went and sat down in the waiting area with the rest of the patients.

“I’m really nervous,” I said.

“You probably don’t even have anything, don’t worry,” he said quietly.

“No, I mean about the blood test… I hate needles,” I said.

“Ohh, that. You can hold my hand through it, you’ll be fine,” he said and kissed my cheek.

We waited for half an hour before the assistant called us into one of the offices.

“The doctor will be with you shortly,” the assistant said before closing the door.

Girard and I sat down on two black chairs that were against the wall and looked around at the posters and diagrams on the wall.

“You’ll be fine, Frankie,” Gerard said, probably noticing my anxious expression.

He smiled at me and I managed to smile back though I was nervous as hell. My stomach filled with butterflies when the doctor knocked twice on the door and then stepped into the room. He was middle aged with salt-and-pepper hair and a friendly smile.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Burke, what can I do for you boys today?” he said in a cheerful, booming voice.

I let Gerard do the talking again.

“We just wanted to get some STD tests done,” he said.

“Not a problem,” Dr. Burke said as he took a look at the files he held in a folder in his hands. “So, who’s Gerard and who’s Frank?” he asked.

“I’m Frank,” I said, and Dr. Burke nodded and took out a pen.

“I just need to ask you some questions before I do the tests… So, who wants to go first?” the doctor asked.

“I’ll go,” Gerard offered.

“Excellent. Are you sexually actively?” asked Dr. Burke.

“Yeah,” Gerard said.

“How long has it been since the first time you were sexually active?” asked the doctor.

“Uh, I’d say about a month…” Gerard replied.

The doctor went on to ask a few more questions before it was my turn. I gave mostly three same answers as Gerard.

“Okay, so since you both have only had oral sex, I’ll just need a blood sample and a urine sample today,” said Dr. Burke.

“Do you wanna go first?” I asked Gerard.

“Sure,” he said.

The doctor took our blood samples (Gerard held my hand when I got mine) and then Gerard and I went to the washroom to fill the urine sample containers before returning to the office.

“So when and how will we get the results?” asked Gerard as we sat down on the chairs again.

“Results take about a week and a half, and if we don’t fall you, then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you just want to make sure everything is good, we can mail your results to you,” the doctor said.

“Do I just talk to the receptionist if I want mine mailed to me?” Gerard asked.

“Yes. She will take care of that,” Dr. Burke replied.

We then thanked the doctor and after we talked to the receptionist we left and got into Gerard’s car.

“I’m so happy we got that done!” I smiled, putting my hand on Gerard’s thigh.

“So am I! It wasn’t that bad, right?” he smiled back.

“No, it wasn't that bad,” I agreed.

He leaned over and kissed me, putting his hand on the back of my head. I let his tongue slip into my mouth as we kissed and enjoyed the way his fingers were tangling in my hair and the way he began to suck on my bottom lip gently.

“You know what I wanna do right now?” he asked, pulling his lips away from mine.

“What?” I asked.

“I wanna make you cum,” he whispered, his lips against my neck.

This guy really knew how to turn me on.

“Mmm, yeah, I wanna cum so bad,” I breathed as he kissed my neck.

“We could probably do stuff at your place if we're really quiet...and we’ll lock the door…” Gerard pointed out.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said eagerly.

Gerard started the car and we drove back to my house. When we got in, my mom questioned where we’d been.

“You were barely home for 10 minutes, where were you?” she asked.

“I forgot my binder at Gerard’s house, had to go back and get it,” I lied.

“Oh, okay,” Mom said skeptically as she looked at me, and Gerard and I hurried upstairs to my room before she could ask me anything else.

(Gerard’s POV)

We got to Frank’s room and as soon as he locked the door behind us, I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him up against the wall, kissing him and rubbing myself against him. He let out a low groan as I slid my hand down between us and rubbed it over his dick, through his jeans.

“It’s so hard bei quiet…” he said, biting his lip.

“I know, you’re doing good so far though…” Insaid.

Frank stopped kissing me for a second and pushed us into the bed, climbing on top of me.

“Take your shirt off,” I said breathlessly, tugging at his pants.

Frank took his shirt off and I feasted my eyes on his beautiful torso while he straddled my hips.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I told him, rubbing my hands up and down his sides.

Frank smiled and leaned over to kiss my lips gently. “What do you wanna do?” he whispered against my lips.

“I wanna kiss you all over your body, and then I wanna suck your dick,” I whispered back.

“Mmm, you’re so amazing, Gerard,” Frank breathed out.

One of my hands was tangled in his hair as we kissed while my other hand clumsily undid the button and zipper of his jeans. Suddenly we heard a knock on the bedroom door and froze.

“Shit!” Frank gasped quietly and jumped up to put his shirt back on and zip up his jeans.

There was another knock on the door and I sat up and tried to look casual, which was hard because my heart was pounding at a million beats per minute from my sudden anxiety.

Frank opened the door and at first I didn’t see anyone there, but then I looked down and saw Kate standing there in the doorway. I was so relieved that it wasn’t his mom.

“What’s up?” Frank asked her.

“Can you make me a sammich please?” Kate asked.

I smiled at how adorable she was.

“Yeah, of course, sweetie,” Frank said.

Kate laughed happily as Frank picked her up and carried her towards the kitchen. I loved watching them together. Frank was such an amazing older brother—he took such good care of Kate.

I sat on the bed until Frank came back into the room about 20 minutes later.

“Sorry about that,” he said, shutting the door behind him.

“It’s totally fine,” I smiled.

“At least it wasn’t my mom,” he said.

“Yeah, that would have been bad,” I nodded.

Frank sat down on the edge of the bed. “I guess we should just study then,” he said.

“That’s probably best...just in case,” I agreed.

“As long as the offer still stands…” he smirked.

“You mean the offer of kissing you all over your body and sucking your dick?” I said.

Frank nodded.

“Of course it does,” I said and kissed him softly.

***Two Weeks Later***

It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, from what I could see out of my bedroom window. It was almost 12:30 and I had just woken up. Frank was lying next to me, fast asleep and naked, with the blankets half-covering his well-shakes butt. We had had a late night since we stayed up watching TV and messing around, but after 10 hours of sleep I felt pretty rested.

I felt the bed shift next to me and I looked over at Frank, who looked at me with sleepy eyes.

“What time is it?” he said groggily.

“12:30. You still tired?” I asked, ruffling his hair playfully as he yawned.

“No. I need to get up. I hate sleeping in this late,” he said. Frank sat up and yawned again before leaning over and kissing my forehead. “What do you wanna do today, sweetie?” he asked.

“Sweetie? That’s new,” I smiled.

“What? You are my sweetie,” he laughed.

“Aww,” I smiled up at him.

He leaned over and kissed my lips. “You still didn’t tell me what you want to do today,” he said.

“Wanna go to the beach?” I suggested.

“Yeah! Definitely,” he replied excitedly.

“We should probably leave pretty soon then,” I said.

I sat up beside him just as my cell phone started to ring. I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and looked at the call display.

“It’s my dad,” I said, surprised. I answered the phone with a hello.

“Gerard, how are you? Haven’t heard from you lately,” Dad spoke

“Hey Dad, I’m fine. What about you?” I asked.

“I’m doing well. Renée and I were just talking about when you could come spend a couple weeks with us this summer,” he said.

“And who the hell is Renée?” I asked.

“Oh that’s right, I didn’t tell you. Renée is my girlfriend. We've been dating for 3 months now. You’ll love her, she’s great,” Dad said.

“Oh great, a new one. Wonderful,” I said dryly.

“Could you at least try not to be so rude? I’m really trying to fix our relationship, Gerard. And it’s not going to get any better if you keep up this attitude of yours,” he said.

“I’m sorry. I’m just tired of meeting all these women. Why can’t it just be us for once? There’s always some girl there and you two just ignore me, and make out the whole time,” I told him.

“It’s different with Renée, Gerard. I promise. She’s really excited to meet you. And I’m sorry that it hasn’t been that great to visit me in the past. I just hope we can work out some of our problems this summer, and maybe we can see each other more often throughout the year. You’re my son, Gerard—I want to be able to hang out with you and not just argue the whole time. ‘Cause we both know how shitty that is, right?” Dad said.

“Right,” I agreed.

I watched Frank get out of bed and start getting dressed. He motioned that he was going to go eat, and I nodded.

“So are you willing to work together to try and fix things?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am. I’m really sorry I’ve been so rude and stuff, Dad,” I said.

“I’m sorry too. I should have paid more attention to how I was treating you,” he said.
“So what about the first two weeks of August?” I asked.

“That’s perfect. I’ll write that down and let Renée know,” he said.

“Okay. So Dad, when you pick me up, I want you to meet my boyfriend,” I said.

“Is it the same guy...what’s his name...Bert, was it?” Dad asked.

“Oh, God no. That ended at the beginning of this year,” I laughed.

“Oh, okay, so what’s his name?” he asked.

“His name is Frank. He has been my best friend for five years, and now we’re boyfriends, as of a month and a half ago,” I told him.

“Wow. That sounds like something off of a TV show,” Dad chuckled.

I laughed. “I know. All our friends at school were so shocked,” I said.

“Well, yeah, I would imagine so!” Dad said.

“But yeah, I really want you to meet him,” I said.

“I look forward to it. I’m glad you’re happy with Frank,” he said.

“Thanks. Well anyway I’m going to the beach today with him, and we have to leave soon so I gotta go,” I said.

“Oh okay, well don’t let me keep you; you guys go have fun. I’ll talk to you soon, Gerard,” Dad said.

“Yeah, later, Dad. Bye,” I said.

“Bye,” Dad said.

I hung up my cell phone and then got out of bed to get dressed before going to the kitchen to find Frank. He was sitting at the table with my mom while eating a bowl of cereal.

“So I heard your dad called you,” Mom said.

“Yeah, he wanted to know when I could come over, and then we just talked about other stuff…” I said, sitting down at the table with them.

“What other stuff?” Mom asked.

“Well he told me he has a new girlfriend, Renée, and we talked about fixing our problems this summer, and I told him I wanted him to meet Frank when he picks me up,” I said.

“I’m really glad you had a nice conversation with him. I think spending a couple weeks with him will do you both a lot of good,” Mom smiled.

“I know, so do I. I’m actually kind of excited—he sounds like he’s really trying to change his attitudes. I’m really happy,” I said.

“Gerard, that’s so great,” Mom said and touched my arm lovingly.

I looked at Frank and he smiled.

“So I’m spending the first two weeks of August at his place,” I told them.

“Okay, I’ll take note of that,” Mom said. She got up from the table to find her schedule book.

“So, three weeks until you leave then?” Frank said.

“You’re counting down already?” I smiled.

“Gerard, I’m gonna miss you so muc. I’ve never been away from you for that long…” he said.

“I know, I’m gonna miss you like crazy. But we’ll be alright, Frankie. It’ll go by so fast,” I assured him.

“I feel so pathetic—it’s two weeks,” he said.

I chuckled before leaning over and kissing his lips.

*

“I’m so glad it’s hot out—I need a tan,” Frank said as we laid out beach towels down on the hot, white sand.

The sun was beating down on our skin, and I felt myself starting to burn already.

“I need some more sunscreen,” I said, sitting down on my towel.

“Here—,”

Frank reached into his backpack and took out the bottle of sunscreen before sitting down on his towel beside me.

“I’ll put some on your back for you,” he said, squeezing some lotion onto the palm of his hand.

“Thanks,” I said.

He rubbed sunscreen onto my back and shoulders and then gave me the bottle so I could apply the lotion to the rest of my body.

“I feel so protective of you right now,” I smiled.

Frank laughed and raised his eyebrows beneath his sunglasses. “And why is that?” he asked.

“‘Cause you have such a hot body. I swear there were eyes following you all the way over here,” I said.

“Oh, shut up. There was not!” he laughed again.

“Yeah, there was,” I nodded.

“Okay, well if there was, it doesn’t matter ‘cause you know I’m all yours, babe,” Frank smiled.

I smiled back. “Do you mind if I kiss you?” I asked, not sure if he’d be comfortable with it.

“Go ahead,” he said.

I kissed his lips gently, tasting the sweet mint flavour of the gum he was chewing. When I pulled away, he smiled at me again and I continued to apply sunscreen to my arms.

“So, the clinic didn’t call us. Does that mean we’re negative for everything?” Frank asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, they said if they don’t call then we’re fine,” I said.

“That’s good to hear. At least we don’t have anything to worry about when we decide to have sex,” he replied.

“Yeah, exactly,” I said.

“Do you have condoms at home?” he asked.

I nodded, watching his expression closely. I knew what he was getting at and it made me kind of nervous. I felt like I wasn’t as confident about having sexual for the first time as he was. Maybe it was because I was so worried about hurting him.

“You know, maybe we should, um...go to the store after this and get some lube so we don’t have to use that lotion all the time?” he suggested.

“Yeah, of course. That’s a good idea,” I nodded and smiled.

I wished he would just tell me if he wanted to have sex tonight so I didn’t have to guess or ask.

“My moms working late tonight,” I told him.

“Oh, okay,” he nodded.

“So she won’t hear us having sex,” I added.

I looked at Frank and he blushed.

“Well, that’s good,” he said.

I chuckled and kissed his cheek.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you too, babe,” he replied.

*

(Frank’s POV)

Gerard drove us back to his house when we were done at the beach and after we picked up some lube at the pharmacy close by.

“What do you want for dinner ?” he asked as I sat at a stool at the kitchen counter. “I’ll cook for you,” he said.

“Really?” I smiled.

“Yeah,” he nodded, leaning across the counter, in front of me.

“Could you make me some pasta?” I asked.

“Yes, anything for you, love,” he smiled.

I smiled back. “You’re so amazing, Gerard,” I said.

He kissed me gently before going across the kitchen to get out pots and the ingredients.

“Do you want red or white sauce?”!he asked.

“White sauce, please. Do you need any help?” I asked.

“No, you just relax, Frankie. I’ll do it,” he said.

I was so happy. I could already tell that the night was going to be really special. I liked this romantic dinner that he was putting together for us—it was such a surprise.

“Guess what? I asked my mom if we can get a puppy and she’s actually considering it!” Gerard told me as he stirred the sauce he was making.

“Gerard, that’s awesome! Do you know what breed you’d get?” I asked.

“I really don’t know. All I know is that me and my mom both want a small dog. I’m so excited. I hope my mom says we can get one,” he said.

“Aw, I hope she does too,” I said.

“Do you want anything else with the pasta?” he asked.

“No, the pasta is fine on its own. Thanks, hun,” I said.

“Okay. Well it shouldn’t be too much longer. Half an hour, maybe,” Gerard said.

I nodded. “You know, I’m getting turned on just watching you cook,” I said.

Gerard chuckled. You’re that attracted to me?” he asked.

“Of course. You’re my sexy chef,” I smiled at him.

“You’re just so cute, Frankie,” Gerard smiled.

Gerard finished cooking soon and brought two plates of pasta over to the table, along with two glasses that had juice in them.

“Smells and looks great,” I said as we both sat down at the table.

“Thanks,” he said.

We started eating, and it was delicious.

“Good?” he asked me after the first bite.

“Um, try excellent,” I laughed. “You’re an amazing cook,” I said.

“Thanks, babe,” he said, kissing my cheek.

“Hey, did you tell your parents you’re quitting soccer yet?” he asked.

“Nope. And it’s not a conversation I’m looking forward to having. But I really need to quit—I hate my team...well mostly everyone. There are only two guys that are decent people,” I explained.

“Well doesn’t soccer start at the end of August?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah. I’ll tell them before then,” I assured him.

“Chloe invited me to a bonfire next week. She told me to bring you with me. Wanna come?” I asked.

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” I nodded.

“There's gonna be a lot of drinking though, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t drink, so I won’t. No big deal,” I smiled.

“Would you be mad if I got drunk there?” ‘Cause I probably will…” he laughed.

“Gerard, do what you want, hun. If you get drunk then at least I’ll be there to keep you under control,” I said.

We finished eating soon and Gerard and I washed the few dishes that were in the sink so his mom wouldn’t come home to a messy kitchen. As we cleaned up, my heart was pounding with excitement. Gerard and I were going to have sex tonight for the first time. I was so happy that we’d finally get to share that amazingly special bond.

Gerard turned off the tap and looked at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes.

“Can I take you downstairs now?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

We both smiled and then shared a soft kiss before heading downstairs to Gerard’s bedroom. I laid down on the bed as he shut the door, waiting for him to join me.

“Come here and get me hard,” I smiled at him as he stood by the door.

He slowly came over to me and laid on top of my body before kissing my lips. My hands raked through his hair as we d made out on the bed and I felt him grinding his hips against mine, which made me crazy. Gerard suddenly sat up, still straddling my legs, and proceeded to undo the button and zipper of my jeans. I pushed my jeans down my legs as far as they would go, and then Gerard pulled them off for me. He then started rubbing my dick through my underwear while I squirmed in pleasure beneath him, and he smiled when I began begging him to suck me.

“You want me to suck your dick?” he teased.

“Mmm, yes, baby,” I moaned.

Gerard pulled down my underwear and I kicked them off from around my ankles, waiting to feel his warm mouth on my dick. I closed my eyes and in a second I felt his warm tongue licking up and down my shaft and around the head of my dick.

“Ohh, God, Gerard…” I moaned loudly. It felt amazing.

“Open your eyes,” he told me.

I did as he said and then he took my whole dick into his mouth and started sucking it hard and fast. He looked up at me the whole time, watching me moan and bite my lip and beg him not to stop. I could tell he was enjoying it as much as I was. When he stopped sucking my dick, I was breathing heavily.

“You liked that, didn’t you,” Gerard smirked as he took off his clothes.

“I fucking loved it, hun,” I panted, taking off my shirt.

I watched Gerard take off his boxers and saw that his dick was as hard as mine was now.

“Were you jerking off?” I asked.

“I was rubbing my dick against the bed while I sucked you off,” he laughed.

I smiled. “Lie down,” I told him.

Gerard laid on his back and I got on top of him and started kissing his chest and nipples, while rubbing our hard dicks against each other.

“You have nice titties, Gerard,” I smiled.

He laughed. “You are so crazy and cute,” he said, kissing the side of my face as I sucked on his nipples.

As I rubbed my dick against Gerard’s I felt his wet pre-cum leak out of his dick.

“You’re wet, baby,” I whispered against his lips.

“Yeah,” he nodded, kissing me.

“Gerard, I wanna feel you inside me now…” I whispered against his lips again.

He kissed me again. “We’re gonna need to switch positions,” he smiled.

I got off him and laid on my back, heart pounding heavily as he sat up next to me.

(Gerard’s POV)

I stared down at the beautiful boy below me and smiled. Everything about the moment seemed like a dream, and like I never wanted to wake up from its magic. I was about to make love to my boyfriend—my best friend. Frank. The first boy I had ever loved. And I couldn’t be happier.

“Well…” Frank smiled back at me, waiting for me to do something.

“You’re just...perfect. I’m sure I’ve told you that a thousand times, but really, you are,” I said.

Frank sat up next to me and kissed my lips softly.

“I love you so, so much, Gerard,” he said.

“I love you, too,” I said.

He kissed me again and we made out for a while before he parted our lips.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said, letting out a shaky breath, and I could see it in his eyes.

“I’ll go slow, I promise. Okay?” I said.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

I kissed him once more before he laid down on his back again, then got out the lube and condoms from my bedside table drawer, and put some lube on my fingers. Frank spread his legs open and I slowly rubbed the lube into his hole.

“Ready?” I asked.

He nodded.

I slowly pushed one finger into his hole and moved it in and out gently.

“That feels so good, put another one in,” Frank said.

I put some more lube into my fingers before pushing my index and middle fingers into his tight hole. After a while of fingering, I asked Frank if he was ready now.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he said.

“Should we use a condom?” I asked.

“I dunno… Well we’re both negative for everything…” he said.

“Well, maybe we should. Just in case,” I said.

I opened a condom packet, rolled it onto my dick, and then squeezed some lube onto the condom.

“Just...go slowly,” he said.

“I will, baby. I will,” I assured him.

I pressed my dick against his hole firmly until the head slipped into him suddenly. I felt him tense up and he grabbed onto the sheets with his eyes shut tight.

“You okay?” I asked, holding still.

Frank didn’t answer for a moment, he just kept breathing hard, and I hoped to God I didn’t hurt him too much.

“I’m okay. It just really hurt for a second,” he said when he had relaxed a little.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said.

“Honey, it’s okay, it’s not your fault. I knew it was going to hurt,” he smiled up at me.

“Should I keep going now?” I asked.

“Yeah, slowly,” he said.

I slowly pushed the rest of my dick inside of Frank and I could tell by his whimpering that it still hurt.

“Keep going?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

I began pulling my duck out of his hole this time.

“It feels good when you’re pulling it out,” Frank said.

I smiled. “Good,” I said.

I continued to slowly move my dick in and out of him, getting him relaxed and used to the feeling of being stretched out down there.

“Come here so I can kiss you,” Frank said below me.

I adjusted my position so that I was lying on top of him, and he wrapped his arms around me lovingly.

“This is amazing,” I smiled down at him, still slowly thrusting into him.

“I know,” Frank smiled back.

I kissed him gently and felt his hands running through my hair, down my back, and up again. When I parted our lips, Frank moved his hand down between us and started rubbing his dick.

“It feels really good now, Gerard,” he said.

“Want me to go a bit faster?” I said hopefully. It was hard for me to go so slow when it felt so good feeling his tightness around my dick.

“Yeah,” he said.

I sped up my pace, and at the same time started going deeper than before.

“Your ass feels so good, Frankie,” I said, watching him jerk off beneath me.

I thrusted my dick really deep into his hole, and he loved it.

“Oh my God, Gerard...do that again,” he moaned.

Once again, intheuster as deep as I could go.

“Ohh, yeah… That feels so fucking good. It almost feels like I could cum without even touching my dick,” he said.

“Wow, want me to keep doing it then?” I asked.

“Yes,” he nodded.

I grabbed onto his hips and started slamming my duck deep into him over and over as he went crazy below me.

“Ahh, fuck…” I moaned.

I was loving this. Feeling his ass tighten around my dick was amazing—I never wanted it to end. But I could tell I was getting close to cumming, and i by the way he was moaning, that Frank was, too.

“Oh God, Gerard, I’m gonna come,” Frank moaned, grabbing the sheets tightly and arching his back in pleasure.

I thrusted into him hard and deep as he neared his orgasm, and a few seconds later he shot a big load all over himself which pushed me over the edge.

“Baby, I want you to cum on me,” Frank breathed out.

I pulled my dick out of his ass and took the condom off before beginning to jerk off over Frank’s body.

“Fuck, I’m so close…” I moaned, feeling myself ready to shoot.

“I want it all over me..” Frank said, rubbing his nipples.

I could tell he was still super horny.

“Ohh, yeah…” I moaned loudly as I spilled my cum.

It went all over Frank’s stomach and chest.

“Oh my God…” I panted and laid down on top of him, totally spent.

I felt the wetness of cum on my body, but I didn’t care—I just wanted to be close to Frank. I felt his arms wrap around me and I felt his soft lips kiss my forehead gently as we laid there, breathing heavily. We laid there for a while, silently enjoying the moment as our eyelids became heavy and our breathing became slow.

***

I was woken up pleasantly the next morning by Frank snuggling up to me under the blankets.

“Good morning,” I smiled at him, pecking his lips.

“Morning,” he smiled back.

“How are you?” I asked.

“A bit sore, but other than that, excellent,” he said.

“Last night was so amazing,” I said.

“It really was. The beach, the dinner, the sex—everything,” he said. “Especially the sex,” he smiled.

“I agree,” I chuckled, kissing him again.

***One Week Later***

(Frank’s POV)

Tonight was the first night in months that my dad had been home for dinner, but honestly if I had a choice, I would rather be with Gerard and his mom for dinner. It was just so damn tense at my house all the time! I hated it.

Anyway, I sat down at the dinner table across from my mom and Kate. My dad sat at the head of the table. For a while we silently passed dishes of mashed potatoes, ham, and vegetables around the table before my mom said something.

“It’s so nice that we’re all eating together at the table for once. Isn’t it?” she said, putting food in Kate’s plate.

“Yeah, of course it is. I’ve missed this,” Dad said.

I had nothing to say to him. If he missed this, you’d think he’d at least make an effort to try and get some days off work, or not work so late all the time.

“So what has Gerard been up to this summer?” Mom asked.

“Same as me: not much. But he’s going to stay at his dad's place in Seattle for a couple weeks in August,” I said.

“Oh, that’s nice. At least that will give you some time to stay home and help out around here instead of being at his house everyday,” she said.

I gave her a sarcastic smile before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

“So are you getting ready for soccer tryouts in a couple weeks?” dad asked.

I swallowed what I was eating before replying, “I’m quitting soccer.”

Both mom and dad stared at me with surprised expressions.

“You’re kidding, right?” dad said.

“No, I’m not. I’ve decided not to do soccer this year. I’m just gonna focus on school,” I said.

“But your grades are great, Frank!” mom said.

“Yeah, now they are. But I’m gonna have harder classes in grade 12,” I explained, trying to sound convincing.

“You’re not quitting soccer, Frank. End of discussion,” dad said.

“That’s not for you to decide. You went to one of my games last season,” I said.

“Then I’ll decide. You’re not quitting,” mom said.

“It’s my life! Why can’t I decide?” I said, raising my voice.

“Frank, if you quit now, then everything you’ve done up to this point will be a waste. You’ll have a big chance at getting a sports scholarship if you continue, too. We’re trying to help you succeed,” mom said.

I wanted to cry. Everything my mom had said was true—it would be a waste if I quit now. And I would possibly be giving up a scholarship. Was it really worth it? Just to get away from the gifts on my team who called me a ‘fag’ and a ‘queer’ and ‘disgusting’ every chance they got? It sure as hell seemed worth it to me, but I knew deep down that I’m the long run it wouldn’t be.

So that was it. I had lost. I was going to subject myself to my homophobic “teammates” for another season.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.

“Good, he’s not quitting,” dad said.

I looked down at my plate and realized I had lost my appetite.

***One Week Later***

Gerard and I had just gotten off the bus in downtown Vancouver and were heading towards the small venue where the Jack’s Mannequin concert was being held that night. We were a couple hours early, but there was already a line formed in front of the building. Gerard and I were holding hands, and by now I didn’t give a shit if people stared at us as we walked by. We went to the back of the line to wait.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Gerard checked his phone. “It’s 4:12,” he said.

“Two hours to go,” I said.

“Hey, don’t look now, but the guy at 6:00 is checking you out,” Gerard said.

“Shut up. Are you kidding?” I asked.

“No, I’m serious. Look now,” he said, laughing,”

“I’m not gonna look—you’re laughing! You’re obviously kidding,” I said, punching his arm playfully.

“I was only laughing cause he was like full on staring at your ass,” he smirked.

“Ew, I’m not looking now,” I said.

Gerard shrugged. “Whatever,” he laughed.

I hugged him around the waist and rested my head against his body, and I felt his arms wrap around my waist.

“Ugh, I hate waiting,” I said.

“Hey, do you know what rimming is?” Gerard asked me.

“No, but it sounds sexual… What is it?” I asked.

“I’ll show you tonight,” he said.

“No, just tell me what it is,” I said, pulling away from him.

“I’ll give you a rim job tonight and you can tell me if you like it or not,” he said.

“Why can’t you just tell me what it is?” I whined, getting annoyed.

“Because you might just say no without even trying it out,” he said.

“Fine, I’ll just ask that guy at 6:00 what a rim job is,” I said.

“You wouldn’t,” he laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I laughed.

“Come here and I’ll whisper it to you,” he said.

I moved closer to him and he put his lips to my ear.

“It’s when someone licks your asshole,” he whispered.

“That’s disgusting,” I said, making a face.

“I bet it feels really good though,” he said.

“But why would you put your tongue down there? That’s so...gross,” I said.

“I don’t care, I’d do it. Let’s just try it for a bit tonight,” he suggested.

“Ew, no. I’d never let you kiss me again,” I laughed.

“Fine, but I’m gonna keep asking when we get home,” he said, kissing me.

“Yeah, you better get your kisses in while you can,” I said.

“6:00 is looking over here again,” Gerard said.

“Is he? I’m gonna look,” I said.

I turned around and I instantly knew who Gerard was talking about. Brendon waved at me and walked over to us.

“I knew it was you!” he smiled and hugged me.

“I had no idea you were going to this concert!” I said.

“Neither did I. One of my friends had an extra ticket and gave it to me a few days ago,” Brendon said.

“Wow, that’s awesome,” I said.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Brendon asked.

“Yeah, sorry I forgot to introduce you guys! This is my boyfriend, Gerard. And Gerard, this is my friend Brendon, who’s on my soccer team,” I said.

“Nice to meet you,” Brendon smiled at Gerard.

“Same to you,” Gerard smiled.

“You guys should come meet my friends,” Brendon suggested.

“Yeah, sure. Come on,” I said to Gerard.

I took his hand and we moved up in the line to stand with Brendon and two of his friends. One was a girl with long reddish hair, and the other was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. The red-head’s name was Sidney and the brunette’s name was Beth. Beth was really cute—she had hazel eyes, a cute nose, and a great smile. I kinda felt bad for thinking she was attractive but it’s not like I would ever actually do anything since I was dating Gerard.

Anyway, we talked with Brendon and his friends until the doors to the venue opened, and then we split up once we got inside. Gerard and I were in the fourth row of people that were standing on the floor in front of the stage. Jack’s Mannequin was amazing and Gerard and I sang along to every song.

*

(Gerard’s POV)

Frank and I took the bus back to the skytrain station where I’d parked my car and I drove us back to my house, all the while talking about how great the concert was.

“His voice sounded perfect, didn’t it?” Frank said as I drove.

“Yeah, I was kind of surprised, actually. He was dead-on,” I said.

We got to my house at around 11:30 and went inside.

“I’m kind of hungry,” I said, kicking off my shoes.

“Yeah, I could use a snack or something,” said Frank.

He took off his black pea coat and hung it up in the hallway closet before following me upstairs to the kitchen. My mom was in the family room watching TV with the lights off. She was a night owl, much like me.

“Hey mom,” I said.

“Oh hey guys. How was the concert?” she asked, sitting up on the couch she had been lying down on.

“It was amazing. The singer sounded exactly how he does on his albums. It was really great,” I said.

“Yeah, it was. And we were like three rows away from the stage, so that was pretty cool,” Frank added.

“Wow, that’s awesome guys. I’m glad you had fun,” mom said.

Frank opened the fridge and examined its contents.

“Anything good?” I asked.

“There’s Jell-O and strawberries, yogurt, leftover...pasta, it looks like…” Frank listed, going through the fridge.

“Well what do you want?” I asked.

“I guess I’ll have some Jell-O. It’s strawberry-kiwi. Sounds good,” he said, taking one container of the individual Jell-O packs.

“Gerard, what time is your dad picking you up next Friday?” mom asked as I contemplated what to eat.

“He told me to be ready by 8 o’clock in the morning,” I replied.

“That early? Jeeze...” mom said.

“Yeah, I know…” I said.

“So he’s gonna start driving at 5 in the morning?” mom asked.

“I guess he’d have to. He said he wants to be back in Seattle by noon, so he has to make time for border delays and such,” I said.

“Oh, okay,” mom said.

I closed the fridge and looked at Frank.

“I thought you were hungry,” he said.

“Not for anything in there,” I said gesturing towards the fridge.

Frank threw the empty Jell-O container on the garbage and put the spoon in the sink.

“Let’s go to bed,” he suggested.

“Okay,” I nodded.

We both said goodnight to my mom before heading downstairs to my bedroom. I sat down on my bed and Frank came over to me and sat on my lap, straddling my legs between his knees.

“Hey,” I smiled.

Frank smiled back and slung his arms over my shoulders. I wrapped my arms tightly around his body and kissed him deeply, tasting his sweet, strawberry-kiwi mouth.

“I wanna have sex,” Frank said against my lips.

“So do I,” I said. “But only if you’ll let me rim you,” I smirked at him.

“Gerard, that’s so gross!” Frank laughed.

“It’s not that gross. Why don’t we take a shower first so that you’re all clean for me? If that’s what you’re worried about,” I suggested.

“Okay fine, let’s take a shower and if I feel like it after, I’ll let you rim me,” Frank said.

“Okay, sure,” I said.

Frank and I went into the bathroom and undressed. As I bent over to check the temperature of the water, Frank slapped my ass lightly and it turned me on so much.

“You’re such a dirty boy, Gerard,” Frank said in a highly seductive voice.

I turned to face him. “That was so hot,” I said.

He just laughed and I couldn’t get over how cute he was. We got into the shower after that and I watched him wash his hair and soap up his body. I washed my hair after him and then washed the rest of my body. When I was done, Frank hugged me around my waist.

Do you think I’m clean enough?” he asked. “You’re still worried?” I laughed.

“Yeah, I honestly am. Don’t laugh,” he said.

“Okay, turn around then, I said.

Frank obeyed and then I got lots of soap on my hand and rubbed it between his ass cheeks, focusing on his hole. I rinsed my hand off after, got some more soap, and repeated the process. I did that a few more times.

“Okay, how do you feel now?” I asked.

Frank turned around to face me again.

“Not worried at all now,” he smiled.

“Good,” I smiled back.

“Thank you hun, you’re so amazing,” he said, pecking my lips.

After our shower, we dried off, and wrapped our towels around our waists as we went back into my room, and quickly dropped them on the floor as soon as I had closed and locked the door to my room.

“Lie down on the bed,” I told him.

Frank did as I said and then he spread his legs open, bringing his knees into his chest so I had access to his tight hole.

“Mmm, you’re so beautiful, Frankie…” I said, running my hands along his inner thighs.

I lowered my head and began gently sucking on his balls, loving the way his pubic hair tickled my cheeks. I heard Frank’s heavy breaths and smiled, knowing he was enjoying my mouth all over his balls. I trailed my tongue down to the area between his balls and his asshole and pressed my tongue against his skin, licking gently and slowly.

By now, Frank was whimpering quietly and stroking my hair as I pleasured him. I gathered up lots of saliva in my mouth and then moved my tongue down to his asshole, licking it and getting it all wet. Frank moaned and grabbed my hair as I did this. I dragged my tongue up and down his crack a few times and then started ‘making out’ with his asshole, kissing it and sucking it. He tasted so fresh and I loved it.

I glanced up and saw that Frank had started jacking his cock. I rubbed his balls with one hand as I sucked on his hole.

“Feels so good, baby…” he moaned.

Without warning, I slipped my tongue inside of him. This drove him crazy as I pushed my tongue in and out of his hole over and over.

“Oh God, yeah… So fuckin’ good, Gerard… Fucking hell...yeahh…” Frank moaned loudly, continuing to rub his cock.

“Don’t cum yet,” I said, sitting up on my knees.

Frank took his hand off his cock and laid there, breathing hard.

“You were close, weren’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.”

“So you liked being rimmed?” I asked.

“Loved it. Felt absolutely amazing,” Frank said.

“Good,” I said.

“I wanna taste your cock,” said Frank, sitting up.

“Yeah, go ahead,” I said.

Frank positioned his mouth right in front of my cock and I slowly rubbed my sticky cock-head all over his closed lips. He licked my pre-cum off his lips and then took the head into his mouth and sucked it hard, pressing his tongue into my piss-hole.

“Yeah, suck it hard,” I said quietly, watching his hot mouth do its work on my cock.

Frank looked up at me with those gorgeous hazel-green eyes and it turned me on so much to look into his eyes as he pleasured me.

“Take it deeper, babe...yeah… Ohh, yeah, just like that…” I moaned, feeling the head hit the back of his throat a couple times.

When I felt I was getting too close to cumming, I pulled my cock out of Frank’s mouth.

“Do you want it doggy style?” I asked him.

“Yeah, fuck me like that, babe…” Frank replied.

He got on his hands and knees in front of me with his ass facing me, and I got the lube from my bedside table drawer.

“I wanna cum in your ass, Frankie. Do you mind if I don’t wear a condom?” I asked.

“I don’t mind at all,” he said.

I finished putting lube on my cock and on Frank’s hole, and then pressed the head of my cock against him until it slipped inside his ass.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“No...just fuck me,” Frank said.

I started out slowly thrusting into him, enjoying his tightness surrounding my cock. It felt so good. I placed my hands on his hips and went as deep as I could inside of him.

“Mmm, fuck yeah...right there,” Frank breathed out.

I slammed my hips against his ass in the same spot and he moaned loudly. I went faster and deeper until Frank started saying he was gonna cum.

“Don’t cum yet. How much longer can you hold off?” I asked.

“Not very long. I really need to cum…” Frank half-moaned.

“Damn, I really wanted you to cum in my mouth,” I said, still thrusting, but not as fast.

“No, I wanna cum with you inside me,” Frank said.

“Okay,” I said.

I continued to fuck his ass hard and deep until he started moaning uncontrollably.

“Ohh, yeah, you like my cock up your ass?” I asked him, grabbing onto his hips.

“Ohh, yes...fuck, yes…” Frank moaned.

I spanked him a few times, which he loved.

“Ohh, I’m cumming baby… I’m cumming…!” Frank moaned as his body shook with his orgasm.

I came soon after him, spilling my hot seed inside his ass. I pulled my cock out of him and we both collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily. I pulled Frank’s sweaty body against mine and kissed him gently.

“I can’t even describe how amazing that was,” Frank said.

“Neither can I,” I said, feeling totally spent.

I reached over and turned off the lamp on my bedside table.

“I love you,” I said.

“Love you, too,” said Frank.

***Friday***

(Frank’s POV)

The moment I woke up that morning, I felt depressed. Gerard was going to his dad's place in Seattle the following day. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to survive two whole weeks without him. I got out of bed and took a shower and then got dressed. Back in my room, I got out my laptop and went on Facebook. I updated my status as: “Missing him already… :(” and sighed.

I went on Youtube and searched up “Lonely for Her” by Jack’s Mannequin before lying down on my bed with the music playing. I felt so pathetic. He wasn’t even gone yet. He was probably packing his stuff right then, which he would be doing all day. I was going to his house in the evening for a bit to see him before he left the next morning. After the song was over, I refreshed Facebook and saw that I had one new notification: Gerard had commented on my status.

His comment was: “Why don’t you come over and watch me pack? I could use some company :).”

I replied: “I’ll be there asap :P.”

I shut my laptop, grabbed my phone and went downstairs.

“Good morning,” mom said as I passed by the living room.

“Morning. I’m going to Gerard’s house,” I said.

“When will you be back?” she asked.

“Sometime tonight,” I replied.

“Okay, see you later then…” she replied.

I left the house and walked to Gerard’s house. I got there ten minutes later and rang the doorbell. I heard footsteps from inside the house, and a moment later, Gerard answered the door, dressed in a t-shirt and black sweatpants. He looked really comfy.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey,” I said back, stepping inside.

Gerard shut the door behind me as I took off my shoes.

“Come here,” Gerard said.

I turned to see him standing there with his arms open, and so I hugged him tightly. He smelled like home; like safety. I was going to miss him so much.

“You look so sad,” Gerard whispered.

“That’s cause I am,” I said.

“Well, it’s making me sad, too,” he said.

“Sorry. I can’t help how I feel,” I replied.

“Someone’s grumpy…” he chuckled.

I sighed. “I just wanna lie down,” I said.

“Okay,” Gerard replied.

He let go of me and I followed him to his room. Clothes were strewn across the floor and on the bed and two suitcases lay open and mostly empty, on the floor.

“Here, I’ll move some of my shit so you can lie down,” he said, gathering up some of the clothes on the bed and putting them on his computer chair.

I laid down on his bed, facing him as he continued to pack his stuff.

“Do you wanna watch a movie or something? I feel like I’m boring you,” Gerard said after a while.

“No, I’m okay. Thanks though,” I sighed.

“Are you sure?” he asked, folding up one of his shirts.

“Yeah, I just wanna watch you,” I smiled.

“All right then,” he smiled back.

I watched him pack for about fifteen minutes before Gerard’s mom knocked on the door.

“What?” Gerard called to her.

Laurie opened the door, holding a small booklet in her hand.

“Your passport,” she said, tossing it to Gerard.

“Oh, thanks,” Gerard said.

“Don’t lose it,” she warned.

“Can’t promise anything,” Gerard said sarcastically.

“Oh, hey Frank! I totally just saw you there,” Laurie said to me.

“Hey Laurie,” I smiled.

“When did you get here?” she asked.

“About 20 minutes ago,” I replied.

“Oh, okay. I can’t believe you’re making him stay in this mess, Gerard,” she said.

“I’m surviving,” I laughed.

“Honestly, if you wanna get out of here, you can come hang out with me upstairs. I’m probably more fun anyway,” Laurie winked.

Gerard rolled his eyes at his mom as she smiled and left the room.

*

A couple hours later, after drifting in and out of sleep, Gerard announced that he was finished packing.

“Finally,” I said.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, climbing onto the bed next to me.

“Now I get to snuggle with my baby,” he smiled, hugging me close.

I kissed his soft lips gently and he pulled me even closer to him.

“I don’t want you to go,” I whispered against his lips.

“Aww… I know, Frankie. I’m gonna miss this. But don’t worry, I’ll be back sooner than you think,” Gerard said.

I didn’t say anything, I just buried my face in the fabric of his t-shirt to hide my welling eyes.

“What can I do to cheer you up, babe?” he asked, rubbing my back comfortingly.

“You can not go to Seattle,” I replied.

“Frank, you know I have to go…” Gerard said.

“Then there’s nothing you can do,” I said.

Gerard sighed. “You’re making this so much harder for me…” he said.

I stayed silent.

“I’m already worried about spending two weeks with my dad—who I hardly know—and his one-billionth girlfriend, who’s a total stranger to me. And now on top of that I’m worrying about you. And I feel so bad because I don’t know how to make this better for you,” Gerard went on.

“Can’t you just let me be sad? I’m going to miss you so much, okay? You don’t have to worry about me. I’m sorry that I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do without you,” I said, sitting up and wiping my eyes.

“Now I made you upset, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do,” he said quietly. He sat up next to me. “I’m sorry,” Gerard said.

“It’s okay. And I’m sorry for being such a downer,” I said.

Gerard hugged me close to him.

“I’m gonna call you everyday and text you 24/7 all right?” he said.

“You better,” I smiled.

Gerard chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“You’re the best thing in my life right now, babe. I love you,” he said.

“You’re sweet,” I said softly as Gerard’s lips lingered against my cheek.

I could feel his warm breath against my skin and it made me feel so safe, so comfortable.

“Do you wanna go somewhere?” Gerard asked, leaning his head on my shoulder.

“Like where?” I replied.

“I was thinking I could take you out to lunch somewhere,” he said.

“That would be nice. I didn’t bring my wallet though…” I said.

“Don’t worry about that—it’s my treat to you,” Gerard said.

“Well, thank you,” I replied.

“I just need to take a shower and then we’ll go,” he said.

“Ooh, I’ll join you,” I smiled.

~The End~