Chapter Text
"Yes he called you a vampire. Yes that was completely unacceptable. Can we please stop talking about Frank fucking Iero now?" Mikey grumbled, having to endure the ravings and rantings from his brother on their walk home from school.
"Fine," Gerard snapped. "I assume you've got a better topic of conversation?"
Mikey shrugged at this, absolutely not having a better topic of conversation. Just as long as it wasn't about a short-tempered fuck boy. However he was saved from having to find a topic by someone behind him shouting his name.
"Fuck, you guys walk fast," Ray panted, having to lean against the wall for good measure. The Way brothers stopped, waiting for Ray to regain his ability to talk. "Why weren't you in science today Mikey? I've got the notes if you want them to catch up from."
Gerard grinned at Mikey, as he now had knowledge which would totally get him into shit. If Gerard was cruel enough to use that knowledge of course.
“Gee please, please don’t tell Mom. I had a genuine reason. I can’t tell you but please, for once in your life believe me. I’ll listen to you whine about the emo for ever and ever. Just please don’t rat me out.” Mikey was begging for the first time in his life, and it genuinely worried Gerard.
Ray bit his lip slightly, realising he just completely and utterly dropped Mikey in it Gerard only found this whole thing amusing. "I'm obviously not going too. Just do my chores for a while, it's fine."
Mikey opened his mouth to protest, before closing it again as he realised this was his only option.
Gerard merely grinned in victory, while Ray cleared his throat, praying Mikey now didn’t hate him. “So, uh – what was your genuine reason? I was lonely as fuck.”
Mikey leant over to whisper in Ray’s ear. “I’ll uh… I’ll tell you later. Sorry.”
Ray nodded, desperately telling himself that the only reason Mikey wasn’t saying anything was because his brother was here, and not because he was hiding things.
Gerard coughed, trying to get their attention. “I don’t know about you Mikey but I’m cold so…goodbye Ray. I’m going home. Coming Mikes?”
Mikey rolled his eyes at Gerard’s impatience, but sent a quick smile to Ray. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll message you tonight, okay?”
Ray nodded slightly. “Yeah, okay,” he said quietly as the other two turned their backs and walked away.
Gerard was actually glad for Ray, as it offered a distraction (Raystraction) from certain thoughts of certain people. It also offered a new conversation topic. “So where the fuck were you in that lesson?”
Mikey sighed in defeat; he had hoped that Gerard would drop it completely. “Why does it even matter? You cut class all the time don’t you?”
The older brother scoffed. “Yes, but that’s expected of me. You’re the good one.”
“Well maybe I’m sick of being the good one,” Mikey replied, but Gerard just laughed disbelievingly. Mikey realised he needed to come up with an excuse, and fast.
But this appeared to be a day in which God had taken pity among Mikey Way, in the form of Frank Iero and Pete Wentz crossing the road just a bit ahead of them.
“Fuck. Fucking fuckity fuck. I just remembered I… uh… I left something at school,” Gerard blurted out, stopping immediately in his steps.
“What could you have possibly left? It’s not like you ever do homework-“ Mikey began, until he followed where Gerard was looking. “Oh.”
Gerard had gone oddly silent, and was looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Mikey on the other hand, couldn’t stop staring, not even when he realised they were walking right towards him and Gerard.
"Why are they walking over?" Mikey practically whispered, already worried that a fight might break out, from the way Gerard had been talking about Frank.
"I don't know..." Gerard mumbled, all of a sudden very interested in the hedge next to his face.
-
"Frank, this is really unnecessary." Pete repeated, for like, fiftieth time, as they approached Gerard Way and his cute sidekick. Whoever that was.
"It is completely necessary," Frank replied. "You need cheering up and this is the perfect way to do it."
“I’m fine,” Pete insisted. “I don’t need cheer- Frank? Why have you stopped?”
The pairs of emos were now around three metres away from each other, an uneasy silence falling around them.
“Fuck,” Frank muttered. “Today of all fucking days.”
Like that, the silence had disappeared, and a murderous glare formed on Gerard’s face. Pete sighed.
“What the fuck is that meant to mean?”
“Nothing,” Frank snapped. He ignored Pete’s questioning glance. “Why does it even matter to you anyway?”
Gerard scoffed. “Nothing. I’m just brutally wounded that I seemingly make your day worse. Obviously.”
Mikey was now regretting not going with Ray, and couldn’t help but notice The Pete Wentz also looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
“Uh Frank,” Pete whispered. “Shouldn’t we go?”
Frank turned his head towards his companion and smiled slightly. “Yeah, maybe we should.”
Frank grabbed Pete’s hand (no homo) and pulled him forwards, barging through Mikey and Gee. The latter flipped them off as they walked away, while Mikey stared longingly at Pete.
Gerard closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing on his walk home.
“Well that was a nice talk,” Mikey noted, and followed his brother.
“Oh, fuck off lanky,” Gerard sighed, followed by him muttering: “Fucking Frank Iero.”
Mikey snorted at the irony of that sentence. “So, you’re like, totally not obsessed with him or anything like that. At all. Like, I’m one hundred percent not getting that vibe.”
Gerard turned to face his brother, and Mikey was expecting a snappy comeback, but all Gerard could muster was a lazy “fuck off” before increasing his walking pace slightly.
Mikey, being the annoying little brother he was, immediately matched this walking pace. “And that definitely doesn’t sound like denial.”
Mikey didn’t receive a reply, as they had finally reached their front door. Mikey noticed a strange car parked outside and nudged his brother. They shared a look before opening the door to the smell of old lady and the last voice either of them wanted to hear.
“You sure Gerard won’t mind if I share with him?” Bob asked, the voice of angelic innocence travelling through the house. Gerard was overcome with the sensation to set something on fire.
Preferably Bob.
"Actually," Gerard exclaimed, bursting through the front door, "I would mind, very much." The effect was somewhat ruined by Mikey sniggering quietly behind him.
Donna immediately sighed, while Bob sent a just wonderful shit-eating grin to Gerard. It was like the devil and the antichrist had some angry sex, and then produced this thing. This homophobic, button-pushing prick. If anyone was expecting Gerard to share a house, let alone a room with this fucker, plates would be thrown.
"Gerard, stop being ridiculous. Bob is family. It's not for long and you have the biggest room." Gerard's mother gave him the look and continued. "Why don't you show Bob where to put his things?"
Gerard was frankly offended, and Mikey really wasn't helping. The fucker was still sniggering. His mother clearly hated him, as she and the entire family knew; Bob and Gerard had been friends for approximately 0.3 seconds of their lives.
However, they didn't understand why, and as far as Gerard could help it, they would never find out. He started to make his way down to his room in the basement, and assumed that his cousin was following, but hoped with everything he had that Bob had decided to stay put.
Bob had not decided to stay put.
"Excited for this week then, bunk buddy?" Bob asked, much too chipper, as he threw himself onto Gerard’s bed.
Gerard chose to ignore him, and attempted to hide anything that could provide mocking material for Bob. This was a hard task to fully complete, considering Gerard liked D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini, and croquet.
But even then, it didn't matter. Bob would and could find anything to take the piss out of Gerard for. For example, the way Gerard looks at guys.
“Excited,” Gerard muttered irritably, “is not the right word for how I’m feeling.” It was taking all his will power not to scream or hit something in frustration. Today had not been a good day, and he knew it would only get worse from here.
"Oh come off it. Whatever did I do to you?" Bob said in an irritatingly joking matter, as everything was just a fucking joke to him.
Gerard didn’t want to open his mouth to utter a reply. He was concerned that once he did, he’d say something that would plant an idea in Bob’s head; that he really didn’t want to be there.
Bob waited for the reply that never came, before sighing. "Whatever. So I get the bed right? I mean, I am the guest and all. And family."
Gerard sighed, before finally gaining his voice again. “How about the garden? I’ve heard that’s a nice place to sleep.”
Bob laughed. Cute. He thought Gerard wasn't being serious. "You can have the greenhouse, mate. Or maybe Mikey can. He's looking particularly... Weedy? Is that the right word?"
"Don't you fucking dare bring Mikey into this. Don't you dare," Gerard practically spat at Bob, his patience beginning to wear thin.
"Oh calm down, princess. I was only joking. Kind of. But we're family. Besides, you have to admit that he does look like he needs more meat on his bones?" Bob obviously saw how pissed off Gerard was getting, but it was fun to poke a bear.
Bob’s gaze landed on the box of school books in the corner of the room, almost hidden completely by the darkness. “Wow… high school. Best time of my life. Except from when I had to remind those fucking fags to keep their disgusting relationship away from everyone. Actually, thinking about it, that was kinda satisfying.”
Gerard gulped, starting to feel a little sick and struggling to breathe properly. Bob had gone too far.
There was no way he was staying in this house, not with his cousin around. Calmly, he slowly strode out of the basement, up the stairs and out of the front door.
Once he had passed the threshold of the house his pace began to rapidly increase, as did his breathing. He had no idea where he was going, but somehow he ended up in a deserted back alley off of a street he didn’t recognise, his back sliding down the wall like the tears were over his face.
Fuck. If the tiniest fucking comment set him off like this, how was he supposed to share a house, let alone a room, with that asshole for a week? Fuck.
He just had to control his breathing, because he was in public. And he never left the fucking house, so of course he got lost almost immediately. He'd have to ask for help.
Fuck.
Almost as if higher powers had read his mind, a figure half stumbled into the alley, with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other. All Gerard could make out of the conversation was: “I don’t know, just suck him off or something, doesn’t that usually work for you guys?”
Gerard watched as the figure leaned against the wall, taking a drag of the cigarette, before their face was illuminated by the nearby streetlight.
Fucking Frank Iero.