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Frank had been friends with Gerard for a long time, and was used to his weird antics. That being said, he had a lot of living to do, and didn’t plan on cutting off contact with the artist anytime soon, so there was a lot left he could do to surprise him, though he didn’t think showing up at his door one day looking harried and checking his phone every two seconds was something he ever expected to happen, as Gerard was late to almost everything.
“What’s up Gerard?” Frank asked, holding the door open and leaning against the door frame.
“No time to explain, I need you to be my boyfriend, we’re having dinner with my mom.”
“Wait what?”
“No time for waiting, let’s go!” Gerard said, grabbing Franks wrist and tugging him towards the car that was stalled in his drive, how did he not notice that before, he must be slipping in concentration. He was only thankful that for once he was actually dressed fairly well, cardigan and jeans that were only stained a little. It was better than his usual attire of ripped at the knee jeans and a t-shirt with a band logo on the front. At least he looked parent friendly.
“Seriously Gerard, I always end up in the weird fucking situations being your friend.” Gerard grinned at him, running a hand through his hair, before patting it down with a scowl. They got into the car, and Gerard pulled out of the driveway before Frank could even get his seatbelt on.
“So do I get an explanation now, because I know it takes longer than five minutes to get to your moms house from here.”
“I may have maybe made up a boyfriend a couple years ago, who has your name and looks exactly like you?” Gerard ‘explained’, though it just confused Frank more.
“And, why would you do that again?” Frank asked, raising one eyebrow and looking over at Gerard, who was staring straight ahead purposefully.
“It’s my mom, she believes everyone needs a significant other, you know?” Frank nodded, prompting him on. “She just… She kept trying to set me up with her friends sons, but they didn’t get me, you know?” He nodded again, hands twitching slightly in his lap.
“And I do?” Gerard snorted, but nodded.
“So I told her I was dating someone, and she insisted I tell her everything about him, and I was thinking of you at the time so I said your name, and showed her a picture of you. I didn’t think that she would actually want to meet you.” Gerard ran his hand through his hair again nervously, tugging at the ends. “It’s okay if you never want to speak to me again after this, but please just fake it until we leave, for me?”
“Why wou-”
“Shh, we’re here!” Gerard said, and got out of the car, waiting for Frank at the door. He sat there for a minute longer then Gerard had, letting it sink in the situation he had found himself in. He was ‘dating’ Gerard, his crush of four years, but not actually dating him. Well, this evening was going to go fan-fucking-tastic.
“Gerard!” A women with big hair and a loud voice opened the door when Frank finally met Gerard on the doorstep, his hand being grabbed the second he was close enough. She flung her arms around Gerard, and Frank was able to wipe his sweaty palm on his jeans when Gerard let go to hug his mom.
He was soon wrapped in an equally as big huge as soon as she was done with her son, saying, “This must be Frankie, is my son treating you alright?” She asked, pulling away and holding him at an arms length. “He obviously isn’t feeding you enough, look at you darling, oh come in, come in.” Gerard shot Frank what might have been an apologetic look, and grabbed Franks hand again, pulling him into the house.
“I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long Frank, Gerard is always talking about you, how’s the band going… Pencey Prep, right?” Frank nodded, shoving his free hand into his pocket as they followed the women, as he still didn’t know her name, into the kitchen.
“It’s going pretty well, we’re working with this new record company, and they’re thinking of sending us on tour of New York.” Gerards mom looked so overjoyed when she turned around, it looked like the huge grin she had on her face was about to split it in two.
“That’s wonderful! You know, I used to have a friend who lived in New York, and she said the summers are amazing, it’s a good mix of rain and sunshine.” She started going off, explaining all the bits about New York she had gleaned from said friend, but Frank couldn’t help himself from letting his mind wonder. Here he was, in the home Gerard grew up, pretending to be in a relationship with him.
He looked around, imagining little Gerard climbing onto the countertop to get cups for him and Mikey, imagined him searching through the fridge on the late nights when he was on an drawing spree, unable to sleep or really stop long enough to eat in case he forgot the ideas.
It made him feel closer to Gerard, like he had known him for even longer than the four years he had, the house was just so Gerard like. He saw a paint stain on one of the cupboards and smiled slightly to himself, Gerard and his mom already moving on to some other topic without him. He touched the edge of the stain with his thumb, before shoving his hand back into his pocket, tuning back into the conversation at hand. He squeezed Gerards hand to let him know he was focusing now, and was pleased at the small squeeze in response.
The evening went on without a hitch, Frank able to answer any question easily, having been really close friends with Gerard for so long allowing him to know basically everything about him, and vice versa. When his mom finally let them head home, Frank was warm from the amount of wine settled in his tummy, and bubbly with joy at how close Gerard at sat when they had been relaxing in the living room.
He refused to let the thought that this would never happen again ruin his mood, inviting Gerard in for coffee when they got to his house. Once the coffee was made, they both leaned against the counter, Gerard standing a little closer than was necessary, but Frank definitely wasn’t going to complain. Their arms brushed together whenever one of them would shift, and a small jolt would rush through Frank each time, and he hated not knowing if Gerard felt the same jolt.
The coffee was finally finished after what felt like an excruciating long time, and Frank poured just the right amount of coffee into Gerards favourite mug, sliding the sugar over to him as he poured his own, and once they had both gotten the right amount of sugar and cream for their separate drinks, they both went out to the living room, sitting on the couch and each letting out a soft sigh.
Frank could live with this, he could live with just being insanely close best friends with Gerard, it would hurt with every fibre of his being, but he could do it. He just had to keep a normal face on.
But then Gerard started going off about some new comic idea that struck him, and the look on his face was so amazing to Frank that he couldn’t hold back a smile he was sure showed each thought of admiration and love he had ever had towards Gerard, causing the older man to slowly stutter to a stop, staring right back at Frank, his words dying in his throat.
It felt awkward for a bit, just staring at each other, but Frank soon recognized the look in Gerards eyes, it was the same look he had whenever he was rewatching Lord of the Rings again, whenever he was telling Frank about art school, it was absolute love, and Frank really wasn’t sure how to take it.
So he didn’t. He ignored his mind telling him to get the fuck out of there holy fuck somethings going to go wrong shit no no no and leaned forward, kissing Gerard with enough force to show he wasn’t fucking around, but gentle enough that pulling away was still an option.
But Gerard didn’t pull away, no, he pushed forward, and Frank found his fingers tangling in the hair he had watched Gerard shove his own fingers through so often, the strands surprisingly soft underneath his hand, Gerards own hands placed on his hip, and Frank couldn’t help breaking away to let out a small laugh, and Gerard quickly caught on, though he spent a couple seconds looking completely lost and heart broken.
“Fuck man, I guess you don’t have to lie to your mom anymore.”
“Christ Frank, leave it to you to bring up my fucking mom after something like that.” Gerard breathed, resting his head on Franks shoulder. Frank let out another laugh, shaking his head lightly.
“Want to stay the night?” He asked after a moment of silent contemplating, well no, more freaking the fuck out because holy shit Gerard actually liked him, and wasn’t pulling away shrieking, wasn’t saying that he only thought of Frank as a brother, fuck.
“Did you even need to ask?” Gerard replied, his voice soft in Franks ear. And no, Frank hadn’t needed to ask, he knew Gerard, and he knew Gerard in relationships, and they were both clingy fuckers.
He paused for a minute before letting his mind run too far. When he thought about it, over the past few years, him and Gerard were much closer than any married couple Frank had actually seen, and thinking of that, Frank came to the realization that holy fuck were they dating the whole time?
He decided to share this thought with Gerard, who had prompted him by poking his hip slightly. Gerard laughed, nodding gently. “Seems like it, huh?” Frank hummed his acknowledgement of the response, content in just being held close, and not being scared of being found out.
It felt right, and Frank actually understood the saying ‘his arms felt like home’ which had always confused him before, because how could a fucking person be home? But no, in Gerards arms, he completely understood. The warmth and safeness of just being held, of being loved. It was a feeling like no other, and he wasn’t ever going to let go of it easily.