Work Text:
1
Hot - The Regrettes
They say you're oh so fine
Like I'm the only one that doesn't wanna make you mine
You must be oh so shocked
'Cause you'll never be the key to my lock
Wolf Pack - The Vaccines
“How are you even friends with him, Mikey?" Gerard rants, his scribbling becoming messier and more forceful. "He’s such a judgy asshole. One look and he decided everything about me, without even a word from me, when he doesn’t know shit about me, about us, the stupid dick—”
“He’s actually really nice to me.”
“—and did you see him on stage? Guy thinks just because he’s been playing since he was like three and can shred, he can thrash around and it automatically makes him a fucking legend.”
“You said two days ago that theatricality and showmanship were a dying art.”
“They are a dying art and I wish more bands had the guts to put on a fucking worthwhile show and that’s not the point!" Gerard takes his eyes away from the paper, annoyed. "Don’t try to distract me!”
“What is the point, then?” Mikey says, rolling his eyes.
“The point," Gerard says, pointing at Mikey with his pen, "is that Frank is evil. I can see it in his shifty, dubious eyes. Stay away, Mikey, I forbid you seeing him.”
Mikey snorts and wisely ignores everything.
From the Ritz to the Rubble - Arctic Monkeys
Instilled in your brain you've got something to prove
Summer - Rob Scallon
He can’t believe they’re still fighting over something so stupid, Mikey thinks for possibly the 20th time since they met. Seeing Frank and Gerard almost literally butting heads while he’s passing by the halls has become a frustratingly common occurrence, and much as he’s annoyed, he does not want to get stuck in the middle more than they already force him to be. That’s why, the one day he wants to not hear another complaint from either of them, he calls in the big guns.
“Hey, guys!” Ray says, entering the rehearsal space just as Gerard and Frank are about to strangle each other with a guitar cable.
The change is almost immediate: as soon as they notice Ray approaching them, they’re like puppies begging for love. “Hi, Ray!” they answer in unison, bright eyed and distracted. Blessedly distracted.
He leaves Ray to it and heads out of the room.
Breaking Out (The Cowboy Escapes) - Daniel Pemberton
Mikey looks terrifying. Maybe because he’s furious. Maybe because he isn’t wearing his glasses. Frank can’t decide. The one thing he knows for sure is that he is so, so sorry, oh god have mercy.
2
Kill the Director - The Wombats
This is no Bridget Jones
Scrawny - Wallows
I’ve been sleeping with the light off
I wanted to remember
I Can Bet - Paul McCartney
He turns the pedal over and over, checking every possibility, making sure it’s not something Frank already tried before, and nope, he’s got nothing. It’s well and truly non-functioning; it does the opposite of whatever setting he chooses and it will take him days to re-learn how to use it.
At least it’s not broken. Frank’s never broken his pedals. He manipulates them with black magic, which could amount to the same, but they still turn on, so there’s a thin silver lining. He’s sure by the time it fixes itself, Frank will have some other thing prepared to make his life more annoying. Without fail, he has demonstrated more creativity in his traps than he’s seen in even his brother at his pettiest.
He snorts as he passes it to Mikey, who maybe-possibly-hopefully will fix it, and has to admit, in a deep, dark part of his soul, that he’s impressed. “I can’t figure out how he does it still.”
Everything Is (Falling into Place) - Kevin Johansen / Under My Skin - Jukebox the Ghost
It’s the Ray effect in action, that aura of peace and love that follows him around, that makes Frank smile at Gerard without a trace of mischief or hatred, Frank would probably say, if he didn’t outright deny everything. Ray knows he had nothing to do with it because he’d been staring at Frank staring at Gerard for the better part of Gerard’s rehearsal. Chancing a little poking around the subject, he goes and stands next to Frank.
Frank turns his head and smiles at Ray but soon enough his eyes drift back to Gerard. When The Hormones finish the song, both Ray and Frank clap and the band laughs, smiling a little sheepishly. When Gerard looks at them, Frank sticks his tongue out but keeps clapping.
That’s a development compared to the last time Ray visited. “Seems you and Gerard are friends now.”
He might be imagining the soft sigh escaping Frank’s lips but his vision remains 20/20. “I guess so…”
Ray’s about to congratulate them for returning to their senses and being mature people when Frank stands straight, a look of shock in his face, and completely backtracks. “Wait, no! No, no, we’re not friends! He’s my mortal enemy, we’re competing against each other!” Then he stands up, gathers his things and blurts out a hasty goodbye, still insisting they’re not friends.
Frank may not have realized the scene he made but the noise reached the band’s ears just fine, and they couldn’t look more confused. Ray glances at Gerard, whose hurt expression just clears a lot of things up for Ray. He just hopes Gerard will be careful about approaching Frank in the end, because, with that little taste, he’s sure Frank’s not going to be the one ending up with shattered dreams.
Inside Your Mind - The 1975
The back of your head is at the front of my mind
Soon I'll crack it open just to see what's inside
It’s Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Am Thinking It Must Be Love - Fall Out Boy
We'll make them so jealous
We'll make them hate us
What Do You Want from Me Tonight? - Sidney Gish
'Cause I'm invited, but I'm terrifying too
And I'll sit here for a million years just staring across the room
But what do you want? 'Cause I want it all
And I'd really rather step back, but my back's against the wall
Makin’ Out - Mark Owen
“Are those supposed to be lyrics? Because it looks an awful lot like a love letter to my brother.”
Frank startles and closes his notebook immediately, putting it out of Mikey’s reach. Leave it to him to be successfully sneaky.
Animal - Neon Trees
What are you waiting for?
Take a bite of my heart tonight
3
The Way You Want It - Keane
“I guess you finally ran them off, Frank,” Evan jokes after the third time The Hormones don’t show up to rehearse after or before them.
“Yeah,” Frank says, laughing, but the bitter taste in his mouth just thinking about it is weird. He got what he wanted, didn’t he? Gerard is still the enemy. Frank won. “I sure showed them...”
Your New Twin Size Bed - Death Cab for Cutie
“What do you mean Gerard’s not coming back?” Frank practically yells, chasing Mikey down the corridors of the Eyeball headquarters, not caring if he isn’t really allowed back there. “How is he supposed to win if he doesn’t practice?”
“I don’t know anything,” Mikey insists, which is bullshit. If anyone would know, it’s him.
“You need to tell him to stop being an idiot and grab a fucking mic!” When Mikey ignores him, keeping his eyes to the front and maneuvering around Frank, he insists. “Mike? Mikey? Mikey! Come on, man! You have to tell him to come back!”
“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Mikey says, turning around abruptly and facing Frank head-on now, leaving him frozen on the spot, with that twist in his gut again.
If there was a way to convince Gerard without talking to him, maybe, but after everything… Christ, Mikey had to know there was no way. No way at all. He’d lost that right the moment he stepped out of the alley.
Gerard was out of his reach.
Sighing, Mikey looks at him with annoyance and a little resentment. “I’m not going to be anyone’s mailman in this. If you want him back, go get him. But if all you’re going to do is follow me around like a lost puppy, then you can fucking go.” He takes one last look at Frank before fixing his glasses and turning around again. “Just… make up your mind.”
New York - Busted
'Cause I'm in New York, I'm in New York
And nothing here has changed
But without you here in New York
Nothing feels the same
Dino Damage - Miniature Tigers
“Listen,” Dewees says gently, “he may have been an asshole when you first met but I’ve been here, hearing you rant for weeks, and let me tell you, you don’t give a shit about that anymore. So what’s stopping you?”
The Overpass - Panic! at the Disco
“Have you seen Gerard?” After another head shake, Frank growls, “Oh, come on!” before he hurriedly turns around and starts his search again.
It’s the tenth person he’s asked but it’s been tough luck finding Gerard.
He knows Gerard’s here. That tuff of orange is hard to miss. Definitely hard to catch too.
Whenever he catches a glimpse of orange, he runs but he’s never there by the time he makes it through, and the people from the other bands are no help either: One second he’s beside the stage, the next he’s around the bar, but no, turns out he’s at the backstage door, only he isn’t because he’s at the edge of the crowd. Even in such a small venue, Gerard continues to avoid him.
“Frank!” he hears Evan say, and there’s no chance to keep running around. “We’re up!”
Hounds of Love - The Futureheads
I found a fox, caught by dogs
He let me take him in my hands
His little heart, it beat so fast
That I am ashamed to be running away
From nothing real, I just can't deal with this
I feel ashamed to be there
Amongst your hounds of loving
I feel your arms surrounding me
I've always been a coward
And I don’t know what's good for me
But here I go
It’s No Secret - Jukebox the Ghost
It's no secret that I want you
Let them hear me if they want to
What I gotta do? I'm no fool
'Cause it's no secret that I want you
Bouncing off the Wall - Green Day
If for nothing else, Frank’s happy he made up with Gerard because he’s never seen him performing like this. Gerard’s like a demonic master of ceremonies, the crowd all too willing to follow his commands, and there’s nothing as exhilarating as the energy he brings out in the crowd. Frank would be right out there right now if he could.
But there’s also nothing quite like knowing, when Gerard gets off the stage, Frank will be the first thing he sees.
Daylight - Bronze Radio Return
Daylight, with the sun I'm in now
Gonna soak up what you're givin'
Daylight, there's somethin' about you
When you show up, oh I'm livin'
I come alive, alive, alive, every time
When you do, you do, you do
Shit on the Radio - Robbie Williams
I know that you know
When we get together
Love you like a hurricane
The Nerve - The Brobecks