Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A sudden vibration spread across Y/N’s bed, waking them up from their sleep almost instantly. They patted their hand around the bed, searching for their phone. But of course, since their bed was an absolute mess, it took about 30 seconds to even find it.

Staring at the red flip-phone, they saw their mothers name flash across the screen. They simply rolled their eyes before picking up the phone, placing it against their ear. “Hello?” They asked in a groggy voice, leaning against their beds headboard.

“Y/N!” Their mom cheered from the other line. “Remember, it’s your first day today! You gotta lock the door when you leave, though.” She hummed. Y/N let out a soft sigh, biting down on their lip.

“Alright.” They sighed. “How’s your trip doing?” They asked, rolling off of their bed, placing their phone in the crook of their neck. They didn’t really have the energy to change their clothes, so they just grabbed onto a random pair of socks and the shoes under their bed.

“It’s going really good. I met someone new at the coffee shop near the hotel~” She teased. Y/N rolled their eyes. Their mom was known for bringing random men back to the house, but the last thing Y/N wanted was for their mom to bring back a dude from a completely different country. That was just a whole new level.

“Great, good for you ma.” They uttered, pulling their shoes over their heels with a grunt. “I gotta go soon, alright? I’ll see you on friday.” They looked up towards their desk, an ashtray with short cigarette buts hidden under a pair of gloves. Before their mother could even say goodbye, Y/N ended the call, tossing their phone behind them.

Y/N and their mother never had the best relationship. Ever since their dad left, the whole family had basically fallen apart. So that left Y/N to fend for themselves. And an addiction to cigarettes.

Speaking of cigarettes, Y/N had just grabbed onto a fresh pack. They had shoved them into their back pocket as they hopped off of their bed, looking along the barely visible floor to find their backpack. They had packed it days in advance, so at least that would be checked off their list.

They took a deep breath in, taking in the final moments they would be left alone. They never really liked being around people, and being the new kid at a public school would not make it any better. They just figured that they could tough it out for the year, and soon enough they would be out.

With all of their stuff now packed, they were ready to head to their new school. All of the lights were off, no faucets running, all the windows and doors locked, they were ready to go. Walking out from their room, they almost booked it towards the door. They slammed the door behind them, getting slapped in the face with the cold air.

Doing a quick check, they had realized that on the block, a small collective of teenagers were all standing around, waiting for something. Y/N had figured that it was just the school bus stop, they were correct, and began their journey over there.

They could hear the soles of their shoes hit against the concrete, the ringing repeating over and over in their head. They let out a soft sigh, continuing on their way. It was mildly cold outside, I mean, it is February in Jersey, and only wearing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy hoodie wasn’t the best idea. But hey, on the bright side, they won't have to deal with overheating in class.

Y/N’s breath was cloudy, covering their vision as they finally arrived at the bus stop. There were only a few kids there, but there was still more than usual. It was a dark and gloomy morning, so in Y/N’s eyes, perfect weather.

Not wanting to stand and wait for another 20 minutes, they scoped out the area for a bench, and surprisingly, they found one. Well, there was already a kid sitting on it, but he looked like he wouldn’t mind.

Trugging their bag around, they slowly made their way towards the bench, sitting down on the very edge of it in order not to disturb the other boy sitting next to them. He looked like someone who could kick their ass, and they would rather that not happen. So they were playing it safe.

Pulling out their pack of cigarettes, they placed one in their mouth. For a brief second, they stood still. This really isn’t good for me, they thought, but oh well. They were well aware of the effect those cigarettes had on their body, and if anything, that’s what the appeal was. They didn’t want to live long, they just wanted to not give a shit.

They pulled out their lighter and leaned their head into the flame, lighting the tip of the cig and taking a large breath in. Smoke filled up their mouth and lungs before blowing the cloud back out into the air, blurring up their vision. They removed the stick from their mouth, holding it in between fingers as they leaned their head back.

“Stupid fucking lighter,” They heard someone, that someone being the boy sitting on the bench next to them, growl, smacking his lighter repetitively in an attempt to make it work once again. But he was unsuccessful.

Usually, Y/N wouldn’t do nice things for people, but they felt like being a good person today. And plus that kid looks too intimidating to ignore, so they really didn’t want to pass it up.

Turning their body over, they saw another cigarette in the boy's hand, except his wasn’t lit. So, with a perked up eyebrow, Y/N extended out their arm.

“Here man,” They offered, prompting the boy to look up at them with a form of confusion. “I know how much it sucks to not get your fix.” They laughed softly, taking another breath of their smoke. The boy’s face seemed to light up a bit as he stared at it, grabbing the lighter out from their hand.

“Thank you so much.” He grinned, his voice full of gratitude. His voice was a lot different from what Y/N expected, and his reaction, too, but they really didn’t have any room to complain. Instead they just watched the boy light the end of his cigarette before passing the lighter back to Y/N, going back to minding his own business.

Until, he broke the silence. Turning over to Y/N, he pursed both of his lips, examining their face.

“Are you new to Belleville?” He asked, keeping his voice low. “I guess i’ve just never seen you around before, just curious.” He hummed, pushing his greasy black hair out from his face. Y/N, not intending to, had a light smile form on their face.

“Yeah, Yeah I am.” They nodded, pocketing the lighter into their hoodie. “Just moved here from downtown. It’s a lot quieter here.” The boy nodded slowly, pressing one of his knees up to his chest, leaning his elbow on top of it.

“Yeah,” He agreed. He went silent for a few seconds before turning his head once again. “I- uh, I’m Gerard. 3rd year.” He introduced, catching Y/N off guard a bit. In no way did they think they would be meeting a new person today, but they were pretty excited. They never made friends, who knew it was this easy.

“Do you mean junior?” They asked, not thinking to introduce themselves. Gerard laughed, bobbing his head around a bit.

“Well, yeah, but… I mean, It’s cooler to say third year, y’know?” He chuckled, taking another inhale of smoke. Y/N giggled a bit, nodding in agreement.

“Uh, I’m Y/N.” They said softly, clearing their throat. “Also a third year.” They smiled. Gerard mimicked the expression, leaning his head down low.

“Cool. Well, it’s nice to meet you,” He tilted his head to the left, a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

“You too, dude.” Y/N replied.

Chapter Text

“Alright everybody, remember,” The teacher called out, practically slamming the textbook down onto the desk. “Page 17 through 23. Class dismissed.” Y/N furrowed their brows as they began to pack up, zipping up their backpack.

They didn’t know that you could just leave the class the second the teacher said class dismissed, because in their old school, you couldn’t even get your stuff together before the bell rang. But I guess there were a lot of things to get used to.

Throwing their bag over their shoulder, they cleared their throat. They stood up from the desk and joined the crowd that was flooding out of the door, hearing the rush of teengagers pouring out into the hall. It was 4th hour, which meant it was lunchtime for Y/N. Not really having the energy to put their shit back into their locker, they just began their venture towards the cafeteria.

They could hear a mix of everyones conversations, which made their head a bit fuzzy. They never liked the sound of loud noise, so being at a public high school was almost their worst nightmare. But like they said earlier, they’ll just tough it out until the year is over.

Drowning all of the noise out, Y/N had become drowsy as their mind wandered. Their head was always in the clouds, but now more than ever. Until they heard faint shouts coming up from behind them. At first they just brushed it off, but the yells kept getting closer and closer, they couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Y/N! Hey!” The fog finally drifted away as a familiar voice came up from behind them, a pale hand being placed on their shoulder.

A bit surprised, Y/N turned their head to face the person wanting their attention. And to their surprise, it was Gerard! That definitely wasn’t expected, but hey, at least it wasn’t a stranger.

Although, while looking at him, they had realized some disceptences that weren’t there before. His hair was all messed up, his lip was bleeding, a bloody nose too, an imprint of someone’s knuckles on his cheek, he just looked like he’s been fucked up by someone.

“Hey,” They replied, not really knowing how to tell him that he looked like someone had just kicked his ass. “Are you okay? You- Your nose is- just- uh…” Y/N tried to collect their thoughts, trying to form a coherent sentence.

“Yeah, I know.” He laughed, nodding softly. “This jackass was talking a big game, I had to put him in his place.” He huffed, looking over his shoulder. They smiled softly, shrugging a bit.

“Here,” Y/N grabbed onto his wrist, changing their route from the cafeteria to the bathrooms. They knew from experience that you might get in trouble if you looked like you got your shit rocked, so they were planning on helping him out. He was being friendly to them, after all.

“Where - where are we going?” Gerard asked, walking along with them in order not to be dragged down the hallway. Y/N looked back at him, their lips parted slightly. They were sort of known for having airy expressions, and this year it wasn’t that different.

“To the bathrooms.” They replied, continuing their ways through the lockers. “I don’t want you to get blood on your sandwich,” They giggled, rubbing their eyes a bit. They were still tired from this morning, but it was interesting how Gerard didn’t really mind. He was smiling at it, actually. It went across Y/N’s mind that he might be mocking them inside of his head, but they chose not to think about that.

“You know, you don’t have to do that.” Gerard uttered, looking down at the shorter kid next to him. “I get into fights a lot, it’s not that bad.” He tried to convince Y/N, but he was well aware that they wouldn’t budge. They just kept walking.

“Nope.” They shook their head. “You’re being nice to me, so I'm being nice to you. That’s how friends work, right?” They asked, a slight smile pulling at the side of their face. Gerard’s eyes widened a bit, his jaw dropping slightly. Y/N could see from his reaction that he didn’t consider the two of them friends, which made a small pout form at their lip.

“Oh,” They uttered. “Sorry, I guess we aren’t friends. But regardless, I just feel like being nice to you.” They laughed, pressing their fingers up against their palm. Gerard, not wanting to upset Y/N, shook his head almost frantically, trying to deny.

“No, no! We - We can be friends.” He blurted, pushing his hair away from his face. “I - I guess I just didn’t think you’d really want to be friends with me.” He explained, feeling his heartbeat speed up. Y/N’s face lit up at the sentiment, looking back up at him with a glimpse of hope in their eyes.

“Rea-” They cut themself off, not wanting to seem too needy. “Cool! That’s cool.” They smiled, biting down on the inside of their cheek. Gerard had a similar grin spread across his face, continuing to walk along the halls. Second by second, the school began to empty, leaving just Gerard and Y/N roaming the hallways.

Soon enough, Y/N had found their way to the bathrooms, and dragged Gerard into them. They were completely empty, which was pretty nice to Y/N. No loud noise.

“Lean up against that sink over there.” Y/N pointed, setting their bag down onto the floor and began searching through it. Gerard followed their orders, leaning up against the sink that was closest to the paper-towel dispenser.

It took a bit of searching, but soon enough they found their med-kit. With a grin forming on their face, they hopped back up onto their feet and walked over to where Gerard was standing.

“Alright buddy,” Y/N joked. “Where’d that guy hit you? Or like - where does it really hurt?” asked Y/N, placing one hand on their hip. Gerard bit down on his tongue, looking down towards the rest of his body with pursed lips.

“Like... right there hurts a bit,” He pointed towards his lower abdomen, looking back up towards Y/N with a perked up brow. They nodded in response, stepping to the left a bit and pulling out a paper towel.

“Okay, since I don’t have any ice on me right now, I’m just gonna tape a cold towel to it.” Y/N snickered, going over to the sink next to him and pouring some cold water onto the towel. Gerard laughed along with Y/N, nodding slowly.

“Alright, then.” He hummed. “Where did you learn all this stuff?” Gerard asked, watching as Y/N got those little tapes out from the medkit.

“I used to get beaten up a lot,” They replied, tilting their head to the right. “My mom’s a nurse, so whenever I got my shit rocked, she taught me how to deal with it.” Y/N explained, waving their hand in a circle as they walked back over to Gerard, being careful not to have the cold water drip onto their clothes.

“Oh.” Gerard muttered. “I’m sorry that happened, man. You didn’t deserve it.” He tried his best to console them, making Y/N giggle softly.

“Don’t worry about it man,” They smiled. “The past is the past, y’know?”

Gerard nodded, folding one of his legs over the other. He liked how carefree Y/N seemed. Of course, that wasn’t genuine whatsoever, but Y/N learned that if they fake it enough, it’ll become reality.

Stepping back in front of Gerard, Y/N bit down on their lip as they pointed at the brim of his shirt. “Can I - Uh, You know-” They stumbled over their words, a bit nervous. Gerard smiled in response.

“Yeah, go ahead.” He nodded, placing both of his hands on the sides of the sink to stabilize himself. Y/N let out a short breath, biting the inside of their cheek.

They brought a shaky hand up to the brim of his shirt, lifting it up a bit to see the spot he was talking about earlier. There Y/N saw a giant blotch of purple and red across his pale white skin, their eyes going wide.

“Holy shit,” They uttered, looking at it for a few extra seconds in awe. “How hard did that guy hit you?” They asked. Gerard shrugged once again, looking down at Y/N.

“I mean, he threw me against the locker pretty hard. That’s probably where that’s from.” He said, seeming a lot more nonchalant about it then someone should. The bruise covered most of the left side of his body, and it looked pretty nasty.

“Oh my god, dude.” Y/N blurted. “That’s insane. When you get home, you need to ice it. Like, it’s huge.” They sighed, grabbing onto the freezing paper towel once again. Gerard nodded, noting that advice in his head.

“This is gonna be really cold.” They warned. “So be ready.”

“Bring it on.” Gerard grinned, doing his best to prepare himself. Y/N liked his confidence, placing the towel onto the large bruise.

“Ah shit!” Gerard tensed up, clenching onto the sides of the sink. “You weren’t lying about that, god.” He winced, looking up towards the ceiling. Y/N giggled, grabbing onto the tape.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” They huffed. They snipped off a bit of the tape and attached it to the paper towel and his body, thankfully having it stick without needing more. Y/N gently placed his shirt back, being careful not to hurt him in any way.

“Alright, now let's go get lunch.” Y/N cheered, making Gerard hesitantly lower his head back down to meet their eyes.

“Oh, you’re already done?” He asked, furrowing his brows. Y/N nodded, grabbing onto their medkit and shoving it back into their bag. “Huh.” Gerard huffed, watching as they slung their bag over their shoulder.

“Yeah, now come on. I’m hungry.” They tilted their head towards the exit, prompting Gerard to hop off of the sink he was sitting on, following Y/N out of the bathroom.

“Funny thing, I was planning on asking you if you wanted to have lunch with me.” Gerard nudged their arm with a slight smile, making Y/N furrow their brows.

“Really?” Y/N asked, a bit surprised.

“Yeah, I mean, it’d be cool to have another person to talk to besides the asses at my table,” He rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

“Oh, who do you sit by?” They asked, narrowing their eyes.

“My best friends.” He laughed, making Y/N scoff softly.

“Why do you consider your friends asses?” They asked, a bit confused. Gerard shrugged, blowing his hair out of his face.

“They’re annoying sometimes, but it’s all jokes. Don’t worry about it.” He nodded. Y/N nodded, trailing their eyes over his face once more. But then it had hit them.

“Awe, shit!” They whined. “I didn’t- I forgot about the shit on your face, I’m so sorry man.” They pouted, clenching up their jaw. Gerard shook his head in response, a light smile forming on his face once again.

“Don’t worry about that, dude.” He chimed. “I’ll just fix it when I get home. It’s all good.”

“Anyways,” He uttered. “My friends would definitely like you. They do take a bit to get used to, just so you know.” He cautioned, making a small laugh pipe up from Y/N.

“Ah,” They nodded. “I’m sure I’ll like them, too.”

Chapter Text

“GERARD!” A short boy yelled from across the cafeteria, cupping his hands around his mouth to apify his voice. “YOU FINALLY GOT A DATE, HUH?!”

Gerard’s face went red as he flicked Y/N’s hand off of his wrist, hiding his face by turning it to the left, making sure that Y/N couldn’t see him. Y/N simply giggled and continued walking towards the table, looking over their shoulder to see him just standing there, pretending like he didn’t know any of them.

Stepping closer to the table, the short kid was now easily visible. He had a mix of bright blonde hair and a dark black, wearing a ripped pair of jeans and a black zip up hoodie. He looked like he would get along with Y/N pretty well, considering they dress alike. Sitting next to the short boy were two others, much taller than Y/N, one with scrawny arms and skinny glasses on the bridge of his nose, the other with dark curly hair and a strong figure. It was a little overwhelming to look at them, but Y/N still wanted to introduce themselves regardless.

But before they could even try, the short boy grinned evilly. “So,” He tilted his head to the side, staring at Y/N with an extreme intensity. “Are you Gerard’s thing now?” He asked, seeming genuinely curious, but still with those dangerous undertones. The skinny one scoffed and elbowed him in the ribs, clearly not liking what the short kid had asked.

“Frank!” He hissed. “You can’t say shit like that to someone you just met, jackass.” The boy pushed his glasses up his nose, turning over to Y/N for a more proper introduction.

“I’m sorry about that,” The teen uttered, flashing the so-called ‘Frank’ a side glare. “I’m Mikey. Gerard’s brother. Nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand out towards Y/N, seeming a lot more calm than the other was. Y/N reached their hand out and shook it, giving him a slight smile before shoving both hands back into their pockets.

“You too, man.” They nodded. “Now,” Y/N turned their head towards the short boy, a slight smile forming on their face. They took in a deep breath, but before they could speak once more, they were suddenly cut off by a familiar hand on their shoulder.

“Nuh uh.” Gerard shook his head. “Don’t engage, he just gets worse.” He stated with a sigh, leaning on Y/N a little bit.

“Oh come on,” The short boy whined. “You ruin all the fun. I bet they were just gonna ask me something cool.” Gerard gave him a cold stare, sighing deeply.

“Anyways,” He uttered. “Let me introduce you.” He offered, looking back towards the small clump of boys sitting at the table. “That’s Ray, super nice guy,” He pointed towards the curly haired boy, earning a warm smile directed towards Y/N. “That’s my brother, Mikey,” He pointed towards the skinny boy, earning another wave. “And… That’s Frank. He’s the one who takes a while to get used to.”

“Yup!” Frank smiled, pride filling his voice. “I can’t wait to hang out with you.” He grinned, the same evil expression from earlier. Gerard sighed, pursing his lips up.

“And guys, this is Y/N. Play nice, they helped me out a lot today.” He tilted his head towards Y/N before pulling them to the other side of the table, sitting opposite from the three that were just introduced.

Y/N, the second they sat down, immediately started scarfing down food. They usually don’t have anything besides smoke and coffee enter their body, so it was nice to eat once and a while. Even if it tasted terrible.

“So,” Mikey started. “How did you two meet?” He asked, perking up a brow. Y/N raised their head back up, their mouth still full.

“We were at the bus stop and his lighter stopped working. I gave him mine and then boom, we’re best friends.” They laughed, pushing their hair out of their face. Gerard shrugged in response, nodding.

“Oh,” Mikey blurted. “That’s cool.” He nodded.

“You know that fucking Trenton guy?” Gerard asked, making the other three nod. “I kicked his ass today, they helped me out with a lot of the bruises.” He grinned, nudging Y/N’s shoulder lightly. They nodded in response, continuing to eat.

“Huh.” Frank muttered, a bit wide eyed. “I guess you will be useful.” He snickered, only half joking. Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Can you shut your mouth, dude?” He growled. “Be nice to someone for once.” Y/N could tell Gerard was a bit frustrated, so as they do, they tried to make themself useful.

“It’s alright, I know it’s harmless.” They patted his back a bit, trying to calm him down. “Don’t worry about it, I think it’s funny.” They smiled. Gerard leaned his head back a bit, letting out a sigh of defeat. Even though he was putting on this mean persona, Frank smiled when he saw Y/N stick up for him. About a minute ago he was purposefully trying to drive them away, but his views seemed to change pretty quickly.

“Alright,” Gerard uttered. “But Y/N is the only exception, okay Frank?” He stared down Frank, only to earn a simple nod in response. It was pretty tense, so Ray decided to speak up, trying to make a name for himself.

“What music do you like?” Asked Ray, poking the food on his paper tray with the plastic forks provided. Y/N pursed their lips a bit, wiping their nose.

“Eh, probably hard rock, post hardcore punk, that stuff.” They pondered, waving their hands in a circle. Frank suddenly perked up, pointing his flimsy knife in Y/N’s direction.

“Okay, I like you.” He stated matter-of-factly, a slight smile forming at the side of his mouth. Gerard raised a brow, leaning his chin on a clenched fist.

“You changed quickly.” He laughed, biting the inside of his cheek. Frank rolled his eyes, a heavy breath following after.

“Well they proved themself to be worthy of my liking, so I have a right to change my view on them.” He folded his arms over his chest, sticking his nose up into the air. Y/N giggled at the show he was putting on, continuing to shove the sandwich down their throat.

“I’m gonna fit in perfectly with you guys.” They hummed, staring down at their lap. Gerard smiled at the comment, rolling his shoulders a bit before taking a bite out of his apple.

“Hell yeah, you will.” He chimed. “But anyways, What movie are we watching tonight?” He asked the three boys, blowing a strand of black hair out of his face. The three went silent as they brainstormed.

“Saw is a good movie.” Y/N hummed, not really expecting Gerard to hear them. But he did, and it seemed to peak his interest.

“Holy shit, yeah!” He shot up, slamming his fist down onto the table with a wide grin spread across his face. “I’ve been meaning to see that, god, you’re a genius, Y/N!” He cheered, giving them a playful nudge on the shoulder. Y/N felt a smile grow on their face. They weren’t used to getting compliments that often, but when they did, they took them to heart.

“I know I am.” They chimed, chuckling softly after. The other three seemed to agree with Y/N’s movie choice, deciding that they would all watch Saw after school. Sure, Y/N felt a little left out, but were they going to vocalize it? Absolutely not. They had only met these kids like what, 10 minutes ago? Asking to hang out at one of their houses would be just plain weird. To them, at least.

The five continued to banter, Y/N feeling like they finally fit in for once. Their whole life being a misfit, the outcast, it felt amazing when they were finally accepted. Like their eyes had been opened. It was a feeling they wanted to hold onto for as long as possible.

But just as they were finally getting to the good part, the bell rung.

Chapter Text

Flick, flick.

Walking down the street, music blared into their ears as they tried their best to navigate back to their house. The sky was cloudy, their cheeks burned, the only form of heat they had was the lighter held in front of their face.

Their mind went blank as they took in a big puff of smoke, holding that in their mouth for a brief few seconds. They thought back to 7th hour, a slight smile forming on their face. It was an amazing coincidence how Y/N managed to get into the same class as all four guys they made friends with earlier today, but I guess it’s just luck.

It was a pretty good day. Well, compared to what they were expecting, it was like heaven. They thought they were going to be bullied relentlessly the moment they stepped into the building, but they ended up with actual friends. Real ones. It felt good.

Their heads felt light as they roamed the quiet streets. They were so used to the sounds of sirens and car horns, they never really noticed how quiet things could actually be. You could hear birds. You could hear people talking. It was so foreign to them. But hey, maybe moving wasn’t that bad.

But while strolling the streets, they heard a familiar sound. It was the sound of a car horn, which grabbed their attention almost immediately. Pulling one ear out from their headphones, they turned their head over their shoulder, only to be met with the bright smile of the boys they met earlier.

“Y/N!” Frank called out, leaning up against the edge of the pick up truck he was sitting in, along with Gerard and Ray. Both Frank and Gerard held a cigarette between their fingertips, showing that almost all of them had a mutual addition to them. “I didn’t know you smoked!”

Y/N let out a light huff of a laugh as the truck slowly slowed to a stop, showing that they were planning on talking to them. It would take a bit to get their brain back into normal mode, because they have a tendency to dissociate when they listen to music. But oh well.

“Why do you think I own a lighter?” They replied, giggling under their breath. Frank smiled in response, rolling his eyes.

“I dunno man,” He sighed. “What are you doing tonight?” He questioned, folding his arms over his chest. It was a weird question for him to ask, especially since Y/N had never been asked that before.

Y/N stopped for a bit, taking another huff of their cigarette. “Well, probably just playing video games. If not that, probably just sit in the shower and think about how much I hate myself.” They joked, trailing their tongue over their teeth. Frank narrowed his eyes, nodding slowly.

“Huh.” He huffed, laying his head on the side of the trunk. “Well, Gee was-” Before he could finish his sentence, Gerard had nudged him harshly in the ribs, a slight glare set on his face as Frank winced.

“Sorry, we were wondering if you wanted to watch a movie with us at Gee’s place.” He emphasized the ‘we,’ making it clear to Y/N that it was the replacement for Gerard’s nickname. Y/N’s body tensed up a bit, not exactly knowing how to react. Yes, they were absolutely thrilled, but they didn’t want to over do it. Then they would think that they're a freak, and that was the last thing that they needed.

“Oh!” They muttered, blowing a strand of hair out of their face. “Yeah, man! Uh, totally.” They nodded, a steady smile on their face. The other three boys sitting in the trunk all shared a similar expression of excitement, Gerard pumping his fist in the air with a sense of pride. It made Y/N chuckle a little bit.

“What uh,” They paused, clearing their throat. “What time should I come over?” They asked, shoving their spare hand into their pocket. Ray leaned forward a bit, pushing his curly hair out of his face.

“I mean, we’re heading over there right now.” He added, a slight smile pulling at the side of his face. Y/N’s eyes widened a bit as they saw the other two boys nod, trying to think of something to say. But before they even needed to, Gerard reached his arm out over the side of the truck.

“Just hop in with us.” He laughed. “It’ll be faster than walking, I promise.” his hands were veiny and his nails had chipped black nail polish, all sticking out towards them. They paused for a second, squinting their eyes.

“You guys aren’t trying to kidnap me, are you?” They laughed, furrowing both of their brows. The boys all seemed to laugh along with Y/N, shaking their heads all in unison.

“Of course not. You can obviously trust us, random high schoolers you met like 4 hours ago.” Frank snickered. Gerard shook his head once again, a smile spread across his face as he looked back to Y/N.

“But seriously, it’ll be great. My parents are out of town for once so we have free reign to do whatever the hell we want.” he added, definitely an enticing offer to Y/N. It wasn’t much later before they hopped off of the sidewalk and ran across the tar road.

They grabbed onto Gerard’s hand, using him to hoist themself up. They placed their foot on the rim of the wheel, using all of their strength to pull themself up. After about 3 seconds, they had hopped over the ledge, eventually landed face first in the bed of the truck. They made a little grunt as Frank bursted out in laughter, Ray stifling his, and Gerard frantically checking if Y/N was okay.

“I’m fine dude-” They wheezed out, laughing their ass off at their own stupidity. It set Gerard’s nerves at ease for the moment, making him sigh softly.

“Alright.” He uttered. He still had that slight smile on his face as he turned to the window on the back of the truck, raising his voice so he could be heard.

“STEP ON IT, MIKEY!” He barked.

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the kingdom.” Gerard smiled, pushing the front door open with his back, revealing the inside of the house. Y/N’s eyes widened a bit as they took a hesitant step into the home, watching as the other three walked in so loosely. With their lips parted, they turned over to Gerard.

“You have a nice place, man.” They smiled, pulling on the string of their hoodie. Gerard raised a brow, folding both arms over his chest. He had some sort of an amused smile on his face, looking Y/N up and down for a brief moment.

“You think so?” He chuckled, closing the door behind him. Y/N nodded, following Gerard’s lead as he led the both of them to the living room down the hall.

Once the two reached the large room, they had noticed that everyone had already taken their spots. The four friends had done this so often, to the point they basically had assigned seats. Ray, Mikey and Gerard all had their own individual bean bags, and Frank took up the whole couch. Y/N didn’t have a place to sit, really.

“Shit.” Gerard seethed through his teeth, slapping his forehead with his brows furrowed. “I’m sorry dude, I completely forgot.” He blurted. Y/N didn’t need any clarification, almost immediately knowing what he was referring to.

“I can sit on the floor.” They offered, pointing to a small patch of carpet. Gerard shook his head, pursing his lips.

“No, no, no.” Gerard denied. “You can just take my spot.” He sighed, pointing to the red bean bag sitting almost in the center of the room. Y/N laughed softly, walking over to the patch of carpet.

“It’s fine, dude. Don’t worry about it.” They kneeled down onto the floor, sitting down with their knees tucked into their chest. Gerard let out an audible sigh of defeat, slowly stepping over to his bean bag and dropping down onto it. The bean bag was almost right next to the place Y/N was sitting, so that meant the two were fairly close together.

“What are we watching again?” Asked Frank from behind, prompting all four of them to turn their heads collectively. Gerard took a few seconds, but after a bit of pondering, it finally came back to his mind.

“Saw!” He grinned, feeling proud of the fact that he remembered. “We’re watching Saw.” He stated, much more calmly this time. A soft smile formed on Y/N’s face as they turned their head back to face the TV, laying their head on top of their knees. The TV was currently black, Ray holding onto the remote.

The group all got themselves comfortable, Y/N being exempt from that considering you can’t get that comfortable on the floor, and soon enough, someone had clicked on the movie. They had no idea how they had got it on the TV considering they didn’t have any DVD’s or something of the sort, but who are they to complain. At least the movie is playing.

Y/N had always been fascinated with things that have to do with death. They were familiar with blood and gore from a young age considering their father was a surgeon, and ever since they were little, they had always loved finding bones of dead animals in the forest, or watching bloody movies.

Ever since their father had left, though, their obsession deepened to the core. They were trying to grasp onto the only thing they had left of their father, and that was an unhealthy obsession with all things related to death. They were fantasized with corpses, blood, bones, they even kept some of the bones from the road. Watching horror movies was one of their favorite hobbies.

Of course, nothing that interesting was happening. The room was silent as all five of them watched the movie patiently, but Y/N had already seen this movie about 4 times in theaters. They weren’t as engulfed in the story as the rest of them, but the others were clearly having a fun time, and they didn’t really want to ruin it. So they just sat there with a small smile spread across their face.

Just about to get to the climax, something terrible had happened. All of the lights in the house had gone off, along with the TV. Which meant the power had gone out. Throwing his head back, Gerard let out a long groan.

“You gotta be kidding me!” He rubbed his temples with his index fingers, his body tense. “Ugh! It was just getting good!” He whined. All four of them began to vocalize their annoyance with the power-outage, but Y/N found themself getting up off the floor.

They stepped towards the window, pulling back the curtains, only to be met with the sight of flashing lightning and beads of water pounding up against the window. It was a bit confusing to Y/N on why it was raining, they’d thought it would snow more, but regardless, it meant that a storm was causing the electricity to go out.

“It’s storming,” The told the four, pushing the curtain back over the window to cover it, walking back to their spot. “So our best bet is to just wait it out.” They sighed, sitting back down onto the carpet. Gerard’s lips curved into a frown, clearly upset that he wasn’t able to finish the movie.

“God damn it.” He pouted. “What are we supposed to do now?” He asked, turning his head over to Y/N, seeking advice. Y/N had absolutely no idea what to say, considering they were completely un-experienced on hanging out with people, so they just prayed to god that they could come up with something interesting.

“Uh,” They gulped, trying to come up with something on the spot. They fiddled with their fingers, feeling the eyes of the four boys on the back of their neck.

“We could play truth or dare?” They offered, shrugging. Gerard took a short breath in before a slight smirk spread across his face, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

“Sounds Great.” He hummed.

Chapter Text

Y/N bit down on their lip, a sudden nervousness taking over their body.

Holy shit, they thought. They had no idea what was going to happen. Sure, a simple game of truth or dare can’t be that bad, but keep in mind that Y/N had never played this before. The only thing they knew about it is that things can get intense really quickly, due to the fact that their only exposure to this game was in movies. Of course they were nervous. And there’s another factor, where if they do something dumb or lame, then the boys wouldn’t want to hang out with them anymore. It was like they dug their own grave.

Fidgeting with their hands, they looked around the group, taking in a light breath as Gerard spoke up.

“Alright,” He voiced, stretching his arm over his head. “Who’s going first?” He asked, raising one of his brows. Not even hesitating, Frank perked up, seeming eager to go first. An evil grin spread across his face as his arm shot up into the air, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Ooh! Ooh! I will!” Frank cheered. Gerard gave him a small glance before shrugging, placing both of his hands in his lap.

“Go ahead.” He motioned. Frank, almost instantly, diverted his gaze towards Y/N, prompting their heart rate to skyrocket. They knew this was going to be bad, it got their adrenaline pumping.

“Y/N.” Frank declared. “Truth or dare?” He asked, leaning his head forward. Y/N tensed up at the question, feeling their mouth become dry. That was always a common occurrence whenever they got scared or anxious, their mouth would dry out.

Not wanting to be lame on the first question, they cleared their throat, pushing a loose strand of hair out of their face. “Dare.” They grinned, hiding the shaky voice with a confident smile. Frank raised one of his brows, seeming a bit impressed. It gave Y/N a form of relief.

“Hmmm… Okay,” He hummed, leaning his head back. He went silent for a few minutes, thinking about a dare, which gave the rest of the group an opportunity to chat. Gerard leaned into Y/N’s ear a bit, still keeping his gaze on the floor.

“You seem nervous,” He whispered. “Are you alright?”

Y/N tilted their head to the left a bit, staring into his eyes. “It’s nothing, I just haven’t played this before.” They replied, also keeping their voice at a whisper. Gerard raised a brow in response.

“Seriously?” He asked, slightly laughing. “I thought everyone played this with their friends.” He pondered, biting the inside of his cheek. Y/N giggled softly, toying with the inside of their sleeve.

“I’ve never had any friends before, genius.” They laughed, jokingly punching him in the shoulder. Gerard narrowed his eyes in response, finally meeting Y/N’s gaze.

“You-” He stuttered, shaking his head. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” They replied, crackling both of their knuckles simultaneously. “You were like the first person who ever wanted to be my friend. Congrats, you’re special.” They laughed, taking another glance towards Frank, who was contemplating with Ray and Mikey at the moment, but then turned back to Gerard.

“No fucking way.” Gerard deadpanned, folding both of his arms over his chest. “That’s impossible. You’re literally one of the coolest people i’ve ever met, that’s fucking insane.” He rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“No, you’d be surprised.” Y/N giggled. “If anything, people hated me more. You would not believe how many people would complain if I was their assigned partner in a project or something.” They found it funny, more than anything, on how a group of people could hate one harmless person so much. It was even weirder, because the only thing Y/N really did is have that cloudy expression.

“That’s bullshit.” Gerard muttered under his breath. “You didn’t deserve that. I mean-” Gerard, almost about to go on a rant, was cut off by Frank, finally having come up with the dare he would give to Y/N.

“Okay, I got one!” He shouted abruptly, catching both Gerard and Y/N off guard. The two darted their heads back over to the rest of the group, patiently waiting for Frank to reveal the dare he had come up with.

“For two whole minutes, Y/N has to stand out in the driveway. But not under the roof, like directly in the rain.” He explained. Y/N’s face contorted with disgust, jolting their head back.

“What?” They asked, seeming repulsed by the question. “This is literally my only pair of clothes.” They pouted, pointing towards the outfit they were wearing currently. Frank shrugged.

“So?” He asked. “That’s the whole point.” He laughed. Y/N, not wanting to argue any further, simply threw in the towel and gave in, standing up from their spot with a small grunt.

“Fine.” They sighed. “But only if someone comes out there with me. It’ll be boring if I just have to sit in the driveway for two whole minutes with absolutely nothing to do.” They demanded, looking around the group with a raised eyebrow. Taking in a deep breath, Gerard let out a small huff.

“I’ll come with.” He volunteered. “I am not going in the rain though.” He declared. Y/N nodded, hearing small cheers come back from the other three.

“Have funn!” Frank called out. Mikey whistled as the two walked away from the circle, Ray clapping his hands together loudly.

“Thank god my mom’s on a business trip.” Y/N giggled as Gerard led them back towards the front door. “She would absolutely kick my ass if she knew what I was doing.” They added. Gerard glanced back at them, a slight smile forming on his face.

“It feels nice to be a rebel sometimes though, doesn’t it?” He hummed. “You’re gonna be doing this type a shit a lot more if you’re gonna hang out with us on a regular basis.” He chuckled, opening the front door slowly.

“I’m planning on it.” Y/N replied, a grin spread across their face. The two of them walked out of the front door together, hiding under the roof that was above the doormat.

“Well go on,” Gerard nudged them a bit, gesturing to the driveway that was currently being pelted with rain.

“But…” Y/N huffed. “It’s gonna be so cold…” They whined, a slight pout forming at their lip. Gerard rolled his eyes playfully, placing a hand on his hip.

“Well, maybe you should’ve thought of that before agreeing to the dare.” He breathed. Y/N scoffed in response, placing a hand on their chest in an offended manner.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” They started, backing up slightly. “You know what? Just for that-” Before they finished their sentence, their actions spoke for themself. With an evil grin spreading across their face, they stepped behind Gerard.

Placing both of their hands on his back, they had pushed him forward, directly into the rain. He let out a loud shriek of terror the second the rain had hit his skin, his shoulders lifting up to his chin as all of his muscles tensed.

“YOU ASSHOLE!” He screamed, a slight smile spreading across his face as he booked it back over to where Y/N was standing, who was currently wide-eyed, laughing their ass off. “YOU’RE GONNA FUCKING PAY FOR THAT!”

Gerard had grabbed onto their wrist, pulling them into the rain as well. A chill went down Y/N’s spine the second they were out in the open, the feeling of sheer cold taking over their entire body. With a scoff, they pounded a fist down onto Gerard’s chest, tilting their jaw to the left.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” They shouted, a light laugh hiding under their yell. Gerard rolled his eyes, pushing his now soaked hair out of his face.

“You had it coming!” He barked. Y/N giggled in response, despite feeling extremely cold, they felt a warmth in their chest.

It was nice knowing that they had a friend to lean on now, especially when you're at potential of getting hypothermia.