Chapter Text
Another foggy Monday morning. The kind of morning where you knew you were dreading the entire day stretched out in front of you, and you had no clue why, you just got that vibe. The air outside was crisp and cold, like the first bite of a frozen apple, not uncommon for Novembers, usually. Although people don’t tend to freeze apples. However, there was no other way to describe it. This month was always depressing—Halloween was just over, and Christmas was next month; there was literally nothing exciting to look forward to, unless, of course, you have a birthday in November. Not the case for Gerard, though, further validating his feelings on this month for himself.
He pulled his sleeves over his hands in an attempt to warm up, and tugged his hood over the greasy mop on his head, shielding himself from whatever dangers may roam the frosty halls of Belleville High. In other words, those stupid jocks with their flashy letter jackets and huge egos.
Gerard managed to locate his locker through the swarm of kids, and he scuttled over to it, yanking it open. It had been bent in when some bully had shoved him against it last year, and it was always a bit of an effort to open it now. He started to cram some books in his bag for the first lesson, grumbling to himself as a group of boisterous boys nearby pushed each other around, accidentally slamming the door in on Gerard. How did everyone have so much energy? It was 8AM on a Monday, for fuck’s sake, he was barely alive after almost a whole pot of coffee!
Gerard pushed the door back open with a huff, still silently cursing the world out. As he continued getting stuff out of his locker, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed him from behind, gripping his shoulders, accompanied by a loud “RAH!!!” booming in his ear. Gerard let out a high-pitched scream, making the hallway fall into brief silence. Once everyone realized it was him, they all glared at him, a few muttered insults drifting around before the usual bustle continued. Gerard paid no mind to them, instead whipping around, his hood flying off, to see none other than his best friend, Frank, who was currently in hysterics, wheezing and wiping away tears of mirth.
"Holy shit, dude, you should have seen your face!!!" Frank exclaimed, "and I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone scream like that, you sound like a girl!"
Gerard gasped in irritation, composing himself and rolling his eyes, "Frank, you dick! I actually hate you." he said, punching Frank’s shoulder.
Frank laughed and flinched before reciprocating the punch. "Nah, you love me."
Frank started laughing uncontrollably again, the memory of Gerard jumping and screaming now engraved in his mind. He began to wheeze again, but before they knew it, Frank’s smile faltered and he brought up his arm, coughing hard into the crook of his elbow. It sounded painful.
"Oh shit, are you okay?!" Gerard’s eyes widened as he rushed to pat the other’s back.
Frank’s head resurfaced from his elbow, clearing his throat.
"I’m fine, I’m fine… Christ. Seriously, it’s okay, just that stupid chest infection I had last week, no big deal!"
Frank was always sick. His immune system was frightfully awful, so it was nothing new. Gerard was still unconvinced, however, but resorted to nodding wordlessly, concern still etched into his face as he banged his locker shut. Frank rolled his eyes and (somehow) slung his arm around the taller boy’s shoulders as they started to walk, then he just settled for wrapping his arm around his middle instead. Frank wasn’t the tallest guy in the world.
"Gee, c’mon, don’t be such a pansy! I’m fine, see? I’ve survived so much worse, you idiot."
It was true. Frank had been to the hospital countless times because of how much he was sick. Gerard thought he was incredibly brave, but Frank didn’t give a rat’s ass. Well, he did when he was ACTUALLY sick, always complaining and whining, but he wasn’t very good at taking care of himself when he had a minor cold or something, insisting he was fine, only for the cold to develop into something worse.
Like, last week, Frank had a cold (unsurprisingly), but he refused to leave Gerard’s side in PE, so he battled through the biting cold, endless laps around the track, and stinging comments from the jocks. This, of course, resulted in a horrid chest infection and the rest of the week off school. But Frank was satisfied that Gerard wasn’t alone in PE, left to be pushed around by bullies.
That’s Frank Iero for you. Stupid, but selfless.
The two friends continued walking down the packed halls, clinging to each other (well, more Gerard clinging to Frank, despite being taller) so that they didn’t get separated in the sea of people.
Frank noticed Gerard was still shooting him worried glances and scoffed, hastily changing the subject.
"So, what’ve you got first? I have a math test with that old bag, Ms. Stevens, I just know I’m fucked, I barely studied!"
Gerard giggled. "You dumbass. Anyway, I have biology. Thank God Ray’s in that class... I’m pretty sure we’re dissecting a heart or something, in pairs. Probably a sheep heart."
Frank frowned and muttered something along the lines of "murder". Gerard snorted and nudged him with his shoulder.
"Typical vegetarian." Gerard remarked, earning a glare from the smaller boy.
"Well it is murder! What did that poor sheep do to deserve death? And for what, so a bunch of stupid, sweaty teens could rip its heart to pieces?!" Frank exclaimed defensively.
Gerard just rolled his eyes and grinned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Yeah, I guess you have a point."
Frank huffed, but he smiled a little, leaning into Gerard’s touch. They continued down the hall, managing to squeeze past the commotion and slink into a less busy corridor, down where the math classrooms were.
They finally approached Frank’s classroom. Gerard spoke up.
"Good luck with your test, loser." He smiled. Frank just snorted in response.
"Don’t waste your breath, I’m definitely failing. But… thanks, dude."
Gerard wrapped his arms around Frank and hugged him tight. The other smiled and hugged him back, giggling a little. They eventually had to pull apart though, as Ms. Stevens yelled at them through the door, and Frank groaned before setting off into his classroom (very reluctantly).
"Love you, Frankie!"
Frank turned back around upon hearing his name again and smiled, waving and calling back.
"Love you too, Gee."
Then Frank finally disappeared through the door of the classroom, leaving Gerard alone, smiling to himself.
He really did love his best friend.