Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mikey Way, known for bringing up the worst things at the worst times, decides to do what he does best. 

“Dude, we’ve gotta get jobs.”

Gerard looks up from the floor suddenly, startled, where he is straddling the legs of a stranger, trying to get them to not convulse so hard he gets whacked in the face. 

“Seriously? Right now?” Gerard groans when he fully registers the person interrupting him. Of course it's Mikey. “I’m busy.”

Mikey holds up a stack of paper in his hands. “Bills are high. And I’m stressed. Also not my fault you decided dinner was gonna be a hookup-turned last-minute meal.”

There’s a disgusting slurping noise, and Gerard lets the head of the now still body drop. He stands up, shuddering (he will never get used to this), and goes towards the sink to wash up. “One: he wasn’t a hookup—Well, I disguised it as a hookup. He was a piece of shit loser at the bar harassing the women so badly I took matters into my own hands. Two: I was starving. Can’t help it. Three: I had no idea you’d be here.”

Mikey goes and leans against the counter, facing his brother. “All good,” he looks down at the bills in his hands. “But seriously, our one-off seasonal bullshit gigs aren’t getting us anywhere. And I hate asking Mom and Dad for money. We look like losers.”

”You know why they give us money Mikey,” Gerard shrugs, grabbing paper towels and cleaner in a swift movement before making his way to the bloody ground. Thank god for tile floors. “It’s not really like we can go work normal jobs.”

”I know, I know,” Mikey sighs. He bites the inside of his cheek momentarily, thinking about what to say. Gerard is right. They really can’t go out and work like normal people. They aren’t normal, obviously. Two vampire-brother-roomates stuck living the nocturnal life 80% of the time (they can go out in the sunlight, just as long as they cover up head-to-toe in clothing not suitable for the humid summers Belleville sometimes bestows on them) with parents so nervous for their wellbeing it’s like being thirteen again and wanting to go to a sleepover. They just can’t win it seems.

A thought then occurs, and Mikey pipes up just as Gerard finishes the poor wrapping job done on the dead guy on their kitchen floor. “G,” he says. “Do you think the twenty-four hour convenience store on Howard and Market is hiring? I’m sure no one wants to work an overnight shift. We’d be perfect for it.”

Gerard stands up again and cracks his back. Between the moment of silence amongst the two of them, the cracks felt like they echoed. Mikey cringes at the sound. “I’m not disagreeing with you,” he starts. “We do need jobs. But do you think they’d hire both of us?”

”Won’t know if we don’t check it out,” Mikey smiles.

And that’s how they found themselves, after an annoying battle trying to get the body in the car to dump (with some more spilled blood of course) and a quick shower (Gerard’s a messy eater), in front of Pearson’s 24 Hour Market. The old light from the store sign blinks at them periodically, and they watch an old woman light a cigarette as she exits the store. 

“I doubt we will get any kind of nighttime interview,” Gerard says through the smoke seeping out of his mouth. They’re both looking straight ahead at the sign still. He coughs a little and passes the cigarette to Mikey.

”We can manage a little sunlight,” Mikey takes one more inhale before stomping it out on the ground. “Cmon, let’s go.”

They cross the street and head into the store. The Welcome mat invites them in accordingly. The lights are bright and headache-inducing, and some radio station crackles softly through the speakers. Mikey takes off to the back of the store, wanting to explore, while Gerard just heads toward the front. No one is behind the counter, and it makes Gerard uncomfortable. He swallows loudly, deciding to focus on the various cigarette brands behind the counter to distract himself from the silence. 

“Can I help you?” 

Gerard jolts slightly and turns to the source of the noise.

”Looking for cigarettes? Listen, I hate to be basic but the Camels hit the spot. Trust me.”

”Oh,” is all Gerard can get out at first. He quickly glances for a name tag, spotting the name Joey written poorly on a sticker. “Thanks, Joey. I’ll just get the Camels then.”

This makes Joey laugh, although Gerard can't exactly infer what was funny about the conversation thus far. “Sure thing man,” Joey says, and he turns around to grab the cigarettes from the shelf. “Fuck, they’re up too high.”

In the middle of the mart, where Mikey has now found himself looking at rows of snacks, he snags a small packet of Oreos. A pointless purchase, but he enjoys them, even if they don’t give him any nutritional value. It’s not like they would if he was human anyway. 

At the other end of the aisle, someone turns into it with a shopping cart full of snacks. This makes Mikey laugh. “Gerard, why the fuck are you buying—You’re not Gerard.”

His eyes set on a head of curly brown hair and then soft brown eyes. “Indeed I am not,” the guy says. “My name is Ray.”

Mikey chuckles. “I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here, so I just assumed it was my brother. Sorry,” he brings a hand to the back of his neck and rubs for a second. He never talks this much in public, let alone to a stranger he just met five seconds ago, and it’s all hitting him like a truck. He needs to flee.

”I work here, hence the snacks in the cart,” Ray gestures, and then begins to stock the almost empty row of Goldfish. 

Mikey just nods. He wants to keep talking to him for some reason, but he has nothing else to say. 

Before he can get another word out, the loudspeakers beep and a voice says, “Ray Toro to the front please, Ray Toro to the front.”

Ray sighs loudly and shakes his head, dropping a snack bag into the cart. “He doesn’t need to do all that,” he mumbles to himself as he makes his way to the front. Mikey, done with the snack aisle and assuming the nonsense up front is Gerard’s doing, follows not far behind. 

At the front counter, Gerard is watching the other employee make grabby hands toward the cigarettes on the highest shelf. Ray sighs and makes his way behind the counter. Mikey goes to stand next to his brother.

“You know Frank,” Ray starts. “It’s not that high up.”

“Frank?” Gerard whispers quietly to himself.

”Shut up man,” Frank says. “I am not humiliating myself by jumping for customers.”

”But you’ll make grabby hands though,” Ray says, handing the pack of Camels to Frank, who begrudgingly goes to scan them. “Can I leave now?”

Frank huffs. “Fine,” he shoos his coworker away. As Ray leaves, he meets Mikey’s gaze, and gives him a warm smile. It squashes any kind of panic Mikey felt in the aisle moments ago.

“It’ll be $2.93,” Frank says to Gerard, who hands him a five dollar bill. 

As Frank hands Gerard the change, Mikey pipes up. “Sorry, I gotta ask. You guys hiring by any chance?”

This makes Frank stop in his tracks. “You…want to work here ?”

”Yea, actually. Like, night shifts,” Mikey says bluntly. “We are both looking for easy shifts and this seems perfect.”

”I mean, I can give you applications to fill out and bring in when Brian— er , my boss, comes in on Monday, if that works for you guys,” Frank says, reaching below the counter to grab two pieces of paper. He hands them to Gerard. “As long as you guys aren’t some secret freak serial killers, I’m sure you’ll get the jobs. Brian wants more people on for nights anyway.”

Mikey and Gerard both laugh awkwardly. Frank gives them a look. “Uh, thank you,” Gerard says, holding up the papers and the cigarettes. “For these. Yea.”

”Have a good night,” Mikey says before nudging Gerard out of the store, shooting Frank one last smile before clambering out. 

Walking towards their car, Gerard starts to laugh. “What?” Mikey asks him.

”We totally looked like freak serial killers back there,” Gerard says through laughs. “We’re such dumbasses.”

”As long as they don’t get on our bad sides, I think we might’ve just landed ourselves some jobs,” Mikey smirks. “Who knew it’d be that easy?”

Chapter Text

“You alright?”

Ray is looking down at a patient, a young kid who squirms a little in the chair. The kid nods his head, but his face tells Ray exactly what he needs to know. 

He gently pulls the needle out of the kid’s arm and applies pressure. “You did great, bud,” he says with a gentle smile. He takes a cotton ball and some tape to replace his hand on the wound, then strips his gloves off to throw into the hazard bin. “You know, a lot of kids your age usually have really bad reactions to needles. You were a total champ!”

The kid smiles at this, and smiles even more when Ray hands him a piece of candy. “Only for the bravest,” he says.

”Thank you!” The kid says. His mom smiles and gives Ray a nod as a silent thank you.

”Of course. You’re all set with me,” Ray begins as the kid gets up from his seat.  He turns to the mother. “We should have the results of the bloodwork within the next forty-eight hours, so feel free to call us in a day or so for that.” 

“Wonderful,” the lady says. “Thank you again. And have a good day! Don’t work too hard,” she winks with a sweet smile, and Ray just chuckles. 

As soon as they leave the room, Ray lets out a big sigh. No one can blame him, he’s tired as shit. Good ol’ 9-5 at the phlebotomy lab and then his night shift at the store. He usually doesn’t mind, he willingly chooses to work night shifts on top of a regular job, but some days it just seems to kick him in the ass. Like today. 

He takes the blood sample and heads to the back lab, and hands it off to his coworker Jenny. She’s on the taller side, not as tall as Ray, with a short blonde bob just long enough to throw in the tiniest ponytail. It suits her.

“Didn’t hear any screaming,” she starts. “Must’ve been a good one.”

”Thank god he was,” Ray chuckles. “I can’t take poking anymore kids and babies. And it’s hard to tell them I’m not trying to murder them, even though that’s how they act,” he rubs a hand down his face and blinks hard a couple of times.

”Tired?” Jenny asks. Ray just nods. “I get ‘ya. You’ve got the ‘two shift slam’ face on right now. That was me the other day. Not fun. Just make sure you get some sleep, ‘kay? Can’t afford to lose another phlebotomist around here. We’re already slim pickings as it is.”

”Oh, I know. They had me running tests all over the hospital the other day. I thought I was never gonna leave,” Ray sighs. “But I’m doing alright, it’s just one of those weeks.”

Jenny hums, and Ray takes her lack of response as a sign to leave. They share one last smile before he goes to grab another lab script and make his way to the lobby.

”Frank?” He calls. As he reads the rest of the paper, he notices the name is familiar. Of course it’s—

“Oh of course I get you,” Frank says, smirking at Ray. “I tend to forget you work here.”

”You just couldn’t resist seeing me, huh?” Ray teases. Frank gives him a friendly shove. This makes them both laugh.

“Actually, I’m kind of glad to see you outside of work,” Frank says. “Do you think those guys from the other night are gonna get the job?”

They enter one of the rooms, and Frank takes a seat while Ray preps the needle. ”What guys? Those brothers that came in? When you wanted me to get the cigs? And what job, I didn’t even know they applied.”

”Relax, investigator Toro. That wasn’t even two days ago.. Sometimes I think you have the memory of a goldfish,” Frank deadpans. Ray comes over and puts the tourniquet on Frank's arm. “But yes, those guys. They seemed alright, right?”

Ray thinks for a moment, multitasking the needle prep and taking an alcohol wipe to Frank’s inner elbow. “I didn’t even realize they applied to work at the store. But uh, yea? I think so? Did you have any kind of suspicions?”

”No, not really. We get an eclectic group of people during the night so I usually keep a high alert for… you know,” Frank leans in a little bit. He raises his eyebrows a little, and Ray nods. “I just get paranoid.”

He gets the paranoia Frank feels, and he knows exactly what Frank is talking about. Both of them are familiar with the nocturnal killers who seem to make their way through New Jersey. And everywhere else. Vampires are not new to them. They both have similar feelings towards vampires anyway. They’re cold-blooded killers who are extremely out of touch with the real world and the humans who inhabit it. The thought of them makes Ray mad, but not as mad as it makes Frank.

”The coalition reported another killing down in Cape May last night. We just talked about it at the meeting we had before I came here. Those stupid fuckers didn’t even try to hide the kill. Right on the fuckin’ beach, man. I just,” Frank tries his best to whisper, but his sheer disdain of the topic trumps any attempt to be quiet. 

Ray finishes drawing blood, and eases the needle out just as he did with the last patient. “You should really come to one of these meetings, Ray. Lots of things are happening. Moves are being made. You’ve got experience as a hunter, they could use your help,” Frank watches Ray bandage up his arm.

Ray sighs. “I just work a lot, you know that. These stupid loans aren’t paying for themselves. I kinda wish they held meetings in the evening. ‘Middle of the day shit was a dumb decision on their part.”

Frank chuckles. “True,” he says. He stands up and stretches. “We can talk more later since we’re both at Pearson’s. I—you know I can’t stand to watch these innocent people die, Ray. I just want to do my part in controlling the issue.”

Ray nods, pursing his lips. He agrees with everything Frank is saying. Vampires are no joke. And they’ve done nothing to service the people. Frank and Ray actually met at the VHC, or the Vampire Hunter Coalition. They hit it off instantly, Ray newer to the Belleville area and looking for connections (and maybe some friends). He’s of course known about vampires for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Kearney, only the town over, but Ray was never interested in other places when he was younger, so Belleville was never on his radar until he could start driving. He’s someone who usually kept to himself anyway, content in his own company. But after a near-death experience with a vampire, and after realizing some blockbuster movies might be onto something, Ray found an interest in getting rid of the vampires who loomed around northern Jersey. And he wasn’t bad at it either. Then he discovered the VHC, walked in for a meeting and plopped his ass next to a short guy with facial piercings and leftover makeup, and the two hit it off from there. 

“Me too Frank, me too,” Ray agrees. 

“Listen, I’ll let you get back to being a medical vampire now. Go poke some people. You’re good at this shit. I barely felt that,” Frank chuckles. Ray smiles, and Frank leaves. “See ‘ya soon!” He shouts as he walks away.

Over at the Way apartment, Gerard bites his lip in frustration as he stares at the job application in front of him. 

“This is stupid. I feel stupid,” he pouts.

Mikey sits across from him at the table. “What makes this stupid? It’s a job application with like three questions for a job at a convenience store. It’s not an application to be a brain surgeon.”

”I don’t know, I just feel like I can’t even fill out the employment section? My shit feels outdated…” Gerard drops the pen and leans back in his chair.

”You stopped working five years ago. That’s not a crazy long time G,” Mikey reassures. “I think you’re overthinking this. It’s not that deep.”

”He’s gonna ask us about it.”

”So? I doubt it, but even if he does it’s not like we haven’t bullshitted our way through a conversation with humans before,” Mikey reasons. “People go unemployed for longer and jump right back into jobs. We’ll be fine.”

They share a look and Gerard smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes like it’s supposed to. Gerard snags the pen from the table in a swift motion and leans back in toward the paper, suddenly focusing on it. ”References…is there anyone we can list as a reference? Do Mom and Dad count?” he reads as drags the back of the pen across the words.

Before Mikey can respond, his phone pings with a text. It’s an unfamiliar number.

UNKNOWN: I got your request filled. I will be in the alley between Ollie’s and the bike shop in 5.

If Mikey was normal, he would’ve likely blocked the number and moved on with his life. But he is not normal, and he is in fact the right person to receive the otherwise ominous message that could be mistaken for a drug deal. He texts back immediately.

MICHAEL: see you soon

He sets his phone down and signs his signature at the bottom of the application, already having completed it. “The guy got back to me. Gotta go pick up my shit,” he stands up, going for his sweatjacket. 

Gerard looks up. “That was fast, no?” He says. “Is there enough for me too? I have no desire to go hunting for a rat or another bar creep. I know we’ve been like this for only five years, but I still can’t handle killing someone.”

”I know,” Mikey nods. He feels the same way.

”I know you know. I always feel like I need to say it every time we eat. It just—it feels morally right, I guess. I don’t know,” Gerard mumbles the last bit.

They both aren’t fans of hunting people down to kill. After what they went through, it just doesn’t feel right. And while they were given the curse to be bloodsuckers years ago, it’s not like they actively sought that lifestyle. If anything, it was the opposite. So they’ve tried other ways to get their supply. In a one-off case, like Gerard the other day, a kill feels more justified when said victim is a shitty human being. To them it feels logical. And even then, it’s not ideal. Or really, even that logical. Rodents or wild animals tend to be the medium, or making connections with those who can snag a blood bag or something from the hospital. Those come in handy when they really need the nutrients boost. Animal blood can only give them so much. The vampiric curse is to primarily consume the blood of humans, but to Mikey and Gerard, that’s bullshit. And they’ve been trying to find loopholes since the night they turned.

Mikey finishes getting in his ‘going out while there’s still sun’ clothes. He looks ridiculous, but it also suits him, in a way. Weirdly enough, he’s kind of always dressed like this. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Gerard nods. “Be safe,” the Love you goes unspoken, but it sits in the words Gerard speaks before Mikey leaves. 

As he walks to the alleyway, which is a reasonable distance from his apartment, he feels his skin itch. Like an allergic reaction, almost. He really does yearn for the sunlight. And while he is grateful he can walk out in the sun under the right conditions, it's still not enjoyable. To bask in the sun on the beach as he watches the other folks enjoy themselves in the water, book on his side and beer on his other side,  sunglasses a little blurry from the saltwater remnants…it’s the simplest things in life you tend to miss when you can't have them anymore. Lurking in the night does make you a daydreamer.

When he turns into the alleyway, the only noise he can hear is the echoing of drops hitting damp concrete. These hideaways are never dry. But he knows he’s not alone. He sees the person he exactly needs to see.

”Thanks for waiting,” he says. Although he speaks at a normal volume, it echos enough for the person to hear.

The person turns around. They don’t look very suspicious, quite normal actually, and it almost makes Mikey want to panic. But he doesn’t. He knows he has the upper hand.

“Mikey?” The voice asks, hesitantly. It’s not a voice he is familiar with. As he gets closer, he notices the woman’s features. She’s kind of tall, with blonde hair in the tiniest ponytail he’s ever seen. He likes it.

”Yup,” is all he says with a nod. He’s an awkward guy, of course he’s gonna have awkward interactions.

“I’m not Ryan, clearly. But I do work for him sometimes,” She bends down and grabs the bag beside her. She takes a step closer to him and then opens up the bag propped on a dumpster bin. Inside lay a couple blood bags and some small tubes of blood.

”I know it’s not a lot for two people. I didn’t want to be suspicious with the bag collection, given recent events, so I ended up snagging a few blood draws from the phleb lab since I go back and forth from there to the hospital. All blood on the fresher side,” she explains. 

Mikey nods in appreciation for her efforts. And he isn’t mad about the amount in the slightest. He looks at her. “And you’re sure it won’t raise any eyebrows?”

”Nah,” she starts. “I’m assuming you’re questioning the samples . Blood Work can be tricky. Sometimes samples get clots, we took too long to run a test, or we didn’t draw enough blood, amongst other things. The lab techs won’t bat an eye when I tell them some people gotta come back for redraws. That stuff happens all the time.”

“Huh, interesting,” Mikey chuckles.”Didn’t realize all that shit happens.”

The woman laughs and zips the bag up, handing it over to Mikey, who takes it with an awkward smile.

”Uh, thank you…” he trails off, wanting to say her name. 

She notices this. “Jennifer, but you can just call me Jenny. I’m sure I’ll be making more runs for Ryan so you’ll see me around,” she smiles. “Text him first though. I’m just the runner.”

He nods.”Sure thing. Well, thank you Jenny. I appreciate it.”

They share one last smile before parting ways. The bag isn’t too heavy on Mikey’s shoulder, and his stomach almost grumbles at the idea of having dinner. 

When he turns the corner, head down as he makes contact with the sunlight again, he bumps into a body. The impact sends him back a few steps but not enough to topple him over. When he looks up, he sees familiar soft brown eyes and a head of curly hair.

”Ray?”

”Sorry, I—Oh! You were at Pearson’s the other day, right?” Ray, who stands in front of him, asks. He’s in scrubs with a duffle bag slung across his body. Mikey gives him a look up and down, the moment of silence making it slightly awkward. 

“Uh, yea,” Mikey chuckles out nervously. He needs to flee. Like now. Like how he needed to flee the other night at Pearson’s. He doesn’t understand how he can feel weirdly comforted by someone who is practically a stranger while also wanting to activate his flight mode.

“Frank—short guy who was also there, he told me you and your brother were gonna apply to work there?”

Mikey is trying to keep a poker face. He’s notoriously bad at small talk, and while something is telling him to trust Ray and to let his guard down, he’s fighting it.

”Yea, uh, those hours just work easier for us,” Mikey breathes out. “Night owls, what can you say?”

Mikey wants to die. Again. The world is torturing him and making him say the worst things at the worst times ever. 

Instead of the million terrible reactions Ray could have had to the jokey attempts Mikey was word vomiting, he just chuckled sincerely. And this made Mikey feel weird. Good weird or bad weird, he doesn’t know.

”I get it man,” Ray sighs. “If that’s where your productivity lies, then hell yea. Apply!” He smiles at Mikey again. Weird feeling pangs again. “It could be nice to see some new faces around the store too! Love Frank and all, but he can be a lot. I mean that with love,” he clears his throat awkwardly after Mikey gives him an awkward smile and nods again. “Well, our boss will be in the store tomorrow until seven, if you haven’t dropped off the applications yet. He sits around all day so I’m sure he can get you right in for a chat or something!”

”Oh, cool,” Mikey finally speaks again. He shuffles his feet and adjusts the blood bag again. “Sorry for bumping into you again.”

Ray chuckles again and smiles wide.  “No worries! I think it was me who bumped into you anyway. I’m a little clumsy,” he scratches his head, looks down and looks up back at Mikey. “Well I gotta go. I’m itching to get out of these stupid scrubs and eat some dinner. It was good seeing you! Hopefully I’ll see you around at the store then! Good luck, bye!” He says pretty fast before continuing his walk down the street, not really giving Mikey a chance to say goodbye. The thought is quickly put to the back of his mind though as he feels his skin getting more irritated. 

“Shit,” he mumbles as he walks quickly back toward the apartment, bag bouncing slightly off of his body with every step.

Chapter Text

It is 6:45PM when Mikey and Gerard make their way back into Pearson’s the next day. Anything to stall themselves from walking out in the sunlight, especially Mikey, whose skin was sore by the end of the night last night.

Luckily the sun was making her way down around this time, and some of the buildings were doing a wonderful job creating shadows for the boys to weave through on their way over.

Inside the store, there were a handful of people. An older gentleman, a small group of angsty teenagers counting up the change they had amongst themselves, a young woman and her service dog, who did in fact bark and growl for a little bit when the brothers walked in. And when the woman shouted and the dog stopped, that didn’t mean the thing wasn’t staring them both down. Mikey could hear Gerard gulp loudly beside him.

A teenage boy with a face full of acne and thick hair was managing the front counter when they approached it.

”Hi there,” Gerard started. The boy looked half asleep. “We were wondering if Brian is around perhaps?”

”Uh yea, one sec,” the kid said and turned to head through the door behind the counter. In less than a minute both the kid and an older man, whom they both assumed was Brian, followed behind.

“You boys need me?” Brian asked. He didn’t look ver intimidating by ny means, but when you spend the last five years being antisocial, talking to anyone with some kind of authority can be a little scary.

”Yes,” Mikey blurts. “We wanted to give you these?” He states it as a question,voice going up almost an octave towards the end as he holds out two job applications toward Brian. “We wanted to apply for the night shifts here, if that’s alright with you.”

Brian takes the papers out of Mikey’s hand and spends an agonizing minute looking at the papers. Skims over one, goes to the next, skims that one over, and then back to the first one. “Come with me,” he finally says and turns to walk toward his office.

The brothers share a confused look at each other before following him into his office. There’s only one chair besides Brian’s, but neither of them sit.

”Sorry to pull you in on a whim like that, boys,” he chuckles. “Figured you both were eager to just get the interview over with.”And you want to work night shifts? Willingly?”

Mikey and Gerard stood there silently for a moment. They felt like they were both teenagers again, a little shaky in their spots and a bead of sweat accumulating in a specific spot on their foreheads. They were adults, they shouldn’t need to feel like this.

"It's just easier for us, I guess,” Mikey starts. “And honestly, we figured you might need people at night? We really are open to working those hours no problem.”

Brian looks back down at the papers, skims over them again, and licks his lips absentmindedly, clearly thinking. “Mind closing the door behind you?”

Gerard makes a weird face but does so anyway.

Brian clears his throat. “Gerard, Mikey, based on our barely five minute encounter, I’m going to say something,” there’s a beat. “I know what you are.”

Mikey can barely keep a poker face anymore. Gerard is past that point. “Uh, what do you mean by that?” Gerard says with another loud gulp.

Brian laughs, but neither of the brothers can tell if it's in a maniacal or genuine way. Even though they have no idea why the situation is funny to Brian unless they were about to be put to death for show like it’s the French Revolution.

“I know what you guys are. You’re good workers!” He laughs again. “Did I scare you or something?”

While Mikey says no, Gerard says yes. This makes Brian chuckle again. “Listen, I’m not really into in-depth interviews. It’s a convenience store for Christ’s sake. You just need to have good vibes and we can go from there. And so far, you’ve both got it.”

A nervous laughter escapes Gerard, a little relief behind it but confusion all over it. Mikey just purses his lips, unamused. “You’re not gonna ask us any actual interview questions?” Mikey says, not really meaning for it to come out as snarky as it did.

Brian seems to not pay any mind to it. “I don’t know. Is there anything you really need to say to me?”

“Not that I know of?” Mikey says. “I think we were just expecting you to ask some more stuff.”

”No need to if you don’t want to,” Gerard makes sure to chime in.

”Truly, I don’t see why I shouldn’t hire you both. Frank and Ray—my usual night shift guys; they could use a set of extra hands. And for some people to take the work load off of their shoulders sometimes, even though those maniacs chose their hours. They hold down the fort for me when I’m not here. So, I’m gonna hire you boys for the night shifts. They’re gonna take the ropes and show you around, and I’ll have them get back to me in a week or so. If you’re not cuttin’ it, then you’re fired. If you get the stamp of approval from them, I’ll keep you guys on. Let’s call this a trial period, eh?” Brian explains, and the brothers nod. “I really don’t sense anything off with you guys, so I’ll be open-minded going into this whole thing on a whim if you’re okay with it. And honestly, you can start tomorrow if you really want to.”

Without skipping a beat, they both speak up at the same time. “That would be wonderful,” Gerard says.

”Awesome. We can start tomorrow for sure,” Mikey says with a smile.

Brian fills them in on everything else. Gives them the run-down on clocking in, their tentative schedule, and how Frank and Ray are going to show them the rest. “It’s not rocket science. You’ll get the hang of it in the first hour,” he finishes his spiel.

He stands up and shakes both of their hands, which was the most normal and formal part of the entire interaction. “I’ll have everything set for you guys by tomorrow. Thanks for stopping in and welcome to the team,” he goes and opens his office door. “Have a good day boys. And go enjoy the last bits of sunlight before it goes down, it's nice out today.”

Gerard and Mikey say their thank yous and leave. As they exit, Mikey turns to Gerard. “That last sentence felt a little targeted, no?”

Gerard laughs.

Chapter Text

The next night rolls around in no time. Frank stomps out a cigarette and walks back into Pearson's. He’s been there for almost an hour with no customers. And a quick little smoke break never hurt anybody.

He weaves through the aisles out of sheer boredom. He never really does any work within the first hour of his shift anyway. He’s more productive in the presence of other people, and Ray is good at keeping people in line. Especially Frank, whose innocent curiosity in the most random things can keep him from doing the tasks assigned to him. And now he’ll be in even more company with the brothers working the night shifts too. He’s going to miss the little gig he had going on with Ray, his partner in crime at the desolate convenience store where they sit around for 99% of their shift. But he knows change is good and necessary and all that wise grown-up bullshit, and maybe he’ll even get some cool new friends out of this too. Worst comes to worse, if Gerard and Mikey (he learned after reading their job applications) are actually bad people, he’s just gotta say the word to Brian and they’re toast. But Frank, who does in fact judge books by their covers, didn’t notice anything suspicious about them. Whichever brother that bought the cigarettes seemed gentle and kind, the total opposite of how he looked. Both brothers, really. Frank also enjoyed that they aesthetically looked a lot like him too. The grunge, punky look that gives him a little edge (and a little discomfort with the old ladies). Those people are hard to find around in Belleville. And while Ray enjoys almost all the same things Frank does, Ray has opted out from dressing the part. Hopefully the brothers also enjoy the Misfits.

All his thinking had him mindlessly wandering back to the cash register, and with the chime going off by the door bringing him out of his thoughts, and seeing Ray come in with a friendly smile, he knew his shift was finally ready to start.

“One day I’m gonna call your name when I hear that door and it’s gonna be some old lady or something,” Frank smiles at Ray as he meets him behind the counter to put his bag in the break room.

“And hello to you too,” Ray says teasingly. “How was your hour of boredom?” He pulls a magazine out from nowhere (Frank had no idea he was holding it) and lets it slap on the counter.

“Is that the new Game Informer?” Frank gasps, pickup it up and running his fingers across the front of it in awe. “I had no idea this was out already!”

Ray chuckles. “I picked it up during my lunch break,” he explains. “Must’ve just come out today. I already read through it, so feel free to borrow it for the shift.”

Frank smiles and sets it down. “I’ll take a look later. We got the newbies comin’ in like fifteen for their first shift. Brian left us a note letting us know.”

Ray’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?” He questions. “It feels so sudden.”

”Eh, you know how the guy is. I told you he’d hire them quickly,” Frank chuckles. “They don’t seem like bad people. And if they do, I’m sure one remark from us to Brian will get them fired in no time.”

Ray laughs in response. After a moment, he says, “You know, I ran into one of the brothers the other day.”

”Did you? Where?”

”By that alleyway where the bike shop is. He was coming out of there, which was weird, but he probably just used it as a shortcut on his walk. I accidentally bumped into him. I felt bad and apologized, but he didn’t mind.”

”Was he being weird?” Frank questions bluntly.

”No, no. He’s awkward but that seems to be a part of his personality. He’s nice though!” Ray reassures. “You’ll see what I mean when they get here,” there is a small beat of silence. Then Ray smacks a hand to his forehead. “I never even asked him his name! I’m so stupid.”

Frank laughs at this. “Gerard and Mikey are their names. I had to find out through their applications. No biggie,” he reassures him. It’s quiet now, minus the radio, neither of them really having anything else to add to the conversation. Ray turns to grab the stack of disposable name tag stickers and a Sharpie.

”What’s the name you’re gonna come up with tonight?” Ray asks as he writes his name down neatly on a sticker before peeling it off and putting it on his shirt.

Frank looks up at the ceiling and thinks for a moment. “Good question, Toro. Are we thinking long or short?”

”I say long,” Ray smiles.

”Sebastian it is,” Frank snaps his fingers and swiftly takes the sticker page and marker when Ray slides it to him. “Should I add an accent to the e?”

”Why the hell not?” Ray laughs.

Frank then slaps the sticker to his shirt, smudging the ink just a little. “Perfect.”

The door chimes just in time, and Gerard and Mikey make their way inside. They’re clearly not dressed for the warm night, but it’s a detail Ray keeps to himself.

“Hello,” Gerard says quietly, trying to be polite through the wall of awkwardness he carries around himself.

“Boys,” Frank claps his hands together loudly, slightly startling all of them. “Welcome to your first official day—or night, at the casa del Pearson’s Convenience Store,” he smirks mischievously in a way that kind of freaks Ray out.

Ray shoves him slightly. “Man, that’s not even proper Spanish,” he rolls his eyes, but there’s no malice behind it. He spots Mikey smiling a little now. “I guess as Frank said, welcome to your first official training shift. I’m gonna assume Brian gave you the summary of what we do around here but we can show you guys the more detailed, hands-on stuff.”

They all give Ray a nod, even Frank, for some reason, while simultaneously sliding over the name tag sticker sheet and the Sharpie. “First order of business: name tags. We’re obligated to wear them around the store, but rather than Brian taking two minutes to run to Staples and get materials to make us permanent ones, he’s decided the sticker method is best.”

This makes Gerard look down at Frank’s name tag. “Sébastian, huh?”

Frank shrugs with a smirk. “That’s how I’m feeling today. When you came in the other day, I was feelin’ like a Joey.” After a beat, he goes, “I’m not even sure if I’ve ever worn my actual name here before.”

When Mikey and Gerard finally place their name tags on their shirts, both Frank and Ray internally let out a sigh of relief, now knowing who is who.

”Splitting up might be the best option, no?” Frank is quick to say, and he makes a gesture to Gerard. “And then we’ll swap! Training is gonna be a piece of cake.”

Gerard makes his way around to counter toward Frank, complicit to whatever directions he’s being given, and Mikey looks at Ray. “Guess you’re comin’ with me,” Ray says, and they head toward inventory in the back.

”I’m kind of the one in charge of inventory stuff,” Ray explains to Mikey as they walk down the aisles. “Frank’s the counter guy, as he likes to call himself. But I think he stays there 90% of the time because he’s lazy,” Ray stops for a second to put a fallen item back on the shelf. “He’s probably gonna convert Gerard to his lazy ways.”

Mikey chuckles. “That won’t take much convincing,” he jokes. “I get antsy so I’d rather be doing things. If I wanted to be lazy I’d probably just take a nap or something.”

They reach inventory, and it’s larger than Mikey was expecting. “Brian leaves me a list of the items that are looking a little scarce on the shelves,” Ray points to the semi-crumpled paper thumbtacked to a small bulletin board crowded with miscellaneous notes and receipts. Ray grabs the list and looks at it. Mikey hears him click his tongue in concentration, then watches as he shoves the list in his pocket and goes toward the snacks.

”Junk food is our usual big seller,” Ray pulls over the cart Mikey saw the other day with him and starts to count off various amounts of snack items, tossing them in the cart simultaneously.

“Oh shit, I should probably be making you do this, huh?” Ray laughs at himself and steps aside, motioning for Mikey to come closer. “We’re gonna need like five more bags of those, and ten of these,” he points to another snack on a higher shelf. “Just throw them in the cart, and then we’ll move onto the next items to grab.”

Mikey finishes placing the first set of snacks in the cart, and when he goes to grab the ten other snacks, he realizes he’s too short. What pains him is that he isn’t short at all. He’s 5’10”. He doesn’t recall a moment where he's ever had to struggle with reaching for something in his adult age. Something like this would fly when he was eleven, maybe. Not when he’s forever twenty-five. On top of that, from man to man, this was embarrassing. Fighting vulnerability and dignity, he tries pushing himself up to grab the box the snacks sit in, but with no avail.

”I’m sorry—I can’t even reach that,” Mikey admits. “This is a first.”

Suddenly a presence is behind him, almost flush to his back, reaching above him to grab the snacks above. Mikey can feel the body heat from Ray almost burning his skin, and his breath hitches so softly only he would notice. He can smell Ray’s cologne and the products in his hair so strongly, the scent is almost overwhelming. Mikey’s arm is still reaching up toward the box subconsciously (as he’s kind of distracted), and fingers ever so slightly graze his and they just pass them to reach for the snacks.

All of this sends Mikey into a crisis.

It’s so clearly harmless, his new coworker is helping him out! But from the beginning, as in a few days ago, Mikey has felt weirdly comforted by Ray’s presence, even when their interactions up until now had been brief. He’s tall and radiates an energy that calms Mikey’s usual hyper-awareness down. And while his cheeks are pretty rosy and his blood smells super good, Mikey doesn’t want to eat him (obviously). He’s looking forward to a potential friendship, even though he wouldn’t mind Ray reaching for snacks behind him like this again.

”Got ‘em,” Ray says (unfortunately), and steps away from Mikey to toss them in the cart. The ultra warm feeling of a human body, something Mikey misses dearly, fades quickly around him. He turns around to meet Ray’s eyes that crinkle with his big smile. “Ready?”

Mikey just nods, and as Ray leads them on to the aisles, Mikey shakes his head out of sight.

At the front, Frank is showing Gerard how to use the register.

”I’m sure you’ve seen cash registers before, but this one is a piece of shit,” Frank hits the side of it, and the register dings as the drawer flies open. “Obviously typing the amount in will trigger the drawer, but when she decides to go on strike once in a while, a little one-two to the side will fix that.”

Gerard nods. “This one looks like the one we had at the comic book shop I worked at as a teenager,” he runs his fingers across the keys. Frank watches his hand. “It was also crap. But it seems easy enough to work.”

Frank smiles. “You’re a professional already,” he hops up on the counter and sits to face Gerard. “Now you gotta tell me about yourself. This is all part of training, by the way.”

Gerard cracks a smile and rolls his eyes. “Well what do you want to know?”

Frank purses his lips and thinks. “You into punk shit?” he decides, blunt as ever.

Gerard gestures to his outfit. “What made you ask that?” He teases.

Frank chuckles. “Well I dig it. It’s nice to see other people dressing punk too. I noticed Mikey’s eyeliner when he came in. Looked sick,” Frank picks up the gaming magazine again mindlessly and fidgets with it, more so to give his hands something to do. “Do you normally wear makeup too?”

”Actually yea,” Gerard swipes a finger under his eye, and the smallest bit of black sits on the pad of his finger. “I’m not wearing a lot today though. Usually I wear a little more but I’ve been lazy.”

Frank leans in a little toward Gerard to take a closer look. “Oh man, I didn’t even notice! It looks almost natural. That’s sick,” he nods and smiles at Gerard who then gets a little shy. Frank smiles more at that.

The chime of the door is heard, and two teenage boys walk in. It’s not crazy late yet, so it’s normal to see teens come in at this time, but it doesn’t stop Frank from making a face.

“You also hate teenagers?” Gerard whispers, clenching his teeth.

“Yea,” Frank nods. “They’re just little assholes who usually try and mooch cigarettes with a million excuses. And when I start to fight with them they pull out an insult so clever I just gotta sit there and take it like a loser.”

”Sometimes I wonder how they come up with that shit,” Gerard giggles. Frank feels a weird pang in his heart.

Whatever.

Mikey puts the last of the snacks on the hook, and Ray checks it off on the list. “Simple, right?”

”I could do it in my sleep,” Mikey jokes in his usual awkward manner, but Ray never seems to mind it, and he chuckles.

“We can go chill back at the front if you want. We’ve got plenty of time left in the shift to do other stuff later,” Ray suggests, and Mikey nods in agreement. “Not that there’s a big list of training anyway.”

They bring the stocking cart back to the inventory room and head to the front, where they watch Gerard hand change to a teenage boy and his friend before leaving.

“Ray got you doing all the hard labor, huh?” Frank jokes as they make their way around the counter.

“It’s not hard, you’re just lazy,” Ray retorts, and Frank smirks.

“I’m not lazy, I just pick and choose my battles, that's all.”

There’s a small bit of banter between the two when Mikey mentions he needs to go to the bathroom.

Luckily for him, the employee bathroom was through the breakroom, which gave him the perfect nonchalant chance to grab a small vile of blood from his bag he came with. He only had one vile left to drink and seeing as they’re so small, to Mikey, it was no different than bringing a snack to work.

Just a snack that consuming out in the open would probably result in termination, both in an employee and physical sense.

He knew drinking it now would suppress his hunger for the remainder of his shift, even if it wasn’t a lot for the average vampire to drink. But he would consider Gerard and himself on the outskirts of the spectrum, for many reasons.

In the bathroom now, he unscrews the vial and downs it quickly, a satisfied smile forming on his face. He shakes his head with satisfaction and licks his teeth, and then smacks his lips for good measure.

He flushes the toilet to sell the idea and washes the little bit of blood that got on his fingers before going back out behind the counter where the rest of them are.

“Have a good night, miss,” the lady at the counter says before walking away. Gerard turns around to Frank and Ray, who are stifling laughter while Gerard makes a face.

”Should I be offended?” Gerard says, and when the door chimes as the old woman leaves, it signals Ray and Frank to double over in laughter.

“Did that lady think you were a girl?” Mikey asks when he gets closer.

Frank wipes a tear from his eye. “It shouldn’t have been that funny but the subtlety of ‘miss’ really did it for me!”

Ray pats Gerard on the back. “Don’t worry, I’ve gotten it a couple of times before. You just learn to own the label.”

Gerard looks at Mikey finally, who smiles at him. Gerard smiles back, but his face falters when he notices something on Mikey’s face. Gerard swiftly takes his thumb and swipes the corner of his own mouth, then raises his eyebrows in a gesture telling his brother to do the same. Mikey swipes his tongue there and tastes remnants of blood. He wipes a finger there for good measure, and lets out an internal sigh of relief when no one notices he had any kind of blood there.

”I think my register duties are done for tonight,” Gerard jokes, and that makes Frank laugh again. “Think I can go for a quick smoke?”

Frank physically straightens up at the mention of a cigarette. “As long as I can join you, I’ll allow it,” he looks at Ray for approval.

“Ray, Mikey? Wanna come with?” Gerard asks.

Ray shakes his head. “Not me, I don’t smoke.”

Mikey also shakes his head. “Nah, I’m okay for now.”

Both Frank and Gerard nod, and Frank grabs a pack of Camels from the display. “I’ll pay for ‘em when I come back in,” he says before the two of them make their way outside.

With only Ray and Mikey in the store now, Mikey almost feels a bead of sweat forming on the back of his neck, as the moment from earlier replays in his head. Full disclosure, he wants that warmth again. And if it just so happens to be from Ray, he wouldn’t oppose it. Human warmth is the thing he misses so dearly, and he didn’t know how badly he missed it until Ray was practically flush with his back earlier.

He’s snapped out of his inner monologue when Ray holds up a magazine. “You into video games?” He asks.

Mike smiles. “Of course I am. What’s that?”

Ray gasps playfully and comes closer to Mikey with it, opening it up on the counter. Mikey leans into the pages to look at them more closely. “You’ve never heard of Game Informer? Oh man, you’re in for a treat.”

Ray goes on to talk about the magazine with Mikey, who suddenly feels a kind of warmth not like body heat, but more so a feeling that sits in the gut. The kind of warmth one feels when they’re content and at ease with their surroundings.

And even under the painful fluorescent lights, the shitty static radio, and the desolate store, Mikey can almost feel what it’s like to be human again.

Chapter Text

Pearson’s is unusually busy right now, and Gerard doesn’t know if he should feel stressed out about it.

For one, he doesn’t recall being around this many humans before in all his years of being a vampire. It’s almost foreign to him. Secondly, the smells of said humans in this store are driving him insane. Blood carries a stench unrecognizable to the human nose, and it’s something both Mikey and Gerard still have issues dealing with.

”Psst,” Gerard hears from behind him. He turns around to see Mikey, who is whispering to him. “I’m going to lose my mind in this place, G.” 

Gerard nods at this, blinking harshly in attempts to get himself focused again.

Between the two of them, Mikey is more sensitive to the smell. And even when there’s only one person whose blood smells off, it can sour Mikey’s mood. Or make him jittery, which is how he’s acting now.

”To be honest, I might go take a walk,” he says. 

A man comes up to the counter where Gerard stands behind, and sets a six pack and some Bugles down. If Gerard felt like arguing with a middle-aged man who was already clearly intoxicated, he would have asked for his ID, but he chose to protect his own peace.

Mikey was not dealing with this man very well. Not that he was going to say anything and he didn’t, but the smell of his intoxicated blood smelled absolutely horrific, and Mikey wanted to throw up.

He left for the break room to sit down for a moment, the scents thankfully suppressed behind the door. He desn’t know what short stick he drew when he turned that would make him so sensitive to the smell of human blood, but he really fucking hated how nauseated he was over it, especially now. It really is a feeling he hasn't felt in a long time, seeing as he and Gerard don’t interact with humans very much, but it’s also something he can’t just explain to anyone outside of his brother, or else he’d look insane, obviously.

He was hoping his discomfort would go unnoticed to Frank and Ray, but that hope was squashed the moment Frank walked into the break room.

”What’s up with you and Gerard? It’s like you’ve both seen a ghost, you guys are paler than you normally are,” he says as he plops in the seat next to Mikey.

”I think it’s from whatever we had for dinner last night,” Mikey comes up with quickly. Frank just hums in response, but Mikey doesn’t think he bought the excuse.

”Well don’t get me sick. I can’t afford that,” Frank jokes.

Eventually the smell dies down, but Mikey and Gerard still ask to take a small walk for some fresh air. Both Ray and Frank, afraid to see the possible consequences if they say no, let them go. 

Now outside, Gerard lets out the biggest sigh of relief. “Oh thank god,” he breathes. “I need the smell to dissipate before I go insane.”

Mikey nods. “I wonder why it was so busy,” he questions. “I really wish our noses weren’t so sensitive.”

They walk a little more, comforted by the dead of night, a stark difference to how the store was moments ago. 90% of the stores that grace this street are closed, as it is likely 1:30AM (they lost track of time the moment they clocked in), and the lights of Pearson’s get dimmer and dimmer with every step they take.

They mutually decide to walk through the alleyway not far from the store, a place they’re familiar with, and don’t act surprised when they see a fellow vampire sucking a human's blood.

The vampire lifts his head up quickly and hisses out of instinct, ready to spring for another kill. Gerard and Mikey both put their hands up. “Woah woah woah, don’t panic!” Gerard shouts. “We’re one of you!”

Mike bares his fangs, and the unknown vampire calms down almost instantly, still breathing heavily from adrenaline. 

“Phew, oh man,” the vampire sighs. “You guys spooked me there. I almost had to kill you too.”

The vampire laughs a little, and the brothers respond with awkward laughter back. The vampire then gets up from where he was crouching, and he walks a few steps closer to Gerard and Mikey. His mouth, chin and neck are dripping with blood. Messy eater, Gerard thinks.

”Man, it’s crazy seeing vampires around here,” the vampire says. “But I’m also new to the area, so,” he rubs a bloody hand on the back of his neck, looks off to the side, and then looks back to the brothers. “Do you guys want some? I don’t know how much I’ve already had to drink but I’m sure there’s some left!”

Mikey is fighting very hard with himself to make a poker face, clearly wanting to leave. Immediately. Gerard senses this. ”No, we’re alright actually, but thank you,” he says. “Uhm, I didn’t catch your name!”

”Oh! It’s Eric,” Eric says with a bloody smile. “Sorry to spook you guys. I was pretty hungry,” he pats his stomach. “Couldn’t resist.”

”No it’s okay, just—,” Gerard starts. “You might wanna be a little more careful. We’ve got hunters in the area, and they won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Eric gets a little more serious now, pursing his lips and nodding. “I see,” he says. Then, he laughs. The sudden switch up startles the brothers. “Man, I don’t give two shits about those fucking guys! I just think you two aren’t living on the edge enough!”

He takes a few more steps closer to them, and Mikey gulps. Eric is on the younger side, just like them, but his face is a little scruffy, and he’s a lot more masculine than the two of them combined. It’s definitely intimidating. “What are your names?”

”M-Mikey, and Gerard,” Gerard stutters out. 

Eric hums. “Mikey and Gerard,” he repeats, almost as if he was tasting the words on his tongue. “You boys need to get out more. Something tells me you don’t have a lot of fun,” he takes a finger and draws it along Mikey’s jawline. Mikey can feel it trailing blood. “Mikey and Gerard, Mikey and Gerard…I expect to see both of you at the Rotary Club meeting later this month. Luckily for you, it’s being held right here in town. At Rosalie’s,” he starts to saunter back to the body on the ground. “It’s about time you boys meet more people like you. And to stop hiding.”

He spits out the last word like the act of hiding is insulting. Mikey swipes the blood off of his jaw, and when he looks to make tense eye contact with Eric, he hesitantly sucks the blood off of his finger. Eric laughs once again, and this time, it feels maniacal. “Atta boy,” he says. “Now go.”

Instantly, Gerard and Mikey book it out of there, slowing down to a speed walk when they’re closer to the store.

”Fuck!” Gerard yells, his voice echoing into the silence. “I can’t even—I can’t even process whatever the fuck that was!” He runs his hands through his hair, and huffs out a sigh in between his panting. 

“We gotta go back in G,” Mikey says through breaths. “Who knows how long we’ve been out of the store. Fuck,” he licks his finger and wipes at the area where Eric left blood, making sure no remnants were left before having to face Ray and Frank.

And when they do walk back in, trying to act like they didn’t almost die or something, Frank and Ray don’t have much to say.

”How was your walk? Feel better?” Ray asks genuinely. Frank just looks at them, not saying anything but not really having anything to say. 

Gerard just nods, but Mikey speaks, feeling the need to. “Yea it was alright. A little eerie out there but it’s late so, what else can you expect?”

Mikey thinks he’s fucked it, given the slightly weird looks he got in response, even from Gerard himself. But he can’t really do anything about it, so instead he says, “I’m just gonna go finish up the inventory,” and he walks away.

This leaves Gerard at the front of the store with Frank and Ray. The door chimes behind him, but he pays no mind to it, and he makes his way to the register. “We didn’t mean to be out so long, sorry,” he says. 

Frank waves a hand. “No biggie. You guys didn’t look too good earlier anyway, figured you needed the long walk,” he gives Gerard a gentle pat on the shoulder. Ray notices Frank’s hand linger just long enough. He’d pocket that for later.

The rest of the shift is tame. Time enclosed in the walls of Pearson’s seems to slow down, and it makes them all sleepy. Since Frank comes in an hour before the rest do, he clocks out at three, giving the group a haphazard wave, leaving them to lean against the counter, the cold granite bothering their skin just enough to help them stay awake.

So when the bell chimes at 3:52AM, a time where the store is extra dead, it wakes them all up. Gerard looks up from where he was focusing on picking at the stickers on the register, but no one was by the door anymore. His eyebrows furrow, and he tries not to think too much of it. He turns slightly to talk to Ray and Mikey.

”Did you guys see who walked in?” He asks.

They both shake their heads no. “Sorry, I was too focused on organizing the magazine rack to look in time,” Mikey shrugs.

Ray points to the teen magazine he was skimming. “I think I’m unfortunately too into this J-14 than anything else. I see why people love gossip so much.”

This makes both Gerard and Mikey giggle.

Their small moment, free from the ultra boredom they’ve had since Frank left, turns suddenly sour when the mysterious customer comes up to the counter.

”You know, I’ve never seen a 24-hour convenience store like this before,” the customer says.

Mikey and Gerard tense up immediately recognizing the voice from earlier. 

“Perfect for when I need a junk food pick-me-up at four in the morning. Or for people passing through, I guess,” Eric looms over the three behind the counter. Gerard didn’t realize the guy was so tall. Even taller than Ray, who’s already tall enough.

”Is that everything?” Gerard squeaks out. He wanted to slap himself in the face. Or speed up time for this stupid fucking shift to be over with.

Eric chuckles, even though nothing was funny. Although he was probably laughing at Gerard. And Mikey, who coughed awkwardly and shuffled more of the already organized magazines.  “Get me a pack of cigs, please. Dealer’s choice.”

Gerard made a grab for the closest pack he could grab and punched in the numbers. “Uhm, $8.25.”

Eric gave him a ten dollar bill. “I don’t want any change,” he grabbed his purchased items off of the counter, but stayed a moment to open the cigarettes, throw the plastic wrap back on the counter, place an unlit one in his mouth, and then make his way to the door. “Don’t work too hard, boys,” he finally says. “The night is still young,” Gerard notices the slightest wink from Eric too.

And he walks out.

”What the fuck was his deal?” Ray finally says. 

Mikey gulps loudly. “No clue.”

”His presence was insane, did you guys notice that? Do you know him?”

Gerard is quick to answer. A little too quick. “No!” He almost yells. “Er, no man, we’ve never seen him in our lives. But I hope I never see him again.”

Gerard can see Ray’s eyebrows furrow just a little bit, noticing his confusion. Ray looks at the clock and lets out a sigh. “Perfect timing for me to clock out, huh?” He goes to grab his bag and sweatshirt and clocks out, then meets the brothers back in the front. “Well I hope you guys feel better. Make sure to get some sleep when you leave this place. Seems like you guys have had a long day. Goodnight,” he smiles at them before leaving. 

Gerard whips his head around as soon as Ray leaves, panic written all over his face. “Just when I thought I processed it. Mikey, do you think he’s the grim reaper?”

Normally Mikey would say something to shut Gerard up, or deflate his paranoia, but this is a situation where Mikey wants to throw in the towel and run off somewhere where this Eric motherfucker will never find them ever again. So he can’t be helpful in calming either of them down. “G, I just need this shift to end before I can come up with a way to deal with whatever the fuck this night was.”

”We are never going for a walk again.”

Chapter Text

Ray is dreading this meeting. Frank finally caught on to his constant excuses and figured out a way to make Ray agree to go, even if he was wrongfully (his words) tricked into doing so. 

He told Frank he would meet him outside of the location, this week at the deli, of all places. Gio’s a very active member of the coalition. Ray’s hoping he can order a sandwich.

As Ray approaches, he sees Frank leaning outside on the wall, smoking a cigarette. “You actually came,” Frank says through a puff of smoke.

Ray shrugs. “I was heavily debating having a shot of tequila before this, to be honest with you,” he joins Frank now, also leaning against the wall.

“I’m shocked you didn’t,” Frank chuckles. “I know you don’t want to be here, but I’m glad you came. Seriously, man. The meetings have been more interesting lately. And obviously not in a good way, but,” he takes another drag. Blows it out. “Some new-ish input would be nice. We’ve been tossing the same bullshit nothingness around every meeting.”

Ray stares ahead, occasionally eyeing the few people who enter Gio’s. He waits for Frank to take a few more puffs, and then he tosses the butt in the ashtray by the door. Frank holds the door for Ray, who mutters a thank you and shyly goes inside. He’s immediately hit with quite the hefty crowd of people, way more at a coalition meeting than he’s ever been to. At least twenty people sitting at tables or at the counter. He also spots a few people putting up a white sheet on the wall, and Gio setting up a projector to face it. 

He jolts forward slightly when Frank collides with his back, not paying attention. “Sorry,” Ray says. “Wasn’t expecting this many people.”

“All good,” Frank pats his shoulder reassuringly, and scoots his way around Ray to lead him to an empty two-seater that they claim.

It’s only a few minutes before the actual meeting begins, and a woman Ray vaguely recognizes stands right in front of the white sheet, illuminated by the bright screen protector. 

“Hello everyone, we’re gonna start now if that’s alright,” her words are coated in the most Jersey accent Ray thinks he’s ever heard. The conversations die down almost immediately. “I see lots of familiar faces and some new ones, which is wonderful! So I’ll just introduce myself again. If you don’t know me, my name is Veronica, and I run the Vampire Hunter Coalition of North Jersey. If you didn’t know this was a meeting for vampire hunters, we hope you stay and learn something new! If you didn’t know vampires existed, this is certainly an interesting way to find that out,” the crowd laughs. “And if you just so happen to be a vampire out and about in the daylight during this meeting, let’s hope you hide it well or you’re not leaving alive.”

The crowd breaks out into even more laughter, like Veronica was telling an inside joke. Ray smiles a bit awkwardly and looks to see Frank’s reaction. He’s not very amused, and looks quite serious. 

Veronica claps her hands, and the group focuses on her once again. “We’re just gonna jump right into it, alright? There’s not a lot to cover, but I want to hear from you all one way or another,” she makes a gesture to Gio who opens the first slide. It’s a poorly taken photo of some vampires (Ray can only assume) running on a beach. “Friends, we all remember seeing this photo at the last meeting, correct?”

There's a muffled agreement. Veronica takes her laser pointer and makes circles with it around one of the figures. “We’re led to believe that one of them, likely this man here, survived the most recent attack on the kill attempt, along with a few others. But we only know of this guy because of his special bite.”

New pictures appear. It’s unsettling watching pictures of victims pop up one by one. All of them have one thing in common, and it’s a particular bite mark. Instead of two fang holes like a normal vampire would leave, these ones have four. “This guy either has special fangs, or he’s got one hefty set of canines,” Veronica says. 

A man chimes in from the back. “How do we know this thing is here though?”

Gio shows the next photo, and the location is immediately recognizable to the Belleville residents. A victim on the ground, blood everywhere, and four fang punch holes extremely visible in his neck. 

“This was two nights ago, likely a little past midnight. Right in the alleyway by the bike shop. Right in our lovely little city here,” Veronica shakes her head and sighs. “People, this isn’t good. God knows why the vampires decided to make their way through this very town again, but this is not acceptable. What if that fucker decided to go into Pearson’s, huh? This is a place where we feel safe to have businesses open late at night for the community. And that can all be stripped from us if these monsters find their way here.”

The group starts to chatter, opinions thrown around left and right in a blubbering mess of incoherent nonsense Ray cannot understand. Frank looks at him a little worried, and Ray can practically see his mind running a mile a minute. 

Gio hushes the group with a singular loud whistle. “Thanks Gio,” Veronica says. “I know we’re all panicking, and I am right there with you. These killers are ruthless, selfish, evil and pure monsters. I want our children to be safe. Our families, our community. How many more lives must be taken before real change is made? We make progress, but it’s like taking one step forward and three steps back. I want to know from all of you now, what do you think we should do?”

For the first time during the meeting, the room is completely silent. Everyone is genuinely stumped or trying their best to think of things to contribute. 

Frank is the first one to speak. “We need to reestablish the city watch again, or work with the police department,” he says. Veronica goes to interject, but he cuts her off. “I know you’re going to deny the watch group. And you have every right to. After the county fair tragedy a few years ago, I see why we stopped. But,” he sucks in a breath. “That night, as horrific as it was, was the first time the watch group was unsuccessful. And honestly, we were screwed that moment the fair opened. It was nobody’s fault. And while we can mourn that night and wish things were different, we have to keep going for the ones who can’t anymore.”

He looks down at the ground. Ray starts to speak before he himself realizes. “I was there that night. During the swarm,” he stutters. His mouth feels dry, but he ignores it. “The night watch, they uh, they saved my life. And while I was very lucky to have made it out, I know a lot were not. But the watch made me realize I needed to change and help people. These vampires, they know we fear the night. They want us to. They want us isolated and vulnerable. But they feared the night watch. Because they were good. And I’d like to think if we assembled a team again, we’d come back stronger and better. And maybe inspire other coalitions to do the same,” he makes eye contact with Frank, who’s looking at him like he has two heads. He then looks to Veronica. Her mouth is slightly agape, trying her best to hide a bigger reaction. Remaining professional, he guesses.

”You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” Is the first thing she asks. 

Ray nods. “A few times, yea,” he mutters.

”Well with an opinion like that, I would have thought you’d be here more often,” she replies. Ray isn’t really sure how to react to that. She speaks in such a particular way, like dancing on the line of rude and sincere. 

He chooses not to take it offensively, and just shrugs again. 

“If these guys want to start the night watch up again, I’d love to help,” a woman speaks up. A few other people around her make noises in agreement. 

“It might serve us well,” another person says.

There’s some more scattered chatter, and Ray even notices Gio nodding his head. 

“Alright alright,” Veronica shouts. “Is this something we would all want? And we are sure of it? Even when there’s moments of defeat? Are we going to want to try again?”

This honestly pisses Ray off. He looks to Frank, who definitely feels the same. He doesn’t try to hide it.

Frank stands up. “Veronica,” he starts. “To be honest with you, we’re not going to get anywhere with that attitude. We try, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. It’s not rocket science. Let’s be the change so we know the future of this community is safe,” he bites the inside of his cheek to get himself to stop rambling. He sits down abruptly, but keeps eye contact with Veronica this time.

Once again, the room is silent. And Ray feels with full confidence that he can speak for everyone when he thinks everyone in this room wants to disappear right now. 

Veronica just sighs and looks down. Shakes her head. Clicks her tongue. Sighs again. If she was really quiet, you could hear a pin drop in the room.

Ray suspects his and Frank’s comments are not the usual in these meetings. It makes him curious if he just happened to show up to the perfect meeting with the perfect topic, or if he wasn’t here, would Frank have said anything at all? And what is the point of these meetings if no one wants to talk like they have been? Ray prides himself on always questioning authority. He isn’t one to just be complicit. If you’re not constantly questioning the morality of people then to Ray, you’re not living right. 

Veronica finally looks up and speaks. “Fine. We will do the night watch,” she speaks to everyone, but looks at Ray and Frank. “We’ll finalize it next meeting. I think we’ve been here long enough today. Meeting dismissed,” she doesn’t have much emotion when she talks, but Ray could sense she was annoyed. He didn’t really care, though.

Outside, Frank and Ray walk to the parking garage. It’s quiet amongst the two of them for the first minute, then Frank breaks the silence. “So?”

”So what?” 

“You hated that meeting Ray,” Frank admits.

Ray stops walking. Frank does too.

”I didn’t hate the meeting in the way you think,” Ray starts. “It’s just—is that how all meetings usually go?”

Frank shrugs. “Eh, yea,” he sighs. “But it’s hard. Ever since Veronica started taking over, the meetings have been pretty redundant. I’ve tried getting my two cents in but she responds in such an interesting way. Like, I can’t tell if she really cares? I guess not, based on the lack of fucking progress,” he reaches in his pocket for a cigarette and lights up.

”That’s it. Like she didn’t want to listen to us, while still encouraging it. It was weird,” Ray clears his throat and looks around. He takes in his surroundings. Sometimes Belleville looked really beautiful. To others, the constant construction, potholes, and particular odor was off putting. And Ray can’t deny that. But to him, it’s comforting. It’s familiar.

”I love this shithole,” Ray blurts. Frank starts to cough a little on the smoke, laughing. 

“What made you say that?” He asks.

Ray shrugs. “I don’t know. Even after the meeting, as much as I should feel like shit, I actually feel kinda good. Work’s not so bad—both jobs, you know? I think we’ve made some new friends with the Way brothers, and, I don’t know. Just in my feelings, I guess,” he turns to Frank, who’s smiling sincerely. Ray almost wants to blush, being so weirdly vulnerable.

”Gerard and Mikey are pretty cool,” Frank agrees. He bites his lip, clearly debating his next words, but then he speaks. “You know, I gotta tell you…Nah, forget it,” Frank laughs and shakes his head.

Ray shoves him. “Oh c'mon man, don’t bullshit me now. Just say it,” he smiles. He has a feeling he knows what Frank’s gonna say.

He avoids looking at Ray for a moment, and then caves. “Fuck, fine,” he says. “I was just gonna say Gerard is—this is so lame, oh my god. Gerard’s cute, was all I wanted to say. Ugh,” Frank shoves Ray back now and starts to walk toward the parking garage again. 

Ray laughs. “I knew it!” He catches up to Frank. “You’re not subtle, no offense.”

“C’mon man!” Frank yells, but he’s laughing through it, embarrassed. This only makes Ray smile more. “I just needed to get it out! He’s cute! There! Ugh, I hate talking about my feelings.”

Ray gives him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t be embarrassed, Frankie. I’m loving this. He is cute! Do you think you’re gonna do anything about it?” Ray doesn’t give him time to answer before he says, “How’s this. Let’s plan a hangout next weekend or something. I’ll text Mikey! Then you can get a feel for how things are outside of the workplace, you know?” 

Frank looks shy, but he nods anyway. “You’re the perfect wing man, Toro,” he starts to walk away towards his own car. “The man!” It echoes in the garage. Ray’s laugh echoes back.

He gets to his own car now, digging around for his keys, his mind finally running a mile a minute. It’s trying to process whatever the fuck this day has been so far. The meeting, Veronica, Frank’s obvious crush on Gerard finally being admitted. He thinks about retelling his story of the Essex County Fair. The trauma he endured, the near death experience. He thinks of when he had to play dead, and when that didn’t work, when he was running for his life. Passing bodies of those on the ground, all of them a blur from eyes full of tears and a heart pounding so loudly it blocked out the screams. Running as far as his scraped up legs could take him, and collapsing onto pavement in a driveway unfamiliar to him. Knocking on a door of a stranger, begging to be let in because he was convinced he was going to die that night if he didn’t hide. A long night of being coaxed out of panic attacks and meltdowns.

He snaps himself out of the thought, doing his best to stuff it in the back of his mind where it tends to hither. He grabs his phone and texts Mikey.

RAY: Question

MIKEY: hello. answer.

RAY: Are you and Gerard busy next weekend? Frank and I were wondering if you guys would wanna hang out?

It takes a moment for Mikey to answer. Ray starts his car up and his phone dings with a new message.

MIKEY: sure

we just got a new playstation

come over @ 7/

?*

RAY: Sounds great!

Ray smiles at his phone. Mikey texts funny but Ray thinks he understands it all the same. He reads over the texts a few times more, not really knowing why, and then sets his phone down to drive home, thinking about hanging out with Mikey next weekend.

And the other two, of course.

Obviously.

Chapter Text

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you boys clean this hard in my life.”

Donna and Ronald Way stand by the door, Ronald chuckling at her comment.

Mikey and Gerard are not amused. “Ma,” Gerard starts. “We had plans to clean today anyway. You guys just happened to stop by.”

Donna walks over to the fridge and stands on her tip toes to swipe a finger at the top of it. She puts her feet flat on the floor, looks at her finger and then rubs her thumb with it. “Hmph,” she says. “Missed a spot.”

Gerard and Mikey give her a look, not much behind it, and she smiles at them. It works on them clearly, because they smile back. She brushes her finger off swiftly on her jeans and walks over to her sons to pull them in for a hug. They comply, because why wouldn’t they? And the hug gets more cozy when Ronald wraps his arms around them all. 

“Hi boys,” me mutters softly into the shared air. They stay like that for a moment, maybe a few, taking in each other, knowing they all need this vulnerability right now. 

Moments later, Ronald has started busying himself with checking the plumbing underneath the sink (as usual) and Mikey wiping off the top of the refrigerator, while Gerard and Donna sit at the table. She enjoys her cigarette, finally taking in her surroundings. 

“Things have been good, right? You’re both okay here? Work’s alright?” She questions them like clockwork. It would be abnormal if she didn’t question their overall safety every time she came over. Not that the brothers care, they love it very much. 

“We’re good, yes,” Mikey says, hopping down from the step stool he was on and throwing away the used wipes in his hand. He joins them at the table. 

“We saw the murder on the news,” Ronald pipes in. “Police say the killer stabbed him in the alleyway but,” he clears his throat. “I don’t believe that shit.”

Mikey lets out a laugh, but not laughing. It’s more of a noise, really, but it’s about the only thing Mikey can respond with. 

“He was bitten,” Gerard says. “We saw it.”

Ronald sits up now, looking at his oldest. Donna turns to him as well. “Mikey and I wanted to go for a walk and saw the bastard killing him. There wasn’t anything we could do, he was beyond dead already.”

Sometimes Gerard can come across as blunt in conversations like these. Immune to feeling empathy, almost, but that is far from the truth. He does feel terrible. He wouldn’t be this way if he had all the power in the world. But five years of this shit under your belt and you start to forget how to have conversations surrounding death. It doesn’t bother Mikey, of course, he understands. But he notices his parent’s slight stiffness, a gentle reminder of his word choice. 

“Sorry,” Gerard says. 

Donna shakes her head. “But you’re both okay?” 

They nod to her. 

“Okay,” she breathes. She looks around the room again, and does a double take when she notices chips and a 6-pack on the counter. “What the?” She starts. “How did I miss that?”

The brothers follow her eyes to the food. Mikey laughs. 

“What’s so funny?”

“That you’re shocked over some food,” Mikey says. “Just ironic somehow, I don’t know.”

“We’re having friends over later,” Gerard says. 

Donna blows out a cloud of smoke before shoving the butt in the ashtray beside her. “Friends? Since when?”

“Wow Ma. We’re not total losers, you know,” Mikey teases. 

Donna swats him. “You know what I mean, you shit,” she laughs. “I just don’t remember you two talking about friends. Are they from the store?”

Gerard nods. “Yea. They asked to hang out. Mikey decided he wanted to host before even asking me, but,” he throws a glance to Mikey, who rolls his eyes. “Oh well.”

“Why does it matter? I was just being nice.”

“Maybe because we have literal coffins in our rooms?!” He swats at Mikey.

“Not you too!” He holds his arm. “Listen, we have beds too! It’s not hard to shove the coffins back under them. We’ve done it before,” he looks down. “We don’t even need them anyway…”

“Well I think that’s nice you two made some friends,” Donna starts. “I know you know I worry. We both do. I just want you safe, is all,” she swallows hard. “I don’t want you to put your faith in humans who can’t understand that you two are special. And that you’re not like the others,” she looks down now, and Mikey isn’t sure if she’s embarrassed to admit that or if she’s scared. 

“Don’t worry,” Mikey says, looking at both of his parents. “We know we’ll be okay. I feel like if they were vampire hunters or something, they would’ve given us a sign by now,” he jokes awkwardly. No one else laughs. “But seriously, they’re good guys. Super nice. We’ve been keeping our guard up, and we still will. I—We promise,” he gives a look to Gerard, who nods in agreement. He reaches over and rubs his mom’s shoulder reassuringly. 

“I believe you, I believe you,” she smiles, though it doesn’t meet her eyes. 

Ronald stands up and brushes his hands off on his pants. “Unclogged the pipe,” he says. “I’d like to suggest not putting blood clots from your bags down the drain,” he says it with such ease, it almost catches Mikey and Gerard off guard. They just nod to him, acknowledging him for the work. “Ready?”

He looks at Donna, and she pushes herself from the chair and gets up. “We have errands to run,” she and Ronald start making their way to the door. She turns back around to her sons, who follow right behind them. “Give us a call tomorrow, okay? I wanna know how it goes.”

Gerard hugs Donna. Mikey hugs Ronald. They swap. 

“Be safe,” Ronald smiles.

”Thanks for coming by,” Gerard says.

”Yea, thank you. We miss you guys all the time. So come over whenever you want,” he sounds a little shy when he says this, vulnerable under the gaze of his parents.

“Will do,” Ronald says, giving Mikey a gentle hand to the shoulder, a reminder that he didn’t have to feel that way around them.

They leave right after that, the air a little melancholy. They finish tidying up the living room, Gerard fluffing up the cushions and being extra, according to Mikey, while Mikey puts his bass and Gerard’s hardly used guitar back on their stands. Mikey’s trying to learn both; he’s already a pro at the bass, a hobby he’s had as long as he can remember, but Gerard gave up on the guitar, more interested in his drawings, which gave Mikey a chance to try and learn it. It’s definitely a work in progress though.

Time seems to have gone by quickly, when Mikey glances at the clock. “They should be here any minute,” he says, a weird feeling overtaking his stomach. He’s nervous, for sure, but this feels like something else. And he’s frustrated because he can’t describe it. Which makes him even more nervous, which makes him question his nerves, is it because humans—Frank and Ray are coming over, and that weirdfeelingisbackand—

The knock on the door feels like gunshots in Mikey’s chest. “Better be alive in there!” He hears Frank yell from the other side. And then a shut up from Ray.

Mikey and Gerard turn to each other quickly. Mikey makes a gesture for Gerard to answer the door; partly because Gerard is closer, partly because Mikey was too nervous to move. When he opens it, Frank bursts in with a dumb smile on his face and Ray follows, much more polite. Frank is immediately talking out loud, mostly to Gerard, but Mikey isn’t really listening. Ray makes direct eye contact with him. 

“Hi,” Mikey says, not breaking eye contact. 

“Hey,” Ray says. After a moment that feels like forever, Ray clears his throat and holds up a bottle of wine. “I uh, I brought this? I don’t know why, I feel like you guys are wine people but I totally assumed,” he chuckles at himself. “If you don’t like it you can give it away, I won’t be offended.”

Mikey just laughs and takes the bottle. “This is great, Ray. Thank you,” Mikey goes to set it on the counter and Ray follows. 

“Holy shit, you guys shred?” Frank yells from the living room. Gerard laughs loudly and says something incoherent from where Mikey and Ray are standing.

”Shred? You guys play guitar?” Ray asks Mikey.

He shrugs. “Yea, well, I actually play bass. The guitar is G’s,” they start to walk over to the living room so Mikey can show him. 

When they walk in, Frank is already strumming chords, Gerard watching closely. “This thing is nice,” Frank says over the music. He plays a few more chords really fast and then looks up at Ray. “You gotta try this, man,” he lifts it up by the neck and thrusts it in Ray’s direction. He grabs it hesitantly and walks over to sit on the couch, positioning himself with the guitar. Frank, Gerard and Mikey all watch him, the room silent. 

Ray begins to improvise a complicated riff in front of the group, completely focused on the strings, and Mikey is breathless, like somebody knocked the wind out of his lungs. He focused on Ray's fingers flying up and down the neck, moving so diligently and elegantly. That weird feeling pierced his stomach again with a full force, but he couldn’t distract himself with it. The melody flying off of the guitar was far more captivating. Mikey brought his attention to the rest of Ray. His furrowed, focused brows, his nose slightly scrunched up, leaving his lips to almost curve up with them. His bouncy, curly hair moving with every subtle head bang Ray was clearly trying to control. He was mesmerizing.

When he finishes, the room is silent before Frank shouts. “Absolute legend, man!” And gets up to shake Ray’s shoulders. Ray laughs and goes to put the guitar back on the stand, clearly shy about it.

”Ray, that was sick!” Gerard beams. “Are you in a band or something?”

Ray shakes his head. “I was at one time, but they didn’t let me play guitar, so I quit shortly after,” he runs his hand across the strings one more time before going back to his spot on the couch. “They had me on the fucking drums. I was as good at it as a newborn fuckin’ baby,” everyone laughs at that, besides Mikey.

Because Mikey is going through a crisis.

He doesn’t understand why he feels the way he feels right now, and he hates that. He also hates how nonchalant that entire ordeal was. Ray deserves to be playing at sold out shows, not running inventory in a fucking convenience store. And his stupid vampire hormones are going crazy because the blood in this room smells extra good and all he really wants to do is taste it. Which is bad, because Frank and Ray are the last people he wants blood from. They’re nice people and his friends! So why does he feel like he needs to run a million super laps around his home and then splash water all over his face? The fuck is going on with him?

”Mikey, you alright?” He snaps out of his thoughts when he hears his brother. Still standing up, he turns to him. 

“I’m good, yea. I’m good,” he says. “I think I’m just hungry.”

Frank and Ray seem convinced enough, because they get up and grab the chips and 6-pack on the counter, but he notices Gerard isn’t convinced. As he passes Mikey, he says, "Take a vial from my room. It hasn’t been out long. You clearly need it more than me,” and joins the others. 

Mikey dips quickly from the living room and down the hall toward Gerard’s room, and sees the unopened blood vial on his bed. He picks it up, still a tad cold, and twists it open before swallowing it down. A wave of relief travels through his body, and he shivers with a sense of pleasure. He’s still trying to grapple with the wave of emotions mere moments ago, and that desire to drink blood from the humans in the room. Or human?

At this point he’s become familiar with the scents between Frank and Ray. Both are distinct in their own regard, but both equally indescribable. The point is, Ray’s scent felt like the only thing Mikey could smell when he was playing the guitar. Frank’s was practically nonexistent. And the smell was so delightful, delectable even, that for a fraction of a second, Mikey wanted to taste it. 

This freaks him out.

He catches the top of his lip between his teeth, staring at the ground intensely while his mind works overtime. Why did this feeling just hit him like a freight train all of a sudden? And what is the feeling? He doesn't want to jinx the newfound friendships he has made, but if his tendencies start to cloud his mind the way they did earlier, he’s not sure what he’ll need to do.

”Everything alright?” Mikey jumps and turns around to the door. 

It’s Ray.

The vial is tightly clenched in his hand. He nods rapidly. “Yes, I’m fine! Just looking for something in here quick,” he does a quick scan of the room and shrugs. “Guess it’s not in here.”

Ray just gives him a friendly smile. “No worries! I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Mikey gets shy at that. “Thank you, I appreciate it,” he says. 

There’s a moment of silence before Ray breaks it. “I’ll meet you out there?” He takes a step away from the doorway.

”Wait,” Mikey says. Ray looks back to him with a confused look. “You’re insanely talented with the guitar,” he says, almost like a confession. He felt pathetic like this.

”Oh yea? Thanks Mikey!” Ray beams. “I need to play more. I feel out of practice, been too busy,” he scratches the top of his head and looks away.

“Well it definitely didn’t sound like it,” Mikey reassures. He takes a step forward, not to necessarily get in Ray’s space, but more so to indicate he wants to leave the room. 

Ray smiles and looks at Mikey. Mikey almost feels like he looks all over him, looking at his hair, eyes subtly looking at his body, and back up to his eyes. But he wasn’t sure.

”You got a new PlayStation, right?” Ray steps out of the way for Mikey to lead him back to the living room. Mikey nods and smiles as he walks out of Gerard’s room toward the living room, still clutching the vial, hot in his hands. 

“You play Crash, right?” Mikey asks. 

“Yea, of course I do!” Ray responds. ”Wait, did you buy the new one?”

Mikey nods. “Mhm,” he hums. “Over by the console. I’ll meet you over there. I’m gonna grab a drink,” Mikey rushes to the kitchen while Ray goes back to the living room.

”You’re already playing? Let me try!” Mikey hears Ray shout from the other room. He can hear Gerard and Frank laughing, and the music from the game blast through the TV. 

Mikey wraps the vial in a napkin and throws it away. He walks back into the living room. Ray is back in his spot on the couch,  Gerard playing the game from the floor and Frank right behind him on the couch. The only spot really open is next to Ray (of course it is), so he plops down on the cushion, bringing his legs up to sit criss-cross. 

Ray turns to him. “Did you get your drink?”

Mikey, completely forgetting he needed to do that, quickly comes up with a lie. “Uh, I ended up drinking it in the kitchen. It was just water,” he shrugs.

Ray buys it, nodding and then focusing his attention back on the TV. Mikey decides to do that as well.

”Gerard, you suck at this!” Frank teases, reaching to grab the controller from his hands. Gerard yells, still focused on the TV as he clearly loses, trying to fight off Frank. Mikey and Ray laugh at the exchange, Mikey noticing how Gerard almost leans into Frank’s touch. He’d ask him about it later. 

Frank was practically on top of Gerard, finally getting his hands on the controller with a maniacal laugh. “You’re insane Frankie,” Gerard breathes through a chuckle, fixing his hair and getting up. “This game is hard.”

Mikey laughs. “Is it? The game store guy said it’s so easy, children could play it.”

This makes Frank and Ray laugh, while Gerard looks offended. “Well you talked to a professional!” He squawks. “They like, have to play games all the time! Whatever,” he pouts but it’s clearly for show. 

Frank turns around and pats his shoulder. “You’ll get ‘em next time,” he smirks before whipping back around, swapping spots with Gerard. Frank sits on the floor, back against the couch, where Gerard sits behind him. His legs are pulled up on the couch (just like Mikey) but it isn’t long before his legs come down and almost cage Frank. Neither of them pay any mind to it, but Mikey does. And when he looks at Ray, who is looking at the other two, it’s clear that they’re both thinking the same thing.

They watch each other take turns playing the game, cheering and drinking and enjoying each other’s company. It’s really nice, and Mikey feels so out of body. Not in a bad way, just in the way one feels when experiencing nostalgia; doing something you haven’t done in a long time and reliving the emotions as if it were the first time. Feeling normal again. Mikey guesses he really took these feelings for granted, and every single hangout he has had with these people has made him overwhelmed with all these emotions. 

When they get bored of playing, they sit around, facing each other and talking about anything and nothing. 

Until Frank opens his mouth with the inevitable. 

“You guys saw the news the other night, right?”

Mikey and Gerard share a look. “That’s a little vague,” Gerard says. 

“The murder in the alley. We were working that night when it happened. Crazy shit,” there's a pause before Frank speaks again. “Alright, I gotta ask you guys. Do you think that was a murder?”

Mikey feels impending doom. Like he knows what Frank is going to bring up. “I mean, it looked like he was killed? I’m not sure where you’re going with this,” he does his best to fake confusion. He knows exactly what happened. 

Frank takes a swig of his beer. “You guys are punk enough. You gotta believe in vampires.”

The sentence felt like a gunshot. Every emotion Mikey had felt, had enjoyed, disappeared, just like that. He felt like he was suffocating. He was so nervous. 

“A stabbing? No fuckin’ way. That was some vampire shit,” he shoves a handful of chips in his mouth, offering some to Gerard who shakes his head no. He makes eye contact with his brother now, looking visibly paler than usual.

”Are you guys okay?” Ray asks, a face full of concern. 

“Sorry, it’s just been irking me for a few days,” Frank says. “I guess I needed to vent.”

”No, you’re fine!” Gerard blurts. “I just wasn't expecting that? I don't now,” he takes a sip of his own drink. “I do believe in vampires, I guess I just don’t try to pay attention to them.”

”Same,” Mikey says, mind running a mile a minute trying to think of responses on the fly. “I didn’t realize how prevalent they were. Thought they just kept to themselves.”

”I think they do for the most part,” Ray chimes in. “But there’s been some commotion with strings of murders across Jersey lately. It’s getting the people talking.”

”Huh,” Gerard manages to get out. “I guess I gotta pay attention to the news more.”

”Well the news won’t tell you shit,” Frank sneers. “I’m sick of them trying to cover up their existence. I guess it’s to prevent a big community panic or something,” he mumbles into his beer bottle. “But it’s all shit, I don’t know.”

Mikey coughs awkwardly. What the fuck can he say to end this painful conversation?

”Well thanks for telling us. We’ll be more careful at night.”

”Yea, thanks. Scary shit, man,” Gerard adds. 

It’s awkward then. Painfully. Mikey can see Gerard is biting the inside of his cheek, Frank is finishing off his beer, and Ray is taking in the decorations in the living room. 

“Who works nights when we’re not there?” Mikey blurts out. Partly to veer the conversation as slightly as he can, and partly because he has a genuine curiousity. 

Ray happily answers. “Brian does, actually,” he turns to Mikey. “He’s a weird guy. It’s him, or his cousin. Or if either of them don’t feel up for it, they simply close early.” 

“I wish we could do that sometimes,” Frank says. “Some nights it’s just too much. Vibes are bad, you know?”

Ray nods. “Yea, but it’s definitely been nicer to have extra company,” he says, and then looks at Mikey, still speaking to everyone. “Makes us feel safer.”

Mikey stares back, not sure what to say. Of course he agrees with Ray, grateful they all have each other for shifts that wouldn’t be an average person’s first choice to work. He manages a slight nod, mouth naturally open just a little, not realizing it’s open. 

“We’re definitely grateful to work with such chill people,” Gerard says. “The night brings along its fair share of interesting people to say the least. But a job isn’t good without great coworkers, so. Yea, thanks for being normal.”

Frank and Ray chuckle. “I wouldn’t say we’re normal, but I know what you mean,” Frank says.

”We’re just some punk losers who chose to work a job during hours we’d probably be playing video games. And that wouldn’t pay the bills, now would it?” Ray smiles. And when Ray smiles, everyone tends to smile back.

Mikey stands up, stretches a little, and starts to grab the empty bottles. “I’m gonna clear some stuff out of the way,” he takes the empty bottle from Frank who hands it over with ease.

”Thanks man,” he says before striking up a random conversation with Gerard. Mikey doesn’t bother to listen, it’s clear they want to be in their own world right now, which is fine. He’s still a little shaken up from the conversation, and if he could snap his fingers and disappear, he would. 

“Here lemme help,” Ray stands, holding his own glass of water (designated driver) and holds a hand out for Mikey to give him some of the things he’s holding. Mike hands him another bottle, and they make their way to the kitchen, setting the glass in the sink and the chip bag in the trash.

Ray washes his hands quickly at the sink. “Hey uh,” he starts, not looking at Mikey. “Don’t mind Frank. He gets passionate about certain stuff, safety and all that shit. I promise he means well,” hedres his hands off on a towel and finally looks at Mikey. “He wasn’t trying to poke and prod or anything. We know you guys well enough to know you’re not like,suspicious or anything,” Ray chuckles. Mikey can’t even make himself force one out. He just looks at the floor for a second, and then back up to Ray with a small nod. 

That’s good enough for the both of them, it seems. Frank and Gerard find themselves in the kitchen now, finishing up the last of their own conversation. 

“You ready man?” Ray asks Frank.

Frank smiles. “Yea! I was just telling Gerard we gotta jam out some time or something. This fucker can sing. Sing!”

”I just mentioned I used to do theatre, I haven’t even sung in front of him yet,” Gerard laughs. 

“Whatever. You’ve got that singing energy or some shit, I don’t know,” He flails his arms around in a circular motion in front of Gerard. “I’m tipsy right now,” he giggles and hiccups.  “My bad, I did not think that was gonna happen.”

Mikey waves a hand in dismissal. “We all knew we were gonna drink tonight, so it’s all good dude.”

Frank giggles again and looks at the brothers. “This was fun. We should do it again,” he focuses the last sentence at Gerard, who beams.

”Totally! We have plenty more games and beer where that came from,” Gerard says, and Frank giggles and pats his back.

”We should get going, it’s definitely late,” Ray says. “Not that we haven’t all stayed up all night multiple days in a row but,” he sighs with a tired smile. “I need good sleep sometimes.”

They make their way toward the door. Frank is already opening it and shuffling his way out with a mutter of goodbyes and a final point to Gerard. “Get ready to sing your heart out next time!” He practically shouts. Ray laughs at him and turns to the brothers before leaving.

”Thanks for having us over. Like Frank said earlier, it was fun,” he flashes his award winning smile. “See you guys later.”

Once the door closes, the brothers stand together in silence. Mikey has his head down and Gerard stares at the door.

A moment later, Mikey speaks, eyes still focused on the hardwood. 

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

They refuse to talk about the weekend. It’s a mutual agreement they made without even talking to each other. 

Because if they talk about it, they’re both going to crash out. Or cry. Or both.

With how shit their lives have been the last five years, all they’ve wanted was a sense of normalcy. Something good. Mikey thought they had it. Things were fine, work was good, they finally made some friends, and up until Frank went and fucked it all, Mikey was happy.

Okay, Frank didn’t fuck it, but the whole tipsy vampire questionare at 11PM the other night was not what either brother needed.

They walk down the desolate street and turn to make their way behind a store, very mindful of their surroundings. 

Behind the store was a dumpster. Both brothers stared at the thing, not wanting to do what they were about to do. But they were hungry, and Jenny and Ryan haven’t been very resourceful for blood bags lately. 

“I can hear them in there,” Mikey sighs quietly. He rolls his eyes before inching his way to the dumpster. He pauses for a moment to listen again, and then turns to Gerard. “Digs on the raccoon,” he says. 

Gerard gives him a look. ”Fuck you, “ he says as he meets up with Mikey to stand inches from the dumpster.

”On three?” He then asks.

Mikey nods. “One, two, three.”

They swiftly lift open the dumpster top and are met with a raccoon and a few rats. Before the raccoon can leap onto Mikey in a fit of rage, he takes his nails and pierces the side of the raccoon, who cannot wail before Mikey lifts it up and pierces it again with his fangs, draining the blood quickly. Gerard has a rat in his mouth already, life gone in a flash before tossing it and fishing for another one. 

To them, the principle of it is gross.They don’t particularly like it, and by it they mean the whole dumpster-diving gig, but food is food. And they’d be lying if they said the blood wasn’t good. Blood fuels them. It’s almost like their ways of consuming it is the vegan way. Whatever that means.

Gerard finishes drinking from his last rodent when he flies his head back with a euphoric smile and goes, “Is this a bad time to tell you I think Frank is hot?”

Mikey is licking the blood off of his fingers when he whispers back. “Actually yes, this is a bad time.”

Gerard gives him a look. “Listen, I can’t keep things from you, you’re literally the only person I talk to. Besides Frank and Ray, but I don't think this is a conversation I can have with Frank yet,” he tosses the rat he was holding back into the dumpster and licks his teeth. “Or ever. Sorry, I guess.”

Mikey sighs and straightens himself up. He looks around again to make sure they’re in the clear, and then looks back at Gerard. “How about we talk about this when we’re not looking through a dumpster?”

Gerard nods and stands up. He wipes the excess blood on his black jeans and they begin to walk back home.

After a minute or so, he brings it back up. “I don’t want to like him, Mikey,” he sighs, kicking a rogue pebble. “But every time I’m near him I just get a weird feeling. Not good, not bad, just weird. And I think after suppressing it for the past month or so, I just,” he pauses for a second. Looks up to the stars. “I stopped denying it.”

It’s silent between the two of them for a few minutes. The whistling wind was louder than anything else. 

“Do you ever get those weird feelings?” Gerard asks.

Mikey thinks. Everyone gets a weird feeling in their stomachs. An unknown type. He tries to reflect on it. Has he? The only time he can really recall a weird feeling inside is when he’s been around—

Oh.

Oh.

He doesn’t get a chance to reflect on it.

“It’s never gonna work out, is it Mikey?” The sentence startles him. He has no idea how to answer that. As his little brother, it’s his duty to lift him up when he needs it. For all the times Gerard guided him through his own struggles, being the shoulder to cry on, the helping hand. But he is also the one to tell him the truths he doesn’t want to hear. And he’s scared this is one of those times. 

They’re at their front door now, and Gerard is looking at Mikey, searching his face for any kind of answer. Mikey doesn’t know what kind of answer he can give.

”Can I tell you something?” Mikey asks so quietly. Barely coherent. But Gerard can hear it. He nods for Mikey to continue, and Mikey notices his eyes are glossy.

”I think,” he starts. “I think I know how you feel.”

His lip quivers and tears form in his eyes. 

“Ray?” Gerard practically mouths, the whisper so quiet, and when Mikey breaks, overwhelmed with all these emotions and hit with the truth neither of them want to reveal, Gerard pulls him into a hug so tight it knocks the wind from both of them. They sink to the ground on the front steps, both crying on each other’s shoulders, not really sure how to face their new truth.

Ray is about to leave the lab for the day when he stops in his tracks before passing the break room, deciding to eavesdrop on the intense conversation happening that caught his attention.

”And what does this have to do with me?” He hears Jenny ask. 

“Dude, c’mon. You gotta be more careful. They’re gonna start to catch on,” he can hear his coworker Neil. “You’re doing too much.”

”You don’t understand Neil, I’m in too deep. If I don’t help Ryan, he’s going to kill me,” she barely says the last of her sentence with any coherency, but Ray hears it loud and clear. “Stop talking to me about it, please.”

”Jenny I can’t,” Neil says. ”I never see you outside of work. Ryan, is he hurting you?”

Ray hears shuffling around and starts to panic, going back around the corner and starting to walk by as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He almost collides with Jenny as she rushes out of the break room. “Oops! Sorry!” Ray says, but Jenny is barreling it out of the lab. When he turns to see Neil in the break room, Ray can barely make a face before Neil shakes his head and turns around to pack his own things. Ray bites his lip and leaves work, keeping her and whoever this Ryan guy is in the back of his mind.

When the next day comes around, neither Gerard nor Mikey leave their coffins (it was that kind of night) until late in the evening. A combination of newfound feelings and the meeting they were threatened to go to by a scary ass vampire had them dreading being awake. 

Mikey steps out of his coffin, cracking some of his bones during a series of stretches before getting dressed. They had about thirty minutes before the meeting started, but the time passing was agonizing. 

He meets Gerard in the kitchen, both changed into nicer clothes (they were not given a dress code) and they share a look. “If we weren’t threatened into this shit, I’d be laying in my coffin for another month,” Gerard sighs. Mikey notices his eyes are a little puffy.

”We should probably go,” Mikey mutters before grabbing his jacket. They get in the car and Gerard drives to Rosalie’s, which isn’t very far from their neighborhood. 

The parking lot had a decent amount of cars in it. The Rotary Club sign was set up out front, and the brothers watch a group of cackling friends walk inside. Gerard gulps.

“Fuck this,” he says. 

They get out of the car, not really having a choice, and make their way to the door. Eric decides this is the perfect time to step outside. “Well look what the cat dragged in!” He smirks, arms out. “I was hoping you guys would show up!”

”Well, I think we were threatened into coming, quite honestly,” Mikey mutters. 

Eric turns his attention to him. “Maybe so,” he smizes. “But it worked, no?”

They don’t answer him. He purses his lips before speaking again. “It fills up quick. Better go find a seat.”

Mikey’s eye almost twitches, he’s so irritated. They walk past him and head inside. There are some faces they both recognize, but mostly people they have never seen before.

Mikey spots Ryan, his dealer, if you can call it that, and almost beelines it for him, Gerard right behind him. “Hey dude,” Mikey says. “Can we sit here?”

”Woah you guys are here?” Ryan smiles. “I thought you two were too good for this shit!” Ryan chuckles. “Of course you can sit here,” he makes a gesture for the seats, and the brothers sit down. “You met Jenny right? She’s been making my runs lately.”

Jenny gives a shy wave. When Ryan nudges her, she speaks. “Hi Mikey. And you are?” She looks at Gerard.

”Gerard,” he says. “I’m Mikey’s brother.”

She nods. “Nice to meet you.”

Gerard nods back. “Likewise.”

”They’ve been allowing familiars to come now so she’s been coming along. It’s good for them to know what’s going on, too,” Ryan explains. He points to some people in the crowd. “All those guys? Familiars. Everyone should get one if I’m being honest. They do all the dirty work for ‘ya,” he chuckles and nudges Jenny again, whose face stays expressionless. 

Mikey gets a bad taste in his mouth. Ryan has never been like this, at least around Mikey. But then again, he’s only ever interacted with him in small increments, a quick deal and departure and various text message exchanges. Having a full blown attempt at a conversation and it’s not even five minutes deep before Mikey wants to punch this guy. He senses Gerard feels the same when they share a subtle look, and they both shift a little in their seats.

”You all know what time it is!” Eric’s voice booms through the space. It sounds fake. “Let’s get this show on the road!” 

He positions himself in the center of the space, and does a slow spin around to look at the other vampires. When he sees Mikey, it’s like his eyes flash extra red, and Mikey can't help but make his face go sour.

“Business as usual. We’ve got some accomplishments to announce and a quick update on some information I’ve acquired,” the crowd oohs with Eric’s remarks. He smiles. “But first! And please, hold your lovely applause until I finish, we’ve got a short but sweet list of things some of you have accomplished!”

Mikey hates how much of a show he is putting on. It’s overdone, weird, and it feels like it's compensating for something.

Eric points to a teenager, roughly 13-15. Mikey wants to vomit at the concept of a teenage vampire. 

“Lovely Vanessa has successfully killed five pedophiles!” She beams at the murmurs of praise. “And may those bastards continue to die,” Eric says and Vanessa nods excessively.

Eric points to an older man. “Gus finally overcame his rice-counting after forty years!” Gus throws a thumbs up. “Crazy how we still suffer from folklore habits. But it’s possible to break the cycle, friends!”

Mikey was beginning to find some of this amusing. Not because of Eric, but simply from how pure or actually relevant these accomplishments were. Not all vampires are evil bloodsucking murder freaks who make it their whole immortal life mission for world domination.

”Suzanna managed to turn her entire family into vampires this past weekend,” Eric points to whom Mikey can assume is Suzanna, and she gestures to her whole family who waves. “We are so happy you’re all here.”

So that accomplishment is a little weird.

“Let’s give them a lovely round of applause!” The group does as so, clapping and cheering in a way that’s a little too much for Mikey’s taste. He and Gerard clap hesitantly.

”Now, I heard some things about the coalition that I think need to be known,” Eric says, the group locked in with every word hanging from his mouth.

”We all know our lovely little friend Veronica, right?” He sneers, and the vampires laugh and mock in response. Mikey makes the wild assumption Veronica is not their friend. “Sources told me they're looking to bring back the night watch.”

The vampires break out into various responses. Hissing, laughing, talking, whispering, sharing looks and glances. Eric laughs. “I’m not saying this because I want to start any wars,” he says. ”I’m saying this so we can all be more aware of who to kill if necessary,” he looks around the room again and meets the brothers’ gaze. “Now we all know I don’t give a shit about hunters. They aren’t any match for our strength. Our willpower. But this watch…I’ve heard more good than bad. Although, they did disband after the county fair that was held here years ago.”

The county fair. Mikey gulps, and he clenches his teeth. He can’t think about it right now.

”My point is, the night watch goes against our rights as vampires to roam the darkness freely. They are stripping us of our ethics! Our freedoms! Let us live and we will let them live!” There’s a beat of silence before Eric starts laughing. “I’m kidding. A lot of these people deserve to die anyway.”

Some vampires, the more seasoned ones, Mikey notices, laugh along with him. Mikey looks for the nearest escape route.

“I'm working on making a list of the people who decide they want to be on the night watch. And once I receive this list, you will all know who to kill if needed,” Eric smiles, but it feels purely evil. “Sound good?”

He's met with another good reaction from the group that the brother’s hate. They remain neutral, with an exposition similar to the familiars. Mikey sees Gerard make eye contact with Jenny, who looks tense. 

“And if you happen upon them before I see you next time, you know what you need to do,” his words dripped an evil cadence. With a loud clap of his hands, he clears his throat to deliver a final statement. “Our little Rotary Club will meet back here in two weeks. Now get out,” he smiles. 

The vampires begin their conversations and shuffle out of Rosalie’s, and the brothers attempt to squeeze themselves in the crowd filing out. They can barely get up before Eric is at their table. 

“Short and sweet,” he says. “And you’ll all be back for the next one?” 

“Of course man,” Ryan says. Jenny nods.

”I’ve got a special role for you familiars,” Eric takes a strand of her short hair and lets it run through his fingers. “Here’s a sneak peek: this won’t be your only meeting, dear,” he cackles and Ryan joins him.

Eric turns to the brothers. “I think you two should contribute to the accomplishments list for the next meeting. Maybe…kill some actual people? Oh! You’re little store friends there. That’ll make a good story!”

Mikey can’t hide a sneer. “You know we can’t do that. You do realize how bad that would look,” he says.

Eric cackles again. “Shame. They smelled delectable last time I went in,” he taps a finger to his chin. “Maybe when they’re older and have outgrown that shithole I’ll reconsider.”

The brothers tense up at this. “Leave them alone,” Gerard spits. 

Eric feigns a shocked reaction. “And why should I do that? Are you two—are you friends with these guys? Your human coworkers at your pathetic little job? Get real,” Eric spits back. “Do they know who you really are?” He pokes a finger into Mikey’s chest. “Do they know you live off of the taste of their blood? That you could strike them at any moment? They’re not your friends, Mikey and Gerard. They’re pathetic humans you work with. They are beneath you. And I pity the fool you two will make of yourselves when you face that reality.”

Mikey can’t stand it anymore. He grabs Gerard’s arm and storms out of Rosalie’s, speed walking to their car. 

“He is truly the worst person I have ever met,” Gerard sighs. They quickly get in the car,and Gerard has it out of that parking lot faster than you can say it.

“I need him dead, G,” Mikey seethes. “Who does he think he is threatening us and Ray and Frank? They haven’t even done anything. What the fuck man?” He’s so pissed off, biting the inside of his cheek before he thinks about wanting to punch something. “First we get bit years ago. Then when we finally decide we should turn our shitty fucking lives around, we meet guys we both fucking like and then this fucker taunts us with it. We haven’t done anything! I don’t get it!” He throws a fist at the window. It doesn’t do anything more than make a noise, but it felt necessary anyway.

“We’re easy targets,” Gerard mutters.

Once they get into their house, Gerard starts to pace around the table. “Fuck it. I’m gonna tell Frankie how I feel.” 

Mikey immediately recoils at that. “Dude, after all that? That feels a little selfish, no?”

”Selfish?” Gerard squawks. “I deserve to live how I want to live, Mikey! I refuse to let Eric take over our lives, just like that! We barely know him. He could be all bark anyway. I’m sure this can be resolved somehow.”

”And how do you think that will happen?”

”I don't know! Fuck!” Gerard runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll figure it out on the way. Damnit Mikey, I wanna be with him. I deserve nice things too,” he sits down at the table now, head in his hands.

”I know you do. We both do. But we aren't normal anymore. It’s risky, G. I hate it. We can’t put their lives at risk.”

”He’ll find out who I really am eventually,” Gerard sighs. “And I won’t think about that moment right now. But I don’t think you can change my mind about this,” he pushes himself up off the chair. “I know you’re trying to look out for me. But sometimes you need to let me make my own mistakes. And if Frankie is my next mistake, at least I can say I learned a lesson rather than dwell on the what if’s. I don’t deserve that, and neither do you.”

Gerard turns and makes his way to his room, leaving Mikey at the table.

Chapter Text

Frank has been feeling on top of the world lately.

He finally feels like things are under control for him. He’s good on paying his never-ending loans, paying his rent, Gerard kissed him a month ago, he got to visit his parents the other night, Gerard kissed him a week ago, the coalition meetings have been making good progress, Perason’s hasn’t been a shitshow, Gerard kissed him thirty minutes ago, and Gerard just kissed him now.

Was he forgetting anything?

”Hey, snap out of it,” Gerard brings him back into focus with yet another kiss. Frank melts into it. It’s not speedy, aggressive or progressing into anything further. They’re sitting in Gerard’s living room, TV playing reruns of an old show they are definitely not paying attention to. 

“Sorry,” Frank sighs. “Had a little reflection moment thingy goin’ on. Sometimes it just happens,” he leans a little away from Gerard, adjusting his shirt and licking his lips absentmindedly before standing up, checking the clock on the wall.

”Awh, it’s already almost five?” Gerard pouts. He stands up too. 

“Time flies when you’re having fun I guess,” Frank smiles.

Gerard rolls his eyes and shoves Frank lightly. “Don’t be corny.”

”That’s impossible for me, you know that.”

”Old habits die hard?”

”Exactly.”

Frank takes a small step closer to Gerard.  “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Gerard smiles. “Come over before work. We’ll just go in together.”

Frank smirks, looking in Gerard’s eyes before bringing them down to his lips. “Make Mikey go in earlier,” he jokes.

Gerard chuckles. “I’ll see what I can do,” he jokes back. 

Frank leans in to kiss him, taking his time. Savoring it. Still trying to process it. Gerard fucking kissed him a month ago and told him he liked him. It was kind of a spur of the moment, Frank still trying to make sense of it and the swiftness of it. But he remembers it like it was yesterday. 

They were alone at Gerard’s, Mikey having gone out somewhere (Gerard didn't really give him a clear answer) because Gerard wanted Frank to show him some guitar stuff. Frank realizes now it was likely a ruse, but he does in fact get giddy about showing off his guitar so he doesn’t mind. 

He went from playing the guitar, noticing Gerard inch closer and closer, stopping him periodically to point at parts of the guitar and ask him questions about the model, to dropping his fingers from the bridge to the output jack to Frank’s thigh, grazing there so lightly it felt like how a shadow might dance on the wall it appears on. Frank’s strumming slowed tempo, heart beating so fast he was convinced it would pop out. His mouth hung open just so slightly, his breath shaky. Gerard’s fingers were cold as they touched his cheek. He ran his thumb under his bottom lip, lip ring moving before he ran that thumb across his cheekbone. Frank’s eyes darted from Gerard’s lips to his eyes, and when he couldn’t restrain himself any longer, he surged forward and kissed Gerard. It was needy, a little messy but beautiful in the same breath. The guitar long set beside them on the ground without breaking contact. They kissed until their lips became swollen and red. When Gerard moved down to his neck, Frank fought back every feeling he had felt very poorly. He let moans ring out as Gerard kissed and licked and sucked. Teeth grazing, a sharp sickening and almost equally, if not more, pleasurable surge of euphoria taking over his body, feeling rooted in his neck where Gerard fixated on. Frank was incoherent and blissful and fucking horny. It felt like a moment straight from a porno. He felt filthy, and he indulged in every waking second of it.

It was simply nothing he has ever experienced before. He doesn’t know what wizardry-black-magic-deal-with-the-devil Gerard made to be so good, but Frank wasn’t going to question it. It has been one of Frank’s favorite nights ever, and he couldn’t get enough of the feeling now a month later. 

They walk to the door at the same time Mikey walks to the kitchen, deep into his phone, texting someone. “Hey Mikey,” Frank says. “Who’re you texting so intensely?”

Mikey looks up. “Your mom,” he deadpans, setting his phone down and reaching into the cupboard for a glass, not paying them any mind. 

Frank laughs. “Clever,” he says sarcastically and turns to Gerard. “I’ll call you later, okay?” 

Gerard nods. “Okay.”

They share one more kiss before Frank leaves. He has his second meeting with the night watch in a few, and he couldn’t wait. They were finally giving him his first assignment, ready to start after they discovered some information to begin planning. He was so eager to kill a vampire, call him crazy, but knowing he’d do a service to the people made him feel so ready. 

While he considers the coalition a big part of who he is, he hasn’t really talked about it with Gerard. To be honest, he hasn’t felt ready to share that part of himself. Besides the night the group all hung out and he gave a tipsy spiel of the alleyway murder, he kind of kept his opinions to Ray. He noticed Gerard was uncomfortable and clearly a little lost on it, and they haven’t really had the chance to actually sit down and talk about it. He’d tell him soon though. He wants to tell him after completing his first assignment.

The group was getting together at Gio’s again since he was another member on board with the night watch. Ray couldn’t make this meeting since he was out of town for his mom’s birthday. Frank wasn’t annoyed, he knew Ray wouldn’t have much time for the smaller assignments anyway. And he enjoyed recapping it for him too.

Four people and Veronica sit at the counter, and Gio makes a sandwich from behind it. They’re all making small conversation and eating when he walks in. “Right on time,” Gio smiles as he sets a plate down where Frank sits. “Your usual.”

”Gio, I could kiss you right now,” Frank beams as he takes a bite. “Trees will be planted in your honor, I swear on it.”

“I told you guys I found out some more information since we last spoke,” Veronica shuffles papers and lays them out. The group peers at them. “These are records from the hospital’s back lab. Where they run all the blood tests. And they keep a file of every redraw they’ve had to do for legal reasons. In the past six months, the phlebotomy lab has had a 60% increase in redraws. And if you look there,” she points to a section of the paper. “They document the reason. A lot of them say they clotted in the tube, and quite a few say they are missing. Missing?! That’s absurd,” she shakes her head.

“Clotting can be common, but the amount of documented tubes with the same dates is a little insane,” Leah, a member of the group, says. “I’m a nurse. I’ve been seeing patterns of this issue a lot with the phlebotomy lab. Ray works there, I’m sure he might know something? But then again, he probably would’ve brought it up by now.”

”Maybe he hasn’t noticed? I know he draws blood, but he doesn’t do much of the lab stuff,” Frank chimes in. The group nods. 

“I think there’s someone on the inside playing a dealer role, almost,” Tyler, another member, says. 

“Bingo,” Veronica points to him. “They’ve got a dealer. Or dealers, I’m not so sure. But there’s someone. What’s great about the coalition though, is that we all come from various backgrounds. We all know Cam? He works in cyber security. And you all remember when we got Robert Witter?”

They nod. Robert Witter was a vampire that seemed to be known a good deal by other vampires. He was killed by hunters a while ago. That’s about as much as Frank knows.

”We looked through his belongings, and came across a boatload of contacts in a burner phone he kept on him. Cam hacked into it and obtained all those phone numbers. We tested out a phishing text to just a handful of random messages. Most of them didn't respond, but a few did. We disguised the message to let them know a supply has come in and is ready if they want it delivered to them. So,” Veronica sighs. “I’ll need three of you stationed in various spots around Belleville to play dealers for those who responded to us,” she pulls out some shitty burner phones from her bag and sets them on the counter. “Frank, I know you wanted to hop on an assignment as soon as possible, so that is one spot covered. Who else?” 

Leah and Gio volunteer themselves. Veronica hands them the phones. “Conversations have already started. I expect you to finish them, set up a meeting time, and call us if anything goes array.”

The rest of the meeting consisted of how Frank, Gio and Leah were going to execute their assignment. From clothes, a bag of vampire hunter gear rather than the blood they’d be expecting, amongst other details. Frank was excited. He was already typing out a message from the burner phone as he made his way out the door. He noticed the fake name on the burner phone was Ryan, so he used that in a message. 

RYAN: Do you have any particular time you’d want to meet? I’m free all night. 

It takes almost no time for the vampire to respond. Frank didn’t like that there was no name. 

UNKNOWN: as soon as possible.

please

11?

RYAN: Behind the junior high?

UNKNOWN: sure how much

Frank didn’t know how to respond. 

RYAN: $30?

UNKNOWN: no sry

blood 

Frank panics. He didn’t think this through and if he doesn’t sound believable he might blow his cover. 

RYAN: 2 bags.

UNKNOWN: okay

see you at 11

He gets a weird feeling in his stomach, almost like a stomachache. And it’s really all hitting him at once that he has to kill a vampire tonight. He’s only ever assisted in killing one, not actually doing the deed alone. He knows the coalition will be on standby if needed, but he thinks about the logistics of trying to call someone while being a vampire’s long awaited feast. It was almost pointless. 

At the same time he felt ready. The adrenaline will kick in and the vampire will be no more. This “UNKNOWN” will never ask for another ounce of blood ever again.

He didn’t expect the meeting to end as quickly as it did, so he pulls out his other phone and texts Gerard. 

FRANK: Finished early. 

G: Sick! What’s the plan now?

FRANK: Gonna grab dinner I think. Don’t feel like cooking.

G: Do you like pasta?

FRANK: Who doesn’t?

G: It’ll be ready in 10.

Frank found himself walking into Gerard and Mikey’s seven minutes later, practically floating at the smell of pasta sauce wafting through the house.

”Whoo! It smells good in here!” Frank yelled as he stepped inside. When he looked up to see Gerard cooking, he smiled.

Then he noticed Mikey. Makes sense. He lives here too.

And Ray?

“You’re supposed to be out of town, Raymond,” Frank says, making his way to Gerard by the stove.

”I was out of town. My mom’s birthday ended up being brunch and then my dad was being…too much, like he usually gets, so I left shortly after. And these two texted me and asked if I wanted dinner,” Ray shrugged with a smile.

Frank got close to Gerard and put his arm around him in a half-hug, rubbing his shoulder. Gerard leaned his cheek towards Frank’s face, and he leaned in to kiss it.

“Glad you think the food smells good. I don’t cook very often, if I’m being honest,” Gerard says.

”I think you should cook more often, this smells amazing,” Frank smiles. “Do you need any help?”

Gerard shrugs, but Frank takes it as a yes. He grabs plates and sets them on the table, the cups, then silverware. Ray and Mikey are talking about this month’s Game Informer magazine, hunched close over the pages as Ray points to something. He hears Mikey giggle.

”Was Gerard doing this all by himself before I came over?” Frank asks, putting his hands on his hips for mock dramatic effect. Mikey rolls his eyes.

”We insisted, but he didn’t want any!” Ray says.

”He’s a freak about kitchen help when he makes dinner. I’m shocked you didn’t die when you got three feet from him,” Mikey says.  

“So I’m special?” Frank turns to his boyfriend, blinking dramatically and jutting out his lip.

”You’re special alright,” Gerard laughs as he sets a bowl of pasta down on the table. “All set.”

”This looks great man!” Ray beams, taking the spoon to scoop pasta onto his own plate immediately.

”Thanks G,” Mikey smiles a little.

”Are we just going to brush past that entire prior conversation?” Frank deadpans. 

Gerard just comes up to him and kisses him straight on the lips. “Sit down and eat,” he smiles.

He complies, sitting down next to Gerard. They take turns adding pasta to their plates (besides Ray, who’s already halfway done with his) and enjoying each other’s company. It’s nice, almost domestic, and Frank’s heart feels full. 

In moments like these, Frank feels like an observer. He can be quiet, taking in the details around him while equally being present. He watches how gentle Gerard handles his plate as he lifts it up for seconds. He watches how Ray gets a little sauce on the magazine as he moves it off to the side. He notices how Mikey eats his spaghetti, the way he smacks his mouth ever so slightly, almost as if he’s trying to figure out its taste. And how he focuses extra hard on it. He notices when Mikey gets some sauce on his cheek. He notices how Ray notices, picking up his napkin and absentmindedly going to wipe it off. And he watches how Mikey leans into it, and the embarrassed face he makes when he puts his head back down toward the food, eating in silence. 

“That was really good, thanks!” Ray smiles and leans over to ruffle Gerard’s hair. He blushes and they laugh. 

“Anytime,” Gerard says. Then, “We should watch a movie,” he suggests, not looking at anyone in particular. 

Mikey glances at the clock. “I think we have time for that,” he nods. 

“You have plans later?” Frank asks. He watches Gerard and Mikey look at each other, slightly making facial expressions in a language only siblings understand. 

“Uh, yea,” Mikey says. “Our mom, she wants us to babysit our family dog. They’re going to visit our aunt tonight and stay over ‘cause she lives in Brooklyn. Yea,” he shrugs. 

“Bit of a side quest but it’ll be nice to see the dog!” Gerard smiles. Frank can’t tell if he looks nervous or not. 

“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Frank questions. He wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but he was nosy. Especially since he loves dogs and Gerard never brought it up. 

Gerard blinks. 

“Family dog but she's not very old,” Mikey says. He swallows visibly before continuing. “Still too young to be left alone. She likes chewing on pillows.”

Frank makes a face. He doesn’t really know how to react. He looks at Ray, who makes a face Frank can’t quite decipher. But he seems to also not buy it. 

“I rented 28 Weeks Later, do we wanna watch that?” Gerard asks, changing topics.

“I didn’t realize it was out on DVD yet,” Ray gasps lightly. 

“I’ve heard bad reviews which means I’m gonna love it,” Mikey smirks. Frank nods in agreement.

They settle in the living room, Gerard putting the DVD in the player and hitting start. They all sit together, Frank and Gerard snuggled up of course, making comments throughout the movie and laughing at the parts the group collectively found awful to watch. At one point, Gerard’s cold hand came around the back of Frank’s neck, massaging a knot he didn’t even know he had. He almost moaned at the seemingly magic touch, but he managed to keep his composure as he watched zombies be dumb on screen. 

The movie was over in a flash, and Ray and Frank gathered their things and left shortly after. Before Frank and Ray get into their own cars, Frank pipes up. “Dude, I’m on night watch tonight.”

Ray makes a face. “Holy shit? That quick?” He asks. 

“Yea man, they got me making a special delivery shortly. Turns out the blood you guys draw at the lab is being taken by someone on the inside to give out to vampires. Crazy shit.”

Ray's facial expression changes a few times in the moment, Frank watching Ray visibly process this information. “Makes sense. Fuck, how did I not realize?” He sounds a little upset. 

“It’s alright. How were you supposed to know? I told Veronica you don’t process the blood samples, you just draw the blood. I know you probably would’ve caught on if you were back in the lab yourself,” Frank reassures.

”I guess. But now that I think about it, it makes sense that I’ve seen handfuls of patients I already saw come in for a redraw. Like, too many,” he sighs and runs a hand through his curls. “That just pisses me off, man.”

”I get it,” Frank sighs. “But Veronica thinks this method of playing dealer will get us a head start on killing the damn things,” he opens his car door and takes out his bag. “Got the goodies. Not actual blood, obviously. It’s filled with hunter shit,” he smirks and puts the bag back.

Ray looks a little concerned. “Will you be alright?” He asks. “I can come with you. Do you want me to?”

Frank shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll be okay. If there’s two of us it’ll be bad. I’ll be good.” 

They share a smile. Ray nods. 

“Well, alright then. Please call me if you need anything. Anything. I’m meeting with Veronica tomorrow to talk more about a bigger plan she wants to set in motion. But I'll be around until then,” he opens his car door and steps one foot in. “Call me after if you can.”

”I will,” Frank says before they both finally get in their cars and drive away.

It’s getting close to eleven, time has escaped him today, and the nerves are finally kicking in for him. He knows he’ll be fine. It’s just one measly vampire. He’s got a stake ready in his coat to grab and stab in a swift motion. He’s not one to really get freaked out about things; it’s something he prides himself on. But in a way, he can’t help his nerves this time. And he doesn’t really know why.

Frank parks his car down the street from the junior high, as to not draw suspicion he’s even there. He takes quiet steps, the bag shuffling on his side with every move, and settles by some stairs behind the school. His heart is pumping with adrenaline, and he almost jumps a couple of feet when the burner phone chimes with a text.

UNKNOWN: running late

be there soon

Frank audibly gulps. He doesn’t even bother texting back. The bag is beside him on the ground, and his right hand clutches onto a clammy wooden stake. His eyes dart to everywhere in his peripheral vision, trying to make out silhouettes of things backlit by a flickering streetlight. The only sounds around him are crickets chirping, the occasional gust of wind, and his rapid heart rate.

Suddenly, footsteps can be heard. The grip on his stake gets tighter.

”Ryan?” He hears a voice echo softly. A shadow begins to appear on the asphalt. 

Then another shadow appears.

Frank is royally fucked.

“Over here,” he manages to croak out. The shadows shrink as the vampires approach. 

When they turn the corner, Frank cannot make out their appearances. He doesn’t think they can make out his appearance either. They’re two walking nightmare silhouettes standing feet away from him. It’s eerie.

“Hey Ryan. Thanks again man,” one of the vampires says. It’s a little chipper, yet almost monotone, and Frank finds the voice to sound familiar. 

“Yea, thanks. We’re starving,” the other voice says. This voice Frank pins immediately. No.

And then another step is taken. 

No.

Gerard and Mikey Way stand in front of him. Frank freezes, the wind knocked out of him. He chokes out a noise he can’t suppress.

”Are you alright?” Gerard takes another step forward. 

And then he gasps. 

“Fuck!” Gerard yells.

And then Frank feels something collide with his head. And he feels himself fall to the ground, vision almost black. He feels stunned. Motionless.

”What did you just do?!” He hears Mikey.

”I panicked! Oh my god, fuck Mikey. Fuck! Fuck!”

”So you punched him?”

”He was gonna run away. I—oh my god Mikey we need to run away.”

”We need to bring him home.”

Everything else Frank tries to hear is muffled by his ears ringing. He tries to focus on something, anything to help him regain motion to try and flee before he dies. He can see his vision getting slightly clearer, and he starts to push himself off of the ground. 

“Fuck, he’s moving! Mikey!”

Frank stumbles up almost all the way before he feels a fist collide with his face again, and everything cuts to black. 

Chapter Text

How do you apologize to your boyfriend who you punched because he found out you’re actually a vampire and you discovered he’s a vampire hunter pretending to be your dealer? And then when he tried to run away, your brother knocked him out?

This is the current situation Gerard is in. And right now, he doesn’t have the answers. 

“When do you think he’s gonna wake up?” he asks his brother, who is pacing back and forth in front of an unconscious Frank, who lays on the couch. There’s an ice pack on his cheek that is victim to gravity as it falls on the ground. Gerard picks it up and moves to sit by Frank’s head, holding the ice pack there. 

“Soon. And he’s gonna try and fight. God damnit Gerard, he’s a hunter. We are such idiots,” Mikey pinches the bridge of his nose, pacing stopped. “The signs were there. We just chose to ignore them. And now we’ve gotta do something about your fucking hunter boyfriend who’s gonna out us to everyone. I don’t really want to die, again, thanks!” Mikey picks up his pacing again, Gerard making a face at his jumble of words. 

“Don’t be an asshole right now. He’s not going to out us.”

“How do you know that?” Mikey shouts. “How do you know? He wants us dead. He was there to fucking kill us! I set us up to die. I thought I was texting Ryan when I was texting Frank. Who was trying. To kill. Us,” he grabs the bag Frank had with him and starts to pull out the items inside. “How are you calm about this? A literal stake? Holy water? Garlic? Come on, this shit is textbook hunter stuff! Even if most of it is garbage, it’s still alarming. He and whoever else he’s working with are trying to wipe us all out. They’re dedicated to it.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Mikey stares at Gerard. “You know what I’m trying to say.”

Before Gerard can speak, he is startled by the shifting body next to him. He jolts up and goes over to Mikey, staring at Frank.

He slowly opens his eyes, and as soon as he recognizes that it’s not his apartment, he blinks rapidly and sits up, trying to push himself into the couch to move away but failing and groaning in pain in the process.

When Frank is conscious enough to finally look his boyfriend in the eyes, Gerard wants to cry. It’s a wave of emotions; he has never seen someone look so betrayed and hurt and scared and—

”You’re gonna kill me, aren’t you?”

Frank’s deep, raspy and pained voice takes him out of his thoughts.

”Was this part of your big plan? To lead me on, use me, and chew me up when you felt the time was right? Huh?”

Gerard makes a face. Use? Lead on?

”Use you?” He croaks. “Frank, I was gonna tell you eventually, I—“

”When? Right before you were gonna kill me?”

”No one is going to fucking kill you Frank,” Mikey sighs. He seems much calmer about this whole thing than Gerard is. “Please just let us explain.”

”I need to get the fuck out of here,” Frank spits.

”Let us talk to you. That’s all we ask,” Mikey says.

”Do you think we want to be like this?” Gerard blurts. “Do you think every fucking vampire is some demonic former human who desires to feed off of humans and rule the world? Fuck you,” he yells. Frank almost makes a pained face.

Mikey puts a hand on his shoulder to ground him. “G,” he says quietly.

Gerard scrunches his eyebrows in frustration and sighs. “Frankie, we didn’t want this life,” his lip starts to quiver and his eyes become glossy with tears. “We didn’t ask for this. I wish I could be human again,” he starts to cry now. “It happened five years ago.”

He sinks to the ground, covering his face and choking on his own sobs. He shakes his head, not wanting to recall the memory. 

“Wh—What is he talking about? What is going on?” Frank asks, partially frustrated, partially concerned. 

Mikey lets out a deep breath.

”The county fair. The night all those vampires came and went on a mass killing spree?” Mikey looks anywhere but Frank’s face. “Two victims survived that night,” Gerard’s cries pierce through Mikey’s words. “They meant to kill us. They sucked our blood in just the right way that somehow, we turned. We were confused, scared, and left to die. But we weren’t dying,” he finally looks at Frank. His face is expressionless. “We had to play dead as the vampires killed in a frenzy. We didn’t know what had happened or how we lived, but we knew something was wrong. And when everyone cleared out of fear for their own lives, we fled to the woods, soaked in our own blood, searching for something similar to the smell of it. And when the hunger became so urgent it fogged our minds for just a moment. Before we knew it, we were sitting with a dead deer soaked in her blood and feeling a way we have never felt before. And then, we cried.”

The only sound in the room was Gerard’s sniffles. Each one stabs the air, the sound jarring. Eerie. Uncomfortable.

”We cried for hours. Sobbed until the sun started to rise. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t ask for this. I remember wishing I could have died instead,” Mikey helps Gerard back up. He avoids Frank’s gaze on him. “So we adapted to live the unfortunate life cursed on us since. I’m not gonna sit here and lie and say we’re good vampires. We’ve killed people. Not many, but a few. Bad people. But we usually tend to kill animals or get blood bags. Which you could have gathered,” there’s a little bite to the last sentence. 

There’s silence now. Frank stares at his lap. The brothers stare at Frank. The clock ticking on the wall rings throughout the room, feeling louder than it has ever been. Gerard notices the blooming bruise on Frank’s cheek, and he winces a little at the sight of it. 

“What now?” they hear Frank ask quietly. There’s another pause before he speaks again. "You're not gonna kill me. So what now?”

There’s silence again. Mikey and Gerard have no idea how to answer that. “Do you know the vampires who killed those people down in Cape May? Or the guy who just died in the alley?” Frank gulps loudly when he doesn’t hear a response from the brothers. He looks up to meet their gazes, tears in his eyes. “You know.”

“We have no idea who killed those people down state,” Mikey said. “And trust me, we want to know too. It’s all becoming too much,” he sighs. “But we do know who killed the man in the alley a couple of months ago.”

Frank shakes his head. “You’re going to tell me, and then you’re going to let me leave.”

”We’re not holding you hostage,” Mikey rolls his eyes. 

“His name is Eric,” Gerard says. “We saw him the night the two of us went for a walk. When we told him to keep a low profile, he threatened us. Like, badly. He’s the leader—head of the vampire group up here. And the only reason we know that is because he forced us to go to a meeting against our will,” he takes a step closer to Frank. “We’re on his shit list. And we didn’t even do anything, Frankie. We weren’t trying to keep this from you because we wanted to kill you. That thought has never once crossed our minds. We kept our secret from you because we knew the truth would lead to this. Losing you. Losing Ray. Losing any sense of normalcy Mikey and I haven't gotten to experience since we got bit. I know this is going to change a lot of things. If you decide to leave and never contact us again, I understand. But please, spare us. Just spare us. We aren’t the ones worth catching.”

It’s heavy. And the air feels thick. Frank sits on this information being given to him. It’s a lot, the brothers know that. 

“We want the guy dead,” Mikey mutters. “He’s planning something sinister. And we don’t know how to stop him. We aren’t powerful enough for that,” he casts a look down at his feet, sighing, and then looks back up to look at Frank, taking a step forward to stand with Gerard. “Assuming you’re a part of the vampire coalition, I think you should let us work with you,” Frank goes to speak but Mikey cuts him off. “This isn’t a gimmick. We’re not gonna pull a fast one on you or betray you, ‘cause I know that’s what you were about to say,” he sighs. “Sorry for punching you. I’m gonna leave; let you two talk if you want. See you around, Frank,” he gives one last look to Gerard and makes his way over to his room. Solemn and somber.

The clock ticks. Gerard picks at the dead skin on his lips. Frank looks around the living room.

”You’re scared.”

Frank looks at Gerard, watches him move to sit on the far end of the couch.

”I can sense it. Fear,” Gerard pauses. Frank notices his lip quiver again. “Please don’t be scared of me.”

There’s a lot of factors playing into Gerard’s heightened sense of emotions. For one, it’s late. And while vampires are nocturnal, they still get tired. He’s overtired, overwhelmed by all the events that the night has given them leading up to this moment, and he’s scared. Scared about Frank. Scared about their doomed future. A hunter would never be with a vampire. A vampire shouldn’t even be with a human. Gerard doomed himself from the start and he knew that all along. He told Mikey he knew this would be a mistake. He knew and still pursued it and now he’s facing the reality he knew he’d have to face sooner than he wanted to and it's all just—

“I’m not scared of you.”

Gerard stares at Frank.

”I am scared. Just, not of you,” he clears his throat. “I just—this is a lot, Gerard. Do you understand?”

He bites his cheek and keeps his eyes on Frank.

”I got punched in the fucking face, twice, by my boyfriend and his brother. Passed out and brought here unconscious, only to wake up and be bombarded with information about vampires that I’m still trying to understand. Dealing with the fact that you’re both vampires. You’re a vampire, Gerard. I hunt vampires. I,” his voice is hoarse and scratchy and raw. “I could have killed you.”

“I think I should go. But I will see you at work, and when you’re free, I’ll come over and we’ll talk about, this,” he gestures at nothing in particular with his hands. “But I need to sleep, and think, and have some time for myself,” Frank watches Gerard put his head down. “I’m not implying anything, ‘cause I know that’s what you’re thinking. But I need time to think. Things aren’t just going to go back to normal, because nothing about this is normal. And never has been. But,” he takes in a large deep breath and sighs. “We aren’t breaking up. Just give me some time, okay?”

They look at each other now. It hurts, it’s needed, and all Gerard wants to do is kiss him. Hold him. Just to reassure him that this will all be okay. 

Frank stands up slowly. “I’m leaving now,” he starts to walk. Gerard gets up too, but he doesn’t move. “Goodnight, Gerard.”

Gerard can’t find it in him to speak. He just watches as Frank walks away, and he hears the door open and close. It feels loud amongst the total silence the home is surrounded with. He can’t even bring himself to cry anymore. Why should he? He did this to himself. Signed himself up for something he knew would end terribly. But, it hasn’t ended. Frank said they aren't breaking up. He might have said that because he’s tired and isn’t level-headed enough to be aware of all his surroundings. He is just thinking nonsense at this point. Nothing strings together correctly or in a way that makes any kind of sense right now. 

We aren’t breaking up. Just give me some time, okay?

We aren’t breaking up.

Gerard sighs and goes to his room, Frank’s words echoing in his head.