Chapter Text
Tony sighed as he got into Jaime’s car. “This is probably the dumbest thing you could have done.” He said, turning to look at Jaime. “What if you get hurt?” Jaime shrugged, starting the car. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”
Seven days before
Tony let out a long sigh, looking over at Kellin. “Why’d you have to drag me along? I don’t even know the guy!” Kellin smirked, glancing over at Tony. “I need a wingman, plus it’d be good for you to meet new people.”
Tony rolled his eyes, looking back out the window. He hated when Kellin did this, but he was right. He did need to meet new people.
“How long are we staying?”
“Not long, I promise.”
Tony took a deep breath and waited for Kellin to park the car. “I hate it when you drag me to these things…”
Kellin looked over at Tony, raising a brow. “Oh?” He watched Tony for a bit before putting a hand on his shoulder. “Y’know what. We can leave whenever you want to, okay?”
Tony was quiet for a little bit before shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want to ruin your fun just because I’m in a shitty mood.” Kellin looked genuinely concerned, but eventually took his hand off of Tony’s shoulder.
“C’mon, let’s go.” He said as he got out of the car. Tony followed not too long after and walked up to the front door with Kellin.
He knocked twice and waited for someone to open the door. It didn’t take long for Vic to answer, opening the door with a welcoming smile.
“Hey, Kellin! Who’s this?” He asked, looking at Tony. Tony gave a nervous laugh and looked over at Kellin. Kellin smiled back, wrapping an arm around Tony’s shoulder. “This is Tony. Y’know, the guy I’ve been telling you about.”
“Yeah, I remember. Nice to meet you, Tony.” Tony gave a short lived smile before shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.
Vic let them in and Kellin dragged Tony over to his and Vic’s small group of friends. Tony wasn’t too interested in anything the group was doing, and told Kellin he was going to grab something to drink.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Kellin asked, but Tony shook his head and walked off. Kellin was about to go after Tony, but Vic put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “He’ll be fine, Kel.”
*
Tony stepped out onto the back porch and sat down on the steps. Parties hadn’t felt the same ever since he broke up with his ex. Kellin knew that, but had dragged Tony along anyways.
He pulled out a cigarette from his jacket pocket, but just as he was about to light it he heard a voice calling out from behind him.
“Tony?” The voice said. Tony turned to see who it was.
It was Frank Iero. Tony and Frank had been friends for a while, they had met back when Tony was in rehab.
“Holy shit, Frank?” Tony stood to give Frank an awkward side hug. “How’ve you been, man?”
Frank smiled softly, letting out a small laugh. “It’s nice to see ya, man! I’ve been doing great!”
“That’s good to hear.”
The two of them talked for a short while, about everything. About nothing. Tony told Frank about how he finally picked up his guitar again, and Frank told Tony about how he had finally managed to get with Gerard.
“Wow, wow, wow. Wait a second. You got with Gerard?” Tony asked, turning to look at Frank. Frank nodded, his smile widening. “Yeah, man! They’re great… I mean, I’ve had a crush on them ever since I joined the band.”
Tony was quiet for a moment before squeezing Frank’s shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that, I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Tone.”
A comfortable silence filled the space between the two, they hadn’t seen each other since Frank had got out of rehab. It was great to be able to see him again.
*
Kellin had stepped away from the group to go look for Tony, and ended up finding him outside on the back porch.
“Tony, there you are.” He said when he spotted Tony. Tony turned to look at Kellin, and smiled. “Hey, I wanna introduce you to someone.” He said as he waved Kellin over. Kellin stopped beside Tony and looked at the man standing in front of him.
“This is Frank, I met him while I was in rehab. Frank, this is Kellin.”
Frank gave a small wave before blowing cigarette smoke in the opposite direction. “Hey.” Kellin waved back, taking a sip of his drink.
The three stood and talked for a bit before Kellin decided to go back inside and look for Vic.
“He seems pretty cool.” Frank said, taking another drag of his cigarette. Tony nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “Yeah, he is.”
Frank gave Tony a teasing look. Tony had obviously noticed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t like him.” He said, finishing whatever drink he had in his cup. “Mhm.” Frank hummed, not believing Tony one bit.
Tony didn’t like like Kellin, he just saw him as a friend. Plus, Kellin had a crush on Vic and Tony wasn’t currently interested in dating since he had just gotten out of a pretty messy relationship.
They talked for a little longer before parting ways. Tony had went back inside to go look for Kellin, and Frank went to go look for Gerard.
When Tony stepped into the kitchen, he had accidentally bumped into someone. He apologized almost immediately and rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s fine, no worries.” The man said with a soft smile. “Hey, your Tony, right?” Tony looked up hearing the stranger saying his name, he didn’t even know the guy.
“Yeah… how do you know my name?” Tony asked, looking at the slightly shorter male in front of him. “I’m Jaime! One of Kellin’s friends. He talks about you a lot.”
“Oh. He does?”
“Yeah.”
The two stood in awkward silence for a couple of seconds before Jaime spoke. “Do you… wanna walk with me?” He asked, a little embarrassed. Tony thought about it for a second before nodding. “Sure.”
*
The two were quiet as they walked down the sidewalk. Tony had his hands shoved in his pockets, and Jaime was humming to himself.
“So… how’d you and Kellin meet?” Jaime asked, glancing over at Tony. Tony shrugged. “We were friends in high school.”
“Borrringgg.”
“What?”
“You gotta tell me more than that!”
”I dunno… maybe later.”
Jaime slowed down, looking a bit concerned. “Sorry, did I push too much?” Tony shook his head, letting out a small sigh. “No, I just don’t feel like talking about it right now.” Jaime nodded understandingly. “Alright.”
They walked a bit further before turning back. “Kellin mentioned you work at a bar, which one do you work at?”
Tony raised a brow, Kellin really did like talking about him a lot. “Uhm.. I actually got fired. Doesn’t matter though, I work at some music store downtown now.” Jaime hummed. “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you get fired for?”
Tony shrugged. “I was always late.” He then turned to look at Jaime. “What about you?”
“Hmm?”
“Like, what’s your job?”
“Oh! Yeah, yeah. I’m a mechanic.”
Tony looked at him with a bit of surprise. “A mechanic? That’s cool.” Jaime nodded. “Yeah, I really like working with cars. Been like that since I was a kid.”
When they got back, Kellin was talking with Vic near his car. Kellin smiled at the two as they walked over towards them.
Vic turned his head and waved at Jaime. “Hey, Hime!” Jaime’s smile widened when he saw Vic. “Vic, hey man.” Tony watched as Vic and Jaime talked, starting to get uncomfortable. Kellin seemed to noticed, and pulled Tony aside.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, looking up at Tony. Tony didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to say he wasn’t okay, but he didn’t want to say he was when he wasn’t.
“I… can we leave?” Tony asked quietly. Kellin looked a bit confused, had something happened? Did he get hurt? “Uhm.. can you last another hour?” He asked, glancing back over at Vic.
Tony let out a sigh. “Yeah.” Kellin nodded, then rubbed Tony’s arm before walking back over to Vic and Jaime. Tony stood there for a second before going to sit on the curb to smoke a cigarette.