“Do you realize how hard it is to get you to hang out?” Gerard said and laughed, “You're very stubborn.”
“You're learning.” Frank said and smiled.
“If it wasn't for this art project, I wouldn't think you know how to speak. Unless there's vodka running through your veins.”
Franks shrugged, “Yeah, I get kind of crazy when I'm drunk.”
“We all do. I'm sure my stories could beat yours.” Gerard said and laughed, “We all have our poisons.”

That caught Frank's attention more than anything else Gerard had every said to him. We all have our poisons, Frank repeated to himself.

“So what do you think so far?” Gerard asked pulling out a large piece of paper from his messenger bag.

The lower left hand side of the paper was a picture of Frank's head, the top of it looked like it was unhinged. Inside, there was no brain, instead it was a textured swirl that turned into certain objects. It was drawn beautifully with such realistic shading and attention to tiny details that his face looked more like an actual photograph rather than a drawing. Above his head was a swirl of multiple things that Frank had mentioned he'd enjoy. Gerard's idea of what Pansy looked like was drawn in the middle, along with song lyrics of some of his favorite songs. There was Frank's favorite animal, the cat, in there, but it was in zombie form due to his love of the walking dead. It looked amazing. Music notes, comic book characters, movie titles, all of it was there. Lots of other small details that Frank had mentioned in small talk was there, too. Gerard had paid attention to almost everything Frank had said about himself and managed to put it on paper in such a perfect way it gave Frank chills up his neck, and down to his arms.

“It's fucking superb, Gerard, seriously, oh my God.”

Gerard smiled at the compliment of his art, “I tried to explain what's floating around your head. Like, I know all of your thoughts are spinning around there all the time, it seems like it's a kind of.. clustered space sometimes.”

“Uh.. thanks?” Frank laughed.

“No, no. I mean, you seem so intelligent, and have so much to say when you decide to talk, that it just all comes out. Sometimes it's mapped out to come out perfect, but sometimes it just comes out in random chunks. So this was my interpretation of that, what goes on inside Frank Iero's head, that's why it's like.. split open, you know?”

“I think it's amazing, Gerard. You're so talented, I can't even believe it.” he said, “Like... the peculiarity of everything it's so.. intricate and amazing. It's just amazing.” Frank expressed.

Gerard smiled. It took a lot of years to openly show people his art. Most of his drawings spend at least 3 hours to do, never mind a big project like this which took him nearly 10 hours. He kept erasing and redrawing, his anal personality had to make sure that everything was perfect before he showed it to anyone. He loved when he got positive attention from people. Though, very rarely does he show people what he does. 90% of what Gerard draws has never been seen by anyone other than him and maybe his brother.

“Thank you, I appreciate hearing that.” Gerard said simply and smiled. “So are you almost done with yours?”

Frank shrugged, “I don't know. I don't really know what I'm going to do to be honest. I've written a couple of songs the other night that I could probably use, but I don't know for sure.”

Chuckling, “Well, man, you should probably figure it out. Our first rough draft is due in 3 days.”

“I know, I know, don't remind me.” Frank said and groaned.

He flopped down on the chair in the local bookstore where the two boys decided to meet. As he sat down, his shirt lifted a little, revealing his hip bone and his soft, pale skin. Gerard's eyes glanced towards the exposed flesh, and he let his eyes linger for a few seconds. He could see through Frank's thin, white skin, making it possible to spot out every vein in his hip. He didn't let his stare continue for long making it a point to clear his throat, and avert his attention.

Gerard tried hard to restrain his stare for very long. It's been a while since Gerard was attracted to someone on a physical level, let alone a mental one as well. He found Frank to be very interesting. He wanted to learn as much about him as he possibly could. Every time he asked a question, he'd hope Frank would open up and tell him everything. Sometimes he'd get his wish, and Frank would be very open and unguarded, but most of the time Frank was very careful with what he said aloud. Gerard was very verbal around Frank. He couldn't help it, he just seemed to be really comfortable with him. He's not usually one to spill his guts to everyone he meets, but Frank was a good listener and Gerard didn't feel judged.

The last time Gerard was attracted to someone was a full year ago. Casey Logan, an 18 year old boy. Things were great for a while. It was all very new to Gerard. He had always known he wasn't attracted to girls physically, but he assumed he would just be lured in with their mind. He'd make friends with girls and would get really close to them, but any time they would try to to become sexual with each other he'd shut down; he couldn't do it. Until Casey came along. They started out as friends. Casey was openly bisexual, and Gerard didn't think much of it. They became close and spent most days of the week together, until one day Casey put the moves on Gerard. They started with kissing and holding hands. It was innocent enough until Casey asked Gerard to start a relationship with him. Gerard hesitated for a while, but decided to eventually go for it. Casey paved the road for Gerard's sexuality. He learned quickly that he was mentally, physically, and sexually attracted to guys. Since then, has never thought twice about it. He's never really come out as “gay,” but the people who know him the most don't need him to say it, they all know from his past, and all accept him with open arms.

Gerard looked at Frank, starting with his face and following his gaze down to his shoes. His face was rounded, his eyes were green with flecks of brown that sucked you in when he decided to connect them with your own. His nose fit his face well, not too big, but not too small. His eyebrows were arched perfectly, most girls would be insanely jealous of their natural neatness. His lips were thin and the perfect shade of pink. His lip ring complimented the shape of both his lip, and his nose ring did the same for his nose. They didn't over power his face like Gerard often thought piercings did. His clothes almost always were black, and Gerard had noticed that skinny jeans were the only thing his new friend seemed to wear, not to forget his beat up, old, red Converse. They were scuffed, and on the verse of falling apart, but held together just enough to make them look almost.. stylish. Everything about Frank made Gerard interested. His mind was the most appealing thing for him, though. He seemed so smart, and so eager to learn about things. He was also very reserved and shy. Gerard wanted to know what Frank was thinking, and very rarely did he find out, but when Frank decided to share, it was as if he was telling Gerard the cure for cancer. He was just so interesting to Gerard, and he couldn't understand why. He was looking forward to getting to know him. Though nothing will happen with Gerard's sexual urges, he'd love to get to mentally connect with him at the very least. Gerard had decided that's exactly what he was going to do the first time he saw him in art class.