Gerard and Frank walked silently together, along the crowded streets of New York though to the rest of the world, it was as if nothing and nobody else in the world existed other than the two of them. They walked hand-in-hand; Gerard’s soft fingers interlaced tightly within Frank’s skeleton gloved hand, as they carried on forward toward their destination.

“I wish you would tell me where we are going,” Frank spoke suddenly, breaking the silence between them as he pulled Gerard’s hand up to his lips to place a soft kiss to his skin.

“All in due time, my darlingest one,” Gerard grinned down at him, as a soft kiss was placed upon Frank’s hair. “You’ll see soon enough.”

Frank simply unlocked their fingers and placed his arms around Gerard’s waist, clutching him tighter than ever before as Gerard’s arms wrapped protectively around the smaller man, holding him as closely to him as he could. Gerard’s stomach was in a million knots due to excited butterflies that fluttered like crazy around inside of him; he had this little surprise set up for Frank and he had been looking forward to it... well, for as long as he could remember, really.

“I can’t wait,” was all that Frank could say, as he placed a soft kiss to the fabric of Gerard’s shirt just above his heart. Little things like this are what kept the constant smile on Gerard’s face, and kept his heart skipping beat after beat. Frank was just so sweet to him, Gerard had quite simply never felt this way about anyone before, hence, why he had set this little surprise up for the guitarist of his band, to let him know just how much he meant to him.

“We’re here,” Gerard spoke finally, as they paused in front of a seemingly abandoned building. Frank glanced at him a little apprehensively, but Gerard simply placed a soft kiss upon Frank’s lips, and took his ink-covered fingers within his own. “Come on, my love,” Gerard spoke softly; sweetly, encouraging Frank to follow him. Frank nodded in agreement, utterly unable to speak or form anything remotely resembling a coherent sentence. When Gerard looked at him that way, he held Frank in the palm of his hand, and Frank loved every moment of it.

“Why have you brought me here, Gee?” Frank asked quietly, following Gerard up the fire escape up the two flights of stairs that led up to the rooftop of the building. “Where are you taking me?”

Just as they reached the top of the stairs, Gerard stopped at the very top of the fire escape, and leaned down to press a very gentle kiss to Frank’s lips. “I just wanted to surprise you and bring you some place special, Frankie,” Gerard replied, his voice soft and full of adoration as he peered dreamily at the man just a few steps below him. “Come on,” he encouraged with an adoring grin, reaching for Frank’s hand.

Gerard had worked hard on this little surprise, trying his best to create some sort of little escape for the two to disappear to outside of the busy concert venues and crowded streets and disapproving eyes of some of their peers. Gerard knew that the band would be in New York for a few days, and he had found an ad in one of the local papers and rented out the complex for the week; decorating it during the day while Frank was at soundcheck. All of the remaining members of the band conveniently distracted Frank while Gerard ran errands to make sure that this evening was absolutely perfect for the two of them.

“Surprise, my love,” Gerard spoke in a quiet voice, suddenly shy as he climbed up onto the roof, and helped pull Frank up so that he could meet him. Gerard’s arms wrapped around Frank from behind, clutching him protectively as a soft kiss was placed upon Frank’s cheek.

“Wow...”

Frank’s mouth hung open in utter disbelief at what he saw. Christmas lights hung all over the place, illuminating the otherwise dark rooftop and making it appear more magical than any place he has ever been. Candles were lit up in every direction, twinkling along with the stars that illuminated the pair, lighting up Frank’s smile like Gerard had never seen it light up before.

“I hope you like it,” Gerard added, his tone still quiet as he squeezed Frank’s hand.

“Gee...”

Frank turned to face Gerard, as he gave his lover the most adoring smile that he possibly could. “Baby, I fucking love it,” Frank breathed out, a little shakily, as he peered happily up at him. “Did you do all of this for me?”

Gerard nodded shyly.

“Of course,” he replied, his voice still very quiet. There were a trillion things that Gerard wished he could say to the younger man, if he could only find his voice and the courage to formulate the words to do so. However, when Frank gave him the smile that he was currently giving him, Gerard found it awfully hard to breathe, let alone speak, so he did the only thing that he could think to do.

He peered dreamily into the younger man’s eyes; his eyes full of love and absolute adoration for the smaller man that was clinging on tightly to him, as he leaned in to place the most loving, tender kiss imaginable to Frank’s waiting lips.

“Oh, my Frankie,” Gerard sighed dreamily amongst them, cupping his fingers softly against either side of Frank’s neck, effectively causing the smaller man to shiver beneath his touch.

“I love you, Gerard,” Frank said then, not thinking about the consequences of his words; meaning them more than anything. It was the first time he had ever had the guts to say them aloud; to Gerard, no less, and it felt as if a hidden weight had been lifted from his chest and he could finally breathe normally again. “I always have,” he added, pulling the lead singer of his band somehow even closer to him.

“I love you, too, Frank Anthony,” Gerard spoke in that same soft voice from before, and pulled Frank yet again into another deep, passionate kiss. “I always will...”

The two stood there, bathed in the pale moonlight; falling, if at all possible, even more in love with one another as one of the most incredible nights of their life was just beginning.

---

“F-Frankie?” Gerard spoke suddenly, upon realizing that Frank had actually answered his cell phone this time. “Frankie, is that really you?”

Frank cringed. Gerard’s voice was so small, so broken; so unlike how he remembered it. “Yes, Gerard. It’s really me,” Frank replied, his stomach suddenly in knots. “Is everything okay?”

It seemed like an eternity before Gerard spoke again, causing Frank to become a bit panicked as he continued driving toward his unknown destination; anywhere but the direction of the house that he had just left.

“Gee?”

Gerard sighed through his end of the line, sounding more relaxed than he previously had. “I’ve waited so long to hear you call me that again,” he murmured, almost incoherently, as it became apparant to Frank exactly what was going on.

“Gee...” Frank breathed out, attempting to swallow the large lump that had formed within his throat. “Gerard, baby, what did you take?”

As he attempted to collect himself, still driving aimlessly, he silently cursed himself for ignoring all of Gerard’s previous calls and attempts to contact him. If he had simply answered him, they wouldn’t be in this predicament; Gerard relapsing, high as a kite in some unknown location, and Frank driving aimlessly trying to figure out how to get to him.

“I... um,” Gerard began, sniffling a little. “Just some stuff, you know how I do.”

“Gerard...” Frank sighed, disappointment filling him to the brim. “Baby, how could you? You were making such good progress, it’s been years since you’ve touched that stuff-”

"As if you fucking care, Frank,” he argued, cutting him off; his words slurring a bit as he did so. “Everything has been such a fucking nightmare Frank- you don’t know what my life has fucking been like without you in it!”

“I do, Gee,” Frank replied, his voice nearly a whisper. “Baby, yes I fucking do. I promise, I do. Now please answer me, what all did you take?”

Gerard sniffled again, causing Frank to cringe yet again. “The usual... I just thought it would work just as good as it did before... you know... in helping me forget...”

“Forget about what, Gee?” Frank asked, immediately regretting the turn he had just taken the conversation. Frank knew that he needed to get to Gerard, and fast. Depending on how much cocaine or heroine; or both, Gerard had just done, he didn’t want to risk not getting there in time for it to be too late just in case it had been too much. Frank needed to keep him coherent, he needed to keep him talking.

“I did it to fucking... try to forget about... missing you...”

Frank swallowed hard, feeling like complete and utter shit. He knew that he was the cause of this. If he had just been there for Gerard like he promised that he would, this wouldn't even be happening in the first place. “I take it that method didn’t work?”

“No,” Gerard muttered, laughing a bit maniacally and causing Frank to visibly cringe. “Obviously fucking not, all it did was make me miss you more. I just wanted to remember what it was like to be with you... I just wanted to feel that happy... again...”

“Where are you?” Frank asked, his heart beating a million times a minute as his previously unknown destination made a little bit more sense to him; he was driving toward New York, already only about fifteen minutes from where he figured Gerard would be.

“...just wanted... to go back... to when you loved me...”

His words were almost lifeless, nearly robotic though they still held so much meaning. “Gee,” Frank spoke, his voice stern. “Baby, listen to me. I’m in my car, I’m on my way to come see you. Please, just tell me where you are.”

“...I just wanted to feel...”

“I know baby, I know,” Frank desperately pleaded, almost unknowing what more he could do. He couldn’t call anyone about this, nobody would understand. Their predicament with their legally married significant others was all too similar. Gerard got into this situation because of Frank, he needed to be the one to get to him and fix this. “What is it that you wanted to feel, Gee?”

“The way we felt... that night...” Gerard sniffled some more, his voice broken and gorgeous and more quiet than it had been before. “The stars... the lights... your smile, Frankie... I just wanted to see you smile like that again...”

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Frank’s head as he accelerated toward the setting of the night where their relationship reached those gorgeous new heights on the rooftop all those years ago.

“Please tell me you remember it too,” Gerard spoke suddenly, breaking Frank from his thoughts. “Please, Frankie? You have to fucking remember it!”

“I’ll never forget it for as long as I live, Gee,” Frank spoke reassuringly, as he heard a seemingly happy sigh slip from Gerard’s end of the phone. “I could never ever forget how special that night was.”

“Good,” Gerard spoke then, an obvious grin in his voice before he began to cough violently. “I don’t... feel... so well... Frankie...”

“I’m on my way, Gee,” Frank assured him, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke those words. “I'm almost there, baby; please just stay on the phone with me, okay?”

Gerard remained silent.

“Gee?”

All that could be heard just moments after Gerard murmured an, “Y-yeah,” was a loud thud, followed by the line going dead.

“Gerard...?”

Frank quickly pressed the send button to call Gerard once more, however, it had gone straight to his voicemail. He repeated this several times, before tossing his phone aside after each failed attempt at trying to reach his former love, hoping more than anything that he would get to him before it was too late.

Notes

Truly and honestly, I wrote the second chapter entirely in one night thanks to these incredible people who took the time after reading to leave me a few words of their own to let me think of what they thought of the first chapter. Comments truly are the fuel to my inspiration, please keep them coming!

Special thanks to my beloved @jon walker, @GreenDragonFighterPilot, @trippin-on-mcr, @katiekilljoy, @ms.MCR, and @Screaming Tears for caring enough to leave me some loving from the first chapter. It means the world. <3