The week had gone by in a haze of tiresome mornings due to lack of sleep, school days fueled by coffee and cigarettes and the time after school spent on working through early homework assignments and the occasional drawing.
He'd spent the remaining lunch breaks this week in the art class room to avoid hearing stories about Frank and that Angela girl, his friends had sent him multiple texts asking where he was but when he said he wanted to start on his senior project early they'd let the subject go.
Mikey had kept pestering him about going after the person he liked, if only he knew that he was encouraging Gerard to make a move on Frank he wasn't so sure if his brother would still be that suportive about everything.

It was friday and he'd driven himself and Mikey home about two hours ago.
He was sitting in his room, debating whether to go out for a few drinks and try to get lucky or to stay in with his brother and their friend to get drunk and watch movies.
He knew that Ray and Bob would be hanging out at some grimey bar in town since it was the only one that served minors and played decent music.

If he'd go to the bar he might meet someone that could ease out the confusion in his head about his feelings and even if that didn't happen he'd still be spending the evening wth two of his best friends, the ones he didn't have feelings for or were related to him.
The other option ofcourse was staying home, get drunk off of free booze with his other two best friends, given one of them was his brother but best friend nontheless.

It was about 8PM now and atleast two hours too early to go out he knew that Frank could be here any minute but it still startled him when he heard the door bell ring.
Of course his mom and dad were out and Mikey was too much of a lazy shit to come down from his room so he had to get up and open the door.
He took the steps two at a time and smoothed out his fringe, when he came home he'd taken a short nap and besides his hair looking like a mess he was also wearing Mikey's old sweatpants and a Poison shirt that was almost falling apart, great.
When the bell rang again he cursed under his breath but finally opened the door "geez took you long enough" Frank chuckled, passing him by as he walked into the hallway.
Gerard closed the door and followed Frank into their livingroom where he kicked off his shoes and jumped down on the couch.

Alright he was done, this wasn't going to work because he already felt nervous just looking at Frank who was smiling at him "hey it's gonna be just you and Mikey tonight, I'm going out" he said casually.
Frank shrugged "that's alright, I'm sure Mikey won't mind going" his sentence was interrupted by Mikey walking in the room as soon as he heard his name "where won't Mikey mind going".
He sighed "I'm meeting Ray and Bob at Danny's later" Mikey flopped down on the couch next to Frank "awesome, so when are we leaving, Frank you brought booze right?".
Gerard rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch too, watching Frank unpack a bottle of vodka from his backpack, he immediately snatched it away and unscrewed the cap to take a big gulp.
It burned down his throath and tasted vile on the back of his tongue but he needed every drop of liquid courage he could get tonight.
"Oh yes of course you can have some Gerard, how nice of you to ask" Frank said sarcastically, grabbing the bottle to take a swig of his own before passing it to Mikey.

Gerard got up to get them glasses from the kitchen and when he came back he walked right into Frank and Mikey talking about Angela's boobs.
He filled up each glass to the half, they needed to get drunk not shitfaced, atleast not before they got at the bar.
This wasn't really a conversation he wanted to be part of and he needed to get ready anyway so he took his glass down to his room.
He rummaged through his closet and went for his black skinnies, a Black Flag shirt and a flannel, it was still warm enough to not bring a coat and this way he'd still have back up if it got chillier.
He took a large gulp from his vodka, shuddering at the taste, for the finishing touches he decided to brush his hair before running hand through it again because it looked weird.
Just to be done with it he gulped down what remained in his glass and went on to put some eyeliner on that proved to be more difficult now that he was slightly tipsy.
He looked at himself in the mirror and decided that this was as good as it was gonna get, he grabbed his wallet and phone from his night stand and went back up.
The view of Frank bowing over his back pack and searching through it with his ass covered in thight, dark denim was enough to convince Gerard that someone up high really hated his guts, maybe he needed to go to church more than once a year.

"Ah you're ready" Frank said when he saw Gerard standing behind him, he just nodded, he didn't remember feeling this awkward around Frank and it annoyed him.
To avoid further conversation he went to search for a pen and a notepad so he could leave his parents a note so they'd know their sons weren't kidnapped or something when they came home to an empty house.
He found both in a kitchen drawer and he leaned over the counter to scribble the quick message, "whatcha doin'?" the voice sounding right near his ear startled him and he clutched his chest where he could feel his heart pounding "god damn it Mikey don't do that shit" he groaned.
Mikey had grabbed the note and quickly read it, putting it back in the same spot "oh come on it was funny, hey I'll buy you a beer to make it up to you yeah" his brother said sweetly, batting his eyelashes for added effect.
Gerard chuckled "you're such a dork, but since we're walking we should probably be leaving, like now".
Mikey nodded "yeah that's actually why I came to get you, Frank asked me to since you're acting all weird lately when you're alone with him".
He felt himself turning bright red "I don't act weird around him, now let's go I bet Ray and Bob are already there".
Mikey looked at him with a hint of suspicion in his eye, but didn't say anything while they walked back to the livingroom where Frank was waiting with his sneakers on and his hoodie tied around his middle.

-
He'd spent the 15 minute walk to Danny's smoking two cigarettes and concentrating on keeping his pace quick enough to walk infront of Frank and Mikey but slow enough to not look like he was doing it on purpose.
The doorman standing infront of the bar was only for show and didn't ask their ID's eventhough the sign on the door said -no entrance under 21- and neither of them looked that age.
The music was heavy and throughout the whole place was blurry with cigarette smoke, Mikey immediately walked to the bar, which left Gerard alone with Frank.
He drummed his fingers on his thigh in time to match the beat of the music "look at all the lovely ladies, we could easily score tonight man" Frank said, winking at some girl walked by.
"Weren't you trying to date that Andrea girl" he knew far too well what her name was but the childish part in him felt the need to spit the wrong name with hidden disgust.
Frank looked confused "oooh you mean Angela, nah, we made out a couple of times but she has a crappy taste in music and was already talking about me meeting her parents so I kinda blew it off" he shrugged.

Gerard grinned, this was only a small victory but it was one for his side "ah you're a little heartbreaker aren't you Iero" it came out more flirtatious which was probably courtesy of the vodka.
To his surprise Frank shyly looked down to his shoes before regaining his cool and flashing him a smile that made Gerard's heart skip a beat "well ya know me, I don't do the whole cheesy love crap, I do people".
Gerard had to try his best to not let his own smile fall at hearing Frank's words, luckily his little brother finally walked up to them, holding three beers with Ray and Bob followed right behind him.
Both him and Frank gladly took one each and Gerard chugged it down as fast as he could, ignoring his friends when they asked him where he was going when he walked to the bar.
He sat down on one of the stools and ordered another beer and three shots of something he'd seen in his parents' liquor cabinet.
The shots tasted worse than the vodka, which he hadn't imagined possible, but did their work because after he chased them down with a sip of beer each he could feel the booze work it's wicked way.

He slammed down the money he owed the bartender and left his stool and a half empty beer to make his way to the dance floor.
Instead of dancing like pretty much every other person he backed against the wall and looked at the crowd swaying infront of him.
Across the dancefloor a guy who looked like he actually was 21 staring at him and making his way towards Gerard the moment their eyes locked.
'Alright stay calm, you're gonna forget about Frank, look at this guy huh, blue eyes, blonde hair, he's gorgeous' he thought, honsetly the guy wasn't his type at all, sure he was beautiful but his eyes and hair were the wrong colour, his skin was too tanned but for tonight he would do.
"Hey wanna dance" the guy leaned over to whisper in his ear, Gerard simply nodded, swallowing away his nerves when he took the guy's hand to be lead to the middle of the dancefloor.
The guy didn't waste any time and immediately pressed up against Gerard, rolling his hips to the bass of the music, one hand slung around Gerard's neck.
He didn't really know what to do so he settled for copying the guy's moves while resting his hand on the man's hips.

The guy turned him around, grinding up against Gerard's behind, his heart was racing and he let out a small, hopefully silent, gasp.
"Wanna grab some shots and hit up the restroom" it took Gerard a second to think of reasons why the guy offered to take a communal piss when it hit him, his legs were already following the guy back to the bar before he even made up his mind.
The guy slammed some money on the counter and motioned for the bartender to pour them tequila shots, something Gerard actually did like and they took two each.
He was now proper drunk, he could tell by the way the room couldn't keep quite still while he stumbled after the guy, it struck him that they hadn't even exchanged names, he wanted to but didn't get the chance.
The second he walked through the curtain that lead to the hallway where the bathrooms were he was pressed against a wall, a set of lips attacking his own.
This was something he definitely not done with Brian, that was way more innocent where this was straight up filthy.
Gerard had to focus to keep his tongue and lips from going sloppy and to add to the heath in his lower regions he decided to grab the guy's ass which caused a whiny moan errupt from the other.
He squeezed a little harder and the guy responded by kissing and biting down Gerard's neck, prying his legs apart with one of his own to grind his thigh against Gerard's crotch.
It had been a while since anyone but him had made contact with that part of his body, eventhough there where two layers of jeans and a pair of boxers separating their skin but the friction still felt amazing.

He was pretty sure his eyes were about to roll back when he heard a door open and shut next to them, he stared right into the eyes of the person he hadn't thought about for the last 60 minutes.
Frank was holding Ray upright who looked like he had one drink to many.
For the few seconds their gazes were locked Gerard completely forgot about the man rutting up against him.
When Frank broke away to help a wobbling Ray back into the bar area he just pushed the guy away and muttered something along the lines of "I gotta go" he didn't even care enough to say a proper goodbye.
He stood on the tips of his toes to somehow see over the crowd of people and managed to spot Mikey who waved at him.
Gerard pushed his way through the crowd and found Mikey leaning against the wall with his arms crossed "y'know you could have told me that you're y'know, like me" his brother said with a slight slur.
"I know, I should've told you, I'm sorry" he'd already felt bad about lying to Mikey, or rather not telling "how'd you know though" he asked.
Mikey shrugged "well I was dancing with some chick and saw you and that dude dry humping eachother".
Gerard could feel his cheeks flush "so where did the rest go" he asked to change the subject.
Mikey motioned for the exit "they're outside to get Ray some fresh air, I stayed behind to wait for you".
He smiled at his brother "thanks, so let's say we find them and go home" his brother smiled back and was first to walk to the door that would lead them outside.

They were just in time to see Frank wave off Bob and Ray who had managed to hail a cab eventhough Bob lived about 5 blocks away and they'd probably be crashing there.
"Finally Gerard, where the hell have you been all night, come on we still have some vodka my buzz is dying down" Frank said, pulling at both him and Mikey's hands.
-
Back home Mikey had excused himself, stating that he already had enough for the night and proving that by tripping on the stairs on his way to his room.
Frank grabbed his backpack from the couch, Gerard silently prayed that his parents hadn't mistaken it for his and Mikey's and looked into to it, they were fine with their sons drinking a beer every now and then but they'd be screwed if their parents knew about the vodka.
They silently made their way down to Gerard's bedroom and Frank put the bottle down on the double bed and walked to Gerard's CD player and hit play after tuning the volume down so they wouldn't wake anyone.
Meanwhile Gerard had kicked off his shoes and made himself comfortable on his bed, Frank joined him and while he started up some small talk, which Gerard was thankful for, they started passing eachother the bottle.

The room was practically spinning now and he finally felt relaxed with Frank up and close, still enjoying their little chat about nothing special.

Suddenly Frank sat back a little "so who was that dude you were smoochin' with at Danny's?" he slurred.
"No one" Gerard muttered, plucking at his bedsheets and trying not to look at Frank's face, this only lasted a moment because Frank lifted his chin with his hand so he had to look him in the eyes.
"Hey, I thought best friends told eachother everything" Frank said sounding calm with his words only slightly stretched.
Gerard grabbed Frank's hand from his chin and when Frank didn't pull it back he decided that it felt too nice to let go " 'm sorry" he slurred.
Frank sighed "that guy looked like a douche Gee, come on I don't care what you're into but you could do better than that".
He sniffled and shook his head, Frank reached out his other hand a little unsure but softly traced his fingers along Gerard's cheek "yeah you can, you're smart, talented, funny, not to mention good lookin'" Frank whispered.

Frank lay down next to Gerard, suddenly looking very tired as he crawled closer, nestling his face against Gerard's neck and his arm across his chest.
Gerard could feel him yawn, it sent shivers down his spine "anyone, guy or girl would be lucky to have you, I promise" he heard Frank whisper.
He didn't say anything, his heart was pounding and he had to try his best not to get a panic attack with Frank practically drifting off half on top of him.
It calmed him down a little when he heard Frank snoring softly, and while he heard Morrisey sing the words I want the one I can't have and it's driving me mad he cursed himself for leaving that CD in, he couldn't remember when he turned into the cliché example of a desperate teenager.
His eyes were getting heavier, and he sighed, the room was still spinning, he'd probably have one bitch of a hangover tomorrow.
Not that he could care about that right now, not when he had the one person he wanted most curled up against him.