After their little closet-intervention things had turned back to normal fairly quick for Gerard and Frank.
Maybe even better, Gerard thought, because now they could hang out with the whole group again and there wasn't any tension or awkwardness.
Mikey was the only one who knew what was actually going on and what had happened in the closet, as promised Gerard had told his brother everything.
They had spent the remaining days of the school week stealing glances from eachother, looking away with a blush when they caught the other staring back.

Mikey and him had stayed in on friday for some brother bonding time in the form of Gerard getting his ass kicked at Halo 3 several times.
It was saturday afternoon now and he was just finishing up a paper he had to write for history, tonight they'd all go out to Bob's first official gig as a tech at Danny's.
Yesterday he'd been visibly nervous about the whole thing, Ray and Frank had spent ages reassuring him of his talents to boost his confidence.
He was now changing from his lazy-day attire into something thighter and less comfortable, he was pretty sure that his jeans would cut off his blood circulation but they looked good with his t-shirt and leather jacket.
Tonight he needed to look his best and for once he actually felt like he did, his clothes were flattering and his messy hair framed his face nicely.
"You look good" he muttered to his reflection in the mirror on his wall, he turned around and looked at his backside, shook it a little.
Then he turned around again and leaned closer to the mirror, making faces, sticking his tongue out and pouting his lips, after a minute of doing so he heard someone coughing behind him.
He spun around to find his brother staring at him with a shit eating grin, indicating that he'd probably seen Gerard's little display of vanity.
"Oh hey, I was just- just getting ready" he said casually, dragging a hand through his hair "I'm done".
Mikey snickered when Gerard passed him by to walk up the stairs but still followed his brother to the hallway so they could put on their shoes.

Mikey slipped on his sneakers while Gerard sat down on the floor to tie up his boots "so are you and Frank dating or what" he asked.
Gerard shrugged "nah, not yet atleast" he muttered while making a knot in his laces "he likes me though, I told you that right?".
Mikey nodded "yeah but it's not like either of you are exactly subtle" he said while looking at his phone "come on man if we wanna catch the bus on time we have to leave, like now".
"Yeah, jesus, these fucking boots" he groaned before he finally tied the second one, he scrambled up and patted his pockets, when he was sure he had everything he walked to the livingroom where his parents were watching TV.
"Guys, we're leaving" he said.
"Make sure to get both your asses home in one piece honey" his mom said before giving him a kiss on the cheek "oh and tell the boys I said hi".
"Sure ma" he groaned, wiping at the lipstick that he could feel sticking on his cheek "here, so you can buy a round of drinks, but not to much you hear me young man" his dad said while handing Gerard a 20 dollar bill.
His parents were his age when Danny's first opened, even back then age restriction hadn't meant too much and as long as him and Mikey didn't drink themselves in a come they were okay with their sons drinking a few beers on the weekend.
He thanked his father and walked back to Mikey who yelled a loud "bye" to his parents while they walked out of the door and to the bus stop.

-
They walked through the door, they could feel the bass thumping while loud music played in the background.
There were a lot of attractive people tonight, normally he'd just eye them from across the room until they took the initiative to come talk to him, right now though his eyes were avidly searching for just one person.
"I bet Bob is already backstage" Mikey yelled over the loud music as they made their way to the bar "I haven't seen Ray and Frank though".
Gerard slammed the 20 his dad gave him down on the counter and gestured for two beers "no me neither" he collected his change and handed his brother one of the bottles.
Then two shots of tequila each.
And another beer.
"Hey wanna go check out that pit" Mikey said, nodding his head in the direction of what seemed to be a pretty violent moshpit.
He looked at the people shoving at eachother, flailing their limbs around and jumping, he could feel the alcohol a little and he knew Mikey did too because his brother usually wasn't up adventures that involved the possibility of getting a broken nose.
He grinned at Mikey "let's go" he said, they both gulped down their beers and left the empty bottles on the counter.

Mikey dove right in the tangle of bodies while Gerard stayed on the border, a bit unsure on how to handle this, it had looked easier from a distance.
Suddenly a hand grabbed him and dragged him right in, immediately he felt people crashing against him, fists punching and elbows prying in his sides.
'Alright I'm in' he thought to himself, unsure of how he was supposed to move he just started with violently jumping, gradually he started to get more into it.
After a few minutes he was shoving people, elbowing and getting elbowed, feeling his skin bruise right at the spot.
He'd seen moshpits around here before, he'd never joined them though, always scared of getting a tooth knocked out, Frank on the other hand was used to the rough housing and often jumped right in with Bob.
As if he was speaking of the devil he saw Frank right infront of him after turning around, he grabbed his best friend, or whatever they now were, and spun him around.
Frank looked pissed at first but the moment he recognized who was holding on to him his eyes lit up and he reached his arms around Gerard's waist to hug him thightly.
Gerard had to bite his lip to surpress the smile on his face, it was a bright contrast, them hugging so sweetly in between a mess of wild, sweaty bodies.
When he pulled away he took a good look at Frank, his bangs were sticking to his forehead, his eyes were shining and his mouth still smiling.
He wanted to lean over and shout something in Frank's ear about how lovely he looked tonight but the music suddenly stopped and the people around them stopped moving.
Maybe for the better, because he wasn't sure if Frank wanted to hear what he looked like to Gerard, they turned to the stage were one of the bar patrons was standing behind the mic to introduce the band that was playing tonight.
They rushed to the stage so they could get front row, they didn't really care for the music but on the left side of the stage, right infront of them, they could see a nervous looking Bob standing with headphones on behind his mixing board.
"What did I miss" they heard someone pant behind them "Ray? We thought you were already here man" Gerard said quickly scanning the crowd to see if he could find Mikey.
"Yeah my mom wouldn't let me leave before I cleaned my room" he shrugged "I didn't miss anything did I?" he asked again, waving at Bob and giving him two thumbs up.
"No man, you're just in time" Frank said and he leaned into Gerard's side, he thought that the weight felt nice against him, he carefully wrapped an arm around his middle while still searching the room for Mikey.
"Boo" he heard someone yell in his ear, he jumped up and doing so let go of Frank "damn it Mikey you little fucktard" he yelled back while the other's laughed at him.
Mikey patted his shoulder "ahw come on you know you love me" he grinned, Gerard pouted but didn't deny anything.
His brother shrugged and turned to talk to Ray, Gerard still had a frown on his face that melted away when he felt two arms around his waist and a warm voice by his ear speaking just loud enough that only he could hear it "c'mon he was just kidding, please start smiling, I like it when you do".
Just like that he felt butterflies, he had always ridiculed books and movies for exaggerating falling in love and what it felt like.
Those words weren't anything special but probably tipped over all the little things that had been building for months.
To any other it might look like it was just two friends embracing, but with the corner of Frank's lips touching the side of his neck he knew it was so much more, but just for the two of them, no one else had to know.
Atleast for now.

They pulled away when the band started to play, however none of them really payed attention to the musicians but rather to Bob who was bent over his panel and concentrating on the sound blasting loudly through his headphones.
When the band finished their songs they didn't applaud for them but again just for Bob who was looking their way with a brighter smile than they'd ever seen on him.
While the band was packing up Bob jumped down from the stage "guess who just got offered a job as Danny's sound guy on saturday nights" he said proudly.
Frank pulled away from Gerard's side, much to his dismay, and jumped on Bob while the others congatulated him in more modest ways before dragging themselves through the crowd to reach the bar.

When they each sat down on a stool, Frank next to him, he caught himself staring again, noticing the tiny drop of beer that spilled down the corner of his mouth.
No one was paying attention to either of them so he leaned sideways and carefully brought his thumb up to wipe the trail of liquid away, immediately grasping Frank's attention.
He wanted to be alone with Frank, if only for a minute or two so he stood up, grazed his fingers along the back of Frank's hand, hoping that he'd understand and follow.
He didn't look back but instead walked back to the bathroom hallway where he knew was a door that lead to a small back alley.

When the door fell shut behind them he finally turned around and took two steps so he was chest to chest with Frank, he pressed a soft kiss on his lips.
He sighed against his mouth when he felt Frank wrap his arms around his waist to pull him closer, he replied by putting his around his neck, softly dragging his fingers through his hair.
"I've been waiting to do that" Frank whispered against his neck and Gerard felt shivers running down his spine.
His grasp on Frank's hair tightened when he felt teeth scrape and bite at his neck, the stingy ache soothed by a pair of soft lips.
He turned his head, and nuzzled against Frank's cheek, prompting him to push his lips back against Gerard's.
This time he made it more needy, because it was, all it took was one little taste to leave him restless for more.
He pushed his tongue against his lips while walking them back against the wall of the building, trapping Frank between him and the brick.
Normally he wasn't this rash, always waiting for others to call the shots but with Frank he felt comfortable enough to let all his shyness subside, this felt way too good to have second thoughts and doubts about.
He gasped when he felt Frank's hands slide down and squeeze his ass, involuntarily he bucked his hips forward, making Frank groan by doing so.
He let one of his hands travel down Frank's side and grabbed one of his hands in his own, squeezing it thightly while the other was still resting on the back of his jeans.
The moment he felt Frank's thumb rubbing small circles on his he swore he could've melt right there and then.
He broke the kiss by pulling his lips away, just an inch, still leaning his forehead against Frank "hey, we should, y'know" he whispered.
Frank hummed "yeah one minute" he muttered, pecking a kiss on Gerard's lips again, it made him wish that one minute could last a lifetime.
He brushed his nose against Frank's, "that tickles" he giggled against the corner of Gerard's mouth, he smiled and let the arm that was still hung loosely around Frank's neck slip down.
"Hey Frank" he said, tugging on the other's hand.
"Yeah?"
He looked down to his scuffed boots, he sighed, his was gonna sound pathetic "I really like it, this thing y'know".
Frank smiled and his eyes looked bright even if there was hardly any light in the dark alley "yeah me too" he nodded.
He was glad that it was dark, his insignificant little confession had turned his cheeks bright red, and Frank agreeing with it did something weird to his stomach, a good weird though he thought.

They finally went back inside, Frank held the door open for him and they kept their hands clasped together all the way through the hallway, their fingers lingered slightly when letting go, maybe because neither really wanted to.
For some reason Frank didn't join him when he walked back to their friends, but instead disappeared into the crowd of bodies dancing to Poison.
"Gerard, where did y'go, where's Frankie" Ray slurred, he didn't know that they'd been gone long enough for Ray to get smashed.
"We went out for a smoke, I think he's on the floor somewhere" he shrugged "don't drink too much this time dude" he added, stealing the shot Ray was about to down from his hand and pouring it down his own throat.
"Y'know we should hang out more" Ray insisted, giving Gerard's shoulder a pat, he smiled and nodded, Ray was always good company, sober and drunk.
So was Bob who took over the conversation by suggesting them all going to an arcade somewhere next week.

Mikey waved at him from a few feet away so Gerard excused himself from his two intoxicated friends and sat down next to his brother.
"Why are you sitting here all by yourself" he asked, he pushed Mikey's glasses back up his nose, he never seemed to notice them slipping down.
Mikey shrugged "I'm not, well I wasn't, I bumped into a friend but he went home a minute ago" he explained and Gerard nodded.
"But that's not what I wanted to talk about" he continued "what's up with you and Frank disappearing for half an hour and you looking like that time mom broke your favorite mug".
Half an hour, he hadn't even noticed that the minutes had passed that quickly, as far as he was concerned it were just 10 minutes, 15 tops.
"We, y'know kissed and stuff, it was nice" he mumbled, tearing a coaster to tiny pieces.
Mikey poked at his hands with one of his fingers "so where is Romeo now" he asked.
Gerard shrugged, it shouldn't matter this much that Frank just walked the other side without even mentioning where he was going, but to a part of him it did and it bugged him.
Which it shouldn't.
Mikey crossed his arms "this is getting serous isn't it, you're falling for him".
He nodded and felt an arm slip around his shoulders "that fucking sucks" he heard his brother sigh, because just like Gerard he had no idea where this was heading and if it was even heading somewhere in the first place.
"Yeah it does" Gerard he said, piling together the pieces of coaster.