Over the next two weeks he found himself growing more attached to the little moments him and Frank shared, sometimes when they ran into eachother in the school bathroom, under the bleachers or in an abandoned classroom.
The moments were short, some times a few minutes and others as little as a few seconds but always enough to put a smile on his face for the rest of the day.
Due to a sudden rush of homework and Gerard being knocked out by a cold for a few days they hadn't spent any quality time other than the chaste and sometimes straight up vulgar kisses they shared when no one was looking.
Today he finally had time after school, but after reminding Ray's drunken promise he decided that going to the mall with him came first.
Mikey tagged along after nagging for two days about never getting to go anywhere since he didn't know how to drive yet and Gerard would never take him anywhere, which was a lie, Gerard just never went anywhere.

The three of them walked up to the automatic doors, which Mikey swore he opened by using a hand wave powered by The Force, Gerard rolled his eyes.
They hit up their favourite recordstore where Ray asked for an application form and Gerard bought a CD he had planned on getting for a while.
At Mikey's request they went to some clothing store that played music way too loud, behind the register they recognized a girl that was in the same year as him and Ray and also the reason Mikey wanted to go to the store that didn't sell anything any of them would wear.
They watched curiously as Mikey sauntered past the racks of cotton, to-deep-v-necks in bright colours and other shirts that looked pretty uncomfortable Gerard thought.
After a minute or two of pretending to look through a stack of jeans for his size, Gerard knew he was pretending because Mikey hadn't worn straight cut jeans since middle school, the girl from their school walked up to him.

"He isn't gonna, he is isn't he" Ray muttered behind him in awe, Gerard nodded, he knew his brother and how him and Frank had perfected their ways of charming people without even batting a lash.
The two of them quietly walked through the store to get a little closer without looking suspicious.
"Hey, my name is Nicole can I help you?" the girl, apparantly named Nicole asked, smiling at Mikey.
He watched his brother bite his lip "eh yeah I-" he stopped whatever he was going to ask and looked at Nicole in the eyes "don't you go to Belleville High?" he asked as if he didn't exactly know she was.
Nicole clapped her hands together "yeah! I thought I knew that face was familiar, you were at Sadie's party too, it's Mikey right?".
Mikey grinned and nodded "yeah, what a coincidence, so what are you doing this weekend, I heard some kids from the drama club are hosting a bonfire at the lake you goin'?".
Both of them were shaking their heads when they saw Nicole blushing and twirling her hair around a finger "wasn't sure, but y'know, if you're going I might reconsider".
"Well guess I'll see you there, Nicole" he said, briefly touching her hand before looking at his watch "ahw damn, sorry I gotta run I promised to meet a friend on the other side of the mall, like 5 minutes ago" he lied.
Ray and Gerard got the cue and already made their way to the exit of the store, they waited infront of it for Mikey to say goodbye.

After a minute he finally came out whisteling terribly out of tune.
"How the hell did you do that dude" Ray gasped, "you're even worse than Frank holy shit dude".
Mikey shrugged "guess it's just my charm, y'know, I just know my way around the ladies and the dudes of course" he said with fake cockiness.
Gerard chuckled "well Casanova before you teach Ray your ways I'm gonna grab somethin' to eat, you guys in?".
Ray and Mikey agreed and followed him to the nearest fastfood restaurant, ordering the cheapest meal deal they could find, at their age each penny they could save mattered.

After receiving their orders they sat down in the only free booth, apart from the one that had vomit on the seating, in the restaurant.
Gerard immediately grabbed a hand of fries and stuffed hem in his mouth, "so what's the deal between you and Frank dude" Ray suddenly asked him.
It took him a few seconds and some big sips of his soda to not fully choke, so far for playing it cool like he'd prepared to do if one of their friends asked him about their relationship.
"What about us" he said casually, wiping away the soda that had dribbled down his chin.
Ray dipped one of his own fries in ketchup, dragging it around the tiny container "well..y'know you guys are always staring at eachother and touchin' and when Frank sees you he starts smiling like an idiot and you start blushing, so yeah" he explained.
Gerard slammed his head down on the table and groaned, ignoring the possibility that he may or may not have just faceplanted in mayonaise and a chicken strip.
He heard Mikey sigh "do you want me to tell him" he just groaned again, it wasn't a yes or a no but Mikey went on anyway.

"Alright so, you remember last year when we hung out at the lake an stuff, Gerard wouldn't swim 'cause he's insecure for no reason and Frank would keep him company" Mikey started to explain.
"Yeah, Bob got that nasty sunburn" Ray mumbled through a mouthfull of his cheeseburger.
"Uhu, well apparantly some profound crap went down and they each kinda developed a crush on the other, it got worse over summer and that night at Danny's when you got sick Frank went back to our place with us and they cuddled and crap" Mikey stopped to take a quick bite of his food.
"The day after Frank came over and we got drunk again, I fell asleep and the two of them kissed but I was a total freakin' cockblock because I woke up again for some reason and pretty much puked all over the toiletbowl, so yeah that kinda ruined the moment. Because of that they didn't talk or somethin' so Bob and me locked them up in a closet at school and they made up and out but they're not dating, just make out buddies or whatever, they're stupid" he finished.
Ray chuckled "yeah they are, dude you like him, he likes you, why on earth aren't you idiots dating" he asked.

He finally got up again and shrugged "I don't know, we both kinda decided that we didn't want it to be anything exclusive, but y'know I-".
"This is getting more serious than you thought it would get and now you're not so sure you want to share him with the lot of people who want a piece of him" Ray finished his sentence, he would've worded it differently but it came down to the same so he nodded and slammed his head back on the table.
Ray looked at Mikey again "yeah he's been like this for about a week now, first he was like ecstatic and couldn't shut up about kissing Frank at school, behind school and under the bleachers but then it turned into this" he gestured at Gerard "because now that he got a taste he wants the real deal".

"I think you should just tell him, and dude sit up people are gonna think you're a drunk hobo" Ray said, poling into Gerard's shoulder until he sat up again.
"I know I should, but what if he'll laugh at me or if he found out that he actually doesn't like me or some shit" he whined, wiping the sauce and chicken strip crumbs from his face with the back of his hand, which he in turn wiped on his jeans, his mom was gonna be pissed about that one.
"Then he's a dick, but he isn't " Ray said "now can we get out of here before you start making out with the table again".

They left the restaurant and strolled past various shops they didn't care for while debating wether or not they'd go to the homecoming dance on friday since none of them had a date.
"Hey wait up" Mikey said, signing for them to stop, Gerard watched over his brother's shoulder to see what he was looking at.
When he saw what Mikey was looking at he regretted that decision; on a bench across the fake plant they were sort off hiding behind Frank was sitting with a girl, holding one of her hands and playing with her hair with his other.
"Are you alright" Ray asked him, tugging on his arm for him to turn around, he didn't comply but shrugged Ray's grip off.
He wasn't alright, he felt sick, he felt stupid, he felt betrayed and he felt angry because he didn't have the right to feel this way, Frank had never agreed to be his alone just like he never agreed to be Frank's.
"Can we go home" he muttered, still watching Frank mesmerizing the girl with his charm and smile.
He felt Ray's arm wrap around his shoulder "sure c'mon, these stores suck anyway" he said, not commenting on Frank, Gerard was thankful for that.
Mikey silently followed them but just as they walked from the fake plant they heard a voice call for them.
"Hey guys, wait up, guys" the voice was coming closer, accompanied by quick footsteps so they had to turn around.
"Hey Frankie, yeah we were just leaving" Ray said, squeezing Gerard's shoulder quickly "yeah so if you don't mind y'know" Mikey added, pointing his thumb towards the exit.
Frank raised an eyebrow "yeah sure, just wanna talk to Gerard for a sec, I'll walk to the lot with y'guys".

Gerard looked up and cursed whatever was making this happen right now eventhough deep down he knew it was just his perpetual bad luck.
He sighed, breaking loose from Ray's hold and walked towards the exit with the other three silently following him.

Within minutes they were outside, he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, the handles of the plastic bag that contained his CD were digging in his wrist, the weather was finally getting a little colder and the leaves strewn across the ground showed that autumn already arrived.
Ray and Mikey walked past him to his car, he threw the keys at Ray so they wouldn't have to wait outside for him.
He swallowed and tried to look as if he wasn't feeling a tiny bit angry and turned around to face Frank who looked more confused than ever.
"So what d'you need to talk about" he forced out as neutral sounding as he could.
Frank's lips curled up and he looked reliefed "ah y'know just chat for a minute, I didn't get to hang out with you in school today".
Gerard fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie "yeah, I know I was in the library to work on a history paper" he said.
Frank grinned and leaned closer, before he could reach his lips Gerard turned his head around "not that I don't like kissing your cheek, but y'know I'd rather have your mouth" Frank muttered against his cheek.

He took a step back, he couldn't kiss Frank now it was stupid but seeing him like that with that girl gave the idea a bitter aftertaste "n-no, I don't want Ray and Mikey to see, y'know they'd be giving me shit about it all the way home" he lied.
"Ahw, they weren't even watching" Frank pouted, he wasn't gonna give in so he just had to change the subject "Mikey totally hit on a chick from my year and I think he even got her number" he quickly said.
Frank whistled "a senior, impressive, I clearly thought him well" he said cockily, Gerard laughed "yeah well maybe it was just our fabulous Way charm, y'know it makes us irresistible".
This earned him a playful shove from Frank and for a second he forgot what had him feeling all out of place "yeah it certainly works on me" Frank flirted.
He bit his lip, maybe Frank hanging with that girl wasn't too bad, he didn't know what was up and it wasn't his business.
"So are you gonna go to homecoming?" Frank asked him, lightly touching his arm.
He shrugged "was talking about it with Ray and Mikey, since none of us, including Bob, have dates we figured we might as well get shitfaced at Danny's".
Frank tugged on his sleeve "ah no you guys should totally come, I mean I have a date but she'd be totally cool with hanging out with everyone".
Well this sucked, this really fucking sucked he thought, he felt sick again "you have a date?" he muttered.

Frank chuckled "yeah dude, nothing serious, y'know fuck that, but I haven't gotten laid in weeks, maybe you saw her? I was hanging out with her when you guys walked by."
Gerard swallowed, he looked behind him, Mikey and Ray had cracked the windows open just enough to hear the conversation, he looked back at Frank "a-awesome, listen Mikey and Ray are waiting, I really have to get going" he stammered, trying not to get his voice to crack.
"Ah yeah, could I hitch a ride? I kinda told her that I was going home anyway" Frank explained, Gerard couldn't object, Frank was still his best friend, he couldn't let the fact that he meant more to him than that turn him into an asshole.
They walked to the car and Mikey already moved to the backseat when he saw Gerard's pleading look, he also took it upon him to keep Frank busy by filling him in about Nicole while Ray started the car and got on the road.
He finally put the plastic bag down, there was an angry red mark wrapped around his wrist, he ignored it and grabbed a cigarette from the carton that was squashed in the pocket of his jeans, he turned the window next to him down a little more.
It took him a few tries to get more than a spark from the old lighter he kept on his dashboard, when he finally lit the cigarette, he eased away into the smoke creeping into his lungs.
"Hey can I have one" Frank almost yelled from the backseat, he sighed out his puff of smoke and threw on of his cigarettes and the lighter behind him without looking.

The whole way to Frank's house he didn't say a word, only a simple goodbye when they dropped him off.
Mikey chatted with Ray on their way to his house, and Gerard hugged his friend before he got out and Gerard ressumed his position behind the wheel.

When they got home they quickly greeted their parents before storming down the stairs to Gerard's room where they flopped down on his bed.
"Come here" Mikey muttered opening his arms, Gerard settled against his brother "it's just that I want him so bad and he wants me but he wants other people too and I only want him to want me" he mumbled.
Mikey sighed "I know, it's just that Frank doesn't know what he wants yet, he isn't the kind of person to be dating, not now."
"Yeah but where does that leave me, I can't stand there listening to him about how he asked a girl out to homecoming just so he could bang her" he sniffled.
Mikey loosened his grip and looked down "wait he said that he asked a girl out just so he could bang here" Gerard nodded in reply, "fuck, when did he turn in such a douche" he said in disgust.
"Not that I'm trying to call you a douche, but that's what you guys do right, hit on girls so you can get a fuck out of it" Gerard asked.

Mikey shook his head "nuh-uh, I flirt with people because I like flirting but I would never pretend to like someone more than I did just so I could get in their pants."
Gerard smiled "y'know you're a good kid Mikey, and Frank's a douche for treating people like that" he agreed.
Mikey chuckled "no but seriously, he's a douche and even if he wanted to be a "thing" with you, there's no way that he deserves you right now, y'know 'cause he's a douche and I don't want douchebags to date my brother even if those douchebags are my best friend" he followed in a calmer voice.
Gerard smiled at his brother's little speech "thanks Mikey, love you" he said.
He felt Mikey's arms thighten around him "love you too, now let's say we forget about stupid dudes named Frank and go watch some crappy TV instead?."