The blaring alarm coming from Gee's phone woke me up the next morning, the incessant beeping filling the whole room. I groaned as I grabbed his phone, hitting OK to shut it up. It was 8. The funeral wasn't until 12, but the town was an hour away, and his parents wanted to be early. I nudged Gerard lightly to see if he was awake, only to have him wrap his arms around me tightly and his nuzzling his face into my shoulder. "Gerard," I whined, "c'mon, we have to get ready." He groaned in response. "Geeeeeee." He sighed and let me go.
"I love you. Frankie," he murmured. I smiled.
I craned my neck a bit to kiss his head. "I love you too." I sat up and swung my legs over the bed. "Are you ready for today?" Gerard asked from behind me, his voice cracking.
"I... yeah. I think." I looked over my shoulder and smiled. "You ready to come out today?"
"No," he sighed, "but let's pretend I am."

---

I was trying the tie for the fifth time so far. I had to borrow some of Gerard's clothes, since mine were too casual. The black tie was his too. Can I just say I've never worn a tie before? I've seen my dad and people on TV tie it, so I was trying to mimic them, but I think I was skipping a step or something, since I just couldn't do it. I sighed, defeated, and let the strip of fabric hang around my neck. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I had just eyeliner on again, on Gerard's request. I took out my piercings, since I thought they look a bit too casual to wear. I actually bothered with brushing my hair today. I've really wanted to dye it. Cut it short, bleach the sides, maybe get a bit of a fringe for my bangs? Yeah, definitely. Gerard walked up behind me and rested his chin on my head. He smiled. "You still can't tie that thing?" he asked.
"No," I replied sheepishly. He chuckled and spun me around so I faced him and he tied it for me. Once he finished, he leaned forward to kiss me.
"You're really attractive with eyeliner," he whispered. "Now, grab Pansy and I'll meet you downstairs." He turned on his heel and walked out of his room, softly shutting the door behind him. I grabbed Pansy, carefully put her in her case, and swung her over my shoulder. Yes, I gender my instruments. Don't judge me. I stuffed a few picks in a pocket on the side of the case and went downstairs. Gerard was standing near the door, looking at the floor. Standing next to him was Mikey, in a black suit. Their parents were putting on their shoes. Gerard smiled weakly at me and opened the door. "We're getting in the car now!" he called to his parents, both simply mumbling in response. I followed Mikey and Gerard into the backseat, me being in the seat behind the driver. I set Pansy between my legs, the head leaning on the car door. His parents came in a few minutes later, the mom in the driver seat and his dad in the passenger. Gerard laid his hand on top of mine and I laced our fingers together. I'm so happy for Gerard for deciding to come out to the rest of his family. They might not take it well, but I'll be there for him. I sat back in the seat and rested my head on his shoulder. He scooted closer to me and squeezed my hand. I could see from the rearview mirror in the front that he was smiling slightly. I closed my eyes and listened to the roaring of the car engine. I didn't fall asleep, but I focused on the monotonous tone the entire ride there.

---

My heart was beating out of my chest as we walked up to the small cathedral. I hadn't noticed the gray clouds in the sky until now. I turned to Gerard, who was shaking slightly. "It's okay babe," I whispered to him and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He smiled weakly and started looking around.
"Welcome, welcome," a person called from the front. Apparently the ride took longer than expected. "Please, take a seat." Me and Gerard sat down on the inside of the nearest pew, our hands still locked together. I could see some people had given us dirty looks, but I brushed it off. I could see the person in front more clearly now. It was a tall man that couldn't have been older than 30. His hair was slicked back, and two neck tattoos peeked out from the collar of his black suit. He had a nose piercing, too. He looked like the complete opposite of someone an old woman would be friends with. "Good afternoon. My name is Austin. Now, I know many of you must be thinking, 'what is this punk doing here?'. Well, my father was very good friends with Elena. She took care of me when I was little. She was the mother I never had." He stopped to gulp and rub his eyes. "I, um... she requested her funeral be closed casket, I apologize. But, we'll be letting people come up and give their eulogies for her." His voice began to crack at the end, so he hurried his sentence. He stepped down from the podium in the front and immediately, an old man came up. He held a crisp piece of paper in his hands. Instead of listening, I ran through the tabs to our song in my head. I squeezed Gerard's hand as I thought about him coming out. The corners of my lips tugged up a bit, but I forced myself to stop smiling. I'm at a funeral, remember? Gerard squeezed back.

I apparently zoned out, as seemingly seconds later Gerard was shaking me. I turned to him, an eyebrow quirked. "It's time," he whispered. I nodded and walked over to the front of podium, Gerard following. He pulled a chair up for me and walked to the microphone as I took Pansy out. "Hi. I'm Gerard. I'm Helena's grandson, if you didn't know." He stopped so they wouldn't be distracted by me. I sat in the seat, Pansy in my lap, and grabbed a pick. I nodded to tell him to go on. "I can't express how immensely important Elena was to me. Or, Helena, as I called her when I was little. So, I wrote a song. It's... it's an upbeat song. Strange for a funeral, I know. But I knew she wouldn't want her funeral to be so depressing and somber. So, here's a song I wrote named Helena. Playing the guitar here is Frank." I shyly held up my hand when he said my name. He cleared his throat. "I also have something to say once the song is over." He stepped down from the podium but took the microphone with him as he stood by my side. He counted down the beats and I started playing

Long ago,
Just like a hearse, you die to get in again
We are
So far from you
Burning on,
Just like a match you strike to incinerate
The lives of everyone you know
And what's the worst you take from every heart you break?
And like a blade you stain,
Well, I've been holding on tonight

---

So long, and goodnight
So long, and goodnight...

Gerard finished up the song, and the mass of people immediately began clapping. He turned to me, smiling. I smiled back, happy that he was happy. Now came the hard part of our plan. His coming out. The crowd eventually died down and Gerard sighed. I put Pansy back in her case and flung it over my shoulder, standing up next to him. "Now," he started, his voice shaky, "is the announcement." He reached his free hand down to mine and interlocked our fingers. "I'm... Frank is my boyfriend. I'm gay."

As expected, there were gasps and people muttering under their breath. "And you know what? I don't care if half of you are disowning me or alienating my parents," he said, his voice harsh. "I love Frank and there is no amount of insults you can throw at me will make me break up with him, okay? I knew this is what Elena would want, for me to be true with you all. So there." He turned around to put the microphone back when the yelling erupted.
"Elena would be disgusted!" a voice said. Gerard turned back around.
"I don't care."
"How dare you disrespect her?!" Gerard slipped the microphone back in its place before planting a kiss on my lips. It surprised me at first, but I melted into it. He pulled away a second later.
"So long and goodnight, Elena!" he said, before grabbing my hand, pulling me away from the podium. I followed him out the large double-doors of the church and outside. It was raining, but thankfully there was a bit of a canopy that sheltered us. "That was..."
"I'm so proud of you, Gee," I butt in. He smiled.
"Really?"
"Of course. I could never do that." I hugged him tightly, burying my face in his chest. And we stayed like that for a few seconds, before he pushed me away. I was confused, until he pressed his lips to mine. It was a passionate kiss, but still gentle. I smiled and pressed my body into his, holding him close. He pulled away after a minute, still smiling.
"I love you so much, Frankie. I hope you know that."
"I love you too, Gerard." I smiled. "I'm your princess." His face flushed pink as soon as I said that. I cupped his cheeks with my hands and stared into his eyes. The doors suddenly swung open, Austin standing in the doorway. I expected a lecture or insult, but that suspicion was dashed once he spoke.
"That was amazing, Gerard. Brave," he said, smiling. He walked over and hugged us both. "I've never known of you before today, but I'm proud."
"Thank you," Gerard muttered, still smiling. The doors swung open again, this time the attendees flooding out. Some people gave us dirty looks, but most were mourning and paid no attention to us. Mikey and their parents were the last to shuffle out, Mikey with a huge grin on his face. As soon as he saw us, he ran over to Gee.
"I'm so proud of you, Gee," he said as he seemingly crushed my boyfriend with his grip. They started talking, so I turned to Austin.
"Did those hurt?" I asked, pointing at the neck tattoos peeking out from his collar.
"What? Oh. Yeah. A lot."
"Hm. I want a tattoo on pretty much the same place."
"Really? Of what?"
"Scorpion. I also want something across my knuckles. 'Halloween'. It's my birthday, so..."
He nodded. "I could probably take you to get them. You can't be older than 20."
"17. Turning 18 soon." He nodded again. He pulled out a card with his name and number on it. I raised an eyebrow. "You have your own card?"
"Well, I'm in a band, and we kinda just carry them around." I took it from him and stuffed it into a pocket on Pansy's case. "You should check it out. It's called Of Mice & Men."
"I will, thanks." I turned back to Gerard, whose arms were crossed and he had been staring at me. "Calm down, Gee, I'm not cheating," I said jokingly and kissed his cheek. He tugged on a strand of my hair, pulling it out. I pouted and he kissed me back. I said bye to Austin and followed Mikey and Gee back to their car. We sat in the same spot as before, and once again I rested my head on Gee's shoulder. He stroked my hair as my eyelids slowly closed.
"I love you, Frank," I heard Gerard whisper.
"You too, Gee," was the last thing I said before falling asleep.

Notes

i really don't like this chapter

xo