Counting Down The Days To Go (Frerard)

I was pacing back and forth through my room, trying to figure out what I was gonna wear. For only having 5 outfits, all of which were black jeans and plain shirts, it was hard to choose.
My feet were beginning to hurt when Mikey swung the door open. "You have been walking around your room for the past 10 minutes. What's wrong?"
"Outfit." I replied, staring intently at my closet.
"For what?"
"The date, remember?" Mikey looked confused at first, but smiled and nodded when he realized what I meant.
"You're going on a date?" my mother asked in a harsh tone, suddenly appearing behind Mikey. It caught us both off guard, and we jumped. I slowly nodded. "With who?"
"This, uh... this girl. From school. Name's... Lindsey." I gulped. My parents didn't know I was gay, and I don't think they'd be very accepting. My mother smiled.
"Have fun. Curfew is 11, remember." My mother disappeared down the hallway and it wasn't until a heard a door shut that I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I looked back to Mikey.
"Holy shit, that was close."
"Yeah..."
We stood in silence for a few seconds before I realized why he came up here to begin with. "Okay, so I need an outfit for the date."
"You have, like, 2 outfits. That look exactly the same."
"Correction: 5."
"Whatever," he chuckled, punching me in the arm playfully, "you know what I meant. Just... wear what you usually do."
"Skinny jeans and t-shirts? On a date?"
"Not like you're going to some fancy-ass restaurant." He rolled his eyes.
"Speaking of where we're going, do you know?"
"Patrick, who's taking you, by the way, said it's some pizza place." My mouth watered as soon as I heard the word, "pizza". I loved pizza so much, it was definitely my favorite food.
"Well, thanks."
"No problem." He poked his head out of the doorway and looked around before turning back to me. "If you two get it on, don't do it here. And don't complain if your ass hurts in the morning," he said, chuckling, before he left.
I quickly put on my jeans and shirts and threw on a light jacket before checking the time. 7:05. Shit. I heard the honk of Patrick's Honda Civic and I practically sprinted downstairs. I yelled goodnight to my parents before locking the door.

"Very casual for a first date," Patrick told me as I put my seat belt on.
"I have literally no other clothes," I retorted.
"Calm down, calm down." He drove past a few blocks before speaking again. "So, uh, who's this Frank dude?"
"Oh, uh..." Was it creepy to say you were going on a date with some dude you met outside a concert venue and fell in love immediately after hearing his voice? Fuck. "I, uh... met him last week. During Mikey's concert."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was outside smoking and he just came up and talked to me." I made sure to leave out the part I thought about making out with him when I saw his face.
"And now you guys are going on a date?"
"He's hot. Really hot."
"I'm sure he is."
We drove for a few more minutes before Patrick pulled up to a white building with a sign reading, "TONY'S PIZZA" above the door. I thanked him and was about to close the door when he put his hand up to catch my attention. "Don't fuck." he simply said, and waved me away. Chuckling, I went through the red double-doors in the front to find a busy, busy restaurant. I went from happy to anxious as fuck. There were so many people, and I would probably have to talk to a waiter to find out if Frank was here. And what if he wasn't? I would have to sit here and feel everyone's gazes on me, a tall, lanky, pale boy in all black. The thought made me sick to my stomach. Shaking, I approached a waiter.
"U-Uh... I-- um--" I stuttered. Fuckin' damn me. "I-Is there a b-boy... boy here? Bl-black hair--"
"Gerard!" I heard a familiar voice yell. I whipped my head around to see Frank sitting at a booth, waving at me. I smiled at the waiter, not meeting his gaze, and shuffled over to the booth.

"Hey," Frank said when I sat down.
"H-Hi..." I wanted to stab myself in the foot. I must've looked so stupid when I talked to the waiter.
"What's wrong?"
"I--ah... I have trouble. Trouble talking to people. Social anxiety."
"Oh." I decided to look up, and could see Frank's face was as perfect as it was before. My thoughts were once again brought back to what his lips would feel like against mine. I shuffled around in my seat, my face getting hot. "So, uh..." he started, "I guess we should... get to know eachother?"
"My name is Gerard Arthur Way. 17. Junior going on senior at Belleville High--"
"Belleville High?!"
"Uh... yeah...?"
"Dude, I go there!" My eyes lit up. This hot guy went to my school? "I'm going on senior, too."
"How have I never noticed you?"
"Well, I don't exactly stand out."
"In a school full of bottle blonde jocks and cheerleaders with not a hole in their body for piercings? Sure you do." He blushed a bit, and I gave a self-congratulatory smirk. "How about you."
"Well... name's Frank Anthony Iero. 17 as well. Live a few minutes away."
"I like that name."
"Hmm?"
"Your name. I like it."
"Oh, thanks. I like yours too." My eyes drifted to his hands, one of which was tapping on the table in a rhythm, and the other palm-up. His fingers were calloused and rough-looking.
"Are you a guitarist?" I asked.
"Oh... yeah." He pulled his hands under the table. "How'd you know?"
"Well, first, you were tapping your fingers to a rhythm. And your fingers are calloused."
He smiled. "You're very observant." I'm not, really, but I nodded. "So, what do you do in your free time?"
I didn't know what to say. I draw a lot and I sing, that's about it. Other than that, my life is pretty boring. "I--uh..." I didn't want to lie. "I sing. And draw. That's about it." He nodded.
"Mostly just play my guitar. I don't have many friends except Pansy."
"... Pansy?" Did he have a girlfriend? Pansy is a girl name, right? Shit, shit, shit. This wasn't a date, was it? God, I was stupid to think it was.
"Oh! My guitar. Her name is Pansy."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and laughed. I saw a waiter give someone their food and realized we hadn't ordered yet, even though we'd been here for a while. "Uh, what about our food?"
"Oh. I ordered for you." I tilted my head in confusion. "Your friend, Patrick, told me you liked pepperoni pizza a lot. So I ordered it for you." He looked away for a second and smiled. "Looks like it's here." A waitress came with a pepperoni pizza on a silver plate and set it on the table. My mouth was watering just thinking about eating it. I immediately dug in, stuffing a slice in my mouth. Frank started laughing at me and I playfully slapped his hand.

We talked for another hour before a waiter came up to our table and told us the restaurant was about to close, Confused, I checked my phone. 11 exactly. The fact I had now passed my curfew completely slipped my mind as we paid for our food.
"So, what do you wanna do now?" Frank asked me as we walked out. I shrugged in response. I had a weird feeling right now. Happiness, but like, more than I've ever felt. Does that make sense? Being around Frank made me happy. Dammit Gerard, you met him a week ago. It's not normal to be so attracted to someone you barely know!
"... Gerard?"
"What?"
"I asked you if you wanted go to the park."
"Oh... sorry. I spaced out." I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks. "Well, what time is it?"
"11:15."
"WHAT?!" I ran my hand through my hair. I'd never broken my curfew before.
"W-What's wrong?" Frank asked, startled.
"Curfew is 11."
"Well, it's not that late," he whined. "I wanna spend more time with you."
"Frank, I'm sorry. I really have to--"
Suddenly, there was a large clap of thunder. I looked up to see dark grey clouds in the sky. Rain wasn't forecast today. Not even a second after the thunder, it began to pour. And I mean pour. We didn't even realize it was raining at first, we reached out our hands and were extremely confused by the drops, but then realized what was happening. I grabbed Frank's hand and started running.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To my house. Where else?" I replied.
We eventually reached my porch, soaked in rain and laughing.
"So, this is your house?" Frank asked. looking around my porch. I simply nodded in response. He turned back to me, smiling. Again, I thought of the feeling of his lips against mine. Gerard, stop that. You just met him! I didn't realize I was staring at his lips until he laughed. I blushed and looked behind him, at my neighbor's garden. "It's fine," he told me.
"I keep staring at you and that's super rude." I felt like an idiot.
"I don't mind it." He suddenly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I froze, and felt him start to let go, but I hugged him back.
"Tonight was great, Frankie."
"I'm glad, Gee Bear." We both pulled away and looked into eachother's eyes. I felt like we were in some cheesy romcom or something. Then he did something I was hoping he would.
He brought his lips to mine.
I immediately melted into the kiss, cupping his face with my hands. It was apparent we were both inexperienced in the makeout department, as within seconds we were drooling a bit. Embarrassed, I pulled away and wiped off my mouth. Despite the dimness of the streetlights, I could see he was blushing madly. He was quite cute when he was flustered. "Uh... g-good... goodnight, Gee" he stuttered and waved at me before stepping back into the rain.
"Don't you want an umbrella?"
"No, I'm fine."
"It's pouring, you're gonna get sick."
"I'm okay, I promise." He flashed a smile before running in the opposite direction than where we came through the pouring rain. I felt a smile spread on my face as I watched his silhouette disappear in the distance. Now the problem was my mom. I quickly unlocked the door and put the bolt back on as quietly as I could. I tiptoed upstairs to my room, fumbling around in the darkness for a while before finding my light switch. I threw my jacket in my closet and plopped down on my bed, still smiling. My first kiss was taken by the most beautiful man probably ever to exist.

Notes