I waited outside our apartment door for about ten minutes before I actually found the courage to insert the key into the lock and enter.
After talking to Mikey I realized that it was about time that Gerard and I sat down and had a nice long chat. I didn’t really want to force him into telling me anything, but it was going to drive a wedge into our relationship. It had to come to an end soon.
Mikey had also promised me before I left that he would be over before the week was over to talk to Gerard about his problems. I felt relieved when he told me that. If he could just talk to Gerard than he could hopefully start feeling better. Of course I didn’t mean he couldn’t mourn Ray, but I wanted him to do it in a safer more controlled matter.
“Gerard? I’m back!” I called out as I stepped over the threshold and into the apartment. It looked cleaner and I suspected that Gerard had been cleaning all day. My suspicions were confirmed when he emerged from the closet that held all of our cleaning supplies holding a duster and a mop. He saw me looking at the two items together and shrugged.
“There were some cobwebs on the ceiling and I couldn’t reach them so I used the mop.”
“You do know we have a step stool in there right?” I asked smirking, “In fact it just may be right next to the mop…” I stepped closer to him and pecked him on the lips. He jerked away though, still to sassy to kiss.
“Maybe, but do you see any cobwebs up there right now Iero?” He cocked his hip and motioned to the ceiling. I laughed at him. “Yeah that’s right. No fucking cobwebs.”
“Actually,” I giggled, “You missed one right over there.” I pointed up at a small one hiding in the corner.
“Son of bitch!” He cried out marching over to it to destroy it with his trusty mop in hand. I watched him obliterate the stupid thing and then continue to hit the wall with his mop in frustration.
“There,” He grumbled shoving the supplies back into the closet, “Now there no fucking cobwebs.”
I sighed and leaned into hug him, kissing his forehead. “Gerard can we please talk?” I asked trying not to sound to foreboding.
“Yeah sure,” He replied already sounding nervous. I guess I didn’t succeed with my voice.
I led him out the couch and sat down, ignoring the déjà vu from doing this earlier with Mikey at his house.
Gerard shifted uncomfortably but eventually melted into my side. “So what do you want to talk about Frankie?” He asked using my nickname, which led me to believe he thought this was going to be bad and was already trying to smooth things over. I actually had no clue how this was going to turn out, but I wasn’t shooting for bad.
“Gerard I know your nightmares are getting really bad. And I know that they have something to do with me. I’d just really like it if you would talk to me about this. I’m worried about you and I’m worried about us.” He gazed at me trembling.
“Frankie I’m so sorry!” He cried out hugging me tightly. “You know I’d tell you anything, but I’m just not ready.” He leaned back and sniffed. “I want to talk to you. I’ve been thinking about it and every time I get up the guts to bring up my nightmares I lose it again.
“Just tell me sugar,” I replied pulling him back into the safety of my chest. “It’ll be okay I swear.”
“I can’t,” He said softly into my t-shirt. “Not yet, please?” I sighed but nodded, an action I hoped he would feel with his head buried in my chest.
“Okay. I’ll give you some time to think about it.” I relented, “Just please make sure you come to me as soon as you’re ready?”
“I will,” He swore making me content for the moment.
“Okay then, one more thing,” He looked at me warily. “I wanna bring you into work with me tomorrow.”

---

“Gerard you look fine!” I called out impatiently from the bedroom doorpost where I had been leaning the past ten minutes waiting for him to get out of the bathroom.
“I wanna make a good impression on your friends!” He called back. He had locked himself in there over an hour ago, deciding that he wanted to look the best ever for when I brought him into work. That had led to the diva in him coming out and he had panicked, changing at least three times, each time deciding that what he was wearing was either too “I’m a full of myself prep” or “I still live with my mom” looking. I sighed out of boredom and slid down onto the floor, groaning the entire way down dramatically. I mean hell; he’d even decided to take a shower and everything.
“Fine Frankie I’m done.” He stepped out of the bathroom, finally satisfied with how he looked.
“About time,” I grumbled picking myself off the floor. He had decided on black skinny jeans, a tighter fitting Bouncing Souls t-shirt, his leather jacket, and some eyeliner smeared around his eyes. In other words, it was his basic every day outfit. I mentally face palmed. He did look good though.
“Let’s go,” I said grabbing the car keys. We spent the drive there running over the names of the people he was most likely to interact with. I picked today because I knew that Storming the Academy was the only band signed up to come in. Since it was only a small company and we only had three rooms the bands had to sign up for practice times. Of course every now and then a band would come in unexpectedly and ask for space. I always gave it to them unless of course all rooms were either taken or were going to be.
“So Ellie is the receptionist, Ember is vocals, Ashlyn is guitar, Cas is bass, and Riley is drums?” Gerard had been trying to remember everyone and what they looked liked so that he wouldn’t feel weird when we showed up.
“Yep,” I told him, reaching across the console to squeeze his hand, “And they’ve all been begging me to bring you in to meet them.”
“Really?”
“Really really.” I assured him pulling up in front of Skeleton Crew. “Here we are.”
I led him up the stone steps and held open the glass door for him. He stepped through and waited for me to follow behind him.
“Frankie is that him!?” An excited call came from across the lobby. I grinned as Ellie ran up practically attacking him as she hugged him. Gerard let out a small “oof” and I giggled.
“You know you have met him before briefly,” I reminded her, thinking back to when he had come looking for me after Lindsey took me. I winced at the memory but neither of them seemed to notice.
“Oh yeah!” She cried out in glee, “I remember you now!” She gave him a full smile, her brightly colored blue hair getting all over her face. “In case you don’t remember I’m Ellie, Frank’s receptionist!” I glanced over at Gerard, afraid that he would shy away from her bubbliness. He surprised me however with a small grin on his face and no indication he was uncomfortable.
“I remember you too,” He told her, “You were very helpful.”
“Yeah well there’s a reason Frank keeps me around. I’m not just a pretty face,” She teased poking her tongue out. “Now c’mon. STA is back in the practice room right now and I was just about to bring them coffee. You can come back with me.” She waved us forward, stopping by the main desk to pick up the tray of coffee.
We followed her through the doors and into the main hallway, which was still its annoying plain white color.
“Hey Gerard,” I said poking him in the rib to get his attention, “I’ve been meaning to ask you forever to paint this hallway with like a mural or some shit. Think you could do it?” He grinned at me and spun around taking the space in.
“You really want me to do something for you here?” He asked. Already I could see his small-excited smile and a calculating look in his eyes, which told me he was already planning something.
I walked up and hugged him from behind, standing on my tippy-toes so that I could rest my chin on his shoulder. “I’m positive. Your artwork is amazing and I would be honored to have it on display in my hallway.” He giggled and turned around so that I could give him a quick peck on the lips.
“Awwwwwww!” I turned around and almost blushed when I remembered that Ellie was with us. “That is so adorable!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I tried acting stern but I couldn’t keep the smile off my face and she knew it. “Just get in there before their coffee gets cold.” She stuck out her tongue again but did as I said and slipped through the door.
I turned to Gerard and kissed him again, full on the lips for a brief few seconds before pulling away.
“C’mon Gee, your adoring fans await you,” I teased pushing him towards the door. He made a small noise and I stopped him, “And yes before you even ask, they’re going to like you.”
“How’d you know I was going to ask that?” He questioned sassily, “I could have said can I go in there and suck one of their dicks. You never know, I like to be unpredictable.”
“Yeah I know,” I said affectionately, “Now get your ass in there so that the fawning over my boyfriend can begin.”
He grumbled something about the fawning being over both of us and not just him but I didn’t listen. I was just excited. This felt normal for once. It felt like I was doing something human. Bringing my boyfriend to work so that I could introduce him to my friends. For the first time in weeks I didn’t feel like an out of place vampire.
I wanted this feeling to last as long as possible.

Notes

So I was reading the first fic in this series (Bright Lights) today and I realized that there so many plot holes that its really crappy, but I did have a few good quotes. For example

"People eat Big Macs, Gerard eats people. Simple."

"Yeah, well I don't know what to say to make a bat move."

"I don't know? Threesome?"

"Bad Gerard. Control the gay"

"Well tonight just sucks. At least I get to see you without your shirt on"

"You're touching his ass!"

Okay so I obviously am not one for using the right kind of wording in places but...