F*ck and Run

The silence was what eventually caused Frank to stir. The absence of the city’s blaring car horns and helicopter blades and bustling streets was hard to ignore, even in the midst of his dreams. Frank had grown so used to the noise pollution that he couldn’t sleep comfortably in silence. It was too fucking quiet.
And once he was awake, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Thoughts of the night before came trickling in. And as soon as Frank was awake enough to think, he was abruptly shoved into reality: He was too warm. His mouth was dry. His head hurt. He’d slept in his jeans and they were pinching uncomfortably around one of his knees. He sort of had to pee. On top of all that, his stomach was rumbling. Skipping dinner in the name of getting to Gerard faster had seemed like a good idea the night before, but now Frank was paying for it.
The saving grace, of course, was that Gerard was still dozing away beside him. If he’d gotten up and left at all during the night, Frank hadn’t noticed. He was still human and he was there, wrapped tightly around Frank.
He was burning up, too, which explained why Frank was too fucking warm. Frank tried to slide the blankets off of them without moving too much, but after a bit of maneuvering he was still suffocating under the old quilt. His limbs were pinned under Gerard’s dead weight.
Frank embraced the heat and twisted in Gerard’s arms, so that they were facing one another. Gerard seemed to stir for just a moment, placing a sleepy kiss to the top of Frank’s head before hugging Frank tighter and going still again. The thoughtless intimacy made Frank’s chest flutter.
He was only caught up in his bliss for a moment. As much as he would’ve liked to ignore it, he was still lying next to a werewolf who had transformed when it shouldn’t have. And Gerard had said it was contagious, which meant there was a possibility Frank had already caught it...
But Frank was only human. He only had so much energy to devote to his fear of the uncertain. Every little anxious thought only half formed before dissipating again. The details surfaced and submerged again in time with Gerard’s soft, warm breath. Inhale. Exhale.
Instead of trying to deny the things he couldn’t help now, he tried focusing on the good instead. There was a silver lining to every situation, of course...
Silver.
He wasn’t sure if Gerard could come in contact with silver. He’d have to ask.

It was hard to believe that any of the things that had transpired the night before had actually transpired. Gerard looked so fucking peaceful lying there. As Frank gazed sleepily at the wolfish man before him, it was hard to believe that, under the moon, those chapped lips gave way to sharp fangs. Gerard’s pale, cleanly-shaven cheeks gave way to coarse fur. Those long lashes fluttered open to piercing yellow eyes.
The more Frank thought about it, the less he believed it. He knew what he’d seen the night before, but the night before felt so far away. It all felt like some sort of nightmare he could will away until he forgot it completely. And nothing about Gerard’s sleeping form beside him provided any indication that any of it had been real at all. Gerard was entirely human. His chest was rising and falling with each soft breath. No growls. No howling. The expanses of flesh that were not covered by quilt were pale and fur-less.
That was part of the magic, though, Frank supposed. The creature vanished just as easily as the moon behind the trees, leaving no traces of it’s presence behind.
Frank tried his best to imagine the wolf again. He pictured the creature’s thick, black fur. The bright, yellow eyes. The terrifying jaws, with their two perfect lines of sharp, white teeth. He tried to imagine the warmth, the claws. The way they made no sound as they cut through the icy snow at great speed.
Frank was sliding out from under Gerard’s tangle of limbs as soon as he thought of it: The tracks in the snow would be all the proof he needed.
Gerard grumbled some soft protest before rolling over and nuzzling against the pillows to drift off to sleep again. Frank closed his eyes and thanked the fucking universe that Gerard was a heavy sleeper. He paused at the edge of the bed for a moment, waiting for Gerard to settle before tiptoeing out of the room.
Gerard hadn’t been wrong. Everything did look different in the daylight. The room they’d slept in looked much bigger in the light streaming in through the windows. Frank could actually see where the fuck he was going as he made his way down the hallway.
He found the bathroom easily, closing the door and locking it behind him. He took a deep breath as soon as he heard the lock slide into place. After relieving himself, he found himself staring out the tiny window above the toilet. He tried to squint and make out the wolf’s tracks in the snow, but he couldn’t see them from the second floor.
Frank hadn’t been able to take in much of the scenery in the dark. Now that the heavy, grey sky was illuminating the sprawling wilderness, Frank realized just how far out into nature he truly was. Thick snow blanketed the heavily forested mountainside. Houses dotted the slope of the mountain. They lined the thin, black roadway meandering its way up past the Ways’ cabin. The road continued up into the treeline, off into the forests. There were no people walking around, no cars driving by. Frank felt a small twinge of jealousy over the fact that Gerard got to disappear to this place once every month. There was something reviving about the silence, the stillness, the solitude.
Jamia’s car was still parked in the driveway, behind Mikey’s. The windshields were frosted over. Frank lifted a hand up to touch the window pane and immediately recoiled. The glass was freezing to the touch. He almost would’ve traded his too-warm space beside Gerard in bed for the chill that was starting to work its way into his skin.
But he was on a mission. The wind whistled as it slammed into the side of the cabin. Frank could hear the cabin’s structure creaking, even as he made his way back to the stairs that lead to the ground floor. The stairs themselves creaked loudly underneath him, giving away his presence in the otherwise silent house. The scent of coffee drifted from somewhere in the house. Frank almost followed the scent, his dry throat was practically begging him, but his curiosity was pulling him towards the front door.
Winter gear decorated the front entrance. Frank hadn’t even noticed it when he’d come inside the night before. A long line of thick-knit sweaters and winter coats hung on hooks along the wall by the door. A pile of hiking boots and snowshoes littered the floor. Frank pulled one of the coats down and shouldered into the heavy garment. He wasn’t sure where he’d left his shoes, so he pulled on a pair of way-too-big black boots. It wasn’t ideal, but he was only going out for a moment. The wolf had leapt right onto the front porch. The tracks would lead right up to the front walkway. He wouldn’t have to go far. He braced himself for the cold, reaching to flip the top deadbolt out of place.
“Frank?” Mikey called, startling Frank’s hand away from the cold metal handle.
Frank spun around to find Mikey eyeing him curiously, coffee mug in one hand, a book in the other.
“Where you goin?” MIkey asked.
“...Cigarette?” Frank supplied easily.
“In that?” Mikey asked skeptically, eyeing Frank’s attire up and down.
“Uh. Yeah?” Frank said, patting down his pockets to try and find his smokes. They were probably still in Jamia’s car, he realized.
“You know it’s like, negative 20 out there, right?” Mikey asked, “And windy?”
“Well… Do you just not smoke when you’re here?” Frank asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“No. Uh. Here, let me show you.” Mikey said, beckoning for Frank to follow him.
Frank glanced longingly at the door for a moment before following Mikey deeper into the house. The awkward, too-large boots thumped loudly against the wooden floor as he walked.
“So um, how are you feeling?” Mikey asked conversationally as they passed through the elaborate kitchen.
“Um…” Frank faltered, taking in the assortment of appliances lining the countertops, the oven, the small TV in the corner. Frank wasn’t sure who the fuck needed a food processor and a toaster oven when they had the great outdoors. Mikey and Gerard certainly had no use for those things. He’d never seen either of them cook anything from scratch. He’d never seen Mikey cook period.
He vaguely remembered Gerard saying the place had belonged to his grandmother, but he’d been expecting something more… simple, cabin-like. The place was homier than his old apartment and his Mom’s house put together.
“Sorry. Stupid question.” Mikey offered after a beat, “Coffee?”
“Sure.” Frank said, eyeing Mikey’s little work set up on a table by the windows on the far side of the room. He gravitated towards it, loudly stomping rubber as he walked. Paperwork was sprawled across the table top. Frank recognized the printouts of record sales numbers from the powerpoint at the last meeting they’d gone to, alongside spreadsheets he didn’t recognize. Mikey worked in distribution. It made sense his paperwork looked a little different. There were other print-outs that didn’t look work-related at all though. Photocopied pages of books were mixed in with the other paperwork. Some with lines highlighted and underlined, some with notes in the margins, some with paragraphs crossed out.
“You actually get work done here?” Frank asked.
“Usually…” Mikey said, “Cream? Sugar?”
“No thanks.” Frank said, spinning around to look at Mikey.
“Oh that’s right you don’t-” Mikey said, shaking his head, “Anyways, lately I usually work on the distro reports when I’m out here. Their interns made a mess out of the last two fiscal years when they were trained on the filing system, so I’m still playing catch-up.” He crossed the room to pass the mug to Frank.
“But I’ve actually been reading up on, well, you know.” he added with a tired sigh, “I still haven’t really been able to come to any conclusions as to why Gerard changed back last night. It’s the strangest thing.”
“I guess I didn’t know you ever got any work done.” Frank smirked, nervously pulling the subject away from Gerard.
“I resent that.” Mikey said evenly, “I’m always working, Frank. My methods are just… different than everyone else’s.”
“If that’s what you wanna call it.” Frank countered, “But I don’t know any grown man who’s still as good at folding paper airplanes as you are. That shit takes practice.”
“Maybe origami is a hobby of mine?” Mikey shrugged, “And I have to sit through like, twice as many meetings as you, so shush.”
Mikey waved a hand, beckoning Frank to follow him out of the kitchen. There was a sliding glass door at the far end of the room. Mikey pushed it open and wandered into the next room.
The room was much colder than the rest of the house, though it was probably due to the huge windows. Even the ceiling had windows, giving anyone standing in the room a full view of the downward slope of the mountain, as well as the forest nestled behind the house. Beyond the windows were thick, heavy, metal bars, only slightly obscuring the view of the icy wilderness.
It took Frank a moment to understand the purpose of the room. A shelf of what looked like gardening tools sat beside a door leading to the outside, brandished with the same heavy locks the front door had. Frank had to do a double-take when he noticed the hunting rifle on one of the shelves. The bars made sense suddenly. They were there to keep the wolf out. The room was probably a watch-tower of sorts, added on to the house long after Gerard had been turned. Mikey could smoke a cigarette and watch over his brother, without having to worry about coming in contact with the wolf. That still left Frank with questions, like how they managed to get Gerard to come back when they let him out. And how they explained the metal bars to the contractor who put them in.

There was a fire place against the wall that connected the room to the rest of the house. A small fire competed against the cold seeping in through the windows. There were two couches strewn around the fireplace. Mikey dropped onto the one closest to the windows. One of them had a smaller pane that swung open. He grabbed an ashtray off of a small table and motioned for Frank to sit beside him. Frank obliged, trying his best not to slosh any of his coffee as he folded himself into a sitting position. Mikey pulled out his cigarettes, handed one to Frank, without even asking if he needed one, and lit up. He held the flame out for Frank as he blew smoke towards the window.
“See? Isn’t this so much better?” Mikey asked, “Well… I guess you have nothing to compare it to. But dude, the wind coming down off the mountain is so fucking cold. It’s not even worth it. I promise.”
Icy air whistled its way into the room through the open window. Frank held his mug of hot coffee closer for it’s warmth as he puffed on his cigarette. He inched closer to the small fire, as if it would help.
As Frank blew his smoke towards the window and took an experimental sip of his coffee, he felt almost like himself for the first time since he’d seen the wolf. The fact that Mikey was still being so fucking nonchalant about everything was helping, too. It made him want to pretend he wasn’t still totally on the verge of freaking out about this.
The younger Way was a quiet one, but he was being quieter than normal. His silence was probably what made him so good at reading people. Frank could feel Mikey doing it, trying to gauge what was going on in his head. He wasn’t sure what was going on in there, so he wasn’t sure how Mikey intended to make any sense of it.

“So um,” Frank started, clearing his throat, “Can I ask you something?”
When Frank glanced over at the younger way he nodded firmly, just once.
“Last night… you said something about Gerard and I… well, like…”
Frank took another drag off his cigarette before trying to spit it out again.
“What did you mean when you said we might be stuck together?” Frank asked, pretending he was suddenly very interested in the ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ decal on the outside of his coffee mug. (If he’d had the extra mental space, he might’ve even asked who the fuck it had been intended for, since neither of the Way brothers were fathers, as far as Frank knew.)
“Well, it would really only apply if Gerard is a false wolf.” Mikey said neutrally.
“False wolf.” Frank said slowly, trying the words out.
His gaze drifted to the burning embers of the small fire in front of them.
“What the fuck is a false wolf?” Frank asked when Mikey didn’t continue.
“Gerard didn’t explain that one to you yet, huh?” Mikey asked.
Frank shook his head. He could still feel Mikey’s gaze on him, so he didn’t bother to check if Mikey had seen it.
“Okay so there are two kinds of werewolves…” Mikey said, exhaling a puff of smoke, “There’s your classic horror-movie, monstrous, rabid creature… oftentimes more humanoid and muscular than the kind of wolf you’d find in nature. Sometimes they look the same as the wolves in nature, only a little more rabid. There’s some debate on their origin. Most people seem to think it’s a virus that mutated somewhere along the line. Those infected tend to live longer than average humans. The effects are irreversible, of course. There’s no known cure…”
Mikey paused to take a slurp of coffee and flick the growing ash on the end of his cigarette into the ashtray before continuing.
“It’s interesting. There’s a lot more I could add, but Gerard isn’t that, I don’t think…. There’s a lot of things about his symptoms that make me think he’s a false wolf. It’s this curse that’s been passed down for centuries, mostly through animal attacks.” Mikey explained, “It’s sort of harder to research. There’s so much less written about it, so like, there’s only so far modern libraries can get me. Most of what I’ve been able to figure out has come out of hours and hours of scouring through forums. And half of those are bullshit anyways. Either way, as far as I know, the effects are basically the same. But the main thing that makes it worth noting is that there’s a cure.”
Frank looked over at the younger way then and just blinked. His cigarette had almost gone out entirely, though it was the absolute furthest thing from his mind.
“Before you get the wrong idea, if there was something we could’ve done it would’ve been done a long time ago.” Mikey said sheepishly.
Frank’s interest and wonder must’ve been showing on his face, if the look Mikey was giving him was anything to go by. He tried his best to straighten out his features to make himself less obvious. He held his breath as he waited for Mikey to continue.
Mikey jabbed his cigarette into the ashtray and shoved his hand in his coat pocket before continuing.
“Gerard would have to kill the wolf that bit him...” Mikey said evenly, “But in order to kill them he’d have to be human. But the thing is, if he was human, they’d be human too, wouldn’t they? And as you can imagine...”
“Oh.” was all Frank could muster as the words sunk in. He let himself breathe again as he processed Mikey’s unended suggestion. If Frank understood right, Gerard would essentially have to commit murder to be free of his curse.
“Aside from the fact that my brother could never hurt someone...” Mikey trailed off slowly, “Did he get the chance to explain to you how he was turned?”
“We didn’t actually do a whole lot of talking last night...” Frank started to explain.
“Ew. God.” Mikey coughed.
“No. Shit. Uh.” Frank laughed nervously, “I meant, we mostly just… argued, really? I was mad… I should’ve been listening, but I was talking and-”
“I mean, I’d be mad, too.” Mikey agreed, “It’s a pretty big thing to keep from someone you love, even if you’re justified in keeping it from them....”
There it was. That stupid fucking L-Word again. It felt like it came easily to everyone but Frank and his still-sleeping quasi-boyfriend upstairs. Mikey said it like it was a well-known fact, not like it was something that had been surfaced less than 12 hours prior. Maybe it was like the lycanthropy: He’d had time to process it and Frank hadn’t yet. Whatever the reason, it still made Frank’s blood boil. He took a sip of his coffee to keep himself from mentioning it.
“But um, anyways…” Mikey went on, “Gerard doesn’t even know who bit him. He was blacked out, smoking a cigarette in an alley behind some bar when it happened. He barely remembers the day leading up to the attack.”
“Jesus.” Frank breathed. All the anger drained from him as he remembered that Mikey had told him him that Gerard didn’t drink. Even Gerard had said that alcohol and him didn’t mix so well. The real reason being…
“These aren’t really my secrets to tell.” Mikey sighed, “I was there for some of it, though, so I guess they’re my secrets, too... The paramedics found my business card in his wallet and saw we had the same last name, figured out we were family. I got there as they were loading him up in the ambulance.”
“We had to sit in the emergency room forever after that.” Mikey continued, “Gerard was still wasted and covered in blood, but all of his wounds had healed. I thought he’d fucking killed someone or something. His clothes were all torn to shreds but he didn’t have a scratch on him. Nothing he was saying made any fucking sense either, so they wouldn’t let me just take him home.”
“We figured out the wolf thing pretty quick.” he added, “Gerard was drunk the first time it happened, so the wolf was sloppy, and pretty easy to contain. We were still living with our parents. I locked it up in the basement.”
“How old were you?” Frank asked.
“Nineteen.” Mikey said, laughing in spite of himself.
“You had business cards at nineteen?” Frank wondered.
“Of course that would be the part you find unbelievable…” Mike scoffed, shaking his head, “Anyways, back to false wolves. If Gerard is a false wolf and you turned him back by saying his name… There’s a good chance that in kissing you, he became bound to you. It’s part of the origin story. It’s written like a fucking fairytale though, so there’s no way of knowing if it’s real or not. I already explained that part to Gerard. Some witch lady like, a thousand years ago, was so consumed by passion that she turned her lover into a wolf, who could only return to his human form when she said his name. That way, no one else could have him.”
Frank swallowed hard, finally abandoning his unfinished cigarette in the ashtray and clasping his free hand around his coffee mug.
“I don’t really understand what it means to be bound to someone like that. Again, there’s not a whole lot written about it.” Mikey shrugged, “But there’s a chance he’s stuck with you. He can’t um, be with anyone else…”
“You mean,” Frank said, “Like-”
“Please don’t make me elaborate on that one.” Mikey grimaced, “Going through the deep web forums I found on the subject was gross enough. And it’s not like there’s any way for us to really test it out anyways, not if you guys are like, a thing now.”
“Right.” Frank nodded, feeling himself blush.
Things were starting to fall into place. If the binding was real and Gerard couldn’t ever fuck anyone else, that created some real problems for them. Frank wanted to be with him, but he didn’t know if it was in a forever sort of way. Or, it wouldn’t be forever for Frank, but for Gerard it would be. His stomach twisted at the thought that if they stopped seeing each other Gerard couldn’t-
“Is there any way to unbind someone?” Frank asked quickly, “Did you read anything about that?”
Mikey opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and look up towards the house. Frank followed his gaze. A shirtless and bleary-eyed, Gerard floated out of the cabin and onto the couch beside Frank. Frank couldn’t help but notice the few inches of distance Gerard put between them. When he looked up into Gerard’s eyes, he saw the same uncertainty he was feeling. Gerard seemed hesitant, guarded.
Frank flinched, almost dropping his mug of coffee when he felt Gerard’s hands reaching for it. Some of the liquid sloshed out on the floor. He handed the mug over, blushing at his own jumpiness.
“I’m gonna go make some more coffee.” Mikey offered, lifting himself off the couch and stretching his legs.
“‘Kay.” Gerard said, shooting his brother a small smile.
Both Gerard and Frank watched as Mikey drifted out of the room, closing the glass door behind him.
“You’re still afraid of me.” Gerard commented softly as soon as the door was closed all the way.
“No, I’m not.” Frank defended, furrowing his brow, “I’m just-”
“Sorry, I think I meant to say ‘good morning.’” Gerard amended. He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Frank’s forehead. Frank closed his eyes and held his breath, thankful he wasn’t going to have to be the one to close the distance between them.
“Good morning.” Frank replied softly, breathlessly.
Gerard pulled away to take a small sip of Frank’s coffee and grimaced.
“We need to get you some almond milk, if you’re going to stay here.” Gerard commented.
Gerard wasn’t just talking about the cabin though, Frank realized. He was staring at Frank, waiting for him to confirm that he was still cool with everything.
“We do, yeah.” Frank agreed with a small smile.
He pushed himself into Gerard’s space, wrapping his arms around the wolfish man’s neck. Frank wasn’t sure what happened with the mug. He didn’t care either. They kissed slowly, sweetly. Frank could’ve cried at the comforting familiarity of the stubble on Gerard’s chin, his chapped lips, his long black hair, tickling the sides of Frank’s face. He shivered when Gerard slid his warm hands up under the back of Frank’s borrowed coat. All of him was warm, in fact.
“Cold, huh?” Gerard asked around Frank’s lips.
“How are you not?” Frank laughed.
“It’s just... one of those things, I guess?” Gerard offered, hugging Frank tightly, “Let’s get you inside.”
Frank’s heart fluttered at the way Gerard breathed him in before letting him go. He wasn’t meant to notice it, maybe, but Gerard’s words from the night before were burned into his mind. Gerard said Frank smelled good, good enough to tear apart. He said it was animalistic and wrong.
Frank didn’t want to stop touching Gerard after that, not for a fucking second. He only did it in favor of getting back into the warmth of the cabin. Mikey didn’t look up from his computer as they passed by him on their way through the kitchen. The rubber boots thumped loudly against the wooden flooring all the way into front living room where they all had sat the night before.
“Cool shoes...” Gerard commented as he spun around and took in Frank’s ensemble of borrowed winter gear, “Where exactly were you planning on taking my coat?”
“I um, left s-something in my- Jamia’s car.” Frank said, fumbling over his words.
Gerard raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“My cigarettes?” Frank offered. It came out more like a question than a statement.
“Would you like me to go get them for you?” Gerard asked smoothly.
“No, it’s fine, I bummed one from Mikey.” Frank said.
“Alright.” Gerard nodded, “Then, um-”
“What do you normally do during the day, when you’re here?” Frank asked, changing the subject.
“Well… I’m not usually so um, awake.” Gerard offered, dropping onto the couch and staring up at Frank, “I heal faster when I’m asleep so I usually just sort of sleep until the moonrise…”
There was still this awkward hesitation radiating from Gerard. His words seemed so forced, like if he admitted too much Frank would bolt.
Frank slid out of the thick winter coat, letting it slump onto the floor, and lowered himself onto the couch beside Gerard. He held perfectly still as Gerard grabbed a throw blanket that had been draped over the back of the couch and spread it over the two of them.
“I mean, I only spent a couple of hours as um, well, you know, so I’m not as tired as I normally would be.” Gerard rambled on, adjusting the fabric so that it covered both of them adequately, “This has obviously um, never happened before.”
“If I’d stayed out all night I’d be recovering in here actually.” Gerard went on, “This couch is a pull-out bed. Mikey moves the coffee table out of the way for me. I’m usually too wiped to make it all the way upstairs.”
It wasn’t like Gerard to compulsively fill silence with words. Frank realized he was nervous again. Nervous or just excited to finally have someone new to tell about his incredible secret. Frank wordlessly rested his head on Gerard’s shoulder, huddling closer for warmth. The closeness seemed to relax the wolfish man, because he shut the hell up. He wrapped his arms around Frank under the blanket. His warmth was more than welcoming.
Frank closed his eyes and pressed his face into the crook of Gerard’s neck. His heart fluttered again at the way Gerard breathed him in. He wasn’t sure if Gerard was even aware he was doing it.
“I still can’t believe you haven’t run away screaming.” Gerard said softly.
“I already told you,” Frank smiled, “I tried to.”
“I’m not kidding. Don’t joke about that.” Gerard sighed, “Frank… after everything I did, what I am…”
“If I was going to run away, I would’ve done it already.” Frank insisted.
“When I woke up and you weren’t there…” Gerard said, “I guess I thought… I thought...”
“I’m so sorry about yesterday morning. I shouldn’t have left.” Frank said, pulling away enough to look Gerard in the eyes, “I thought it would make me feel better but it didn’t. It felt so awful to leave you...”
“It’s okay. I think I understand why you did it…” Gerard said quietly, “For the record we didn’t- nothing happened.”
“Nothing...” Frank repeated.
“You were drunk.” Gerard elaborated smoothly, “And I’m a gentleman. I wouldn’t- Not with things so up in the air like that.”
“But I woke up... um…” Frank pointed out, not needing to finish with ‘naked.’
“You insisted on taking a shower with your clothes on.” Gerard laughed, “And then you took them off. You have to remember, or I guess you don’t remember, which why- but… I was drunk too. There was only so much I could do for you.”
“I’m sorry.” Frank mumbled, averting his gaze, “I can be such a mess when I drink like that.”
“A hot mess.” Gerard corrected, sliding a finger under Frank’s chin to tilt his face back in his direction.
Frank smiled, feeling himself blush. Gerard smiled back.
Frank was just glad that they were alone. If someone could’ve taken a picture, it would’ve been enough to blackmail Frank for the rest of his fucking life. He felt disgustingly warm, inside and out.
“It’s behind us now, if you want it to be.” Gerard said, smile sobering away. He was a perfect picture of seriousness. He let his hand fall from Frank’s face as he waited him out.
Frank nodded slowly, seriously. Putting all their drama behind them, while easier said then done, made sense, if they were going to try to make this work.
“I wanna, um, I wanna take you out for breakfast.” Gerard said, leaning in to press a kiss to Frank’s cheek, “I wanna do this right.”
“Can you?” Frank asked, “What if you change back?”
“I won’t.” Gerard said, “I don’t think I will, anyways.”
“Where could we even… This isn’t exactly the east village. We’re halfway up a mountain.” Frank pointed out skeptically.
“There’s a breakfast spot the next town over.” Gerard laughed, “I just need to put a shirt on. Give me thirty seconds.”

Getting out of the house took way more than 30 seconds, though.
The younger Way vetoed the idea of Gerard leaving, right off the bat. Frank was about to take Mikey’s side but decided against it when he remembered he’d vowed to never get in the middle of sibling rivalry ever again. He’d been around Jamia and her brother enough to know what happened when he sided with the wrong Nestor. Given that one of the Way’s was an unstable werewolf Frank was sort of in love with, he decided it was in his best interest to just shut the fuck up and let them work it out.
Gerard won of course, reasoning that the Moon couldn’t possibly be further away from them, given that it was midday. Mikey could lock him up before sundown, if he felt that was necessary.

“Be careful.” Mikey had said, eyeing Gerard, “Like, so fucking careful.”
Frank and Mikey had both just stared at him when Gerard had smiled and said, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
After a few minutes of reassurance from Gerard, Mikey handed his keys over, continuing to eye his older brother skeptically.
They took Mikey’s car because Gerard said he was more comfortable driving it. Frank had said he was fine to drive but of course Gerard ‘knew the way like the back of his hand.’
Frank wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of an unstable false wolf driving on winding, icy roads. No, he was pretty sure he didn’t like it at all. He could only half pay attention to Gerard rambling on and on fondly about the area. The lake he went swimming in as a kid, the trail-head that lead the rest of the way up the mountain... While they sped past Gerard’s childhood memories, Frank gripped the seat tightly as if it would help him at all when Gerard eventually transitioned in the middle of driving, plunging both of them into a Ravine - Frank, of course, strapped into the front seat with a hungry, angry werewolf that had a taste for his particular brand of manhattan punk-boy. As the horror movie scenarios played in Frank’s head, Gerard kept insisting he was fine. He even reached over to take Frank’s hand when the road straightened out.
As the road sloped down into a small town, Frank was able to loosen his death-grip a little. It was sort of nice to be completely alone with Gerard until, suddenly, they weren’t alone anymore. Gerard pulled the car into a heavily parked up little diner off the main road.
Frank eyed the cars as they circled around looking for a parking spot. The first thing he noticed was the size of the cars. Most people had big trucks, covered in mud and ice from off-roading. The second thing Frank noticed was the hunting bumper stickers decorating the outsides of the vehicles.Somehow it hadn’t occurred to Frank that being out the mountains meant he’d be in the back-country redneck capital of upstate New York. His mind had been kind of occupied, he supposed.
Frank had his defenses up as they wandered into the warm, crowded diner, arm in arm. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of much the more well-fitting winter coat Gerard had found him. The tattoos curling around his hands were easily concealed. The neck tattoo was thankfully buried under a thick scarf.
The waitress’s eyes darted between the two of them as she asked if they wanted a table or a booth. Frank couldn’t decide if she was more taken aback by Gerard’s wild sort of beauty, or the fact that they probably looked like they were a long way from home.
Frank felt better once they were tucked away in a booth. He could still feel eyes on them, though. He took his coat off as quickly as possible and kept the scarf on. His hands, he tucked carefully into his lap. He stared out into the sea of bustling tables. White-haired men in hunting camouflage occupied many of the tables. Frank averted his gaze when one of them made eye contact with him.
It wasn’t just that they were hunters. Frank hated people who hunted for sport on a fundamental level, for sure. It was his vegan duty to hate them. What scared him, though, was that he knew the culture that went along with those kinds of people. He hated to generalize. He hated people who looked at him and made generalizations. It wasn’t punk to generalize. But he knew they hated people like him. Like Gerard.
Gerard eyed Frank worriedly as he ordered two cups of coffee from the waitress.
“Hey, what’s up?” Gerard asked hesitantly, once she was gone.
“Nothing.” Frank said, looking back to Gerard and smiling.
“Is it…” Gerard started, face growing more and more concerned, “Are you having second thoughts?”
“No,” Frank sighed, “It’s not that-”
“‘Cause if you are, that’s totally okay. I get it.” Gerard interrupted, “I know this is probably a lot.”
“It’s not you.” Frank said shaking his head, “I just… didn’t realize we would be, uh, here.”
“Here.” Gerard repeated, clearly not getting Frank’s meaning.
“Hunters.” Frank said, leaning forward so he could speak quietly, “Homophobes.”
“Oh.” Gerard blinked, “That’s what you’re worried about?”
Frank nodded.
“It’s not very punk to be afraid of them.” Gerard pointed out lightly, obviously trying to pull Frank out of his stupor.
“Punk only gets you so far when you’re outnumbered.” Frank offered darkly.
“They can’t hurt us.” Gerard promised, “They won’t.”
“What makes you so sure?” Frank asked, eyeing some dude’s What Would Jesus Do? pin.
“Here just… don’t look at them. Look at me.” Gerard tried, “I love you, remember?”
Frank’s gaze snapped back to Gerard. Gerard was smiling at him, holding his hand out for Frank to take.
Frank obliged in taking Gerard’s hand, feeling sappy and ridiculous, but undeniably happy. They smiled at one another. Frank’s heart fluttered, and for the second time that day, Frank found himself in a moment worthy of blackmail.
“Ready to order?” The waitress asked, snapping them out of it.
“Haven’t even looked at the menu, sorry.” Gerard admitted sheepishly, “Give us another minute?”
“No problem.” She said, ghosting off to another table to check on another set of patrons.
“Now. Breakfast.” Gerard said, opening a menu and pushing the other towards Frank.
Frank pretended to look the giant, colorful laminated thing over, though he sort of already knew the drill. There wasn’t much in the way of vegan options at a place like this. French fries, onion rings, has browns, questionable ‘fruit bowls.’ Frank was used to this.
“What are you gonna get?” Gerard asked, not looking up from his menu.
“Oh, you know…” Frank replied.
“No like, what can you even get?” Gerard reiterated, flipping through front-to-back.
“I promise I won’t let the homophobes ruin this if you promise you won’t let veganism ruin this either.” Frank offered smoothly, raising a curious eyebrow.
Gerard squinted at Frank skeptically for a moment before sighing and mumbling one word:
“Deal.”

After learning the oatmeal was prepared with milk, Frank went simple and ordered a plate of french fries.
“That’s really all you want?” The waitress asked. Gerard’s eyes wordlessly asked the same thing.
Frank just nodded and she was on her way, grabbing their menus and taking their order to the kitchen. Frank pretended Gerard hadn’t asked for a double-bacon cheeseburger deluxe to go for Mikey, just like he pretended Gerard hadn’t ordered some 12-egg omelette thing.
Frank could totally handle dating a werewolf. Totally.
“The thing about french fries…” Frank said, once the waitress was out of earshot, “Is that they’re really, really hard to fuck up.”
The french fries weren’t fucked up at all. Frank couldn’t tell if they were really good or if he was just really hungry, but he picked at them happily, sipping his black coffee every now and then, as he tried not to watch Gerard decimate an egregious amount of eggs and bacon.
He’d forgotten all about the hunters and homophobes. He was completely under Gerard’s spell. He wondered if it was some kind of werewolf power that drew people in, or Frank was really just that gone for the guy sitting across from him.
When the check came, Gerard paid. Frank kept his eyes low as he put his coat on and followed Gerard out of the diner, holding three cups of coffee to-go with full bartender grace.
“Those guys are nothing.” Gerard said, once they were outside.
“Hmmmm?” Frank hummed.
“The hunters? The people around here. I can take em, Frank.” Gerard said, “Even if I was just, a regular guy I’d alway try my best to defend your honor... but I’m not. And there’s a very good reason you’ve never seen me fight.”
“Oh?” Frank asked curiously, lining the cups of coffee up on the roof of Mikey’s car.
“Before I was um, bitten, I was the softest person imaginable.” Gerard said, carefully placing Mikey’s takeout container in the back seat, “I still try to be. But now… I sometimes don’t even know my own strength. I don’t ever start shit. I try really hard not to.”
“There’s a lot of macho bullshit that comes with being like this. I get controlling, possessive, needlessly aggro. I usually don’t even realize I’m doing it.” Gerard explained, sliding into the driver’s seat and taking the coffee cups Frank passed him, placing them carefully in the cup holders.
Frank slid in the passenger seat, shivering as he held his cup of coffee close to his chest for warmth. Gerard started the car to get the heat going but made no motion to drive.
“I don’t start shit.” Gerard repeated, “But I have this way of finishing it.”
Gerard fumbled with the radio, after he found a station he liked, he left the volume low.
“I guess my point is, for as long as you’re with me, the only person you have to be afraid of is me.” Gerard finished.
“But I’m not afraid of you.” Frank pointed out.
“You say that now…” Gerard started, looking over at Frank.
Frank just glared back, not looking to start that conversation again.
“But if you mean it,” Gerard amended, taking the hint, “Then you have no one to fear.”
With that, Gerard put the car in reverse and maneuvered them out of the parking lot. Frank couldn’t help but notice that Gerard made a right instead of a left.
“Where are we going?” Frank asked.
“Just need to pick up a few things.” Gerard said, “There’s a grocery store a few miles down the road.”
Either it was more than a few miles or Gerard had taken a scenic route. The roads seemed less traveled than the main road. There were only a few lines of tire tracks in the light dusting of snow. Frank stared out the window at the slowly-passing scenery. He was overloaded with processing information as he sipped on his coffee. There was so much to he didn’t understand, so much he was still curious about. He knew he was approaching over-caffeinated, but he was cold enough that he didn’t care. He’d look for herbal tea when they got to the store.
“Wait…” Frank said, breaking the warm, comfortable silence between them, “But Gerard, they’re hunters.”
“And?” Gerard asked.
“Hunters…hunt.” Frank said, “Mikey let’s you out sometimes. I know he does. Aren’t you afraid they might, I don’t know, get you?”
“Mikey only lets me out at night. Who the fuck do you think hunts at night, Frank?” Gerard laughed.
“I guess… I don’t know?” Frank offered crossly, keeping his eyes out the window so Gerard couldn’t see him frowning.
“I appreciate your concern.” Gerard said tenderly, placing a hand on Frank’s thigh, “But it would take more than a few bullets to take me down. I’m not afraid of them.”
Frank just covered Gerard’s hand with his own and nodded solemnly, even though he prayed Gerard was looking at the road in front of them and not at him.

Eventually they made it to the store. Gerard took Frank’s hand as they made their way inside. Frank glanced at the people around them, cataloging their outfits. He felt himself relax a little when he didn’t see a scrap of camo. The store was inhabited mostly by cute little old ladies.
Gerard led them to the dairy section first. Frank shivered, thinking how the store could save money by just keeping all the shit outside.
Gerard reached out and grabbed a carton of soymilk.
“I can’t watch you take another sip of black coffee.” He explained, “Though, I think it might be worse for me than it is for you.”
“Probably...” Frank smiled, “Are you trying to tell me it doesn’t even give me any baseline douchebag allure? You’re not turned on by black coffee and cigarettes and Kerouac?”
“I went to college too...” Gerard smirked.
“Art school.” Frank corrected, “Totally different playing field.”
“There were still plenty of lit douchebags.” Gerard shrugged.
“Hey, be nice. I was one of those lit douchebags.” Frank scoffed, “You think I was born with this artificial concept of anarchy and an overwhelming sense of self-importance?”
“Maybe.” Gerard said, tugging Frank along by his arm, “You wear it so well.”
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Frank countered, threading his arm through Gerard’s.
“I’ve actually thought about this before... Um, I think I probably would’ve been into you, at any point.” Gerard said, “Just, from what you’ve told me.”
“Even when I was a lit douchebag?” Frank asked skeptically, heart fluttering at Gerard’s suggestion.
“Especially then.” Gerard agreed, steering Frank down an aisle. Cold medicines, tampons, vitamins, eye drops, condoms.
“You know,” Gerard whispered, eyes scouring the brightly colored boxes, “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you if there’s a particular kind you like.”
“Oh my God, shut up.” Frank hissed, glancing around the aisle for any signs that someone might’ve overheard. A middle-aged lady at the far end of the aisle was inspecting a box of cold medicine, clearly not paying them any wind. Frank darted his head the other way. Gerard pressed a kiss to Frank’s cheek, making him blush furiously.
“What? You feel them just as much as I do.” Gerard leered softly against Frank’s ear, “You really don’t have any preference at all?”
“I’m usually too um, distracted to notice.” Frank said, swallowing hard, “They’re sort of all the same to me.”
“Interesting.” Gerard said slowly, grabbing a box off the shelf and tucking it under his arm.
Frank averted his gaze to the other side of the aisle. Toothbrushes. There was nothing sexual about those, not the way Frank used them.
“Okay so what about lube?” Gerard asked under his breath, making Frank go pink all over again.
“Gerard,” Frank muttered, “I swear I will hurt you if you don’t-”
“Oh I’m hoping you will...” Gerard interrupted, “And if you really have no input we’ll just have to work our way through all of them until we find the ones you like best.”
Frank spun around to shove at Gerard but stopped short when he saw Gerard had picked out a small, unassuming, clear bottle.
“Not in one day, of course… We’ve got time, right?” Gerard amended, eyes wide with mock-innocence, “Is there anything else we need to pick up while we’re here?”
“What the fuck is the cashier gonna think?” Frank laughed, eyeing the soymilk, condoms and lube in Gerard’s hands.
“What? Are you fifteen? Who cares?” Gerard drawled, “Don’t you wanna get the fuck out of here?”
Frank nodded, pursing his lips.
“Let’s go, then.” Gerard smiled, nodding in the direction of the check-out stands.

Frank stared at their purchases on the conveyor belt, pretending to ignore the arm Gerard had wrapped around his waist. He liked that Gerard was so cool with PDA, but his stupid pride was getting in the way. He knew the wolfish man was only being so handsy to get under Frank’s skin.
“What’s your favorite kind of candy bar?” Gerard asked smoothly, pressing a kiss to Frank’s temple.
“I can’t eat most of them.” Frank shrugged, “Before I was vegan, though? Maybe peanut butter cups.”
“Cute.” Gerard commented, “But so like… what do you do when you crave sweet things?”
“Well, skittles are vegan?” Frank mused, “So are airheads, Oreos. There’s vegan chocolate, too. It’s not hard to find in the city.”
When Frank looked up into Gerard’s eyes, he could practically see the gears turning as Gerard tried to memorize the information. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Gerard’s for a quick kiss. Gerard seemed sort of stunned by the kiss, but when Frank pulled away, he smiled.
Frank kept his eyes away from the sales transaction, not wanting to know what the cashier thought. Gerard paid for their goods and they left the store.
The grocery bag ended up in the backseat, next to Mikey’s long-cold bacon cheeseburger.
It seemed to take less time to drive back to the cabin. Frank sort of recognized where they were going in a vague sort of way. They passed a few mailboxes he knew he’d seen before.
“How are you feeling?’ Frank asked, once the car had traveled up to where roads were windy and mountainous again. The grey light outside was starting to dim a little. The sun was buried behind the clouds, but Frank could tell it was low on the horizon. He’d almost forgotten Gerard was probably going to have to start thinking about the moonrise soon.
“I’m alright. Starting to feel the pull a little.” Gerard answered honestly.
“The pull?” Frank asked, “Like, of the moon?”
“Yeah. It’s um, common slang among wolves.” Gerard explained.
“Do you know others?” Frank asked.
“Nah. Most werewolves are assholes… but not in a loveable sort of way, like you.” Gerard offered fondly, “But you know, you read as much as Mikey does, you pick up on their lingo.”
“So… what does the pull feel like?” Frank wondered.
“I wanna take my fucking clothes off. They’re so itchy. And I could maybe eat again?” Gerard laughed, “Also your smell is starting to drive me a little crazy. Glad I won’t be driving for much longer. It’s kind of distracting.”
“Do you want me to drive?” Frank offered.
“No. I’ll be okay. We’re almost there anyways.” Gerard insisted.
Frank studied Gerard in the fading light. His hands were gripping the wheel tightly, though Frank couldn’t tell if Gerard was uncomfortable or just a cautious driver. He was biting his lip, too. Hard. His eyes were focused straight ahead.
“Distracting how?” Frank asked.
“Huh?” Gerard echoed.
“How is my smell distracting?” Frank reiterated.
“Oh. That. Well, uh, you smell really good right now. I already explained that, sort of...” Gerard offered somewhat hesitantly, “I always want you in this mindless sort of way. But um, it’s worse around the moon. The wolf wants you, too. I can feel it burning under my skin. It’s like some weird physiological pre-transition kind of thing, I think? I don’t know. I’m not a fucking scientist.”
“It… wants me?” Frank asked slowly. He was curious, but also frightened, he could hear the twinge of mania in Gerard’s voice. He was obviously in pain. His breath was coming out all shaky.
Frank recognized the bottom of the hill in the headlights of the car. They weren’t far from the cabin.
“It’s not in a sexual way. That piece of it only seems to grace me.” Gerard said sarcastically, “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain ‘cause it doesn’t really make any sense.”
“You don’t have to explain it.” Frank offered soothingly, “I was just curious.”
“No. I wish I could explain it.” Gerard breathed, “It’s sort of lonely to never be able to explain all the sensations that come along with this curse.”
“Like, sex with you...” he added, pulling the car into the driveway and killing the engine, “You have no idea how fucking amazing it is, Frank. To crave something so badly and then to just… taste it.”
“Do you want to... like, now?” Frank asked quietly.
“Only if you do.” Gerard said.
“I can’t say I’m not curious.” Frank mumbled.
“Curiosity?” Gerard breathed, “Is that all this is for you? You’re going to break my fucking heart with that...”
“You know that’s not all this is.” Frank countered, closing the distance between them and kissing Gerard hard.
A desperate, needy sound escaped Gerard’s lips as Frank unbuckled his seatbelt and tried to fumble his way closer. Gerard pulled Frank closer, tangling his hands in Frank’s hair, kissing the everliving fuck out of him.
“Not in Mikey’s car.” Gerard protested, in between kisses, “Let’s go in… upstairs… Please.”
Frank untangled himself from Gerard enough to reach the grocery bag in the back seat. And then he was pushing himself out of the passenger seat, feat crunching through the snow as he made his way up to the house. Gerard was hot on his heels, keys already jingling in his hand.
They stopped to kiss heatedly at the front door. The grocery bag crackled in between them, dangling loosely from Frank’s gloved wrist. The carton of soymilk dug into Frank’s ribs as Gerard pressed against him. He was so far from caring, not when Gerard was kissing him like his life depended on it.
Eventually Gerard broke off, panting as he unlocked the door and led Frank inside.
“What about…” Frank trailed off, glancing in the direction of the kitchen. He could see the lights on, but there was no other indication Mikey was in there.
“He’ll figure it out. He’s smart.” Gerard laughed breathlessly, grabbing Frank’s hand and tugging him up the stairs, “Besides, I have a feeling you’ll give us away.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frank huffed.
“You’re loud when you like it.” Gerard pointed out, pulling Frank down the hallway.
“Am not.” Frank breathed.
“Well, I’ll have you talking...” Gerard promised deviously.
That was the end of discussion for a moment. Gerard closed the door behind them and twisted the lock before turning and shoving his tongue in Frank’s mouth. They were both still in full winter gear. Frank started with his gloves so that he could get to the buttons on Gerard’s coat.
“I’ve never had you when I’m this close to losing myself.” Gerard whispered
“You’re not going to change, are you?” Frank asked, worry only lingering on the backburner as Gerard slid his coat off and started sucking marks into his neck.
“Not yet.” Gerard moaned, shoving Frank back towards the bed, “We have time.”
He usually let Gerard have control when they got like this, but this was different. There was something sexy about the dominance Gerard was radiating. He wanted Frank more than anyone had ever wanted Frank. Frank was certain of that.
Frank pulled his remaining upper layers over his head, with Gerard’s help. He shivered against the cool bedspread. Gerard was one step behind him, pulling off his shirt, and pressing into Frank, skin against skin. He was even warmer than he’d been in the morning. He was burning up. Frank clung to him, leeching off of his warmth.
He was starting to think they weren’t going to need the condoms after all, not with how Gerard was grinding against him. He was painfully hard in his jeans, moaning into Gerard’s mouth, losing his battle with self-control. Not that he needed it anymore.
Gerard arched his back to make room to undo the button on Frank’s jeans.
“How do you want me?” Frank breathed, on the verge of making some joke about doggy style.
“Flip over.” Gerard demanded.
He pulled Frank’s jeans down as Frank fumbled to reorient himself underneath Gerard. Gerard let out a pleased moan as he pressed his hips against Frank’s bare ass. Frank fought with the temptation to rut against the mattress, gasping when he felt the line of Gerard’s hard-on, still trapped in his jeans, pressing against his skin.
“Where did you put that bag?” Gerard asked, pulling away from Frank. Frank laid still as Gerard searched around in the dark. He heard the familiar crinkling of the plastic, followed by Gerard tearing open the box of condoms, pulling off the wrapper on the lube... He bit his lip as Gerard pulled his jeans off the rest of the way. The mattress dipped under his weight as he situated himself between Frank’s legs. He pressed agonizingly slow, sweet kisses into Frank’s shivering spine. It was taking the rest of Frank’s sanity to not just ride this out on the mattress. He kept his hips as still as he could, knowing he’d regret it later if he didn’t.
“You taste so good.” Gerard growled.
His lips kept traveling down until they were at the base of Frank’s spine. Frank heard Gerard pop the cap on the lube, pausing to covering his fingers with it. Frank yelped when he felt Gerard’s tongue slide between his cheeks. He’d been expecting chill, not warmth and oh fuck, he totally would’ve showered before this if he’d been expecting-
There was little he could do now. He felt the warmth spread to his cheeks, blushing like crazy as Gerard started swirling his tongue around, moaning softly as he licked his way deeper, gently spreading Frank’s cheeks open so he could work his way in. His fingers were slippery with the lube, he couldn’t keep Frank spread open the way he obviously wanted to. Frank was about to reach a hand back to help him when suddenly Gerard was sliding a lube-slicked finger in to join his tongue. Frank hissed at the stretch, arching his back to urge Gerard to press in further.
Gerard pressed kisses into the base of Frank’s spine as he slid another finger in and then out and then in again and oh Frank had been working so hard to keep quiet.
“So good, Gee.” Frank breathed.
“Was wondering when you were gonna talk.” Gerard answered hoarsely, curling his fingers as he worked to find Frank’s sweet spot.
“You…” Frank faltered, using every ounce of willpower to not just fuck back onto Gerard’s fingers.
“Love it when you talk.” Gerard drawled, “You taste so good. Fuck, I’ve wanted to do that for… so long, Frank.”
Frank blushed, closing his eyes and thanking the universe Gerard couldn’t see it in the dark.
“You like that?” Gerard asked in between kisses, working his lips back up Frank’s spine as he fingered him smooth and steady, not nearly quick or deep enough.
Frank moaned in confirmation, pressing his face into the bedspread to muffle the noise. He was going to lose his shit if Gerard didn’t hurry up and fuck him already.
“Fuck me.” He begged.
“What was that?” Gerard asked softly, warm breath spilling over Frank’s shoulder.
“Fuck me, please.” Frank tried again.
“Alright.” Gerard breathed, pressing his lips against Frank’s shoulder. Frank could feel the smile that spread across his lips. He pulled his fingers out and Frank gasped, bucking his hips at the lack of weight. He felt so desperately empty.
Frank listened as he heard Gerard tear open a condom packet and roll it over himself.
“Wanted you all day...” Gerard said softly, running his fingers over the crease where Frank’s ass met the back of his thigh. He popped the cap on the lube and spread more over himself before sliding up against Frank’s ass. Frank was going to kill him if he didn’t push it in. Like actually just roll over and kill him if he kept teasing like this.
“Please.” Frank whimpered one last time.
“Yes. Yes, okay.” Gerard groaned, lining himself up and pushing his way into Frank.
“Fuck.” Gerard hissed, moving slowly at first, feeling Frank out. He curled his hand between Frank’s hips and the mattress and reached for Frank’s dick. He stroked Frank off, erratically at first, gradually finding a rhythm that fit with the way he was pushing into Frank from behind. He scraped his teeth over Frank’s shoulder, seeming to forget himself for a moment. Frank found it hot, Gerard was too far gone to remember he wasn’t supposed to use his teeth.
“Gerard.” Frank gasped, capable of saying little else. He was full, overwhelmed and stretched out and warm everywhere Gerard was touching him.
“I know, Frankie,” Gerard hummed, “Me too.”
Frank let out a slew of curse words as his orgasm built, deep and all-encompassing and unforgiving. He had little say in when it finally hit him. Any attempts at trying to fight it would’ve been useless, not that Frank had the willpower to fight it anymore. Gerard slammed into Frank a few more times before collapsing on top of him, cursing and twitching as he came hard. He rode it out, sliding come around Frank’s tip until he was sure Frank was totally spent.
Panting, he pulled out carefully and lowered himself onto the mattress beside Frank.
“Shit.” Gerard breathed, “I didn’t break you did I.”
“I’m definitely broken.” Frank sighed, trying to get up, but giving up when his muscles pulled in protest, “But good broken, not bad broken.”
“Okay good.” Gerard sighed, slinging an arm around Frank’s middle.
Frank laid there, letting his breath slowly come back to him. He’d been cold when they started kissing, but now he was sweaty and spent. A shower sounded better than it had when Gerard had started to- His heart fluttered at the thought of what had actually just happened.
“I love you.” Gerard whispered in the dark.
Frank didn’t say it back. He was out of breath and caught off guard and totally melted into a puddle of uselessness. He felt Gerard move on the bed beside him.
“You didn’t um, say it back earlier... In the diner. Or just now.” Gerard pointed out evenly.
“I know.” Frank admitted.
“Okay. Just checking.” Gerard said. Frank could hear the disappointment in his voice.
“I read somewhere once that people are the most honest in the first 8 minutes after they cum.” Frank said, nuzzling closer to Gerard.
“That sounds like bullshit.” Gerard scoffed, “You can’t believe everything you read.”
“I know.” Frank said. He fumbled around in the dark for Gerard’s sweatshirt and lifted himself up enough to pull it on. He rested his head on Gerard’s chest, relishing in his warmth. Gerard’s body made a strange noise, sort of like a dry heave.
“What the hell was that?” Frank laughed.
“I uh, Frank, I think we might have to cut the cuddling short.” Gerard said, voice devoid of all humor.
“You mean…” Frank trailed off.
“Yeah. I gotta go.” Gerard said, voice coming out mangled and forced. It sounded like he was choking on his own breath.
And just like that, Gerard was lifting himself off the bed and headed for the door. He stumbled out into the hallway and bolted. Frank got up too, much slower than Gerard had. He felt around for his jeans on the floor. They were cold now and he was still covered in lube but he pulled them on anyways and followed after Gerard.
Gerard had already made it downstairs by the time Frank had wrestled the tight denim on.
Frank followed after his voice. He blinked against the bright light in the kitchen as his eyes adjusted. A door across the room was open, light poured down a set of stairs. Frank could hear Gerard and Mikey shouting. He followed their voices down the stairs, into the basement.
A cell took up half of the room. Thick bars separated them from Gerard.
“Don’t let Frank…” Gerard was starting to say.
“It’s happening already?” Frank asked, taking in the way Gerard’s body was starting to contort. When Gerard looked up, his eyes had returned to their pale yellow.
Frank crossed the room and pressed himself up against the bars to get as close to Gerard as he could without climbing inside the enormous cage.
“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” Gerard growled. His voice didn’t sound like his voice at all. It sent a spike of fear into Frank’s heart.
Gerard lowered himself to the ground, letting out a dog-like whine as his spine twisted forward.
“I love you, too.” Frank said, making eye contact with the quickly-transforming creature before him.
“I thought you might.” the creature answered, and then Gerard was gone, buried under the fur sprouting out of his skin. Soft lips, shredded away by sharp teeth. The wolf’s teeth clacked as it darted towards the silver-coated bars. It recoiled as soon as it made contact.
“What do we do now?” Frank asked, voice shaking.
“We get the fuck out of here.” Mikey said, “And then we wait.”
Frank took one last look at the large black wolf, pacing back and forth in the cell. It’s bright yellow eyes were almost glowing as it stared Frank down. Frank glanced at the series of locks that kept them apart. He turned his back, trying not to think much of the blood-curdling growl that escaped the creature’s jaws, and followed Mikey back up the stairs.
Mikey stared at Frank as soon as he’d closed the door, like he wasn’t sure if Frank was about to have a fucking breakdown.
“You okay, man?” Mikey asked, “Want to smoke a cigarette?”
There was a loud thump from the basement. Frank could make out the creature’s awful sounds, even through the door that now separated them. Mikey waited Frank out silently. Frank could tell Mikey was listening to the sounds, too.
“Nah, I’m good.” Frank assured after a moment, unable to tear his eyes off the basement door, “Just uh… Gerard got you a cheeseburger earlier. It’s in the backseat of your car.”

Notes

they need to change the background on this fucking website. i'm tired of dangerdays gerard staring at me w/ vague disapproval whenever i enter updates.
too much grey also.

love u all.

-m