The rest of the week passed uneventfully. It's Saturday, and we're all meeting at the Way's house to practice our music project. We have to make three songs, and perform them at the end of the semester. We didn't have a drummer, but I called Bob, and he said he'd help.
Me and Bob make our way over to the Way's. We knock on the door, and Gerard answers it, giving a small hello and shuffling off.
Gerard's been acting strange, and awkward. I don't know why, but I saw Craig speak to him, and they ended up having an argument, I broke it before they could start throwing punches, but ever since then Gerard's been weird. I might ask him what's wrong today.
We hear the music coming from the attic, where Mikey said he and Ray would be. I've got my guitar, pansy, and bob has his drumstick, he says they're lucky. The attic is awesome, it's been converted to a music studio nearly. The musical instruments line the walls, and there is a microphone.
"Hey, guys! How you doing?" I'm excited about today, and it shows through my tone of voice.
"Hey, Frank. We're good, Excited for today, maybe?" Ray smirks, and raises his eyebrows.
"Ha, yeah. Maybe just a little bit..", I blush and look away. "Oh, yeah. Guys, this is Bob. Bob this is Ray and Mikey. Gerard was the awkward one that opened the door for us." I gesture to each of the boys, naming them. "Where is Gerard, anyway?"
"Uh, he's probably downstairs, in his bedroom. Can you go and get him, please, Frank? We need him to be able to complete the task.." Mikey trails of, and gives me a pleading look. I sigh and nod, saying that I'll be back in a minute.
I walk into Gerard's bedroom and see him slumped over his desk, staring into space. I shake his shoulder.
"Gerard? What's wrong, honey?" I don't mean to call him honey, it just comes out, and I blush profusely. It snaps Gerard out of his trance, and when he turns to look at me properly, he has tear tracks down his face. Concern passes over me.
"Gerard, your scaring me. What's wrong, talk to me. You can tell me anything, I promise." Gerard half smiles and sniffles. "I know, Frankie, and I'm grateful for that. Aside from Mikey, your the best friend I've ever had."
I smile at this, thinking that he's the best friend I've ever had.
"Well, Gee, tell me what's wrong then, please. Are you okay? Is this to do with what Craig said to you, the other day?" He pales, and nods, slowly.
"What did he say? Was it something about Mikey, the money..?" I ask him softly, so as not to upset him, even more. Gerard clears his throat, and begins to speak in a soft voice.
"He, uh, he said that if I, uh, don't pay up by the end of the week, he'll, um, hurtyouandIdon'twantthattohappen..." He says the last part really fast and I don't understand him. I sigh and pat his shoulder. His eyes are shiny with tears and they've lost their glow.
"Can you say that again, Gee. I know it's hard, but maybe I'll be able to help"
He sighs. "H-he said that if I don't pay up, he and his friends wi-will, um, hu-hurt you. You're my best friend, Frankie. I can't let that happen." I gulp, and knows that when Craig says that he'll hurt me, he probably means put me into hospital, and I'll have to walk with a limp for the rest of my life.
"Gee, why didn't you tell me? I said I have the money, and that I'd help with it all, didn't I?" I say, my voice slightly shaky.
"I know, Frankie, but I don't want to drag you into this, I've caused enough trouble. I don't want you to get hurt. I lov-" He cuts himself off, coughing, or, well, pretending to cough. I want to know what he was going to say, but I don't want to push him. Not today, anyway.
The mood is kind of awkward know, so to break the ice I say a really bad pun.
"Hey, Gee? What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?" I say this aseriously as possible, so he doesn't catch on that it's a joke.
"Uh, I don't know, why?" He scrunches his nose up, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself going 'aww'."
"Oh, you call it a pouch potato." I crack up, but Gerard doesn't
"What's wrong, Gee? That was a really good joke! C'mon, I know you found it funny!" I'm still laughing so it comes out a bit distorted.
"Oh, Frankie, you think that was good? What about this one; Why was the phone blurry?" I know this one and start to say the answer, and Gerard comes out with it at the same time. We look at each other, and start laughing.

I forget about Mikey, Ray and Bob upstairs, until they come down about an hour later. Me and Gerard have been playing twenty questions. I now know lots of random things about him, like his earliest memory, favorite topping on pizza (which is also one of his favorite foods) and how he has his tea and coffee. I feel satisfied, because I feel like me and Gerard are now closer than before. Mikey storms in shouts at us to 'get our asses upstairs, before he kicks them up there' and storms back out out. Gerard quickly grabs a small notebook, that has printed on it SONGBOOK in block capitals. So, he sings, draws and writes songs? His room is covered in drawings, and I heard him singing in music the other day.
We go to the attic and unpack Pansy, and start to tune her. Gerard is reading through the song book, probably deciding which songs to use. He seems to pick out some, and I go and look at them.
"Can I have a look, Gee?" He's startled by my presence, but nods and hands it over to me. The songs are titled, well, most of them are. They are really good. One of them called 'Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us.' catches my eye. I read the first verse and know when he'd written it. It was probably during the time he hung around with Craig's friends, because it goes like this:
The amount of pills I'm taking, counteracts the booze I'm drinking.
And this vanity I'm breaking, lets me live my life like this.
And well I find it hard to stay, with the words you say.
Oh, baby, let me in.
Oh, baby, let me in.
Well I'll choose the life I've taken, never mind the friends I'm making
And the beauty that I'm faking, lets me live my life like this
And well I find it hard to stay, with the words you say
Oh, baby, let me in.
Oh, baby, let me in.
I can imagine him singing it, with a lot of emotion. The rest of the song is really good as well.
"Which of the songs do you want to sing, Gerard? I think they're all really good, by the way."
He flips the pages to songs called: Demolition Lovers, Headfirst For Halos, and Helena.
"I wrote Helena when my grandma died. She was called Elena, and me and her were really close. I was really, really hurt when she died, and that's when I got into the shit with Craig. I would have been, maybe, fifteen or sixteen, I wasn't emotionally stable, and it clouded my judgement." When he finishes, I nod and say
"Are you sure you want to perform this? It seems really personal, and I don't want you to get uncomfortable or anything." He gives a sharp nod, and smirks.
"Songs are wrote to be sung, Frankie. Music gives strength to the soul." His words are spoke quietly but clearly, and they are full of wisdom. I nod, unsure of what to say back.

Gerard passes the book round so everyone can read the songs, and explains what he want the music to sound like.
"Okay, so the first one is slow and quiet at the start, but gets faster. When it says 'But this time I mean it' the pace gets a bit faster, then it when it says 'until the end of...' in the fifth verse, things get faster and heavier. At the end of the seventh verse, the music stops. When it starts again, the music is slow and quite soft. Only the bass, and guitars. After about fourteen seconds the drums kick in again, but softly. After the last 'All we are is bullets I mean this" Somebody has a guitar solo, and the song picks up the pace again. By the end the song is going at a moderate pace, but there is a build up in the last five seconds." We all stare at him. The enthusiasm he has for music is amazing, he is so excited for this, it's infectious and soon we are chattering about the song. He goes on to explain 'Headfirst For Halos' and 'Helena'. We start to write the music, doing little tunes here and there. Mine and Ray's guitar styles should't work together, but somehow they do. He grew up listening to heavy metal and classic rock, and I grew up listening to punk rock, the styles should clash, but we make them work. By the time we finish for the day, it's around twelve at night. Gerard says we can stay the night and work on it some more tomorrow. Me and Ray agree, but Bob says he's got somethings to do in the morning, but he'll be over at at eleven.
We put a movie on, but nobody really pays attention, we are all too excited for our project. My stomach rumbles, and Gerard hears.
"Are you hungry, Frankie? Do you wanna order a pizza?" I shake my head, but my stomach rumbles again, betraying me. Gerard laughs, shakes his head and reaches for his phone.
"Is cheese okay for everybody? Frankie's doesn't eat meat." Wow, Gerard remembers that? I told them that at the dinner party, like, a week and a half ago, and he wasn't paying much attention. Everybody nods, so he orders it. He jumps onto the couch
"It should be here in thirty minutes. What shall we do? I'm bored!" He whines, and Mikey suggests that we could play truth or dare.
"Really, Mikes? This isn't a kid's party, you know." Gerard protests against the idea, but nobody suggests anything better so we end up playing it.
Mikey gets picked first, and he chooses truth. Gerard asks him the most cliched question on the planet; "Who do you like, Mikey? Like, who have you got a crush on?" Mikey goes red and we all smirk.
"Spill the beans, Mikey! And why do I not know all ready? I'm your brother!" Gerard looks over at Mikey in mock hurt and we all laugh.
"Uh, well, there's this girl, and she's really pretty, but she doesn't like me. Her name's Sydney."
"Aw, my little Mikes has a crush! Your growing, kid! I think I might cry!" Gerard wipes away a fake tear and attacks his brother into a hug, making them fall on the floor. I laugh, I've never really seen this side of their relationship, and it's nice.
The doorbell rings. Half an hour has passed already? Didn't seem like it. Gerard answers the door, gives him the money and says thank you. He puts the pizzas on the floor and we all grab a slice. Within a minute Ray has eaten one and a half., I have eaten one, so has Mikey, but Gerard has had about three.
"God, Gerard, where do you put it all? You're an animal!" Gerard laughs and with his mouth full of a fourth slice of pizza says; "I'm nhgt ahn aminalr!", he swallows and then says it again, calmer "I'm not an animal, Frankie!"
"Okay, Gee. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Frankie, I'm not an animal. Well, I could be for you, if you want?" He winks and my face flushes red. Is he flirting with me? Should I say something back, or just leave it?
"Hmm, Gee, that sounds nice. Is tonight okay?" My response shocked him, and he blushes, but recovers and smirks.
"Sure, I'd do anything for you, sugar." Mikey coughs, successfully stopping us in our tracks. I had completely forgot Ray and Mikey were still here.
"Um, guys, are you done with the flirting, if not, take it downstairs, where I don't have to witness it." Mikey looks seriously annoyed, but he smirks and laughs and I realize he was just kidding. Gee, however, actually pulls me up and drags me off, I walk along numbly. Mikey and Ray whistle after us, shouting 'Don't be to loud, you two' and 'Get some, Frank!'. My personal favorite was 'Use protection, guys, we don't want little Frank's and Gerard's running around!' After that we could hear Mikey and Ray laughing. Gerard leads me into his bedroom and pulls me onto the bed, him following.
"So... Why'd you bring me down here for, Gee." I'm uncertain and the atmosphere is tense.
Gerard looks at me, smirks and says; "To fuck you, of course, Frankie." He looks so serious that I'm about to bolt toward the door, when he bursts out laughing, breaking the tension.
"Oh, God, your face! Your, your face, Frankie, it was hilarious. You looked so scared! I'm not going to touch you like that, Frank, don't worry." He is laughing so hard that tears stream down his face, and his sentence is broken up. Strangely, though a feeling of hurt makes me frown. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out "Why?" Then I clamp my fingers over my mouth, trying to stop anymore words from coming out of my mouth, but Gerard's heard the one word sentence and looks at me with a frown etched onto his beautiful face.
"What do you mean, Frankie? Do you want me to touch you like that? It's not like I don't like you or anything, it's just you're just so, so pure and innocent, and I'm not, and I don't want to drag you down with me. I'm, I'm sorry, the sentence just came out wrong and, and..", He falters looking at me weirdly, I had started to silently laugh out of embarrassment and at the words 'It's not like, I don't like you or anything.' I'm so happy, and I just had to laugh. I realize just then that all the things I've felt toward Gerard this past week or so, meant that I like him. That I really like him. I've only known him a week and a bit, is that too soon to be able to like somebody? I think back to all of our conversation and realize that we know a lot about each other, enough for me to know that I do like him, and who the hell cares if it's too soon? I snap out of my daze to find Gerard staring at me, worried. Why?
"What's wrong, Gerard? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Frankie, you just went from laughing hysterically, at nothing, to staring into space, almost crying, shouldn't I be asking you what's wrong?" He still looks worried, so I smile and reply "Nothing's wrong, Gerard!" Gerard nods, unsure.
"Frankie, about what I was saying a second ago, do you like me?" I could tell him, get rejected and loose a friend. A really good friend, but also, I could tell him, and have him feel the same. What should I do?
My mouth decides for me and answers in a small unsure voice "Yes. I do" I look down and blush. Gerard puts two fingers under my chin and drags my head up. He's smiling.
"Frankie, sugar, I love it when you blush, don't hide your pretty face from me." The sentence makes me blush and he smiles. His eyes are so caring and I get lost in them. I lean in slightly, realize what I'm doing and go even redder. He smiles, and he knows what I was about to do. Sneakily, his arm has wrapped around my waist. He crushes me into a hug and whispers sweet things into my hair.
He pulls away and he says in such quiet voice, that I don't think he even spoke, but I heard him He uttered one single sentence that made my heart swell with joy.
"I like you, too, Frankie." And then he smiles, a soft one that gives me butterflies and makes me warm inside.

Then his soft lips are on mine.

Notes

Frerard action! So the soft side of Gee appears, do you think it's here to stay?
Sorry it took so long to update, I had a different chapter wrote out, but I read through it and didn't like it, so I scraped it and wrote this instead. I hope you guys like it.
I'll hopefully update again tomorrow, but if I don't then I'll update over the weekend, I have a lot of homework at the minute, that's why I might not be able to update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, comment what you think and stuff!
What's you favourite My Chem song? Mine would have to be Early Sunsets Over Monroeville...xo