I Think I Like It

I woke up to the sound of music pouring into Gerard’s open bedroom door, accompanied by the comforting and always welcome smell of fresh coffee and bacon. I sat up, grinning, and stretched, my body aching from the night before. As much as sex on a rooftop was romantic, it wasn’t necessarily the most comfortable place to make love. I chewed my lip, smiling at the memory. Of course, last night had been one of the best nights of my entire life. It was things like that that were going to carry me through University, and through the three long years of very little contact with my love.
I slid out of bed, grunting at the dull ache in my thighs as I considered this. Three years was, of course, a long time. It was longer than I’d even known Gerard for, and the prospect of spending the majority of that time away from him was unwelcome, at the very least. I didn’t doubt for a moment, of course, that we’d stay together. Who else could I ever possibly want? Last night had proven that. I chewed my lip, pulling a pair of Gerard’s sweatpants over my legs.
I didn’t think he was avoiding talking about his proposal, but I believed that he was almost trying to act like it didn’t happen. I was sure if I brought it up, we’d discuss it, but I wasn’t entirely sure that I was ready for that conversation.
I’d marry him in a minute; that much I was certain of. I just wasn’t sure if it was the right minute yet.
My stomach growled as a reminder that an empty stomach wasn’t the best thing to have when trying to make important life decisions, and I found my legs almost carrying themselves out of the room and downstairs, into the kitchen.
The sight that met me was enough to make me forget everything I’d just been thinking about, a grin stretching across my face.
Mikey was sitting at the table, trying to eat his toast and ignore his older brother. The older brother in question was wiggling around with an apron wrapped around him, wearing only his boxers, singing loudly to the song on the radio.
A song I recognized.
“Dude, is this Cher?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Gerard spun around, smiling dazzlingly and making my heart squeeze in my chest.
“You know it, baby.” He said, turning back to the bacon sizzling in the pan. I laughed, moving to lean on the counter next to where he was cooking.
“Y’know, you had a dick in your ass last night, like, we actually fucked, and this is still the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.” I laughed. Mikey groaned and tried harder to ignore us. Gerard raised his eyebrows, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.
“We didn’t fuck, sugar, we made love. And it was lovely.” He purred, kissing me softly. I smiled against his lips, running a hand through his hair.
“Mm. It was, wasn’t it?” I hummed. He rocked me gently side-to-side in a sort of awkward dance.
“It was. I can’t stop thinking about it – about you. God.” He sighed, cupping my cheek.
“I’m very in love with you.” I beamed, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his forehead.
“I’m very in love with you too.” He chuckled.
“I’m very going to kill myself.” Mikey snapped. Gee unwrapped himself from me and walked over, wrapping his arms around Mikey’s shoulders and kissing him affectionately on the head.
“Aw, come on little brother.” He giggled. Mikey leaned back into the hug, but his face stayed in his annoyed glower.
“You two sicken me.”
“Yeah, you love us though.” Gee smiled into Mikey’s hair. Mikey sighed and patted Gerard on the arm.
“You’re alright I guess.” He smirked. Gerard kissed him on the head again and turned his attention back to the bacon, sliding it on a plate with toast and handing it to me with a cup of coffee and a light kiss on my cheek.
“You’re not eating?” I asked. He shrugged.
“’m not hungry.” He said. I narrowed my eyes.
“You’re not hungry?” I asked suspiciously, taking a bite out of my toast. Gerard blushed.
“Ah, no.” he said with a weak smile. I rested a hand on my hip.
“You’re not trying to lose weight, are you?” I asked. He let out a light laugh.
“No. I mean-“
“Gee.” I sighed.
“I’m just getting a little too pudgy.” He frowned, squeezing his stomach. I put my plate on the counter and crossed my arms.
“I’m not eating until you do.” I said firmly. He reached over and took a piece of toast from my plate, biting into it.
“Happy?” he sighed. I beamed.
“Yes.” I said, tucking back into my breakfast.
“Okay, I have an appointment, so I’m gonna go.” Mikey said, excusing himself.
“Do you want me to drive you?” Gee asked. Mikey beamed.
“If that’s okay?”
“Yeah, no problem at all. Me and Frank will just get ready and we’ll take you.” He said. Mikey nodded and left the room, and Gerard turned his eyes onto me, smiling.
“That’s okay, right?”
“Of course it is.” I smiled softly, putting my now empty plate next to the sink. Gerard wrapped his arms back around me, pushing me against the counter.
“You look good in my clothes.” He said, raising an eyebrow appreciatively.
“Do I?” I chuckled. He pressed a kiss to my jaw, and I gave an involuntary whine.
“Yeah, you do. It’s like you’re mine.” He laughed.
“I am yours.” I said. He smiled, letting his fingers run down my cheek.
“Yeah, I know. Forever, right?”
“For as long as you want me.”
“I’ll always want you.”
“Then I’ll always be yours.”I whispered. He cupped my jaw and pulled me into another warm kiss.
“C’mon, angel. Can’t keep Mikey waiting.” He smiled, pulling me out of the room.

Mikey had pre-warned us that it was highly likely that Bert would be present in the hospital, so we didn’t stay with him. Gerard dropped him off with the promise that we’d be back in an hour, and instead drove me into the small town around the hospital.
“Y’know what I love about this place?” he sighed, holding my hand.
“Mm?”
“This. I can just hold your hand or –“ he broke off, pressing a kiss to my lips – “and nobody will care. Nobody gives us a second-glance.” He murmured. This observation wasn’t exactly true, because I was definitely and noticeably younger than Gerard, but his point still stood. Here we weren’t Frank Iero and his teacher, Mr. Way. We were just Frank and Gee. Two people who loved each other more than anything else.
The sun was shining, illuminating the green in his hazel eyes, and making his hair shine where it rested just over his eyes. His lips were slightly parted as he walked, sucking in deep breaths. He stopped suddenly and pulled me into a tight hug that I wasn’t expecting.
“Frankie.” He sighed, burying his face in my hair.
“What?” I giggled. He took a half-step back and cupped my cheek.
“I want you to be mine forever. Is that okay?”
“I’ll have to think about it.” I sighed sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow and took my hand again, continuing to walk through the sparsely populated highstreet. There was a considerable lack of chain stores and restaurants, being replaced with businesses that were clearly local. It was nice.
“Okay. What are your terms?”
“My terms?”
“Yeah. What do I need to do to get you to be mine forever.” He smiled. I considered this for a minute.
“You have to make me coffee whenever I ask for it.”
“I can do that.”
“And you have to bottom for me every night.”
“Again, I can do that.” He beamed.
“You have to draw pictures of me naked all the time.”
“Sounds fair.”
“And you have to send me dirty pictures randomly during the day.”
“Okay. Not much, then?”
“Nope. Not much.” I giggled.
He took my hand and pulled me into a dimly-lit store. The Smiths were playing dully in the background.
“Oh my God. It’s like you as a store.” I pointed out, and he beamed. The store – which reeked of cigarettes and musk – had comics lining one wall, and records lining the other. Gerard swayed a little on his feet, trying to decide what side to go to, before rushing over to the comics. I chuckled and strolled around. The man behind the desk had long, unkempt black hair, with tattoos swirling all over his neck and arms.
“Nice ink, man.” I said. He looked up from the comic book in his hands and smiled.
“Hey, thanks. You got any?” he asked casually, sliding a cigarette between his lips.
“Nope, not yet. I want them, though.” I sighed.
“Oh yeah? You know, we do tattoos here. Like, back here.” He said, pulling a curtain open. Sure enough, there was a surprisingly clean-looking tattoo and piercing parlor.
“Oh. Wow.” I smiled. He shrugged and let the curtain drop.
“You’re here with Gerard, right?” he said, gesturing towards Gee, who was getting overly excited about some comic. I laughed.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I know you’re not Mikey, so you must be Frank, right?” he asked, a small smile curling his mouth. I raised my eyebrows.
“He’s mentioned me?”
“A few times. Gerard’s one of our regulars.” He explained.
“Oh. That’s cool.” I smiled.
“Anyway, if you’re with Gee, I can offer you a discount.” He shrugged.
“Oh. I mean, I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess I’d like one, but-“
“Hey, don’t sweat it, dude. Just think it over and come back whenever. Ask for Reggie.” He said. I nodded.
“What would you recommend? You know, for a first-timer?” I chuckled. He shrugged.
“Nothin’ that’s gonna make you look stupid, you know? Like, no hearts or butterflies or anything shitty like that. Something you’re gonna look back at in a few years and still think it’s cool.” He said. I nodded, pursing my lips. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and leaned back into Gerard, smiling softly.
“How’s it going, Gee?” Reggie asked.
“Not bad, man. I see you’ve met Frankie.” He said, rubbing his thumb along my hip.
“Yeah, he’s a cool kid. Actually, we were just talking about tattoos.” Reggie said slowly.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Frank’s thinking of getting one.” He said, leaning back in his chair. Gerard looked down at me.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m thinking of getting a lot at some point, but maybe just one for now.” I murmured. Gerard chewed his lip.
“I don’t know how you’ll do it. Needles, man.” He groaned. Reggie laughed hoarsely.
“I’ve been tryin’ to talk Gee into a tattoo for, god, three years. Always the same answer –“
“No fuckin’ way.” Gerard chuckled. I let my hand run up his forearm.
“You’d look hot with tattoos.” I murmured, biting my lip and looking up into his eyes. He let out a light whimper.
“I-no. Needles. On my skin. No thank you.” He laughed, pulling me closer to him.
“You sure about that, Way? Looks like Frankie here might appreciate it.” Reggie laughed. Gerard blushed.
“I’d get fired anyway, y’know. If I had tattoos.” He said weakly. Reggie and I shared an exasperated look.
“Whatever, dude.” he said, taking the comics Gerard had in his hand and scanning them.
“Anyway, Frank, feel free to come get one any time. I know the shop looks a bit rough, but we’re serious about our tattoos. It’s all clean back there.” Reggie murmured.
“I’ll think about it.” I smiled. Gerard handed Reggie the money and took the bag of comics from him.
“See you, dude.” Gerard smiled, taking my hand.
“Yeah, it was nice to finally meet Frank.” He said, smiling, and Gerard blushed.
“I’m sure it was.” Gerard said weakly.
“I’m missing something.” I said. Reggie laughed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Gerard used to come in here a lot while he was drunk, and –“
“Don’t!” Gerard squealed.
“And he’d talk about you. A lot.”
“Please!” Gerard pleaded, blushing.
“Saying what?” I beamed, reveling in the way Gerard squirmed uncomfortably behind me.
“Well, Frank, apparently you’re an amazing fuck.”
“O-oh.” I blushed.
“Yeah. What was it you said about his ass, Gee? I think the word ‘legendary’ was used.”
“Oh my-“ Gerard sighed, putting a hand on his forehead.
“You should have heard what he said about your tongue. He said it was like-“
“See you later, Reggie!” Gerard said, pulling me out of the shop. I heard Reggie laughing as we left.
“I’m amazing?” I said, raising my eyebrow. He groaned.
“I was drunk. I wouldn’t have said it otherwise.”
“It’s true, though.” I teased. He rolled his eyes.
“Irrelevant.” He mumbled. I grinned at his discomfort.
“This is why you shouldn’t get drunk.” I said, batting my eyelashes. He laughed.
“Touche. Midget.”
“Ouch, breaking out the short jokes? That’s too far, Gerard.Too far.” I said, pretending to be hurt. He leaned down to kiss my head.
“Aw, baby. I love how little you are.” He chuckled. I pouted, starting to walk away from him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into his arms.
“I’m not lettin’ you go until you say you love me.” He grinned.
“Well, I guess you’re never gonna let me go then, are you?” I giggled. He kissed my forehead.
“Well, I could have told you that.” He rolled his eyes. I wiggled in his arms.
“Ger-ARD.” I whined.
“Stop acting like such a child.” He said, his lips quirking up into an amused smile.
“That’s always the danger when you fuck students, you know. We’re not mature enough to handle adult relationships.” I said, batting my eyelashes.
“Well, maybe certain students should stop fucking their teachers.” He suggested.
“Good idea. Let me go.” I said. He raised his eyebrows and opened his arms. I pouted and buried my face in his chest again.
“I didn’t mean literally.” I mumbled. He laughed as he wrapped his arms around me again.
“Tell me you love me.” He murmured.
“You already know.”
“Yes, but I wanna hear you say it.”
“When did you get so needy?” I teased.
“Frankie, just say it.”
“Maybe I don’t wanna.” I said, wiggling around in his arms. He tightened his grip and kissed my nose.
“We’re gonna be late to pick up Mikey.”
“That’s your fault, not mine.”
“Frankie!”
“Alright, alright. I love you.”
“How much?”
“More than I love anything else.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise. I love you, you massive dork.” I sighed. He kissed my forehead and pulled away.
“Okay. Good.” He smiled.
“You’re a dork, though.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Do you deny it?” I chuckled.
“Nah. I’m sort of a dork.” He smiled.

We pulled up to the hospital and Gerard groaned.
“For fuck’s sake.” He muttered. I didn’t know what he meant until I saw Bert standing next to Mikey. His mouth quirked up when he saw the car, and Mikey said something to him that could have been a threat, which Bert seemed to just laugh off as he approached us. Gerard took my hand tightly in his own and rolled down the window.
“Hey there, Ger’.” Bert smiled lazily.
“Bert.”
“How’s things? It’s been too long.” He practically purred. Gerard’s eyes flashed up.
“Things have been busy. You know, work-“
“And your little toyboy there. I’m sure he’s taking up a good deal of your time.” Bert mocked. I blushed and looked down, feeling slightly irrelevant.
“He’s not my toyboy, Bert.” Gerard sighed.
“Well, whatever. I’ve missed you.” He said, leaning forward.
“Nice to hear.”
“Aw, come on, Gee. You don’t have to put on a show just ‘cause Frank’s here. I’m sure the kid understands, don’t you, sport?” he said patronizingly.
“Shut the fuck up, Bert.” Mikey sighed as he slid into the car.
“I agree with Mikey. You need to stop.” Gerard said, clenching his jaw. Bert bit his lip.
“Oh, come on, stop being such a prude. You were mine for a whole year, remember? I know you.”
“I wasn’t yours.” Gerard said coldly. Bert recoiled a little, but regained composure quickly.
“That’s a lie. You were mine and you loved it. You probably still do.”
“Obviously not. I left you, remember? I chose him then, and I’ll keep choosing him.”
“I don’t see why. Looks like the prick’s barely gone through puberty.” He sneered. I chewed my lip and looked into my lap.
“Well, I think he’s beautiful.” Gerard said, giving me a warm smile.
“Okay, how about this: when you realize that you want a real man, and not some little boy, you come find me, yeah?” Bert said with a self-satisfied smirk that I wanted to tear off of his face. Gerard shook his head.
“You used to be so kind, Bert. What happened?” he asked, sounding genuinely disappointed.
“I told you I’d fight for you, didn’t I?” he said grimly.
“Stop fighting. It’s over. Now get your hands off of my damn car.” Gerard snapped as he started the car. Bert took a step back just in time as Gerard began driving.
“You alright, Gee?” Mikey asked.
“Yeah. That guy’s an asshole.” Gerard sighed.
“If I wasn’t in a coma, I’d probably have warned you about that.” Mikey said, and Gerard smiled.
“I know. You’re a good brother, dude.” he beamed. He paused for a moment before continuing.
“I’m gonna warn you, Mikes, when we get home, I’m gonna suck Frank’s cock right against the front door. You’ll probably have about twenty seconds to run upstairs.” He said casually, his hand resting in my lap.
Well, okay then.
“Right.” Mikey laughed. I bit my lip and shook my head.
“What?” Gerard said, amused.
“You can’t just say stuff like that. You’re gonna give me a heart attack some day.” I giggled.
“I’m just giving him fair warning. It’s the noble thing to do.” He said solemnly, a smirk twitching on his lips.
“When were you planning on telling me about it?” I laughed. He shrugged.
“Somewhere between now and me pulling your jeans down.” He replied.
“Got it. Thanks for that.” I chuckled.
“Like I said, I’m real big on nobility. Y’know. Honor and all that bullshit.” He smiled.
“That’s pretty ironic considering you’re fucking a student.”
“We’re not fucking!” Gerard cried.
“What are we doing then?” I laughed.
“We’re…um. Experimenting? With…sex?” he said weakly.
“Right. Okay, thanks for the justification there, Gee. You could be a politician.” Mikey said, and I snorted in response. Gerard pouted.
“You guys have to stop ganging up on me.”
“It’s too easy to bully you.” Mikey sighed happily. I nodded in agreement.
“As I said before, you’re sort of a dork. Like, Mikey’s dorky older brother.”
“You’re supposed to take my side because you love me.” He said, looking at me like I’d betrayed him.
“It’s because I love you that I have to make fun of you.” I smiled.
“Yeah, I think there’s like, a rule book, dude.” Mikey nodded. Gerard glared at us.
“You’re both assholes.” He grumbled.
“Aw, come on. Make fun of me, then.” I smiled.
“You’re short.” He said quickly. I paused.
“Yeah, I know. What else you got?” I asked. He groaned.
“See! Bullying me. Pure bullying.”
“Yeah, shut up, will you? I had a whole bunch of blood tests, and you know they make me sleepy.” Mikey sighed. Gerard shivered.
“Fucking needles.” He groaned.

When we got home, Mikey ran straight for the stairs. Gerard chuckled and shut the door, pushing me back and kissing me softly.
“Y’know what? I really, really want to cuddle you and watch a movie.” He smirked. I grinned and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“You read my mind, baby.” I sighed. He lifted me up into his arms (an advantage of being short, thank you very much) and carried me over to the sofa, pressing soft kisses against my lips all the way.
“You’re very pretty.” I said, stroking his cheek. He rested me lightly on his lap, his hands on my hips.
“I think it’d be cool if I came to school in drag one day.” He giggled. I kissed his nose.
“I don’t think I’d be able to keep my hands off you if you did that.” I smiled.
“I don’t know if anyone else would feel the same way. I mean, like, Jersey isn’t the most accepting of places for stuff like that.” He sighed.
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to move to Toronto with me, then.” I smirked.
“I probably will, you know. Like, when you’re done with Uni. I’ll just come up there with you.” He said.
“You’ve thought about this before.” I stated. He blushed.
“Well, I mean. We could get married there. Legally.” He murmured.
“Yeah, but we could do that here, too.” I giggled.
“Do you really wanna get married in Jersey?”
“It’s a long way away anyway, right? I mean, two more months of school, and then the summer, and then three years of University. Anything could happen.” I smiled.
“Like us breaking up?” he said softly. I kissed him softly.
“No. That’s not gonna happen.”
“I’m so worried, you know? Every time I think about it I just get so freaked out. Like, my baby’s gonna be so far away from me.” He mumbled.
“I’m not thrilled either, but we’ll make it work. What are you honestly afraid of?”
“I…I don’t know. I guess I just think you’re gonna find someone else and fall in love, or you’ll get bored and look for attention in other places.”
“Does that sound like me? Do I seem like the kind of person that would get bored of you and start sleeping around?”
“No, but-“
“So no. Okay, it won’t be easy, but we’ll be fine.”
“Can we stop talking about it?” he asked weakly. I groaned.
“You never want to talk about it. I know you’re scared, but we have to discuss it at some point.”
“Yeah, we will. Not now though, okay? We’ve only got a little bit of time until I have to take you home, so let’s just watch a movie and cuddle.” He suggested. I sighed, but agreed.
“I’m holding you to that, though. We’ll talk about it.”
“Yeah, I promise.” He said, turning the TV on. There was already a disk in the player – Watchmen, surprise surprise – so we just turned the lights off and I snuggled into his arms as he pressed play. His hand combed softly through my hair as we watched the movie we’d probably seen a thousand times before. It wasn’t about the movie, though. It was about sitting in the dark with my love’s arms wrapped tightly around me, his hands stroking through my hair, his mouth pressing warm kisses to the soft skin behind my ears. It was about me rubbing soft circles into his thigh with my thumb, and kissing his sharp jaw line when he tilted his head.
“Mr. Way?” I asked lightly, suddenly. He jolted a little bit at the name.
“Yes, Frank?”
“Why me? Of all of the students you’ve ever had – why me?” I asked gently. He laughed.
“Because it couldn’t ever have been anyone else. It was always supposed to be you.”
“What, do you believe in like, soulmates?” I asked. He shrugged.
“I didn’t, but I don’t think there’s anything else that explains how I feel about you.” He smiled.
“Well, then, if we’re soulmates, surely a little bit of distance won’t hurt us?” I suggested. He tightened his arms around me and chuckled.
“You smart little son of a bitch.” He said, kissing my neck.
“I’m right though.”
“You’re always right, baby.”
“I’m so using that against you.” I giggled.
“I don’t doubt it.” He murmured.
If someone had asked me what I was doing in that moment, I could have probably told them that I was watching a movie. Or, more accurately, I could have told them I was watching a movie that I’d already seen a million times. Going into more detail, I’d have told them that I was watching a movie that I’d seen a million times, but that I didn’t mind because it was my boyfriend’s favourite, and I knew exactly when he’d smile and when he’d frown, and when he’d sigh in frustration. I’d probably then explain, for need of detail, that I was wrapped in my love’s arms, and that he was kissing me softly, and murmuring lines from the movie into my ear. I’d tell them then that I’d stopped paying attention to the movie about fifteen minutes ago, and instead I was listening to his rattled breathing – a result of too many cigarettes. I’d say that I was listening to the soft thump of his heart under my head, and laughing quietly to myself about everything that had happened earlier that day.
I’d have told them that all I was actually doing, and all I ever really did, was being in love. Because I wasn’t really watching the movie, and I wasn’t actually even talking to him. I was just letting him encompass me, feeling each breath of his fill the room, and I’d suck him into my lungs. I was falling in love with him a dozen times every single second. It’s not that I wasn’t doing those other things, because I was. They just didn’t matter.
I was in love, and that was the only truth that mattered.

Notes

Yeah idk this was a lot of post-sex fluffiness and random relationship things I don't even know oh my god.
(I think it's cute when Frank refers to Gerard as 'my love' I don't know it just makes me happy).

Also, there's been a lot of conversation about how none of you trust me regarding Frank's moving to University (which I understand because I'm an asshole), so I'm just gonna say right now, that the way it stands now, the story is actually going to end when he goes to university, and the one-chapter epilogue is going to take place just after he graduates. I was considering writing about the uni years, but it's three years and this has only been like 8 months and it's been hella long so yeah no I'm not gonna do that because a lot of it would be pointless. I mean, that doesn't necessarily mean you should trust me, because I'm literally the BIGGEST asshole, but I just thought I'd let you know :)

If you couldn't tell, I'm still during that stage where I'm filling chapters with random fluff, so please send in anything you want me to include or would like to see happen in these next few chapters! <3