Catacomb Kids

It took about two full seconds for my tongue to work properly. Even when it regained movement, all I could muster was, "I beg your pardon?"
Gerard smirked, his lips taunting and eyes confident. He leaned in once more, wrapping an arm around the small of my back. He pulled me close to him, hanging his other arm over my shoulder. Pushing his lips to my neck, he growled, "Fucking call me Daddy."
I thought that's what he'd meant, but it was too good to believe. At that time, for anyone to want to be with me was a godsend. But for that poor sucker to be Gerard, I could've died happy right there. That's right, in my cruddy school uniform and on that grimy looking carpet.
Gerard peered down into my eyes, raising his brows. He lifted my jaw to his, slowly initiating what was my first kiss.
Our mouths fit together like puzzle pieces. He used his tongue to carve artwork into the inside of my mouth. We kissed until our lips were raw.
He pulled me onto the bed as I shrugged off my blazer. He was starting on my shirt, unbuttoning the damned thing, when I grabbed his hands, stopping him.
"Hey," I interrupted, my voice light. "This is good and all but... for now can we just cuddle?"
Gerard squinted. "Cuddle? I mean... yeah, sure, I guess." He lay on his side, motioning for me to lie next to him. I molded my spine to the shape of him, pulling his arms around me.
I heard Gerard sigh.
"I'm sorry," I apologized.
"Sorry?" Gerard asked.
I nodded, answering, "Yeah. I know you wanted to go further but... I'm just not ready." I turned onto my other side to face him, pleading, "I hope you can understand that."
Gerard just propped his head up, assuring, "Frank, you don't have to be sorry for not wanting to have sex."
"I know but..." I looked into my own chest, mumbling, "I just never want to disappoint you."
Gerard laughed at that. He didn't even try to cough and cover it up or anything; he just laughed as though it was the funniest thing he's heard all day.
“What's so damn funny?” I grumbled, pouting.
Gerard grew serious. “The fact that you thought I'd ever be disappointed in you.”
I grinned toothily, muttering, “Okay, that was pretty damn cute.”
“Cute enough for us to have sex?” Gerard joked.
I smacked the side of his head with one of his pillows, giggling, “Pervert!”
Gerard about fell off his bed, and that just made him start laughing again. He clawed at the sheets, pulling himself back up and kissing my cheek.
We lay there spooning for a bit, and to be honest, it was really nice. I wasn't ready for sex, and part of me was completely fine with that. I just loved having Gerard hold me.
A question started to eat at me, and it took me around fifteen minutes to actually gain the courage to ask it. “So... are we an item now?”
Gerard shrugged, replying, “Only if you want to be.”
“Yeah,” I decided. “That would be nice.”
“And so it was written.”
The next day at school, everything was surprisingly normal. I mean, I’d read all these stories and seen all these shows about how romantic relationships can ruin a friendship, but that just wasn’t happening between Gerard and I. Nothing changed, and that’s really what I wanted.
Well, one thing out of the ordinary did happen. Gerard made a new friend, which was almost impossible. Gerard had this thing where he really didn’t talk to anyone unless he absolutely had to. Because of this, Mikey and I were his only real friends. Luckily for him, I’d initiated the conversation when we first met, and as for Mikey, he’s his brother, so he kinda has to like him.
Gerard met this kid in his art class. He’s new at our school, transferred from out of state. He takes the same art class as Gerard, advanced drawing. That’s where the two met; the teacher assigned his seat next to Gerard.
And once again with Gerard, the other person had to start the conversation.
The boy’s name was Ray, and he was this sort of cartoon character goofball that clicked surprisingly well with Gerard’s grim nature. It was an opposites attract situation, one that left Gerard with someone new to talk to.
Ray even joined us at our lunch table. Had Ray studied the hierarchy of our high school, he wouldn’t have done so. Gerard was widely disliked, and so were Mikey and I. None of us were necessarily bullied, ignored yes, and at times harassed. The reason I wouldn’t label it as bullying was because whenever I had trouble with being picked on, it was always different guys.
But this Ray guy was quite the character. I mean, he just jumped into our conversations like it was nothing. He was suggesting movies I’d like minutes after meeting him. He was a fast paced kind of person, and it really worked.
“So there’s a party on Friday,” Ray suggested. “Who’s going?”
Gerard scrunched his nose. “I don’t do parties.”
I nodded, agreeing, “Yeah, I dunno about this. I mean recreational drug use, okay. Cutting class, fine. But parties?” I used my fork to play with my food, sighing, “I don’t know.”
“It’ll be fun!” Ray insisted.
“No, it’s just not my thing,” Gerard replied.
Ray groaned, putting his head down. Finally, he was dropping the subject.
Just when I thought the whole party idea had blown over, he looked at Gerard, challenging, “I’ll bet you five bucks you’ll have a good time.”
Oh, no. If you asked anyone around here for one quirk about Gerard, it was that he never turned down a bet. It was a well-known but little discussed fact in our group, in fact, Mikey often used it against his brother.
Gerard grinned, responding, “You’ve got yourself a deal, Toro.”
I sat there, numb. I really didn’t want to go to some stupid high school party.
“Frank, you in?” Ray asked.
“Of course!”

Notes

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