A Determined Person

"Frank," Gerard started, turning to me. "When would my underage brother have been able to see you in a bar fight?"

I shot a murderous look at Mikey, who seemed to internally implode. I sighed and leaned against the wall, running my hands down my face. "Alright," I started. "So, there's backstory that I need to tell. First of all, when I first met Mikey, I had no clue how old he was. Putting that out there."

"He's in your class," Gerard pointed out.

"Yeah, that complicated everything," I said. "I can't even remember how we met, because it was maybe April or May. But Mikey gave me his phone and we started texting and..." I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "I guess we started dating. It was actually pretty nice."

"Did you..." Gerard started. "Hold on. Mikey was telling me about this guy he was dating during the summer." He turned to Mikey and asked, "He's Anthony?"

Mikey nodded, biting his bottom lip harshly. "Sorry, Gee," he whispered.

Gerard sighed and turned back to me, taking his fingers through his hair. "Go on," he told me.

"One night, I brought him to a bar with me," I started, my volume dropping. "He was kinda sitting on my lap and giving me little kisses, and this guy comes up and, like, spits on us and calls us fags. I got so upset that... I broke three of my fingers on that guy's face."

"Frank..." Mikey started, looking at me with pleading eyes. He said nothing else, but I know what he wanted to say.

"I took Mikey back to my house afterwards," I said. If Gerard knew the first part, he was obligated to know the second part. I took a deep breath and rushed out my next words. "I-made-love-to-him."

"Frank!" Gerard cried. "He was seventeen! What the fuck is the matter with you?"

"Gerard, I'm sorry," I started. "But we got to school in September and I saw that Mikey was in my class and I wanted to throw up. I talked to him and we agreed not to ever tell anyone. I could get fired, go to jail, hell, I don't even know what else."

"So, let me get this straight," Gerard started. "You dated and fucked my baby brother, then tried to fuck me?"

"He didn't fuck me," Mikey protested. "He went slowly and made sure I was okay the whole time. It was nice."

"Mikey, that doesn't matter!" Gerard cried. "He's your teacher and, even if you aren't together during the school year, it's still illegal because you were seventeen and the age of consent in California is 18!"

"Gerard, I'm not sorry at all," Mikey said. "Look, I used to love Frank— I don't anymore— but he was the first person to really show me what a mature relationship is like."

"I-I can't believe this," Gerard muttered, shaking his head. "I can't, I don't, I... Fuck."

"Gerard..." I started, moving forward slightly and gently taking his hand. "I... I'm sorry. I truly am. We've both agreed that it was a mistake and we're better off not talking about it."

"This isn't something that can be fixed with a few sweet words," Gerard said. He didn't move away from me, though. "Frank, I'm not concerned that you dated him, took him to a bar, none of that. It's that you took my brother's innocence, and now you're trying to get with me. I... I can't let that go."

Mikey chuckled awkwardly and said, "Actually, Gee, Frank wasn't the one to do that."

"What?" Gerard snapped.

"It was actually during winter break last year," Mikey said. "I was with my then-boyfriend, Pete, and we started kissing and it just... Escalated. Quickly."

"You've had sex twice?" Gerard cried.

"No, I've had sex with two different people," Mikey noted.

"I would like to point out how I wasn't aware of this," I added. "I thought you were a virgin, Mikey."

Mikey said nothing, pressing his mouth into a thin line to hide his smile. "Jesus," Gerard mumbled. "I-I can't even look at you right now."

"See?" I said. "I wasn't the one to ruin him. It's fine."

Gerard was silent for a long time, looking at the floorboards and thinking. "Mikey, let me see your phone," he said finally.

"What? No," Mikey said.

"Are you trying to hide something?" Gerard asked. "Phone, now."

Mikey sighed and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. Gerard typed in the password and tapped the screen a few times. "Frank..." Gerard said after a moment. "Is this your dick? On my brother's phone?"

My mouth fell open. "I forgot all about that," I said quietly. "Fuck."

"And you can see your tattoo in the picture," Gerard added. "If this were to get out, you would automatically be fired. It's obvious it's you. Christ, Frank, this is bad."

"Gerard, I—" I started.

"Leave," he said, handing Mikey his phone back. "Get out. I can't look at either of you right now."

"Gerard, please," I begged, surging forward and taking his arm. "I'm so sorry about this whole thing. I never meant for you to find out like this, please just—"

"Just what, Frank?" Gerard asked, jerking his arm away. "Forgive you?"

"Please," I said quietly. "I-I really like you and I don't want it to end like this."

"Frank, please just leave," Gerard said, avoiding my gaze.

"I won't," I told him.

"Why not?"

I sighed and gently moved my hands to rest on his hips, pulling him closer. "I really, really, really like you a lot," I whispered. "And I don't want to lose you, as a friend or otherwise."

Gerard hugged me tightly, but I couldn't tell if it was out of pity or forgiveness. "Frank?" He whispered as quietly as he could. "I like you too, but every time I look at you now, I'll see the guy who slept with my baby brother. I'll try my best to move past it, even though I'm still fuming."

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you so much."

"Mikey," Gerard said and opened his arm, admitting Mikey into our hug. "You're in huge trouble. Just know that."

Notes

This chapter is such shit I'm so sorry but I have really bad writer's block rn
xoKristin