The Day Frank Ran Over My Heat With A Giant-Ass Bus

The rest of the bus ride passed fairly quickly for the brothers. The bus finally pulled into the station and they both sighed when they caught sight of their aunt holding a huge bunch of pink and yellow balloons through the window. They both took their time gathering everything together before walking down the aisle, preparing themselves for greeting Aunt Daisy.

She was just as loud as they remembered her, welcoming them both with hugs and kisses accompanied with comments on how much they had grown and how they were “far too skinny for growing boys”. Gerard decided that he would ditch Mikey and go retrieve their luggage from the lower part of the bus himself, unable to stand so much small talk in one go. He managed to manoeuvre through the crowd without being pushed too much and was disappointed when he saw that Frank wasn’t still hanging around the bus. As shy as he was, Gerard still hoped that he would actually speak to Frank if the chance arose again. Gerard located the two cases for him and his brother and dragged them back towards Mikey and Aunt Daisy.

He reached them just in time to hear Daisy explaining to Mikey that they would both be working in the family restaurant that night and that there had been a few changes since they were last there. Gerard and Mikey exchanged a look, they couldn’t imagine any changes being made to the traditional Italian place their grandparents had started.

“Of course the uniforms are the same”, she said to the boys causing them to groan.

Neither of them had ever been able to feel comfortable with the black slacks, black waistcoats and white button down shirts. At least they had always been able to wear converse instead of dress shoes that squeaked when they walked. The boys were even allowed to take the waistcoat off when they were put on dishwashing duty, and wear headphones too if they wanted. Neither Gerard or Mikey really enjoyed being a waiter, mainly because they both had terrible handwriting and hated talking to snobby people who treated them like crap.

The brothers followed Aunt Daisy back to her car where she dropped their bags at home, giving them time to get changed into uniforms before taking them to the restaurant.

~~~~~

The way brothers sat at a booth in what used to be an Italian restaurant, that now claimed it served: Authentic Australian Cuisine. Mikey and Gerard wore matching shocked expressions as they read the new menu (which still included pizza and pasta?) and wondering what possessed Daisy to make this change. Apparently it was inspired by their Aunt and Uncle’s trip to Australia last year, as well as the opening of a new Italian place down the street, making them feel that the menu needed to be more diverse to attract customers from other places.

Breakfast: Weetbix with milk and honey, ANZAC biscuits.

Lunch: fish and chips, sausage rolls, meat pies, chiko rolls, and fairy bread.

Dinner: Ham and pea soup, salt and pepper calamari, roast lamb, and hamburgers with beetroot and pineapple.

Dessert: Lamingtons with fresh cream and jam, pavlova, and Tim Tam sundaes.

“What the hell is a chiko roll supposed to be and who the fuck puts pineapple on hamburgers?!” Mikey cried.

Gerard had to agree. Pineapple and beetroot as well as a fried egg? What kind of crazy person does that to themselves? What was even worse was that Gerard and Mikey were both expected to be waiters this year, meaning they both had to know the whole menu and what everything actually was.

“How can you expect us to know all this by tonight? We open in an hour! Can’t we be dishwashers or something?” Gerard begged, saddened when Daisy shook her head no.

“You boys will be fine”, she said as she dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

Gerard sighed and looked at Mikey. The younger sighed in agreement before waving towards the kitchen, indicating they should go talk to the chefs and memorise this mess of a menu.

~~~~~

They definitely needed more than an hour to memorise the menu and finally resorted to flash cards that they could refer to when some customer asked a question about some dish. Mikey and Gerard had actually been doing quite well in their roles as waiters, Gerard had only spilt water all over the table once and Mikey had only dropped two plates (not on somebody thank God), and both of the brothers were hoping that the rest of their trip would be the same. It seemed like the first shift was going to be perfect, until Gerard glanced towards the door and saw Frank Iero walk in with several other people.

Gerard, being the graceful human being he was, flailed his arms around and ran into the kitchen to hide. He ran into Mikey who was waiting to pick up some food for one of his tables and tried to regain his breath to explain the situation to his brother. The two brothers huddled around the window in the door that separated them from the dining room, watching to see where Aunt Daisy would seat the large group. There were two choices, a round table in Gerard’s section, or a long table in another waiter named Emily’s section. Gerard was praying that Emily would have to serve them, but luck was not on his side when Daisy directed the group to the round table.

“Better get out there then”, Mikey said with a smirk.

“No way. Not happening. Switch sections with me Mikey”, Gerard begged.

“Nope, I got the autograph for you on the bus so you owe me. Besides, this will be a good chance for you to actually meet the guy rather than stalking him”, Mikey reasoned.

Gerard was about to protest when Daisy walked in and scolded the brothers from hiding instead of doing their jobs. Gerard shot one last panicked look at his brother before taking a deep breath and walking through the door.

~~~~~

Frank was extremely glad to be off tour, he hadn’t been able to visit his family in over a year and he had missed them a lot. He missed his grandma and how she would fuss that he hadn’t eaten properly and become “much too thin for a growing boy” even though he was 21 and hadn’t grown since he was 17. He missed how his aunts and uncles would tell him stories about when they were younger, he even missed how all his younger cousins would run around everywhere like they had unlimited energy. But most of all he missed how they would treat him like they always had, not like a rockstar or someone that needed to be managed, just the boy who had a love for pizza and played loud music when he wanted to be left alone.

His grandma had decided that the adults would all go out for dinner the first night that Frank returned, and Frank was glad that he would get a good night of sleep before he had to deal with more screaming and crying from his cousins. Even though he loved them, they were loud. He was also glad that he didn’t have to help cook dinner because he would have definitely burnt something or cut himself.

The family walked down the street towards ‘Daisy’s Diner’, the place they always went for their family outings. Frank had been coming here since he was a kid, and always ordered a vegetarian pizza with extra mushrooms and a large chocolate milkshake, he had never ordered anything else in twenty one years. So it would be safe to say that Frank was surprised when they walked into his favourite restaurant and he saw new menus.

Daisy greeted them all with kisses and hugs and laughed when she saw Frank’s sadness towards the menu.

“Don’t worry sweetie”, she assured him. “We still do the pizzas, we’ve just added some other things to the menu and cut out things that don’t sell.”

Frank smiled at the woman who he had considered as his own aunt for nearly fifteen years and followed her to their table. He sat down at the large round table between his grandma and Aunt Sally, who was best friends with Daisy and the reason the family started eating here in the first place. They didn’t have to wait long before their waiter came over to take their orders.

“Hi, my name is Gerard and I’ll be your server this evening”, he began in a familiar voice causing Frank to look up to his face. “Are you ready to order or would you like some more time to think about it?”

The Ieros took turns in voicing their orders, leaving Frank until last. Gerard had tried to keep his nerves from showing but felt himself break the tough exterior when he looked at Frank smiling up at him, eyes twinkling and a mischievous smirk on his face. Gerard’s heart sped up when he realised the possibility of Frank recognising him from the bus trip, Mikey had told him before that he lacked the ability to be subtle at any time and he was worried that Frank had caught him staring.

“I’ll have a medium vegetarian pizza with extra mushrooms and a large chocolate milkshake please”, Frank said as Gerard scurried to write it down.

“Alright please let me know if I can do anything else for you”, Gerard stuttered out with a blush on his cheeks before scampering away.

Frank chuckled as he turned back to the table to find Sally giving him a knowing look. He ignored her for several minutes before finally asking her why she was looking at him like that.

“What are you doing to that boy Frank?” Sally asked sternly.

“Nothing”, Frank replied, turning on the puppy eyes to add to his innocence.

Sally scowled at him, “Don’t go teasing Gerard, he’s a sweet boy and he’s Daisy’s nephew so be careful what you say. You don’t want to be banned from coming here because you broke Gerard’s heart do you?”

Frank shook his head. His aunt seemed to have some useful knowledge on this cute boy, maybe it could work to Frank’s advantage. He could figure out how to woo Gerard before dinner was even finished.

“You know I wouldn’t do that to someone Auntie”, he started. “But since you seem to know so much about him….. Maybe you could help me?”

Sally considered the idea for several minutes before she caved and passed on any information she had heard from Daisy over the years. Information from Gerard’s age (19) to his passion for art and horror movies. Frank sat quietly, absorbing everything and preparing for when Gerard returned with their food.

While Frank had been figuring out how to impress Gerard, Mikey had been trying to coax Gerard out of the bathroom where he was hiding.

“He recognised me Mikey, I know he did! He probably saw me being a stalker and is totally creeped out!” He cried.

Mikey rolled his eyes. Gerard was completely overreacting as usual.

“If he was that concerned about you stalking him, don’t you think he would have said something Gee? He isn’t exactly known for holding his tongue when he doesn’t like something”, Mikey reasoned.

Gerard knew Mikey was right, he usually was when it came to social situations (but not technology, toaster + Mikey = FIRE!!). He removed himself from his hunched position on the toilet and washed his face in the small basin. He could do this. He could totally walk out there, pretend not to have the biggest crush ever on Frank Iero, and manage to not drop any food. He walked out of the small room and shot Mikey a nervous smile and picked up the food for Frank’s table.

Gerard made it to the table without any mishaps, he even put the first two armfuls of plates down perfectly. All he had to do was give Frank his pizza and milkshake and he would make it. He placed Frank’s pizza down on the table but the milkshake was a different story.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Gerard asked as he put the pizza down.

“Just your phone number”, Frank smirked.

The comment startled Gerard so much that he promptly dropped the drink….. all over Frank’s lap.

“Oh my God! I am so sorry!” Gerard gasped, he was mortified at his own clumsiness.

Frank wasn’t bothered by the drink now all over his jeans, he thought it was actually quite cute that Gerard was shocked. It was better than running away screaming or the drink being poured over him on purpose.

While Frank had been considering Gerard’s adorableness, Gerard had fetched a towel for Frank and had started dabbing at his pants. He froze however when he realised what a compromising position it was with him on his knees in front of Frank. The older man chuckled when he noticed the position as well and helped Gerard up, assuring him he was fine.

“Seriously, it’s ok. No harm done”, Frank smiled brightly at the blushing waiter.

“Is there anything I can do to make it better?” Gerard asked as he bit his lips with nerves.

Frank licked his lips and Gerard followed the action with his eyes.

“Well, you never did give me your phone number”, he smirked and pulled out his phone.

Gerard somehow managed to blush even more and gave Frank a small smile as he entered his number.

Notes

the australian food thing came about because i couldn't come up with anything and i've never seen an aussie restaurant anywhere (maybe thats cause i live in australia?)

on another note I MET FRANK AND HE WAS ADORABLE AND AWESOME AND NEEDS TO COME BACK TO AUSTRALIA SOON