Gerard woke up in Frank's arms, his eyes not wanting to open all the way. It was still dark outside, the horizon lined with a blush hue, which indicated that the sun would quickly rise. Gerard whined and Frank shifted slightly, pulling Gerard to lay on top of him, and Gerard delicately kissed Frank's split lip. It was swollen ever so slightly, and the place where his ring used to be was bright red.

Frank didn't wake up as Gerard kissed him, and Gerard buried his face in Frank's chest, breathing in Frank's scent. He smelled like the minty shampoo from when he took a shower the night before once they got home, as well as the lingering smell of tobacco. The warmness of Frank's embrace and his comforting smell lulled Gerard back to sleep.

The dream Gerard had was a memory from three months prior, a day he would much rather forget. He remembered that he was lying in his bed, his— now ex— boyfriend sucking on his neck.

The Gerard in the dream curls his fingers in Bert's dark hair, moaning out as Bert bites down softly. "Gee?" Bert mumbles around Gerard's neck. "I wanna fuck you. Can I?"

"I..." Gerard starts. "Babe, I don't want that."

"Why not?" Bert asked, slowly reaching under the bed sheets and grasping Gerard's cock.

"I'm scared," Gerard answers. "That's what it is."

"Why're you scared?" Bert replies, starting to slowly work his hand against Gerard. "Are you a prude?"

"Don't call me that," Gerard mutters, pulling himself out of Bert's grip. "But I've never had sex, and I'm sort-of scared about it."

"I'll make it good for you," Bert says.

"Bert, no," Gerard says sternly. "I don't want to have sex. Just take no as answer."

Bert lets out a growl and grabs Gerard's wrists, pinning then to the mattress next to Gerard's head. "You do want it," Bert says, hovering over Gerard. Gerard struggles against Bert's grip and lets out a small whine of complaint. "You want my dick and you know it."

"No, I don't," Gerard insists. "Please, stop."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bert says, tightening his grip on Gerard's wrists before turning them over so that Gerard sat on Bert's waist. Gerard fights against Bert again, only to receive a pinching sensation on his wrists. "Sex is great, Gerard."

"Stop it, Bert," Gerard begs. "Please stop. I don't want to have sex. I want to wait until I'm married. That may not happen in my lifetime, but I want to wait."

"Do you not love me?" Bert asks, making Gerard stop fighting. "Is that why you don't want to have sex with me?"

"Bert, I love you so much," Gerard whispers. "I-I do."

"How do I know?" Bert replies. "Prove to me that you love me, or I'm leaving you."

"Please, no," Gerard pleads, trying to wrench his arms away from Bert again. "Bert, I love you, please don't leave."

"Sleep with me, and I won't," Bert says, a sly smile creeping into his lips.

"Stop doing this," Gerard requests. "Please don't leave me."

"I'll leave, and tell everyone that you're a prude," Bert threatens. "You let everyone see your pretty ass but you won't let me in it. Everyone'll know."

Gerard, after a moment, takes a deep breath and whispers, "I love you, Bert. I... I'll do it."

Bert gives Gerard a small kiss and says, "This is gonna be fun."

"Gee," a different voice said and Gerard's eyes fluttered open. He was still in his bedroom and still naked, but this time Frank was holding him, kissing the top of his head softly. "Are you okay? You were sorta shaking."

"Just... A dream," Gerard whispered. The sky outside the window looked the same as it had when he had fallen asleep again, heavy clouds covering the sky.

"Alright," Frank said softly. "So, it's supposed to rain today, and I thought maybe we could finish Mockingbird."

"You liked it?" Gerard asked. "You seemed bored."

"No, just the voice you use to read makes me tired," Frank replied. "It's comforting, baby. I like it."
"What time..." Gerard started, and squinted in the darkness for the clock across the room. "7:45. You don't have work, do you?"

Frank shook his head and Gerard put his back on Frank's chest. "Can we sleep longer, then?" he mumbled, and Frank chuckled, rubbing his back.

"Of course," Frank replied. "Sleep for as long as you want, baby."

Gerard smiled and burrowed his head into Frank's chest. "I'm so glad I have you," Gerard whispered as his eyes started to close. "I love you, Frankie."

"I love you too, Gerard," Frank said softly, resting his hand in the middle of Gerard's back. He kissed the top of Gerard's head and muttered small endearments to him as Gerard fell asleep again.

Frank didn't mention how Gerard had whined during his dream, how tremors shook his body as he let out small, gasping sobs, or how he mumbled two things: Bert and no.

Frank already knew Bert was Gerard's ex-boyfriend, which had mysteriously broken up with him months ago, based on what Janelle told Frank on Wednesday. He wondered what Bert had done to Gerard to make him still whimper and cry while he slept.

Gerard curls up into a small ball and sobs, pulling the blanket around his body. It's too much— the stigma of having sex when he didn't want it, and it being his first time— for him to handle. "You're a monster," he whimpers, barely loud enough for Bert to hear. "I hate you."

"You liked it," Bert says as he finishes getting dressed. "You wouldn't have come if you didn't like it."

"I didn't want to!" Gerard cries, burying his face in his pillow. "I didn't want to," he repeats softer.

Then, he feels hands on him, pulling the blanket off and turning him into his back. "Stop!" Gerard yells as Bert nuzzles his head into his stomach. "Please, stop!"

"You were so tight," Bert moans, sending a shiver down Gerard's spine. Bert kisses the soft skin just above the base of Gerard's cock. "I wanna feel you again."

Then, a plan comes into Gerard's mind, and he stutters, "H-hold on." Bert looks up at Gerard through his eyelashes, and Gerard whispers, "Can I stand up?" Bert moves away from Gerard and, shaking, Gerard gets up and makes his way to the wall. He braces his hands against the wall, knowing Bert will immediately understand what he supposedly wants, and he hears a zipper behind him.

Then, he feels Bert wrap his arms around his waist and kiss his neck. Mustering up all the strength in his weak, shaking body, Gerard brings his arms away from the wall and jabs his elbow behind him, into Bert's chest. Before Bert can react, Gerard brings his foot down on the inside of Bert's foot, then angling his elbow up for his nose. Finally, with Bert's arms finally off of him, he turns and brings his knee up, getting Bert in the groan. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" Bert yells.

"Don't touch me!" Gerard cries. "Get out of my house, get out of my life! You are a monster— a drug-addicted, boozy monster— and I never want to see you again!" He goes back to the bed and finds his own clothes on the floor, quickly pulling on a pair of panties and a red button down he had worn at a shoot that day. "You raped me, Bert. You took my virginity against my will, and I want you out."

"It's not rape if you liked it," Bert says through a bloody nose.

"Yes it is!" Gerard cries. "It's rape whether I liked it or not! Which I did not! It's a natural instinct of the body to react to stimulus the way my body reacted to you, and I didn't want to come but I did and... Just get out. I never want to see you ever again. You're a toxic, destructive person, and my life is getting to a point where I can't afford to be destructive."

"What the hell does that mean?" Bert asks. His nose has stopped bleeding, and now he's focusing on the pain in his balls.

"That means that, right now, my career is more important than my rapist," Gerard spits. "Janelle and Brendon both have told me before to break up with you so I can focus on—"

"Janelle?" Bert repeats. "You mean that little blond bitch?"

"Janelle is not a bitch," Gerard defends his best friend. "But they said they want me to break up with you so I can focus on—"

"On what?" Bert asked. "Eye-fucking the camera?"

"Bert, leave," Gerard says, sitting down on the corner of his bed. "I hate you. Please just go."

"You don't mean that," Bert starts, but Gerard yells out in frustration.

"Why won't you leave?" Gerard cries. "Leave me alone, please! I can call the police, have them up here and removing you from my property so fast."

"And what will they say about my injuries?" Bert asks.

"I tell them it was self defense, that you were attempting to rape me for the second time," Gerard says. "They'll do a rape kit on me and they'll find your DNA all over me, even inside of me. They'll find your semen in me, even. Bert, if I called the police, you could be looking at jail time."

Gerard woke up at that moment, startled awake by a sudden absence of warmth around him. He wrenched his eyes open and found the bed to be empty, void a sheet of paper.

I had to go out. I'll be back around 2:30. I love you, my bunny. xoxo Frankie

Gerard smiled softly at note and sat up, rubbing his eyes. The clock across the room clearly stated it to be two, and Gerard knew he had time.

He got out of bed on slightly shaky legs, his body reacting to his dream in a way he didn't want. He knew the dream was triggered from seeing Bert the night before, and he shivered when he thought how Bert had attacked Frank.

It had shocked Gerard to see Bert at Frank's show, and he was sure it was vice-versa. It wasn't as if Bert was out of place at the show, Gerard reasoned as he wrapped the blanket around his body and made his way to the kitchen. Gerard remembered, when Bert and him had started dating a year prior, that nearly everyone was surprised that Gerard— young, innocent Gerard— had gotten together with the near-alcoholic, drug addict Bert. Thankfully, Gerard didn't get caught up in the substances as Bert had, and he attributed part of his fame to only the occasional drink and weed; but everyone smoked weed.

A knock at the door came and Gerard smiled as he saw the clock read two-thirty on the dot. "Frankie, I need to get you your own key," Gerard laughed as he made his way to the front door, unlocking it quickly. But, when he opened the door, it wasn't Frank he saw.

"What?" Gerard snapped, his body growing rigid.

"Is he here?" Bert asked, peeking around Gerard's shoulder to the inside of the house.

"Fuck," Gerard mumbled. "Why does it matter? You beat the shit outta him last night; you coming back for seconds?"

"I am," Bert replied. "But not with Frank. You, sweetheart."

"I don't want sex," Gerard answered. "Not from you or, frankly, from anyone right now. I'm tired, I'm hungover, and I smell like shit. Just leave."

"Well, you've been sleeping with Iero," Bert said, and Gerard realized that he hadn't known Frank's full name until then. Bert reached out and ran his fingers along Gerard's neck. "A lot, apparently."

Gerard pulled himself out of Bert's reach and said, "My sex life is none of your business, just like the rest of my life. Now, please just leave."

"Not just yet, babe," Bert replied and Gerard shuddered at the nickname. "You're comfortable with it now. Let me in and I'll show you what—"

"Why did you attack Frank last night?" Gerard asked, interrupting Bert. "What gave you the right to call him that name?"

"I can do what I want," Bert answered. Then, he placed his hands on Gerard's hips, pulling him closer. "Now, what do I want to do with you?"

Before Gerard could respond, Bert pulled his head closer and kissed him roughly. The gesture was so familiar that Gerard instinctively melted into his body, opening his mouth and wrapping his arms around Bert's neck. Then, Gerard realized that Bert tasted different than Frank: Bert always tasted like alcohol and/or menthol while Frank was always coffee and cigarettes— not tobacco, but actual cigarettes— as well as a certain, citrus tang that Gerard could never place.

Gerard pulled away from Bert, his eyes opening, and his eyes caught a figure across the street. He immediately knew who it was, but he couldn't inspect, as Bert pushed back in for another kiss.

"Stop," he mumbled against Bert's lips. He tried to pull away but Bert moved his hands to his arms, keeping him still. "Just... Leave!"

Bert finally pulled away and whispered, "You really hate me, don't you?"

"Yes!" Gerard cried. "Please, go!"

"You never used to refuse my kisses," Bert said and started to kiss his neck.

"I am now," Gerard said. "I have a boyfriend that is not you, and I need you to leave."

"Or what?" Bert asked.

"Or he'll kick your ass," Gerard said, struggling against Bert's grip. He hoped that Frank could see him fight from across the street, and he willed Frank to come and legitimately kick Bert's ass.

"Gerard!" Frank called from the sidewalk, and Gerard jumped slightly in surprise. A moment later, he felt Bert being pulled off of him and Frank hugging him protectively. "Why the hell is the guy from the show here?" Frank asked.

"He's my ex," Gerard whispered. "And he won't leave."

"You're Bert?" Frank asked. "Christ, just leave."

"I did a number on you, didn't I?" Bert asked. "I'm better than I thought."

"I don't need you here," Gerard said. "Go."

"Now that you've got your attack dog with you," Bert started and Frank tightened his arms around Gerard. "I'll leave."

Before another word could be said, Frank closed the door, locking it. "Gee, did he hurt you?" He asked immediately. "Babe, I'm so sorry I was late."

"He didn't hurt me," Gerard said. "He just kissed me."

"So, why was he here?" Frank asked.

"I don't know," Gerard said quietly. "He never said. He came, told me he wanted to sleep with me, and kissed me. I... I'm so sorry, Frankie."

"It's not your fault," Frank said softly. He gently kissed the top of Gerard's head and hugged him tightly. "I'm surprised you're awake. You were sleeping hard when I left."

"I wanna sleep more, but I won't be able to sleep tonight or tomorrow," Gerard laughed. "I always sleep a lot when I'm hungover."

Frank smiled and kissed Gerard softly. "We can sleep more," Frank said. "You probably need more sleep, anyway."

"I love you, Frankie," Gerard said and kissed Frank's cheek.

"Hold on..." Frank said and opened the blanket slightly to see Gerard's naked body. "You didn't even put on underwear?"

"I thought it was you at the door," Gerard defended himself, giggling. "You always take off my clothes when you get home, so I figured I was just eliminating a step."

"Oh, well, that's true," Frank said. He picked Gerard up, earning him a small squeak, and carried him to the bedroom, gently placing him on the bed. Gerard watched Frank pull off his shoes, jeans, and jacket, then climb into bed next to Gerard, holding him close.

"What did you dream about last night?" Frank asked.

"Bert," Gerard whispered. He was already starting to fall asleep, but he struggled to stay awake for the conversation. "I dreamt about when we broke up."

"Oh, I'm sorry, bunny," Frank whispered. "You don't need to worry about him. I'll be here."

"You'll protect me?" Gerard asked with a sleepy giggle. Frank nodded, kissing Gerard's forehead, and Gerard nuzzled closer to Frank. "My hero."

---

When Gerard woke up, the clock showed it was nearly midnight. Frank's arms were crossed over his chest, with his stomach pressed against Gerard's back. He felt Frank's soft, warm breathes on the back of his neck, the pattern even and somewhat reassuring. The blankets and sheets were strewn haphazardly across their bodies, and Gerard shivered in the cold.

His movement made Frank's breathing stop for a moment before he kissed the back of Gerard's neck. "You awake?" Frank whispered, tightening his arms around Gerard and pulling him even closer, if that was possible.

Gerard made a small sound and, with great difficulty, turned to face Frank. He pressed a kiss to the corner of Frank's mouth and whispered, "Loosen your arms, babe."

"I'm protecting you, bunny," Frank giggled. He loosened his arms, though. "I told you I would."
Gerard hummed happily, then whispered, "Frankie... We need to talk."

Notes

Shit's about to go down.

xoKristin