Gerard got home with nearly five minutes to spare, but he knew that it wasn't enough, that it was too close to his curfew. He just hoped that maybe Bert had fallen asleep and that he didn't have to deal with him that night.

The very first thing that happened once Gerard passed the threshold into the apartment was he felt a horrible stinging pain on his cheek, and he cried out. "Where the fuck were you?" Bert spat as the door closed behind Gerard. "Because you sure as hell weren't at the benefit."

"I was!" Gerard exclaimed. "I was! Just, t-the whole time, I was interviewing Francis Iero, and we were in private and—"

"Don't you fucking lie!" Bert yelled.

"I'm not!" Gerard cried. "Bert, I swear, that's what happened. Nothing else happened."

"Really?" Bert asked, seemingly rhetorical. "Nothing you want me to know?"

"No," Gerard said quietly, looking down at his feet. He knew it made him look suspicious, but he couldn't look at Bert unless he wanted to cry.

"Then, what is this?" Bert asked, and went over to the coffee table, picking up an envelope. He tossed it to Gerard, letting it land at his feet, and said, "A friend gave this to me. Seems like you've been planning this for a few months."

Gerard, confused, bent down and picked up the envelope, undoing the prongs and pulling out the contents. They were all computer-screen printouts, and he read through them all quickly. Every last one of them were made to look like emails between him and Frank, some more explicit than others, all dated months back. "Bert, I never—" Gerard began, and flinched away as Bert came up close to him.

"You never sent those?" He asked condescendingly. "That's your email, isn't it?"

"Who-who gave this to you?" Gerard asked.

"A friend," Bert said vaguely. "Gerard, you've been sleeping with this man for months, and you never had the gall to break up with me? You're an asshole."

"Bert—" Gerard started. He wasn't the asshole.

"Get your shit and leave," Bert snapped. "I even asked you if you were seeing someone else. You lied to me, cheated on me, went behind my back, and I want you out."

"But…" Gerard stopped himself, realizing how stupid his next argument was. "I love you."

"Are you sure about that?" Bert sneered.

"I do," Gerard insisted. He tentatively put his arms around Bert's shoulders, rising up on his toes. "I love you so much."

"Is that why you cheated on me?" Bert asked. "Because of how much you love me?"

Gerard wanted to yell at Bert, try to defend himself, but he figured that his next course of action would be better. He pressed his lips against Bert's, wincing slightly at the liquor on his lips, then opening his mouth for Bert's tongue.

In a swift movement, Bert had Gerard pinned against the wall, sucking harshly on his neck, enough to leave a mark that would definitely show up on camera. His hands were on Gerard's waist, pushing him into the wall. "He wasn't like me, was he?" Bert mumbled against Gerard's neck. "Didn't bite you, did he?"

Bert continued to talk and, the whole time, Gerard fought off tears.

---

He was full of guilt by the time they were finished. The bed felt wrong after what had happened, as if Gerard no longer belonged. He had held back the tears the whole time, finally letting them fall as he pulled himself out of bed. He found his clothes, his shirt— his favorite black shirt, damn it— ripped, then his boxers.

He couldn't even get dressed before he felt arms around his waist, pulling him into the person's body, their lips connecting the bottom of his neck. "Why're you leaving?" Bert whispered, rubbing circles on Gerard's hip.

Gerard wiped his eyes dry and tried to pull himself out of Bert's arms, only for him to tighten his grip. "I'm not anything like Francis, am I?" Bert hissed. "Tell me I'm nothing like him."

"Let me go," Gerard mumbled, finally pulling himself away.

"Tell me I'm not like him," Bert demanded.

"Bert, I wouldn't know what he's like, because we did not sleep together," Gerard insisted. "Those emails never happened, they were fabricated, I swear."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Bert asked. He dressed, and said, "Just leave. Don't even take your shit. You won't need it anyway; your rich little boyfriend will buy you all new stuff anyway."

Gerard let his tears cling to his face as he dressed, sniffing every so often. He said nothing as he left the room, grabbing the envelope on his way out of the apartment.

As he stepped out onto the street, lightening split the sky and rain came down. "Great," Gerard mumbled, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He fumbled with the screen for a moment, the water dripping from his hair onto the glass making it impossible to scroll until, finally, he gave up and pushed his phone back into his pocket. He hadn't thought to grab a jacket at all, and he shivered in the November air.

Deciding there was nothing better to do, he sat on the curb and pulled out the screenshots. He took the time to fully read each of them, the words running through his mind as he because more upset. By the time he finished the last email, he was full of resentment towards whomever did it, and he wanted to throw up.

Then, as he was pushing the papers back into the folder, he noticed a small note on the back of the last sheet of paper, typed out to hide the person's handwriting. stay away from nine. it said simply, and it sent a shiver down Gerard's spine. He was too confused and cold and upset to comprehend anything correctly, and he pushed the papers fully into the folder. Then, to get rid of the troubling papers, he tore it up and pushed it into the nearest trash can.

He started walking, not sure of where he was headed. He just needed to get away from the apartment, and he shivered in the cold. He wrapped his arms around himself in a poor attempt to keep warm, his teeth chattering as he walked.

Finally, he gave up and collapsed, his legs thankful for the stop. The sidewalk actually didn't seem like a bad choice at that moment, and he curled into a tight ball as he sobbed, not caring who heard him.

The chill in his bones forced him back up, and he continued walking as he thought about some of the words in the emails. They were vulgar, explicit, all things that Gerard wasn't, and he wished he knew who was doing this or why.

Suddenly, the note on the back came back into his head, screaming at him. 'stay away from nine'. It confused him, to say the least, since he had never even made contact with the man before. Could Nine even be considered a man? With everything he had done within the last four years, it was becoming less and less likely.

Gerard looked up from his thoughts and found himself in front of, embarrassingly, an alleyway. He looked around, making sure nobody was there, then snuck into the dry area. He shook his head like a dog, trying to dry his hair some, and pulled his phone out again, attempting it once more.

Luckily, the screen cooperated this time, and he was able to dial the number of the person he needed most at that moment. "Mikey?" He whimpered pathetically. "I-I need you to come and get me."

"Hold on," Mikey mumbled, his voice muffled. After a moment, he said, "Okay, sorry. Say that again?"

"Bert hit me and h-he didn't rape me but I was afraid he would hit me again if I said no," Gerard told him. "I'm at the corner of Fourth and Freemont, please come get me or something."

"He hit you?" Mikey repeated. "Fuck. Okay, Gee, I'm coming. Try to find a place to go inside and try to get warm. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay," Gerard said, sniffing. "I love you."

"I love you too, Gee," Mikey said softly, then hung up.

---

Gerard opened his eyes and found himself on an old, slightly-sagging couch, his hair finally dry and himself clothed in slightly tight dry clothing, no doubt his brother's.

He grunted as he sat up, shivering despite the warmness of the apartment. He ran his hands down his face as pain shot up his spine, and he moaned in pain.

Almost immediately, Mikey came scampering down the hall, landing next to Gerard and hugging him tightly. "Thank God, you're awake," he mumbled into Gerard's shoulder. "God, you're burning up, Gee."

"I am?" Gerard asked. "I'm freezing."

Mikey hugged Gerard tighter, the frames of his glasses pressed up against Gerard's shoulder. "Okay, so, what happened last night?" Mikey asked, pulling away from Gerard.

"So, I was at the Pencey Benefit last night and I got home pretty late, and Bert got pissed," Gerard started. "He slapped me, then called me a whore because he found emails between me and Francis Iero. You know, the CEO of Pencey? Yeah, him."

"Oh my God, Gerard," Mikey said softly. "You've been seeing Francis Iero?"

"I haven't," Gerard protested. "I haven't emailed him, talked to him, hell, met him before last night. But Bert didn't believe me and I kissed him but he pushed me against the wall and started to say… R-really bad things about Frank."

"Frank?" Mikey asked.

"I had a panic attack at the thing last night, and he helped me, then insisted I call him Frank," Gerard explained quickly. "But it… It kinda gets weirder."

"Weird?" Mikey repeated.

"Weird," Gerard confirmed. "Bert had shown me printouts of our emails, and the back of one of the papers said 'stay away from nine', like Nine, Nine. I tore the papers up and threw them away because it scared me too much."

"That's weird," Mikey said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You don't mind if I stay with you for a few days, do you?" Gerard asked. "Just until I can get my own place."

"Gee, you can stay as long as you need," Mikey told him, comfortingly rubbing his brother's shoulder. "Ever since Alicia, it gets kinda lonely here."

"Thanks, Mikey," Gerard said softly.

"So, uh," Mikey started. "Are you worried about, um… Somebody watching you or something?"

Gerard sighed, running his hands down his face. "I never even thought about that," he mumbled. "Okay, that sets me on edge. Umm... I-I'll… I'll figure it out."

Notes

so my girlfriend really likes Bert and they screamed when i let them beta this chapter.
god this story is my new baby aaaaahhhh

xoKristin