Bookworms Anonymous

The night of Frank and Gerards second date was strangely cool and it may have still been the height of summer, but it was a bitterly cold night. The streets were unusually bare as he stood outside Lindsey’s apartment swaying back and forth to the melody of the music pumping through his headphones. He was trapped in a swirling typhoon of music and wasn’t properly aware of his surroundings. Because of this Lindsey was able to sneak up behind him and grab his hips and make him squeal like a little girl. A howling screech erupted from his thin lips as he turned around to be faced with a giggling Lindsey. He snatched the earphones out of his ears and scowled at her as she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling up at him. She was leaning back using his neck to keep her upright as she scanned his features and grinned brightly.

‘Oh, don’t look so gloom Gway…’ She pouted their faces only inches apart. Gerard looked up at the sky and the surrounding buildings taking in the dirty browns and greys of the bitter city and tried to ignore Lindsey’s puppy dog eyes.

‘Don’t call me that.’ He tries to keep a straight face but she seems to have the kind of smile that is contagious. He settled his hands on her hips and smiles at her as she begins to talk again.
‘Oh, is it only Frankie who is aloud to call you that?’ She teases shaking her shoulders and giggling causing a blush to spread across her friends face.

‘He…h…he doesn’t call me that…’ He stuttered slouching slightly.

‘Oh…I wonder what he calls you…baby? Gee? Honey? Buttercup? Baby boy?’ Gerard pushed her off and starts to storm down the street she follows giggling.

‘I do not have a daddy kink Lyns….’ He pouts not looking back at her as she jumps onto his back and demands a kiddyback ride non verbally.

‘Oh shush Gway….’ Gerard shivers as she giggles into his ear. ‘I’m just winding you up. Now noble steed go forth to get me some milkshake.’ She shouts proudly pointing in the direction of their favourite late night milkshake place.

‘This is going to take me ten minutes longer than usual because I have a fully grown woman on my back.’ Lindsey hits him across the head in reaction to his comment and kicks his hip.
‘Good thing you’re not meeting Frank till 8 then eh? Now go before I tell the world about your daddy kink.’ Lindsey mutters while she secured her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his hat covered hair.

‘I don’t have a daddy kink.’ He mumbled as he slowly began the short journey to the milkshake bar.

~~~~~~

By the time they had gotten to the little joint only a mile from her apartment Gerard was sweating proudly and Lindsey was smiling proudly as she jumped down from his back and sauntered into the the bar and sat down at their booth. He stumbled in after her trying to regain his breath and composure as she already started to scan the bright red menu.
‘I don’t know why you even look at the menu you always order the same thing.’ Gerard huffed out between gasps for air. She didn’t even look up from her menu when she replied.

‘You should really start doing regular exercise G.’ She mumbled placing the menu down and looking over at him sweating and breathing heavily. ‘Take off the flipping hat if you’re so hot!’

‘I can’t, my hair its a mess.’ He groaned his newly bleached hair sticking to his forehead and already soaked completely in sweat.

‘Thats what you get for buying a home bleaching kit from target and not going to an actual salon.’ She retorted shaking her head and gesturing to the waiter on the other side of the room that they were ready to order.

‘I am a student. I can barely afford this date tonight!’ He giggled passing the menus to the waiter. ‘Banana and nutella for the lovely lady.’ He grins up the older man.

‘And peanut butter oreo for the noble steed’ Lindsey mutters to the waiter as he notes down their orders and tells them he’ll be as quick as he can. Lindsey then grabs her phone out of her denim jacket pocket and checks the time. ‘It’s seven thirty so unless you can fix your hair in thirty minutes then I guess you deal with it and just take the fucking hat off.’ She kicked him under the table and then slouched back into the booth and smiled across the table at him. They sat in a comfortable silence as Gerard scanned the room and tried to calm his nerves.

The place was kind of hidden away from the rest of the world from the outside it seems like another dodgy cafe where the coffee is actual just melted tar and where the back room is definitely used to store cocaine. But really it was a little milkshake place which also did pancakes and waffled during the day, but Gee usually only went at night. They discovered after one of their many nights out in NYC when Gee and Mikey were still in school and Lindsey was ‘babysitting’ them. The band was ‘The Brobecks’ and they weren’t really Gerard’s kind of music, but Mikey begged him to take him and Lindsey agreed since the lead singer was hot and she had fake ID now so she could drink till the band sounded decent. The funny thing was that Gerard ended up enjoying himself more and it wasn’t because he snogged the lead singer after the gig, but because the band were actually good, although that part was very enjoyable. Afterwards they were stumbling around the streets and they found this little place that was open till 1am and ever since then it had been a major hangout spot for the three and then the two of them.

‘Are the brobecks still going?’ Gerard broke the silence after a moment of thinking.

‘Hmmm?’ Lindsey scrunched up her eyebrows not fully understanding the question.

‘The Brobecks? That band we saw at the bowery?’ Gerard leaned across the table and raised an eyebrow.

‘Ahhhh…yes…Oh, I think so…’ She grabbed her phone quickly and typed quickly. ‘They actually have a gig tonight. At Pianos.’ She turned the screen to Gerard and let him read the page. ‘Why do you wanna know? Wanna hook up with the cute one again? Or can I have a shot this time?’ Gerard shook his head and tilted his head thinking slightly.

‘They still have tickets. I should go…’ He grabbed her phone and started typing as he received some strange looks from his best friend opposite him. The old man with his greying hair and whispy voice rushed over with their tall glasses of sweetness as the he bought the tickets on a whim.

‘You kids needing anything else?’ His words seem to get caught in the back of his throat as he pushed them out of his crackling lips. Lindsey shook her head smiling brightly up at the thin man. ‘Good, enjoy your ‘shakes.’ His classic new yorker accent is something Gerard never seemed to get bored of even though he had lived in the bustling city for years now.

‘Thanks!’ Lindsey called after the man who smiled and shuffled onto the next customer. ‘Did you get them?’ She muttered across the table before sipping from her candfloss pink straw.
‘MmmmHmm’ Gerard grumble barely audibly as he pushed the phone across the table and sipped his own drink.

‘You gonna take Frankie boy?’ Gerard nodded leaning back in the booth and taking off his hat setting free his unruly blonde hair which seemed even more radioactive in the bright electric lighting of the place. Lindsey scrunched up her eyes and placed her hands up inferno of her. ‘Damn Gee, you nearly blinded me with that fucking hair.’ She laughed before placing her arms securely on the table and noticing this disapproving glance. ‘Hows the project going?’
‘Don’t even mention it.’ He groans taking a gulp of his drink.

‘Still no inspiration?’ Lindsey sympathises completely she, as an artists, knows exactly what he is going through. Stuck in a rut of either having ideas and not being able to put them down or wanting to put something down but having nothing to produce.

‘No, no…It’s nearly done actually…’ He trailed off glancing over at the only other customer in the place a young girl around 16 reading from an old version of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and in that moment he couldn’t help but feel empathy for the man himself. Insecure and covering up everything to make it seem fine when really all he wants is out of reach. ‘I am scared of presenting it.’

‘But, if you get a high enough grade you get to show it in the Gagosian? Thats been your dream for so long…’ She trailed off when she saw the fear in his eyes.

‘What if it isn’t good enough. What if everyone laughs. What if Frank hates it. Its a homage to him. It’s him.’ He couldn’t make eye contact with her.

‘And its brilliant! Gee, you are one of the most amazing artists I’ve even had the privilege of viewing and he is going to love it. Why wouldn’t he?’ She tried to catch his eyes this point and smiles brightly. ‘You are over thinking it G.’ She picks up her phone and scans the time. ‘Now get your head together you’ve Franks meant to be here in 10…’ She sips her drink and tries to change the subject to cheer him up. ‘Where you taking him tonight anyway?

‘Rays.’ He stated cooly still scanning the place even thought there wasn’t much to look at except the pale walls, the old waiter and the young girl. ‘And then to Tipsy’s for something to eat and then I guess to The Brobecks. I was initially going to just end it the date there, but I guess I struck gold with them playing tonight.’ He smiled when he thought about the date. He didn’t get nervous or giggly or even butterflies. He just feels so happy. Content. Wonderful. Lindsey can see that from the smile that is occupying his face at that very moment and making his eyes go crooked and his cows feet stand out showing age even at 23. She smiled back because Just like herself G had one of those smiled which made everyone arrow him smile.

Notes

Did...DID I JUST UPLOAD AFTER A MONTH OF SILENCE? YES YES I DID.

NEWS: I MET FRANK LIKE THE FRANK IERO AND I CRIED AND I TOUCHED HIS HAIR AND HE WAS SO SWEET AND IM CRYING.

IN OTHER NEWS IM NOT DEAD.

Thats good eh?

I'm so sorry for not updating i have no excuse just the fact ive had zero inspiration.

-C