"Are you sure about this, Gee? I mean, isn't this technically illegal?" Mikey asked worriedly, speaking down his mobile as he hurried to the address his brother had given him.

"It's only illegal if we sleep together." Gerard's muffled voice came out of his speakers and Mikey winced at his bluntness.

"Actually, you can be arrested for any kind of sexual ... encounter with a student. That makes you a criminal. Oh God. Does that make me an accessory to a crime?!" Mikey began to panic, almost tripping over his own feet as they slapped down hard on the concrete ground, the noise echoing along the empty street.

"Mikey! Calm the fuck down. You're not doing anything illegal. You're simply taking a walk at the same time that Frank may or may not be arriving home. Okay?"

As opposed to answering, Mikey took a deep breath and visibly relaxed when Frank's street came into view. There was a sea of school children, all dressed in the same ugly, blue uniform, floods down the pavement and some even spelling onto the road. The sound of everyone talking and laughing and shrieking was a dull roar, deafening, and Mikey had to shout, 'what?' down his phone to get Gerard to repeat what he said. The older students were easy to pick out of the crowd, as they wore their own clothes, and Mikey even thought he saw Frank's black hair and tattooed arms in the crowd.

"You have the right address, don't you?" Gerard checked, a little of the anxiety he was feeling creeping into his voice.

"I'm where you told me to be." Mikey replied in a monotone, slightly sick of aiding his brother in his weird, perverted quest to seduce a student.

"And you know what to say?"

"Fuck my brother?" Mikey drawled sarcastically, giggling when Gerard exploded on the other end.

"Mikey! Be serious, please?"

Mikey sighed, exasperated. Gerard was no fun since he started pining after a minor.

"Yes, Gerard, I know what to say." Mikey took a deep breath as he was enveloped by the crowd. Frank got closer and closer, and Mikey could pinpoint the exact moment Frank clocked him heading in the opposite direction, shouting down the phone like a lunatic. If only he knew what they were talking about.

***

Frank had been more than relieved when school got out. He hadn't had a free period all day and he had forgotten what it was like to have to sit in five lessons a day. His ass was aching from having to sit in an uncomfortable, blue plastic chair that looked more suited to seating seven year olds than seventeen year olds, and all he wanted was to go home, lie in bed and sleep. Ideally, Ray would have given him a lift home but Ray had to stay after school to discuss his behaviour with a biology teacher - asshole deserved to be called an asshole in Ray's opinion - so Framk had to walk home all by himself, surrounded by screaming children. The exercise only served to make Frank more ready for sleep when he arrived home, but he was still pleasantly surprised and ready to socialise when he saw Mikey walking towards him, yelling down his phone over the buzz of conversation.

When he saw Frank he grinned and said, "I gotta go, I'll call you back."

"Hey man! What's up?" Mikey beamed enthusiastically, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"Not much. What're you doing here?" Frank asked curiously.

"Just going to meet my girlfriend. Hey, how's your situation going? Did you talk to the guy?"

Mikey asked, cutting to straight to the chase to dispel any chance of small talk. Frank was somewhat relieved not to have to talk about the weather with this guy, but when the topic of his teacher came up, he would have been more than happy to discuss the crappy weather they'd been having recently.

"Um, no. Like, no. Not exactly." Frank mumbled, sort of but not really embarrassed at having ignored Mikey's advice. "I thought about it and, like, it's not worth it. The trouble, I mean. It's not worth the trouble it would cause."

On that, Mikey had to agree with the kid, but he had to stick to the script Gerard had given him or there would be hell to pay. Mikey was Gerard's unofficial wingman. He felt bad lying to Frank, but he would feel worse going against Gerard's wishes; especially since it had been ages since Gerard last developed feelings for. He didn't want to screw this up for his brother, even if he did think it was wrong.

"Ah no. Really? Why?"

Frank shrugged awkwardly as the sea of children parted around them and eventually dissapeared down the hill on the other side of Frank's street, taking the noise with them. Once they were alone they were free to move, and Frank took the opportunity to go and sit on the wall surrounding the red-brick houses. Mikey followed and sat down next to him, watching him concernedly.

"Don't you like him anymore?" Mikey continued, pressuring Frank to give an answer.

"Of course I still like him."

"Does he like you?"

"I don't know." Frank answered truthfully. "I think he does. I'd like him too, but it totally wouldn't make sense if he did. I mean, like, he's a proper man and shit, and I'm just me. I'm just a kid."

"Well then what's stopping you? Go ahead and just ... ask him out?" Mikey had to bite his tongue to stop him blurting out Gerard's name. That would have completely ruined their - no, Gerard's - plan.

Frank bit his lip and looked up at Mikey through his eyelashes. Mikey seemed like a cool guy. He had a good taste in music, and alcohol, and he gave good advice. Frank could trust him ... right?

"Okay, promise you won't judge me?" Frank asked in a quiet voice. When Mikey nodded and raised his eyebrows Frank decided to just go with it. If he could just tell somebody and get a second opinion, preferably someone who didn't know him, then he would feel a lot more relaxed.

"The guy's my teacher." He blurted out before he could change his mind, and then he turned his head away from Mikey so he couldn't see the blush that crept up Frank's neck and onto his face. Admitting to something so embarrassing was enough to make Frank want to curl up into a ball and have the earth swallow him.

"I see. But ... if nobody found out, you'd be okay, right?"

Huh? That was not what Frank had been expecting.

"I - I guess. But isn't it still wrong? It's illegal!"

Mikey shot Frank a pointed look. "So is underage drinking." Frank blushed again. "What I'm saying, kid, is: if it feels good, don't knock it. If he likes you and you like him then it shouldn't be wrong, whatever it is. You get me?"

Frank nodded slowly. Mikey smiled.

There was a loud crashing noise that made both men jump, and it took a while for both of them to realise it was Mikey's phone, vibrating from in his jean pocket. Mikey pulled it out and glanced at the screen: Gerard. He quickly clicked 'decline' before Frank could see it.

"So ... I gotta scram. Alicia's getting impatient. But think about what I said, yeah?"

Frank nodded reverently and stood up, shoving his phone into Mikey's face.

"Do you wanna give me your number, then we can, like, communicate?" Frank coughed from the awkwardness of it all, but felt a little of the tension drain from his body when Mikey accepted his request and called him quickly before ending the call so Frank would have his number.

Immediately after they parted ways, Mikey's phone rang. Gerard again. Mikey looked over his shoulder to see Frank disappearing into one of the houses along the street, and so was safe to answer the call.

"He bought it?" Gerard asked straight away, not giving Mikey a chance to even say 'hi'.

"He bought it." Mikey confirmed, sighing guiltily.

"You got his number?"

"U-huh." Mikey replied. "Gee, I did everything you told me to. Stop checking up."

"You know what to do next?" Gerard was relentless.

"Yes! Goddammit, Gerard! I know the plan! I helped make the plan!"

Gerard hung up on him without saying goodbye, satisfied that everything had happened the way it was supposed to, and Mikey swallowed the lump in his throat. Was this the right thing to do? Setting his brother up with a minor? Not only that, but a minor they had manipulated into thinking the relationship was okay. That could get them arrested for sure.

Mikey just hoped Gerard knew what he was doing.

Notes

So Mikey and Gerard are manipulative sods. How mean. Poor Frankie. <3