Surrender The Night (Frerard)

Seeing his father was a big deal for Frank, because he hadn't seen or heard from the man in a long time. The last he knew, his father was settling down with a new woman and making a new family, and he supposed his dad didn't want anything to do with his old family. It saddened him at first, but after a while he got used to it and it didn't really bother him any more.

So when he saw his father again the first day he woke up in hospital, just opened his eyes to see the man sitting there in the chair next to his bed like he'd always been there, it was only natural he couldn't not think of a single thing to say.

He'd already spoken to his mother, to the doctors and the the police before he was able to relax and fall asleep again. His whole body was throbbing slightly, the pain only being dulled by the painkillers the nurse had given him, but he was able to drift off and sleep for a good three hours before he woke to see his father.

They hadn't talked for ages, long enough that by the time Frank Senior finally spoke up, his son was on the verge of falling asleep again. He snapped to as soon as he heard his father's voice; unfamiliar enough to be an unwelcome shock in the quiet room.

"How have you been?"

They were four simple words that, under the circumstances, should have made Frank angry.

They should have made him scream and shout and cry and flip tables until his father left him alone for good like Frank knew he wanted to. Instead, they just made him laugh. His shoulders shook and made the metal bed frame rattle where it stood.

"Great, thanks." Frank replied, his voice hoarse. All of the blood had been cleared away by now, his face and hair no longer covered in the stuff, but his nose was still completely hidden by a large white bandage, and the sight of his wild, manic eyes caused Frank Senior to start laughing too.

At first it was just a shake of his shoulders, a twitch of his lips upwards, but soon he was laughing along with Frank.

And then he started crying.

Frank had never seen his father cry. He'd seen his mother cry plenty of times, especially after Daniel had left the house or retired to the bedroom in a huff, but he hadn't never, ever seen his father cry. It was disconcerting and he didn't know what to do. So, after a few minutes of lying there chewing holes in his lip and listening to his father's broken sobs, he coughed and slowly sat up in his bed.

"I love you, Dad." Frank said sincerely, because he had almost died the other night - almost been murdered - and he wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to anyone. He would have died without telling his father any of this, without telling him that he forgave him for leaving and he was sorry that he hadn't tried harder to keep in contact with him and that he loved him.

"I love you too, Frank." His father said. They settled into silence for the rest of his father's visit and, when the doctor came in again to take Frank's blood pressure or whatever doctors did, the man slipped out without another word. Frank wasn't particularly worried though— he knew now that, even if the man had left without saying goodbye, it wouldn't be the last time Frank would see him. He would be back.

***

Frank had returned to school a week ago and Gerard, after having spent approximately a week and a half hanging around his house, watching reruns of soap operas and moping, was going crazy with the desire to see him. He at least wanted to be able to see Frank, even if he couldn't talk to him or hear him speak. He knew how Frank had acted in the hospital, knew what it meant. Frank wouldn't hate him, would forgive him and wouldn't hold a grudge against him, but things would never be the same.

The boy would go back to treating Gerard just as he used to when they were just teacher and student, nothing more. He should never have crossed that line, should never have let Frank stay that night he first showed up, never have cornered him in his classroom and kissed him, fucked him, loved him, hurt him. God. If Gerard had just been able to follow the rules like everybody else, he wouldn't be in this mess right now and Frank wouldn't have had to go to hospital, he wouldn't be having to catch up on work to pass his exams because he had missed about two weeks of classes.

But he couldn't bring himself to regret it. If he could go back and in the past, he wouldn't want to change anything. He'd still kiss Frank, fuck him, fall in love with him and he'd still feel guilty about it but he would not regret it. He just wished Frank would let him get close enough to talk about this… about them. He'd tried calling him a few times since the hospital visit, left about thirty unanswered texts with no regard whatsoever as to whether that made him look desperate or not, but Frank just ignored him. It was like Frank was trying to forget everything that happened between them.

Gerard needed to see him. He needed to see Frank because he was falling apart without the kid, and it had only been ten days. Granted, a lot had happened in those ten days, but they were enough to drain him completely. So it was really no surprise that, at four o' clock in the afternoon, he found himself once again lurking outside the school gates waiting for Frank. A lot of students gave him funny looks and he recognised many of them as his ex students - they would have noticed he wasn't teaching there any more and were probably curious as to why - but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. The only student he wanted to have anything to do with right now was short and cute and right fucking there, in front of him, shit.

He looked good, for someone that had spent the last week or so in a hospital. There was a fading bruise on his forehead, he had a visible limp and there were fading purple marks around one of his eyes, but otherwise he looked good. Great even. Beautiful.

He was walking with Brendon and Ray, and Gerard tried not to pay attention to the twinge of jealousy he felt whenever he thought of Brendon. He knew it was irrational and unfair and entirely untrue, but he couldn't help but feel that if Brendon had never been there with Frank that night - if he had never kissed him - then none of this would have happened. Gerard would never have run out, Frank would never have followed him and he would never have gotten kidnapped. Sure, Daniel would still be out there, a danger to society, but at least then Frank wouldn't be acting like they never had anything to start with.

Frank froze when he saw Gerard waiting for him, just stopped walking in the middle of the path. Brendon and Ray turned to frown at him, concerned - Gerard bet they'd been on his ass since he got back, looking after him and making sure he stayed out of harm's way, that should have fucking been his job - but he didn't even spare them a glance. His eyes were locked onto Gerard's so intensely that the older man was reluctant to so much as blink.

Then, very slowly, Frank nodded at him and continued walking. It was overly polite and just the kind of acknowledgement you would expect a student to offer an ex teacher of his, but not an ex boyfriend. It hurt.

"Frank," he said as soon as he was close enough to be heard. He didn't care about the rumours anymore, he didn't work at the school anymore so it wasn't a problem for him, but he was sure Frank wouldn't want this getting out. At least not to the whole school; his friends might be a different case. Brendon might be anyway.

"Mr Way." Frank replied, ducking his head but otherwise not moving to leave. Gerard chose to see that as a good sign. Casting a glance at the other two boys to see Ray watching them very intently and Brendon tapping out a message on his phone, he took a step closer to Frank.

Frank took a step back.

"How have you been?" Gerard asked for lack of anything else to say. Frank clearly wasn't going to make this easier for him, but he wasn't just going to let this go. He wasn't going to let Frank go… not without a fight.

"Fine, thank you." For a second, Gee thought he was going to say something else - perhaps inquire after how he had been since getting fired - but he remained silent, looking at the floor and kicking up dust with his shoes.

"I've missed you." He replied. A brief memory flashed in front of his eyes: Frank with his tongue down Brendon's throat, and a surge of jealousy made him look at the other boy again. He was talking on the phone now, muttering things like, 'no, I'll meet you outside,' and, 'don't be silly, that will take longer.' Gerard wondered who he was talking to, if it was someone he cared about. He wondered how Brendon would react if Gerard went and kissed them right in front of the kid, how hurt he would be… then he shook the thought from his head. He needed to focus on Frank.

"I don't think that's really appropriate, sir." Frank said meekly, like Gerard was just another teacher who seemed to be hitting on him. It really hurt.

Gerard swallowed. "Frank, don't do this. Please?"

That got a real response. Frank's eyes flashed with anger and the older man took an involuntary step back. He wasn't likely to get attacked by the kid, but it would still damage his ego irreparably if he took a load of verbal abuse from Frank in front of all his ex students.

"Don't do what, exactly? Don't lie to you and lead you on? Don't make you think that you actually meant something when all along I was just a… well. What was I, Gerard? A bit of fun? A way to pass the time? Whatever the fuck. Don't tell me what to do, okay?"

To his credit, Frank managed to keep his voice down for most of his tirade. By the time he was finished, red faced and chest heaving, only a few fellow students were watching them. Gerard guessed they would figure out why he had stopped teaching them now, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. All he could focus on was Frank, the fact that Frank thought that all he had been was 'a bit of fun'.

"Frank—" he tried to say, but Frank turned, dismissing Gerard with a wave of his hand.

"Whatever. I'm over it." He said, and with that he took a step closer to where Brendon was now waiting, having finished his phone conversation, and crashed their lips together in an unceremonious kiss. Gerard was reminded of the first time he had seen this exact same thing happen, of all the shit it had caused. Brendon's eyes widened and his arms flailed around widely, as if he wanted to push Frank off but wasn't sure whether that would be the best option. Ray was just looking from Frank to Gerard and back again with an expression of vague understanding.

Just as Gerard was about to turn and run, get out of this horrible, heartbreaking situation when there was a highpitched screeching sound and both Frank and Brendon were being catapulted to the side. Another boy looking about the same age as Frank and his friends was now lying splayed on top of Frank and struggling to push himself off the floor. When he managed to push himself up, he shuffled over to where Brendon was lying.

"What the fuck?!" He cried, sounding outraged. "You swore you wouldn't kiss him!"

"Ryan, fuck!" Brendon groaned, clutching his head.

"Don't Ryan me, we're leaving right now!" Ryan spat, glowering in Frank's general direction. Brendon looked over sheepishly at Frank and Ray who were watching the scene unfold with wide eyes. Gerard considered backing away but decided against it. Whenever Frank wasn't looking at him, he didn't have that glazed over look of indifference in his eyes and, if this was the last time Gerard got to look at Frank Iero, he didn't want to remember him like this.

"Um, this— this is Ryan, guys. He's…" Brendon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm his boyfriend, you sneaky shit," he directed at Frank, "and we're leaving now."

With that, Ryan grabbed Brendon's hand and dragged him through the crowd that had gathered around them. When Gerard looked at Frank next, the boy rolled his eyes and shouldered past him. Gerard watched him leave, and then couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Notes