18th Floor Balcony (Frerard)

"Let's go, up!"

Frank jumped when he heard his grandmother’s voice boom throughout the bedroom. He jolted out of bed, feeling his heart skip a beat.

"Grandma?"

"Come on, you have been moping in bed for weeks now,”

"I don't feel good, and…,” Frank sighed, knowing that he couldn’t possibly return to the Way residence to take care of Gerard; not after what happened that one day. “I can’t, grandma,”

"Bullshit. You can't fool an old fool. You need to talk to me,"

Frank sighed again deeply. He wasn't getting out of this one. He climbed out of bed and followed the older woman to the kitchen. He had to tell her what happened when his mother called. He needs to tell her everything, how he lost his temper, as well as his professionalism that was vital for the job. He did just that when he got himself dressed and into the kitchen, sitting with Rosalie at the table with coffee in their hands.

"So...that's it?" Rosalie asked, who had listened carefully the whole time.

"Yeah, I need to keep my friendship and personal feelings aside when I am there, and I can't, so...I think I need to take another assignment," Frank said, feeling his heart sink at the thought of taking care of a complete stranger instead of his friend.

"I think you are being very silly, bambino. Have you tried to talk about it?"

"No, and I don’t plan on it,” Frank shook his head, already annoyed with his grandma’s well-known stubbornness. “They will hire someone else and it will be alright,"

Rosalie looked at him and hated it. Her own grandson was a quitter and they both knew it.

"Excuse me,” Frank got up to use the bathroom and hide from her glare. When he returned, she was looking at his phone against his wishes, which made him gasp a little.

"You have strange pictures on here," Rosalie said, eyeing the many photos taken on the phone in bewilderment, from selfies to photos with people she knew she’d rather not know.

"Uh...yeah, I guess," Frank replied reluctantly.

"Well, how about I make a cake and coffee, and we talk some more?"

"But grandma…,” Frank knew that cake and coffee only came out when there was a guest coming over. Still, he indulged her. "Alright, let me know when it is done. I am going to shower."

"Good idea, bambino." Rosalie kissed his cheek and then he left. Yeah, a shower would make him feel better.

_ _ _

Mikey took a breath as he rang the doorbell. He didn't know what to expect when Frank's grandmother invited him over to talk. He was already feeling chills run down his spine.

"Well hello, Rosalie smiled, opening the door for her guest. I remember you from when my grandson was younger. Please, come in…,” She stopped, falling into one of her many coughing fits that surely wouldn’t be the last one for the day.

"You alright, ma'am?" Mikey furrowed his brow in concern, seeing the frail old lady that clearly has seen better days in better health.

"What's this ma'am nonsense? Rosie is just fine. I've been a bit on the sick side since last month. Frankie has been fussing about it,” She shuffled in and had him take a seat in the kitchen. "Frankie is in the shower, would you like some coffee?"

"Yes, please,"

“Cream or sugar?” Rosalie asked, walking to the counter and pouring Mikey a cup.

"No, thank you. Just regular old black coffee, please,"

Rosalie handed Mikey the cup of steaming hot coffee. She then reached over for a hot pan of freshly baked coffee cake, slicing Mikey a piece of it.

"This might still be a bit hot, it is fresh out of the oven," she said, handing the desert to her guest.

"Oh, thank you," Mikey took the cake, setting it beside his coffee for it to cool down a bit.

"Thank you for...coming on short notice,” Rosalie said hoarsely before coughing some more.

"Anytime. You sure you're okay?"

"Grandma, did you take your medicine?" Frank asked as he came around the corner, toweling off his hair. "You know what the doctor said about...Mikey?" He stopped, his eyes widening at the sight of the younger Way brother at the kitchen table.

"Frank," Mikey smiled a little. Frank looked at his grandmother. He sighed, he should have known better when she had his phone. She went through his contacts and called Mikey. He moved into the seat and she gave him his cake and coffee.

"Well, I think I will go and lie down for a bit. You two have fun," Rosalie sang as she kissed Frank on the cheek, before retiring to her bedroom.

"Frank...how have you been?" Mikey asked, making sure to start off this conversation on a good note.

“Alright, just you know...getting over stuff,” Frank said reluctantly, shrugging his shoulders. He knew exactly why Mikey was here...and he really wanted no part of it at all.

“I see,” Mikey nodded. “I know it’s bad of me to pry into your personal business, but...we wanna know what happened that day you left,”

“Oh...I just…,”

Frank stopped. He didn’t know what to say. He had behaved completely unprofessional and inappropriate in front of his client. He crossed the line. He fucking blew it.

“Don’t worry, Frank. We’re not mad at you,” Mikey put a supporting hand on Frank’s shoulder, smiling a bit. “We just wanna know what happened, that’s all. Gerard said you took a phone call and you got mad, then you just lost it and broke your phone...am I right?”

“Yes, Mikey. You are,” Frank sighed woefully, cursing in his head. “It was improper behavior. I’m sure my replacement will not make that mistake as well--”

“Actually, Frank…,” Mikey cut him off, his eyes desperate. “We want you back. We miss you, and whatever happened...it’s okay,”

Frank’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t okay! He acted out of line in front of his own patient! He let his feelings get the best of him! There’s no way in hell Mikey should take him back. He doesn’t deserve to have someone care for Gerard that’s so unprofessional, so short-tempered, so lacking in proper work ethic!

“But Mikey...I was unprofessional, and--”

“You know what, Frank? Fuck professionalism,” Mikey rebutted, raising his voice a bit in annoyance at Frank’s stubbornness. “We. Need. You. Back. Now. We need you badly, especially Gerard. I’m scared for him, Frank. I’m scared for him because after you left, we had no choice but to up his other caregiver’s hours and...well, let’s just say I don’t trust him,”

Frank had only met Marco a handful of times, but from what he’s seen in him, he did get vibe from him...one that’s not very good.

“Well, has he, like...done anything inappropriate towards Gerard? You could report him, y’know?”

“What other choice do I have, Frank? If we fire him, who will take care of Gerard? Getting hooked up with another agency or caregiver takes ages, and knowing Gerard...he needs constant, round the clock care. I don’t like Marco at all, really. You treat Gerard with respect, and you go above and beyond with caring for him. Marco doesn’t do that at all. In fact, he’s far from that. He treats Gerard like a pig. He’s all we’ve got, but if we can rehire you...we can have you work for him more and fire Marco. I feel a lot more comfortable with you caring for Gerard. Please, Frank…,” Mikey paused, taking a deep breath as he grabbed Frank’s shoulder again, giving it a good squeeze. “Please come back. Do it for Gerard,”

Frank didn’t know what to do, or even what to say. He really loved working with Gerard, but...he failed him. Gerard deserves a better caregiver, right? One that’s better than someone like Frank...right?

“I don’t know...I mean, surely you can hire someone more competent than me from the agency, can’t you? They would...

ow!

”

“

Stupido!

” Rosalie yelled. Frank rubbed his head where his grandmother hit it. “Just ignore his words. He’ll be there,”

“But grandma…,” Frank protested, before he suddenly ducked from another oncoming blow from Rosalie’s hand.

“Don’t argue with me, Frankie! I am old, but I can still kick your behind!”

“Please, Frank?” Mikey begged, looking like he’s close to giving Frank the puppy look with how desperate he looks to have him back to care for his sick older brother. Frank looked at him. How in the hell could he say no?

“Alright,” Frank nodded. “But I have to go through channels to get reassigned to Ger--”

“Thank you!” Mikey reached across the table and hugged Frank tightly, catching him by surprise. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Yes, well...I officially resigned so I have to be reassigned,” Frank grunted, being suffocated by Mikey’s tight embrace.

“Please do so asap, please?” Mikey let go of Frank. “He really, really misses you, Frank,”

“He...misses me?” Frank asked, his brow furrowed.

“Yes, Frank. He cries for you at night time. He’s been constantly asking me when you’re coming back,”

“Oh...I had no idea,” Frank sighed, wondering if it was really true that Gerard misses him dearly. Did someone really miss him that much? Did his old friend, and now sick quadriplegic, really long for Frank in his company that much...or was Mikey just bluffing?

“He needs you, Frank,” Mikey said as he reached across the table for Frank’s hand, taking it in both of his pleading ones. “Please…,”

“Needs me?” Frank repeated. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea.

“Yes, Frank. I’m very scared for him...and something tells me he’s scared, too,”

Frank felt this warmth in his heart. He had never been needed before...wait…

“Just to clarify...are we talking on a professional level, or…,”

Fuck, why did he ask that? Of course it’s on a professional level. God, he’s a fucking idiot. He wanted to bang his head on the table. He started to back peddle.

“No, no, forget what I said, of course that’s what you mean, I was being silly, and…,”

“Well...yes, Frank. More than just on a professional level,” Mikey said, finishing up his cup of coffee. “You’re...you’re his best friend,”

“Oh, right…,” Frank nodded. “Best friend...of course,”

“So how long will it take the agency to get you hooked back up with us?”

“A few weeks, I think,”

“Oh...alright,” Mikey sighed, disappointed at the long wait time. He shook Frank’s hand anyway, welcoming him back. “Thanks again, Frank,”

“I, umm…,” Frank said suddenly, thinking what’s on his mind should be appropriate to bring up. “I can come by and say hi while we are waiting, I just can’t...do anything for him,”

“Frank...it’s okay,” Mikey smiled reassuringly. “Don’t beat yourself up so much. He’ll be so happy to see you again, you have no idea. However, you can stop by tomorrow, if you like. He’ll be happy to see you again,”

“Yeah, I can do that,”

“Thanks, Frank,” Mikey patted Frank on the shoulder. “I gotta go run some errands, so I think I should go. It was good seeing you again,”

“Same,” Frank nodded. “Oh, and Mikey...I missed you guys too,”

Mikey smiled as he stood up and made his way to the front door. He put his shoes and coat on, preparing to step out once again in the nippy cold.

“See you tomorrow, Frank,” he said as he opened up the front door and left.

“See what happens when your nosy Nonna gets involved?” Rosalie said suddenly, arising from the hallway leading to the kitchen. Frank smiled at her.

“Yes, Nonna...I do, and thank you,” Frank said as he looked at the clock. “I’ve got some phone calls to make to the agency, so I can be reassigned to Gerard,”

“You go do that, bambino. I am going to lie down for a bit,” Rosalie said as she yawned. Frank kissed her on the cheek and then left to call the Angels of Comfort homecare agency.

_ _ _

Marco has been enjoying himself indeed. It had been three weeks since he had first been able to have most of his way with the frail and ill man that is Gerard Way. He figured it was a good time to step it up again. He had gone from jerking him off to blowing him and getting off against his cock while laying on top of Gerard. He wanted to fuck him so badly though. It was a bit bothersome that Gerard was still thinking about his old caretaker, but fuck it if it got him what he wanted. He was going to do it today, but the patient’s meddling brother said they had appointments today and didn’t need him. Marco was patient, though. He could wait a little longer. It would be that much sweeter.

“That was fun, baby,” Marco smirked, zipping up his pants after being given fellatio from the patient sprawled and passed out on his bed. “I’m getting excited just thinking of all the wonderful things I could do to you...Gerard…,”

_ _ _

“So, Mikey...what’s this appointment for again?” Gerard asked, hesitant to leave the house and step into the outside world, where he knew he’d face a bunch of stares and laughs from strangers...and he hated it.

“Just some bloodwork. They wanna see if the new medication is working well with your nervous system,”

“B-bloodwork?” Gerard stuttered, his eyes wide. He knew what that meant, and he wanted no part of it. “B-but Mikey...that means...they’re gonna put needles in me!”

“I know, Gee,” Mikey sighed, putting a supporting hand on his brother’s shaking shoulder as he looked at him straight in the eye with reassurance. “But if the medicine is going more harm than good, I want to know. Maybe that’s why you are having those vivid dreams and...uh…,” he paused, awkward silence filling the room as he tried to figure out how to not sound too dirty and inappropriate explaining his brother’s strangely frequent wet dreams to him. . “...nocturnal admissions during the day...yeah, that’s it,”

“But Mikey,” Gerard protested. “I don’t have a problem with that. You are not dragging me to the doctor’s office!”

“Gerard, you are jerking off every day, three times a day! That’s not normal for you! I think that is a problem after not doing it for five years!” Mikey exclaimed, the aforementioned appropriate mannerisms thrown out the window. He was clearly too annoyed to even care anymore.

“But Mikey...how can I jerk off if I have no working arms?!” Gerard sneered mockingly, his eyes moving back and forth between his limp arms, then to Mikey, then back to his fraying and atrophied arms.

“I don’t know, but the evidence is there every day for Marco to have to clean up. That can’t be normal, so I just want to talk to the doctor about it,”

“Ugh...alright,” Gerard sighed, giving in. He did find it a bit strange that he was having all these wet dreams. He’s never had them this much, let alone over a specific person. In fact, that’s never happened to him, not even during his years spent in high school, being the awkward and anti-social art geek he was. It really was something to think about. Maybe Mikey was right. Something just isn’t right here…

Notes