It's Only Just A Dream

Gerard and Mikey still weren't speaking by Monday, and this time Gerard wasn't prepared to apologise in the hopes that their argument would just be forgotten. Mikey would hold a grudge until he apologised, he knew that, but he wasn't going to just bow down and say sorry for something that wasn't his fault so that they could be friends again. Especially not after all those mean things Mikey had said.

As soon as they pulled up in the parking lot, Gerard was out of the car before Mikey had even turned off the engine and then he was hurrying forwards towards the main entrance. He didn't want to walk behind Mikey - didn't even want to be near him - and he didn't want to wait for Mikey to give him a talk about how, if anyone from Frank Iero's gang tried to talk to him, he needed to walk away immediately and go and find him. He had tried that the night before, his words harsh and tone cold to let Gerard know that, even though they were having a conversation, it didn't mean that they were alright now. Gerard had told him to piss off and had migrated into the kitchen where he knew Mikey wouldn't follow.

He wouldn't talk about the gangs in front of Mom.

Gerard had Maths first and the thought gave him a headache. His Maths teacher always made the students do group work at the beginning of the lesson for at least twenty minutes before starting to teach them, and Gerard hated group work. It wasn't just that nobody talked to him or tried to include him in the work, or even acknowledged him - he would have been fine with that, he thought - but it was also that they didn't even pretend that they weren't afraid of him. If he said anything, suggested a way to work out a problem or so much as asked to borrow a calculator, they would immidiately nod and act as if it was the best idea they'd ever heard.

Gerard didn't know if they thought he was going to get Mikey to beat them up if they didn't agree with everything he said, but it was starting to get on his nerves.

On top of the stressful situation with Mikey and Frank Iero, he wasn't sure how many more 'subtle' glances and terrified looks he could stand. He was going to snap sometime soon, and he was sure the aftermath wouldn't be pretty.

"Watch it." Someone said angrily as he brushed their shoulder accidentally. He didn't know why people acted as if knocking shoulders with someone was such a big deal - it was a crowded hallway, the chances of fucking touching someone were high - but he muttered a grudging apology to them nontheless. When he looked up, he saw the guy he had walked into: he was tall and broad shouldered with brown curly hair that stuck out from his head in every direction. Gerard had seen him before.

This in itself wasn't that surprising - it was school, and you were likely to see the same person more than once - but Gerard would have thought he'd be able to recognise somebody so… recognisable. The guy seemed to recognise Gerard too, because when he looked up and saw who he'd snapped at, his eyes widened and he froze in the process of closing his locker. Gerard just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Great, he thought, another person who's terrified of Mikey. And therefore terrified of me.

"Oh, hey!" The guy said, smiling like he hadn't just passive aggressively told the younger boy to 'watch it'. "Sorry, I didn't realise it was—" he stopped himself before he finished. He must have realised that saying 'I didn't realise it was you' was a tad too obvious.

"Me." Gerard finished the sentence for him, flatly. "You didn't realise it was me. Don't worry— I'm not exactly going to win a fight against you, am I?"

It was meant as a joke— a bitter, sarcastic joke but a joke nonetheless. However, the guy didn't smile or laugh and, to Gerard's relief, didn't even take the joke as a threat and stammer out another apology. He had a confused, intrigued sort of expression on his face with an undertone of what Gerard could only describe as curiosity. Gerard frowned at the strange expression when suddenly, like a tonne of bricks, it hit him. He knew where he'd seen this guy before, knew where he recognised him from.

This guy was from Frank Iero's gang, he remembered seeing him sitting at Frank's table with the rest of his gang when the older boy had first spoken to him. Was it Evan, or Ray, or Bob? Gerard didn't have a clue, but he realised now that the guy hadn't meant his earlier sentence because he was afraid of him. So why had he said sorry? For that matter, why had Frank said sorry?

"Sorry." Gerard blurted out before he could stop himself, his eyes widening as he took an involuntary step backwards. "I—"

"Didn't realise it was me." Ray repeated what Gerard had said earlier, smiling happily again. The guy sure did like to smile, Gerard noticed. He smiled like it didn't cost him anything. "Don't worry about it."

Gerard opened his mouth and then shut it, trying to think of something to say in response to that. Mikey had told him so many stories about how horrible the people in Frank Iero's gang were; how they were unforgiving and how they were practically criminals - Gerard was sure he'd heard somewhere that Frank had been in a juvenile detention facility at least twice - and yet everyone he'd met so far had been perfectly nice and polite and friendly to him. Usually, he would take Mikey's word over his own impression of people, they were family after all, but what with the current animosity between his brother and himself, Gerard wasn't sure he wanted to believe anything Mikey said. Especially not after all those mean things Mikey had said about Gerard.

Gerard remembered Mikey telling him that if anyone from Frank's gang tried to talk to him, he should go and find Mikey and tell him, but Ray wasn't being mean. Ray - because Gerard was semi-certain this one was called Ray - wasn't trying to hurt him, and he hadn't said anything remotely offensive.

"I'm— I have to go." Gerard settled for saying after a long, awkward pause. He wasn't lying; he really did have to go, and he realised how late he was going to be as the second bell rang. The second bell rang when classes started— Gerard was supposed to be in Maths already. He hadn't noticed the hallways clearing out, but suddenly he was very aware that it was only he and Ray left alone.

Ray shrugged and smiled again, lifting up a hand to wave as Gerard stumbled his way along the corridor.

"Bye," he called cheerily. "Have a good day!"

Gerard was late to Maths by ten minutes, but not even his teacher seemed to notice when he snuck in without an apology or an explanation. He didn't have either to give.
__

Frank was waiting outside Gerard's Maths classroom at the end of first lesson. He had skipped his own first lesson and decided that today was as good a day as any to get started on the arduous task of befriending Gerard Way. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid or that he didn't want to be be friends with him - Frank surprised himself by admitting that he did, in fact, want to be friends with Gerard - but he was certain that as soon as Gerard saw him he would run away.

Mikey had talked to him over the weekend, of that there was no doubt. He would have explicitly ordered him to stay away from Frank Iero or any of his friends, but Frank wondered whether Gerard would obey him. Frank had seen Mikey tell his younger brother what to do before and the kid had blatantly refused, going so far as to swear at Mikey and then walk away. Gerard was probably the only person in whole school who could get away with doing that, Frank thought.

There was a loud wail from above him and Frank winced as he realised too late that he'd been standing directly under one of the bells in the hallway. There was a sudden dramatic rise in volume as the door to the Maths class swung open and the students surged forward, eager to get out. Frank didn't not have to step backwards or out of the way— as soon as the freshmen saw him, they fell silent and parted from their friends to move out of his way. They had learnt their place, Frank noted.

Gerard was out last, of course, dressed in his baggy uniform with his long hair hanging over his face. His head was directed at the ground and he didn't notice Frank was there until the older boy walked forward and stopped in front of him. Gerard looked up when he saw the pair of scuffed combat boots in front of him, and that the person attached to them wasn't moving anywhere.

He didn't look particularly surprised when he saw it was Frank, but the older boy did see a flash of recognition in Gee's eyes. He almost looked like he expected Frank to be there, waiting for him, when he got out of class. But, to Frank, that didn't make any sense.

"Hey," Frank said. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be making their meeting out to be a coincidence, and now that he was standing here in front of Gerard with the boy's full attention, he couldn't think of a single thing to say. His hands were clammy so he shoved them into the pockets of his black slacks— although he didn't know why. The only way Gee would discover his nervousness would be by holding his fucking hand, and that was definitely not going to happen.

"Frank." Gerard replied. It wasn't phrased a question, but somehow Frank knew it was. He knew, just by hearing the kid say that one word, that he was asking a truckload of questions without saying any of them outloud. He was asking, 'what are you doing here?' and, 'why are you even talking to me?' and, 'what are you hoping to get out of this?'

But Frank couldn't answer any of those questions - not honestly, and he didn't want to lie to Gerard - so instead he just shrugged and started walking in the direction of his second period class. It was a long shot, and in hindsight Frank shouldn't have taken the risk - they needed to get an invitation to that damned party within two weeks, and every second counted - but he had a feeling that if he started walking, Gee would follow him.

It worked.

Frank didn't even know if Gerard's next lesson was in this direction, he got a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach at the thought that Gerard was walking in the wrong direction just to spend a little more time with him, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Gerard bit his lip, looked down the opposite corridor and then seemed to make up his mind as he hurried to catch up with Frank.

"How was your weekend?" Frank inquired conversationally. The older boy wasn't the best at striking up a casual conversation and his small-talk skills were a little rusty. He'd just have to practise more often.

"Shitty." Gerard replied, but didn't elaborate. Frank had to remind himself that he didn't care; he didn't care how Mikey's brother's weekend was, or why he didn't want to tell Frank more than that. Did he?

"What about yours?" Gerard went on, equally as casual. Frank couldn't quite believe he was walking to class, having a perfectly civilised conversation with his worst enemy's brother about his weekend. Before he could think about it too much, he coughed and shrugged.

"Same old, same old, y'know. Terrorised a few kids, killed a few puppies, pushed a few old ladies into the road. The norm." He couldn't hold back a smirk when he saw Gerard's eyes widen, and he cracked up laughing when he realised the kid really didn't know he was joking.
Gerard breathed out in an angry huff and he crossed his arms over his chest adorably. Frank grinned as he saw the boy's lips twitch upwards.

"Asshole," Gerard muttered good naturedly and reached out to hit Frank's upper arm in the same way that Frank had seen the cheerleaders do to their lacrosse-team boyfriends. The kind of hit that really meant, I'm going to pretend I don't like this but it actually turns me on.

Frank stopped in his tracks in the hallway at the sudden, unexpected thought at exactly the same time that Gerard came to shaky halt. One look at his face told Frank that Gerard had probably just remembered who he was with, and that you weren't supposed to call Frank Iero an asshole, much less hit him.

The younger boy spun to face Frank looking legitimately terrified, but he didn't apologise. Either he knew he wouldn't have to, for whatever reason, or he was too proud— Frank didn't know which option he found more likely.

"Just kidding," Frank spoke softly as he examined Gerard's face in close detail once again. The kid really did have the most extraordinary eyes - a kind of mixture of brown and green with barely noticeable flecks of gray - and luscious-looking pink lips which were contantly being wetted by his tongue, Frank thought, as it darted out of his mouth yet again.

"Gerard," Frank began, not really sure what he was about to say but willing to make it up as he
went along if that was what it took. "You're not your brother, you know."

Gee raised an eyebrow, replying with, "I know that." Frank heard the underlying question in his answer: what's your point?

"What I'm trying to say is… even though your brother and I may have certain difficulties in getting along, you aren't— you're a separate identity and I'm not going to judge you just by how I feel about your brother. You deserve… more than that. Okay?"

Gerard blinked and blushed, looking down at his feet to hide his flushed cheeks. When he looked up at Frank, his pink lips were pulled up into a small smile and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ears. It was the first time since Frank had seen the boy - which, admittedly, was only about a week ago - that he had paid any kind of attention to his wild hair.

"Um… thanks— thank you, I guess. I'll, I mean— I'll try to do the same. Sometimes Mikey exaggerates things and… yeah. I'm sure not everything he said about you was true."
Frank smiled, but inwardly he was smirking. He had already managed to get Gerard to speak against his family in favour of himself; maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he'd previously thought.

"Yeah well, I have to get to class." Frank pointed at a closed door a little further up the corridor, behind which the lesson was already well underway. "But, I'll see you around Gerard."

Gerard nodded, still blushing and smiling, and Frank's eyes lit up as he watched the kid turn around and walk back the way he had come to get to his second lesson.

***

Mr Reed was right where he said he'd be at lunchtime: in his room. Gerard was relieved to have an excuse to visit his room and, well, if the teacher had meant what he'd said about letting Gerard use his room then it wouldn't go unappreciated. He didn't know how much longer he could stand having to sit completely alone, feeling hundreds of pairs of eyes trained on his back and hearing hushed whispers whenever he walked by.

"Hi, Sir." Gerard said meekly, poking his head round the door and waiting for Mr Reed to look up before stepping through the door totally. "I have… some artwork I was hoping you could look after."

Mr Reed smiled welcomingly and beckoned Gerard closer, closing whatever book he had been writing in and pushing his chair back from the desk.

"Of course," he enthused. "Come over here; let me take a look at it."

Gerard bit his lip and opened his bag, pulling out all of the drawings he completed over the weekend and handing them over to his teacher. "I was hoping you could keep them here— look after them, y'know? It's just, I know that if I keep them in my book they'll get crumpled or torn and if I leave them at home I'll inevitable lose them or spill something on them. Would that be okay?— I also thought that I found I kept them at school, they could count towards my final grade?"

He winced as he thought about all the requests he was making of his teacher, but Mr Reed seemed fairly unbothered by all the questions. He just nodded and smiled and pointed at individual sketches on the paper, murmuring, "I like this one," or, "this one is really good."

Gerard took a seat at the nearest table after a while, pulling out his English book and finishing off a homework sheet he had been asked to complete earlier that day. It took him about fifteen minutes, but when he eventually finished it he looked up to see Mr Reed watching him. It made him vaguely uncomfortable.

"Sir?" He asked curiously.

"Sorry, Gerard." Mr Reed apologised, blinking several times and focusing back on Gerard's work. "But yes, I would be more than happy to look after these drawings for you, and of course they can count towards your final grade. Is it alright if I take them home to grade? They'd probably be safer at my home than in a cupboard somewhere in an art class."

"Um, yeah." Gerard brushed the question off. It didn't really make a difference, he decided. "Sure. But I should go now— I have to get to homeroom soon."

"Ah, of course. Well thank you for bringing these to me, Gerard, and for actually showing an interest in artwork. It's more than I can say for my other pupils, that's for sure." He chuckled at his own comment and Gerard laughed along nervously, feeling as though it would be rude not to.

"Well, thanks for letting me stay here, Sir. It was… helpful." Gerard waved goodbye awkwardly and then turned, not waiting for a response before he left the classroom and made his way towards his homeroom. He had been late to two of his lessons already today; he wanted to be early to at least one of them.

Gerard couldn't stop thinking about what Frank had said, and how he had explained that 'Gerard wasn't his brother'. Didn't that essentially say that what Mikey had said on Friday - that Frank only wanted to talk to Gee to get to Mikey - wasn't true? Didn't it basically admit that Frank really was talking to him because he wanted to get to know him?

Gerard didn't know— and he was very aware that it shouldn't matter to him. He shouldn't care what Frank Iero of all people thought of him, and he definitely shouldn't want to get to know him.

But he did care, and just the memory of talking to Frank earlier made his stomach overturn; it gave him butterflies.

He wanted to talk to Frank Iero again. He shouldn't… but he couldn't help it. He did.

Notes

So, as Christmas break is sadly over, I think I'm going to make these chapters slightly shorter as I'll have a lot more things going on now. The first three chapters were all over four thousand words, but I think I'll lower that to three thousand words being the minimum so I can keep updating frequently. Is that okay?

As always, please vote, comment and subscribe if you like it! :)
Enjoy! <3