The Bet (Cotinued)

Frank
It’s a week before the Green Day concert Zacky had invited me to. Originally, I was planning on going in secret so Gerard wouldn’t get mad, but after what had happened during the week, I want to be as truthful with him as I possibly can.
I untangle myself from Gerard’s arms (He’s been crashing at my place a lot more); I hear him groan in subconscious annoyance, but I tiptoe to the bathroom anyway. My phone’s charging next to the hairdryer that Gerard somehow managed to sneak over to my house. I swear that he’s moving in more and more every day. His clothes are even appearing in the laundry! Not that I’m complaining, though, he does have good taste in music so my outfits are a lot cooler. I unplug my phone and check the notifications. Nothing, as usual. I open my contacts and call Zacky; it rings twice before he picks up.
“Hi, Zacky! We still on for tomorrow?”
“Hi, Frankie,” he greets me groggily. “What’s tomorrow? Did we make plans?”
“Hello? Dude? You got Green Day tickets, didn’t you?”
“OH!” I nearly throw my phone across the room, his realization is so loud. “Yeah, yeah, we’re still on!”
“Okay,” I take a deep breath and speak in a rush, like my life depends on the words I speak. “I know we agreed not to, but I’m going to tell Gerard. I don’t want to sneak behind his back any more.”
“What? But Frank, what if he doesn’t let you go?”
“Then you can take someone else. Or, wait, if I can’t go, why don’t you take Mikey?” The line is silent for a few beats and I’m worried I’ve hurt his feelings.
“Uh…I guess. I mean, Mikey’s pretty young, isn’t he? Just a sophomore.”
Oh. It’s an age thing. “Well, you guys hang out a bunch, so I just thought…”
“We hang out because Gerard apparently can’t be in the same fucking room as me!” he snaps. “God, just ask your boyfriend permission to go to the fucking concert. Not like I want another broken bone.”
I’m silent for a moment, not wanting to provoke another outburst.
“I-I’m sorry, Zacky.”
His voice softens. “No, Frankie, I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have done that. Just… call me back when he answers, okay?” he sighs, then hangs up without a goodbye.
I put my phone back down; my throat constricts. Don’t cry, Frankie, not now. I suppose I should wake Gee up but still wait some time before telling him about the concert.
The floor’s cold, so I run to meet Gerard’s arms in their warm embrace within the folds of my sheets. I curl up next to him, and he grunts to signify his waking state, eyes fluttering open to meet mine. “Hey, angel,” he murmurs. “You have a good night’s sleep?”
I hum in agreement. “It’s Saturday. Wanna make me breakfast?”
“Nooo, it’s cold!” Gerard whines, playfully kicking me under the covers. I laugh and wrap myself around him to get him to stop.
“It was just a suggestion, Gee!” I giggle.
“It was a really bad suggestion, is was it was!”
I pout. “Ple-ase? I’m hungry, baby.”
He’s smiling as he lets out a long, exaggerated sigh. “You offer an intriguing point, babe, but I offer this argument: it’s very, very cold and I just woke up. Furthermore, I do not know what to cook.”
“I can tell you what to cook.”
“Frankie, I realize you want to treat me like a pretty little housewife, but I have needs, too.”
It’s my turn to sigh for far too long. “Fi-ine. But you get fifteen minutes before I drag you out of bed myself.”
“You’re a terrible goddamn husband, Frank Iero.”
“And you’re a terrible goddamn housewife, Gerard Way. And don’t curse, it’s not fitting for a lady.”
“I’m a strong independent lady, and you’re going to cuddle with me for thirty minutes, then we’ll have breakfast,” he says, pulling me close in a tangle of limbs and bad breath.
We lie there, doing nothing but enjoying each other’s company and waiting for time to make its steady crawl past us. I see the sun outside moving faster than we ever will, the two sluggish boys who do little but love and lose.
And cook. He needs to get on that.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“Gee?”
Gerard looks up from the bacon he’d been poking at with a spatula, eyes at attention.
I take a deep breath. Why is it, when I’m proposing the smallest things, my anxiety goes on hyperdrive? “So, you know how Green Day is coming into town?”
“I sure do, sweetheart… why do you ask?” Gerard furrows his brow (which is goddamn adorable) and puts a hand on his hip.
“Well, funny story, um…”
“Spit it out, babe, bacon’s almost done.”
“Zackygotticketsandhewantstotakeme.”
He lets out something between a choke and a laugh. “What was that?”
“Uh, well, Zacky, you know, um, got tickets from a close friend–”
“Zacky? How’d he manage– do you want to go?”
“Well, see, I was getting onto that, he sorta invited me to go with him.”
“Shit. Shit, Frank, that’s not good,” Gerard mutters, running a nervous hand through his hair.
I start to panic. “Why? Is that bad? What’s wrong?”
He laughs almost in exasperation. “Well, sweetheart, thing is, I also got tickets to Green Day. For the two of us.”
Wow. Okay. That’s cool. Why hadn’t he said anything before? “Oops,” I say, with nothing else actually logical on my mind.
“I’m sorry, Frankie, I should’ve told you earlier. Are– Where do his tickets take you guys?”
“Like, which venue, or–”
“No, no, they’re only coming to the one place. Where in the venue did he buy tickets for?”
“Uh, the pit.”
“Shi-i-i-t, Frank! I did too!” The bacon behind him sizzles aggressively from the pan. Gerard turns and continues with his cooking. He sighs heavily and shakes his head in annoyance with Zacky.
“Well, actually, that smooths things out! Like, now we can take Mikey and all go together!”
“I guess? But would you really trust me being near Zacky, after everything that’s happened?”
I say, “Yes,” a lot more confidently than I feel. I don’t really, but hopefully he’ll be trying his best not to break my trust.
“You’re stupid for trusting me, but I’ll try, I guess. Now it just depends on if Mikey’s available tomorrow.”
“Gee?”
“What is it, bunny?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.”

Notes

A month without uploading
She comes back with a Zack
Yes, it’s short and took too long, but would it kill y’all to let me go to green day before writing about the experience of going to green day? I want to have proper research. (That’s sarcasm, but also, guess who’s going to green day and using the experience to write better, more immersive fan fiction?)
I’ll try to update next week, love y’all!
P.S. I’m going to green day on March 4th, so coincidentally, that’s when you’ll prolly get an update
(If you spot an inconsistency, let me know. Please.)