The Fabulous Kill Boys

After the pleasant way Melanie saw to it that he was relaxed and ready to sleep, Ray had slept soundly. So much so, that he had overslept. It wasn’t that he had to be anywhere, it was that there were things to attend to in order to avoid conflict. More specifically, he knew that Gee would normally be up and about any minute now and him waking up to find Melanie in Ray’s bed would not end well. With any luck, it would be a simple matter to resolve, but he had to hurry.

Thankfully, Ray knew from experience that after an evening kill, especially a particularly enjoyable one, Gerard would often remain in Melanie’s dungeon rather than return to his room. Often physically and mentally exhausted, it would feel like too much effort to head back upstairs, so he would make use of the bed that stood in the centre of the dungeon. Ray hoped that this had been one of those times and slipping silently downstairs to Melanie’s dungeon, he smiled as he saw Gerard still sleeping peacefully in the large bed. Closing the door quietly, Ray pushed one of the outer bolts across, ensuring that if he woke in the next few minutes, Gerard would be unable to leave.

Heading swiftly back upstairs, Ray gently scooped up the still sleeping Melanie from his bed and, making sure her head was comfortably resting on his shoulder, carried her across the hall to her own room without waking her up. Melanie would get cranky in the mornings if you woke her up before she was ready to wake, so it was always better to let her sleep.

He pressed a quick kiss to Melanie’s cheek before pulling her blanket over and her and shutting the door, then headed quickly back down to her dungeon to unlock the door. Once the door was unlocked, Ray slipped into his own dungeon to do some inconspicuous cleaning and waited for Gerard to emerge so he could go in and see what Melanie had done to Joe. The client who had hired them didn’t know Melanie was a part of the operation, he just thought she dealt with all their admin. Melanie was so much more than that and Ray mentally thanked the person responsible for her coming into their lives every day.

“Morning Ray! Did you sleep well?”

Wearing pants but no shirt, Gerard greeted him cheerily and Ray couldn’t help but notice the welts across his back and shoulders from his session with Melanie last night.

“I did thanks, what about you?” Ray replied, brightly.

“I always sleep well after a session with Melanie. Especially one like last night.” Gee smiled to himself at the memory of the previous night and Ray discreetly rolled his eyes.

“Lucky you. Melanie is making me clean her dungeon top to bottom in punishment for last night. I should go get started. She’ll kick my ass if she gets up and I’m not in there. You should go make her coffee and breakfast for when she wakes up.”

“Oh, good idea! You’re full of great suggestions considering how early it is. Thanks Ray! I’ll see you later!”

Gerard called over his shoulder and headed to the kitchen to go get started on what Ray was sure would be a wonderful breakfast for their lady.

Ray headed into Melanie’s dungeon and looked over at the slumped form of Joe still chained to the wall. There was dried blood caked around his wrists and ankles from the shackles Melanie had used and he rolled his eyes again. As he got closer, Ray could see that there was a lot of blood on his chest and stomach and smiled happily, Gerard had definitely made him suffer before he’d killed him. It wasn’t until he was standing directly in front of Joe that Ray realised something was off about the marks on Joe’s chest.

“What the…?”

Ray pushed Joe’s head back so he could properly see his chest and shook his head. Ray pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed a quick text to Melanie.

‘Get Gee out of the house. You and I need to talk. Now.’

Melanie rolled over to the sound of her phone going off loudly beside her head, and the faint sound of Gee singing to himself in the kitchen. She smiled to herself when she realised that she was back in her own bed and picked up her phone, quickly losing he smile as she noticed the angry looking text message from Ray.

What was he getting his panties in a bunch about this time? She wondered.

Melanie sighed and pushed herself out of bed and threw on a pair of short shorts and a tight-fitting t-shirt. Gee would do whatever she told him anyway, but it was fun to show him as much skin as possible, especially as he wasn’t allowed to touch.

“Morning Gee, baby, how’d you sleep?”

“Really well thanks, Melanie, how about you?”

“So good!” she smiled. “In fact, I don’t even remember getting into my bed!”

“You should go back to bed for a while, I’m making you breakfast.” Gee turned around, his eyes popped and he nearly dropped the bowl of scrambled eggs he was making when he saw what Melanie was wearing. He swallowed hard, and it took a full ten seconds before he realised he had stopped whisking the mixture.

“That’s really sweet, Gee. I have a bit of a craving for pancakes though…with the syrup you can buy from IHOP. Think you could go get me some?”

“Y-yes, of course Melanie, anything you want,” he replied, pulling himself together. “I’ll go now and cook for you when I get back.”

Melanie watched as Gee silently and quickly packed up everything he was doing before grabbing the car keys and heading out, quickly kissing her on the cheek before he left.

“He’s gone Ray, you can come upstairs now.” Melanie called, now seated at the kitchen table, drinking coffee.

Ray stormed up the stairs and into the kitchen, throwing his phone down on the table in front of Melanie, his camera gallery open.

“What the fuck is this, Mel?”

“Looks like my name carved into Joe’s chest.” Melanie shrugged, not understanding why Ray was so mad about it.

“Why?” he growled, barely holding his anger in.

“I told you, I was bored!” Melanie frowned; it wasn’t that she didn’t know what he was objecting to, it was that he was overreacting. “What of it?”

“Did I miss the part where you’ve completely lost your fucking mind, Melanie?!”

Melanie sat quietly, pursing her lips and taking another sip of her coffee.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Carving your name on a vic? Do you want to get us arrested? You silly little girl!”

The moment the words were out of his mouth Ray regretted them but it was too late to take them back.

“Melanie…” he began.

“Fuck you, Ray.” Melanie spat, knocking her chair over as she leapt up angrily, her words filled with venom and blood pouring from her hand where the shards of the mug she had smashed were sticking out. Pulling the larger pieces from her abraded hand, she headed downstairs to Ray’s dungeon and picked up a large hunting knife.

“Honey…what are you doing?” Ray stepped out of Melanie’s way as she stalked back to her dungeon, brandishing the knife and waving it in his face.

“Oh I don’t know, Ray. I’m just a, how did you put it? Oh yeah, a ‘silly little girl’! I don’t fucking know what I’m doing!”

Melanie was dangerously close to Ray with the knife now and took a swing at him with her closed, bleeding fist. Ray dodged it easily and caught Melanie’s fist, twisting her arm up behind her back. He reached out and twisted Melanie’s right wrist until the knife clattered to the floor. Even though she was clearly furious, Ray had not felt threatened by the knife. There was something about how she was carrying herself that told him she wasn’t going to use it against him. This was only confirmed by the punch she delivered to him.

“Calm down. You’re not silly, and you’re definitely not a little girl. A little girl would not be half as good at the things you excel at my love.” Ray said gently in Melanie’s ear, biting her earlobe but she still struggled in his arms.

“Let go of me, right the fuck now! I’m going to kick your ass.”

Ray laughed in Melanie’s ear and half carried, half dragged her across the hall into his dungeon, pushing her up against one of the walls. Being taller and physically stronger than Melanie, it was almost too easy for him to pin her wrists above her head with one hand and chain them there with the other hand.

“What do you think of the shackles, Mel? They’re new.”

Ray smiled as Melanie pulled against them and huffed impatiently at him.

“I’d like them better if they weren’t around my wrists, Ray.”

She spoke calmly but Ray wasn’t fooled, the vein in Melanie’s forehead was still popping and he knew she was still angry.

“I like them too,” he grinned wickedly. “They automatically tighten when you pull against them, if you hadn’t noticed.”

Melanie rolled her eyes and wrapped a leg around Ray’s hip, pulling him flush against her and captured his lips with her own.

“You’re so fucking hot right now. I want you. Hard and fast please.”

Ray smirked, angry sex was common between the two, and it always calmed Mel down when he said something that was maybe a little stupid and she overreacted a little.

“Are you sure, honey? I might make you squirm and like I said, if you pull on those shackles, they’ll keep tightening.”

“Well, now,” Melanie leaned towards him and flicked her tongue across his upper lip before making a show of pulling once more on the shackles and allowing a small gasp of delight to escape her lips as they closed tighter around her wrists. “You better do me fast, because, darling, if you’re not making me squirm there’ll be hell to pay!”

“Anything you want honey, anything you want.”

*

That night, it was Mikey’s turn to lock up the coffee shop and he was carrying far too much stuff. Everyone had long since left, the branch had closed at seven o’clock and he’d stayed on for a few hours. It was a good place to get some college work done. He could have a sandwich, drink his weight in coffee, even go to the bathroom without having to pack up his laptop.

Absorbed in the essay he was writing, he had lost all track of time, but knew it was late when, despite the half dozen cups sitting on the table, he was yawning. He hadn’t quite noticed the passage of time because, with the approach of summer, it had stayed light out for a long time, but now it was very dark and time to head off.

Stuffing his laptop into his messenger bag, throwing all but one of the cardboard cups into the recycling bin, he bit down on the rim of the remaining one, trying to carry it in his mouth as he searched his pockets for his phone and keys. They weren’t difficult to find, just to retrieve. Even he had to admit that these particular jeans were even skinnier than his usual ones, but Frank liked them. He smiled to himself; Frank was a great friend and more of a brother than Gerard had ever been. He frowned and shook his head lightly with distaste at the thought. No, that was far too weird! Frank was a friend, a great friend, a friend with seriously good benefits and there were things he got up to with Frank that were very unbrotherly. Frank was most definitely not a brother to him! He had a brother, he didn’t even like him, he definitely didn’t need another one!

Why couldn’t Gerard be a nice, normal brother who hadn’t stolen his boyfriend five years earlier? No, not boyfriend. He had been the one. He was sure of it. Mikey had loved him dearly, but Gerard, with his arrogant confidence, dark brooding eyes and complete disinterest in his own brother’s feelings had stolen the love of his life and trampled all over his heart in the process. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Gerard hadn’t then dumped him only four months later. It had made Mikey wonder if he had even been interested in him at all or if was it simply that he didn’t want Mikey to have him? The whole experience had left Mikey in a very dark place and if it hadn’t been for Frank… well, he didn’t even want to finish that sentence. Needless to say, Mikey hadn’t spoken a civil word to his brother since.

No, he had only thought about Gerard because of the night at the club when he had accidentally bumped into him, and had met that handsomely built guy, Ray. If only he hadn’t been Gerard’s friend? Had he been hasty there? Ray had been really sweet and, in retrospect, he’d treated him quite badly. It was no excuse, but he had been very drunk, and he had woken with the hangover from hell to prove it. Despite Frank’s insistence on water and coffee after they had returned home, he had still been very unwell the next morning. And tied to the bed. That had been an embarrassing situation. Not that he was tied down, per se, but that after all the fluids Frank had forced him to drink, he had been desperate to go to the bathroom when he woke.

Screaming for Frank at the top of his lungs, only partially muffled by the pillow pressing into his face, had not gone down well with the neighbours and it hadn’t exactly made Frank all that happy either. Because of looking after the tequila-sodden Mikey, he’d had a very late night and was exhausted.

Frank didn’t even seem all that convinced about being told that leaving him tied up all night wasn’t a good idea, especially after Mikey had literally begged him to do it in the first place.

Really? That did sound like something he would do. Mikey blushed at the idea.

No, Frank simply wanted to be sure he knew exactly where Mikey’s hands were going to be for the rest of the night.

If there was one thing about which Mikey was reasonably certain, it was that he really didn’t believe that he ever got that handsy when he was drunk and, no, neither did he remember them being thrown out of the taxi for him trying to give Frank a blow job. Frank had been making that up, surely?

Probably not.

Maybe the tequila had been a mistake? That had been Gerard’s fault too. Mikey took a deep breath before exhaling immediately, steaming up his glasses as the breath bounced back into his face from the hot coffee still dangling from his mouth. No, it wasn’t. He had drunk the tequila, he had drunk a lot of tequila, and he had been rude to Ray. He looked at his phone lying in his hand. Perhaps he should call Gerard? Perhaps it was time to put it all behind them and make up?

Shit!

It all happened so fast! The phone rang in his hand and Mikey jerked in startled response, scalded his lips with the coffee as it splashed up. Dropping the cup as he cried out in pain and shock, he spilt the two-thirds full cup of coffee all over the floor. Now he was going to have to clean that up before he left and he was going to be even later getting home than he thought.

Dammit!

“Hello?” he almost snapped into the phone as his burnt lips stung from the movement of speaking.

“For fuck’s sake, Mikey, can’t you even try to be civil?”

“Gerard?” Mikey gasped in surprise. “Sorry,” he stammered. “I just burnt myself.”

“Holding a coffee cup in your mouth again?” Gerard chuckled.

“How did you know?” Mikey’s eyes widened in surprise.

Fuck!

Still on edge, Mikey dropped the phone in shock as a loud rapping came from the coffee shop window. Looking down at the cracked screen of the phone, Mikey swore his frustration before looking over to the window to see Gerard outside smiling, or it could have been laughing, at him. He sighed heavily again – okay, remember, this was your fault, he told himself, not Gerard’s.

Walking over to the door, Mikey reached up and unfastened the bolts holding the door shut, waving for Gerard to come in.

“Thanks, Mikes, I wasn’t sure if you’d let me in,” he smiled as he walked past his brother into the coffee shop.

“I’m glad to see you, actually,” Mikey began, as Gerard headed inside.

“So, this is where you work?”

Mikey turned to towards him, surprised to see Gerard still had his back to him and had either not heard or had ignored his last statement.

“Yeah, I’m in college, so it helps make ends meet.” Mikey replied, unhooking his messenger bag from around his shoulders and hanging it off the back of a nearby chair. “So, do you want a coffee or something?”

“Love to, Mikes,” Gerard turned to face him and offered a small shrug. “You know what I’m like for coffee, but we don’t really have time.”

“Why?” Mikey frowned. “What’s going on?”

Gerard offered a mischievous smile in return, confusing Mikey all the more. There was no sound, no indication that anything was wrong, not until a strong arm wrapped itself around his waist pinning Mikey’s arms. Simultaneously a hand clamped a damp cloth over his nose and mouth. Mikey’s eyes widened in panic as he writhed in the man’s grip, all the while Gerard merely grinned at him. Whoever, this man was, Gerard’s reaction showed him that they were together. That Gerard approved of what was happening to him. Momentarily it was overwhelming to think that Gerard could do this to him – whatever this was. How could he even have contemplated forgiving him?

Finally, his sense of preservation overrode the shock and finding reserves of strength in his panicked state that he didn’t know he had, Mikey pulled and twisted against the strong grip, frustrated that the man had pinned his arms just below his elbows, preventing him from bending them. Gerard stepped closer as he noticed his brother’s struggles begin to weaken.

“That sweet, slightly fruity and musty smell you’re experiencing is chloroform,” Gerard explained with a chuckle. “It doesn’t work quite like it does in the movies though,” he continued, apparently explaining, but Mikey wasn’t listening, he was struggling.

Stamping his foot backwards, he caught his assailant on the leg, dragging the heel of his boot down his right shin. Yelping in pain, Ray loosened his grip on Mikey, spinning him around and landing a sold punch to his jaw. Careening to the floor, Mikey sprawled, his vision blurred and his mind reeling.

“I was going to say, Mikes,” Gerard lowered himself to the floor, avoiding the coffee spill. “It’s not actually as quick to make someone pass out as it seems in movies. Takes a good minute or two, but it’ll still make you pretty weak even with just a little.”

Gerard chuckled as Mikey tried hard to push himself up only to fall once more, completely disorientated.

“Why didn’t you tell me the little runt was so wriggly!” Ray complained, leaning against a table and nursing his rapidly bruising shin.

“Hey!” Gerard bristled, not even certain himself as to why.

“What?” Ray snapped. “Family loyalty all of a sudden?”

“No.”

Gerard shifted uncomfortably; in truth, he hadn’t been sure why he had defended him, albeit slightly but he did know that Ray’s comment had angered him. But now Ray was staring expectantly at him, waiting for… no, requiring an answer.

“It’s you, thinking that I should know what he’s like!” Gerard grumbled, relieved to have thought of a reason for his outburst. “Do you honestly think I’d have suggested this if I knew he’d manage to hurt you?”

“Sorry, Gee,” all the anger fell from Ray’s face. “You’re helping me kill him, you’re hardly likely to worry about an insult!”

“You want to finish this off?” Gerard asked Ray quietly, still uncomfortable by the exchange.

“No need,” the taller man replied as he bent to pick Mikey up from the floor.

Although still conscious, if barely, Mikey’s eyes remained closed as Ray hoisted him over his shoulder. Feeling as though he was putting up quite the fight, in reality, Mikey was barely moving and was completely unable to cry out for help.

As Mikey sunk deeper towards oblivion, his dropped phone began to buzz as a call came in. Gerard noted the name on the cracked screen: Frankie. Picking up the phone, Gerard smiled to himself – maybe there was a way to get near the tattooed beauty after all?

Swiping across the screen to answer, Gerard placed the phone to his ear as he watched Ray dump Mikey’s almost certainly unconscious form into the trunk of his car.

“Hello?” he answered, doing his best to sound uncertain.

“Oh,” came Frank’s voice, somewhat puzzled. “I think I have the wrong number.”

“You’re after Mikey?” Gerard smiled as he sunk gleefully into his greatest acting role ever – concerned brother.

“Yeah!” Frank replied brightly, assuming a work friend had answered his phone while he was busy, but his voice dropped a tone, once again filled with uncertainty as he realised the time. “Is he there?”

“Is that Frank?” Gerard asked. “Frank from the club?”

“Yeah,” Frank was concerned now. “Who is this? Where’s Mikey?”

“It’s Gerard, Mikey’s brother,” he explained.

“Oh! Er… where’s Mikey?” he repeated, somewhat confused.

“I don’t know,” Gerard made his voice tremble slightly. “I came to the coffee shop to see him. I wanted to see if we could patch things up but the place is a mess. His stuff’s here, but… Frank, I’m worried.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes!”

“No!” Gerard shouted. “They won’t let you near the place. They only let me in because I’m his brother.”

“Who? The police?” Frank asked. “You called them?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Gerard pushed his hand through his hair, willing himself to think faster. His desperation turned to delight as he saw Ray heading back to the coffee shop.

“Hang on, I’ll get one of them to speak to you.”

Placing the phone on the table, Gerard placed a finger over his lips to warn Ray not to speak, before racing over to prepare him for the conversation.

“It’s Frank, you remember from the club? Mikey’s friend?” Gerard whispered.

“Oh, yeah, I remember him,” Ray grumbled. “What of it?”

“He called Mikey’s cell just as you were taking him out. I told him I called the police because I came to patch things up and found the place in a mess and Mikey gone.”

“What?” Ray frowned, initially puzzled. “Ah! So he won’t call them? Genius, Gee.”

“I need you to pretend to be a detective. Just tell him you’re looking into it and you’ll keep me informed. Did he hear you speak?”

Ray tipped his head to one side as he gave it some thought, trying to remember exactly who was where when he had spoken. In his line of work, memory and attention to detail were important and one other additionally helpful detail was that he was driving that night which meant he hadn’t been drinking. Ray never drank when he drove; to the outside world he was a model citizen, but of course, nobody ever thinks that the guy living next door to them is a psychopath.

“I think once, maybe twice?” he frowned; he knew he had a distinctive voice. “I’ll disguise it.”

Heading back inside, Ray picked up the phone and, lowering his pitch, spoke in a gruff voice.

“Hello, this is Detective Grady,” he introduced himself with a fake name. “I understand that you’re Mr Way’s roommate?”

“Yeah, my name’s Frank Iero,” he replied immediately, the stress in his voice clear.

Ray suddenly realised that he’d have to take some details in order to sound genuine and some of those details might even prove helpful. Signalling to Gerard to find him a pen and some paper, Ray stalled.

“Hang on, my pen’s run out,” then aside, “sergeant, I need a pen.”

Returning quickly from Mikey’s messenger bag with a notepad and pen, Gerard placed them on the table by Ray’s hand.

“Okay, can you spell your last name, please? And I’ll need your address,” Ray gave an assortment of verbal nods as he jotted down the details. “Did he have any enemies do you know? Any recent problems?”

“Well… yeah, now I think about it. There were two incidents on Friday at a club we go to.”

“Two?”

“Yeah, some guy got real handsy with him, kept groping him, wouldn’t let him go.”

“Did you see this man?” Ray asked only half paying attention; clearly this had been the man he had rescued Mikey from when they met.

“I didn’t, but I did see the other guy.”

“And what happened there?” he asked curious as to how Mikey had relayed the story.

“That wasn’t as bad at first. This guy actually rescued Mikey from the groper, but then he got him drunk in about ten minutes and when I found him, he seemed really angry that Mikey didn’t want to go home with him.”

“Angry? Did Mr Way say why he didn’t want to?” Ray was curious now.

“The guy, Ray his name was, he was out with Mikey’s brother and they really hate each other. It was just because of Gerard really. I think he would have otherwise, but he was so drunk, I was worried and I took him home.”

“And this man, Ray, would you recognise him?”

“Well, Gerard knows him,” Frank confirmed, he believed helpfully.

“Yes, I’ll speak to him, but would you recognise him?”

“Definitely,” Frank replied, unwittingly potentially placing himself in danger. “He was pretty distinctive.”

“Right, we’ll probably need to talk to you again, but we’ll keep the other Mr Way informed of any progress.”

“Can I speak to him again then, before you finish with me?” Frank asked, determined to get Gerard’s details so he could contact him.

“Sure,” Ray replied, about to hand the phone back to Gerard, before thinking of one other question. “One last thing, we will need access to his phone but it’s protected. Do you know the unlock code? I know we can do it back at the station, but if you have it, it’ll be quicker.”

“Oh, sure,” Frank nodded. “It’s 1-0-3-1.”

“Thanks, I’ll hand you back to his brother.”

“You… you will find him?”

“We’ll do our best, Mr Iero, in the meantime, if he turns up or you hear anything, please call me.”

“Uh, yeah,” Frank was at a loss.

“Frank?” Gerard spoke into the phone. “It’s me, Gerard.”

“Oh, I need your details so I can stay in touch and I’m sorry I didn’t ask before, how are you holding up?”

There was something about the way Frank had asked the question – so caring and concerned for someone he didn’t even know and knew his friend didn’t even like. From his reaction in the club, it was clear that Frank knew who he was. Perhaps Mikey had even told him about their falling out and yet, and yet he was still being so kind to him.

“Can…” he began hesitantly. “Can I come over? Please?”

Ray raised an eyebrow at the words.

“Of course!” Frank replied immediately. “I’ll give you my address.”

“It’s okay, I can get it from the detective,” he replied. “I’ll be right over.”

Shutting the phone off, Gerard looked at Ray’s questioning expression.

“What?” he shrugged, raising his palms. “I want to make sure he doesn’t suspect anything. I need to look like the concerned brother. Here, you better take this,” Gerard handed Ray Mikey’s phone. “If I still have it, he will get suspicious.”

Ray nodded; it made sense. “I’ll take his bag too. Anyway, I better get him locked up before he wakes up.”

“Don’t start without me!” Gerard called cheerily with a broad grin, raising an appreciative smile from Ray as he picked up Mikey’s messenger bag and headed back to the car.

*

It was approaching eleven o’clock when Gerard pulled up outside Frank and Mikey’s house. As he switched the engine off, the front door opened and he saw Frank silhouetted in the doorway with the bright light from the hall behind him. Even though he could make out no features, Gerard could see the contours of his small but lithe form. The gentle curve of his biceps and thighs. Frank was not a muscular man – Gerard didn’t like that sort of man anyway – but he was clearly fit, toned and strong. He may be small, but this was not a delicate or weak man and he was keen to explore Frank’s flawless body and lose himself in those eyes. Those eyes – deep pools of green-gold that promised unending pleasure, innocent yet worldly, captivating, lovely. He was already in love with those eyes.

A sudden rap on the window startled him and Gerard turned his head sharply to see those eyes were looking at him right now and the overriding expression in them was confusion. Gathering his wits, Gerard opened the car door as Frank stood back to let him out. As they stood outside in the dimly lit street, Gerard could now see the pain in Frank’s expression. He looked hopeless, helpless and lost. An overwhelming feeling washed over Gerard that he was reasonably certain he had never felt before. He felt protective.

“Oh!” Frank gasped. “You really are worried, aren’t you?”

Gerard looked down and for the second time in only a few minutes realised he had acted without realising what he was doing and that he had pulled Frank into an embrace.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered, pulling back suddenly.

“It’s okay,” Frank smiled, resting his hand on Gerard’s arm. “Come in.”

Once inside, Gerard glanced around the living room. He couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was Frank’s and how much was Mikey’s taste. It was fair to say that having not seen him for five years, he really didn’t know much about what his brother liked.

“Do you want a drink?” Frank asked.

Gerard swallowed, only now realising his mouth was dry.

“Whatever you’re having,” Gerard answered, surprising himself as he sounded nervous and distant.

“Okay,” Frank tipped his head and smiled. “Do you want blood from virgins, or don’t you mind?”

Gerard’s head spun to face Frank, his eyes wide and round, and lips parted in surprise.

“Wh-what?”

Frank’s grin widened.

“Beer?”

“Er…”

“Relax, Gerard,” Frank patted his arm again. “I know it’s not really the time for jokes, but you seem really out of it and when I get nervous…”

Frank left the sentence hanging and stared into Gerard’s eyes, looking for some sign that he hadn’t either offended or upset him. After only a few moments, Gerard’s shoulders seemed to drop an inch or more and he nodded with a smile.

“A beer would be great, thanks.”

“Make yourself at home, I’ll make a snack too. Anything you don’t eat?”

“No, well, avocado and celery, they’re evil.”

“Wow, specific,” Frank raised his eyebrows. “I think I can manage that,” he added with a smile.

Gerard settled into the couch and crossed his legs. Still occasionally glancing around the room and flicking through a magazine that could have belonged to either of them, he frowned at how little he knew his own brother now. The reasons he and Mikey had fallen out hadn’t exactly been what Mikey had believed, but Gerard had felt it was less painful than the alternative. Now he was pondering on that pain and if it had been less for either of them.

“You sit just like him,” Frank announced as he carried a tray in and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Frank?” Gerard began hesitantly. “Are you and him…?”

Despite everything else that was going on, he felt a sudden pang of guilt about the possibility that he would steal another boyfriend of Mikey’s.

Frank’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

“You’re direct!”

“I… I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have…” he sighed and looked at his hands, his fingers lacing and unlacing nervously.

Even Gerard didn’t understand his awkwardness around Frank. Only the other night, he had murdered a man, slowly, painfully and he had enjoyed it. Tonight he had assisted in the abduction of his own brother, knowing that Ray wanted to torture and kill him. Yet here he was with Frank, tripping over his words and feeling guilty.

“He told me what you did. Why you fell out,” Frank replied, tipping his head as Gerard’s shoulders sagged.

“It’s not quite how he told it you know,” Gerard replied without looking up. “Not that it makes much difference.”

“How do you know how he told it?” Frank asked quietly and, surprisingly without malice.

Gerard looked up once more into those perfect eyes and chewed on his lip. Nothing in Frank’s expression seemed to judge him.

“Because he doesn’t have all the details.”

Frank pursed his lips. “Do you want to fill in the gaps?”

“Not just to get myself out of your bad books,” he sighed.

Frank smiled; the reply was endearing. Taking a seat beside Gerard, he handed him a beer.

“Tell me,” he encouraged.

“I won’t bore you with the bit you know,” Gerard shrugged. “But the bit you don’t know is that he… Pete, Mikey’s boyfriend. He seduced me, not the other way around. I know that doesn’t make anything any better, I still shouldn’t have gone off with him, but he had me wrapped around his little finger.”

“He was very charming,” Frank agreed.

“Four months in, I found out he was cheating on me and not only that, but he had been cheating on Mikey with the same guy for at least a year.”

Frank pulled the bottle from his lips in surprise as he almost choked on the sip of beer he had taken.

“Seriously?”

Gerard appeared suddenly very sad at the memory.

“Very. He was threatening to go back to Mikey and try to date him again. There was no way Mikes was going to believe me and I knew all he’d do was break his heart. I thought it would be easier, cleaner if I did.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, it worked,” Frank drew a breath. “He hates you and still wonders where Pete went. What? You made him leave?”

“Yeah,” Gerard pursed his lips and looked to the side. “He won’t be showing his face again any time soon.”

Gerard remembered dumping the body; there was no face left to show.

“That’s actually kind of sweet you know,” Frank’s lips curled up in an encouraging smile as he placed a gentle hand on Gerard’s thigh. “And no, we’re not dating. Just friends.”

Gerard offered another shy awkward smile; he suddenly felt seventeen again. It brought forth memories of awkwardness, shy indecisiveness but above all, the thought that anything was possible. Hesitating for the briefest of moments, Gerard moved forward and placed his lips on Frank’s. The taste was sweet, the feeling was electric and his whole body tingled with a thrill he had experienced in no other way.

Starting to ease back, Gerard felt a hand on the back of his head pulling him back into the kiss that grew suddenly urgent and intense. Snaking his hand around Frank’s waist, Gerard almost moaned with delight as Frank’s tongue ran across his lips. In that moment, everything else was forgotten.

*

“Think we should have a little bit of fun with dear, sweet Mikey before you torture him my love.”

Ray raised an eyebrow and looked down at Melanie who was lying half on top of him, resting her chin on her hands and smirking at him.

“Oh yeah? How exactly were you planning on doing that?”

Melanie winked, leaning up so she could lick Ray’s nipple and bit his chest, sucking a bruise into his skin until he pulled her away by her hair.

“Wouldn’t it be fun for him to wake up with ‘poor, innocent, defenceless me’? I just love it when I get to play the fretting Damsel in Distress. Makes it all the more fun when the hope goes out in their eyes.”

Melanie sighed dreamily and sat up, bouncing a little on her knees in anticipation and Ray rolled his eyes.

It was virtually impossible for him to say no to Melanie when she was that excited, or when she was naked like she was at that moment. But, even Ray had to admit how enjoyable it was crushing someone’s hope. He also knew that Melanie would make Mikey suffer, one way or another.

“Pleeeeeease Ray?” Melanie whined and Ray pretended to be thinking about the idea.

“Alright Honey, if it’s what you really want.”

Melanie grinned and clapped her hands excitedly.

“Yay! Thank you darling.” Melanie kissed Ray on the cheek. “You should come down to my room and help me pick my clothes.” She whispered hotly against his ear and smirked when Ray shuddered a little.

”Su…sure Mel, I’ll…I’ll be in in a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Melanie purposely dragged her fingertips over Ray’s cock as she stood up, tossing her hair over her shoulder and swaying her hips as she walked away, throwing her robe on so Gerard wouldn’t see her naked. Melanie naked was something that Gee had to work very hard to earn the privilege of seeing, working even harder to be allowed to touch her.

Ray shook his head and got up to shower and put clothes on. He thought about jerking off in the shower but decided against it because he had a feeling he and Melanie would be going for round three later on that evening or possibly in the morning. By the time Ray reached Melanie’s bedroom, she had several pieces of clothing laid out on her bed and was standing in the middle of her room in a black lace bra, matching panties and black, over the knee socks.

“Unless you’re planning on seducing him, Mel, I’d advise more clothing.”

“You’re funny.” Melanie deadpanned, not even bothering to turn around.

“I think you should go for the powder blue number with the black cardigan. That outfit accentuates your big, innocent eyes.”

“You think so?”

Melanie crossed the room to her closet to find the outfit Ray was talking about and threw it on. Ray couldn’t help but admire her in the dress which had a sweetheart neckline, sat about mid-thigh and hugged Melanie’s small waist. The cardigan wasn’t entirely necessary but it covered the bruises around Mel’s wrists from the previous morning’s adventures with the shackles.

“Have you seen Gee yet this morning?” Melanie asked as she sat down in front of her vanity mirror. “It’s not like him to sleep in.”

“I’ll go and drag him out of his pit,” Ray laughed kissing the top of her head. “He did say he didn’t want us to start without him.”

Once Ray had left the room, Melanie got to work on her make-up, adding a few extra things into her look that she thought would be helpful in convincing Mikey of her ‘innocent victim’ status. Scrawling a quick note to Ray and Gerard and leaving it in the kitchen, she headed down to be with Mikey.

This was going to be fun.

Notes

Hiya! Hope you're enjoying this. Would be great to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to leave a comment :)

Take care
Sas xx