Hospital au part 6a
TITLE: I never told you what I do for a living.
CHAPTER: 6a
PAIRING: Frank/Gerard
RATING: R
SUMMARY: Frank Iero, male nurse at Pete Wentz's private hospital and possibly more to one new patient he can't keep his eyes off of.
DISCLAIMER: Not real, never happened.
A/N: This chapter is split into two parts, and the second part will be the last of the story. Beta'd by behindskylines
part one
part two
part three
part four
part five
Frank had taken Gerard back to his home after the comic store ordeal. Brian, of course, told Gerard to take the rest of the day off, and thankfully Mikey hadn't protested; Gerard still wasn't sure how to talk to him about the whole alcoholism thing, and he was finding it hard to get his head around the fact that Mikey had known Gabe... That he was part of the reason for what had happened to him.
Joe explained to all of them before they left, that if nobody wanted to get in trouble over what they'd done, Gerard could not make a statement about Gabe. If they stayed out of it, there'd be nothing to tie them to what happened except Gabe's word, which, really wasn't that reliable.
So Gerard agreed, on the basis that Joe would let them know what the outcome was, and that if nothing was done about him, then and only then, would he step forward. Frank, Brian and Mikey were also compliant. They'd take what they had coming to them to see Gabe punished.
Gerard didn't say much beyond that for the rest of the night, and Frank didn't want to push him to. He ran Gerard a nice warm bath instead, and made some Pop Tarts, since neither was really in the mood for heavy food. Gerard ate quietly, stealing glances Frank's way every so often but not saying anything when Frank tried to smile at him.
"I think, um. I'm kinda tired," Gerard said finally, leaving the last half of his Pop Tart down on the plate.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. You? I'll come too? I--"
"No. It's okay," Gerard shrugged. "You don't... You can stay up awhile if you wanted. I don't need. I'm fine." He sighed, running his fingers slightly over Frank's outstretched hand before leaving him there at the table.
Frank sat with his mouth open for a minute, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean. He didn't need what? Looking after? Fussing over? Frank, maybe? He tossed the leftover food into the trash, sitting at the table and drumming his fingers on the surface. His knuckles were a little sore. He hadn't so much as tried to hit anyone in so long, he'd forgotten that raw, scraped knuckle pain that came with it. It didn't even feel that good to hit Gabe. It was satisfying at the time, but then it just. It was so frustrating. The pain was barely felt during the adrenaline rushing through him. To be honest, he kind of liked the dull ache that followed a good punch or two.
Following that thought, Frank stood up quickly, going for the kitchen door and giving it his best swing. It didn't hurt much, or even make much noise seeing as it was open. Frank cursed the fact that he hadn't thought of that, closing it to be sure he wouldn't make the mistake again. He took another swing. It was half-assed at best, but it did send a shot of pain through his wrist. He just wanted to break something. He aimed for the partition wall instead.
Two, three, four swings of his arm, and Frank had broken through. He was breathing heavily, leaning his head next to the gaping hole. "Fuck," he moaned quietly, looking at his hand but sort of grinning at it. He flexed his fingers and winced. It hurt, but it felt good. And he felt a little better. One of his knuckles was cut, some blood dripping down to his thumb when he lifted his hand up properly. Frank rinsed it under the cold tap, finding a plaster to cover it (realizing his mom's insistence at him having a first aid kit, wasn't such a bad idea), he found an old calendar he'd never used, tacking it over the hole.
Feeling kind of stupid for his act of violence, Frank shrugged it off, knowing he needed to get to the bottom of what really bothering him. He was furious about Gabe's sheer audacity, and the way it felt like Gerard was pushing him away at times. He'd been running hot and cold, and Frank tried to understand but really, he wasn't sure he'd come close no matter how much effort he put in. Mostly, he was angry with himself for being pissed about Gerard's change of moods in the first place. He just wanted to be supportive and caring.
Slowly, he padded upstairs to his room, wondering if Gerard really wanted him there, and not daring look at the bed in case Gerard said he wanted to be alone some more. Finally changed into a ratty old shirt and a pair of shorts, Frank headed for the bed, and found it completely empty. "Fuck," he whispered, quietly going to the guest room. He could see Gerard, curled up on one side of the bed and facing the wall. He stood in the doorway for a few minutes, resting his head on the arm he'd leant there and wondering if he should go over.
He decided against it, reasoning that if Gerard took it upon himself to sleep in the other room, when he knew he was more than welcome to share Frank's bed, he probably wanted some space. Frank struggled to sleep though, turning this way and that, staring up at the ceiling and clenching his fists in frustration before slipping out of bed and into the other room. It was quiet, and Frank assumed Gerard had fallen asleep long ago, so got in with him carefully. Being that Gerard had turned around, Frank took the hand that was aimlessly slung out in front of him to squeeze and hold in his own.
After a few minutes Gerard sighed, and brought their hands up to his cheek. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I just feel so up and down lately, like, there's no balance. I. Frank?"
"I'm awake, just listening."
"Okay. I'm sorry I've been like this with you. You've been nothing short of amazing to me and... I'm glad you came in, wasn't sure if you'd want to. I didn't really want to be on my own."
Frank moved himself closer until their knees were touching, and in the dark, missed where he was aiming, planting a kiss on the side of Gerard's nose. "Can we make a rule?" Frank asked, and he felt Gerard nod against him. "If you need some time alone, then say that. But if you don't, you need to let me know that, too, 'cause I very nearly did leave you in here... I don't want you thinking I don't care just because I'm not a mind reader, and if you say, imply, you wanna be on your own, then that's what you're gonna get. Y'know?"
"Yeah. I get it, I'm sorry. I'm just... scared," he admitted softly, running a finger over the plaster on Frank's hand. "I heard you, um. What did you hit?"
"Kitchen door... the wall."
Somewhat timidly, Gerard asked, "Were you mad at me?"
Frank blew a heavy breath through his nose. "Yeah. No. I. Both? It's just, things have been so tense, and after today, all I wanted to do was hold you, y'know?" He let go of Gerard's hand to tuck some hair behind his ear. "...kiss you, make you feel even a little better, a little okay. And you just. It was like you just blew me off. I was mad at myself because I was being selfish. I've no idea how all this feels for you, and all I was worried about was what I wanted, how I thought you should be acting." He finished with a whisper, "I don't wanna be like that."
"I guess we're both pretty stupid, huh?" Gerard laughed dryly, and slipped a knee between Frank's thighs to pull them closer.
"Guess so," he replied, wrapping an arm around Gerard's waist. "I love you though, you do know that, don't you?"
"I feel it. That's much more important." Frank smiled at that, like it was the perfect response, and when Gerard told Frank he loved him too, Frank couldn't help but blurt out the same thing. And mean it.
Then Gerard got up, lifting himself to hover over Frank lightly before just laying down over him and trying to rearrange the covers so they wouldn't get all scrunched up around them.
Sticking his face into Frank's neck, Gerard huffed out a couple of breaths while Frank just held his sides and leant their heads together. "It's gonna be okay, y'know?"
"How," Gerard asked, almost strained and into the crook of Frank's neck. "What if it's not?"
"It will be. If it's... If you. We'll deal. We'll make it work. We will," he said, not sure who he was trying to convince more.
"I hope so." Gerard sounded a little defeated. "God, Frank. I hope so." Gerard hitched his knees up, one either side of Frank, and leant up to look down at him, hands on Frank's chest. "I don't. Shit. I don't think I could deal with losing you now."
Frank sat up, Gerard's hands sliding around to his neck. He kept one hand behind him to hold himself up, gripping Gerard's shoulder lightly with the other and kissing the side of his jaw. "You're not going to. You're not," he whispered, skimming his lips over Gerard's cheek to his mouth and pressing against him. "I promise."
Gerard made a quiet sound, somewhere in his chest, parted his lips all soft and kissed Frank back. His hands tightened on Frank's neck, one tugging on the ends of his hair, licking his way into Frank's mouth. He definitely wasn't going to say no. So Frank smooshed their faces together a bit more, tilted his head. He almost choked on Gerard's tongue when he felt the hand on his dick.
Instinctively, Frank reached down to slide his hand inside Gerard's pajama pants. "Don't, Frank. I." Frank didn't have to ask what the problem was, his face asked for him. "I um. It's not. Just. Ugh," Gerard tipped his head back. "I hate my fucking body right now. It's not you, okay? It's not--"
"S'okay," Frank reassured. "Lie down, just relax." Gerard made a small noise of complaint, but arranged himself to lie down anyway, no doubt wondering what Frank was going to do. Frank didn't make him wait long, slowly unbuttoning Gerard's pajama top and running a single finger down the centre of his chest once he'd done so. He didn't make a move to slide it off of Gerard's shoulders, just left it hanging by his sides and kissed along his ribs from bottom to top, going all the way up Gerard's neck and over the tightness of his jaw, stopping when he got around to his ear. "Relax good for me, yeah?" he asked into Gerard's ear. "Like, completely. I don't care if you fall asleep."
Turning his head to find Frank's lips with his own, Gerard nodded, and Frank scooted down, bringing the pajama bottoms with him. Gerard kicked them off completely while Frank ghosted his fingers up his thigh to rest on his hip. He leant down to kiss Gerard's stomach, open and gentle, under his navel and over to his hip. Back and forth, going a little higher or a little lower each time. Gerard petted through his hair softly, his breathing slowing and speeding up with no real pattern, but he didn't say a word, just lay there trying to relax.
Eventually Frank's hand made its way off of Gerard's thigh. He wasn't hard. Only half, almost. But that was the point. Frank wanted him to be comfortable with that. That it didn't matter, that it was okay. Frank almost wanted to tell his mom all of it--she'd be so fucking proud over how mature and sensitive he'd been recently. Probably have a heart attack before she believed it though. Gerard grunted something that was probably asking Frank not to touch him, not there, but for once Frank was not going to listen. He cupped Gerard gently, palming up and down over him slowly. "Frank".
Frank did stop--just for a moment--but didn't remove his hand. "Doesn't feel good?"
Gerard sighed in frustration. "I'm not gonna come. Not happening."
"I'm not trying to make you," Frank said, not missing a beat. "Just touching you, okay?" He kissed Gerard's hip. Gerard didn't reply, but he didn't try and move away either, so Frank started moving his hand again, just slowly tracing his fingertips along Gerard's length. After a few minutes of tentative touches, Gerard stroked his hands through Frank's hair as his head lay on Gerard's hip. His eyes were closed gently, and slowly, so as not to alarm Gerard or stop him relaxing, he lifted his head up and over, pressed his tongue flat next to where his thumb was rubbing small circles, and licked up over the head once. Gerard took in a sharp breath. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah I really am," Gerard said, a slight laugh of surprise tingeing his tone.
"Feels good?"
"Mmmm, really good." He sounded all soft and dreamy, so Frank didn't stop even though it wasn't really doing anything for Gerard; he was still pretty soft, but Frank was gonna touch him and kiss him until Gerard wanted him to stop--or fell asleep. "Hey, could you? Um." Frank looked up. Could he what? He had no clue. "I uh. Could you..."
Gerard was blushing. It was dark, but Frank felt up to his face and stroked his cheek, he could feel how hot his skin was. Definitely blushing. "Could I what? Anything. Just ask me."
"Alright," Gerard took a deep breath. "Would? Ireallywantyoutofingerme," he said hurriedly, all in one go, one breath, one word.
Frank just shrugged, "Sure," licking around a couple of fingers as Gerard bent one of his knees up. He gave Gerard warning in the form of just rubbing one finger around his entrance for a few seconds before slowly fitting one in. Gerard didn't say anything, didn't move. He tensed up slightly but didn't ask Frank to stop, so he didn't. Instead, he moved his finger carefully back and forth, gently sliding a second in beside it after a minute or so. "This alright? What you want?" Frank guessed he liked the stretch, probably because he himself quite enjoyed it, though admittedly he'd never tried when he wasn't turned on. Gerard was though, he assumed, just having trouble getting it through to his dick.
"Nnnh, yeah," Gerard shifted a bit, pushed down. "C'mere though."
Frank slithered his way up Gerard's body with kisses, still moving his fingers. Deeper each time, he almost pulled them out. When he reached Gerard's mouth, he kissed him slow and open, not being able to help the way he rocked against the firmness of his hip once he'd made contact with it. "Sorry," he mumbled, embarrassed by his eagerness to hump Gerard's side.
Gerard shook his head, "No. Don't be sorry," and pressed closer to Frank, trying to get him more friction. "You can. I don't mind. You should."
Frank didn't disagree, as weird as it felt, pushing and twisting, curling his fingers inside Gerard, faster when he recognized the groans and short breaths it drew from him. By the time Frank's hips started stuttering, and he started gasping, grunting out hot bursts of breath against Gerard's cheek, Gerard had taken his hand away from where it'd been digging into Frank's side. He looked down as he came, baring his teeth over Gerard's shoulder and noticing that he was stroking himself slowly, almost perfectly erect. "Fuck," Frank shuddered, his orgasm washing over him, and Gerard's own movements taking over his attention. "You? Wow. Let me," he said, shuffling down the bed and trying to knock Gerard's hand away with his chin and tongue. He was leaning on one arm for support, the other's fingers still moving slick inside Gerard.
"No," he panted heavily. "Fuck. I've felt like I could come for the past half hour. Not," he gritted out, "not gonna take long. Can you just keep doing that?"
"Mmm, yeah. Whatever helps." Frank watched fixated as Gerard fisted over himself, leaning over once just to lick the head, and moving back just in time to see him come.
"Frank, Frank, nnnfuck," Gerard's voice was strained, and Frank kissed the back of his hand as it slowed and stilled, biting his lip at the way Gerard tensed around his fingers. "Fr-Frank. You're persistent. I'll give you that," he half laughed, half stuttered.
"Quitting never gets you anywhere," he said knowingly, and carefully removed his fingers from Gerard, wiping them on his shorts as he'd have to change them anyway. "We should get cleaned up real quick and then we can sleep. Deal?"
Gerard didn't find his voice until Frank had come back to the bed--complete with new shorts and a warm, wet flannel for Gerard. "Thanks. You know, for not making a big deal out of, it."
"Shit, stop thanking me for stuff or I'll have to start charging for my awesomeness," Frank joked as he jumped onto the bed, pleased with himself. "And it's not a big deal. It happens." He let Gerard tuck himself into his side before pulling the covers over them both and leaning into the warmth, wrapping his arms around Gerard as much as he could do. "When we're really fucking old, and need Viagra to get off at all, then, it'll be a big deal." Gerard laughed, playfully slapping Frank's chest and nuzzling into his neck. "No, no, seriously. I can totally see it. I'm gonna get the awful salt and pepper kind of grey hair, and yours'll go like, almost white. But it'll be really hot, and we'll wanna fuck all the time, except we'll have to get a calendar and plan it."
Gerard laughed. "What? Are we gonna be super busy or something?" he asked, getting into the visualization.
"No, we'll just be super impotent, so we'll have to plan an' make sure we've got supplies," Frank giggled, stupid and high pitched, starting Gerard off too, and they kissed, closed mouthed and grinning into it.
"So when you think about us, you think of us being all impotent and wrinkly?" Gerard scrunched up his nose.
"Not all the time," Frank tried to defend himself. "Mostly it's just us like we are now," he took a deep breath, wanting to keep his voice steady and not laugh. "But with handcuffs and riding crops. And gags. And weird vibrators, and beads. Y'know, regular kinky shit."
Gerard actually looked... kind of shocked. Pretty much what Frank was going for. "Are. Are you serious?" he asked, eyes wide as he waited for the answer.
"Ha, no. No, I was just kidding..." Gerard let out a whoosh of breath at hearing that, and Frank smirked. "You'd be down with the handcuffs though, yeah? 'Cause, seriously? Hot."
Gerard rolled his eyes, nipping at Frank's jaw and settling down onto his chest to sleep. "Yes. I'm down with the handcuffs," he mocked, following it with another yes, just for clarification.
Frank grinned and bit on his lip. "Awesome. I'm so keeping you."
................
They hadn't had much time to sleep that night, waking up blurry eyed and groggy. Frank was first to venture out of bed, staggering zombie-like down the stairs and leaving Gerard wrapped up and warm while he made coffee. He munched on an apple between sips. Gerard couldn't eat anything, said his insides were all twisted and buzzy; he was worried about the test and the result all over again.
"Four weeks!" Gerard had said suddenly. "Four fucking weeks! I don't know how much more waiting I can take, Frank."
"You can take a few more weeks," Frank stood next to him, brushing a hand through Gerard's hair. "I know you can." Gerard hummed in reply, looking up and trying for a smile while leaning his head against Frank's thigh. "I've to work this afternoon, but I'll be back about 8 o'clock. You staying here, or do you wanna go home? Oh, and I found a couple of your shirts and some socks the other day--want me to bag them up for you?"
"Uh no. It's okay. I'll. Another time. I'm gonna go home, talk to Mikey about yesterday. I still can't... I need to talk to him properly. About everything."
Frank nodded, holding out a hand to help Gerard up and pull him into a hug. "I'll go back with you and then come here and change for work." Frank kissed Gerard's cheek, linking their fingers. "You'll call me later, yeah? Let me know how it goes."
.......................
At work, Frank managed a whole two hours before begging Maja to let him go and see Patrick for a few minutes.
"Hey, man. You busy?" Frank called as he knocked on Patrick's office door. It was opened shortly after, and Frank wrung his hands together as he walked in. "You got a minute?"
"Uh yeah, sure. Meds going okay? Not feeling too sick or-"
"It's about Gerard."
"Oh," Patrick nodded, sitting down in his large chair. "What is it?"
"Is there any way he can have the test earlier? It's just that. Well. Yesterday-"
"I know about yesterday. Joe told me," he said quickly. "I asked him to bring Mr. Saporta in this morning so we could have him tested quickly, put your minds at ease... That's what you came for, right?"
Frank sighed with relief. "Saporta? That's Gabe?" Patrick nodded and Frank said, "Alright. That's. That's good. How long until you know?"
"Few days? I've got a rush on at the moment but I'm pushing it through for you guys. You didn't hear it from me though, okay? This isn't something I'm meant to divulge to you, but, I know how important it is. And hopefully you'll be fine to come off the medication afterwards."
"Thank you, man," Frank launched himself at Patrick, hugging him before he could get up out of his seat. "Thank you so much!"
The first thing Frank wanted to do was call Gerard and tell him he wasn't going to need his test, but he didn't want to interrupt any talking between Gerard and Mikey, so figured he'd wait until later.
When Bob arrived to take over from Maja, he'd brought Frank coffee. For the first time ever. "What did you do?"
"What?" Bob blinked a few times, handing Frank the coffee and pulling him into a hug. "I just thought. You know... I heard about what happened. You guys okay?"
"Thanks. I think so," Frank shrugged. "Just glad we got him to be honest."
"Thanks to you, I hear. Nice work, Detective Iero." Taking a look at his watch as Frank blushed, he pointed out towards the garden. "Go on. Go take a break. Jon's off this evening so I've a lot of work for you to get on with before you finish."
.........................
William was filling in for Jon's absence, and sometimes Travis visits patients in the wards because some of them find his small room with the day bed a little intimidating. Those two things are completely unconnected except for when you factor in the way William's just standing there, staring at Travis when Frank comes back from his break.
"You're drooling over the desk," Frank told him with a squeeze to William's shoulders that made him jump. He laughed when William actually wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
"Um. What? I'm not. Not drooling. It's just..."
"Excess saliva whilst staring wantonly at the resident therapist?"
Scowling slightly--which Frank thought could never be intimidating even if it was meant to be--William swiped some hair out of his eyes and cracked a smile. "Whatever. Just. Shouldn't they close the curtain or something at least?"
"I don't think the first concern is whether Travis is distracting the staff by simply being in the room." William blushed and looked back down at his paperwork, his schedule of medications and jobs he had to do. "How're you doing with all this? Getting on alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. Not too bad," he shrugged.
Frank smiled at William's apparent shyness. "If you need any help just let me know. And uh, he doesn't bite, that I know of," he gestured to Travis with a nod of his head before getting back to folding some freshly laundered bed sheets.
Gerard called Frank pretty late that night. He'd managed to smooth things over with Mikey to a certain point. "I just feel like he's hiding something from me, but I'm not sure what."
"How do you know?" Frank asked.
"Just this feeling. I've always known when he's holding back. I don't think it's good, Frank. I've got a bad feeling about whatever he's hiding from me."
....................
Frank got quite a shock the next day when he read in the local paper that Gabe's trial was starting the next day. Something about the judge reviewing the case wanting to get it started because Gabe had a lot of family south of the border, and didn't wanna give him any time to get away with the allegations against him.
Joe urged Frank to stay away from the court, and to keep Gerard away too. He had Gerard and Mikey come over after they'd found out Gabe had pleaded not guilty, for each court session, just to be sure neither would be tempted to go there. He was still feeling like crap from the medication anyway, and even though Mikey didn't know the reason for his lethargy, he and Gerard looked after Frank while they were there.
There were two days left of evidence giving and testifying when Frank went into work, only to be met by Patrick waiting for him.
"Want some good news?" he said with a grin.
"You just heard the trial's finished early and Gabe got life?"
Patrick rolled his eyes. "You know that's not gonna happen, Frank. But, I got the results back a few hours ago. He's clean. An STD or two, but no HIV."
Frank didn't have anything he was capable of saying right then, he just hugged Patrick as hard as he could.
As he was leaving work, Frank called Gerard, asked him to meet him at his house. He couldn't wait to tell him the news.
It wasn't Gerard waiting for Frank when he arrived home, though. It was Joe.
"I gotta talk to you. We have a problem with--" it was as far as Joe got before Mikey's car pulled up, and he and Gerard stepped out.
Frank sighed; problems--obviously--were never good. "Guess we'd all better go in then."
Frank sat with his fingers entwined with Gerard's, as they crowded around the kitchen table to hear what Joe had to say.
"We had two girls giving evidence against Gabe, but one of them's pulled out. It wouldn't be a huge problem, except that she's the only one we have DNA evidence from. We can still use it, but if the jury decides it was consensual because she's not there to say otherwise, then we're down to one girl and nothing other than her word for what happened."
Mikey stayed tight-lipped as Gerard gasped. "Fuck! So. That means... I have to do it, don't I? I'll have to give evidence myself." He squeezed Frank's hand hard, and Frank rested his head against Gerard's.
"We'll be there. If you want to do it, won't we, Mikey. We'll be there for you. Right there."
Mikey nodded but still didn't speak. Gerard was on the verge of tears just thinking about it.
"Well, I don't know. Let me see what I can sort out, okay? I just wanted to let you guys know how things are going." Joe broke out a small smile as he began talking again. "On the plus-side, we had him tested and the results are, well, mostly clear. So you've nothing to worry about--"
"Tested for what?" Mikey asked, looking between the three of them, "What are you talking about?"
Joe sat open-mouthed for a second, rubbing at his chin before mumbling, "You know, I should probably leave you to talk about that. Sorry, I didn't know, y'know. Sorry." Joe stood, taking a card from his pocket and leaving it on the table before leaving. "If you have any questions or concerns, just call me."
"I wanted to tell you, Mikey. Honest to God, I did, but--"
"Tell me what? I don't wanna hear your excuses; just tell me what's going on!"
Frank got his medications from the cupboard and together, he and Gerard explained everything about the HIV test, and why Frank was being medicated. Mikey was angry at first, before he held Gerard tight and cried into his shoulder. "Why didn't you just tell me? I would've been there for you, you know that. I love you, Gee, you should've told me."
"Love you, too, Mikey. You know I do, and I'd have told you but I didn't want you to worry. You always worry about me, and you've done so much to look after me... I didn't wanna put this on you as well."
"I worry about you anyway, stupid," he said slightly relieved. "Just stop hiding shit now, okay? And you," Mikey sat up, looking to Frank, “I don't know whether to be pissed at you or thank you for doing what I should've been doing."
"I don't think you should've been doing everything I've done," Frank smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't be gross, okay? You know what I meant. Thank you. For, y'know, looking after him---"
"Mikey?" Gerard cut in, "While we're talking about not keeping secrets, I know there's something you're not telling me."
"Gerard--"
"Spill. I know you, Mikey. What is it?" Gerard asked sadly, his head tilted to the side. He tried to take Mikey's hands in his own, but Mikey pulled them away.
"No. No, I can't, okay? It's nothing. I've to go. I have things I have to get on with."
"No? You're gonna get pissed at me for not telling you stuff, and then do the exact same thing to me? You think I don't worry about you, too?" Gerard got up, blocking the kitchen doorway so Mikey couldn't leave.
"Maybe this just isn't the time? Maybe later, Mikey?" Frank tried, hoping to diffuse the situation because Gerard was looking increasingly annoyed.
"What? No. Fuck, Frank, why are you taking his side? Tell me, Mikey. Tell me what's going on. If you're in trouble or something I'll help you, you know I will."
"No," Mikey said firmly. "No. I have to go," Mikey held Gerard gently by his shoulders until he took his hands from the door frame. "You'll find out. Just not right now. Now, I have to go."
He left with Gerard still standing there, his hands limp at his sides.
....................
Gerard stayed with Frank that night. They didn't talk much, but instead just sat around doing pretty much nothing, glued to each other's sides throughout the evening. Gerard tried sketching a few things but couldn't concentrate enough to get what he envisioned out onto the paper, so Frank tried to distract him by showing him his collection of old vinyl. It was mostly given to him by his father, but there was a lot there that Gerard liked. "You don't have a vinyl deck; do you ever play these?"
"I used to have one, but I broke the needle and it was old, y'know? I couldn't find one to fit," Frank shrugged. "I like having them around anyway. It's not big deal."
Gerard's eyes widened when he got to one record in particular. "You have Iron Maiden. On vinyl. That, I have to hear!"
"Wish I could play it for you, but. Yeah. Nothing to play it on."
"Fuck that, I'll make something for it to play on if I have to. I swear."
Frank laughed, the thought was sweet but wasn't very likely. He put his collection away, keeping the Maiden one to put in a different drawer so he wouldn't forget about it. If Gerard liked it that much, maybe he could give it to him as a gift sometime--once he'd gotten a player. Opening his wardrobe to leave the vinyl safely at the bottom, Frank was a little puzzled when a pair of sneakers that weren't his fell out onto the floor. "These yours?" he asked Gerard.
"Uh, yeah. They're mine." Gerard took them, placing them by his feet at the side of the bed. "You know what we didn't talk about yet?"
"What?" Frank asked idly, looking around for anything that needed cleaning up. He was trying to keep a little tidy now that Gerard was over so much. "Keep talking, I'll be back in a second."
Gerard had been doing a lot of Frank's laundry for him while he wasn't feeling good, but Frank hadn't bothered putting any of it away. "The test," Gerard shouted after him. Frank grinned. Yeah, they hadn't really had a chance to celebrate that yet. Going through the dirty pile of clothes, Frank saw a few things of Gerard's; a t-shirt, hoodie, some socks. He didn't mind, of course, but if Gerard wasn't more careful Frank was going to end up with some new additions to his clothing. "I can't believe we know now, and I don't even have to see another needle. And you don't have to take that nasty medication anymore."
Having sorted a load of clothes to be done the next morning, and still not bothering to put the clean ones away, Frank went back to the bedroom. "I know," he smiled. Gerard was swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "It's great. Really fucking great."
Gerard stood to meet him halfway across the room, practically falling into Frank's arms as the weight and realization of what the test results actually meant finally washed over him. "I was so scared, Frank. So scared."
"Hey!" Frank said, half surprised at Gerard's sudden change of mood. He wrapped his arms tight around Gerard's shoulders, not so much hugging him as just holding him. "This is a good thing, remember? It's okay now. Everything's okay. We should be celebrating, shouldn't we? Don't be sad now; it's over with."
"The rest isn't though," Gerard tore his head away from where it'd been pressed into Frank's neck, "What if he, what if Gabe gets off? I mean, if it were me, I'd want some kind of retribution for almost going to jail. That's the kind of guy he is, right?"
"He's not going to." Frank placed a hand of each of Gerard's cheeks, forcing him gently to look directly at him. "I'm sure of it. And if he does get away with it then. Then I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You know that, right? We can do this."
Gerard nodded solemnly. "What about Mikey?"
"We'll both look out for him, yeah? You and me together."
"Okay," Gerard whispered, letting his nose press against Frank's and pursing out his lips in a barely-there kiss. "But, can we hold off celebrating until we know what's going on with the trial? I just. I'm happy, really, but I can't get it off my mind right now."
"Of course. We'll get some sleep and see how things look tomorrow. I'm just glad one hurdle's been crossed."
As Frank lay in bed that night, Gerard tucked up safely by his side, he let a few tears of relief slip down his cheeks. Everything had to turn out alright from then on. It just had to. He tucked a few strands of hair back from Gerard's face and resumed his earlier position of one foot tangled with Gerard's, and an arm around his waist, listening to him breath steadily as he fell asleep.
.................
Somehow they'd both managed to sleep in the next morning, through three of Frank's alarms and a handful of phone calls.
Groping around blindly for his phone as it rang for what he later realized was the sixth time, Frank answered it with a muffled groan, his mouth feeling like he'd spent the afternoon in a dentist's chair; all thick and like it'd been filled with cotton balls.
"Frank? Are you listening? I've been trying to get through to you for ages."
"Joe? What's goin' on? Too early." Frank tried sitting up a little without waking Gerard.
"I think you should come down to the courthouse. We have some new evidence... Someone else to testify."
Frank blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and willing his brain to wake up. "Who?"
"Mikey."
.....................
After waking Gerard as fast as he could, it took them all of half an hour to get dressed and rush out of the door. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about catching a bus; Joe had organized a cab to pick them up. "I don't understand," Gerard kept saying, gripping Frank's hands tight and staring out of the window. "Why? Why's he doing this? He's gonna get in so much trouble if anyone finds out he's lying. I should've known. It's my fault, he's always doing stupid shit because of me."
"I don't know," was all Frank could say, planting a kiss into Gerard's hair. He prayed they'd just hurry up and get there.
Once they'd arrived, they wandered around for a few minutes, trying to find out where they were meant to be. Luckily, Joe found them. It was a closed court session, but he managed to get them in after explaining to the guard who they were. "I did some digging around last night after I left your place, Frank," he said before they went inside. "Some things I'd been trying to find out... He's done this before. If they find him guilty, the judge won't go easy on him."
Mikey was already giving evidence when they found a seat, Gabe sitting across from him like nothing could touch him, and obviously trying to stare Mikey down, scare him into making a mistake. It didn't seem to be working, and Mikey answered all questions thrown at him as calmly as he could. Frank could see his eyes well up as his gaze rested upon them for a few moments, and Mikey stuttered, having trouble keeping his composure for a brief time.
"Why's he giving evidence?" Frank whispered to Joe, who was sitting on the other side of Gerard. "Is he taking Gerard's place or something? What if someone finds out?"
"There's nothing to find out," Joe whispered back, obviously saddened. "He called me last night and said he wanted to do this. Said Gabe had done the same to him. He sounded unsure on the phone so I didn't think he was going to show..."
Gerard's jaw fell open, and Frank realized that it was what Gerard had known Mikey was hiding. That it had happened to him, too. He tried to put on a brave face for Gerard, but Gerard got up suddenly, pushing his way out of the room as Mikey began to recount the events the night Gabe had raped him.
Joe stayed but Frank followed quickly, managing to pull Gerard's hair from his face before he threw up in the hall, and again in the toilets. He didn't know what to say to be comforting, he didn't even know what to think, so he just rubbed Gerard's back until he stood up and leant against the wall. He was a lot paler than usual, even down to his lips, and Frank had to hold him to keep him steady.
"I don't feel too good," Gerard mumbled, head lolling forward slightly and coming to rest on Frank's shoulder.
"I know," Frank replied, "I. I know."
"No, really. I think 'm gonna..." Gerard suddenly went limp in Frank's arms, and he carefully lowered him to the floor.
"Shit, you did not just pass out on me." Frank checked to make sure Gerard was still breathing okay, before looking out into the hall for help.
When he finally came round, Mikey had finished giving his evidence. Gerard was propped up on a bench out the back, and Frank sat next to him, smoking and waiting for Mikey and Joe to join them.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Mikey said as he rushed over, sitting at Gerard’s feet and hugging his brother's legs.
"I'm fine, Mikes. I'm okay now," Gerard said, leaning down to wrap his arms around Mikey's shoulders. "Just. I couldn't listen to that... Why didn't you tell me?" Mikey didn't answer, just looked up at him sadly. Gerard stroked his hands down Mikey's cheeks tenderly, tears threatening to fall. His voice was slightly harsh, his words gritted out when he said, "You should've told me. I'm your brother, I'm meant to look after you. Why, Mikey? Why?"
"I couldn't," Mikey shook his head, "I was so... so ashamed I'd let it happen--"
"No," Gerard said firmly. "No. It wasn't your fault--"
"But I went out with him, Gee. I did. Willingly, but I didn't wanna... I didn't..."
Frank left them then, going to talk to Joe to find out how things went after they left.
"Pretty well, actually," was Joe's immediate answer. "The judge decided to have the jury go ahead and deliberate today instead of tomorrow, seeing as they had someone else to give evidence." He patted Frank's back as they both looked over to where the brothers were hugging. "I think they're gonna be on our side."
"Fuck, seriously?"
"Yeah, Mikey did really well considering what he had to say. We should know what's going to happen in a while."
...................
Neither Gerard nor Mikey wanted to be around for the verdict, so they went to get coffee, give themselves time to talk. It was also somewhat of a distraction to what was going on. Frank stayed behind but didn't go back into the courtroom with Joe, preferring to stay outside smoking furiously to keep from being arrested himself, for jumping the barriers to fuck Gabe up some more. Almost two hours and nearly a whole pack of cigarettes later, Joe emerged from the building.
He started talking before Frank even had a chance to look up at him. "He got charged on two counts of felony sexual assault. Gonna be doing a five year mandatory sentence at New Jersey State prison. Without the hard evidence to back it up, he probably wouldn't have got much at all if the judge didn't have access to his file. Being that he's done it before, the judge didn't see much else he could do but give him time."
"Mandatory? That's no time off for good behavior, right?" Joe nodded, and Frank almost let himself grin. He resisted the temptation of a jeer or two in Gabe's direction as he was led out of the court and down the steps, handcuffs obviously tight around his wrists. "I gotta thank you, man, for all your help," Frank said, completely sincere, and with a firm handshake-hug to prove it.
"Not a problem, Frank. You know that. Just glad to see him put away."
.............
Frank called Gerard to let him know what was going on as soon as Joe had to leave to get back to work, and they met up at the little coffee house the brothers had been sitting in while they talked. Mikey's face was tear-stricken, and Gerard's looked as though he'd just jet-washed it; slightly red, but his lashes were mostly wet and stuck together.
It was like three people that hadn't seen each other in years, the way they all hugged and squeezed each other. "I'm gonna go home," Mikey mumbled into Frank's shoulder after a while, lifting his head to look at them both.
"Yeah, probably a good idea," Gerard agreed. "Um, Frank, why don't you come with us? Stay the night? I'm sure mom's getting withdrawal from seeing you anyway--"
"No," Mikey cut in.
"Oh, hey, no. It's cool, I'll see you guys tomorrow or something," Frank said, trying to assure Gerard it was fine because he was looking at Mikey pretty weirdly.
Mikey shook his head, "No, I mean I'm gonna go home. You go with Frank, okay? Honestly, Gee, I just wanna hang out with some people that have nothing to do with today... Just for a while."
"You sure, Mikey? Seriously," Frank asked, kind of skeptic.
"Yeah, seriously. I'm just gonna grab some movies and hang out with a few people I haven't seen for a while." He turned to Gerard, pressing a kiss to his cheek and whispering, "Love you, bro. I'll talk to you later."
"O-oh, okay," Gerard said quietly, "Love you, too."
Gerard watched sadly as Mikey left. He got halfway to the parking lot before he turned around. "You guys want a ride?"
Frank dragged Gerard along without either of them answering, and they both tried a few more times to get Mikey to change his mind before they ended up parked outside Frank's house. "Really, seriously, I'm sure. There's um. There's this girl I've been meaning to talk to for a while, y'know?" Mikey sat with his hands still on the steering wheel. "This feels like it should be a fresh start, for both of us," he put one hand on Gerard's knee and squeezed gently. "I don't want you two messing it up for me. You guys go do whatever it is you do, and I'm gonna try and--"
"Bag a hot girl?" Gerard said with a wink, placing his hand over Mikey's before punching him playfully in the arm. "She got a name?"
Frank laughed, Mikey didn't. "Shut up. Just 'cause you're all loved up or whatever... Just get out of my car before I drive you twenty miles out of your way and leave you both there."
"He'll do it," Gerard said knowingly. "He's done it to me before, c'mon." Gerard climbed out, quickly getting Frank's door for him before he'd closed his own. He leant back into the car, "Look after yourself, okay?"
"I will, Gee. Promise. Now, shut the door and fuck off," Mikey replied, slightly grinning as he started the ignition back up.
Gerard watched as Mikey drove away, his hands falling limp by his sides before running one through his hair. "Long fucking day," he said to no-one in particular.
"Yeah," Frank agreed, wrapping his arms around Gerard's waist and resting his head on Gerard's shoulder, "but time to relax now. How're you feeling?"
Gerard looked up into the sky, locking his fingers with Frank's before answering. "Exhausted, sad, happy, relieved? I don't know. Like, a million different things."
"But you're happy?"
"I'm always happy when you're around. Even if I don't always show it. Hungry, though. What're you gonna cook me?" he asked with a smirk.
"Hmmm, I don't know," Frank swung them around towards his house and walked awkwardly behind Gerard until they got to his door, unlocking it with his arms still around Gerard's middle. "I have some fake bacon strips? Oh, you know what else is good?" Frank asked, shutting the door behind them and pressing Gerard up against it.
"What?" Gerard played along with a roll of his eyes.
Frank rubbed one thumb along Gerard's jaw and then his lips before bringing his own closer. "You," he said, kissing Gerard slowly with a hand tucked around his neck, his eyes closed softly.
Gerard kissed him back, parting his lips and letting his hands wander up the back of Frank's shirt. His skin was warm, and Gerard hummed against his mouth, against his teeth and his tongue. "You, too," he smiled. "I was actually hungry though."
"Too hungry to make out with me for a while?" Frank put on his best puppy dog look before attaching his mouth to Gerard's cheek, behind his ear, his throat. Gerard relaxed in Frank's arms, offering up more of his neck, and he took it as a sign Gerard wasn't so hungry that Frank had to stop.
Gerard held his arms lazily around Frank's shoulders as they continued to kiss, and Frank pressed against just him a bit harder, bringing his hands to Gerard's shirt and unbuttoning it all the way down. He managed to get his palms flat onto Gerard's chest before Gerard noticed. "Frank," he gasped, eyes following Frank's hands down to his waist as he played with the ends of Frank's hair.
"Hmmm?" Frank hummed, taking Gerard's mouth over again briefly while he fiddled with his jeans, opening them enough to push them down to his thighs and fit his hand around Gerard's cock. He wasn't having trouble getting hard anymore, and pushed into Frank's hand, knocking his head back into the door as Frank slouched down onto his knees and left wet kiss marks on his stomach.
"I um, I think we passed making out," Gerard said slowly, sucking in his lower lip while watching Frank's tongue slip out to lick along his cock. He looked up at Gerard with a loose hold on him, moving his fist slowly up and down. "D-don't. Don't stop though, please."
Frank didn't stop. Gerard's length was heavy in his hand as his brought his lips to it, opening his mouth wide to take him in. He flicked his tongue over the slit, around the ridge, finally trying to swallowing him down as far as he could. Gerard stole a glance at him, Frank's lashes fanned against his cheeks as they hollowed repeatedly, sucking him hard and slow, pumping him with one hand and stroking across Gerard's hip with the other.
Gerard held Frank's head in his hands, feeling it bob and moving his hips, moving himself gently in and out of his mouth. "God, Frank," he whispered breathlessly, letting his head fall back again. Frank upped his speed, moving his hand faster and sucking harder. He used his tongue more, without taking his mouth away, just pressing it along the veins as he moved his head, swirling it back and forth as much as he could. He could feel Gerard's thighs tense in front of him, and suddenly Gerard gripped his hair tight. "Frank. Frank, you-" he cut himself off, remembering that no, Frank didn't have to move anymore, didn't have to pull away. He could come in Frank's mouth as much as he wanted and it didn't matter.
That thought helped him along, and he came hard, his hips jerking awkwardly as he tried to not to pull Frank's head too hard. He gasped and groaned, and Frank just stayed, waited until he'd stopped moving in uncontrolled little jerks. When Gerard opened his eyes, Frank was looking at him, wiping the corner his mouth with his sleeve and grinning crazily, "I can't believe I had to wait six months to do that without you getting mad at me," he said, pulling Gerard's clothing back up with him as he stood.
"Bad joke," Gerard warned him, "but oh my God, Frank. Your fucking mouth."
Frank grinned."You like it?" he moved his mouth to make a few weird faces, taking Gerard's hands and lifting them up to the wall above his head.
"Hell yeah," Gerard laughed, bending his neck forward to kiss him with a loud smacking sound as he pulled back. "Best mouth ever," he took one of his hands down from above his head to reach the hem of Frank's jeans with a smirk.
Frank shook his head, "I thought you were hungry?"
"I am, but it can wait a few minutes more."
Frank was hard, definitely, but Gerard's moans and the feel of his cock in Frank's mouth, had turned him on so much he'd swear all it would take was Gerard staring at his cock for a few seconds before he'd come. And he definitely didn't want that to happen. "How about we eat, and then you can do whatever you want to me?" And God, Frank hoped whatever Gerard wanted to do would be good.
"Okay, have it your way, Frank," he palmed over the front of Frank's jeans as he spoke, "but for the record, I really, really wanted to blow you."
Frank groaned and pulled himself away as he heard Gerard's stomach give a grumble of hunger. He forced a laugh, "Don't be a tease, its mean."
Gerard shoved his hands in the front pockets of Frank's jeans, walking behind him and into the kitchen. "I wasn't being a tease, I wanted to. You're the one who said no," he reminded Frank, nipping at his neck.
Frank tried to ignore it, pouring water into a pan to cook some rice. Gerard stayed though, glued to his pockets and back, and Frank wondered briefly if it were possible for his erection to drill a hole through his jeans. As he dumped some rice in, Gerard took one the hands from his pockets and stroked it up under Frank's t-shirt, rubbing his stomach.
It was tempting, too tempting. And they'd waited a long time for this--to be able to be together and intimate without having to hold back or worry, and Frank wanted it to be a good night. He turned off the stove and peeled Gerard's hands from his body, reluctantly, but he did. "We should go out instead."
"Out? Like... Where?"
"There's a diner, not too far. Not like five star restaurant or anything but," Frank picked up his keys and Gerard followed him to the door, "it's cozy? What do you think? Have someone else cook for us," he started buttoning up Gerard's shirt, smoothing it down his sides. "And you look really good; I wanna show you off instead of keeping you here all the time."
Gerard smiled, curling his arms around Frank's neck. "Yeah, yeah okay. Sounds good. Celebratory dinner," he kissed Frank quickly and fixed his hair so that it wasn't covering his eyes. "Lead the way."
They walked. It wasn't too bad out and the air was crisp, but they were warm enough with their jackets on. They held hands all the way there, and Frank couldn't keep himself from smiling, and occasionally thinking about what might happen once they got home. Or, back to his house. Though it felt more like home since Gerard had been around. He looked at Gerard then, as they approached the diner. "You okay?" Gerard asked, obviously noticing Frank had been deep in thought. He nodded. He was fine.
"Just thinking."
"I could tell. Anything good?"
"Maybe. Maybe I'll tell you later," he smiled, thinking that yeah, maybe he would. Maybe it would be good to have Gerard around a little more permanently. Living with someone--his boyfriend. Frank couldn't have been happier at that thought.
part six b. last chapter
CHAPTER: 6a
PAIRING: Frank/Gerard
RATING: R
SUMMARY: Frank Iero, male nurse at Pete Wentz's private hospital and possibly more to one new patient he can't keep his eyes off of.
DISCLAIMER: Not real, never happened.
A/N: This chapter is split into two parts, and the second part will be the last of the story. Beta'd by behindskylines
part one
part two
part three
part four
part five
Frank had taken Gerard back to his home after the comic store ordeal. Brian, of course, told Gerard to take the rest of the day off, and thankfully Mikey hadn't protested; Gerard still wasn't sure how to talk to him about the whole alcoholism thing, and he was finding it hard to get his head around the fact that Mikey had known Gabe... That he was part of the reason for what had happened to him.
Joe explained to all of them before they left, that if nobody wanted to get in trouble over what they'd done, Gerard could not make a statement about Gabe. If they stayed out of it, there'd be nothing to tie them to what happened except Gabe's word, which, really wasn't that reliable.
So Gerard agreed, on the basis that Joe would let them know what the outcome was, and that if nothing was done about him, then and only then, would he step forward. Frank, Brian and Mikey were also compliant. They'd take what they had coming to them to see Gabe punished.
Gerard didn't say much beyond that for the rest of the night, and Frank didn't want to push him to. He ran Gerard a nice warm bath instead, and made some Pop Tarts, since neither was really in the mood for heavy food. Gerard ate quietly, stealing glances Frank's way every so often but not saying anything when Frank tried to smile at him.
"I think, um. I'm kinda tired," Gerard said finally, leaving the last half of his Pop Tart down on the plate.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. You? I'll come too? I--"
"No. It's okay," Gerard shrugged. "You don't... You can stay up awhile if you wanted. I don't need. I'm fine." He sighed, running his fingers slightly over Frank's outstretched hand before leaving him there at the table.
Frank sat with his mouth open for a minute, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean. He didn't need what? Looking after? Fussing over? Frank, maybe? He tossed the leftover food into the trash, sitting at the table and drumming his fingers on the surface. His knuckles were a little sore. He hadn't so much as tried to hit anyone in so long, he'd forgotten that raw, scraped knuckle pain that came with it. It didn't even feel that good to hit Gabe. It was satisfying at the time, but then it just. It was so frustrating. The pain was barely felt during the adrenaline rushing through him. To be honest, he kind of liked the dull ache that followed a good punch or two.
Following that thought, Frank stood up quickly, going for the kitchen door and giving it his best swing. It didn't hurt much, or even make much noise seeing as it was open. Frank cursed the fact that he hadn't thought of that, closing it to be sure he wouldn't make the mistake again. He took another swing. It was half-assed at best, but it did send a shot of pain through his wrist. He just wanted to break something. He aimed for the partition wall instead.
Two, three, four swings of his arm, and Frank had broken through. He was breathing heavily, leaning his head next to the gaping hole. "Fuck," he moaned quietly, looking at his hand but sort of grinning at it. He flexed his fingers and winced. It hurt, but it felt good. And he felt a little better. One of his knuckles was cut, some blood dripping down to his thumb when he lifted his hand up properly. Frank rinsed it under the cold tap, finding a plaster to cover it (realizing his mom's insistence at him having a first aid kit, wasn't such a bad idea), he found an old calendar he'd never used, tacking it over the hole.
Feeling kind of stupid for his act of violence, Frank shrugged it off, knowing he needed to get to the bottom of what really bothering him. He was furious about Gabe's sheer audacity, and the way it felt like Gerard was pushing him away at times. He'd been running hot and cold, and Frank tried to understand but really, he wasn't sure he'd come close no matter how much effort he put in. Mostly, he was angry with himself for being pissed about Gerard's change of moods in the first place. He just wanted to be supportive and caring.
Slowly, he padded upstairs to his room, wondering if Gerard really wanted him there, and not daring look at the bed in case Gerard said he wanted to be alone some more. Finally changed into a ratty old shirt and a pair of shorts, Frank headed for the bed, and found it completely empty. "Fuck," he whispered, quietly going to the guest room. He could see Gerard, curled up on one side of the bed and facing the wall. He stood in the doorway for a few minutes, resting his head on the arm he'd leant there and wondering if he should go over.
He decided against it, reasoning that if Gerard took it upon himself to sleep in the other room, when he knew he was more than welcome to share Frank's bed, he probably wanted some space. Frank struggled to sleep though, turning this way and that, staring up at the ceiling and clenching his fists in frustration before slipping out of bed and into the other room. It was quiet, and Frank assumed Gerard had fallen asleep long ago, so got in with him carefully. Being that Gerard had turned around, Frank took the hand that was aimlessly slung out in front of him to squeeze and hold in his own.
After a few minutes Gerard sighed, and brought their hands up to his cheek. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I just feel so up and down lately, like, there's no balance. I. Frank?"
"I'm awake, just listening."
"Okay. I'm sorry I've been like this with you. You've been nothing short of amazing to me and... I'm glad you came in, wasn't sure if you'd want to. I didn't really want to be on my own."
Frank moved himself closer until their knees were touching, and in the dark, missed where he was aiming, planting a kiss on the side of Gerard's nose. "Can we make a rule?" Frank asked, and he felt Gerard nod against him. "If you need some time alone, then say that. But if you don't, you need to let me know that, too, 'cause I very nearly did leave you in here... I don't want you thinking I don't care just because I'm not a mind reader, and if you say, imply, you wanna be on your own, then that's what you're gonna get. Y'know?"
"Yeah. I get it, I'm sorry. I'm just... scared," he admitted softly, running a finger over the plaster on Frank's hand. "I heard you, um. What did you hit?"
"Kitchen door... the wall."
Somewhat timidly, Gerard asked, "Were you mad at me?"
Frank blew a heavy breath through his nose. "Yeah. No. I. Both? It's just, things have been so tense, and after today, all I wanted to do was hold you, y'know?" He let go of Gerard's hand to tuck some hair behind his ear. "...kiss you, make you feel even a little better, a little okay. And you just. It was like you just blew me off. I was mad at myself because I was being selfish. I've no idea how all this feels for you, and all I was worried about was what I wanted, how I thought you should be acting." He finished with a whisper, "I don't wanna be like that."
"I guess we're both pretty stupid, huh?" Gerard laughed dryly, and slipped a knee between Frank's thighs to pull them closer.
"Guess so," he replied, wrapping an arm around Gerard's waist. "I love you though, you do know that, don't you?"
"I feel it. That's much more important." Frank smiled at that, like it was the perfect response, and when Gerard told Frank he loved him too, Frank couldn't help but blurt out the same thing. And mean it.
Then Gerard got up, lifting himself to hover over Frank lightly before just laying down over him and trying to rearrange the covers so they wouldn't get all scrunched up around them.
Sticking his face into Frank's neck, Gerard huffed out a couple of breaths while Frank just held his sides and leant their heads together. "It's gonna be okay, y'know?"
"How," Gerard asked, almost strained and into the crook of Frank's neck. "What if it's not?"
"It will be. If it's... If you. We'll deal. We'll make it work. We will," he said, not sure who he was trying to convince more.
"I hope so." Gerard sounded a little defeated. "God, Frank. I hope so." Gerard hitched his knees up, one either side of Frank, and leant up to look down at him, hands on Frank's chest. "I don't. Shit. I don't think I could deal with losing you now."
Frank sat up, Gerard's hands sliding around to his neck. He kept one hand behind him to hold himself up, gripping Gerard's shoulder lightly with the other and kissing the side of his jaw. "You're not going to. You're not," he whispered, skimming his lips over Gerard's cheek to his mouth and pressing against him. "I promise."
Gerard made a quiet sound, somewhere in his chest, parted his lips all soft and kissed Frank back. His hands tightened on Frank's neck, one tugging on the ends of his hair, licking his way into Frank's mouth. He definitely wasn't going to say no. So Frank smooshed their faces together a bit more, tilted his head. He almost choked on Gerard's tongue when he felt the hand on his dick.
Instinctively, Frank reached down to slide his hand inside Gerard's pajama pants. "Don't, Frank. I." Frank didn't have to ask what the problem was, his face asked for him. "I um. It's not. Just. Ugh," Gerard tipped his head back. "I hate my fucking body right now. It's not you, okay? It's not--"
"S'okay," Frank reassured. "Lie down, just relax." Gerard made a small noise of complaint, but arranged himself to lie down anyway, no doubt wondering what Frank was going to do. Frank didn't make him wait long, slowly unbuttoning Gerard's pajama top and running a single finger down the centre of his chest once he'd done so. He didn't make a move to slide it off of Gerard's shoulders, just left it hanging by his sides and kissed along his ribs from bottom to top, going all the way up Gerard's neck and over the tightness of his jaw, stopping when he got around to his ear. "Relax good for me, yeah?" he asked into Gerard's ear. "Like, completely. I don't care if you fall asleep."
Turning his head to find Frank's lips with his own, Gerard nodded, and Frank scooted down, bringing the pajama bottoms with him. Gerard kicked them off completely while Frank ghosted his fingers up his thigh to rest on his hip. He leant down to kiss Gerard's stomach, open and gentle, under his navel and over to his hip. Back and forth, going a little higher or a little lower each time. Gerard petted through his hair softly, his breathing slowing and speeding up with no real pattern, but he didn't say a word, just lay there trying to relax.
Eventually Frank's hand made its way off of Gerard's thigh. He wasn't hard. Only half, almost. But that was the point. Frank wanted him to be comfortable with that. That it didn't matter, that it was okay. Frank almost wanted to tell his mom all of it--she'd be so fucking proud over how mature and sensitive he'd been recently. Probably have a heart attack before she believed it though. Gerard grunted something that was probably asking Frank not to touch him, not there, but for once Frank was not going to listen. He cupped Gerard gently, palming up and down over him slowly. "Frank".
Frank did stop--just for a moment--but didn't remove his hand. "Doesn't feel good?"
Gerard sighed in frustration. "I'm not gonna come. Not happening."
"I'm not trying to make you," Frank said, not missing a beat. "Just touching you, okay?" He kissed Gerard's hip. Gerard didn't reply, but he didn't try and move away either, so Frank started moving his hand again, just slowly tracing his fingertips along Gerard's length. After a few minutes of tentative touches, Gerard stroked his hands through Frank's hair as his head lay on Gerard's hip. His eyes were closed gently, and slowly, so as not to alarm Gerard or stop him relaxing, he lifted his head up and over, pressed his tongue flat next to where his thumb was rubbing small circles, and licked up over the head once. Gerard took in a sharp breath. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah I really am," Gerard said, a slight laugh of surprise tingeing his tone.
"Feels good?"
"Mmmm, really good." He sounded all soft and dreamy, so Frank didn't stop even though it wasn't really doing anything for Gerard; he was still pretty soft, but Frank was gonna touch him and kiss him until Gerard wanted him to stop--or fell asleep. "Hey, could you? Um." Frank looked up. Could he what? He had no clue. "I uh. Could you..."
Gerard was blushing. It was dark, but Frank felt up to his face and stroked his cheek, he could feel how hot his skin was. Definitely blushing. "Could I what? Anything. Just ask me."
"Alright," Gerard took a deep breath. "Would? Ireallywantyoutofingerme," he said hurriedly, all in one go, one breath, one word.
Frank just shrugged, "Sure," licking around a couple of fingers as Gerard bent one of his knees up. He gave Gerard warning in the form of just rubbing one finger around his entrance for a few seconds before slowly fitting one in. Gerard didn't say anything, didn't move. He tensed up slightly but didn't ask Frank to stop, so he didn't. Instead, he moved his finger carefully back and forth, gently sliding a second in beside it after a minute or so. "This alright? What you want?" Frank guessed he liked the stretch, probably because he himself quite enjoyed it, though admittedly he'd never tried when he wasn't turned on. Gerard was though, he assumed, just having trouble getting it through to his dick.
"Nnnh, yeah," Gerard shifted a bit, pushed down. "C'mere though."
Frank slithered his way up Gerard's body with kisses, still moving his fingers. Deeper each time, he almost pulled them out. When he reached Gerard's mouth, he kissed him slow and open, not being able to help the way he rocked against the firmness of his hip once he'd made contact with it. "Sorry," he mumbled, embarrassed by his eagerness to hump Gerard's side.
Gerard shook his head, "No. Don't be sorry," and pressed closer to Frank, trying to get him more friction. "You can. I don't mind. You should."
Frank didn't disagree, as weird as it felt, pushing and twisting, curling his fingers inside Gerard, faster when he recognized the groans and short breaths it drew from him. By the time Frank's hips started stuttering, and he started gasping, grunting out hot bursts of breath against Gerard's cheek, Gerard had taken his hand away from where it'd been digging into Frank's side. He looked down as he came, baring his teeth over Gerard's shoulder and noticing that he was stroking himself slowly, almost perfectly erect. "Fuck," Frank shuddered, his orgasm washing over him, and Gerard's own movements taking over his attention. "You? Wow. Let me," he said, shuffling down the bed and trying to knock Gerard's hand away with his chin and tongue. He was leaning on one arm for support, the other's fingers still moving slick inside Gerard.
"No," he panted heavily. "Fuck. I've felt like I could come for the past half hour. Not," he gritted out, "not gonna take long. Can you just keep doing that?"
"Mmm, yeah. Whatever helps." Frank watched fixated as Gerard fisted over himself, leaning over once just to lick the head, and moving back just in time to see him come.
"Frank, Frank, nnnfuck," Gerard's voice was strained, and Frank kissed the back of his hand as it slowed and stilled, biting his lip at the way Gerard tensed around his fingers. "Fr-Frank. You're persistent. I'll give you that," he half laughed, half stuttered.
"Quitting never gets you anywhere," he said knowingly, and carefully removed his fingers from Gerard, wiping them on his shorts as he'd have to change them anyway. "We should get cleaned up real quick and then we can sleep. Deal?"
Gerard didn't find his voice until Frank had come back to the bed--complete with new shorts and a warm, wet flannel for Gerard. "Thanks. You know, for not making a big deal out of, it."
"Shit, stop thanking me for stuff or I'll have to start charging for my awesomeness," Frank joked as he jumped onto the bed, pleased with himself. "And it's not a big deal. It happens." He let Gerard tuck himself into his side before pulling the covers over them both and leaning into the warmth, wrapping his arms around Gerard as much as he could do. "When we're really fucking old, and need Viagra to get off at all, then, it'll be a big deal." Gerard laughed, playfully slapping Frank's chest and nuzzling into his neck. "No, no, seriously. I can totally see it. I'm gonna get the awful salt and pepper kind of grey hair, and yours'll go like, almost white. But it'll be really hot, and we'll wanna fuck all the time, except we'll have to get a calendar and plan it."
Gerard laughed. "What? Are we gonna be super busy or something?" he asked, getting into the visualization.
"No, we'll just be super impotent, so we'll have to plan an' make sure we've got supplies," Frank giggled, stupid and high pitched, starting Gerard off too, and they kissed, closed mouthed and grinning into it.
"So when you think about us, you think of us being all impotent and wrinkly?" Gerard scrunched up his nose.
"Not all the time," Frank tried to defend himself. "Mostly it's just us like we are now," he took a deep breath, wanting to keep his voice steady and not laugh. "But with handcuffs and riding crops. And gags. And weird vibrators, and beads. Y'know, regular kinky shit."
Gerard actually looked... kind of shocked. Pretty much what Frank was going for. "Are. Are you serious?" he asked, eyes wide as he waited for the answer.
"Ha, no. No, I was just kidding..." Gerard let out a whoosh of breath at hearing that, and Frank smirked. "You'd be down with the handcuffs though, yeah? 'Cause, seriously? Hot."
Gerard rolled his eyes, nipping at Frank's jaw and settling down onto his chest to sleep. "Yes. I'm down with the handcuffs," he mocked, following it with another yes, just for clarification.
Frank grinned and bit on his lip. "Awesome. I'm so keeping you."
................
They hadn't had much time to sleep that night, waking up blurry eyed and groggy. Frank was first to venture out of bed, staggering zombie-like down the stairs and leaving Gerard wrapped up and warm while he made coffee. He munched on an apple between sips. Gerard couldn't eat anything, said his insides were all twisted and buzzy; he was worried about the test and the result all over again.
"Four weeks!" Gerard had said suddenly. "Four fucking weeks! I don't know how much more waiting I can take, Frank."
"You can take a few more weeks," Frank stood next to him, brushing a hand through Gerard's hair. "I know you can." Gerard hummed in reply, looking up and trying for a smile while leaning his head against Frank's thigh. "I've to work this afternoon, but I'll be back about 8 o'clock. You staying here, or do you wanna go home? Oh, and I found a couple of your shirts and some socks the other day--want me to bag them up for you?"
"Uh no. It's okay. I'll. Another time. I'm gonna go home, talk to Mikey about yesterday. I still can't... I need to talk to him properly. About everything."
Frank nodded, holding out a hand to help Gerard up and pull him into a hug. "I'll go back with you and then come here and change for work." Frank kissed Gerard's cheek, linking their fingers. "You'll call me later, yeah? Let me know how it goes."
.......................
At work, Frank managed a whole two hours before begging Maja to let him go and see Patrick for a few minutes.
"Hey, man. You busy?" Frank called as he knocked on Patrick's office door. It was opened shortly after, and Frank wrung his hands together as he walked in. "You got a minute?"
"Uh yeah, sure. Meds going okay? Not feeling too sick or-"
"It's about Gerard."
"Oh," Patrick nodded, sitting down in his large chair. "What is it?"
"Is there any way he can have the test earlier? It's just that. Well. Yesterday-"
"I know about yesterday. Joe told me," he said quickly. "I asked him to bring Mr. Saporta in this morning so we could have him tested quickly, put your minds at ease... That's what you came for, right?"
Frank sighed with relief. "Saporta? That's Gabe?" Patrick nodded and Frank said, "Alright. That's. That's good. How long until you know?"
"Few days? I've got a rush on at the moment but I'm pushing it through for you guys. You didn't hear it from me though, okay? This isn't something I'm meant to divulge to you, but, I know how important it is. And hopefully you'll be fine to come off the medication afterwards."
"Thank you, man," Frank launched himself at Patrick, hugging him before he could get up out of his seat. "Thank you so much!"
The first thing Frank wanted to do was call Gerard and tell him he wasn't going to need his test, but he didn't want to interrupt any talking between Gerard and Mikey, so figured he'd wait until later.
When Bob arrived to take over from Maja, he'd brought Frank coffee. For the first time ever. "What did you do?"
"What?" Bob blinked a few times, handing Frank the coffee and pulling him into a hug. "I just thought. You know... I heard about what happened. You guys okay?"
"Thanks. I think so," Frank shrugged. "Just glad we got him to be honest."
"Thanks to you, I hear. Nice work, Detective Iero." Taking a look at his watch as Frank blushed, he pointed out towards the garden. "Go on. Go take a break. Jon's off this evening so I've a lot of work for you to get on with before you finish."
.........................
William was filling in for Jon's absence, and sometimes Travis visits patients in the wards because some of them find his small room with the day bed a little intimidating. Those two things are completely unconnected except for when you factor in the way William's just standing there, staring at Travis when Frank comes back from his break.
"You're drooling over the desk," Frank told him with a squeeze to William's shoulders that made him jump. He laughed when William actually wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
"Um. What? I'm not. Not drooling. It's just..."
"Excess saliva whilst staring wantonly at the resident therapist?"
Scowling slightly--which Frank thought could never be intimidating even if it was meant to be--William swiped some hair out of his eyes and cracked a smile. "Whatever. Just. Shouldn't they close the curtain or something at least?"
"I don't think the first concern is whether Travis is distracting the staff by simply being in the room." William blushed and looked back down at his paperwork, his schedule of medications and jobs he had to do. "How're you doing with all this? Getting on alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. Not too bad," he shrugged.
Frank smiled at William's apparent shyness. "If you need any help just let me know. And uh, he doesn't bite, that I know of," he gestured to Travis with a nod of his head before getting back to folding some freshly laundered bed sheets.
Gerard called Frank pretty late that night. He'd managed to smooth things over with Mikey to a certain point. "I just feel like he's hiding something from me, but I'm not sure what."
"How do you know?" Frank asked.
"Just this feeling. I've always known when he's holding back. I don't think it's good, Frank. I've got a bad feeling about whatever he's hiding from me."
....................
Frank got quite a shock the next day when he read in the local paper that Gabe's trial was starting the next day. Something about the judge reviewing the case wanting to get it started because Gabe had a lot of family south of the border, and didn't wanna give him any time to get away with the allegations against him.
Joe urged Frank to stay away from the court, and to keep Gerard away too. He had Gerard and Mikey come over after they'd found out Gabe had pleaded not guilty, for each court session, just to be sure neither would be tempted to go there. He was still feeling like crap from the medication anyway, and even though Mikey didn't know the reason for his lethargy, he and Gerard looked after Frank while they were there.
There were two days left of evidence giving and testifying when Frank went into work, only to be met by Patrick waiting for him.
"Want some good news?" he said with a grin.
"You just heard the trial's finished early and Gabe got life?"
Patrick rolled his eyes. "You know that's not gonna happen, Frank. But, I got the results back a few hours ago. He's clean. An STD or two, but no HIV."
Frank didn't have anything he was capable of saying right then, he just hugged Patrick as hard as he could.
As he was leaving work, Frank called Gerard, asked him to meet him at his house. He couldn't wait to tell him the news.
It wasn't Gerard waiting for Frank when he arrived home, though. It was Joe.
"I gotta talk to you. We have a problem with--" it was as far as Joe got before Mikey's car pulled up, and he and Gerard stepped out.
Frank sighed; problems--obviously--were never good. "Guess we'd all better go in then."
Frank sat with his fingers entwined with Gerard's, as they crowded around the kitchen table to hear what Joe had to say.
"We had two girls giving evidence against Gabe, but one of them's pulled out. It wouldn't be a huge problem, except that she's the only one we have DNA evidence from. We can still use it, but if the jury decides it was consensual because she's not there to say otherwise, then we're down to one girl and nothing other than her word for what happened."
Mikey stayed tight-lipped as Gerard gasped. "Fuck! So. That means... I have to do it, don't I? I'll have to give evidence myself." He squeezed Frank's hand hard, and Frank rested his head against Gerard's.
"We'll be there. If you want to do it, won't we, Mikey. We'll be there for you. Right there."
Mikey nodded but still didn't speak. Gerard was on the verge of tears just thinking about it.
"Well, I don't know. Let me see what I can sort out, okay? I just wanted to let you guys know how things are going." Joe broke out a small smile as he began talking again. "On the plus-side, we had him tested and the results are, well, mostly clear. So you've nothing to worry about--"
"Tested for what?" Mikey asked, looking between the three of them, "What are you talking about?"
Joe sat open-mouthed for a second, rubbing at his chin before mumbling, "You know, I should probably leave you to talk about that. Sorry, I didn't know, y'know. Sorry." Joe stood, taking a card from his pocket and leaving it on the table before leaving. "If you have any questions or concerns, just call me."
"I wanted to tell you, Mikey. Honest to God, I did, but--"
"Tell me what? I don't wanna hear your excuses; just tell me what's going on!"
Frank got his medications from the cupboard and together, he and Gerard explained everything about the HIV test, and why Frank was being medicated. Mikey was angry at first, before he held Gerard tight and cried into his shoulder. "Why didn't you just tell me? I would've been there for you, you know that. I love you, Gee, you should've told me."
"Love you, too, Mikey. You know I do, and I'd have told you but I didn't want you to worry. You always worry about me, and you've done so much to look after me... I didn't wanna put this on you as well."
"I worry about you anyway, stupid," he said slightly relieved. "Just stop hiding shit now, okay? And you," Mikey sat up, looking to Frank, “I don't know whether to be pissed at you or thank you for doing what I should've been doing."
"I don't think you should've been doing everything I've done," Frank smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't be gross, okay? You know what I meant. Thank you. For, y'know, looking after him---"
"Mikey?" Gerard cut in, "While we're talking about not keeping secrets, I know there's something you're not telling me."
"Gerard--"
"Spill. I know you, Mikey. What is it?" Gerard asked sadly, his head tilted to the side. He tried to take Mikey's hands in his own, but Mikey pulled them away.
"No. No, I can't, okay? It's nothing. I've to go. I have things I have to get on with."
"No? You're gonna get pissed at me for not telling you stuff, and then do the exact same thing to me? You think I don't worry about you, too?" Gerard got up, blocking the kitchen doorway so Mikey couldn't leave.
"Maybe this just isn't the time? Maybe later, Mikey?" Frank tried, hoping to diffuse the situation because Gerard was looking increasingly annoyed.
"What? No. Fuck, Frank, why are you taking his side? Tell me, Mikey. Tell me what's going on. If you're in trouble or something I'll help you, you know I will."
"No," Mikey said firmly. "No. I have to go," Mikey held Gerard gently by his shoulders until he took his hands from the door frame. "You'll find out. Just not right now. Now, I have to go."
He left with Gerard still standing there, his hands limp at his sides.
....................
Gerard stayed with Frank that night. They didn't talk much, but instead just sat around doing pretty much nothing, glued to each other's sides throughout the evening. Gerard tried sketching a few things but couldn't concentrate enough to get what he envisioned out onto the paper, so Frank tried to distract him by showing him his collection of old vinyl. It was mostly given to him by his father, but there was a lot there that Gerard liked. "You don't have a vinyl deck; do you ever play these?"
"I used to have one, but I broke the needle and it was old, y'know? I couldn't find one to fit," Frank shrugged. "I like having them around anyway. It's not big deal."
Gerard's eyes widened when he got to one record in particular. "You have Iron Maiden. On vinyl. That, I have to hear!"
"Wish I could play it for you, but. Yeah. Nothing to play it on."
"Fuck that, I'll make something for it to play on if I have to. I swear."
Frank laughed, the thought was sweet but wasn't very likely. He put his collection away, keeping the Maiden one to put in a different drawer so he wouldn't forget about it. If Gerard liked it that much, maybe he could give it to him as a gift sometime--once he'd gotten a player. Opening his wardrobe to leave the vinyl safely at the bottom, Frank was a little puzzled when a pair of sneakers that weren't his fell out onto the floor. "These yours?" he asked Gerard.
"Uh, yeah. They're mine." Gerard took them, placing them by his feet at the side of the bed. "You know what we didn't talk about yet?"
"What?" Frank asked idly, looking around for anything that needed cleaning up. He was trying to keep a little tidy now that Gerard was over so much. "Keep talking, I'll be back in a second."
Gerard had been doing a lot of Frank's laundry for him while he wasn't feeling good, but Frank hadn't bothered putting any of it away. "The test," Gerard shouted after him. Frank grinned. Yeah, they hadn't really had a chance to celebrate that yet. Going through the dirty pile of clothes, Frank saw a few things of Gerard's; a t-shirt, hoodie, some socks. He didn't mind, of course, but if Gerard wasn't more careful Frank was going to end up with some new additions to his clothing. "I can't believe we know now, and I don't even have to see another needle. And you don't have to take that nasty medication anymore."
Having sorted a load of clothes to be done the next morning, and still not bothering to put the clean ones away, Frank went back to the bedroom. "I know," he smiled. Gerard was swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "It's great. Really fucking great."
Gerard stood to meet him halfway across the room, practically falling into Frank's arms as the weight and realization of what the test results actually meant finally washed over him. "I was so scared, Frank. So scared."
"Hey!" Frank said, half surprised at Gerard's sudden change of mood. He wrapped his arms tight around Gerard's shoulders, not so much hugging him as just holding him. "This is a good thing, remember? It's okay now. Everything's okay. We should be celebrating, shouldn't we? Don't be sad now; it's over with."
"The rest isn't though," Gerard tore his head away from where it'd been pressed into Frank's neck, "What if he, what if Gabe gets off? I mean, if it were me, I'd want some kind of retribution for almost going to jail. That's the kind of guy he is, right?"
"He's not going to." Frank placed a hand of each of Gerard's cheeks, forcing him gently to look directly at him. "I'm sure of it. And if he does get away with it then. Then I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You know that, right? We can do this."
Gerard nodded solemnly. "What about Mikey?"
"We'll both look out for him, yeah? You and me together."
"Okay," Gerard whispered, letting his nose press against Frank's and pursing out his lips in a barely-there kiss. "But, can we hold off celebrating until we know what's going on with the trial? I just. I'm happy, really, but I can't get it off my mind right now."
"Of course. We'll get some sleep and see how things look tomorrow. I'm just glad one hurdle's been crossed."
As Frank lay in bed that night, Gerard tucked up safely by his side, he let a few tears of relief slip down his cheeks. Everything had to turn out alright from then on. It just had to. He tucked a few strands of hair back from Gerard's face and resumed his earlier position of one foot tangled with Gerard's, and an arm around his waist, listening to him breath steadily as he fell asleep.
.................
Somehow they'd both managed to sleep in the next morning, through three of Frank's alarms and a handful of phone calls.
Groping around blindly for his phone as it rang for what he later realized was the sixth time, Frank answered it with a muffled groan, his mouth feeling like he'd spent the afternoon in a dentist's chair; all thick and like it'd been filled with cotton balls.
"Frank? Are you listening? I've been trying to get through to you for ages."
"Joe? What's goin' on? Too early." Frank tried sitting up a little without waking Gerard.
"I think you should come down to the courthouse. We have some new evidence... Someone else to testify."
Frank blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and willing his brain to wake up. "Who?"
"Mikey."
.....................
After waking Gerard as fast as he could, it took them all of half an hour to get dressed and rush out of the door. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about catching a bus; Joe had organized a cab to pick them up. "I don't understand," Gerard kept saying, gripping Frank's hands tight and staring out of the window. "Why? Why's he doing this? He's gonna get in so much trouble if anyone finds out he's lying. I should've known. It's my fault, he's always doing stupid shit because of me."
"I don't know," was all Frank could say, planting a kiss into Gerard's hair. He prayed they'd just hurry up and get there.
Once they'd arrived, they wandered around for a few minutes, trying to find out where they were meant to be. Luckily, Joe found them. It was a closed court session, but he managed to get them in after explaining to the guard who they were. "I did some digging around last night after I left your place, Frank," he said before they went inside. "Some things I'd been trying to find out... He's done this before. If they find him guilty, the judge won't go easy on him."
Mikey was already giving evidence when they found a seat, Gabe sitting across from him like nothing could touch him, and obviously trying to stare Mikey down, scare him into making a mistake. It didn't seem to be working, and Mikey answered all questions thrown at him as calmly as he could. Frank could see his eyes well up as his gaze rested upon them for a few moments, and Mikey stuttered, having trouble keeping his composure for a brief time.
"Why's he giving evidence?" Frank whispered to Joe, who was sitting on the other side of Gerard. "Is he taking Gerard's place or something? What if someone finds out?"
"There's nothing to find out," Joe whispered back, obviously saddened. "He called me last night and said he wanted to do this. Said Gabe had done the same to him. He sounded unsure on the phone so I didn't think he was going to show..."
Gerard's jaw fell open, and Frank realized that it was what Gerard had known Mikey was hiding. That it had happened to him, too. He tried to put on a brave face for Gerard, but Gerard got up suddenly, pushing his way out of the room as Mikey began to recount the events the night Gabe had raped him.
Joe stayed but Frank followed quickly, managing to pull Gerard's hair from his face before he threw up in the hall, and again in the toilets. He didn't know what to say to be comforting, he didn't even know what to think, so he just rubbed Gerard's back until he stood up and leant against the wall. He was a lot paler than usual, even down to his lips, and Frank had to hold him to keep him steady.
"I don't feel too good," Gerard mumbled, head lolling forward slightly and coming to rest on Frank's shoulder.
"I know," Frank replied, "I. I know."
"No, really. I think 'm gonna..." Gerard suddenly went limp in Frank's arms, and he carefully lowered him to the floor.
"Shit, you did not just pass out on me." Frank checked to make sure Gerard was still breathing okay, before looking out into the hall for help.
When he finally came round, Mikey had finished giving his evidence. Gerard was propped up on a bench out the back, and Frank sat next to him, smoking and waiting for Mikey and Joe to join them.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Mikey said as he rushed over, sitting at Gerard’s feet and hugging his brother's legs.
"I'm fine, Mikes. I'm okay now," Gerard said, leaning down to wrap his arms around Mikey's shoulders. "Just. I couldn't listen to that... Why didn't you tell me?" Mikey didn't answer, just looked up at him sadly. Gerard stroked his hands down Mikey's cheeks tenderly, tears threatening to fall. His voice was slightly harsh, his words gritted out when he said, "You should've told me. I'm your brother, I'm meant to look after you. Why, Mikey? Why?"
"I couldn't," Mikey shook his head, "I was so... so ashamed I'd let it happen--"
"No," Gerard said firmly. "No. It wasn't your fault--"
"But I went out with him, Gee. I did. Willingly, but I didn't wanna... I didn't..."
Frank left them then, going to talk to Joe to find out how things went after they left.
"Pretty well, actually," was Joe's immediate answer. "The judge decided to have the jury go ahead and deliberate today instead of tomorrow, seeing as they had someone else to give evidence." He patted Frank's back as they both looked over to where the brothers were hugging. "I think they're gonna be on our side."
"Fuck, seriously?"
"Yeah, Mikey did really well considering what he had to say. We should know what's going to happen in a while."
...................
Neither Gerard nor Mikey wanted to be around for the verdict, so they went to get coffee, give themselves time to talk. It was also somewhat of a distraction to what was going on. Frank stayed behind but didn't go back into the courtroom with Joe, preferring to stay outside smoking furiously to keep from being arrested himself, for jumping the barriers to fuck Gabe up some more. Almost two hours and nearly a whole pack of cigarettes later, Joe emerged from the building.
He started talking before Frank even had a chance to look up at him. "He got charged on two counts of felony sexual assault. Gonna be doing a five year mandatory sentence at New Jersey State prison. Without the hard evidence to back it up, he probably wouldn't have got much at all if the judge didn't have access to his file. Being that he's done it before, the judge didn't see much else he could do but give him time."
"Mandatory? That's no time off for good behavior, right?" Joe nodded, and Frank almost let himself grin. He resisted the temptation of a jeer or two in Gabe's direction as he was led out of the court and down the steps, handcuffs obviously tight around his wrists. "I gotta thank you, man, for all your help," Frank said, completely sincere, and with a firm handshake-hug to prove it.
"Not a problem, Frank. You know that. Just glad to see him put away."
.............
Frank called Gerard to let him know what was going on as soon as Joe had to leave to get back to work, and they met up at the little coffee house the brothers had been sitting in while they talked. Mikey's face was tear-stricken, and Gerard's looked as though he'd just jet-washed it; slightly red, but his lashes were mostly wet and stuck together.
It was like three people that hadn't seen each other in years, the way they all hugged and squeezed each other. "I'm gonna go home," Mikey mumbled into Frank's shoulder after a while, lifting his head to look at them both.
"Yeah, probably a good idea," Gerard agreed. "Um, Frank, why don't you come with us? Stay the night? I'm sure mom's getting withdrawal from seeing you anyway--"
"No," Mikey cut in.
"Oh, hey, no. It's cool, I'll see you guys tomorrow or something," Frank said, trying to assure Gerard it was fine because he was looking at Mikey pretty weirdly.
Mikey shook his head, "No, I mean I'm gonna go home. You go with Frank, okay? Honestly, Gee, I just wanna hang out with some people that have nothing to do with today... Just for a while."
"You sure, Mikey? Seriously," Frank asked, kind of skeptic.
"Yeah, seriously. I'm just gonna grab some movies and hang out with a few people I haven't seen for a while." He turned to Gerard, pressing a kiss to his cheek and whispering, "Love you, bro. I'll talk to you later."
"O-oh, okay," Gerard said quietly, "Love you, too."
Gerard watched sadly as Mikey left. He got halfway to the parking lot before he turned around. "You guys want a ride?"
Frank dragged Gerard along without either of them answering, and they both tried a few more times to get Mikey to change his mind before they ended up parked outside Frank's house. "Really, seriously, I'm sure. There's um. There's this girl I've been meaning to talk to for a while, y'know?" Mikey sat with his hands still on the steering wheel. "This feels like it should be a fresh start, for both of us," he put one hand on Gerard's knee and squeezed gently. "I don't want you two messing it up for me. You guys go do whatever it is you do, and I'm gonna try and--"
"Bag a hot girl?" Gerard said with a wink, placing his hand over Mikey's before punching him playfully in the arm. "She got a name?"
Frank laughed, Mikey didn't. "Shut up. Just 'cause you're all loved up or whatever... Just get out of my car before I drive you twenty miles out of your way and leave you both there."
"He'll do it," Gerard said knowingly. "He's done it to me before, c'mon." Gerard climbed out, quickly getting Frank's door for him before he'd closed his own. He leant back into the car, "Look after yourself, okay?"
"I will, Gee. Promise. Now, shut the door and fuck off," Mikey replied, slightly grinning as he started the ignition back up.
Gerard watched as Mikey drove away, his hands falling limp by his sides before running one through his hair. "Long fucking day," he said to no-one in particular.
"Yeah," Frank agreed, wrapping his arms around Gerard's waist and resting his head on Gerard's shoulder, "but time to relax now. How're you feeling?"
Gerard looked up into the sky, locking his fingers with Frank's before answering. "Exhausted, sad, happy, relieved? I don't know. Like, a million different things."
"But you're happy?"
"I'm always happy when you're around. Even if I don't always show it. Hungry, though. What're you gonna cook me?" he asked with a smirk.
"Hmmm, I don't know," Frank swung them around towards his house and walked awkwardly behind Gerard until they got to his door, unlocking it with his arms still around Gerard's middle. "I have some fake bacon strips? Oh, you know what else is good?" Frank asked, shutting the door behind them and pressing Gerard up against it.
"What?" Gerard played along with a roll of his eyes.
Frank rubbed one thumb along Gerard's jaw and then his lips before bringing his own closer. "You," he said, kissing Gerard slowly with a hand tucked around his neck, his eyes closed softly.
Gerard kissed him back, parting his lips and letting his hands wander up the back of Frank's shirt. His skin was warm, and Gerard hummed against his mouth, against his teeth and his tongue. "You, too," he smiled. "I was actually hungry though."
"Too hungry to make out with me for a while?" Frank put on his best puppy dog look before attaching his mouth to Gerard's cheek, behind his ear, his throat. Gerard relaxed in Frank's arms, offering up more of his neck, and he took it as a sign Gerard wasn't so hungry that Frank had to stop.
Gerard held his arms lazily around Frank's shoulders as they continued to kiss, and Frank pressed against just him a bit harder, bringing his hands to Gerard's shirt and unbuttoning it all the way down. He managed to get his palms flat onto Gerard's chest before Gerard noticed. "Frank," he gasped, eyes following Frank's hands down to his waist as he played with the ends of Frank's hair.
"Hmmm?" Frank hummed, taking Gerard's mouth over again briefly while he fiddled with his jeans, opening them enough to push them down to his thighs and fit his hand around Gerard's cock. He wasn't having trouble getting hard anymore, and pushed into Frank's hand, knocking his head back into the door as Frank slouched down onto his knees and left wet kiss marks on his stomach.
"I um, I think we passed making out," Gerard said slowly, sucking in his lower lip while watching Frank's tongue slip out to lick along his cock. He looked up at Gerard with a loose hold on him, moving his fist slowly up and down. "D-don't. Don't stop though, please."
Frank didn't stop. Gerard's length was heavy in his hand as his brought his lips to it, opening his mouth wide to take him in. He flicked his tongue over the slit, around the ridge, finally trying to swallowing him down as far as he could. Gerard stole a glance at him, Frank's lashes fanned against his cheeks as they hollowed repeatedly, sucking him hard and slow, pumping him with one hand and stroking across Gerard's hip with the other.
Gerard held Frank's head in his hands, feeling it bob and moving his hips, moving himself gently in and out of his mouth. "God, Frank," he whispered breathlessly, letting his head fall back again. Frank upped his speed, moving his hand faster and sucking harder. He used his tongue more, without taking his mouth away, just pressing it along the veins as he moved his head, swirling it back and forth as much as he could. He could feel Gerard's thighs tense in front of him, and suddenly Gerard gripped his hair tight. "Frank. Frank, you-" he cut himself off, remembering that no, Frank didn't have to move anymore, didn't have to pull away. He could come in Frank's mouth as much as he wanted and it didn't matter.
That thought helped him along, and he came hard, his hips jerking awkwardly as he tried to not to pull Frank's head too hard. He gasped and groaned, and Frank just stayed, waited until he'd stopped moving in uncontrolled little jerks. When Gerard opened his eyes, Frank was looking at him, wiping the corner his mouth with his sleeve and grinning crazily, "I can't believe I had to wait six months to do that without you getting mad at me," he said, pulling Gerard's clothing back up with him as he stood.
"Bad joke," Gerard warned him, "but oh my God, Frank. Your fucking mouth."
Frank grinned."You like it?" he moved his mouth to make a few weird faces, taking Gerard's hands and lifting them up to the wall above his head.
"Hell yeah," Gerard laughed, bending his neck forward to kiss him with a loud smacking sound as he pulled back. "Best mouth ever," he took one of his hands down from above his head to reach the hem of Frank's jeans with a smirk.
Frank shook his head, "I thought you were hungry?"
"I am, but it can wait a few minutes more."
Frank was hard, definitely, but Gerard's moans and the feel of his cock in Frank's mouth, had turned him on so much he'd swear all it would take was Gerard staring at his cock for a few seconds before he'd come. And he definitely didn't want that to happen. "How about we eat, and then you can do whatever you want to me?" And God, Frank hoped whatever Gerard wanted to do would be good.
"Okay, have it your way, Frank," he palmed over the front of Frank's jeans as he spoke, "but for the record, I really, really wanted to blow you."
Frank groaned and pulled himself away as he heard Gerard's stomach give a grumble of hunger. He forced a laugh, "Don't be a tease, its mean."
Gerard shoved his hands in the front pockets of Frank's jeans, walking behind him and into the kitchen. "I wasn't being a tease, I wanted to. You're the one who said no," he reminded Frank, nipping at his neck.
Frank tried to ignore it, pouring water into a pan to cook some rice. Gerard stayed though, glued to his pockets and back, and Frank wondered briefly if it were possible for his erection to drill a hole through his jeans. As he dumped some rice in, Gerard took one the hands from his pockets and stroked it up under Frank's t-shirt, rubbing his stomach.
It was tempting, too tempting. And they'd waited a long time for this--to be able to be together and intimate without having to hold back or worry, and Frank wanted it to be a good night. He turned off the stove and peeled Gerard's hands from his body, reluctantly, but he did. "We should go out instead."
"Out? Like... Where?"
"There's a diner, not too far. Not like five star restaurant or anything but," Frank picked up his keys and Gerard followed him to the door, "it's cozy? What do you think? Have someone else cook for us," he started buttoning up Gerard's shirt, smoothing it down his sides. "And you look really good; I wanna show you off instead of keeping you here all the time."
Gerard smiled, curling his arms around Frank's neck. "Yeah, yeah okay. Sounds good. Celebratory dinner," he kissed Frank quickly and fixed his hair so that it wasn't covering his eyes. "Lead the way."
They walked. It wasn't too bad out and the air was crisp, but they were warm enough with their jackets on. They held hands all the way there, and Frank couldn't keep himself from smiling, and occasionally thinking about what might happen once they got home. Or, back to his house. Though it felt more like home since Gerard had been around. He looked at Gerard then, as they approached the diner. "You okay?" Gerard asked, obviously noticing Frank had been deep in thought. He nodded. He was fine.
"Just thinking."
"I could tell. Anything good?"
"Maybe. Maybe I'll tell you later," he smiled, thinking that yeah, maybe he would. Maybe it would be good to have Gerard around a little more permanently. Living with someone--his boyfriend. Frank couldn't have been happier at that thought.
part six b. last chapter