fic
Title: Boys in Bands Got it So Damn Bad (3/3)
Author: nova33
Pairings: Frank/Patrick, Gerard/Pete
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Frank is almost at his boiling point with these kids, and the stupid fucking high school stereotypes. High School AU.
Disclaimer: Entirely fiction in so many ways.
Notes: Thanks to
midnightblue88 for beta-ing.
Frank spends the remainder of the weekend imagining Pete and Patrick in couple-y situations - some more graphic than others - which makes him both sad and annoyed at the same time. Sad because, well, Gerard’s sort of right; he does have it bad for this boy who he’s barely even spoken to. Annoyed because jackasses like Pete - good music taste aside - should not get adorable, shy boys like Patrick. It’s just not fair.
By Monday Frank has decided to walk to school and not torture himself any further on the bus. He’ll be leaving Gerard alone, but people tend to leave Gerard alone anyways, and he can read for the twenty minutes it takes to get home. He sends Gerard a text on Monday morning as soon as he wakes up.
g, sry 2 leave u alone, decided 2 not torture myself w/ p + p, see u 2morrow @ bus stop
Gerard isn’t pleased with him through the morning, and continues sending him disgruntled glares through all of his classes. At lunch, he pulls him away and hisses, “So you thought it was a better idea to leave me alone with both of them?”
Frank is tempted to hang his head in shame. “Sorry. It was a shitty thing to do.”
Gerard lets up slightly. “It definitely was.” He gives Frank an appraising look. “You’re going to walk home, too, aren’t you?”
Frank shrugs. “Sorry, really. I just figured you could read, or something. You know I’d have just spent the whole time watching them.”
“Pete tried to talk to me,” Gerard says.
“And?”
“And I barely answered him at all, and he walked away pissed.”
“He doesn’t seem like the most understanding of people,” Frank supplies, earning another glare from Gerard.
“I think he understands perfectly - we walked out on him, and now I won’t tell him why.”
“Gee-”
“No, it’s okay,” Gerard says, tone sad and face softening. “I did just read, after that. I’m still a little pissed, though.” He smiles softly at Frank. “You know I love you, Iero? For some crazy-ass reason, I’m willing to forgive you even when you’re a complete dickhead.”
“Yeah, I know,” Frank says, and gives Gerard a quick hug. “I’m just putting you into practice for Pete.”
Gerard laughs. “Very funny.”
“Yeah, I thought it wasn’t bad,” Frank replies modestly, and Gerard punches him in the arm.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow on the bus?” Gerard asks, gazing at him questioningly.
“Yeah, definitely,” Frank replies emphatically. “And I really am sorry.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Gerard says with an eye roll. “Now. Ray wanted to practice-”
“Of course he does,” Frank cuts in.
“Don’t start with me, Mr. Iero,” Gerard says with a warning tone.
“Wouldn’t think of it, Mr. Way,” Frank replies with a sigh, and they continue down the hall.
****
Gerard is deeply engrossed in his book - in the sense that he keeps re-reading the same paragraph over and over - when Pete and Patrick get on the bus. Pete, face set in a grim line, walks purposefully and sits down next to Gerard. Patrick sits a couple seats in front of them, giving them one nervous glance.
“Gerard?”
“Pete?” Gerard responds, looking up from his book.
“Why did you guys ditch us on Friday night?” he asks seriously, no hint of his usual grin.
“We…” Gerard falters a little, unable to think of a plausible reason on the spot. “Would you believe me if I said we had a sudden urge to wash our hair?”
A smile twitches at Pete’s lips, but he still regards Gerard solemnly. “Together?” The look on Gerard’s face in response to that must be pretty amusing, because Pete finally loses control and breaks into laughter. “Okay, dude, that was - seriously, your face. I’ll take that as a no.”
“Yeah, definitely a no,” Gerard responds, smiling a little.
“So, a plausible reason?”
“Are you and Patrick…together?” Gerard asks after a couple moments of hesitation. Pete laughs, and then stops abruptly.
“Wait - you’re serious? Me and Patrick?” Pete looks completely dumbfounded. “Have you not noticed my blatant attempts at hitting on you? And Patrick’s ability to blush ten times redder whenever Frank is in close proximity?”
“Hey!” Patrick says, turning in his seat.
“Um….” Gerard replies. “Well, it’s just, you’re really…cuddly, with him. And on stage. And then you kissed him.”
Pete rolls his eyes. “That’s just how I am, dude. The only reason I’m not like that with you is because I didn’t want to freak you the fuck out.”
“Wait - you thought we were…?” Patrick asks, looking genuinely shocked.
“Yeah, and so does Frank,” Gerard responds, blushing embarrassedly and looking down at his hands.
“You are such an idiot,” Pete says exasperatedly, but there’s an obvious line of affection through his tone.
“Yeah, I know,” Gerard says, smiling up at Pete.
“Patrick, you should probably talk to Frank,” Pete suggests, and Patrick gapes at him. “You know, grand gesture, or something?”
Patrick rolls his eyes. “Grand gestures are your style, not mine, Pete.”
“I can tell you where he lives, and you can just get off at that stop,” Gerard offers. “You’ll beat him home.”
“I don’t know…” Patrick begins hesitantly, and Pete cuts him off.
“ Gerard, tell him the address,” and Gerard does. Once Patrick has it written down on his hand, Pete turns to Gerard. “And you,” he says with a wicked grin, “are coming home with me.”
“Um?” Gerard asks.
“Please don’t frighten him,” Patrick chides, and then looks at Gerard. “I’m pretty sure he means that in a totally non-creepy, non-slutty way.”
“Mostly,” Pete concedes with a wolfish grin.
“Yeah, okay,” Gerard agrees, and Pete beams at him.
“Awesome!”
“You are not a teeny-bopper,” Patrick reminds him, but Pete is too busy (not-so-) subtly moving closer to Gerard to take much notice. When Patrick gets off at Frank’s stop, Pete and Gerard are already discussing the downfall of society through consumerism.
***
Frank walks home blasting music on his discman - because he’s just that old school - until the batteries die, leaving him without music for the last five blocks. He listens only to the sounds of leaves crunching under his feet. Frank loves fall. It means new beginnings, school wise, his birthday, Halloween (he and Gerard go see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the old cinema nearby every year), and besides, something about fall just smells different, fresher. It’s his favourite time of year.
Frank’s so deep in thought that he hears the voice before he sees the person accompanying it.
“Hey there Delilah, what’s it like in New York City, I’m a thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty, oh yes you do, Times Square can’t shine as bright as you, I swear it’s true….Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh, it’s what you do to me…”
Frank recognizes the song, then the person. Sitting on his front steps is Patrick, hunched over a little and singing quietly. Frank grins despite himself; despite the nervous fluttering, the confusion. Patrick is sitting on his front steps singing sappy ballads. This is both adorable and scary.
“Patrick,” Frank says, pretending to be aghast, “Is that a Plain White T’s song? A Plain White T’s love song?”
Patrick looks up, having stopped singing as soon as Frank made his presence known, and smiles and blushes at the same time. “Possibly,” he says with a small nod.
“I am horrified by your choice in song,” Frank states, sitting down beside Patrick. “But you have an awesome voice, seriously.”
“Thanks,” Patrick says, and flushes even harder - Frank hadn’t thought it was possible - ducking his head down a little.
“So. Not that it isn’t a pleasure to see you here or anything, but why are you sitting on my front steps singing sappy ballads?”
“I like that song, okay?” Patrick says defensively, grinning all the same. “And Gerard told me where you lived.”
“So you figured you’d drop by for a surprise visit?”
“Well, no, I - Pete is - we’re not,” Patrick stammers, and then takes a deep breath. “Pete and I are just friends,” he finishes, more strongly.
Frank is momentarily taken aback. Then he looks down, blushing a little himself. “I should kill Gerard.”
Patrick shakes his head. “He doesn’t deserve it. He was only trying to be helpful.”
“By sending you here on the assumption that I’m hopelessly in like with you? Because that seems a bit humiliating, from my point of view,” Frank says, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
“It’s not-” Patrick starts, and then smiles at him. “Hopelessly in like?”
“What, you think your charms are so alluring I’d have fallen in love with you?” Frank scoffs, trying to make his voice sound lighter than his heart. “And hopeless because Pete is like a bundle of oddly charming, tattooed arrogance. Attractive tattooed arrogance, but still.” Frank pauses, looking searchingly at Patrick. “I figured that you two were…I dunno, I guess I’d always thought it, and then through the week I sort of let myself think that you weren’t. But it occurred to me again on Friday night…”
“Yeah, Gerard told me. Pete is…” Patrick shakes his head and looks dead-on at Frank. “He is arrogant, and oddly charming, like you said. And he’s my best friend,” he says plainly, and then continues, softer, “but nothing more.”
“Okay,” Frank says, playing with one of the buttons on his backpack.
“So, yeah,” Patrick says, shifting awkwardly. “I just wanted to, um, let you know. Because you seem pretty cool and I-” He pauses, takes a deep breath as Frank waits earnestly “- I just wanted to let you know that Pete and I together - together like that, at least - is just not even…not even conceivable.” Patrick pauses, shakes his head a little as if to clear his mind, and smiles softly at Frank. “Inconceivable.”
Frank grins. “Was that supposed to be a ‘Princess Bride’ reference?”
“Uh, only sort of,” Patrick says, now grinning. Abruptly, the grin falls from his face. “Anyways, I’ve got to go, you know, uh, do stuff. Or something. And I’ll just - see you tomorrow?”
“Wait a second, Patrick,” Frank says, and grabs his arm to pull him back. “I’m going to hazard a guess that you didn’t just want to tell me that to squash the notion - the inconceivable notion - that you and Pete were together. Because if you had such an issue with people getting that idea, then you wouldn’t let him be all over you every day.”
Patrick fidgets. “Yeah, that’s true. Mostly, I just didn’t want you to think Pete and I were together.”
Frank pulls Patrick back completely to the stairs, catching him as he stumbles a little. “I kinda figured that.”
“So…” Patrick says, and looks up at Frank from under his hat.
Frank tilts the hat back a little and leans in to kiss him, brushing his lips softly at first, and then more insistently as Patrick responds, nipping slightly at Frank’s bottom lip. It’s a dry kiss, still a little soft, but Frank gets the impression Patrick does everything like that, with a sort of muted-but-still-clearly-there passion. But then Patrick sucks on his bottom lip, licks into his mouth when Frank opens it with a little gasp, moves a hand to the back of Frank’s head and the other to his waist and pulls him in even closer, half on his lap, and Frank changes his mind. Patrick kisses passionately, and not muted at all.
“Maybe I won’t kill Gerard after all,” Frank mumbles against his lips, pulling back as little as possible.
“Probably a wise choice,” Patrick breathes, leaving his lips touching Frank’s. “Plus Pete would be mad.”
“They talked?” Frank asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” Patrick says, nodding slightly. “You don’t want to feel the wrath of Pete. You definitely shouldn’t kill Gerard.”
Frank slips one hand behind Patrick’s head, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Yeah and besides - who knows what they’d do to guys like me in prison.”
Patrick pulls away enough to laugh, and then just smiles bashfully at Frank. “I’m really, really glad you and Pete are both so headstrong, or we never would have met in the first place.”
“Hmm, yeah,” Frank replies, resting his forehead against Patrick’s. “Hey, what Pete said, at the club, that first time, about you wanting to see my tattoos? Was that just Pete being annoying, or…?”
Patrick turns red again and speaks shyly. “I may have had a thing for you for a while, that Pete may have known about.” Patrick grins up at him, blush fading slightly. “And I may have a thing for tattoos.”
Frank grins deviously, standing up and pulling Patrick with him. “Well,” he begins, untying his tie with one hand and tugging Patrick along with the other, “let’s get you better acquainted with mine, shall we?”
Author: nova33
Pairings: Frank/Patrick, Gerard/Pete
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Frank is almost at his boiling point with these kids, and the stupid fucking high school stereotypes. High School AU.
Disclaimer: Entirely fiction in so many ways.
Notes: Thanks to
midnightblue88 for beta-ing.
Frank spends the remainder of the weekend imagining Pete and Patrick in couple-y situations - some more graphic than others - which makes him both sad and annoyed at the same time. Sad because, well, Gerard’s sort of right; he does have it bad for this boy who he’s barely even spoken to. Annoyed because jackasses like Pete - good music taste aside - should not get adorable, shy boys like Patrick. It’s just not fair.
By Monday Frank has decided to walk to school and not torture himself any further on the bus. He’ll be leaving Gerard alone, but people tend to leave Gerard alone anyways, and he can read for the twenty minutes it takes to get home. He sends Gerard a text on Monday morning as soon as he wakes up.
g, sry 2 leave u alone, decided 2 not torture myself w/ p + p, see u 2morrow @ bus stop
Gerard isn’t pleased with him through the morning, and continues sending him disgruntled glares through all of his classes. At lunch, he pulls him away and hisses, “So you thought it was a better idea to leave me alone with both of them?”
Frank is tempted to hang his head in shame. “Sorry. It was a shitty thing to do.”
Gerard lets up slightly. “It definitely was.” He gives Frank an appraising look. “You’re going to walk home, too, aren’t you?”
Frank shrugs. “Sorry, really. I just figured you could read, or something. You know I’d have just spent the whole time watching them.”
“Pete tried to talk to me,” Gerard says.
“And?”
“And I barely answered him at all, and he walked away pissed.”
“He doesn’t seem like the most understanding of people,” Frank supplies, earning another glare from Gerard.
“I think he understands perfectly - we walked out on him, and now I won’t tell him why.”
“Gee-”
“No, it’s okay,” Gerard says, tone sad and face softening. “I did just read, after that. I’m still a little pissed, though.” He smiles softly at Frank. “You know I love you, Iero? For some crazy-ass reason, I’m willing to forgive you even when you’re a complete dickhead.”
“Yeah, I know,” Frank says, and gives Gerard a quick hug. “I’m just putting you into practice for Pete.”
Gerard laughs. “Very funny.”
“Yeah, I thought it wasn’t bad,” Frank replies modestly, and Gerard punches him in the arm.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow on the bus?” Gerard asks, gazing at him questioningly.
“Yeah, definitely,” Frank replies emphatically. “And I really am sorry.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Gerard says with an eye roll. “Now. Ray wanted to practice-”
“Of course he does,” Frank cuts in.
“Don’t start with me, Mr. Iero,” Gerard says with a warning tone.
“Wouldn’t think of it, Mr. Way,” Frank replies with a sigh, and they continue down the hall.
****
Gerard is deeply engrossed in his book - in the sense that he keeps re-reading the same paragraph over and over - when Pete and Patrick get on the bus. Pete, face set in a grim line, walks purposefully and sits down next to Gerard. Patrick sits a couple seats in front of them, giving them one nervous glance.
“Gerard?”
“Pete?” Gerard responds, looking up from his book.
“Why did you guys ditch us on Friday night?” he asks seriously, no hint of his usual grin.
“We…” Gerard falters a little, unable to think of a plausible reason on the spot. “Would you believe me if I said we had a sudden urge to wash our hair?”
A smile twitches at Pete’s lips, but he still regards Gerard solemnly. “Together?” The look on Gerard’s face in response to that must be pretty amusing, because Pete finally loses control and breaks into laughter. “Okay, dude, that was - seriously, your face. I’ll take that as a no.”
“Yeah, definitely a no,” Gerard responds, smiling a little.
“So, a plausible reason?”
“Are you and Patrick…together?” Gerard asks after a couple moments of hesitation. Pete laughs, and then stops abruptly.
“Wait - you’re serious? Me and Patrick?” Pete looks completely dumbfounded. “Have you not noticed my blatant attempts at hitting on you? And Patrick’s ability to blush ten times redder whenever Frank is in close proximity?”
“Hey!” Patrick says, turning in his seat.
“Um….” Gerard replies. “Well, it’s just, you’re really…cuddly, with him. And on stage. And then you kissed him.”
Pete rolls his eyes. “That’s just how I am, dude. The only reason I’m not like that with you is because I didn’t want to freak you the fuck out.”
“Wait - you thought we were…?” Patrick asks, looking genuinely shocked.
“Yeah, and so does Frank,” Gerard responds, blushing embarrassedly and looking down at his hands.
“You are such an idiot,” Pete says exasperatedly, but there’s an obvious line of affection through his tone.
“Yeah, I know,” Gerard says, smiling up at Pete.
“Patrick, you should probably talk to Frank,” Pete suggests, and Patrick gapes at him. “You know, grand gesture, or something?”
Patrick rolls his eyes. “Grand gestures are your style, not mine, Pete.”
“I can tell you where he lives, and you can just get off at that stop,” Gerard offers. “You’ll beat him home.”
“I don’t know…” Patrick begins hesitantly, and Pete cuts him off.
“ Gerard, tell him the address,” and Gerard does. Once Patrick has it written down on his hand, Pete turns to Gerard. “And you,” he says with a wicked grin, “are coming home with me.”
“Um?” Gerard asks.
“Please don’t frighten him,” Patrick chides, and then looks at Gerard. “I’m pretty sure he means that in a totally non-creepy, non-slutty way.”
“Mostly,” Pete concedes with a wolfish grin.
“Yeah, okay,” Gerard agrees, and Pete beams at him.
“Awesome!”
“You are not a teeny-bopper,” Patrick reminds him, but Pete is too busy (not-so-) subtly moving closer to Gerard to take much notice. When Patrick gets off at Frank’s stop, Pete and Gerard are already discussing the downfall of society through consumerism.
***
Frank walks home blasting music on his discman - because he’s just that old school - until the batteries die, leaving him without music for the last five blocks. He listens only to the sounds of leaves crunching under his feet. Frank loves fall. It means new beginnings, school wise, his birthday, Halloween (he and Gerard go see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the old cinema nearby every year), and besides, something about fall just smells different, fresher. It’s his favourite time of year.
Frank’s so deep in thought that he hears the voice before he sees the person accompanying it.
“Hey there Delilah, what’s it like in New York City, I’m a thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty, oh yes you do, Times Square can’t shine as bright as you, I swear it’s true….Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh, it’s what you do to me…”
Frank recognizes the song, then the person. Sitting on his front steps is Patrick, hunched over a little and singing quietly. Frank grins despite himself; despite the nervous fluttering, the confusion. Patrick is sitting on his front steps singing sappy ballads. This is both adorable and scary.
“Patrick,” Frank says, pretending to be aghast, “Is that a Plain White T’s song? A Plain White T’s love song?”
Patrick looks up, having stopped singing as soon as Frank made his presence known, and smiles and blushes at the same time. “Possibly,” he says with a small nod.
“I am horrified by your choice in song,” Frank states, sitting down beside Patrick. “But you have an awesome voice, seriously.”
“Thanks,” Patrick says, and flushes even harder - Frank hadn’t thought it was possible - ducking his head down a little.
“So. Not that it isn’t a pleasure to see you here or anything, but why are you sitting on my front steps singing sappy ballads?”
“I like that song, okay?” Patrick says defensively, grinning all the same. “And Gerard told me where you lived.”
“So you figured you’d drop by for a surprise visit?”
“Well, no, I - Pete is - we’re not,” Patrick stammers, and then takes a deep breath. “Pete and I are just friends,” he finishes, more strongly.
Frank is momentarily taken aback. Then he looks down, blushing a little himself. “I should kill Gerard.”
Patrick shakes his head. “He doesn’t deserve it. He was only trying to be helpful.”
“By sending you here on the assumption that I’m hopelessly in like with you? Because that seems a bit humiliating, from my point of view,” Frank says, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
“It’s not-” Patrick starts, and then smiles at him. “Hopelessly in like?”
“What, you think your charms are so alluring I’d have fallen in love with you?” Frank scoffs, trying to make his voice sound lighter than his heart. “And hopeless because Pete is like a bundle of oddly charming, tattooed arrogance. Attractive tattooed arrogance, but still.” Frank pauses, looking searchingly at Patrick. “I figured that you two were…I dunno, I guess I’d always thought it, and then through the week I sort of let myself think that you weren’t. But it occurred to me again on Friday night…”
“Yeah, Gerard told me. Pete is…” Patrick shakes his head and looks dead-on at Frank. “He is arrogant, and oddly charming, like you said. And he’s my best friend,” he says plainly, and then continues, softer, “but nothing more.”
“Okay,” Frank says, playing with one of the buttons on his backpack.
“So, yeah,” Patrick says, shifting awkwardly. “I just wanted to, um, let you know. Because you seem pretty cool and I-” He pauses, takes a deep breath as Frank waits earnestly “- I just wanted to let you know that Pete and I together - together like that, at least - is just not even…not even conceivable.” Patrick pauses, shakes his head a little as if to clear his mind, and smiles softly at Frank. “Inconceivable.”
Frank grins. “Was that supposed to be a ‘Princess Bride’ reference?”
“Uh, only sort of,” Patrick says, now grinning. Abruptly, the grin falls from his face. “Anyways, I’ve got to go, you know, uh, do stuff. Or something. And I’ll just - see you tomorrow?”
“Wait a second, Patrick,” Frank says, and grabs his arm to pull him back. “I’m going to hazard a guess that you didn’t just want to tell me that to squash the notion - the inconceivable notion - that you and Pete were together. Because if you had such an issue with people getting that idea, then you wouldn’t let him be all over you every day.”
Patrick fidgets. “Yeah, that’s true. Mostly, I just didn’t want you to think Pete and I were together.”
Frank pulls Patrick back completely to the stairs, catching him as he stumbles a little. “I kinda figured that.”
“So…” Patrick says, and looks up at Frank from under his hat.
Frank tilts the hat back a little and leans in to kiss him, brushing his lips softly at first, and then more insistently as Patrick responds, nipping slightly at Frank’s bottom lip. It’s a dry kiss, still a little soft, but Frank gets the impression Patrick does everything like that, with a sort of muted-but-still-clearly-there passion. But then Patrick sucks on his bottom lip, licks into his mouth when Frank opens it with a little gasp, moves a hand to the back of Frank’s head and the other to his waist and pulls him in even closer, half on his lap, and Frank changes his mind. Patrick kisses passionately, and not muted at all.
“Maybe I won’t kill Gerard after all,” Frank mumbles against his lips, pulling back as little as possible.
“Probably a wise choice,” Patrick breathes, leaving his lips touching Frank’s. “Plus Pete would be mad.”
“They talked?” Frank asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” Patrick says, nodding slightly. “You don’t want to feel the wrath of Pete. You definitely shouldn’t kill Gerard.”
Frank slips one hand behind Patrick’s head, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Yeah and besides - who knows what they’d do to guys like me in prison.”
Patrick pulls away enough to laugh, and then just smiles bashfully at Frank. “I’m really, really glad you and Pete are both so headstrong, or we never would have met in the first place.”
“Hmm, yeah,” Frank replies, resting his forehead against Patrick’s. “Hey, what Pete said, at the club, that first time, about you wanting to see my tattoos? Was that just Pete being annoying, or…?”
Patrick turns red again and speaks shyly. “I may have had a thing for you for a while, that Pete may have known about.” Patrick grins up at him, blush fading slightly. “And I may have a thing for tattoos.”
Frank grins deviously, standing up and pulling Patrick with him. “Well,” he begins, untying his tie with one hand and tugging Patrick along with the other, “let’s get you better acquainted with mine, shall we?”