Title: it's all become electricity and drums
Summary: In which Gerard loves Bob, I make fun of the sweet little dudes a lot, and Gerard and Frank share a nice moment.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Completely and totally for
algernon-mouse who had a pretty rough day and needed some Gerard/Bob to cheer her up. Set during Warped Tour 2005. Title is from a line in 'Electricity + Drums' by The Apparitions. Also, this hasn't been betaed.
it's all become electricity and drums
The thing about Bob is, Gerard realizes, the thing is that Gerard's in love with Bob. Obviously, this kind of sucks because Gerard's pretty sure Bob doesn't actually feel the same way about him.
It's okay, though; really it is. Gerard's kept his crush under control for the last ten months or so (ever since Bob grinned and said, "Fuck yeah, I'll join your band") so he's pretty sure he can keep it under control until it goes away or something changes (like Bob crawling into Gerard's bunk and making out with him).
Being in love with someone Gerard sees every day, all day, can be a little stressful at times. These times include every morning when Bob wakes up and rolls out of his bunk wearing only his boxers and a ratty shirt. That's a really stressful thing for Gerard to witness, especially on the mornings that Gerard wakes up with a hard-on.
Also, it's stressful for Gerard to keep his mouth shut whenever they run into someone that knew Bob when he was doing sound and that person says something like "Bryar, you're looking fucking awesome."
Bob blushes every single time and mumbles thanks while Gerard does not say, "Bob was always hot, asshole."
His therapist tells him that he should try yoga; she thinks that maybe it'll help Gerard work through some of his stress. She actually once suggested Gerard tell Bob about his crush but they both agreed that was a shitty suggestion when Gerard started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop until Mikey sat on him.
Mikey knows about his thing for Bob but only because he wouldn't actually get off Gerard's chest until Gerard told him why he was on the edge of hysteria. Ever since then, Mikey's been trying to play matchmaker because he apparently thinks he'll be more successful at it than Gerard's therapist. Truthfully, Gerard has a really hard time taking advice from someone who formed a club with Pete Wentz.
(Honestly, Gerard's a little worried that he's never going to be able to take Mikey seriously again. He thinks this is the kind of thing he might bring up fifty years from now when they're in a nursing home somewhere in Jersey. Seriously, what the fuck is a sweet little dude?)
So that's the way it is. Gerard is in love with his straight bandmate, and his brother is both interfering in his life and doing horrific things with Pete Wentz that would get Gerard in so much trouble if their mom found out.
When all is said and done, Gerard's got his doubts that Warped 2005 is going to be any better than Warped 2004. Sobriety and pants that don't fall down are about the only things he's got going for him this summer.
+
One night after the show, about a month into the tour, Gerard's wandering through the buses, the sounds of people partying and having fun following him no matter how far out he goes. He's caught up in his thoughts (whether or not Bob's a good cuddler, if the two of them can fit into Gerard's bunk comfortably, etc.) when Frank jumps out from behind from Taking Back Sunday's bus and yells, "Boo."
Gerard screams (manfully) and jumps back. "Jesus fucking Christ, Frank. Are you trying to kill me?"
Frank falls down on the ground and rolls back and forth, laughing so hard that he can't speak for a few minutes. "Oh my god, you sound just like Jamia when you scream."
Gerard kicks Frank in the ribs.
"Ow, asshole. I came here to give you a message." Frank pushes himself off the ground and rubs his side. "Mikey said to tell you to go back to the bus."
"Why?"
"Don't know," Frank shrugs. "He also said something about manning up but I don't think a sweet little dude would actually know how to man up so he must have meant something else."
Gerard nods in agreement and they turn back in the direction of the bus. On the way back, Gerard catches Frank staring at him out of the corner of his eye. "Can I help you?"
"How are you doing, Gee?" Frank waves his arm around. "Is it hard being here?"
"Yes." Gerard finds that he tells the truth a lot more these days. Personally, he likes it but he's not sure how other people in his life feel about it. "But I'm not going to relapse. I've got ten fucking months under my belt, I'm not about to throw it away."
Frank nods. "You'd tell us if there was a problem, right?"
"Yes, mom," Gerard slings his arm around Frank and pulls him close. "Thanks for checking though. It's nice."
Gerard feels Frank smile against him and he smiles. Before Frank can get too comfortable, Gerard gives him a noogie. Frank breaks away when they get to the bus, and Gerard punches in the code as Frank tries to grab his sides. The door opens, and Gerard's up the stairs before he realizes that Frank isn't following him. He turns around and Frank's standing there with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, dude. Mikey promised me my own room the next time we're at a hotel." He closes the door behind Gerard and walks off.
Gerard watches him leave. He's got no idea what Frank's talking about so he decides to find Mikey. Bob's in the front lounge reading the latest copy of Entertainment Weekly and he waves at Gerard as he walks through. Mikey's not in his bunk and he's not in the studio.
Gerard heads back to the front lounge. "Have you seen Mikey?"
"Nope." Bob sits up and throws the magazine on the table.
"Hunh." If he wasn't so tired, Gerard would think about going to look from him. Instead, he flops down on the couch, kicks his legs out, and closes his eyes.
They sit in silence for a few minutes until Bob clears his throat and says, "So, speaking of Mikey, he said you had something to tell me."
Gerard opens his eyes and sits up straight. "What?"
"Mikey said to meet you on the bus because you needed to talk about something. Is everything okay?"
Everything (Frank's weird apology, Mikey telling him to man up) makes sense now - Gerard's been set up.
"Fucking Mikey! I'm calling our mom right now and telling her what her precious baby is doing with Pete Wentz. Then I'm taking pictures and posting them on the internet."
"Whoa!" Bob puts a hand on Gerard's arm. "Let's not go crazy. What did he do?"
Gerard looks down at Bob's hand which hasn't moved from his arm and thinks some more. Mikey's been telling him to take a chance for the last three months, and while Mikey can be a fucktard, he's not about to set Gerard up for a fall.
"He set us up." Gerard leans back against the couch. He turns his head so he can see the look on Bob's face when he gets what Gerard's saying.
When it happens, it's like a light bulb coming on. Bob opens and closes his mouth a few times, like a fish, before he nods and replies, "So he did. Hopefully, this isn't too awkward for you."
"No, hey, I love it when my little brother tells everyone about my secret crush on a straight bandmate. I was actually hoping it would happen soon because my therapy sessions have been a little boring lately."
Bob stares at him. "You have a crush on Ray?"
"No, dumbass. I have a crush on you." Gerard gets up to go to his bunk.
Before he can make it out of the lounge, Bob jumps up from the couch and grabs his arm. "You just said you had a crush on a straight bandmate."
"Which is you," Gerard's trying to be patient, really he is, but Bob's pushing it.
"I'm not straight."
"What?" There's a little flicker of hope and excitement in his belly but he pushes it away. Seriously, Gerard's life is not this good. There is absolutely no way he can be this lucky.
"I'm not straight." Bob takes a breath and releases Gerard's arm. "Also, I really like you, and not in the friend way, but in the sweet little dude way."
Gerard can't help himself, he laughs and leans into Bob whose arms come up immediately and wrap around him. Maybe Gerard's life really is this good.
"First of all, if we're going to get together and we are, you're not allowed to ever mention those two together at least a half-hour before we have sex. Think of it like not swimming for thirty minutes after you've eaten. Second, are you sure?"
"No, I'm just trying to get some drum solos on the next album." Bob shakes his head. "Man, you don't get it. I've had a crush on since before I joined the band. Everyone knows about it."
"I didn't," Gerard grumbles.
"Are we going to talk about this all night?" Bob asks. "Because I can think of some other things we could be doing instead."
Gerard learns two things that night. The first is that the two of them can fit quite comfortably in Gerard's bunk and have room leftover for things like blowjobs and sleepy cuddling. The second is that Gerard still gets really stressed when Bob rolls out of bed wearing nothing but boxers and a ratty shirt.
Thankfully, Gerard's got a way to work off that stress now.