I'm No Angel and You're Certainly No Exception 2/?
Title: I'm No Angel and You're Certainly No Exception 2/?
Author: storm_silver
Rating: PG-13 just cause they curse like sailors...
Pairing: Frank&Gerard
Warnings: Cursing
Disclaimer: I don't own! If I did why would I be sitting here writing lies?!
Summary: Frank was not one to worry easily. Okay, fuck that, Frank should be on meds for anxiety disorders he's so wired.
Frank was not one to worry easily. Okay, fuck that, Frank should be on meds for anxiety disorders he's so wired. Gerard had been gone for coffee three hours ago. Frank paced back and forth in the apartment, wringing his hands and checking the clock every pass. His mind was a broken record called: Where the fuck did Gee go? When the door handle finally jiggled, Gerard appears with said coffee in his hand, wearing new clothes, and his hair's shorter. Frank tackle-hugs him the second the coffee is safely out of the way. Staggering, Gerard attempts to throw Frank off, but Frank's an insistent midget when he wants to be.
"Fuck, Frank. I missed you too." Gerard snorts sarcastically into Frank's shoulder. Frank pulls away and giggles, tugging on Gee's short hair.
"I know. I'm just so lovable. How can you not miss this." Frank replies, gesturing to himself and striking a pose.
Gerard giggles, a near replica of Frank's, and walks over to the beat-up stereo that Bob bought a month ago. Gerard pushes a tape into the deck, waiting patiently as it crackles to life and suddenly alternative music is blaring from the stereo. The song's fast and Frank jumps around to the beat. Gerard frowns and changes it quickly, causing Frank to frown. He had been having fun, dammit. This song's slower, and Gerard sidles over to Frank, smirking. He takes Frank's left hand in his right and rests his other on Frank's hip. Frank giggles as they waltz to the music, Gerard spinning Frank in little circles. Gerard spins Frank again in reply. It's so fucking cliche and immature but Frank can't do anything but let Gerard lead and try to not step on his toes so much. Gerard's actually not a half-bad dancer. When the music changes again, Gerard's breathing a little heavily and Frank's beaming.
"Do I look... different?" Gerard asked tentatively as Frank begins to bounce around. Frank stops, turn to Gerard and looks pointedly at the haircut.
"Well.... besides the haircut? Nope. Same dorky Gee." Frank answers, turning and dancing again. Gerard sighs and gets out his sketchbook. He doesn't know what he's drawing until he's done; he'll get like that sometimes. It turns out being Mikey from today, his eyes big and watery. Gerard sighs sadly. At least he got to talk with Mikey, tell him he was sorry in a manner of speaking. Then Gerard is sketching out a graveyard; he's a vampire and Frank's a ghost. Vampire-Gerard is lurking behind a large mausoleum while ghost-Frank is floating in the shade of a tree. Mikey's there too, all too human, staring sadly down at a grave marker. Just as Gerard begins to rip the picture out to throw away, Frank steals it. Frank frowns a little before smiling and pointing at himself.
"You forgot my tattoo!" He proclaims, pointing at drawing-Frank's neck. Gerard's eyebrows furrow. Frank doesn't have a tattoo on his neck.... does he? Seeing Gerard's confusion, Frank tugs down the neck of his shirt; Gerard thinks it's a turtleneck in tee shirt form. A black scorpion is crawling across Frank's neck perpetually, inked there forever. Gerard picks up his pencil and doodles it onto Ghost-Frank's neck, handing the picture back to Frank who nods in approval. Gerard snorts at Frank's enthusiasm before staring back at the now exposed tattoo.
"Why's it a scorpion?" Gerard asks after Frank's carefully tucked the drawing away in a folder that's riddled with music sheets. Gerard thinks it's cute, the tattoo. Frank too, but not in the same way. At all.
"My astronomical sign or a whatever." Frank replies, absently tracing chords on his guitar. Gerard nods before another question's pouring out of his mouth without permission.
"When's your birthday, then?"
"Halloween." Is Frank's quick reply as he wiggles inked fingers at Gerard. Gerard grabs at Frank's hands so he can read the words. It's the holiday of Frank's birth, Halloween; also Gerard's favorite day of the year. Gerard points this out as he stares at Frank's tattoos, the full sleeve of colored ink on the left arm and the mismatched ink on the right. Frank giggles and ducks his head, blushing a little. Gerard thinks Frank's fucking adorable.
"When's your birthday, then?" Frank asks, echoing Gerard's previous question. Gerard grimaces and answers.
"April 9th. I don't have a cool birthday." Gerard says, only pouting a little. Frank giggles again and frees one hand to poke at Gerard's side.
"So that'd make you like... an Aries? Or an Aquarius?" Frank asks as he pokes Gerard's ribs, trying and failing to get Gerard to quit pouting like the five-year old he's acting like. A smoking, artistic, fucked up five-year old.
"Aries." Gerard answers, thinking back to when they'd studied the constellations and zodiacs. Frank purses his lips and frowns. "What?" Gerard adds irritably.
"Rams are so much cooler than scorpions." Frank argues, sticking out his bottom lip.
"Are not. Scorpions are all creepy-crawly and Rams are just Mountain Goats with horns." Gerard disagrees.
"Rams."
"Scorpions."
"Rams"
"SCORPIONS!"
"RAMS!"
"SCORPIONS!!"
"RAMS!"
"WHY ARE WE YELLING?" Bob's voice calls, starling them both. Frank, however, doesn't lose steam, grinning triumphantly as Gerard doesn't fire back. Bob walks into the bedroom of the apartment and finds the music still blaring and Frank doing his victory dance while Gerard rolls his eyes.
"C'mon fuckers, you got shit to pack in." Bob calls, from the doorway. Frank groans, having forgotten that Bob probably went grocery shopping. Gerard eyes Frank curiously as he quits his victory dance and follows Bob back out into the main room where the TV and kitchenette were. Gerard hasn't seen much of the room, having seen it only three times since his arrival. He notes now that the room has the same beige walls and dark brown carpeting as the bedroom, that the couch is black like Frank's sheets, and that the TV is on the local news. Shrugging, Gerard leaves the room and catches up with Frank in the elevator before the doors close. A thought pops into Gerard's head.
"Why doesn't Bob like elevators?" he asks the smaller teen next to him. Frank's eyes flicker up to his before watching the buttons on the directory again.
"He died in one." Frank answers simply, his hands shoving themselves into the pockets of his jacket. Gerard winces a little. Did Frank die awfully like Bob and Gerard? Did Ray? The elevator stops, leaving Gerard with that swoopy-light feeling you get when you're suddenly not moving anymore. Frank just pushes his way out of the elevator; Gerard had been blocking the exit. Bob's already hauling plastic bags up the stairs with Ray close behind. Frank turns after he's taken a few steps toward the door, gesturing for Gerard to move on impatiently. Gerard follows Frank outside to Bob's car where Gerard's handed plastic bag after plastic bag. Frank's not much better off, loaded down with as many bags as Gerard. Bob snorts when they get back into the apartment, causing Gerard to flip him the bird. Frank's huffing and patting his pockets like he's looking for something. Gerard finds the cigarettes first and dives for them, knocking Frank out of the way. He hasn't smoked in what seems like forever. Frank whines indignantly as Gerard takes the last cigarette and begins puffing on it. Gerard sighs happily before passing the cigarette, now half gone, to Frank. Frank eyes it suspiciously before giving Gerard the 'What-the-fuck-did-you-do-to-this' look. Gerard looks back innocently and Frank hesitantly takes a drag off of the cigarette.
"Fuck, NICOTINE!" Frank's body screams and he relaxes. Then, as Frank smokes the remains of the cigarette, Gerard gets up and walks over to Ray.
"Hey Ray... how come you guys can go out and no one recognizes you?" Gerard asks as Frank stubs the cigarette in the ash tray that is oh-so-conveniently in front of him. Frank joins Gerard on the couch where he's sat down with Ray.
"We look different to people who aren't dead. To each other, we look the same as we did in life. But like, if Frank went outside, they might see this teenager with no tattoos and brown hair. They might see you as a teen with.... I don't know.... red hair and tanner skin than you have. You don't ever know unless you ask." Ray explains, gesturing to Frank. Gerard nods and is so lost in thought that he almost doesn't notice Frank falling asleep on his shoulder. Gerard soon follows suit, his musings about what he looked like to Mikey lost as he falls asleep. Gerard curls his arm protectively around Frank's waist unconsciously.
Bob takes another picture before throwing a blanket on them and shutting off the TV. Maybe they won't have to buy another bed after all.
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Frank wakes up to bright sunlight streaming through the window at an angle that assaults his retinas. He hisses in a breath before turning to hide his face in Gerard's shoulder. Gerard's still asleep, snoring lightly into Frank's hair. Frank wants to just live like this forever, asleep next to Gerard. Frank's heart feels like it's going to burst if things get any cheesier.
"Fuck, Frank," he scolds himself silently. "You hardly know him. How can you like him so much and hardly know him?"
"Mmrph." Gerard groans adorably into Frank's hair, stirring a little before falling back into his normal sleeping pattern.
"That's how." His brain taunts in reply as Gerard's arm around his waist tightens. Frank sighs, still utterly confused, and pushes himself further into Gerard's side and falls back to sleep.
The light's totally forgotten.
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Ray decides the next day, as Gerard's doodling and Frank's watching, that Gerard should work at the comic book with him. Gerard whines irritably until Ray explains that Gerard'll never have to talk to any strangers unless he wants to. In the next hour, Gerard's had a shower and he's in the same type of clothes as Ray: One of his better shirts and jeans. Ushering him out the door, Ray leads Gerard down a block to an run-down looking comic book store called Clark's Comics. Ray pulls out a key to unlock the door, but it's useless as a wiry man pulls the door open first. He's got square glasses and is balding but looks like he's nice enough.
"Hello Mr. Clark. This is my friend, Gerard, the one who wants that job." Ray says, jerking a thumb at Gerard. Gerard offers up a tiny crooked smile as the old man steps aside to let them both in. Mr. Clark sits himself down behind the counter and Ray pushes Gerard over. Stumbling, Gerard catches himself before he hits the counter and glares at Ray. Ray shrugs before turning to the endless isles of comics and walking away. Mr. Clark clears his throat to get Gerard's attention off of giving Ray's back the evils. After Mr. Clark asks Gerard the simple question of his age, it soon turns into a debate of just what would happen if Doom Patrol fought the X-Men.
"So Gerard. I'm giving you the job." Mr. Clark began. "Because you seem like an alright kid. Please, don't prove me wrong. Your hours'll be the same as Ray's and all you'll have to do is what Ray's doing right now: make sure the comics are in the right place. Sound good?"
"Um, yeah!" Gerard exclaimed and Mr. Clark laughed. The little bell over the door jingled, indicating that someone was in the store. Gerard turned and standing there was Mikey. Gerard hurried off, ducking his head, trying desperately to find Ray before Mikey found him. Bumping into said roommate, Gerard makes cutting motions over his neck and points desperately to Mikey. Ray squints at Mikey, then Gerard, then Mikey again before seeing the resemblance.
"What's the problem? Just don't talk to him and you should be fine." Ray explains, turning back to the rack of comics he was reorganizing before. Mikey's a few rows over, and Gerard hurries to find a good corner to shrivel up to microscopic size and stay like that. But luck's not on his side as Mikey sees Gerard hiding and waves happily. Gerard groans in defeat as he half-heartedly waves back, turning to organize comics. Or at least fake it.
"Didn't know you worked here!" Mikey chirps happily, suddenly next to Gerard. Gerard jumps before settling back down. As long as no one says his name...
"Hey! Gerard! C'mon we're going for lunch!" A new voice calls across the shop; Frank. Gerard cringes as Mikey just about drops the comic in his hands, whipping his head around so fast his glasses nearly fly off his nose. Frank's voice is getting closer as Mikey continues to stare at Gerard. "Gee! C'mon! I'm hungry!" Frank blurts tugging at Gerard's arm before cursing out loud when he sees Mikey. Mikey's eyes are quickly filling with disbelief as Gerard's tugged away by Frank all too quickly. When they're finally outside and smoking, Frank turns to Gerard.
"Hey. Gee, calm down. Mikey can't've known it was you." Frank offers, taking a picture of Gerard. The face staring back is worried, the blue eyes not watching the camera, and the teen's almost white hair is cut like Gerard's is. Gerard stares back at the picture incredulously. This Gerard Way's nothing like the one Gee sees in the mirror. "This is what you look like to not-so-dead people. Mikey can't have known it was you." Frank explains, waving his phone around in Gerard's face. Gerard shakes his head and puffs heavily on his cigarette, flicking ashes out onto the pavement. Frank's watching Gerard's face carefully now, not even flinching when Gerard snaps at him for it.
"Are you okay?" Frank asks carefully, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out.
"No, I'm not oh-fucking-kay." Gerard snaps and Frank does flinch a little this time. Gerard feels like shit now. "It's not your fault. It's just Mikey thinks I'm my old friend." Gerard adds. Frank's eyes go wide and he tugs at Gerard's arm, pulling him back in the direction of the music store where he and Bob are supposed to work. Gerard whines, tugging back on his arm, but Frank's not letting up on his death grip. Gerard gets pulled into the store, earning odd looks from the customers, and back towards the back room. Gerard would describe it as a waiting room gone wrong, the metal chairs and dark wood floors don't match the stark white concrete walls. Frank throws Gerard down in an uncomfortable chair before pacing around the room, his hands tugging on his hair.
"What do you mean, Mikey thinks your his dead brother's friend?" Frank finally spits, stopping his pacing to look at Gerard.
"I told Mikey that I was sorry about our fight. But he doesn't think it was Gerard who told him. He thinks I'm, like, a friend." Gerard explains quietly. Frank curses, throwing his hands up and pacing again.
"When?" Frank asks after he's paced for a good minute.
"Two days ago at my viewing..." Gerard answers, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Fuck! Gerard, did Bob not explain that you can never talk to family?" Frank hisses, his hand wringing the other like it's a neck. When Gerard shakes his head no, Frank gives up wringing the life out of his hand and punches the concrete wall. Gerard flinches; Frank never seemed to be so violent. Frank disappears, dragging Bob in by the ear and throwing him down in the chair next to Gerard.
"What the fuck Frank?" Bob asks indignantly, rubbing his ear.
"Why didn't you tell Gee why he can't talk to family?!" Frank yells, causing both Gerard and Bob to jump. Bob pales. "You didn't." He says to Gerard, his face white like the walls of the room. Gerard nods, scared now. Bob curses.
"What's wrong?" Gerard asks, noticing that Frank and Bob seem to be having a hurried conversation with their eyes and eyebrows alone.
"You see Gerard, when you say your goodbyes to family, they can easily figure out that you're not as dead as they think. The man upstairs doesn't like it when that happens, so your family members either die in a tragic accident or get thrown into the loony bin. And said ghost goes up to heaven or hell, depending on how they acted in life. Definitely not good! We have to convince Mikey that you're not his Gerard Way, or he'll be dead and you'll move on." Frank explains, gesturing wildly around the room.
"How is me moving on bad?" Gerard asks, sincerely confused now.
"How do I put this nicely..? God doesn't only picks the souls that die too early, He picks the ones that wouldn't make it in heaven. Probably not too good in hell either. You've got some quality about you that is frowned upon up there." Bob explains, not looking away from Gerard while he talks like he's looking for the quality that differs Gerard from those who belong in heaven.
"So I don't belong?" Gerard whispers sadly. He'd always thought heaven was just and fair, but Frank and Bob make it sound like High School all over again. Frank and Bob quit their ongoing eyebrow conversation to look at Gerard sadly, giving him the answer he feared. Of course he didn't belong; he never had when he was alive, why should it change when he was dead?
"No no, Gee. Your badassery just cannot be handled up there is all." Frank soothes causing Gerard to laugh and roll his eyes. Bob clears his throat for attention.
"There's still the problem of getting Mikey Way off of our case. How much does he know?" Bob asks. Gerard gulps.
"Uh... he knows that Gee works with Ray, he knows that Gee was at his own funeral, and Mikey knows that Gee's name is Gerard." Frank offers, glancing at Gerard to fill in any holes. There are none.
"Well fuck. Welcome to the wondrous world of lying your way out of everything, Gee." Bob murmurs. Gerard's got a plan, though.
"Wait! What if when Mikey asks my name, I give him some name that's not related to Gerard at all. Like maybe Chris or something. Then when he asks why you called me Gerard, you'll just say it's cause I'm so much like Gerard Way!" Gerard finishes, grinning. Frank's eyebrows go up, before he hugs Gerard.
"Best fucking plan ever!" Frank cheers before adding "We better set your case straight before someone else does." Gerard's arm gets looped with Frank's, and they skip off like Dorothy back to the comic book shop. Mr. Clark eyes them both but says nothing, not even when Frank launches himself onto Ray's back. Leaning down to whisper into Ray's ear, Frank tells him of Gerard's screw up and his plan. Gerard, however, asks Mr. Clark if he'll call him Chris, his (supposed) middle name. One more lie can't hurt right? Mr. Clark didn't blink an eye, only handing him a sticker that read 'HI! MY NAME IS: ___________' Gerard pulled a sharpie from his jacket and scrawled out Chris. Frank turns around from Ray, notices the tag that nearly matches Ray's and points excitedly. Ray smacks his hand down, scolding Frank like a little kid. Mikey's still in the store, standing in the same corner. Gerard thinks that if he turned Mikey around, it's likely that Mikey's face would have the same shocked expression it did when Frank pulled Gerard away. Ray makes a 'move it along' gesture and goes back to the row of comics he was fixing. Sighing heavily, Gerard runs a hand through his hair. He's surprised when he runs out of hair too fast before he remembers he cut it. He taps Mikey lightly on the shoulder, causing Mikey to jump. Whirling around, Mikey glares heavily at Gerard and points at his nametag.
"What kind of sick joke are you playing on me?" Mikey's eyes are filled to the brim with tears. Gerard feels like the asshole he knows he is. Mikeyway doesn't deserve this.
"Hey man I'm sorry, it's just... Gerard and I were a lot alike and so my friend over there," Gerard apologizes, jerking a thumb at Frank's general direction, "always got us confused. Guess it just kinda became a nickname or whatever. I'm really sorry, cause like, I know you just lost Gee and all." Mikey quits glaring so much and he makes a short huff that says 'Yeah, whatever, fine' before he walks away.
"So....." Frank says from behind Gerard. Gerard grins down at Frank, who's got an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.
"It worked" Gerard says proudly. Frank's eyebrow just goes up higher, gaging Gerard for the possibility of lies. When he finds none, he crows happily and jumps onto Gerard's back.
"VICTORY!" Frank cheers happily as Gerard just does his job with Frank on his back. It's so cute, helping tiny people see things that usually only tall people can. Gerard points this out, receiving a whack on the head from Frank as a reply. When Mr. Clark tells both Ray and Gerard that it's time to leave, Ray leads Gerard down to a local grocery store on the corner.
"Wasn't Bob just here?" Gerard asks, cracking his back when Frank climbs off. Ray doesn't answer, only goes to the back freezer and pulls out a case of- oh now Gerard gets it- beer. They carry it back to the apartment, Ray immediately taking one of the cans and settling down on the couch. Gerard, however, eyes the alcohol warily; he's had his fair share of problems with alcohol.
Just One... he thinks, pulling a can from the still-frigid case and cracking the top. Frank's nowhere to be seen, but Gerard hears faint guitar from the bedroom. He finishes the beer and gets another- as far as he's concerned, two beers aren't going to kill him, he's already dead- and he plops down onto the bed next to Frank's. Gerard sips his beer and watches Frank play. When Frank's done with the song, he looks up at Gerard, then the beer, and back down.
"What's wrong, Frankie?" Gerard asks quietly. Frank looks up again, his eyes flashing down to the beer more than they meet Gerard's. Oh. Gerard quickly disposes of the beer, throwing the near-empty can into the trash. Frank sighs heavily and sets his guitar down. His fingers twitch like he's looking for something to do. Gerard's already feeling the effects of the beer -fuck, he was a lightweight- and the world's getting a bit blurry around the edges. Frank's eyes widen as he takes in Gerard's appearance, and he hurriedly gets up and pulls Gerard onto his bed. Gerard sits back up- honestly he wasn't tired- only to be shoved back into the mattress by Frank's hand on his shoulder.
"Frankie." Gerard groans, giving up. Frank clicks his tongue disapprovingly and lays down next to Gerard. Gerard merely pushes his hands against Frank's chest, grasping his hoodie and falls into unconsciousness to the rhythm of Frank's heart. He vaguely feels Frank pull a blanket over them both and rest one hand on Gerard's hip.
"Night Gee." Frank whispers to the dark-lit room, hearing the TV run in the other room. His brain's smug at the fact that Gerard's clutching his hoodie like a life-line, that Gerard cared enough to ask what was wrong.
Frank just tells his brain to shut the hell up.
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"Shall we bring Gerard Way up to heaven?" the angel asks Him, staring down at the image of Gerard Way and Frank Iero asleep together. The angel, Jerome, hopes not. Gerard Way does not belong in heaven. He flutters his wings nervously, waiting patiently for an answer.
"No, no. He belongs here now even less." He finally decides, causing Jerome to sigh with relief. Jerome knows He is never wrong. "I believe Gerard Way has convinced Michael Way that he is not Gerard Way. Lies, of course, but affective."
"So Michael Way shall stay alive until his time?" Jerome asks, double checking. They did not need another incident like when George was sent accidentally to take the soul of someone who did not deserve to die. He nods in agreement before waving Jerome away.
Gerard and Michael Way would remain just where they were for now.
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Teen Dies Tragically in Horrible Accident
Gerard Way, 18, (shown in the picture above) was found dead in his bedroom of suffocation by poisonous gas. The fire that caused the gas to emit is still being investigated, while the Way family is left in shambles at their oldest child's sudden death. Gerard was due to go to the School of Visual Arts in New York City for Illustration. Gerard had one brother, Mikey, and his parents were Donna and Donald Way. The funeral will be held at Our Lady of Peace's church on January 21. Viewing times and funeral times are from 11:00-2:00.
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