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The Pros and Cons of Loving
Part 5
Eric’s POV
I woke up in the middle of the night with Aiden’s arms tightly around me. I rolled over to face him and he moaned in his sleep, muttering.
“Aiden?”
“Nooo.” He moaned.
“Aiden, wake up.”
“I don’t wanna go to school, dad. I’m dying.”
“Aiden, you aren’t dying. Get up.” I said, shaking him.
He opened his blue eyes, groaning. “Hmmm?”
“I wanna go for a walk.”
Aiden rubbed his eyes and looked at the alarm clock. “Eric, it’s 3 AM.”
“I know but you go to your dad’s tomorrow…” I said. “Please?”
Aiden nodded and stood up, yawning. He stretched and I saw his stomach as his shirt rose. Man, he has a nice stomach.
“Mmmmh.” He yawned again, shaking his head.
I grinned at him and stood up. “Yay.”
He opened his window, yawning once again.
“Stupid yawns.” He muttered to himself, climbing out the window.
I threw his shoes out it, slipped my red chucks on, and followed him. He put his hands on my waist and helped me down, kissing my neck.
“Yay, lets go.” I said, taking his hand and dragging him towards the park.
Aiden’s POV
“Hey, what’s with you suddenly wanting to go out? I thought that you hated sneaking out.”
“You’re just mad I woke you up. Now c’mon.” Eric said, pulling me to the dock. “I have to show you something.”
“Okay.”
“No, no. Not the dock. Over there.” he said, pointing to a gazebo. “C’mere. Hurry.” He began dragging me.
“Why do I have to hurry? It’s gonna stay where it is.” He said, pulling me to the gazebo that was over the water. The gazebo was missing several wood pieces because kids liked to kick them down. I’ve done it enough times to know. By now they just wait to so it, because they know some other kid is gonna come do it anyway.
He went to one side, still holding my hand. He got a small flashlight and turned it on, holding it over something.
“What?” I asked.
“Love at this.” He whispered, pointing.
Asher loves Brooke—will you marry me? it read.
“H… Whoa… has Brooke seen this yet?!”
“No. Asher did it tonight I think… they’re coming up here tomorrow.”
“Wow.” I said, tracing the carving. “Woah… they’re gonna get married.”
“Yeah… kinda cool, huh?”
“Kinda cool.”
Frank’s POV
The Next Day…
Aiden was already up and downstairs when I came down to make some coffee.
“What are you doing up, hon?” I asked, ruffling his hair.
“Dad, can I ask Eric to marry me?”
If I’d had coffee I would have spit it everywhere. “WHAT?”
“Shh!” Aiden hissed. “Brooke and Asher are getting married.”
“WHAT?!”
“Dad! You’re gonna wake Eric up!” I snapped.
“Y-you’re sixteen!”
“So is Asher!”
“Woo! Just male testosterone. Same thing happened to Gerard when Mikey got pregnant.”
“Uncle Mikey got pregnant?!”
“Aiden, really. It isn’t that early!” I laughed.
“But you’ll had Bella when Mikey had the brat…”
“The brat has a name, Aiden!” I rolled my eyes. “And no, his girlfriend Alicia had a miscarriage.”
“I never knew that.” Aiden said.
“Well you must not go on INO. And no you can’t ask Aiden to marry you because you aren’t legal yet.”
“If we have parent signatures…”
“Aiden, you two have been going out for one year.”
“So? It’s meant to be. I know it is.”
“Well now you just sound like Mrs. Weasley or something. I think you should wait a few days… no, a few months…. No, a YEAR… to make any decisions like that. Yeah?”
“No.” I pouted.
I tickled his side. “We’ll talk about this later when I have coffee in my system.”
Aiden grumbled.
“And I wouldn’t say anything about that to Gerard either. He’ll flip out on you.”
I turned the coffee pot on and sat down, burying my face in the crook of my arm. I hated mornings.
“What time is Dad gonna be here?”
“I dunno.” I shrugged.
“So when’s he gonna move in?”
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, come on. You’ll are having sex and going on dates. He broke up with the ‘home wrecking whore’. Either you’re a slut or you’ll are gonna get back together and I don’t picture you as a slut dad.”
I sat there, looking at him. How could I trust Gerard to not do it again?
Did that make me a slut for having sex with him?
Of course it didn’t… it wasn’t as if I was sleeping with everyone and his brother. I muttered this as Eric came in.
Eric’s eyebrow arched. “I think I came in on the wrong part of that conversation.”
Gerard’s POV
“I love you.” Aiden said, kissing Eric.
“I love you too.” Eric kissed Aiden back for what seemed like the millionth time.
Frank and I weren’t that clingy when we got together.
“Just call me or text me if you need me.” Aiden said, kissing Eric’s cheek.
Frank rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.
“Were we like that?” I asked quietly.
“Every teenager in love is like that.” He whispered back as Aiden and Eric kissed again.
“Wow… are they to a hundred yet?” I asked.
“At least they’re losing weight.” Frank laughed.
“Like they need to. Both of them are sticks already… you ready yet, Aiden?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He kissed Eric again.
“And here the process starts again.” Frank laughed.
Gerard’s POV
“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow…” I heard Aiden say into his phone. “Yeah… I know…. Two days is a long time…”
I rolled my eyes.
“I love you too… Yeah, I’ll see ya then… okay… bye… I love you…. Yeah…. Love you… love you…. Bye.”
“Good lord, how long were you saying bye?”
“Only 30 minutes. Last time it went on an hour.” He yawned and stood up. “Night, Dad.”
“G’night… hey, Aiden…”
“Yeah?”
“If your dad and I were to get back together… what would you think? You and Eric?”
I shrugged, not really knowing. I voiced this.
“Okay… g’night, kid. Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad. Night.”
The Next Day
Aiden’s POV
“I don’t fucking KNOW why she said no!” Asher moaned, sitting on the floor.
I didn’t know what to say. What would I do if Eric ever refused to marry me? Be heart broken.
“W-What’d she say?” Eric asked quietly. He always tended to get very quiet and shy when there was yelling going on and when Asher first came, there was yelling. A lot of it.
“She said no… and left. That’s all. No reason why… and she won’t answer her phone, text messages, IMs… nothing.” Asher looked up at the ceiling, sighing. “What did I do?! I’ve been nothing to nice since the day I met her. And yeah, I know. She’s had bad relationships before. I got her out of the one that night at the party when that ass smacked her and I stepped in… but why won’t she fucking marry me?”
“I don’t know, Asher…” Aiden said.
“Eric… you talk to her.”
“Me? She won’t listen to me, she’s almost 18. I’m barely 17.”
“She does listen to you, Eric… find out what I did… I can’t lose her.”
Eric’s POV
I nervously went into Brooke’s room, wringing my hands. “Brooke?”
She looked up. “Hi.”
“Hey…” I said, biting my lip. I came in. “What’s u—.”
“Asher send you to talk some sense into me?” she asked impatiently.
“No, I don’t know what you—.” I began to lie, and then realized I couldn’t. “Well, to find out what’s wrong…”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at me. “My dad left my mom when she was pregnant with me… it ruined her life. It ruined our life. We had no money… he ran off with his secretary.” she sneered.
“I know, Brooke… but Asher loves you…”
“Yeah well mom thought dad loved her too.”
“So because of one ass you’re gonna turn down someone who loves you forever?”
“You should see where I’m coming from! You’re parents fucking deserted you, Eric! How can you look at Aiden and believe he loves you?!”
“Because I know Aiden and I trust him. Just like I know Asher and trust Asher. Any time anyone has said anything about me or Aiden being gay, Asher has been taken to the office because he was willing to fight for his friends. Anytime anyone has said or done anything to you, Brooke, he has fought his hardest to make you happy and make them pay!”
“Why do you care so much?” Brooke asked.
“Because Asher is heart broken because, frankly, you’re too stupid to see that he’s one of the best people out there. He would never fucking leave you like that, Brooke! You know him better than I do and I knew Asher before I even moved here!”
“You… you have?”
“Yeah… we knew each other by way of our family… his uncle and my dad…they worked together.” I said slowly. I hated thinking about… about that. That the man who had raped me was Asher’s uncle. “But it doesn’t matter how long I’ve known him. It matters that he loves you, Brooke… and he’s sitting in Aiden’s bedroom distraught and it isn’t fair to him… it just isn’t.”
“Well it’s really none of your business what I say now, is it?” she snapped.
“You’re bitter and scared.” I said quietly, then turned and left her all alone.
I was glad when I got back Asher was gone. Who knew where he was, I just didn’t want to tell him… tell him I failed. That Brooke wasn’t changing her mind.
I sighed and went to find Aiden. He was sitting on his bed, looking at nothing.
“Hey babe.” He said, smiling.
“I-I…” I said, then began to cry.
“Eric?” he asked.
“She’s not gonna say yes. She said th-that I shouldn’t trust you because of what my parents did and that it doesn’t matter what I think.” I cried.
“Oh, baby… baby, don’t listen to her.” he said, rubbing my back.
“It was Asher’s uncle, Aiden. Asher’s uncle raped me. He and my dad worked together…” I said, then pressed my lips to his.
He kissed me back, lying me down on the bed.
I sat us up again, shook my head, then kissed him. “I gotta pee. Hang on, babe.”
He nodded.
I went into then bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, sighing. I felt bad, knowing Brooke wasn’t going to say yes. I felt like it was my fault… I knew it wasn’t, but I couldn’t help but think that.
After a few minutes I went back out, smiling. “What do you want to do?”
“I dunno.” He shrugged.
“Hey, is anything up with you? You seem a little off.”
“Nothing. Just thinking a lot.”
“About what?” I asked.
Aiden’s POV
“About what?” he asked, smiling adorably.
“About you.” I answered, smirking.
He blushed a bit. “Yeah? Good thoughts?”
“Yes, of course.” I smiled at him.
“Like whaaaaaaaat?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you later.”
“Fine.” He pouted. “I’m gonna come up with a secret and not tell you too. See how you like that.”
“I bet I’ll guess.”
“Well that isn’t fair. You’re a good guesser and I’m not.” He pouted again.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, you big meanie butt.”
Two Months Later…
Aiden’s POV
“Can’t we just… pretend we didn’t know school was starting?” I whined.
“Aiden, you’ll be a junior. Soon you’ll be done.” Dad said.
“But why can’t I just stay at home with Eric all day?”
“Because Eric, like you, needs an education.”
“Like you and dad have an ‘education’. You’re a college drop out and dad’s got a art diploma. I’ll just start a band.”
He rolled his eyes. “Aiden, you’re going.”
“Well that isn’t fair.” I moped, going into the kitchen. I didn’t want to go to school this morning. I missed summer already and I hadn’t even stepped foot inside the school once.
“Where’s Eric?”
“I dunno. Getting ready. He takes longer than a girl.”
“I heard that.” Eric said, coming down.
“Ah, boys. It’s nice seeing the tight girl pants and emo hair again.” Gerard laughed, coming in.
“You mean Aiden. Eric always looks nice.”
I scoffed. “And I don’t?”
“No, you look nice. Just lazy.”
Gerard handed Eric some toast and Eric quietly said thank you. He was still nervous around Gerard, though he’d been living with us for over a month now.
“Okay, boys. We’ll see you tonight. Have good days.” Dad said.
I grabbed Eric’s hand, pulling him out.
“You know I really like those jeans.” I grinned.
He elbowed me, smirking. “I know you do.”
“It isn’t nice to come onto people and not give them what you want. It’s called being a tease.”
Eric pouted. “I’m not a tease. It’s just fun to get you all riled up.”
“That’s called a tease, babe.” I said as we got closer to the bus stop. We could see Brooke and Asher already. “YO! ASHER! WHEN ARE YOU GONNA GET A CAR!” I yelled.
“WHEN YOU GET A BRAIN!” he called back, smirking.
“Nice! But it won’t happen! I lost it a few years ago!” I said, then said. “And then this big dummy stole my heart.”
“Aww.” Eric said. “I don’t know whether to hit you or kiss you.”
“I think you should kiss me because I had to put thought into that one.” I said.
Eric leaned up to kiss me. I kissed him back, smirking.
Asher rolled his eyes. “Blugh. At least Brooke and I don’t do that.”
“You’re married! You don’t have too.” Eric said, pulling away.
Both of them grinned. It’d taken a few days for Brooke to come around, but when she did they’d gotten married that day.
The bus came.
“Ugh. Hell.” I groaned.
Brooke got onto the bus. Asher turned to Eric.
“Thanks… again. Really.” He smiled, then got onto the bus.
I got on, sitting near the back. Eric slid next to me, grinning.
“What? You’re happy to be giving your soul away to these mindless school weirdos?”
“Nope. I’m just remembering what happened the last time we were alone in the back of a car.”
“Oh…. Hahahahaha. That was fun.”
Later That Day…
Frank’s POV
“Mom just got off the phone.” I said, climbing onto the couch by Gerard.
“And?”
“She wants us all to come over for Christmas dinner.”
“Ugh… really?”
“Yeah… and I told her we would.”
Gerard groaned quietly, like he didn’t want me to hear.
“What? I haven’t seen my sisters in forever.” I said.
“I know… but I hate going to America.” Gerard said. “I think they should come here.”
“My family all lives in one area… it wouldn’t make sense for ALL of them to board planes or us four.”
“Yeah… I just hate being so close to my family.”
“You don’t wanna see Mikey? He told me he hasn’t seen you in two years on the phone a little while back, before we got back together.”
Gerard looked guilty. “Yeah… I know…”
I sighed. “Why’d you lose touch with Mikey?”
“After I hurt you… I kinda lost touch with everyone.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want to fool with it… I was stupid.”
I nodded. “Yeah, you were.”
He rolled his eyes and kissed me. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. You’ve said it enough, Gee.”
“Yeah… but I know how much I hurt you.”
“It’s okay… really.”
“No… it isn’t. And I’m going to make it up to you, one way or another. I want you to trust me.”
“I do, Gee… I know that wasn’t you. You were drunk and shit… and you don’t do that anymore…” I said, squeezing his hand. “So let’s think about cheerful things. Like how we have the entire house to ourselves and Aiden and his boyfriend won’t be back for another 3 hours.”
I pulled away. “His name is Eric, Gerard.”
“I know.”
“Well you act like he isn’t part of the family or something. He is, okay? I took him in because I love that kid as much as I love Aiden and Bella. And like it or not, Gerard, he’s gonna be around forever. Aiden’s already on a testosterone kick, wanting to marry him.”
“Well he’ll get out of that eventually. They’ll split up.”
“No, Gerard… I don’t think they will. But I’m serious… Eric is a part of this family… and you need to treat him like you treat Aiden… because its obvious he’s uncomfortable enough around you as it is.”
Gerard sighed. “I know…”
“But god… I hate his parents, Gerard… they were awful to him.” I said, then shuddered. “I don’t…. I could never do anything like that to Bella or Aiden, Gee… the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.”
“I know. People are stupid… that’s why we hate them.”
“You realize you said that to Bella when she was getting bullied in kindergarten?”
“Haha. I did, didn’t I?” Gerard said.
“Yeah.” I said, standing as the phone began to ring. “Hello?” I asked.
“Mr. Iero?” a voice asked.
“This is the principal at your sons highschool… I’m going to need you to come down here.”
“Is Aiden okay?” I asked, dread filling through me.
“This has nothing to do with Aiden, sir. Eric Idle lives with you, correct?”
“Yeah, he does.” I said.
“He got into a fight today, sir. He’s been suspended and needs to be picked up.”
My eyes widened. “Eric? Are you sure it isn’t Aiden?”
“I’m sure it’s Eric. Can you come down here please?”
“Yeah… I’ll be right there.” I said, hanging up. “Uhm, we need to pick Eric up… he’s been suspended for fighting.”
“Small quiet Eric who barely talks?” Gerard asked, eyes widening.’’
“Yeah… oh man, I wonder what happened.”
Frank’s POV
Gerard and I went into the office. Eric was there, looking in pretty bad shape with someone much bigger than him that looked like nothing had happened.
“Eric, are you okay?” I asked, coming over.
He nodded.
“What the fuck happened?” Gerard asked.
“He was fighting with Mr. Ryan here.” The principal said.
“He ganged up on me after Asher and Aiden went to class.” Eric said quietly.
“That’s a lie!” The kid said.
“You called me a queer and you and your friends shoved me against a lo—.”
“Mr. Idle, please. Let me handle this.”
“Obviously you aren’t handing anything, sir.” Gerard spat. “Look at Eric and look at this kid. It was obvious who got jumped.”
“That isn’t true!” The other kid said. “It was defense. He made a comment about my mother.”
“Oh yeah?” Eric sneered. “What’d I say?”
“That I fuck her.”
“I didn’t!”
“BOYS!” The principal shouted.
“You’re just doing this because I’m gay!” Eric shouted back.
“Eric, shh.” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
Eric fell silent.
“Mr. Idle, this has nothing to do with your sexuality. This school is not… not affiliated with hate crime and the sort towards gays…” the principal said slowly. “However you were in a fight. You said earlier you hit back. He has a split lip and a cut eye.”
“I know but he isn’t getting anything!”
“You threw the first punch, did you not?’
“He shoved me into a locker.”
“Mr. Idle, did you or did you not throw the first punch?”
“He shoved me!”
“ERIC.” The man almost shouted, making Eric jump.
“Yes I fucking punched him first.” He turned to the kid. “Are you happy now?”
Gerard’s POV
“Look, it doesn’t matter.” Frank said, wrapping an arm around Eric’s shoulder as we made our way out of the school.
“I know it doesn’t.” Eric sighed. “It just sucks. He gets a detention when I didn’t even start it.”
“Think of it this way. You get to miss some school for nothing.”
“It was the first day.” He sighed again.
“Hey, it doesn’t matter.” I suddenly said. I felt kind of nervous talking to him though. It was weird.
He looked at me, shocked, then nodded sadly and climbed into the car.
Frank and I got in, then drove him home. He laid on the couch and fell asleep.
Aiden’s POV
“Is he okay?” Asher asked, rushing up to me.
“What? Who?”
“Eric. You didn’t hear?”
“No… what happened?” I asked, feeling my heart fall to my stomach.
“This morning after we left that David fucker and his friends ganged up on him. They beat him up… word is, though, that Eric got in some good punches for his size—but still, is he okay? Your dads picked him up.”
“What?!” I asked as they began bus dismissal.
“I don’t know.” He said, as we began walking out together.
We got onto the bus and I pulled out my cell phone. I quickly dialed home.
“Hello?” Gerard asked.
“Dad, where is Eric?”
“He’s in the kitchen making cookies with Frank.” He said.
“Is he okay? What happened?”
“I dunno all the details… he got in a fight with some Ryans dick and the Ryans kid got nothing, but Eric is suspended ten days. But he’s okay.”
I sighed in relief. “Okay… uh… I’ll be home soon then.”
“Yeah, see ya then. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.” I said, then hung up and told Asher what Dad told me.
Asher sighed in relief, nodding. Then he turned to Brooke and began making out with her.
I sighed, getting huffy. And pissed off at David for touching my Eric. The bus ride lasted too long and when I finally got off the bus, I didn’t even bother saying bye to Asher or Brooke. I needed to see Eric, to know he was okay for myself.
I rushed home, threw my stuff down, and went into the kitchen.
Eric was sitting with both of my dads, eating cookies. He looked real banged up, but when I got closer I saw it looked worse than it really was.
“Hey.” I smiled.
“Hi.” He offered me a cookie.
I took it and pulled him up, sat down, then pulled him onto my lap.
“What happened?” I asked.
“David and his friends… David shoved me into a locker. I punched him. He got in about 8 punches for every one I got in though.” Eric sighed.
“Aww, babe. I did see he had a split lip.” I lied. I hadn’t seen it, but I’d heard someone else talking about it.
“Really?” he asked hopefully.
“Yep.” I grinned.
“Well it still sucks that I’m suspended this long.”
Frank’s POV
I sat up and grabbed Gerard by the hand, dragging him out.
“See? I told you. They are exactly like we were when I was sixteen.” I whispered, smirking.
“Yeah… well… it doesn’t mean they’re gonna get married.” Gerard said.
“I bet you $1000 they get married within one year of high school graduation.”
“Fine. I bet you that and a blow job.”
“Deal.” I said, holding out my hand.
We shook on it.
“You’re gonna lose.” I teased, sticking my tongue out.
“You wish.”
I woke up in the middle of the night with Aiden’s arms tightly around me. I rolled over to face him and he moaned in his sleep, muttering.
“Aiden?”
“Nooo.” He moaned.
“Aiden, wake up.”
“I don’t wanna go to school, dad. I’m dying.”
“Aiden, you aren’t dying. Get up.” I said, shaking him.
He opened his blue eyes, groaning. “Hmmm?”
“I wanna go for a walk.”
Aiden rubbed his eyes and looked at the alarm clock. “Eric, it’s 3 AM.”
“I know but you go to your dad’s tomorrow…” I said. “Please?”
Aiden nodded and stood up, yawning. He stretched and I saw his stomach as his shirt rose. Man, he has a nice stomach.
“Mmmmh.” He yawned again, shaking his head.
I grinned at him and stood up. “Yay.”
He opened his window, yawning once again.
“Stupid yawns.” He muttered to himself, climbing out the window.
I threw his shoes out it, slipped my red chucks on, and followed him. He put his hands on my waist and helped me down, kissing my neck.
“Yay, lets go.” I said, taking his hand and dragging him towards the park.
Aiden’s POV
“Hey, what’s with you suddenly wanting to go out? I thought that you hated sneaking out.”
“You’re just mad I woke you up. Now c’mon.” Eric said, pulling me to the dock. “I have to show you something.”
“Okay.”
“No, no. Not the dock. Over there.” he said, pointing to a gazebo. “C’mere. Hurry.” He began dragging me.
“Why do I have to hurry? It’s gonna stay where it is.” He said, pulling me to the gazebo that was over the water. The gazebo was missing several wood pieces because kids liked to kick them down. I’ve done it enough times to know. By now they just wait to so it, because they know some other kid is gonna come do it anyway.
He went to one side, still holding my hand. He got a small flashlight and turned it on, holding it over something.
“What?” I asked.
“Love at this.” He whispered, pointing.
Asher loves Brooke—will you marry me? it read.
“H… Whoa… has Brooke seen this yet?!”
“No. Asher did it tonight I think… they’re coming up here tomorrow.”
“Wow.” I said, tracing the carving. “Woah… they’re gonna get married.”
“Yeah… kinda cool, huh?”
“Kinda cool.”
Frank’s POV
The Next Day…
Aiden was already up and downstairs when I came down to make some coffee.
“What are you doing up, hon?” I asked, ruffling his hair.
“Dad, can I ask Eric to marry me?”
If I’d had coffee I would have spit it everywhere. “WHAT?”
“Shh!” Aiden hissed. “Brooke and Asher are getting married.”
“WHAT?!”
“Dad! You’re gonna wake Eric up!” I snapped.
“Y-you’re sixteen!”
“So is Asher!”
“Woo! Just male testosterone. Same thing happened to Gerard when Mikey got pregnant.”
“Uncle Mikey got pregnant?!”
“Aiden, really. It isn’t that early!” I laughed.
“But you’ll had Bella when Mikey had the brat…”
“The brat has a name, Aiden!” I rolled my eyes. “And no, his girlfriend Alicia had a miscarriage.”
“I never knew that.” Aiden said.
“Well you must not go on INO. And no you can’t ask Aiden to marry you because you aren’t legal yet.”
“If we have parent signatures…”
“Aiden, you two have been going out for one year.”
“So? It’s meant to be. I know it is.”
“Well now you just sound like Mrs. Weasley or something. I think you should wait a few days… no, a few months…. No, a YEAR… to make any decisions like that. Yeah?”
“No.” I pouted.
I tickled his side. “We’ll talk about this later when I have coffee in my system.”
Aiden grumbled.
“And I wouldn’t say anything about that to Gerard either. He’ll flip out on you.”
I turned the coffee pot on and sat down, burying my face in the crook of my arm. I hated mornings.
“What time is Dad gonna be here?”
“I dunno.” I shrugged.
“So when’s he gonna move in?”
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, come on. You’ll are having sex and going on dates. He broke up with the ‘home wrecking whore’. Either you’re a slut or you’ll are gonna get back together and I don’t picture you as a slut dad.”
I sat there, looking at him. How could I trust Gerard to not do it again?
Did that make me a slut for having sex with him?
Of course it didn’t… it wasn’t as if I was sleeping with everyone and his brother. I muttered this as Eric came in.
Eric’s eyebrow arched. “I think I came in on the wrong part of that conversation.”
Gerard’s POV
“I love you.” Aiden said, kissing Eric.
“I love you too.” Eric kissed Aiden back for what seemed like the millionth time.
Frank and I weren’t that clingy when we got together.
“Just call me or text me if you need me.” Aiden said, kissing Eric’s cheek.
Frank rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.
“Were we like that?” I asked quietly.
“Every teenager in love is like that.” He whispered back as Aiden and Eric kissed again.
“Wow… are they to a hundred yet?” I asked.
“At least they’re losing weight.” Frank laughed.
“Like they need to. Both of them are sticks already… you ready yet, Aiden?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He kissed Eric again.
“And here the process starts again.” Frank laughed.
Gerard’s POV
“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow…” I heard Aiden say into his phone. “Yeah… I know…. Two days is a long time…”
I rolled my eyes.
“I love you too… Yeah, I’ll see ya then… okay… bye… I love you…. Yeah…. Love you… love you…. Bye.”
“Good lord, how long were you saying bye?”
“Only 30 minutes. Last time it went on an hour.” He yawned and stood up. “Night, Dad.”
“G’night… hey, Aiden…”
“Yeah?”
“If your dad and I were to get back together… what would you think? You and Eric?”
I shrugged, not really knowing. I voiced this.
“Okay… g’night, kid. Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad. Night.”
The Next Day
Aiden’s POV
“I don’t fucking KNOW why she said no!” Asher moaned, sitting on the floor.
I didn’t know what to say. What would I do if Eric ever refused to marry me? Be heart broken.
“W-What’d she say?” Eric asked quietly. He always tended to get very quiet and shy when there was yelling going on and when Asher first came, there was yelling. A lot of it.
“She said no… and left. That’s all. No reason why… and she won’t answer her phone, text messages, IMs… nothing.” Asher looked up at the ceiling, sighing. “What did I do?! I’ve been nothing to nice since the day I met her. And yeah, I know. She’s had bad relationships before. I got her out of the one that night at the party when that ass smacked her and I stepped in… but why won’t she fucking marry me?”
“I don’t know, Asher…” Aiden said.
“Eric… you talk to her.”
“Me? She won’t listen to me, she’s almost 18. I’m barely 17.”
“She does listen to you, Eric… find out what I did… I can’t lose her.”
Eric’s POV
I nervously went into Brooke’s room, wringing my hands. “Brooke?”
She looked up. “Hi.”
“Hey…” I said, biting my lip. I came in. “What’s u—.”
“Asher send you to talk some sense into me?” she asked impatiently.
“No, I don’t know what you—.” I began to lie, and then realized I couldn’t. “Well, to find out what’s wrong…”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at me. “My dad left my mom when she was pregnant with me… it ruined her life. It ruined our life. We had no money… he ran off with his secretary.” she sneered.
“I know, Brooke… but Asher loves you…”
“Yeah well mom thought dad loved her too.”
“So because of one ass you’re gonna turn down someone who loves you forever?”
“You should see where I’m coming from! You’re parents fucking deserted you, Eric! How can you look at Aiden and believe he loves you?!”
“Because I know Aiden and I trust him. Just like I know Asher and trust Asher. Any time anyone has said anything about me or Aiden being gay, Asher has been taken to the office because he was willing to fight for his friends. Anytime anyone has said or done anything to you, Brooke, he has fought his hardest to make you happy and make them pay!”
“Why do you care so much?” Brooke asked.
“Because Asher is heart broken because, frankly, you’re too stupid to see that he’s one of the best people out there. He would never fucking leave you like that, Brooke! You know him better than I do and I knew Asher before I even moved here!”
“You… you have?”
“Yeah… we knew each other by way of our family… his uncle and my dad…they worked together.” I said slowly. I hated thinking about… about that. That the man who had raped me was Asher’s uncle. “But it doesn’t matter how long I’ve known him. It matters that he loves you, Brooke… and he’s sitting in Aiden’s bedroom distraught and it isn’t fair to him… it just isn’t.”
“Well it’s really none of your business what I say now, is it?” she snapped.
“You’re bitter and scared.” I said quietly, then turned and left her all alone.
I was glad when I got back Asher was gone. Who knew where he was, I just didn’t want to tell him… tell him I failed. That Brooke wasn’t changing her mind.
I sighed and went to find Aiden. He was sitting on his bed, looking at nothing.
“Hey babe.” He said, smiling.
“I-I…” I said, then began to cry.
“Eric?” he asked.
“She’s not gonna say yes. She said th-that I shouldn’t trust you because of what my parents did and that it doesn’t matter what I think.” I cried.
“Oh, baby… baby, don’t listen to her.” he said, rubbing my back.
“It was Asher’s uncle, Aiden. Asher’s uncle raped me. He and my dad worked together…” I said, then pressed my lips to his.
He kissed me back, lying me down on the bed.
I sat us up again, shook my head, then kissed him. “I gotta pee. Hang on, babe.”
He nodded.
I went into then bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, sighing. I felt bad, knowing Brooke wasn’t going to say yes. I felt like it was my fault… I knew it wasn’t, but I couldn’t help but think that.
After a few minutes I went back out, smiling. “What do you want to do?”
“I dunno.” He shrugged.
“Hey, is anything up with you? You seem a little off.”
“Nothing. Just thinking a lot.”
“About what?” I asked.
Aiden’s POV
“About what?” he asked, smiling adorably.
“About you.” I answered, smirking.
He blushed a bit. “Yeah? Good thoughts?”
“Yes, of course.” I smiled at him.
“Like whaaaaaaaat?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you later.”
“Fine.” He pouted. “I’m gonna come up with a secret and not tell you too. See how you like that.”
“I bet I’ll guess.”
“Well that isn’t fair. You’re a good guesser and I’m not.” He pouted again.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, you big meanie butt.”
Two Months Later…
Aiden’s POV
“Can’t we just… pretend we didn’t know school was starting?” I whined.
“Aiden, you’ll be a junior. Soon you’ll be done.” Dad said.
“But why can’t I just stay at home with Eric all day?”
“Because Eric, like you, needs an education.”
“Like you and dad have an ‘education’. You’re a college drop out and dad’s got a art diploma. I’ll just start a band.”
He rolled his eyes. “Aiden, you’re going.”
“Well that isn’t fair.” I moped, going into the kitchen. I didn’t want to go to school this morning. I missed summer already and I hadn’t even stepped foot inside the school once.
“Where’s Eric?”
“I dunno. Getting ready. He takes longer than a girl.”
“I heard that.” Eric said, coming down.
“Ah, boys. It’s nice seeing the tight girl pants and emo hair again.” Gerard laughed, coming in.
“You mean Aiden. Eric always looks nice.”
I scoffed. “And I don’t?”
“No, you look nice. Just lazy.”
Gerard handed Eric some toast and Eric quietly said thank you. He was still nervous around Gerard, though he’d been living with us for over a month now.
“Okay, boys. We’ll see you tonight. Have good days.” Dad said.
I grabbed Eric’s hand, pulling him out.
“You know I really like those jeans.” I grinned.
He elbowed me, smirking. “I know you do.”
“It isn’t nice to come onto people and not give them what you want. It’s called being a tease.”
Eric pouted. “I’m not a tease. It’s just fun to get you all riled up.”
“That’s called a tease, babe.” I said as we got closer to the bus stop. We could see Brooke and Asher already. “YO! ASHER! WHEN ARE YOU GONNA GET A CAR!” I yelled.
“WHEN YOU GET A BRAIN!” he called back, smirking.
“Nice! But it won’t happen! I lost it a few years ago!” I said, then said. “And then this big dummy stole my heart.”
“Aww.” Eric said. “I don’t know whether to hit you or kiss you.”
“I think you should kiss me because I had to put thought into that one.” I said.
Eric leaned up to kiss me. I kissed him back, smirking.
Asher rolled his eyes. “Blugh. At least Brooke and I don’t do that.”
“You’re married! You don’t have too.” Eric said, pulling away.
Both of them grinned. It’d taken a few days for Brooke to come around, but when she did they’d gotten married that day.
The bus came.
“Ugh. Hell.” I groaned.
Brooke got onto the bus. Asher turned to Eric.
“Thanks… again. Really.” He smiled, then got onto the bus.
I got on, sitting near the back. Eric slid next to me, grinning.
“What? You’re happy to be giving your soul away to these mindless school weirdos?”
“Nope. I’m just remembering what happened the last time we were alone in the back of a car.”
“Oh…. Hahahahaha. That was fun.”
Later That Day…
Frank’s POV
“Mom just got off the phone.” I said, climbing onto the couch by Gerard.
“And?”
“She wants us all to come over for Christmas dinner.”
“Ugh… really?”
“Yeah… and I told her we would.”
Gerard groaned quietly, like he didn’t want me to hear.
“What? I haven’t seen my sisters in forever.” I said.
“I know… but I hate going to America.” Gerard said. “I think they should come here.”
“My family all lives in one area… it wouldn’t make sense for ALL of them to board planes or us four.”
“Yeah… I just hate being so close to my family.”
“You don’t wanna see Mikey? He told me he hasn’t seen you in two years on the phone a little while back, before we got back together.”
Gerard looked guilty. “Yeah… I know…”
I sighed. “Why’d you lose touch with Mikey?”
“After I hurt you… I kinda lost touch with everyone.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want to fool with it… I was stupid.”
I nodded. “Yeah, you were.”
He rolled his eyes and kissed me. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. You’ve said it enough, Gee.”
“Yeah… but I know how much I hurt you.”
“It’s okay… really.”
“No… it isn’t. And I’m going to make it up to you, one way or another. I want you to trust me.”
“I do, Gee… I know that wasn’t you. You were drunk and shit… and you don’t do that anymore…” I said, squeezing his hand. “So let’s think about cheerful things. Like how we have the entire house to ourselves and Aiden and his boyfriend won’t be back for another 3 hours.”
I pulled away. “His name is Eric, Gerard.”
“I know.”
“Well you act like he isn’t part of the family or something. He is, okay? I took him in because I love that kid as much as I love Aiden and Bella. And like it or not, Gerard, he’s gonna be around forever. Aiden’s already on a testosterone kick, wanting to marry him.”
“Well he’ll get out of that eventually. They’ll split up.”
“No, Gerard… I don’t think they will. But I’m serious… Eric is a part of this family… and you need to treat him like you treat Aiden… because its obvious he’s uncomfortable enough around you as it is.”
Gerard sighed. “I know…”
“But god… I hate his parents, Gerard… they were awful to him.” I said, then shuddered. “I don’t…. I could never do anything like that to Bella or Aiden, Gee… the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.”
“I know. People are stupid… that’s why we hate them.”
“You realize you said that to Bella when she was getting bullied in kindergarten?”
“Haha. I did, didn’t I?” Gerard said.
“Yeah.” I said, standing as the phone began to ring. “Hello?” I asked.
“Mr. Iero?” a voice asked.
“This is the principal at your sons highschool… I’m going to need you to come down here.”
“Is Aiden okay?” I asked, dread filling through me.
“This has nothing to do with Aiden, sir. Eric Idle lives with you, correct?”
“Yeah, he does.” I said.
“He got into a fight today, sir. He’s been suspended and needs to be picked up.”
My eyes widened. “Eric? Are you sure it isn’t Aiden?”
“I’m sure it’s Eric. Can you come down here please?”
“Yeah… I’ll be right there.” I said, hanging up. “Uhm, we need to pick Eric up… he’s been suspended for fighting.”
“Small quiet Eric who barely talks?” Gerard asked, eyes widening.’’
“Yeah… oh man, I wonder what happened.”
Frank’s POV
Gerard and I went into the office. Eric was there, looking in pretty bad shape with someone much bigger than him that looked like nothing had happened.
“Eric, are you okay?” I asked, coming over.
He nodded.
“What the fuck happened?” Gerard asked.
“He was fighting with Mr. Ryan here.” The principal said.
“He ganged up on me after Asher and Aiden went to class.” Eric said quietly.
“That’s a lie!” The kid said.
“You called me a queer and you and your friends shoved me against a lo—.”
“Mr. Idle, please. Let me handle this.”
“Obviously you aren’t handing anything, sir.” Gerard spat. “Look at Eric and look at this kid. It was obvious who got jumped.”
“That isn’t true!” The other kid said. “It was defense. He made a comment about my mother.”
“Oh yeah?” Eric sneered. “What’d I say?”
“That I fuck her.”
“I didn’t!”
“BOYS!” The principal shouted.
“You’re just doing this because I’m gay!” Eric shouted back.
“Eric, shh.” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
Eric fell silent.
“Mr. Idle, this has nothing to do with your sexuality. This school is not… not affiliated with hate crime and the sort towards gays…” the principal said slowly. “However you were in a fight. You said earlier you hit back. He has a split lip and a cut eye.”
“I know but he isn’t getting anything!”
“You threw the first punch, did you not?’
“He shoved me into a locker.”
“Mr. Idle, did you or did you not throw the first punch?”
“He shoved me!”
“ERIC.” The man almost shouted, making Eric jump.
“Yes I fucking punched him first.” He turned to the kid. “Are you happy now?”
Gerard’s POV
“Look, it doesn’t matter.” Frank said, wrapping an arm around Eric’s shoulder as we made our way out of the school.
“I know it doesn’t.” Eric sighed. “It just sucks. He gets a detention when I didn’t even start it.”
“Think of it this way. You get to miss some school for nothing.”
“It was the first day.” He sighed again.
“Hey, it doesn’t matter.” I suddenly said. I felt kind of nervous talking to him though. It was weird.
He looked at me, shocked, then nodded sadly and climbed into the car.
Frank and I got in, then drove him home. He laid on the couch and fell asleep.
Aiden’s POV
“Is he okay?” Asher asked, rushing up to me.
“What? Who?”
“Eric. You didn’t hear?”
“No… what happened?” I asked, feeling my heart fall to my stomach.
“This morning after we left that David fucker and his friends ganged up on him. They beat him up… word is, though, that Eric got in some good punches for his size—but still, is he okay? Your dads picked him up.”
“What?!” I asked as they began bus dismissal.
“I don’t know.” He said, as we began walking out together.
We got onto the bus and I pulled out my cell phone. I quickly dialed home.
“Hello?” Gerard asked.
“Dad, where is Eric?”
“He’s in the kitchen making cookies with Frank.” He said.
“Is he okay? What happened?”
“I dunno all the details… he got in a fight with some Ryans dick and the Ryans kid got nothing, but Eric is suspended ten days. But he’s okay.”
I sighed in relief. “Okay… uh… I’ll be home soon then.”
“Yeah, see ya then. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.” I said, then hung up and told Asher what Dad told me.
Asher sighed in relief, nodding. Then he turned to Brooke and began making out with her.
I sighed, getting huffy. And pissed off at David for touching my Eric. The bus ride lasted too long and when I finally got off the bus, I didn’t even bother saying bye to Asher or Brooke. I needed to see Eric, to know he was okay for myself.
I rushed home, threw my stuff down, and went into the kitchen.
Eric was sitting with both of my dads, eating cookies. He looked real banged up, but when I got closer I saw it looked worse than it really was.
“Hey.” I smiled.
“Hi.” He offered me a cookie.
I took it and pulled him up, sat down, then pulled him onto my lap.
“What happened?” I asked.
“David and his friends… David shoved me into a locker. I punched him. He got in about 8 punches for every one I got in though.” Eric sighed.
“Aww, babe. I did see he had a split lip.” I lied. I hadn’t seen it, but I’d heard someone else talking about it.
“Really?” he asked hopefully.
“Yep.” I grinned.
“Well it still sucks that I’m suspended this long.”
Frank’s POV
I sat up and grabbed Gerard by the hand, dragging him out.
“See? I told you. They are exactly like we were when I was sixteen.” I whispered, smirking.
“Yeah… well… it doesn’t mean they’re gonna get married.” Gerard said.
“I bet you $1000 they get married within one year of high school graduation.”
“Fine. I bet you that and a blow job.”
“Deal.” I said, holding out my hand.
We shook on it.
“You’re gonna lose.” I teased, sticking my tongue out.
“You wish.”