Flowered Whispers

Apathy is an immorality that tends to happen when people aren’t used to working. When someone has grown up with other people doing everything for them, it is easy for them to slip into an apathetic nature in later life.

Gerard Way is very apathetic. Who can blame him when he was born into a ridiculously rich family who could simply pay someone else to do the jobs for them? The Ways paying for a cleaner affects their pockets about as much as a regular person buying a chocolate bar. It isn’t Gerard’s fault that he is lazy and never does much in the way of work. It was his upbringing. That does not mean it is his parents’ fault. Apathy is an immorality that tends to come along with money. A side order, if you like. It tastes bitter but looks so appetizing that even the strongest of wills can’t resist taking a bite.

Gerard Way trails his hand elegantly down the old oak banister decorating the main staircase of his house. He takes his time on each step as people rush past him with shining silver plates. These people try to all fit on the opposite side of the stair case to Gerard. Although it is a very big stair case, when several workers in uniforms all try to run either up or down it whilst carrying big loads, it does tend to get cramped. No one dares come into Gerard’s half, however. He doesn’t ask them to do this, nor does he care so much if one did come near him. But with his graceful steps and handsome pale features, Gerard’s looks demand respect even when he wears a soft smile on his pretty face.

Gerard reaches the bottom of the stair case and trots quickly across the hallway in search of his mother. He ignores the many people in black and white uniforms who flit here and there until a petite girl carrying her own weight in cutlery falls in front of him. She squeals and trembles when she realizes that he has just witnessed the expensive silver drop on the floor like rain falling from a heavy cloud. But he just shakes his head and walks on almost as if nothing happened. Stepping over the mess on the floor, Gerard doesn’t give the girl a second glance or help her gather her things like some of the other workers were now doing. After all, why should he?

“Mother!” Gerard calls as he finally locates her in the main and largest of the sitting rooms. She turns her blond head around to the sound of his voice. Pushing his way towards her so that they can have a proper conversation, Gerard gives her a wave so she can see him over the workers in the room. Gerard’s face scrunches in confusion when he realizes just how many people there are in the house.

“Mom, are there more workers than usual or is it just me?” he asks when he reaches her. The Way household normally has quite a few workers. It is a rather large house that someone has to look after. But in all his years at this house Gerard has never seen it so overflowing. Overflowing is an understatement as Gerard finds it hard to even move without crashing into somebody or other.

“Well you know it is my birthday, Gerard! I want everything to be perfect for my party later on. You know the Dickinsons are coming tonight? The Dickinsons, Gerard! Can you believe it?” Gerard shook his head slightly in reply to his mother’s exclamations although his eyes were darting around at the people carrying and putting up decorations in the already over the top room. Gold and silver papers in various shapes are hanging from anywhere and everywhere. The house looks cluttered rather than dressy.

“You know it just looks like you are showing off how much money you have, right?” he asks bitterly. He hates the way his mother acts when it came to occasions like this and he hates the fact that she ruins the look of the house even more. Normally their father didn’t let her touch the decoration because he knew she would go over the top with it. She gets control once a year for her ‘birthday treat’. And under no circumstances is anyone allowed to tell her otherwise. She tuts but gives no further response the question.

“Gerard, we have a new worker in the house,” she tells him whilst walking away and signaling him to follow.

“A new worker? It looks like you have several.” Gerard glances around the room again just to check that he didn’t recognize any of the faces in it.

“Those are just for the party, Gerard. They will be gone by tomorrow,” she says squeezing through two men before one of them stops her.

“Is this champagne to your taste?” he asks whilst offering her a fine glass filled with a golden, sparkling beverage. She picks up the glass and knocks the drink back in one before savoring the taste. She pauses for a split second to let the drink settle on her tongue and fall back into her throat before creeping back up in the form of an after taste.

“It’s perfect! Thank you… erm…”

“Geoffrey, ma’am.” The man finishes her sentence and doesn’t look too down hearted that she doesn’t know his name. Gerard has seen him before so he presumes that Geoffrey knows not to have too high expectations from his boss. She nods and thanks him again before walking onwards and out of the dark red room.

“I bet you will be keeping these people until Monday at least. You will need them tomorrow to clean up the mess,” Gerard spoke again as he follows her onwards. He has to jog to keep up because she is walking so fast and her smaller frame can squeeze through gaps that he can’t. Gerard isn’t a large boy. He went through a teenaged spell where he had extra baggage, but he has lost the majority of that. The end result is a young man with maybe a little extra than needed but not too much. His mother, on the other hand, is as thin as the paint brushes Gerard occasionally uses. That’s when he can actually be bothered to paint.

“What was that, Gerard? Oh, never mind. I want you to go out into the garden and check that the new boy is doing okay. Your father chose the worst day to hire him! He could be an awful gardener for all we know and then my flowers will be a mess for the guests later.” She stops and wheels around to face him so quickly that he almost walks into her.

“Where is he?” he questions casually.

“He should be by the archway. I told him to go there anyway because that’s the bit that people will see most,” she chirps. She claps her hands in excitement for added measure but frowns as she looks her eldest son up and down. “When were you planning on getting changed, Gerard? Really! You look terrible! I want you showered and in a nice shirt as soon as you are done with the new boy. You do have an outfit, yes?”

“Sure. I’ll just wear that shirt and tie I wore to Mikey’s sixteenth last month,” he shrugs. The look on her face tells him it was the thing to say though, and maybe he should have guessed that.

“What? No! Of course you will not! Oh, Christ! How could you not buy a new shirt at least! Do you not know how important this is to me? This is my fortieth birthday, for God’s sake!” She throws her arms around in the air in distress. It is as though he has just said he is turning up to the party naked.

“Mom, you’re forty-one, not forty,” Gerard sighs whilst rolling his eyes.

“Yes! But the guests don’t know that! I’m forty, got it? And go find your father and get him to give you one of his suits or something. I can’t believe my own son doesn’t care about my birthday!”

Gerard leaves her mumbling to herself then and goes out into the garden. For October it is fairly clear, he thinks. There are a few clouds dotted in the sky and a chilly breeze about but it could have been worse. He notices straight away that there are a few workers hanging up decorations and candles in the garden. Again, he ignores them and walks over to the wooden, rose-covered, arch. A stone pathway leads through the arch and finishes around a small fountain that is surrounded by colorful flowers. Of course, Gerard didn’t know the names of them. He didn’t even give them a first glance on most occasions, let alone a second.

He looks around the wooden structure of the arch but can’t see a gardener anywhere. “Hey, you!” he calls out at a red-headed man who is hanging fairy lights on the arch. “Have you seen the new gardener?” This is a man that Gerard recognizes. His name is Jimmy, or something like that anyway. He has been working at the Way’s household for a while so he would know who the new gardener is and maybe where he is as well.

“I think he went over that way,” the man calls back, pointing under the archway. “Over by the viscaria last time I saw him.”

“The what?” Gerard asks the man. Gerard has no idea what or where the viscaria.

“Those purple ones over there. Yes, there he is. He is planting some forget-me-nots by the looks of things.” The red head stretches up over the arch on his ladder to get a closer look at the boy. Gerard rolls onto the balls of his feet so he can see better too. He looks over in the direction that the worker is looking in. After a few moments of his eyes darting back and forth for purple flowers, he finally spots a small man dressed in dark clothing planting some bright blue flowers.

“Got it,” Gerard mumbles and walks through the arch towards the boy. The red-headed worker sighs, but does nothing other than start up his work again. Gerard trots quickly over to the new gardener. He doesn’t want to waste any time on meaningless tasks. Gerard reaches the flowers and stands in silence for a couple of seconds as he marvels the shape of the guy’s ass, who bent down to plant the flowers. He waits until his mind’s eye has fully saved the image in his thoughts before tapping the gardener’s dirty shoulder.

The man, or boy, turns and stares at Gerard with wild eyes. He tries to get up so fast that he ends up falling over and landing on the backside Gerard has just been admiring. Gerard feels inclined to help the boy up. He almost offers a hand out to pull the boy up himself before he notices the large, muddy gloves on his hands. He doesn’t know why he wants to help the boy up. Maybe it was because he is new and looks scared, or because Gerard could almost feel the collision himself when he heard the thud of the two surfaces crashing together. Or maybe it was just because the kid had one fine ass, Gerard thinks to himself as the boy stands up.

“Hey!” the boy says hurriedly. “I’m Frank! I’m guessing you’re one of the Way boys. Michael or… um… Gerard?” Frank outstretches his gloved hand to Gerard ready to shake it.

“Yeah…” Gerard’s face subconsciously scrunches up when he sees the state of the glove in front of him. “I’m Gerard. My mom told me to come and check on you and make sure you weren’t ruining the garden and shit.” Frank looks a little taken aback at Gerard’s bluntness. This characteristic was one that the other workers were used to. Frank looks offended, maybe even slightly hurt.

Slowly, Frank’s hand recoils. “Uhuh. I see…” Frank says trailing off and looking back at the flower patch he had just planted. “I don’t know about the garden. I haven’t actually met her, so I don’t know what she wants. I was just told that there were some bags of flowers that a worker had picked up yesterday and they needed planting in the garden by the arch by a lady who works here. She didn’t say which flowers go where, but I thought the forget-me-nots went nice with the viscarias.”

“Right. Well, I have no idea about these things and I doubt the guests do. As long as it looks alright, then it doesn’t matter. It will be dark by the time they get here anyway.” Gerard finishes his statement with a shrug. “How old are you?” he asks.

Gerard had been trying to guess the age of the boy since he had stood up. He has big, round brown eyes that were tipped ever so slightly with a bright shade of green. Combined with his innocent looking smile, which makes him look oh-so sweet and cute, he looks quite boyish. Around the age of thirteen, Gerard guesses. His figure suggests otherwise. He is quite muscular. At first glance, he looks thin, but at closer inspection, Gerard could clearly see the curves of each muscle. It proves that he gardens, or at least works out, quite a lot. The thing that has Gerard dumbstruck was the kid’s height. The boy is tiny and, judging by height alone, he looks around eleven.

Frank is once again taken aback. “I’m fifteen. Sixteen next week, in fact. Why?”

“No reason. You just don’t look young enough to be working. You are still actually quite young. Don’t normal people start work at eighteen or something?” Gerard queries. He has no idea about the world of work, seeing as the idea of work has never appealed to him.

“Well, some of us don’t have big fancy houses. Some of us live alone with their single mother who struggles to bring enough money in on her own and therefore have to work to help her afford milk!” Frank snaps. His fists are clenched and his young face ages quickly as he twists it into a glare. Suddenly, the calm innocent gardener disappears and a young man filled with rage stands in his place.

“I’m sorry,” Gerard says dumbly. “I didn’t know. I guess it’s just hard for me to understand your situation.” Gerard shrugs again and Frank calms down quite quickly after Gerard’s apology.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry I over-reacted. Hang on a second…” Frank scampers over to a big, translucent bag filled with small flowers. Gerard guesses that this is the one he was referring to earlier when describing what he has been instructed to do. Frank pulls out a tray of small, leafy plants. The tray holds a dozen or so and each one is a slightly different shade of deep purple or pink. Frank analyzes them for a second before pulling out the one with the deepest shade of pink. Frank hands the almost red flower to Gerard. “Take it as an apology. It is a Gloxinia.”

Gerard has no idea what the importance of a gloxinia is, nor had he heard of one before. He takes the gift out of politeness though. Frank beams when Gerard takes it. “Thanks,” Gerard mumbles. “Well I have to go and get changed now. My mother will cut me into pieces, boil me and feed me to the guests if I don’t go and get ready. Thanks for the glox- the flower.”

“The gloxinia.” Frank smiles at Gerard. Gerard just nods and smiles in return. “Bye, Gerard! Good luck with the party and everything.”

“Yeah, thanks. Bye Frank.” Gerard takes two steps away before turning back again. He is shocked to see that Frank hasn’t moved at all, but doesn’t comment on it. “You know, if you and your mother are struggling to get food, then you can come to the party tonight. Free food and stuff, you know? I’m pretty sure there is an open bar, too.”

Frank chuckles; “Thanks for the offer, but I doubt me and ma would fit in very well here.” Gerard nods understandingly again before leaving the garden. He is secretly thankful that Frank turned down his offer. God forbid his Mother’s reaction if she found out he had invited a gardener of all people.

Several hard and long hours later, Gerard is dressed in a fine suit that he has borrowed off his father. He admires himself in the mirror, turning to the side so he can see himself from all angles. Just as he is about satisfied, the door knocks. “Hello?” Gerard calls out. The door opens slowly and from the reflection in the mirror, Gerard can see that it is Margaret, a worker in the house.

Margaret had been working with the Ways ever since Gerard was a small boy. The small, stout lady had been hired as a nanny for the Way boys when their mother realized she had better things to do than bathe screaming toddlers. “Hey, Margaret,” Gerard greets her politely. He turns around to face her. Margaret was like a mother to Gerard and Mikey. She raised them more than their own mother did and Gerard often found himself telling her things he wouldn’t tell his real mother or many other people for that matter.

“Well don’t you look dashing, Gerard!” she chirps. “I remember when your father wore that suit many years ago when you were knee height!”

“Yeah, well, Mom is hoping none of the guests will recognize it.” Gerard glances back at himself in the mirror. “I doubt any people who saw Dad wear this suit are here tonight. Mom changes ‘friends’ more often than she changes her underwear.” Margaret chuckles and shakes her head before walking towards Gerard’s large wardrobe to hang up the many clothes she has draped over her arm. “I’m guessing it’s almost time to show my face downstairs,” Gerard sighs when he looks out of the window and sees that the sky is gradually getting darker.

“Yes, your mother would like you down half an hour before the guests arrive as usual.” Margaret looks out of the window like Gerard was. “Oh! A gloxinia!” she exclaims when she notices the plant in a small pot on the windowsill. Gerard put it there because he knows that flowers need light. That’s pretty much all he knows, so he just left it by the window.

“Yeah. The new gardener gave it too me.” Gerard says as he subconsciously walks over to the plant and picks it up. He turns it over a couple of times in his hands before placing it back down and turning to Margaret again. “What?” he questions when he sees the smirk on her face. She giggles slightly, but doesn’t say anything. “What?” Gerard demands.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Did he say anything when he gave it to you?” she asks. Gerard scrunches his face up in annoyance at her smirk.

“No. Should he have? And what’s so damn funny?” he demands again. Margaret just chuckles again before telling him he ought to get downstairs before his mother comes up looking for him. Gerard growls under his breath at Margaret’s strange behavior, but doesn’t say anything out loud.

The party flies by like a blur to Gerard. He has been to enough parties like this one in his life time to be able to slip into autopilot. Mikey did the same, and he and Gerard would occasionally slip away to avoid distant relatives and guests that they hadn’t seen since that last gathering. He spends the next day, which is thankfully a Sunday, lying in bed from exhaustion until Margaret comes in and forces him to get up.

The day after is a Monday. Gerard and Mikey go to school which is uneventful until their dinner break. “Hey, Mikey, isn’t that our gardener?” Gerard asks as he spots a small boy scurrying through the hall to join the queue for lunch.

“Doubt it. This place is for geniuses and rich kids. I don’t think our gardener would get in. Actually, I haven’t actually met him. Is he young then?” Mikey lifts his head up from his plate to turn to Gerard only for the last question.

“Yeah. He is sixteen this week, I think he said. I’m sure that’s him. Mikey, look at him. He should be in your year.” Gerard peers over the crowds to look at the character in the lunch line. Gerard was right about his height; the boy is simply dwarfed by anyone else in the lunch line, even those younger than him.

“You mean Frank?” Mikey asks, trying to see where Gerard is looking.

“That’s him! Do you know him?” Gerard asks. Mikey shrugs and takes a bite out of his sandwich. He chews on it for a bit and starts to talk again even though he hasn’t finished chewing.

“He is in my biology class. That’s it though. The kid is a super genius.” Mikey lifts his hands up in the air to exaggerate the word genius. “Which is probably why he is only in one of my classes.”

“Well, you always were a thick shit.” Mikey flips his finger at Gerard and scoffs obscenities. Gerard sighs; “Jesus, Mikey. Don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s disgusting.”

Later that day, Gerard walks out into the garden. Sure enough, Frank is there trimming a large tree that hangs low in one corner of the garden. “Hey,” he says as he gets closer. Frank turns around and smiles when he sees Gerard.

“Hey!” he says. “What brings you out here? I was told by Margaret that you barely leave your room when you are at home.”

“You were talking about me to Margaret?” Gerard asks with an eyebrow raised. Frank shuffles his feet and gives a sheepish smile. Gerard would even swear he saw a blush creeping onto the boy’s cheeks.

“Yeah, she brought it up. She just asked me if I had met you and stuff.” Frank smiles his trademark grin when he is finished. That boy smiles just about as much as Gerard shrugs. He lets the comments slide even though he suspects Margaret is up to something. Of course she knew that they had met. He had told her that much already.

“Well, anyway, I came to ask something. I think I saw you at my school today. Chelsey Manor?”

“Oh, yeah! I go there. I didn’t see you though. I realized earlier that your brother is in my biology class, so I presumed you went there as well.” Frank beams. Gerard gives a small smile and can’t help but notice how cute the boy is.

“Margaret likes the flower you gave me by the way. She seemed to think it was funny though.” Gerard shrugs and Frank blushes again.

“Yes, she commented on it when she talked to me yesterday. She said it brightened up your room because it was quite dark in there.” Frank laughs slightly. Even Gerard smiles at this comment because he can picture Margaret saying something like that. She did always go on at him about his room anyway.

“My room is quite dismal, I will admit. The flower does make it prettier though.” Gerard sighs and shakes his head in shame of himself. Frank chuckles again but is silent for a moment. Gerard looks up from the ground and sees that Frank is looking at him. The boy makes no attempt to hide it when Gerard catches him; instead he just smiles again.

“I actually think these flowers suit you,” Frank speaks softly and motions at a bush near by that is adorned with beautiful white flowers. “They look nowhere near as good as they would in the summer. They are dying now that the sun is going. Unlike the gloxinias that were brought from a plant shop a couple of days ago, these have had to stay out in the harsh winds.” Frank looks at the flowers sympathetically as if in a trance. Gerard stares at them too because they are so beautiful, even in their dying state. “You should find that your gloxinia may start to die soon too,” Frank sighed. “Winter really isn’t the prettiest of times to be a gardener.”

“Well, at least now I know it is the seasons killing my plant. I thought I had done something wrong already when I woke up this morning and noticed it wasn’t as bright as on Saturday.” Gerard and Frank laugh softly for a moment. Suddenly, Gerard feels a slight remorse for the plants that he couldn’t care less about last week. “What are those white ones called?”

“Camellia,” Frank says proudly. “They are the white ones, but they can come in other colors.”

“I like them,” Gerard admits. He looks over at them again and admires them once more. After a few moments, he registers the fact that Frank is over by the bush. He was in too much of a daze to notice the boy move from his side.

Frank pulls out a small tool and expertly cuts one of the flowers off. He takes it back to Gerard and hands it to him. Gerard stares at the flower in Frank’s hand for a moment as though Frank was handing him the head of a small animal. “It will die quickly now that I’ve cut it off but at least it will decorate your room for the night.”

Gerard laughs and carefully takes the flower when he shakes the animal thought out of his head. He says his thanks to Frank before leaving the gardener to get back to his work.

“Gerard!” he hears what sounds like Margaret calling.

“I’m down here!” he calls back as he wonders into the kitchen and picks up an apple out of a fruit bowl situated in the center of the table. He slouches against the table and waits for Margaret to come and find him. Margaret comes down as Gerard takes a large bite from the apple and twirls his flower in his fingers.

“Another gift from Frank?” she asks knowingly and Gerard has to nod. He continues to munch on his apple and tries to ignore the smirk pulling at the old lady’s lips. “I’m not even going to bother asking about your strange behavior regarding my flower because I know you won’t answer.”

“Of course I won’t. You know it’s his birthday on Thursday. Maybe you should get him something in return.” Margaret winks and then admires the flower in Gerard’s hand just like he and Frank had been doing moments before.

“Thursday? Isn’t that Halloween?” Gerard asks.

“Indeed it is. I know a nice florist not far from here. She sells some really nice and quite rare plants. Just tell her that you know me and she will be happy to help. Actually, I’m sure I’ve talked about you to her, so she should know you.”

“Is there anyone who you don’t talk to me about?” Gerard sighs, referring to what Frank had told him earlier. Margaret smiles as she realizes what Gerard is talking about.

“Well, I used to work in a garden with this lady. She is an expert, Gerard. If I give you her address you can go and see if you can find anything for Frank.” Margaret picks up a pen out of her pocket and then looks around for something to write on.

“Why are you so intent on me buying something for Frank? When do I ever buy presents? I had to bribe Mikey to let me share his present for my own Mother, for God’s sake.” This fact is unfortunately true. The week before his Mother’s birthday, Gerard had cornered Mikey and bribed him with a trip to the nearest theme park; a deal which he isn’t particularly looking forward to fulfilling. Gerard despises the theme park because he can’t last five seconds on a ride before wanting to throw up. He normally just ends up standing around gingerly whilst waiting for his friends to finish the ride they are on. Mikey knows this and didn’t ask it from Gerard to be nasty. He just really wants to go to the theme park, but didn’t have any money because he spent it all on more clutter for his over-crowded bedroom.

“Well, it is about time you started then, isn’t it?” she laughs and hands Gerard a napkin with an address scrawled on it. Gerard looks down at it almost in disgust. Margaret leaves before seeing Gerard’s face. It is probably a good thing because Gerard could have offended her with out meaning to. A florist in the cheap suburbs of Jersey? She wanted Gerard to go to a florist in that area?

Gerard goes anyway. He buys Frank a little flower. The lady behind the counter tells Gerard the name and a secret meaning behind it, but Gerard didn’t really pay attention to either. He just buys the flower because it looks pretty. The flower is the same as the ones he saw Frank planting on the first day they met. The blue ones that sit next to the purple ones. Frank appreciates the flower anyway. He exclaims in delight when he sees it and tells Gerard he will never forget him anyway.

“What?” Gerard asks when Frank tells him this. He is in the garden on Halloween night handing Frank the flower in a sweet little pot with a ribbon attached for a half-hearted attempt at decoration. Frank is ecstatic though, and he screams the words that leave Gerard confused as he hurls his tiny frame at the other boy and hugs him tightly.

“It’s a forget-me-not.” Frank speaks wisely and even nods his head when he speaks. He still has Gerard held in a bone-crushing hug and Gerard is starting to feel the effects of Frank’s clamp-like grip. “And I will never forget you, Gerard.” Frank ducks his head down and nuzzles Gerard’s neck when he finishes speaking. He murmurs a small thank you in Gerard’s neck and doesn’t hide the fact that he is slowly inhaling Gerard’s scent, taking in every last particle of deodorant that Gerard sprayed on earlier.

Gerard awkwardly drapes his arms around Frank thinking he might as well, seeing as it is his birthday. Frank just snuggles Gerard tighter, if possible, and just as Gerard thinks he is about to choke to death, the kid lets go and skips off home with his new flower.

Gerard occasionally sees Frank after this. Frank had a tendency to wave at Gerard around school. If he waves, Gerard waves back out of politeness. If Gerard waves first, Frank tends to tackle and hug him until Gerard manages to peel the boy off of him. He didn’t ever get mad with the hyper little guy, however. He even invited him to go to the theme park with him and Mikey so that the latter would have someone to go on the rides with. When Gerard offers the invitation, Frank looks like his veins have just been shot full of sunshine and agrees immediately. He even wins a giant pink bear on one of the games for Gerard as a thank you present.

Every so often, Frank will take one of the plants that are meant to be planted in the garden and will give it to Gerard ‘to decorate his room’. Gerard takes the plants each week and will replace the one from last week with the new one.

Frank even buys Gerard a brand new plant out of his own money at Christmas. Gerard mentally kicks himself for not getting Frank one, but pretends he has not forgotten and just takes one of his Father’s expensive fine wines and gives it to Frank ‘for him and his Mother to share over Christmas’. He thinks Frank knows that he had not actually bought the present, but Frank seems happy enough anyway.

When Gerard’s birthday comes along, Gerard actually meets the woman who he stole wine for and who gave birth to the young gardener. He has a small party, much to his Mother’s annoyance. He invites close friends and family, including Frank and his mother. For some reason, Gerard still feels guilty about the Christmas thing even though it was months ago. He didn’t understand why either; Gerard didn’t feel guilty about anything. He has always been too selfish to care if he hurt others. Why was his gardener any different?

Frank arrives at the Way’s house dressed in tight black pants which should restrict his walking and a black button up shirt. Gerard thinks the pants should restrict Frank’s movements because they are like a thick, tight second skin that will hold his leg straight and keep him from bending his knees, as though planks of wood were behind them. However, Frank skips over to Gerard merrily and seems to be oblivious to Gerard’s puzzled expression and Mikey’s gaping mouth. Gerard chuckles; he knows his brother is thinking along the same lines as him. Even Mikey, who is one of the skinniest people Gerard knows, would have trouble walking in those pants.

“Hey, Frank,” Gerard greets him when Frank is with in ear shot. Frank beams and flings himself at Gerard. By now, Gerard is used to the tackle hugs and almost catches Frank before he is knocked over.

Frank closes his eyes and snuggles into Gerard’s chest like he always does. “Happy birthday, Gee.” Gerard silently regrets telling Frank the nickname he had been given by Mikey as a child. Mikey could never quite pronounce ‘Gerard’. He spoke in stutters and jumbled up letters a lot of the time when he was learning to speak. Even simple words like ‘sandwich’ became ‘sammich’. ‘Gerard’ was like mission impossible for Mikey, so in the end he gave up and just crowned him ‘Gee’. Gerard had told this to Frank one day when Frank asked about Gerard’s childhood. Naturally, he thought it was the cutest thing since hello kitty and chose to use this name as well.

“Thanks, Frank,” Gerard says. Frank pulls away and hands him a slim rectangular package wrapped in baby blue paper. Gerard stares at it a moment. It is definitely not a flower like he had been expecting. Smiling gratefully anyway, Gerard takes the present off Frank just as a short, plump lady comes up behind Frank. Her figure and kind features remind Gerard very much of Margaret.

“You must be Gerard!” she says chirpily. Frank introduces the woman as his ‘ma’, but Gerard has already guessed that. If the fact that she is accompanying Frank isn’t a give away, then her eyes are. They are almost identical to Frank’s. The same shade of green fading into a rich caramel gold. Gerard has found himself admiring Frank’s eyes a lot. He is even slightly jealous because Frank’s caramel dipped emeralds are much nicer than his olives, he thinks.

Later that night, Gerard finally opens Frank’s gift. The guests have all gone home and he is alone in his room. He rips the wrapping paper off and sees that Frank has given him a book. Gerard definitely had not been expecting a book from Frank, but the title proved the book to be a not so random choice. In a black, italic font on the ivory cover it read ‘Flowers and their secrets’. Secrets? Flowers have secrets? Gerard skims through the pages and admires the occasional picture of a brightly colored flower but doesn’t read into it anymore.

Frank says nothing about the present the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. Gerard soon forgets the book. Now that the summer months are crawling closer, Frank’s work in the garden is getting harder. He often comes earlier to the Way’s house earlier, not bothering to make the stop home from school first. He stays later as well to make sure everything is done. Gerard doesn’t understand how the boy can juggle being a more than efficient gardener and a super genius at the same time, but Frank manages it. Gerard comes up with the wild conclusion that, if Frank is such a super genius like Mikey said, then he has found a way to clone himself so that he can work in the garden and do all his homework at home simultaneously. Far fetched, he knows, but it is all he can think of.

More flowers in the garden also means more flowers for Gerard. One day, Gerard points out to Frank that he has given him one flower twice. Frank shrugs it off. “It’s a primrose,” he tells Gerard. “I may have given you one before, but nothing has changed since then.” Gerard doesn’t know what this is supposed to mean so he just nods and takes the flower anyway.

“Gerard!” Margaret calls when he goes back into the house via the kitchen door again. “Oh! A primrose!” she exclaims when she sees him carrying the flower. “And a pretty one at that!”

“Yeah, Frank gave it to me.” Gerard shrugs. “What did you want me for anyhow?” Margaret’s only response to Gerard’s question is a frown appearing on her face. Gerard’s face falls as well. He knows he is about to get a lecture off of her now.

“Gerard, I really think you should talk to Frank about these flowers he is giving you,” she states. When Gerard remains to look puzzled, she carries on. “Or at least glance through that book he gave you for your birthday.”

Gerard recalls the little book for the first time in a few months. “The one about flowers having secrets?” Gerard asks, bewildered.

“That’s the one! You see that primrose in your hand? Go and look it up in that book.” She pats Gerard on the shoulder and then walks away from him in the direction she came from.

Gerard is still as confused as ever. He doesn’t like the fact that he is confused and practically hates the fact that he will have to read to understand. However, he gives in and goes to find the book.

It takes him a while to find the darn thing. After months of it being discarded in his bedroom, the book is buried under weeks of other items. Gerard does not have as much stuff in his room as Mikey, but his lack of organization more than makes up for it. Gerard picks up the book and skips towards flowers beginning with the letter P. The book is in alphabetical order and there is a surprising amount of flowers in it. Gerard finds primrose and looks at the picture. It is a different color to his. The one in the book is a light blue whilst Gerard’s is a yellow. There is no page following on yellow primroses, so Gerard guesses primroses have the same secrets even if they are different colors.

The book has a paragraph about Primroses, the different colors they come in, where they come from and the best places to grow them; but Gerard skips all of this and heads straight to the secrets. There is only one line written there, but that one line causes Gerard’s heart to flutter and his stomach to do back flips:

“The Primrose’s primary meaning is ‘I cannot live without you’.”

Gerard quickly learns that the flowers ‘secrets’ are different meanings behind the flowers. He didn’t know that flowers had meanings but he quickly catches on and looks up as many of the flowers that Frank has given him that he can remember. A lot of the time he is working via pictures rather than the names of the flowers.

He starts from the beginning of the book and reads each meaning of the plants he recognizes. “Bluebell: Everlasting love”, “Camellia: You are adorable”, “Carnations: My heart aches for you.”

Gerard soon caught on that each flower had a romantic meaning behind it. At first, he persuades himself that all flowers meant love, but he soon realizes that only the ones Frank had given him meant love in the deepest form.

After studying the book, Gerard finds the final piece of evidence that proved the love theory correct. He racks his brains to remember the first flower Frank gave him. It was those purple ones. Those purple ones beginning with the letter G. Gerard thinks so hard his head feels like it is on fire but he finally remembers. He quickly skims to the page with the Gloxinia on.

“The Gloxinia represents love at first sight.”

Gerard stumbles out into the garden with his pot held in both hands behind his back. He doesn’t know where Frank is, but the boy works in an organized manner, starting up in the area of the garden where he finished the day before and carries on round in a circuit. Gerard slowly walks over to the place where he last saw Frank. It was a couple of days ago, because Gerard has been nervously plotting recently.

Gerard finds the place where he last saw Frank and then walks in the direction of Frank’s circuit until he spots him watering some purple flowers. Gerard groans at the cliché when he recognizes the plant as the one Frank was working near when they first met. He drags himself onwards though and coughs when he is standing behind the boy. Frank wheels around when he hears someone, but smiles when he sees who it is.

“Hey, Gee!” he almost sings. Frank drops his watering can gently and beams at Gerard. One thing Gerard can never understand is how happy the kid is all the time. He really is a happy go-lucky kid even though he had been secretly sending Gerard unrequited love messages for the best part of a year.

“Hey, Frank.” Gerard bites his lip before continuing. “So I found out why you bought me that book for my birthday…” When Gerard trails off, Frank’s smile falters slightly, but he forces his lips to stay smiling. Gerard can tell Frank is nervous though because his smile is not open and showing each of his shiny teeth. His lips are pressed together and not a pearly white is showing. “I’m sorry I didn’t look at it before,” Gerard continues. “I honestly had no idea…”

With each second that Gerard drags the conversation on, Frank’s smile seems to lessen.

“I got you this as an apology. I looked up the perfect flower for you in the book.” Gerard pulls the plant out from behind his back. The plant is small and mainly green leaves, but the tiny white flowers are there with an occasional purple hue on their petals. Frank’s eyes widen and his mouth opens. Gerard had been worried that Frank might not know the meaning behind the flower. How awkward would it have been if Frank had to go and look it up? Frank’s beam suggests that Frank understands, however.

“Gerard, do you really mean it?” Frank exclaims loudly. He can’t take his eyes off Gerard’s white violets. Gerard didn’t know what to say to Frank when he had read the book. He had considered buying Frank an Ambrosia which means something along the lines of ‘I love you back’, but Gerard didn’t think this was appropriate though. He didn’t love Frank back. Not yet anyway. But after all these flowers and sweet gestures and, fuck, even the bone crushing hugs, Gerard was willing to try. He finally found the perfect flower.

The White Violet read ‘Let’s take a chance on happiness’.

Gerard nods in response to Frank’s question and prepares himself for a bone-crushing hug. It doesn’t arrive, however. Frank’s arms do wrap themselves around Gerard and Frank’s nose does nuzzle Gerard’s neck, but there is no bone crushing. Frank’s hug is gentle and his touch is soft. Gerard thinks he wouldn’t have noticed Frank there if it were not for the extra warmth radiating off of Frank. Gerard also changes his approach to the hug. Instead of awkwardly draping his arms around Frank, Gerard cuddles him. He snuggles the boy close and finds himself smelling his soft black locks like Frank had smelt Gerard’s collar many times before.

“Do you see those purple flowers behind us?” Frank mumbles into Gerard’s skin. His hot breath tickles Gerard’s neck and his soft lips graze the skin there slightly. Gerard sighs in content and looks at the flowers behind Frank.

“I see them,” Gerard whispers.

“Do you know what they mean?” Frank asks. He still hasn’t broken the hug even though he is practically kissing Gerard’s neck and each word he breathes blows warm air dancing over Gerard’s skin.

Gerard stares at the flowers. He vaguely remembers them being in the book although he can’t recall the name or meaning. “No,” he mumbles. He doesn’t know why they are being so quiet. Frank’s words are breathy and almost silent as though he is in a dreamy daze so Gerard lowers his voice too.

“They are viscarias. They are the flowers that I had just finished working on at the time we met, remember?” Frank squeezes Gerard a little tighter for a moment. Gerard nods. He doesn’t know whether Frank felt his response but it doesn’t matter because Frank continues anyway. “They mean ‘will you dance with me’,” Frank states.

“Oh, right,” Gerard says whilst looking at the flowers. He doesn’t quite get Frank’s meaning until the boy lifts his head out of Gerard’s neck and looks at him expectantly but with a patient smile adorning his face. “OH! Right,” Gerard exclaims when he realizes. “Yes. Yes, I will dance with you, Frank Iero.” And so, in the fading light of day, Gerard and Frank start to sway without breaking their embrace to no music at all.