You and Me

“What do you want to-to ask me?” he asked.

“Frank, um, do you want to, y’know, be my boyfriend?” I asked him slowly.

“Why?” he asked. I wanted to groan so loudly, but I kept it in magically.

“Because I like you,” I said. “I would like to be your boyfriend if you want to be mine. I liked it when we kissed.”

“I liked it too,” he said happily. “But-But, wouldn’t my mom be mad?”

“Of course she won't be mad,” I told him, putting my hand on his shoulder gently.

“Okay then,” he said quietly.

“Okay what?” I asked, confused.

“I’ll be your boyfriend Gerard,” he smiled.

“Are you sure?” I asked him quickly. The second he nodded his head, I enveloped him in the biggest hug I've ever given anyone.

He started laughing and hugged me back, but unfortunately, we both lost our balance and fell down. Frank fell on me, but I didn’t mind. I was happy that I didn’t fall on him; I could’ve hurt him.

“C-Can I kiss you again?” Frank asked me nervously. His eyes were so stunning. Why haven’t I really noticed that before?

“I don’t care,” I whispered.

Frank leaned down and sloppily placed a very wet kiss on my lips. I laughed a little, but kissed him back. With time, I could teach him to be the best damn kisser ever, and I totally mean it.

“Thank you Frank,” I whispered.

“For … what?” he asked me. He was obviously confused. I didn’t care though; I just wrapped my arms around him tighter.

“For everything,” I said.

Frank's mom walked through the front door, definitely surprised to see me there.

“Frank, I thought I told you not to open the door to anyone,” she said, grinning.

“B-But, mom, I'm-I'm sorry,” Frank stammered quickly.

“Sh-h, don’t worry about it,” she smiled. “So, what brings you over?” she asked me. She was still smiling, so I took that as a good sign.

“Um, I wanted to ask Frank something and-and it couldn’t wait,” I said nervously.

“What’d you ask him?” she asked me. She was smirking now. God, she was tormenting me and loving every minute of it, I know it. Mothers have a dark side. Maybe it’s payback from going through childbirth, I don’t know, but something’s there.

“Gerard asked me to be his boyfriend!” Frank squealed happily.

Linda looked at me with an eyebrow high on her face. I nodded my head and looked down. I felt ashamed, for whatever reason.

“Gerard, I'm going to sit down with your mom and have a long talk with her about how you need to gain some confidence around me. You act like a dog with its tail between its legs, and personally, I don’t think that’s a very nice thing to witness. It’s not a pretty picture Gerard, and right now, you're not a pretty picture. You look like an emotional train wreck that needs to take a shower. Sorry if I'm hurting your feelings sweetie, but man up. Just because you might date other guys doesn’t mean that you have to act like a girl. One of the better things about same-sex relationships is that there doesn’t need to be man and woman title; you're both men or you're both women, and right now, you seem like you're a girl. Gerard, I think you're nice for Frank—hell, I'm not going to lie—I think you're a perfect young man for Frank. You’ve got your mind set in the right direction and I like that about you. Don’t feel nervous around me anymore, or else I might have to punch you,” Linda said.

“Why?” I asked stupidly.

“Why what?” she laughed.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, looking around. I loved Frank's mom, but she scared me at times like these. I could see her as my future mother-in-law.

“Actually Gerard, if you don’t mind and if your mother doesn’t mind, I would absolutely love to have her over for dinner tonight,” Linda grinned slyly.

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. Why did she want to talk to my mom about me? Just why?

“I’ll call her,” I spoke. Linda was right about one thing for sure; I did act like a dog with its tail between its legs when I was around her.

She smiled at me and ushered Frank over to her for god knows what. I went into the kitchen and dug out my phone, calling my mom. I told her everything, including how I’d asked Frank if he would be my boyfriend, and then she agreed, but only if Mikey got to come too, which Linda approved.

A few hours later, my mom and Mikey made their way into the Iero house. I was more than nervous. I didn’t want them to talk about me—be it good or bad—it was just too much.

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you Frank,” my mom said enthusiastically as she shook Frank's hand. Frank stood there, blushing, but was really sweet to her and Mikey.

“Hey, I'm Mikey,” Mikey said. He didn’t shake Frank's hand, which I didn’t like. He always shakes other people’s hands, but not this time. I was going to talk to him about that when we got home.

“Why don’t the three of you go to Frank's room while we chat for a while and I’ll finish up dinner,” Linda suggested. I shrugged and took Frank's hand in my own and led him to his room. Mikey followed, unwillingly, and he took a seat in the corner and put his iPod headphones in. He was really beginning to piss me off.

“Why won't he talk?” Frank asked sadly.

“He's being a jackass,” I said, rubbing Frank's back.

“You-You shouldn’t cuss,” Frank giggled.

“I won't if you don’t want me to,” I smiled.

He shook his head, confusing me as to what his answer was.

“I don’t care,” he said.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. Before I was able to move back over, he was kissing me full on. I heard something come from Mikey's mouth from the corner and nearly turned around to go over and slap him, but I didn’t; Frank's lips were more important at the moment.

“G-Gerard?” Frank asked me, pulling away from me.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Why doesn’t Mikey like me?” he whispered. Tears were forming in his eyes. If I could, I’d put Mikey back in the washing machine again and this time make sure that he couldn’t get out.

“Frank … Frank don’t worry about him,” I said. I wanted him to be comfortable around Mikey, but it’s kind of hard when Mikey is acting like a complete and total asshole. “He's just … he's not really accepting right now, but you shouldn’t care about him right now. I'm sorry he's acting like this—I really am.”

“Why doesn’t he a-ac-accept?”

I felt so under pressure. I was beyond my comfort zone. I wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep. Mikey doesn’t like Frank for whatever reason—though I'm sure I know why—and Frank is upset about this. Frank clearly hasn’t had much of a social life beyond the few kids that talked to him in school and me, now, I guess, and Mikey can't even be kind to him. I'm not saying he has to frolic through thousands of roses with Frank, but at least make some eye contact and smile and talk to him.

“You sit here; I'm going to talk to him,” I told Frank. He nodded and I got up and kicked Mikey's leg hard. He jerked his head up at me and I pointed to him and then the bedroom door. He got the point and stood up and followed me out, taking his headphones out.

“What?” he asked once we were in the hallway.

“Why are you acting like that towards Frank?” I asked.

“Gerard, he's not normal, all right? And I don’t like seeing you and him—“

“Mikey, he's just as normal as any other person. I thought you were better than that, or am I wrong? Tell me; am I fucking wrong? Do you just hate people who aren’t as normal as you want them to be? God Mikey, I always thought that you didn’t view the world like that. Frank isn’t some kind of fucking animal. He's a human being; he has feelings, he cries, he laughs, he talks, he learns, he can do everything that you can—he just might take a little more time doing it. I'm not telling you to be best buds with him, but treat him like you would any other normal human, but make sure to be nice to him. If you honestly thought that he didn’t have feelings, or that he can't feel the cold vibes you're sending him, then you're sorely mistaken. You wanna know what he asked me? He asked me why you didn’t like him. So if he's just that unusual, please tell me why he knew what kind of emotions you were sending him, or should I say lack of? Quit being a cold hearted bastard and fucking talk to the kid, Mikey. You act like his “condition” is a spreading disease.”

I ended my rant with a deep breath. Mikey was just staring at me in a way that told me I got my point across. He looked scared—scared of me—but I could care less. He nodded his head quickly.

“I-I'm sorry,” he muttered. “You're right. I'm just … I'm sorry.”

“Don’t let it happen anymore,” I said. I gave him a hug and we went back in Frank's room. Frank was sitting on his bed, rocking back and forth.

“I fixed it,” I whispered before leaning down and kissing his head.

Frank smiled, but only slightly. At least he smiled; that was enough to give me butterflies.