Coffee and Cigarettes

"Where do you see yourself in ten, maybe fifteen, years?" Frank asked, glancing over at Gerard. The grass of Gerard's backyard was starting to make the backs of his legs itch, but it didn't seem to bother him to much. He was enjoying the time he had left with Gerard as much as he could.

Gerard closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of sunshine on his skin and pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know... maybe I'll work at Kinko's and make copies for people who can't afford printers and ink. I'll work there and say 'Hi, welcome to Kinko's. Can I waste our ink on your insignificant project?'"

Frank laughed. "Seriously, Gerard. It's nice that you have a sense of humor, I love that about you, but I was looking for an answer, not a joke."

Gerard sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees, glancing down at Frank. "Honestly? It's hard to say. I want to sell art or do something that revolves around art in some way, but it's not that easy to envision myself fifteen years from now."

Frank sat up as well and leaned against Gerard, kissing the side of his head. He sighed, lifting his fingers so they were twisting random strands of his boyfriends hair. "You know where I see myself? Or hope to at least?"

Gerard nodded. "Where?"

"Somewhere with you in a crappy apartment, or maybe something nice if we can afford it, and I'm working in business somewhere and you're doing your starving artist thing and we're happy. That's where I'd want to be in fifteen years."

Gerard smiled, twisting his head so he could capture Frank's lips with his own. "You're wonderful you know that?" He said, still grinning.

Frank shrugged, smiling along with Gerard. "I know. I can't say it comes easy."

The pair fell into a silence that consisted of nothing but their breathing and the chirping of birds and the wind blowing through the trees. Frank leaned back onto his palms and Gerard's arms remained around his knees and they were truly happy not speaking. That was until Frank heard the sound of the garage opening.

"Is that your parents?" He asked, glancing back at the house.

Gerard nodded. "Yeah. I guess they're back from that party a little early. Wanna meet them?"

Frank shrugged. "I don't know. Won't they mind that I'm here?"

"No. Why would they be? They know all about you."

"Really?"

"Well... not all about you. They know who you are and all though. I haven't told them that I'm completely and totally crazy about you yet."

Frank blushed, lightly slapping Gerard's shoulder. "Why do you have to go and say shit like that?"

Gerard stood up, grabbing Frank's hand so he could pull him up off the grass too. "Because it makes you smile. Now shut up and get in the house so you can meet my parents. They've been curious for God only knows how long."

Inside the house, Mr. and Mrs. Way were standing in the kitchen talking about a woman who lived down the street. From what Gerard could gather, she was 'screwing around on her husband with the postman.'

"Hey mom," Gerard said. "Dad."

His parents waved, but their eyes were on Frank, who was standing slightly behind Gerard. "Who is your friend?" His mother asked.

Gerard grabbed Frank's hand pulled him from behind his back. "This is Frank. I told you about him, remember?"

Mr. Way nodded, eying the boy intently. "Yeah. I remember. Nice to meet you, son."

Frank smiled. "You too, Mr. and Mrs. Way."

"Please," Gerard's mom replied. "Call me Donna."

"You can call me Mr. Way," Gerard's father said, earning a glare from his wife.

Frank chuckled and Gerard inwardly cringed at his father's words. He moved so he was sitting at the counter, bringing Frank with him. "How was the party, mom?" He asked, trying to remove the topic of conversation from his boyfriend.

"It was nice, sweetheart. That woman from down the street was there. You know how she is though... it's very sad, really."

"Oh... wha--"

"What are your plans for college, son?" Mr. Way asked.

"NYU, sir," Frank answered. "I want to major in business. Maybe minor in philosophy."

"Dad, really?" Gerard asked.

"I was just wondering," Mr. Way replied. "That's great, Frank. Good luck with that. How do you feel about moving away from home?"

Frank glanced at Gerard and offered a sad smile at the thought of leaving him in the fall. "Well, it's bittersweet. I'm happy I'm able to see life outside of Jersey, but being away from home for so long will be a little hard for me."

"It's a great experience," Mrs. Way offered. "I love living on campus when I went to school. It's something I believe everyone should try out. Unfortunately, as you may know, Gerard won't get to do that this fall."

Gerard groaned, his head dropping to the counter top. "Please, mother. I don't need you to rub that in my face again."

"It's the truth, Gerard. You really should have gotten on top of those applications. Now you're stuck going to community college," Mr. Way said.

"Well, in the long run that is a cheaper option. Not that I mean to pry or anything," Frank pointed out. "I mean, I would have liked to get my General Ed. out of the way at community college and transfer, but my parents wanted me to go straight to university."

Gerard smiled and grabbed Frank's hand from under the counter. "See? I'm being practical."

"Your friend just saved your ass is all, Gerard," his father said.

Mrs. Way sighed and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Why don't we go upstairs and leave the boys to watch television or something, Don."

Mr. Way mumbled a whatever under his breath and followed his wife up the stairs. "No funny business down here, okay?" He called out as he disappeared up the staircase.

Frank chuckled. "Do they know about us or something?"

Gerard shrugged. "I never said anything, but they are pretty receptive. Sorry about my dad though. He's... He gets easier."

Frank shook his head, still laughing lightly. "it's fine. He's intimidating, but it wasn't that big of a deal."

Gerard nodded, resting his head in his hands as his elbows found their way to the counter top. He sighed and closed his eyes. "It's going to suck when you go off to college, you know."

Frank rubbed Gerard's back. "You're still more than welcome to come with me. You can go to community college out there and we can get an apartment and... I don't know... it can work."

"You know how expensive New York is, Frank. We can't..."

"Sometimes I think you just don't want to."

Gerard looked at Frank, a hurt expression on his face. "You know that isn't true. I just... I don't want to go out there only to realize it's not going to work. How can we afford to go to school, eat, and rent out an apartment. It's not practical, Frank."

Frank sighed. "I get it, okay? I just feel like once I'm gone you're gonna... things will change all over again. Something will happen and I'll come back one day and it won't be the same."

"I thought I was the one who worried about things not working out," Gerard said with a laugh.

Frank smiled, but only slightly. "I know I was reluctant to start dating you at first, but it was only because I thought something like this would happen."

Gerard leaned over and kissed Frank quickly on the mouth. He smiled. "Nothing will change. You can go to college and we'll talk every day and when you visit everything will be great. It will be like you never left. It's just going to suck missing you so much is all."

Frank grinned, putting on a brave face for his boyfriend. They had the whole summer with each other and when he left they would do exactly as Gerard had said. It would be fine.