Frank Iero, You Are My Hero

The next morning, Mercy awoke with a smile on her face. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling it had to do with last night. Her and Frank had spent a few hours, sitting there in a comfortable silence, watching the world pass them by. They had seen cities, farms, cars, a few cows. But neither said anything. It was like they didn’t need to. They were content just being near each other. Though Merc still couldn’t come into terms with her emotions. She couldn’t allow herself to. So, she locked them away deep within her heart, where she planned on keeping them.

Yawning, she crawled out of her bunk and sleepily stumbled her way into the kitchen. It seemed that no one else was up yet, which was good. Mercy didn’t feel like having to quickly change because Mikey’s virgin eyes couldn’t handle seeing her legs. Or whatever it was there reason was for making her jump into the shower first thing in the morning. Before she had her coffee.

Mercy pressed the little ‘on’ switch for the coffee maker, then settled in on the couch as she heard the familiar hissing noise of the maker heating up. It didn’t take too long before the strong scent of coffee filtered through the bus, waking everyone else up. Gerard was the first one to stumble into the living area. Sleep still crusted at his eyes, and he rubbed at them as he yawned. His long black hair was a disaster, and he didn’t make it much better by running a hand through it.

“Morning Mercy,” he muttered, staring at the coffee maker, obviously willing it to go faster.

She grinned as she wrapped the blanket over her legs, not wanting to offend him. Or make him sick. Or turned on. Whichever her half naked body seemed to do to him. She hadn’t figured him out completely yet. “Good morning,” she replied.

Gerard let out a low growl. “I can’t understand how you’re so chirpy in the morning. It’s giving me a headache,” he muttered, sending her a grin to let her know that he was only joking.

Mercy rolled her eyes. “Oh you love it. You can’t resist my smile and upbeat personality,” she said, giving him a cheesy smile.

He snorted in response as he sat down next to her, grabbing her blanket and wrapping it around himself. Mercy let out a squeal as the coldness hit her bare legs and she tackled Gee, attempting to get the blanket back from him. He let out a grunt as she landed on him hard, followed by a loud laugh.

“Gah! Mercy! Get off, you lard ass!”

“Fuck you, Gerard! Give me my blanket, you bitch!”

“Eat shit! It’s my blanket! Get your own, you evil whore!”

“Geez, that’s some crude language to wake up to.”

Gerard and Mercy froze where they were, which happened to be him on his side, grasping onto the blanket for dear life with the smaller girl sprawled out on top of him, one hand smashing his face and the other attempting to grab the dark blue blanket they had been fighting over. Mikey and Ray stood in the entrance to the living room, amusement clearly seen on their faces. Using them as a distraction, Mercy swatted Gerard upside the head, grabbed the blanket, then scurried over to her side of the couch.

“Ouch! Mercy, you hit like a man!” Gee exclaimed, rubbing his head as he sat up. The coffee maker dinged and he jumped up, nearly knocking both of the other men to the ground in his rush to his morning coffee.

She giggled and snuggled deeper into her cover. “Yeah, I hit harder than you do, at least. Get me a cup, please,” she said, changing her tone with her last statement to a somewhat nice one.

He looked over his shoulder at her, sticking his tongue out. Mature. However, he pulled out two of the porcelain cups and poured them each some coffee before walking over to give her hers. Mikey and Ray each poured them some, then made their way over to the small table. Gerard sat back down next to Mercy, and that was when Frank showed up, not looking a bit disheveled.

Frank looked like he had slept pretty hard. They had stayed up later than usual. She actually hadn’t expected to see him up yet. But yet again, he had surprised her. Right when Mercy thought she was the only person in the world who was able to sleep just a few hours and wake up on their own, Frank did just that. The two of them maybe got four hours of sleep that night, but just by looking at them, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“What’s all this cussing I’m hearing?” he asked, arching a brow as he ran a hand through his longish dark hair before moving towards the coffee.

Mercy averted her eyes away from him. She could feel her cheeks heating up, and she hoped that no one noticed. She knew that she’d catch hell from every last man in the room except for Frank. Okay, so maybe she’d get it from Frank too. But that was completely beside the point. He knew why she would be blushing. Everyone else would just assume.

“Merc stole my blanket,” Gerard said, pouting before turning his dark eyes on her, a knowing smile coming over his face. “Speaking of Merc…Why is there a redness coming over your cheeks? Did you do something naughty last night? You know, something naughty with Frankie?”

The coffee that had gone into her mouth spewed right back out as she choked. Well, she had known that they were going to assume something bad, but fuck that wasn’t what she was thinking! Ray and Mikey looked over at her, startled as she wiped her chin to get the remaining droplets of coffee off. Frank turned his back on her, putting way too much effort into pouring creamer into his coffee.

“Fuck, Gerard! Are you on fucking crack?! No, I didn’t do anything ‘naughty’ with Frank!” Mercy exclaimed, narrowing her eyes over at the singer.

He grinned and chuckled. “Well, from that reaction, you would think otherwise.”

“Gerard Arthur Way, I’m going to fucking kill you,” Mercy growled in a menacing voice.

“Why is my sister threatening to kill you? Again?”

They all turned and noticed Bob standing there, blue eyes shifting between everyone. It seemed that no one wanted to mention the words that had come out of Gerard’s mouth. Mainly because if anyone so much as thought of Mercy in that way, Bob was more than likely to go on a killing spree. And that was fine by Mercy. She would just have to straightened everything out with Gee later. In private.

“Nothing, Bobert. I’m going to get in the shower,” Mercy muttered, handing her cup of coffee to Gerard before clambering off of the couch and into the back to grab some clothes. She turned slightly and bumped into someone, letting out a small ‘oomph’. Her eyes shifted upwards and stared back into Frank’s hazel hues.

“Sorry about that,” Frank muttered, giving her a small smile.

“About what?” she asked, taking a step backwards when she realized that she was standing way too close to him.

“About not defending you. I probably should have.”

Mercy shook her head. “No, it’s cool. It would give them even more reason to think that there’s something going on. Don’t worry about it,” she said, attempting to make her way towards the bathroom, which was on the other side of Frank. However, his hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Mercy, what if I want something to go on? I mean…Not like that! I…What if I wanted something more than friendship?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. Frank had to be her friend, and her friend only. She wouldn’t allow herself to be put in that situation. Not now. Not when they were on tour, when they were still a band, either. Mercy wouldn’t ever be able to live with herself if she allowed something like this to happen, and it ended up fucking up everything for the guys. It just wasn’t possible at the moment.

She shook her head again. “Frank, please don’t do this. Just…don’t.”

With that, she moved past him, shoving a little hard out of her way. She had to let him know that it wouldn’t work out, that neither of them could have what they wanted. And if that meant hurting him, hurting him for the greater good, then that was how it was going to be.

Mercy took her shower, then pulled on a pair of grayish skinny jeans, a rainbow striped t-shirt, and some white flats. She didn’t put on any makeup, and let her hair dry naturally. She didn’t feel like putting in that extra effort, not if they were spending the day on the bus. She stepped back in to the living room and grinned when she saw Gerard was still holding her cup of coffee. She sat down next to him and took it back, taking a sip. She felt Gee lean close to her, his breath tickling her ear.

“Sorry about earlier,” he whispered.

What was this? Apologize to Mercy day? Did someone forget to tell her? Shit, what was it with these guys and saying ‘sorry’? Not that she really minded, but it got real old, real quick. She hated thinking that they had to apologize for everything they did, that they thought they had to walk on eggshells around her. As much as Bob thought so, she wasn’t a damn porcelain doll.

She rolled her eyes and leaned towards him, placing her mouth near his ear. “It’s okay Gee. Seriously. There’s no need to apologize. I promise. St-”

Her voice was cut off by a cough coming from across the way. She turned her head and saw Frank looking at her. Hurt filled his hazel eyes and she instantly realized what it looked like to him. Shit. She just had to make matters worse, didn’t she? Mercy pulled herself away from Gerard and turned away from his intense eyes. It felt like he was tearing through her mind, knowing exactly what was going on. Especially because his gaze kept flitting between her and Frank.

Frank said nothing, only glared at Gerard before moving into the back. Mercy sighed and gritted her teeth together. She knew she had to tell him that there was nothing going on between her and Gee. She didn’t even like him all that much. But she couldn’t seem to get herself to move off the couch. She stayed planted there, hands molded around the coffee cup, her eyes distant.

Once more, she felt warm breath on her ear. “I think you should go talk to him.”

Mercy’s blue eyes looked at Gerard, who arched a brow before nodding in the direction of the back. She knew he was right, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to make matters even worse, if that was possible. Doubtful, but who knew?

“Go, or I’ll beat the crap out of you,” Gerard said, grabbing her coffee from her and pushing her hard.

She scowled at him, but moved towards the back. She found Frank in his bunk, headphones on, eyes closed. Even then, he looked like he was in pain. She couldn’t understand it. They hadn’t hung out that much. Why was it hurting him so much for him to think that she was with someone else? It seriously couldn’t be that intense, his feelings for her. Could it?

Mercy shoved him over, making his hazel eyes snap open. His earphones came out and he glared at her. “What do you want?”

Her blue eyes rolled as she crawled into the small bunk next to him, propping her head up with her hands. “I just want to talk to you, ass face, so shut it,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

If it was possible, his scowl deepened. “Nice way to start the conversation, douche bag.”

Mercy shoved him hard. “Would you just shut the fuck up so I can talk to you?”

He opened his mouth to talk, but she clamped a hand over it, silencing him before continuing on. “I’m not with Gerard, if that’s what you think. If I won’t date you, what makes you think I’d date him? Seriously, Frank. You’re being a dumbass. I don’t want to ruin what this band has. You guys have a purpose in life. You are other people’s inspiration, their reason for living. I don’t want to ruin that, don’t want anything I do to get in the way of that. So stop being so damn self-centered and learn to live with the fact that I’m not going to be anything to you other than a friend.”

There. It was out. And it felt like shit. If she seriously thought that saying those words to Frank was going to make her feel any better, than she was seriously mistaken. It felt like a knife was just jabbed into her heart, then wrenched around a million times. Especially when she could see the pain that flitted through his beautiful hazel eyes. She didn’t stick around to see what he had to say though. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She knew that she probably just made him hate her, but it was for the best. Wasn’t it?

She lifted her hand off of his mouth and got out of his bunk, ignoring the hand that he had placed on her shoulder to keep her from leaving. She made her way back into the living area, trying to keep the tears from spilling over onto her pale cheeks.