The Ultimate Bet

"No offense, but consider yourself uninvited," Mikey told the short boy curtly. "You're the epitome of everything I hate. To be honest, you're better off staying at home and playing with your action figures."

Mikey knew he was being cruel, knew his harsh words were completely uncalled for, and under normal circumstances, he would play the nice guy; he would comfort Frank and steal him away, just because he could. But Frank Iero was fucking up his perfectly well thought out plans, just because his girlfriend thought he was cute and adorable.

Frank didn't say anything, taking in everything Mikey had just told him with a bated breath.

"S-so I guess t-this m-means-"

"Frank," Mikey sighed deeply, mulling his next words carefully. Pact be damned. He was never good at keeping secrets anyway. "My brother would never go out with you in a million years, even if you were the last person on earth. Trust me, you're better off."

Frank inhaled sharply, Mikey's words finally breaking through, but the older boy didn't stop there.

"You're just another little challenge for him, and nothing more," Mikey said, watching the emotions flicker across Frank's eyes. "You're just a bet, Frank. I don't blame him, who wouldn't want the chance to fuck a virgin?"

By now, Frank looked a bit faint and he flinched when Mikey stepped closer.

"You're l-lying-"

"Frank," Mikey said, his tone more gentle now, "I think I of all people would know Gerard better than anyone in the entire world."

Frank licked his lips, feeling his heart pounding. "All right. I get it. I...T-thanks for t-telling me."

"No problem," Mikey said quickly, relieved how easily Frank was of accepting the news. And he wasn't even crying, or mad, or upset-

"So," Frank said with a surprisely flat tone, "I guess since you know Gerard better than anyone, maybe you can h-help me."

"Huh?"

When Frank didn't respond, Mikey, too curious for his own good, resorted to asking impatiently,

"With what?"

"Let's see how far he's willing to take this."

**

“Y-yeah, but I t-think I kinda pissed him off earlier,” Frank whispered once Mikey informed him of his plans. Not nearly as brilliant as Frank’s, but were still just as good, if not better. Either way, whether Gerard went through with it or not, Mikey had an alternative plan.

“Bob? Don’t worry. Katie has him wrapped around her pinky,” Mikey grinned, fondly flicking the fringe covering Frank's glasses out of the way. “If not, I reckon I can kiss you and purposely have Ray drag Gerard around the corner to witness it.”

Frank blushed. “Y-you go t-that f-far?”

Mikey smiled widely, unable to help chuckling a little. “I’m almost hoping it comes to that. It’d be completely…awesome. Not that I’m eager to make out with you, or anything. It’d all be for show, of course.”

Frank nodded in understanding, but still didn’t mind the idea himself. Mikey had done enough for him as it was. If it pertained making out with his partner in crime, then so be it.

“But what if he doesn’t?” Frank asked awkwardly, “I...I don’t know-“

“I’ll keep an eye out, all right? He won’t. But, if he tries, then just knee him in the balls.”

Frank winced at the thought.

Mikey shifted closer to Frank, their knees touching, thinking how fragile this all was. How fragile Frank was. “Trust me on this. He’ll just get drunk and dump you. He’s predictable like that. He’s overdramatic if he’s been drinking. So, um, be prepared, all right?”

“What if you’re w-wrong?”

Mikey could see Frank’s apparent discomfort and he couldn’t blame him. Did he know his brother that well? He had to, if he was willing to put Frank in such a defenseless position. He would never forgive himself if something awful happened. Over the weeks of knowing Frank, he realized how vulnerable the freshman could be, but exceptionally intuitive too. Fiercely clever and innovative, and who would've guessed? It'd been Frank to say all the suggestions, telling Mikey to do things that normally he would never do. As much as Mikey wanted to claim he'd been the malefactor, all credit belonged to Frank.

"You should f-flirt with...m-me."

Mikey laughed when Frank had suggested that. He thought the boy was just tugging on his leg, but when he faced the short freshman, Mikey was astonished to find Frank meet his bewildered gaze with confidence.

"Is this your special way of telling me you have the hots for me, Frank Iero?" He waggled his brows for emphasis. "I'm capable of more than just flirting."

Frank blushed, twisting his foot back and forth on the gravel. "I kinda w-wanna see if he gets j-jealous."

"You're evil and I fucking love it," Mikey breathed in awe, wondering how come he never thought of that first. "Do you realize that? Of course! Gerard...He hates it when I-"

"B-but don't go o-overboard," Frank interjected quickly with wide eyes, suddenly bashful again. Mikey frowned.

"All right. No touching," Mikey promised, then smirked, "Much."
“I’ve never been wrong yet.”

**

By the time Mikey walked to the front, Frank had settled down, anticipating Mikey's arrival. It had come unexpected, and hurt a lot more than he’d originally thought.

Silently, Mikey just sat next to the sniffling Frank, feeling his own anger clench at him. He knew the moment Gerard walked in the kitchen; it hadn’t gone the way he hoped. All right, so the idea of making out with Frank and Gerard catching them red-handed had been a very tempting thing to do, for more than one reason Mikey liked to admit.

Seemed like his brother decided to go through with option A, being a complete asshole, as always, and hurt another person in his pursuit of his conquests.

How predictable. He really hoped Gerard wouldn't take it this far.

“So, um, I guess I was a bit wrong,” Mikey said sheepishly, the first to speak between the two.

Frank looked at him with red eyes and Mikey reached underneath Frank’s glasses without having to think about it, wiping the moist tears away, feeling the boy’s clammy skin beneath his fingertips. Frank was crying, really crying and it was painful to witness. It upset him to know his own brother had been the cause; his own flesh and blood had done this.

“I’m so sorry, Frank, I didn’t-"

“H-He said he l-loved me,” Frank gasped, turning away ashamedly, “I…I…it ruined e-everything once he said t-that. I d-didn’t t-think he…I didn’t….I had hoped but…I never..”

“He did what?” Mikey gasped in incredulity. No, Gerard would not be that fucking stupid. “He said that? And left?”

Frank nodded slowly. “He took it back, though-"

“Bullshit. You don’t-" The older boy resisted the urge to go back inside the house and-

“D-do you t-think he might though?” The hopefulness in Frank’s tone was almost sickening and sweet at the same time.

“No,” Mikey replied stiffly. "No, I don’t. Sorry, Frank. But Gerard doesn’t care for anyone but himself.”

“I see,” was all Frank said. Then, “I wanna go home.”

“I’m taking you,” Mikey said quickly, standing up and reaching for Frank, guiding him to the passenger door and settling him in the seat as if he were a child, buckling him up. He smiled at Frank, hoping to see Frank return it. When he didn’t, Mikey settled for putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, gently reaching up to tangle a hand in Frank’s disheveled hair to smooth back the loose ends.

“It’s all right,” he lied, not believing the words, but thought they sounded nice nonetheless. “We can still make out if you want, out of revenge and all. I can tell Gerard I had sex with you. Would that make you feel better?”

"I'm not two," the younger teen grumbled with frustration, understanding Mikey meant well with his gestures, but it only served to remind him young and stupid he was. "And nothing against you, but you're not my type."

Mikey made a face at Frank's defiance, impressed. "You're not mine either. You're too vertically challenged for me." He closed the door, walking to the driver’s side, and got in; turning the ignition on. "Besides, I meant figuratively. Tell me the color of your sheets and I can elaborate from there."

"Maybe some other time we can s-sleep together, but I'm not in the mood," Frank murmured, "d-did he s-say anything?"

"Not really," Mikey answered truthfully, wishing he could lie, but he knew Frank deserved the absolute truth. "But you really spooked him, though. He never lets me drive. You’ve done the impossible.”