The Ultimate Bet

He told Frank about the party in passing, and Frank seemed weary at first, but said he had to ask his mother first. Now, the idea was silly, Gerard thought. What kid in their right mind would go up to their parent and bluntly ask, "Is it all right if I go to a party?" Parents, contrary to popular belief, weren't born yesterday and knew parties starting from age twelve no longer consisted of 'pin the tail on the donkey' and 'red rover'. Hell, the first time he'd been introduced to alcohol had been at someone's ten-year-old birthday party.

But Gerard quickly warmed up to the idea. He had already planned it all, it was all too perfect. To rebuke his brother's plans. He prayed to all the deities that like any normal underage teenager in America, Frank would have a curfew and by default, would not be able to come. There was no point in even asking. But he did anyway.

At a glance, you wouldn't think much about Linda Iero. She was still a very attractive woman for her age, and Gerard wasn't just saying it to be nice like he did to most mothers. If he had seen her walking down a street, he would've never guessed she had a kid, much less a fourteen-year-old son. She had Frank's large almond shaped eyes and his smile, but he knew it was all a facade; like all Italian women, sweet on the outside but brutal on the inside.

She laughed when he complimented her. "You're not so bad yourself; if I was at least ten years younger, I probably try to steal you away."

Frank moaned, mumbling. "Mom. You're hitting on my-"

"I was joking, Frank," Linda laughed. Frank instantly told Gerard his mother always had a tendency to hit on the UPS guy and even caught her flirting with the cable technician the one time their cable went out.

"She needs to date more," Frank apologized. "So she's reduced herself to hitting on teenage boys, but I swear, she's not a pedophile or anything, she just needs to date."

Having changed from her work clothes, Linda appeared back in the living room, smiling as she entered. "Don't listen to anything my son tells you, Gerard. Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, water's fine," he said. Linda just smiled, and asked Frank to go into the kitchen and get two waters. Frank looked weary at the idea, glancing around to see if there were photo albums lying around before he departed the room.

He didn't expect Frank's mother to fall into the one percent category of unique parents who had no problem with her teenage son in the hands of a boy she had barely met.

"I think it'll be good for him to be around kids his own age," she explained once Gerard quickly told her of his plans. "I'm pretty sure a thirty-five-old woman can't be much fun on a Saturday night."

"It's a party," he said slowly, gauging for her reaction. Most parents would just start gorging his eyes out by this point.

"Well, I appreciate you telling me the truth, it only shows the type of person you are," Linda said, smiling at his expression. Gerard couldn't even blink, much less form words. "I was a teenager once, too. I'm sure 'parties' will forever be a part of teenage years and it's not going away soon, unlike disco music and record players."

Gerard could only gawk at her. "Ok...maybe I should..." Did he have to tell her there would be orgies and cocaine at this party? Jesus.

As always, Frank seemed to have the uncanny ability to walk in at the right time, or wrong, depending on how you looked at it, and asked if they wanted ice. Just as he was about to say no, Linda quickly said yes. Damn, this woman was clever. It was obvious she wanted to talk to him alone. This couldn't be good.

"Now, the only thing I ask is no drinking and driving," Linda continued, her voice less warm. Gerard recognized the tone from his own mother and knew, if Frank's mother was like his own Italian-bred mother, he needed to listen carefully. "And you know, the usual. I don't think I have to spell it out."

Gerard, like all teenage boys, had a one-track mind but he didn't want to say it out loud to his boyfriend's mother of all people, unless he wanted a death sentence. But he was pretty sure their eye contact said everything words couldn't. He swallowed.

"But other than that, have fun!" she said, her tone chipper as she accepted the glass Frank handed to her. Frank looked at him, trying to read his expression before he sat down beside him, handing Gerard his drink. Gerard took it gratefully, taking a long swig of it.

Well, that went according to plan, he thought sarcastically.

**
He found it fucked up that the one time he tried to get a parent to hate him, they ended up liking him. It had been apart of his perfect plan. Get Linda to hate him; a perfect device to break up with Frank, because Frank would have no choice but to break up with him if his mother wished it so. Like all his previous well-structured plans, this never quite turn out in his favor.

"My mom didn't tell you any e-embarrassing stories, did she?" Frank asked him the moment the door closed behind them.

"No," Gerard said, still lost in his whirlwind of thoughts. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "She...Your mother is cool, though. Can we trade?"

"Unless you want her to drag you shopping and hold her purse all the time, sure," Frank said, sighing in relief. "She really liked you, I know because she never hugs people unless she likes them."

"Well, that's always good," Gerard said, although he knew that could easily change. All Frank had to do was cry and Linda would instantly send a hitman on his ass. Figuratively speaking.

"I'm not sure...I mean, I didn't think you ever invite me a party," Frank continued, oblivious to Gerard's own troubled thoughts. "I guess now everybody will know? A-about us and all?"

Fuck. He hadn't thought about it like that.

"Yeah," he agreed, thinking of all the people he would have to face. He felt his phone vibrate, knowing it was most likely Mikey, wondering where he was. Impatient fucker.

**

“Look at them—it’s like they all got their costumes from Whores-R-Us—“

“Exactly why Halloween is the greatest holiday ever. Thousands of women dressing like whores? It’s as if…I’m suddenly Hugh Hefner; surrounded by nearly clad women who don’t mind if you stare at their breasts too long.”

“Halloween isn’t an official holiday though. Not according to--”

“Whatever. It’s a day where more than half the population has another excuse to get obscenely wasted and therefore; it’s a damn holiday.”

“It’s not officially the thirty-first—“

“Halloween falls on a Monday this year. Sucks balls. Remember last year? We still partied on Sunday. It was great, Halloween on a fucking Sunday. It’s a huge fuck-you to God when everybody was debauched out of their minds.”

“Will you three shut the fuck up? Ever heard of driver’s distractions? The number one reason why people get in car accidents? Because of idiots in the backseat. Look that up on Google, you jackasses,” Gerard swore under his breath, putting his foot on the brake. The backseat didn’t have seatbelts, and he smirked when the two teenagers slammed into the car upholstery.

“It’s really climatic weather,” Frank interjected. Gerard rolled his eyes, wondering if there was anything this kid didn’t know. “Ninety percent of car accidents are due to climatic conditions.”

“Climatic’s a word?” Mikey questioned skeptically, glaring at his brother in the rear-view mirror.

“You can take any word and put ‘tic’ at the end, yes,” Ray rolled his eyes, thumping Mikey on the back of the head.

“So…Sex-tic? How the fuck would you use that word in a sentence?”

“Would you like to come upstairs and get sexatic with me?”

“It’s like you’re asking to have sex with ticks.”

“Oh my god,” Gerard groaned out loud, slowing down due to the upcoming red light. Damn it, now the engine wouldn’t drown them out. “I am still holding up for adoption. I can’t possibly be related to you, Mikey.”

“Hey!”

The light thankfully turned green shortly after, and Gerard made a sharp right turn, smiling in satisfaction at the sound of Mikey and Ray being jammed roughly to the right.

It was moderately quiet after that.

By the time he pulled into to the drive-way, at which point his car began to emit weird noises, he noticed the lawn populated with swarming faces he recognized and a few he didn’t. He blanched when he recognized a lot more people he did not want to recognize, nor remember their existence.

"Gerard, your car is a piece of shit."

"Shut the fuck up, at least I have a car, even if it's a piece of shit," he retorted, and tempted to add, 'Just be glad you don't have to walk like thousands of kids who don't have automobiles', but the thought sounded too much like his own mother for his liking.

It was no shock to see a bunch of people mulling around, doing nothing in particular. Then again, it was a pretty normal occurrence to see around forty kids on a front lawn doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't like he'd expected to see acrobatics and flame throwers upon arrival, although that would've been very cool to see.

He just hadn’t been planning on half the party being outside yet, it was still light out for God’s sake. It was hard to avoid certain people when they could see you in broad daylight.

“Yo! Look what the dogs dragged in!” exclaimed the excited voice of Quinn Allman. It was hard to miss his obnoxious voice, and Gerard twitched, closing his door harder than necessary.

And as always the faithful brother when it came to his dilemmas, Mikey quickly disappeared off into the crowd, with not so much as a 'thanks for the ride'.

“Lemme guess…You’re a vampire in disguise?” Quinn asked, forcing the red cup into Gerard’s hand, and Gerard tried desperately not to accept it, but in fear of dropping it; he ended up taking the unwanted beverage, fixing Quinn an annoyed look.

“Hello to you, too,” he grumbled, passing the cup to Ray.

“What?” Quinn looked flabbergasted, observing the awkward glances, finally seeing Frank beside Gerard, who was all too familiar with the blond.

“Ah,” recognization dawning on his features, his lips curled when he looked at Frank. “Oh, right! I’m sorry about that, little man. It’s…Hmm…” He paused, winking at Gerard, “All’s fair in love and war?”

Before Frank could question what exactly what meant, Quinn jumped back to Gerard, “What’s the deal? It's been forever!"

"Maybe you should just accept your fate," Ray told him, trying to sound cooler than what he looked. Gerard sighed. Sometimes you had to listen to your friends, even if you didn’t want to.

“Bert’s here! And Adam!” Quinn cheered and Gerard shook his head even harder at the mention of his name. “Yeah! It’ll be like the old trio again. Fun times, remember?”

“Yeah, sorry, I can’t be the social butterfly this time,” he said sarcastically, “I’m with my boyfriend, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to get wasted and do god knows what.”

“Your---What?” Quinn scratched his head, looking at Frank, then Gerard, waiting for the punch line. “Like…dating? Boyfriend?”

“Is there another kind?” Frank quipped up, surprising all three boys. Gerard smiled to himself, because it was plainly obvious Frank didn’t like the blonde, for very good reasons.

“Well—I—damn, I didn’t even know you were on the market,” Quinn said, still in shock, “or I would’ve asked you out myself. Heck, I think…Half the people here would’ve.”

Gerard paled at the thought of Quinn asking him out. Ew, no.

“Well then, I’m glad it never came to that,” Gerard replied honestly.

**

Parties only had one social etiquette. It was funny, because most people don't think there is such a thing as etiquette at parties, other than holding one's legs up for a keg stand. But there is and it's universally known.

Never let any alcohol go to waste. Drink every drop. It was the same concept as always eating all the food at someone's house, even if it made you want to puke it right back out. He told himself Bob was watching through every crevice of the house and would know the rule-breakers sneaking off to deposit the alcohol down the sink.

He drank what was handed to him in moderation, giving the rest to a nameless girl who wanted more but didn't feel like going into the overcrowded kitchen to get it.

"Here," he said, shoving the cup into her hand. She smiled at him, cocking her head and licked her lips, "Thanks."

Stupid slut, he thought, eyeing her outfit. Little Red Riding Hood was so overrated, but he had to admit, the outfit was amazingly accurate compared to most. Not that he was staring or anything.

"Shit, I gotta go find my boyfriend," he excused himself. Why couldn't he get girls like this throwing themselves at him when he wanted it?

"Oh hey, thought you like to know, your little underage boyfriend made a huge mess in the kitchen," Bob told him, passing him on the way and Gerard was two seconds from colliding with the older teen, but thankfully still had his coordination intact.

"Oh, yeah, uh..."

"He cleaned it up though," Bob quickly told him, "he even offered to pay me back for the split alcohol. I told him I rather have a blowjob."

"Oh, yeah...What?" he nearly spewed out the leftover alcohol in his mouth in shock.

Bob laughed and clapped him roughly on the back. "You're so gullible, Way. I was joking. He's in the living room."

"Okay..."

He hurried to the living room, grateful to find Frank sitting on a couch, albeit he still looked a bit sick, but still perfectly unharmed. He'd left Frank with Ray and he hadn't even been gone for ten minutes, he fumed. So much for reliable friends.

"Hey, fuck, I'm so sorry," he said, sitting beside Frank, placing his hand on Frank's trembling back and rubbing in gentle circles. "You all right?"

"Y-yeah, I was w-wondering w...where you went off to," Frank said softly, leaning into him and Gerard reflexively pulled him closer.

"I know, fuck, I got distracted. It's...damn, I was bombarded the moment I got here," he faltered, knowing his apology was pointless. He knew the moment he stepped through the door; he had been too focused on his own selfish wants to pay any attention to Frank's needs.

Frank didn't comment, he seemed happy just to see him.

His hands were visibly shaking, mindlessly poking at the hole on the knee of his jeans. He looked completely out of place and Gerard realized this is the perfect opportunity he'd been hoping for since this mess started. Frank didn't even realize the vibes he was giving off, screaming at Gerard to take him somewhere. Anywhere away from the people and music. Gerard felt Frank lean more into him and knew this was his chance, and if he didn't take it, he'll be damning himself later for it. But if he did, he'll be crucified by a thirty-five-year-old woman. But at least, he told himself slyly, he'll get something out of it.

"Frank?"

"Y-yeah?"

"C'mon, I know somewhere we can go." Frank looked at him. "Just us. I'm sorry; I forgot you get freaked out by a lot of people..."

"S'okay," Frank murmured before Gerard pulled him up, leading him in the direction of the hallway, and Frank didn't know any better, or he would've realized where the end of the hallway led to.

**

Frank could feel that Gerard was already fully erect when he pushed Frank up against the closed door and started to grind him. The older male just couldn't take it. He needed contact. Even if it was as simple as this. He felt bad, letting one of his most basic animalistic needs get controlled by the alcohol and then making Frank the center of such attention. He also had a hard time telling if Frank was enjoying because he didn't seem affected enough to reciprocate the feelings. It was so one-sided that if under normal circumstance, Gerard would have stopped.

Would have. Under normal circumstance. But this wasn't normal circumstance.

Gerard leaned into Frank, bracing his hands up against the door behind them and using the leverage to grind himself against Frank harder. Sensations exaggerated by alcohol flickered through him, making him feel hot and afflicted. Over-stimulated nerves responded and he let out a low moan.

Frank pushed cool palms under Gerard's shirt and up his back, wrapping his arms around the broad plane of warm flesh. He dug fingernails into Gerard's shoulders and let out a soft sigh. It felt good, but only half as good as he pretended it did. Frank somehow wanted to make Gerard feel he wasn't doing this only for himself because he remembered that Gerard liked him.

Frank wished he could overcome being so insecure about sharing that level of intimacy with Gerard. He wanted to painfully, because he thought that if he could go that extra step, Gerard would want to spend more time with him. The better part of his conscience told him that he was too young for such activity, and if Gerard really wanted to spend time with him, he would, but not because of the intimacy. He would because they were boyfriends and he knew Gerard's patience could only wear so thin. The better part of Frank's conscience made him ache.

Frank's thoughts were thankfully interrupted by Gerard tugging on his arm.

“C'mere,” Gerard said, pulling Frank over to the bed, “I need something else.”

Frank gulped, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he let Gerard pull him down on the soft mattress below them. Gerard quickly took off his askew glasses, and Frank wondered why because suddenly everything was so blurry and dark and--

He made a small noise of surprise when Gerard pushed him face down and covered his body with his. Gerard's hips cupped Frank's ass almost too perfectly, and a little nervous tremor ran through Frank. Would this be the time Gerard would try and have sex with him? If he decided against it, would Gerard get mad? Would he force him? But Frank knew Gerard would never do that, right?

"Ger--I'm--" Scared, he thought, his voice muffled against the duvet beneath him, but Gerard somehow caught this little tremor and knew what Frank was thinking.

“Hey Frank,” he said gently, rubbing the younger boy's back with a haphazard up and down motion. “We're not going to do anything you're not cool about doing, okay?”

Frank nodded, taking Gerard's words for truth and clinging to that.

Lowering his hands to cup Frank again, Gerard leaned down so he was right next to Frank's ear. “Can you make noise for me? Like I'm giving it to you real good?” he whispered, adding a “please” after a short pause.

Frank opened his mouth to say he didn't know how to sound, because he really didn't and as means to get out of this, but instead he just nodded. He had once heard his cousin and girlfriend doing something on the top bunk when he had shared a room with his cousin when he was younger and living with his Uncle and Aunt, when they were really drunk and thought Frank had been asleep. He didn't know exactly what it was they were doing, because he thought that it was just safer to pretend he was asleep when it was going on, but even being a very sheltered child didn't stop him from making good assumptions. Maybe he could draw from the noises he had heard and just the general knowledge of what people sounded like when they were having sex.

Gerard leaned back at Frank's consent, and pushed up against Frank slowly, like he was pretending he was penetrating him. Frank let out a soft gasp, which was the first noise he had heard, and closed his eyes while gripping the sheets beneath him. He could feel Gerard had his hand down his own pants, which made sense and relieved Frank. It meant that they were just masturbation role-playing and it was very unlikely that Gerard would ask anymore of him.

Gerard dug into him again, this time harder and with a lot more force. Frank tried his hardest to pretend that Gerard was giving it to him good and let out a louder moan, pushing back against Gerard's thrusts like he wanted it. He gripped the sheets and rocked with the older teen, but it wasn't all acting. Frank's own erection was getting attention by being trapped between two moving bodies and a bed.

“That's it, Frank... urgh...” Gerard groaned, voice low but strained at the same time. His free hand dug into the sheets by Frank's face.

“Uhn, please... Gerard... harder.” Frank begged, wanting more friction against his hard-on but also wanting this excursion to be over with as soon as possible. It wasn't necessarily bad, per se, just wasn't the way he'd envisioned. He wished he could see Gerard, but maybe it didn't matter because his glasses weren't on and he probably wouldn't see clearly anyway. He bit down hard his bottom lip, unable let out a weak moan when Gerard obeyed his request, hissing through clenched teeth and moaning at the work of his own hand and Frank's voice.

Gerard couldn't hold out much longer, and he needed Frank to sound like they were near completion.

“Ah, I... if y'could..." Gerard paused, falling into another strangled moan and for some strange reason; the sound tingled down Frank's spine, painfully reminding him how hard he was, "... kick it up a notch? F-fuck... ugnh... M'close...”

Frank knew what Gerard meant, but he was still unsure exactly how to go about doing it. Was there something particular he was supposed to say? Or do? As if sensing his dilemma, Gerard wormed his free hand to Frank's abdomen, sliding down to the bulge in Frank's constricting pants, causing the younger teen yelp at the sudden contact, his hips flying up out of their own volition. Frank soon realized exactly what Gerard meant and he fisted the sheets below him, needing to hold onto something as he moved against Gerard's frantic rubbing on his crotch. The older teen increased his pace, thrusts digging hard into Frank's ass.

"I...Ger-" His fingers tightened the material balled up in his palms, feeling his brain flicker on and off. His body screamed for something and he didn't even know what he was begging for, but it seemed like the only appropriate thing to do. “I…t-there…p-please-Oh…God...P-please...nngh-n-need...!"

Frank cried out hoarsely when it hit him by surprise, the edges of his vision turning hazy as the last throes of ecstasy coursed through his body, his voice triggering Gerard's own release.

Gerard yelled as he came. At first Frank was a little frightened, seeing as though it was such an uncharacteristic desperate cry, but it died off too quick, shallow pants before the boy could really think about it. The older teen collapsed on Frank's back, steadying his breathing. He wrapped his arms around Frank and hugged him tight. Frank didn't mind if Gerard's hands were dirty. He enjoyed the snuggling Gerard treated him to after they messed around even more than the actual messing.

Frank was lost in his own content thoughts when Gerard said something that surprised him.

“I love you, Frank.”

There was silence. Frank didn't know what to say to that. He had vowed to reply to those three words truthfully, no matter what. Did he love Gerard? Frank was quiet for too long, because Gerard spoke up.

“I mean, you don't have to say you love me back. I understand. We're both young and... Jesus, what am I saying?” Gerard sat up. “It must be the alcohol talking.”

Frank prayed it wasn't the alcohol talking. He was thinking too hard to really notice when Gerard slipped off the bed and zipped up his fly.

“Where are you going?” he asked suddenly, sitting up and immediately felt deteriorated. Or maybe it was the after-effects from his nerves earlier.

“I--I just...I gotta go," Gerard answered hastily as he stumbled unceremoniously to the closed door, fumbling to open it.

Something deep inside Frank finally broke. He didn't have the energy to yell or pick a fight, so he just sat there, looking at the closed door with a hurt expression. He was hurt. Badly injured, even. How can you just say you love someone and then jump up and pretended the last ten minutes didn't just happen?