Stereotype

Although Gerard hadn't exactly said that, Frank assumed he would be waiting for him somewhere inside the school and they'd walk to the lunch place together. Well, he couldn't see him anywhere.

"I guess he was being literal when he said he'd see me there, then." He sighed.

Fighting the new doubts the change of plans brought, Frank made his way out of the building and to the lunch area, knowing the guys only ate at the cafeteria when it was too cold to be outside. He saw Gerard standing near one of the tables talking to Alex, but he didn't dare announce himself. Instead, he quietly took his usual place at the farthest table from them.

Frank remembered Marina's comment about how weird it was that he distanced himself from those guys during lunch, while he was usually following them around and talking their ears off. His answer had been that he simply liked to eat in peace. Frank didn't like having his appetitive ruined by bad vibes.

"Frankie!" he heard Gerard's voice. While he was still wondering how his friend had gotten there without him noticing until now, Frank was taken by the wrist and forced to stand up. "What are you doing here? Come on..."

"Gerard...no. I don't think it's..." He tried to resist, but the other was stronger and started to slowly drag him towards the team's table.

"It's gonna be fine, I promise. Act like you want to be there," Gerard whispered.

"Uh...okay." Frank gave up the struggle then. When Gerard released him, he walked close behind him, attempting to look casual.

The first one to see him was his brother, who gave him a questioning look. Frank shrugged, hoping it translated as "Why not?" He knew Ray would interrogate him about it at home, but he wasn't going to let him object now.

It was when Brian stopped them that Frank's nerves really kicked in. The blond wasn't menacing looking; he was Gerard's height and not too big. It was his attitude that could be intimidating.

Brian stood with both hands on his waist, staring at Frank with disdain before moving his blue eyes to Gerard. "Why is the faggot here, Way? He doesn't belong, you know that."

"No, I don't know anything," Gerard retorted. "Alex is not part of the team and he's still always around, just because he's your friend."

"So what? You got a problem?"

"No. But Frank is my friend, so it's the same. He belongs just as much as Alex. And don't you ever call Frank that again, understood?"

Like it had happened before, there must have been something strong in Gerard's look that he didn't even know he could convey. Although Brian didn't seem to exactly care about Gerard's threatening last sentence, he didn't fight back either. He just ignored it. "Alex belongs, he doesn't."

Frank thought it was time to get some words in. He was the problem after all, so he couldn't let Gerard fight his battle alone. Pretending not to know those boys' real reasons for not wanting him there, he purposely played it cool with Brian. "If you're going to say that I'm too young, Mike's my age and he's even part of the team."

Matt stood up and pushed Brian aside before he could reply, facing Gerard and Frank. "You know that's not the problem." He pointed at the younger.

Frank sighed loudly. "Oh, yeah. I know. I'm a fag, right? Well, don't you worry! You're not gonna catch gay from eating on the same table. Unless you're secretly already gay; then it could work as awakening. The girliness might stick a little though, so beware." He flicked a lock of hair off his forehead and turned around elegantly, intently swaying his hips as he walked away.

Matt got in his way and grabbed him by the arms. "If I was you, I'd watch my words," he spat furiously in Frank's face.

The boy winced but looked Matt in the eyes, not showing his fear. "You watch yours. You didn't buy the fucking table."

"Matt, he's right, I invited him and you have no right to tell him off," Gerard said, trying to pull Matt away from Frank. "Let him the fuck go, you're hurting him!"

Seeing as Matt wouldn't yield, Ray intervened. "Matt you fucker, that's off limits. Let my brother go now!"

Frank was surprised but pleased to hear the anger in Ray's voice.

Matt looked unfazed. "Oh, don't worry, I'm just putting your little sister in her place."

Ray then wrapped an arm around Matt's throat, applying just enough pressure to distract him so that Frank could wriggle out of his grip. "Don't. Touch him."

"Thanks, bro!" Frank smiled, rubbing his arms and fixing his clothes. When he saw Matt approach him again, he placed a hand on his chest. "Hey, hey, hey, big boy! Have some respect for women! You say yourself that I'm one, right? Now, you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. But some of your friends might think differently, you know? So I'm gonna be over here in between James and Gerard..." He tugged at Gerard's sleeve desperately, making him sit on the stone bench after him. "...with my delicious cheese and fake bacon sandwich. No big deal. The sky's not gonna fall and ruin the football field's grass just 'cause I had lunch with you guys. Jeez."

"For fuck's sake, Matt. What is this shit?" Brian said. John, Steven and Bob -who had just gotten there- also began to question Frank's presence while others just stared at the smiling kid in disbelief.

Frank decided to ignore the commotion around him and let them deal with whatever internal conflict they had on their own.

He turned to James, who seemed to be in his own peaceful bubble as he devoured a huge sandwich. Frank had always felt that James wanted to talk to him, but didn't because it went against the unwritten rules of the team. Maybe that would change now if he saw that Frank was sitting there and no one was stopping him.

"Hey, J! Spotted any UFOS lately?"

James looked at Frank and his eyes lightened up. He didn't bother to swallow what was in his mouth before speaking. "Yes! Oh my God, you have to hear this!"

Laughing, Gerard unwrapped his own meal before patting Frank on the back. "Told you it'd be okay."

Once everybody calmed down and actually got to eating -taking notice that they didn't have much time left, things went rather well. Frank ignored all the offensive or straight-out stupid remarks and focused on talking to James, Gerard, Brandon, Mike and Adam. Talking a lot. He spoke so fast and changed subjects so often that Gerard had to laugh at the guys' expression as they tried to keep up and get some word in now and then.

But as funny as it was to observe, Gerard remembered that Frank had acted the same way with him the first day. It made him realize just how afraid and nervous the boy was when talking to people. How he couldn't relax until he knew the other person wouldn't insult him or run away. He would probably never admit it, though.

When lunch time was over and they were walking back inside, Gerard addressed the subject with humor, making fun of Frank. He thought that taking it too seriously would only make Frank uncomfortable.

"Seriously Frankie." He chuckled. "You need to slow down. I understand that you wanna make friends, that you want the guys to see you as one of them. But if you continue to attack them with words and barely let them answer, you're just gonna scare them away. And your over-enthusiasm will be the only thing to blame!"

"Fuck. Uh...do I really talk that much?" Frank asked. He had been so tense all the time that he didn't always know what he was doing. Or saying.

"You're like a parrot on speed sometimes, dude."

Frank took a hand to his heart, gasping. "Oh. Well. Bye, then. Gonna be late to my class," he said and left, seemingly offended.

"See you!" Gerard screamed. He knew Frank was pretending. He also knew, or at least felt, that things might work after all. The infiltration part wasn't easy for Frank, but it had gone decently once the first -human- obstacles were dodged. They still needed an actual plan to fight the bullies, but for the moment it was a good idea to simply spend some time with them, get to know them more, find their weaknesses.