Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Frank's smiles were special. It didn't take me long to decide that. Everything about him was special. His eyes. His perfect pink lips. His warm, caring hands. He was the most special person in the world. He was amazing. He was perfect. He was caring and sweet and kind and loyal and everything under the sun that could be good about a person and more, and I loved him for it. There was only one problem; he didn't love me.

He'd never actually said it, but I knew. Mikey had even tried to tell me that Frank definitely thought of me as more than a friend. For a few days after that, I'd been the happiest I'd ever been. But then, I started thinking. If he really did like me, then why didn't he say anything? He knew that I wouldn't freak out if he told me. He knew that I'd be okay with it. Or at least, I thought he did. I really hoped he knew that I could never hate him or think less of him for anything. Well, maybe if he like, killed a baby or blew up a nursing home, but he'd never do anything like that, so it's beside the point.

Usually, I'd be okay with him just liking me as a friend. It was enough. At least he was in my life to begin with. But he was staying with Mikey and I over winter break while all of our parents went on vacation together. I had to see him all day every day for almost a month, while I tortured myself with thoughts of what it could be like if we were together. Thoughts like the ones I was having right now.

We were all sitting in the living room in the pillow fort we'd made, eating popcorn and watching a scary movie under a huge blanket while it was blizzarding outside. Frankie loved scary movies, but they still freaked him out, and he would always latch on to me and have me "protect" him. He was curled up in a ball right next to me, with his face half buried in my shoulder. I was used to this. It was Frankie's nature to be cuddly and he snuggled up to practically anything that was warm and had a pulse when he was tired or scared. But right now, he was almost impossibly close to me and he whimpered and got closer every time something scary happened onscreen.

Mikey kept giving me knowing glances every time Frankie snuggled closer as if to say "I told you so", but I ignored him. This was just Frankie's nature. He was just that kind of person. So, I sat there and watched the movie, letting my tiny best friend practically crawl into my lap. Once the movie was over, Frankie was wrapped completely around me with his face in the crook of my neck.

"Hey, guys. Do you wanna go to the park? It stopped snowing." Mikey asked after he put the movie back in its case. I looked outside and saw there was a lot of snow on the ground.

"Ooh, yes! Can we, Gee? Please?" Frank begged, looking up at me from his hiding spot in my neck with the biggest puppy eyes I'd ever seen. There was no way in hell I could ever say no to that face.

"Sure, Frankie." His entire face lit up, and I realized I'd do anything to see him that happy.

"Thank you!" He wrapped his arms in a death grip around my neck, practically crushing my windpipe against his small, bony shoulder.

"Frankie...I can't breathe." I struggled to say as his arms tightened around me.

"Oh, sorry Gee." He said as he jumped out of my lap, and I immediately missed the closeness.

The three of us hurriedly got ready to go outside, pulling on boots and coats and practically forcing Frankie into a scarf because we knew that if we didn't, his shitty immune system wouldn't be able to keep him from getting sick. After we did that, we were ready to go, and we made our way around the neighborhood until we got to the park.

When we got there, Frankie immediately jumped in the snow. Of course. Now he's probably going to get sick, and I'm going to have to take care of him because Mikey'll whine if he has to do it. When Frankie's head reappeared, his nose and cheeks were bright pink. It was fucking adorable. Well, it was until he drew his hand back and threw a snowball right into my shoulder.

"What the hell what that for?" I asked as I brushed the snow off, but I really wasn't angry at all.

"Snowball fiiiiight!" Frankie yelled, and immediately dove back into the hole he'd made in the snow drift. Mikey and I just looked at each other and shrugged, before we started making our own snowballs and forts with the surrounding snow. Frankie's head popped up and he observed us for a second.

"Wait, no. Uh-uh. I want Gee on my team." Mikey smirked at me for a second before he turned back to Frankie.

"That's not fair! It'll be two against one!" he whined.

"Yeah, but Mikey, Frankie's only like…half a person."

"Hey!"

"It's true." Mikey said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"It's okay Frankie, it's cute. Plus, being tall is overrated anyway. They all have long, cumbersome, boa constrictor legs. Huh, Mikey?" I asked as I made my way over to Frankie and kissed the top of his head in apology. I hope he didn't get weirded out and think I was being too affectionate.

"Fuck off."

"Guys? Snowball fight? And Mikey, you're just gonna have to suck it up."

"Fine." Mikey grumbled, obviously dissatisfied that he didn't get his way. Suddenly, something yanked down on the sleeve of my coat, and I was pulled down into the snow drift by a very excited-looking Frankie.

"Okay, here's the plan. We'll take turns making snowballs and while one person is making them, the other person is throwing them. We'll switch off so neither of us get too tired."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Alright, I'll make them first." Frankie stayed down and started making snowballs, while I scouted out for Mikey. Frank tugged on the leg of my skinny jeans and I looked down to see that we had a pretty big pile of snowballs to start the fight with. Damn, that boy works fast. I picked one up and hurled it at Mikey's fort, and I was met with Mikey yelling "Oh, it's on!", or something to that effect as I ducked back down into the fort.

The exchange of snowballs went on for about an hour, with Frankie and I switching off every few minutes. Eventually, we were deemed the winners when Mikey surrendered, saying he was tired.

"Okay fine, pussy." Frank said when Mikey raised the metaphorical white flag.

"Hey, it wasn't fair. You guys only had to do half as much work as I did."

"Deal with it." I said, mussing his hair.

"Jerk..." he muttered, fixing his precious strands.

"I heard that."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Gee! Let's make snow angels!" Frankie suddenly exclaimed. I was amazed by that boy's boundless energy. How that much hyperness could fit in such a tiny body was beyond me.

"Frankie, you might get sick. You know your immune system is shit."

"Just one? Please?" Oh god, the puppy eyes.

"Fine." I said with a sigh, giving up. Frank made an odd squealing noise that I found adorable, and promptly jumped in the snow, starting on his angel. I decided to make one too, while Mikey stood and made fun of us.

Making snow angels soon turned into finding shapes in the tree branches above us. I was looking for something other than tangles of wood against the gray backdrop of the sky, when I realized Frankie hadn't spoken in a while. I looked to my left, and Frankie was asleep in the show. Shit! I had to get him home before he got frost bite or hypothermia or something. I gently shook his shoulder a bit, and his eyes opened slightly.

"Mmm?" He groaned.

"Frankie, you fell asleep in the snow. I'm gonna carry you home, okay?"

"Okay. Can I still sleep?"

"Sure, Frankie." I smiled at his lack of concern for the fact that he'd fallen asleep outside in the middle of winter, and also at the adorable sleepy look on his face. I bent down and picked him up, and he wrapped his arms around my neck and nuzzled his cold nose into my chest. When I looked up, Mikey had a stupid smirk on his face.

"You are so far gone for him. It's almost pathetic."

"Shut up, Mikey." We quickly made our way back home through the snow-filled streets, and when we got back, I laid Frankie down in the pillow fort and went off on a quest for blankets and dry clothes. Mikey helped, and we dressed Frank, more concerned about warmth than modesty, and then wrapped him up in blankets. When I was putting the pillow under his head, he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Gee? Can you lay down with me?" He asked, and there was no way I was turning him down.

"Sure, just let me go get changed real quick." I said, and then bolted down into the basement and changed as quickly as possible. When I got back, Frankie was still half awake and I crawled under the blankets with him.

"Better?" I asked.

"Much." he said, and we both fell asleep.

-

I woke up about an hour later to Frankie whimpering and clenching his fists in my shirt in his sleep.

"Frankie?" I asked. "Frankie, wake up."

He woke with a start and looked at me with sacred eyes.

"Frankie? What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

"It...it was Hunter and Josh. They...they cornered me and they had a knife again and you tried to save me but they...they...they...and you..." He blubbered, before breaking down in tears. Hunter and Josh were notorious bullies at school and they constantly were bullying Frank for being gay. To be honest, I don't know why they bullied him so much more than they bullied me since Frankie and I were both in the same boat and fairly open about it. But they really beat up on him, and had once even pulled a knife on him before the principal caught them. That's what got them expelled.

"Shhhh...Frankie, it's okay. I'm here. None of it was real. They're gone now. They can't hurt you. We're okay. You're okay."

"It's...it's just...they said that they were gonna kill me since I wasn't brave enough to do it myself." He looked down at his arms that were covered in raised, white scars. He'd resorted to cutting himself when the bullying was at its worst. He told me he felt like he deserved it, but I knew that it was Hunter and Josh that deserved to be sliced up all over their bodies.

"Frankie, that's horrible. You're brave because you didn't kill yourself. Don't forget that, okay?" I kissed the scars on his wrists and forearms. I didn't want to lose my best friend. "You're the bravest person I know, Frankie. You're beautiful. Don't ever forget that."

"Y-you mean it?" he asked through his subsiding tears.

"Absolutely. Now, why don't you try to get back to sleep?"

"Actually, do you think we could watch another movie?" he sniffled. I hope he wasn't getting sick.

"Sure. Which one do you want?"

"Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Of course." I smiled and popped the movie in, and snuggled back under the blankets with Frankie. About halfway through, Frankie turned to face me.

"Hey, Gee?" he asked.

"Yeah, Frankie?"

"Did...did you mean what you said earlier? Like, when you said I was beautiful?" Shit, I thought What if he thought I was being weird for saying that? But there was no going back now. I couldn't just take it back. I'd have to be honest.

"Ummm...yeah. I did."

"Oh," he smiled, suddenly a lot happier. "Well, you're beautiful too."

"Thanks, Frankie." I blushed.

"You're so cute when you blush." he whispered.

"Huh?" But then suddenly, Frankie was leaning in, and his lips were on mine. It took me a second to respond, but soon I was kissing back. His lips were so soft and gentle as they worked mine, and we moved in sync. We massaged each others' lips for a while and my arms wrapped around his thin waist, while his hands went up to my neck and tangled into my hair. Soon, Frankie's tongue was pleading entrance to my lips, and I granted it. Our tongues danced together, not bothering to fight for dominance. When we pulled back, I just looked into Frankie's huge hazel eyes for a few moments.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." He said with a huge smile on his face.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting." I said, pressing our foreheads together. He smiled and pecked my lips.

"I love you, Gerard." Him saying this made my heart skip a beat. It was the first time he'd used my full name all day, so I knew he meant it.

"I love you too, Frankie."

"Be my boyfriend?"

"Nothing would make me happier." I turned onto my back and Frankie curled up into my side and rested his head on my chest. I looked up and saw something on the ceiling of the pillow fort.

"Hey Frankie. Look."

"What is it?"

"Mistletoe."

"Mikey's such a sneaky bastard."

-

Frankie ended up getting a cold. I wasn't the least bit surprised. I was expecting it. I just felt bad that he'd be sick on Christmas.

I woke up alone a few days later, which was the first time I'd woken up alone since Frankie and I got together. I rolled over, looking for the tiny, warm body that was usually in bed with me. I came up with nothing, and decided that if there was no one to cuddle with, there was no point in staying in bed. I made my way upstairs and into the kitchen, pleasantly surprised to find that there was already a pot of coffee made, and it was still warm. I got myself a cup and completely saturated it with creamer before going into the living room.

When I got there, I saw Frankie curled up in the pillow fort. We should really make it a permanent fixture. The fort, not Frankie. Although, I wouldn't mind that either. He was curled in a ball in a nest of blankets, watching House through bleary eyes.

"Hey, baby. What are you doing up here all alone?"

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I came up here because I didn't want to wake you up."

"Aww, you could've woken me up, sugar. I wouldn't have cared."

"It's fine. I didn't mind letting you sleep. Plus, you just looked so cute and peaceful, I couldn't do it." I smiled and laid down behind my boyfriend-boyfriend!-and pulled him flush against my chest so we were spooning. I had decided that sleepy Frankie with a cold was by far his cutest variation. Well, maybe except for scared Frankie. Or cold Frankie. Or any Frankie where I got to hold him.

"I love you, baby." I told him as I buried my face in the back if his neck.

"I love you too, Gee-Bear."

"I'm sorry you'll be sick on Christmas."

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Plus, I already got what I wanted."

"Mmm, and what was that?"

"Having my best friend be my boyfriend."

"Looks like we wished for the same thing." Frank turned slightly and caught my lips in a quick kiss. I really didn't care if I got sick. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes watching House until Frankie said something.

"Hey Gee?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a confession."

"What's that?"

"Horror movies don't scare me."