Practise

"I can't fucking believe they can get away with that stuff!" Frank yelled throwing his jacket on the armchair with unnecessary force, marching across their practice room loudly while the rest of the band walked in behind him looking like they haven't slept in days, stinking of sweat and alcohol so bad the plants in the little dark room should have died instantly. Everyone slumped down on the couch cluttered with dirty clothes, various boxes and other trash ready to fall asleep while Frank continued to pace around the room, the intensity of his anger keeping him wide awake.

"Frank just let it go already, it's not the first time we've gotten bottled off stage" Ray said with a sigh clutching his shoulder where a bottle or at least something hard hit him, feeling his hair getting stick to the couch and his clothes.

"Yeah but never here, in our hometown, and none of the times did they spray paint 'faggots' on our van and you're the one to talk they nearly killed you up there!" Frank shouted. Ray lifted his hands in defeat and remained silent knowing he won't be able to reason with him.

"Okay look, I'll talk to Brian, maybe he'll be able to get us tighter security and prevent this from happening again" Gerard said as calmly as he could

"Yeah Frank, we'll sort this out tomorrow. It's not our fault that the crowd happened to be more aggressive this time" Mikey chimed in squished in the corner of the couch by Ray but he was too tired to give a damn.

"Yes exactly. It doesn't matter how good our security is if homophobic assholes keep coming to our shows" Frank finally sat down on a chair that was opposite from the couch.

"Okay I give up. I'm going back to the bus" Mikey declared squeezing himself out of his seat, grabbing his bag and after saying goodnight leaves the room.

"Yeah we should all get some shut-eye after tonight's disaster" Ray said getting up from his seat

"Nah, I'm gonna stay in for a few more hours, I want to finish working on a few songs" Gerard sighed tiredly

"Oh, do you want me to stay and help then?" Ray asked despite his desperate need for sleep, friends come first.

"No no it's alright" Gerard waved him off "You go get some sleep I won't stay long" he said hurriedly wanting to be alone, the drugs he took before the show were starting to wear off. The frontman stood from his seat as well going over to his desk so he would at least look like he's attempting to do some work.

Ray grabbed his stuff and shared a look with Frank. The other didn't seem to get the telepathic message so he shrugged not knowing what Ray was trying to tell him. 'stay with him' he mouthed clearly 'and watch over him' he continued making hand gestures. Any other night he would have protested but Gerard's been getting worse and worse so that wouldn't be such a bad thing to do plus Frank was still angry about the whole incident he probably wouldn't have fallen asleep if he wanted to. So he sighed and nodded curtly glancing over to his friend who was rummaging through some papers at the other end of the room.

Gerard continued his fake search until he heard the door shut and sighed in relief dropping the papers he collected and turned around and was met by a smiling Frank sitting on the chair backwards, arms folded on the top of the backrest.

"I thought you were going with them" he stated confused

"Nope, didn't wanna leave you all alone in here, plus you might need some help"

"It's okay, really. I can handle this by myself" Gerard explained wanting for him to go away "we have a busy day tomorrow go get some sleep"

"Yeah and you're the one who has to deal with most of this shit, so if it's someone who needs rest the most it's you and do I really seem tired to you?" he asked amused, his eyes alive and fresh despite the late night hour. Gerard ponders a bit in his head, it didn't seem that he's going to succeed in getting rid of him and arguing with this guy was just pointless. Frank was ranting so much right after the show that Bob had to excuse himself and went to their bus without even stopping to pick up his things in the dressing room because he was losing his temper.

"I guess not" Gerard admitted after a pause. Frank looked at him properly for the first time after the show and noticed just how wrecked the guy looked, the dark circles under his eyes, sickly pale face and dilated pupils, not to mention that he's losing weight and getting skinnier by the week, no one even brings up his hygiene anymore or lack of one to be precise.

"Dude you look like shit, you feeling okay?" he asked concerned. Despite Gerard's state he felt alright, awake, maybe a bit weak but compared to the other days he was superb right now.

"Yeah, I feel fine" he answered honestly. Sure he wouldn't mind some booze now but doubtful he'll get any tonight.

"Alright" Frank said nodding, not sure if to believe him "so what songs are we gonna be working on?" he asked eagerly as he could. Gerard pondered in his head what he should say to get him out of this but none came to mind so he just said

"Y'know what, tonight was fucked up enough, I'm not really up for it"

"Oh, so you want to head back to the bus?" Frank asked ready to get up from his seat

"If you wouldn't mind I'd like to stay here" he quickly said from the corner of his mouth looking at the ground

"Yeah sure" Frank nodded getting up from his seat. For one moment Gerard thought he was going to leave him alone but no luck, Frank just went to grab two cans of coke out of their little old fridge, throwing one to him. He sat back down on the couch with Frank and just relaxed, sipped his drink and sat in comfortable silence. Gerard thought over it again, maybe Frank staying here wasn't that bad, he did enjoy his company even if they barely talk. He started thinking about what he'll say to Brian and maybe they should cancel their next show, Ray hurt his hand pretty bad. He ran his hand through his messy locks out of habit trying to make his brain stop racing and relax a bit

"Hey, what's that?" Frank asked breaking the silence, pointing to Gerard's hand. He looked down to see a new fresh purple bruise peeking out under his jacket sleeve

"Oh yeah, it's nothing, maybe I bumped into somewhere or it happened during the show I don't know" Gerard explained

"Stupid homophobic pricks" Frank muttered frustrated. Gerard sighed 'oh here we go again'

"Frank, there's nothing we can do about them, what's done is done. Let it go"

"Yeah well maybe there is" he mumbled stubbornly

"Like what?" Gerard asked turning his head to face his friend who was picking on some loose thread in his shirt.

"Maybe some message or anything to make it clear that they're not welcome in our shows" he said after a minute. Gerard laughed at his idea

"What do you suggest, we involve male strippers in our shows?" he asked ironically

"Don't laugh at me you fucker" Frank shoved his shoulder slightly, though giggling as well. "Not necessarily strippers, but yeah something to make our statement clear" he said seriously now

"I don't know man" Gerard shook his head thinking "I mean we've seen how other bands handle that but it isn't guaranteed that we won't get even more shit from it" he pondered out loud.

"Yeah but maybe it's worth a try, plus it would add more drama to the show" he added with an amused smile

"Hmm true. Either way I don't know if it would work out" Gerard squinted a bit skeptically again "I mean naturally I'd have to be the one to do it but it takes two for the message to be sent out and well okay" Gerard started counting the members down on his fingers "Mikey is out, Bob is on drums and it's difficult to even see him from the crowd so it leaves either you or Ray. But Ray does all the difficult guitar parts and solos so he needs to concentrate and you're always too busy rolling on the ground and stuff" that earned another shove in the shoulder from Frank

"I don't always roll on the ground, besides that's just how I express myself" Frank defended himself dramatically

"So okay then it leaves you but I'm not sure if you're even comfortable with it" Gerard said shrugging, it was a bit surprising how that thought didn't bother Gerard at all.

"Nah dude it's fine for me" Frank said getting slightly crept out by the fact that he isn't crept out by the thought of him and his friend making out and doing crazy stuff in front of an audience.

"So it's settled then" Gerard said calmly continuing to sip his coke.

…

"Do you think we should practice?" Frank asked after a minute or two of silence, curiosity getting to him

"What?" Gerard asked, the conversation they had, already forgotten

"The whole thing y'know. I figure maybe we should see what it's like so it wouldn't be weird or uncoordinated when we do it on stage" Frank explained, finally feeling a little nervous

"Uhm… yeah… yeah I guess" Gerard started stammering, caught off guard "Like now?" he clarified

"I don't see why not, it'll spare us the jokes and mocking from Mikey and Bob" Frank thought out loud

"Yeah good point" Gerard agreed turning on the sofa so he would be facing his friend and putting the can on the table from his slightly damp palms. Frank did the same and scooted closer to where Gerard sat so they didn't have to stretch their necks. Both of them avoided meeting each other's eyes and waiting for either to make the first move. Gerard ignored the knot in his stomach and thought that someone has to be the bigger man here and moved his head a couple of inches forward until their lips touched. Now the awkward part seemed to be over but neither of them moved. Their lips just stayed locked like that, their eyes open staring at any other face part possible than the other's eyes. Frank was still getting over the shock that he was kissing another man and that it actually felt nice. After another moment he sucked it up and started moving his lips against Gerard's slowly. The taller man fought the urge to close his eyes and responded by adding a bit of pressure to the kiss and moving against Frank and feeling warmer by the second. After a minute of slow kissing like that they broke apart but remained where they were sitting.

Neither of them knew what to say. Gerard's head was spinning slightly as he was trying to remember how did they even get to this while Frank was wondering something else and after a serious debate in his mind decided to give it a shot

"Hey, can we practice again, just to be sure of it"

"Okay" Gerard answered quickly before even understanding what Frank was asking. They turned to one another like before and Frank quickly connected their lips this time to avoid the uncomfortable staring and this time stared right into Gerard's hazel eyes. He returned the stare and started moving his lips just like before but a bit sooner, with the same pressure. Neither of them were touching anywhere else but the lips so Frank pushed his luck and put his hand on the other's shoulder adding more pressure to the kiss. Gerard didn't back away so he figured what the hell, I got this far already and opened his mouth a little and slid his tongue across Gerard's bottom lip to which the singer opened up his mouth almost instantly surprising Frank and sliding his hand into the short man's hair, grabbing hold of it. Frank didn't waste time and took the invitation exploring the other's mouth thoroughly, his breathing becoming quicker. The whole room seemed to warm up suddenly. Gerard's eyes slipped shut and a low moan erupted from his throat that he had been holding in for a while now. At first he felt a bit embarrassed for letting it slip like that and hoped that maybe Frank didn't hear it though on the contrary the younger man moved his hand from the shoulder to cupping Gerard's face. What started out as a gentle and soft kiss soon turned passionate and a bit rough as all gracefulness was left behind and tongues and teeth collided in frenzy. Though, the lack of oxygen and uncomfortable sitting position made them break apart again.

They took their hands off each other and leaned back on the couch to catch their breath. Gerard looked over to Frank whose lips were red and used and a smile spread across his face, a sort of strange pride in himself. While the other wasn't as impressed with his work as he was happy to see Gerard truly smiling again. He looked between the door and the beautiful man sitting next to him feeling glad Ray made him stay with him tonight. With that thought he looked over to Gerard again and scooted closer

"Hey, Gerard?" Frank asked quietly. Gerard hummed in response and Frank just went for it. He placed his hand on Gerard's thigh in a non-delicate way "I don't know about you but I need a whole lot more of practicing" and slammed his lips against his.