These Eyes Are Blind

Frank's walking around the gym trying to get his mile walk over with. He's aware that there's eyes on him, but he's trying to ignore it. Frank knows it's Blake and his stupid followers.

"On your left freak!" Blake calls out and Frank moves to the right.

"On your right," a voice says as he bumps into Frank harshly.

"Usually the warning comes before you take the person's shoulder off," Frank snaps.

Blake stops in front of Frank, and Frank knows, because he feels his breath on him. He hears Blake panting in his face. He sees his blurry form in front of him. Frank's also aware of the other boys standing behind him.

"You keep it up with that mouth of yours, and it won't be the only thing I take off," Blake says warningly.

"I guess it's a good thing I can't see to spare me the horror of you naked," Frank says in what he hopes to be a bored tone and not scared. He's very scared.

"Hey! Break it up over there! Back to work!" the teacher's voice booms out and Blake chuckles.

"Saved by the teacher this time. I'll get you again, just you wait," Blake growls.

"I'm sorry, I have better things to do than wait around on you."

Blake smirks and nods to his boys. They walk past Frank pushing him on either side. He almost falls over, but he's glad he doesn't.

Frank feels like it’s horribly unjust to make the blind kid run in the same vicinity as someone who likes to pick on him, but he’s not going to complain. He has his pride, and the last thing he wants is to be a tattle tale. No, he’ll just have to keep his head held up.

Frank makes it through the rest of gym relatively unscathed, but he’s terrified of the locker room. There’s no one in there to protect him should he need it.

“I was about to say that it’s unfair to put the gay guy in here with naked boys but then I realized that he’s a blind freak,” Blake says, coming up behind Frank.

“Oh think things through then,” Frank says, “I feel like it should have crossed your mind that I’m blind first. That’s kind of a big flaw in your plan.”

“So you are gay?”

“Well I am just happy all the time,” Frank says blandly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“No?” Frank says, trying to rationalize how much of a dunderhead Blake actually is.

Frank frowns, and tries to think for a moment while Blake looks for something to say in response.

It’s probably too cold to stay in his gym shorts, but he hadn’t changed his shirt because he didn’t feel the need to. Frank tries to figure out how he can do that without the risk of Blake trying to attack him, literally with his pants around his ankles.

One good thing about the lockers in the locker room is that they have metal plates with numbers on them, but the numbers have ridges so it’s easy for Frank to feel them. He’s not dumb enough to have left his clothes in an unlocked locker though, so he used his own lock with a key, because he can’t really type in a combination.

Frank makes a beeline for one of the bathroom stalls, because he’s relatively safer in there than he is out where Blake or one of his cohorts can get to him.

Frank manages to change pretty quickly, actually and once he’s done, he runs straight for the front door of the locker room, and heads out into the hallway. His reasoning for this is that there’s more likely to be onlookers if Blake tries to pull anything.

The bell hasn’t rung yet so Frank just has to wait there until it does.

“Trying to run away?” Blake says, coming up behind Frank.

“Nope, I just don’t find the smell of locker rooms to be all that appealing.”

“Like I’m going to believe th-” the bell rings to interrupt him and then Frank is off. He goes way too quickly considering he can’t even see out in front of him.

“Frank, where’s the fire?” someone, who Frank immediately recognizes as Brendon, says and then catches up to him insanely quickly.

“I hope you’re here to open my locker for me,” Frank says, not stopping as he walks down the hall.

“I can do that,” Brendon says, “so are we running from someone in particular or...?”

“You can guess who.”

“Oh,” is all Brendon says. That’s kind of how he met Frank so he’s familiar with the problem.

Frank’s already memorized the halls of this school, because that’s his only indication of how to get around other than his cane. He comes to a halt when he knows he’s in the correct hallway, and he starts to notice that people are filling it up, pushing past him rudely.

“Over here,” Brendon drags Frank to his locker, and then Frank has to tell him the right numbers for him to spin. There’s a faint click when the door opens.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” Brendon says, “I gotta get my stuff too.”

Frank remembers Brendon telling him that his locker was near Frank’s but he hasn’t a clue where, and he honestly doesn’t care. He’s also not so sure he’s willing to wait for him, because Frank is highly impatient.

Nevertheless, Frank stands next to his locker a minute later after he’s gathered his things and he waits. If Brendon takes too long he’s just going to go. He didn’t thank the guy for getting his locker open, but Brendon’s not under any illusion that Frank is the most polite guy in the world anyway. The most polite guy in the world is actually on the other side of the school, or maybe he’s already on the bus Frank’s not looking forward to getting onto.

“I didn’t think you’d wait,” Brendon says.

“I don’t want to be trampled by the bigger kids,” Frank says, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I’m rather short.”

“I’ve noticed,” Mikey says, so apparently Mikey is with Brendon.

“We were instructed to take you to the side parking lot,” Brendon says.

“You were instructed?” Frank asks.

“Yep.”

“Patrick needs me though. Patrick is smaller than I am, and he’s too nice to ever tell people to fuck off if they pick on him,” Frank says.

“He survived just fine before you,” Brendon says, and he’s already started to drag Frank in the opposite direction to the one he wants to go. Apparently the side parking lot is where teachers park their cars, so Frank isn’t anxious to go that way. He imagines it’s a lot less busy though.

Frank’s trying to figure out what’s going on, and he decides the most likely reason is that Brendon’s decided he’s driving Frank home. That doesn’t explain why he said he was ‘instructed’ though.

“I will murder both of you if you’re trying to pull something,” Frank says.

“You’re welcome to murder Brendon, but what the hell did I ever do?” Mikey asks, “Don’t answer that. My legs are longer than yours though, I’d just run away.”

“Some act of friendship that is,” Brendon mumbles, “Take me, but you’re going to save yourself?”

“Well yeah,” Mikey says, “You’d better hope there’s never a zombie apocalypse, because I promise you Brendon, I will offer you up as dinner so quickly that you’re not even going to have time to say ‘betrayal.’”

“Asshole.”

“Where the hell are we going?”

“We told you,” Brendon says.

“Why are we then?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

Frank groans but allows himself to be dragged until he hears a door swinging open and then he’s pulled outside.

Frank feels the cold the second he’s outside and he wishes he could go back in, because it’s unpleasant. Then he hears a voice that neither belongs to Mikey nor Brendon.

“Hey Frankie.”

“Oh fucking hell, you lured me into Gerard?” Frank says.

“Where else would we have lured you?”

“Not cool.”

“It’s actually very cool, Frank. The weather is in the single digits,” Mikey says.

“Fuck off.”

“Aw come on, Frankie. If you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me,” Gerard says.

Frank looks at Gerard with a scowl on his face. "I believe you two have done what you were instructed to do. You can run along now." Frank grits his teeth while still looking in Gerard's direction.

Gerard smiles at Frank's little attitude. It's endearing, and adorable, and Gerard loves it. Mikey and Brendon are fighting back their laughter and Gerard nods at them to get out of here.

"You're welcome, Frankie," Mikey sings.

"I never thanked you. And stop, for the love of God, calling me Frankie!" Frank has had it with them calling him that. They just love to make him upset.

"Sure thing, Frankie," Mikey says and pats him on the back. "Let's go Bren."

"See ya, Frankie."

"Fuck you."

"Have fun, Gee," Brendon smirks and winks, and Frank swings his cane behind him, because of the way Brendon said it. He hits Brendon successfully. "Damn it Frank!"

"Would you like another?"

"Man whatever. See you guys later. Let's go Mikes."

Without another word they're walking off to leave the boys alone at last.

"You should really stop using that thing to torture people," Gerard says, the smile evident in his voice.

"Would you like to be next?" Frank asks.

"I'd like to put you in my car and take you home," Gerard retaliates.

"I could've caught the bus. What if Patrick worries about me?" Frank says, knowing he doesn't really care either way.

"Like you really care." Gerard replies as if reading Frank's mind. "He already knew about this."

"Seriously?" Frank scoffs and throws his hands in the air. "The next time you plan on kidnapping me, let me in on it in advance. I would've stayed behind and let Blake whoop my ass."

"He's been bothering you again?"

"Well he did say he'd see me in school. He likes to keep up on his threats. Maybe he could knock my head against the concrete and knock my sight back," Frank says quietly.

"Hey, don't say shit like that," Gerard wraps his arm around Frank's waist and starts walking him over to his car. Frank's used to it now so he just lets it happen. "I think I have just the thing you need."

"I don't need anything from you Gerard," Frank says and that's kind of a lie.

Frank needs Gerard to let go of his waist so he can breathe regularly. He needs Gerard to pull him closer. Frank needs Gerard to go away. He needs him to take him away with just them somewhere far away.

"Not even that pizza I told you I'd get for you?" Gerard opens the passenger side door and ushers Frank inside.

"Are you serious?" Frank asks, now with interest.

Gerard chuckles and closes the car door. He rushes to get around the car, so he can get out of the cold, and closer to Frank. He gets in the car and reaches over to buckle Frank up.

Frank's aware that he always leaves his seatbelt undone. He's also aware that it's because he lives for that moment when Gerard reaches over him, breath hot in his face, body close to him, and pulls it over his body. Frank loves the way Gerard's knuckles run across his body as he's pulling the belt across. He loves that he can feel Gerard's eyes on him, watching for his reaction, the whole time he's doing it.

Gerard watches like he always does as Frank's breath catches in his throat. Once he clicks the belt in place he hovers near Frank a little longer. He smiles watching Frank's eyebrow rise with wonder. Frank's cheeks are red and Gerard knows it's not from the cold.

"I'm serious," Gerard purrs and Frank's pretty sure he's going to melt. "You said you love pizza and I said I'd get it. Also, you need some fun. I'm gonna give you that." Gerard watches as Frank just nods in response.

Gerard doesn't say anything else. He does, however, peck Frank on his cheek. Frank stiffens but doesn't say anything. He just listens as Gerard starts up the car, clicks his own seatbelt into place, and turns on the radio.

The first half of the car ride passes with Frank spending all his energy in trying to make the blush disappear from his cheeks, and Gerard singing along with the radio. Frank would very much like to pretend that it isn’t one of the most adorable things in the world, but he’s having a lot of trouble not smiling or giggling.

Gerard’s got to stop his whole being adorable and perfect thing or Frank is going to have to rethink his entire existence. It’s getting insane how much he likes being around Gerard.

“I told you that my mom’s not going to go for it,” Frank says.

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see won’t we?”

“It’s not even time for dinner yet!” Frank says, as school literally just ended.

“Then we’ll wait awhile.”

“You have a plan for everything don’t you?”

“Yep,” Gerard says.

“So what do you intend to do that’s going to waste however much time we need to waste until it’s appropriate to eat?”

“Well you have homework I’d imagine.”

“You’re just going to watch me do homework?”

“Yep,” Gerard says, “I’m not going to let you fail school just because you like to spend all of your time with me.”

“Excuse me? I’m not the one who ambushed you and told you we’re making pizza!”

“Calm down, Frankie.”

“Yeah whatever.”

“So, how come you let me call you Frankie if you don’t let Mikey or your other not-friends-but-actually-are-your-friends?”

Frank dreads this question even though everyone keeps asking it, “You’re more stubborn.”

“Mikey is pretty stubborn.”

“But you’re more stubborn.”

“I would have to disagree with that,” Gerard says.

“You’re just, ugh, I don’t know. You’re harder to say no to.”

“I am?” Gerard asks and Frank instantly regrets ever opening his mouth.

“I just mean that... Mikey or the other guys they’re saying it to tease me or whatever, and you don’t call me Frankie like that. It’s different when you say it.”

“You’re right,” Gerard says, “I’m not trying to tease you. I just really like to call you that. I also just really like you, but you already knew that.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because it’s true.”

“So what? I mean, that’s all well and good if it’s true, but you don’t just admit that. Like, you can keep some emotions or thoughts to yourself.”

“But I like you,” Gerard says.

“Yeah, well you’ve said that, but that doesn’t mean you have to have said that. It’s too late to retract it now, but you could’ve, like, never said that at all,” Frank says, confusing himself a little bit.

“Life is too short to deny it when you like someone, Frankie. I would rather be embarrassed that someone doesn’t like me back rather than wait out a crush for years as it slowly rots away my insides.”

Frank blushes again but if Gerard asks, it’s just because the heating is on too high and it’s making him really warm. Gerard notices though and he grins. It’s almost unbelievable how much of an effect he has on Frank.

Frank tries to think of anything to change the subject, and this results in him falling back on their previous topic. “I don’t even have that much homework. It’s a Monday, so just like, some math problems and that’s about it.”

“Well then that’ll give me more time to get to spend with you,” Gerard says.

“You’re just...” Frank says, but he can’t find the word to describe Gerard. There doesn’t seem to be one. He can’t find any work that describes the guy in the slightest. Infuriating? Alluring? Distracting? Aggravating? Tempting? There’s a whole surplus of words that come close, but none that quite hits the mark.

"I will never understand why you want to be around me," Frank changes the direction of what he was going to say since he didn't know what to say. "I know you've explained it, but I guess it's going to take me a while to understand it."

"As long as by you saying that, it means I'm going to be around for a while, I'm fine with that," Gerard says. "Why do you want to be around me?"

"Who says I want to be around you?"

Gerard laughs and Frank looks in his direction. Gerard glances at him repeatedly and then pulls the car to a stop.

"I know you want to be around me, because you never make a full effort to push me away. You attempt, but you never fight for long,” Gerard turns the car off and takes the key out of the ignition while continuing. "I know you want to be around me, because of the way you smile when you are. The way you laugh, and giggle, and the way you just let go tells me you want to be around me."

"You're delusional," Frank says with a huge smile on his face. He ducks his head when he realizes Gerard's staring at him.

"See? That's all I want to see when we're together."

Frank lets out a breathy chuckle and shakes his head. "Are we at my house?"

"Yes we are. Ready to go get this party started?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Gerard unbuckles Frank's seatbelt and then his own. He climbs out of the car and rushes to go grab Frank's hand since he already got out of the car so quickly. Gerard closes the door and locks it. They're then making their way up Frank's pathway to his door. Before they get there the door is being opened and Gerard is staring at Frank's smiling mother.

"What a nice surprise. How did you talk him into letting you come over this time?"

"Mom,” Frank whines.

"What? I'm just asking."

"Pizza,” Gerard answers with a smile, rolling his eyes fondly.

"That'll do it,” Frank's mother says.

"How was your day mother?" Frank asks to change the subject.

"Wow, it was nice. It just became even better with my son actually asking,” Frank's mother kisses his cheek as they enter the house. "How was your day?"

"It wasn't as bad as it could've been,” Frank shrugs off his jacket and Gerard takes it from him. "I'm okay mom. Thanks,” Frank says sincerely and his mom smiles at him.

Gerard notices this is a moment that he has nothing to do with. He watches as they embrace in a quick, but heartfelt hug.

"Get your homework done before fun. I'm going to make a very quick run to the post office. I wanted to tell you before I left."

"Okay mom," Frank says. Frank's mother puts on her coat and buttons it up while smiling.

"Okay, I'm on my way. I'm glad you’re here Gerard,” Frank's mother pats him on his shoulder and then she's out the door.

Gerard puts Frank's coat up and then his, and watches Frank go into the kitchen.

"Hey, you okay?" Gerard asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I know you just said that to your mother, but... was there something wrong?"

"It doesn't matter now,” Frank says not wanting to tell Gerard about his breakdown.

"Okay. Do you want anything to drink?"

"There's bottled juices in there. Just grab me one, doesn't matter what kind. Get one for yourself too."

Gerard opens the refrigerator and grabs two juices like he was instructed. He comes out with a bottle of pomegranate and a bottle of apple. He decides to keep the apple for himself.

"I have to run out to the car to get the groceries."

"Just do that in a bit. Just sit here for a second,” Frank says and he's more than shocked with himself.

For some reason being back in his home and talking with his mother made him want to appreciate Gerard for a moment. He wants Gerard around and Frank knows right now is a better time than ever to give Gerard a little confirmation that he appreciates him.

"I just wanted to...” Frank pauses and takes a deep breath. "This isn't easy for me. I just wanted to tell you... I want you around, because you make me forget all the bad, even for a little while."

It’s Gerard’s turn to blush, and sometimes, he kind of wishes Frank could see that so that he knows that Gerard’s not as confident as he makes himself out to be. Sure, there is something kind of nice about not having someone tease you when you turn pink, but then again, it’s also nice to have someone know that they have that effect on you.

“I, uh, it’s nice to hear you say it,” Gerard says.

“You’re not going to hear me say it again.”

Gerard chuckles slightly, because he expected something like that from Frank.

For another minute, it’s mostly just quiet while they stare at each other. Well, Gerard stares at Frank who’s looking straight ahead like he sees something on the wall behind Gerard. Except he doesn’t.

The two of them just sort of stay there in a comfortable silence. They’re standing and patiently chasing that moment until it’s gone. It’s not necessarily unpleasant to be pushed back into reality, but then it feels kind of crappy when it sinks in to Frank that his head is writing stories to fill in the blanks of what’s happening right now.

For a split second, Frank imagines what it’d be like for Gerard to just grab him and kiss him. The image floods his head, except it’s not an image, it’s more of a sensory trip that excludes the whole sight thing.

He can imagine what Gerard would feel like. He’d be warm and his hands would be strong. They’d probably be in Frank’s hair or his neck or somewhere that would make Frank forget where his legs and feet are. He would probably feel all wobbly and yet he’d be stock-still, not daring to move the tiniest bit.

He can imagine what Gerard would smell like. He’d smell like his chemically shampoo, and possibly like the inside of the comic store, which is sort of similar to the inside of a bookstore, but it’s different somehow. Or maybe he’d smell a little like coffee. That wouldn’t surprise Frank.

He can imagine the whole world going quiet when Gerard would kiss him. All the white noise, all the background noise that you hear on a daily basis but don’t notice after a while, would just fade away and it would be complete and utter silence. No planes flying overhead, no cars driving down the street, no breathing of an old house. There would be no sound of air conditioning or heating filling the room, or the sound of nervous feet on the laminate flooring. Only the sound of his own heartbeat.

He can imagine what Gerard would taste like. He’d taste like his cherry chap stick. Come to think of it, he’d probably taste like coffee too. Or maybe he’d taste minty, or like whatever he just ate.

Frank can imagine everything, he really can. He just can’t picture Gerard’s face. It’s like a word at the tip of his tongue or a trivia answer that just escapes you. He can get so close to building that picture but then it goes away.

“God, I wish I could see you,” Frank bursts out. He doesn’t recall telling his mouth to say that, but it’s not like it’s untrue. The words are gone though, and it’s too late to bite them down.

Gerard understands that those words were insanely raw. Kind of like those deep thoughts that we don’t let anyone ever know, but sometimes we just let those things go when we can’t handle them anymore.

“Someday you will.”

“You sound like my mother,” Frank says.

“Your mom is pretty smart.”

Frank doesn’t know what to say, or how to say whatever it is he has to say. He doesn’t know anything besides this weird yearning that he can’t seem to drown.

“You were, uh, going to get those groceries, right?”

“Yeah,” Gerard says, having forgotten all about that. “I should do that. I’ll be back in a sec, Frankie. You can start on your homework then!”

“Great,” Frank says sarcastically. He feels Gerard look at him critically for another moment before he starts walking and heads toward the door. Frank hears the difference in his footsteps as he steps off the tiled floor and onto the carpeted floor in the living room. The front door is pulled open a moment later and then he’s gone.

Frank tries to push away how deeply he just imagined kissing Gerard, because that was not okay. It was way not okay. It was nice. Really nice. Frank really enjoyed the idea, but he can’t enjoy the idea, because it’s not okay. Or maybe it is? Maybe Gerard liking him isn’t a bad thing, and maybe the honest truth that Frank likes him isn’t a bad thing either. Except Frank is so damn stubborn that he decides it must be a bad thing.

Only it’s like his brain is at war with itself. Half of his brain is saying that liking Gerard can’t happen because he has to keep his guard up for people who want to hurt him or who want to get close to him. He can’t have friends, or, god forbid, a boyfriend, because he’s learned too well what it means to have friends, and he’s teetering on the edge of that rabbit hole too much as it is. He’s gotten too close to way too many people, Gerard included, and it’s going to only end up hurting him in the end when one of them betrays him or hurts him some other way.

Then there’s the other side of his brain that’s telling him he should marry this son of a bitch yesterday and be done with it. This is the side of his brain that is really starting to like Gerard, and is making his heart flutter every time Gerard talks to him. It’s the side of his brain that refuses to give him oxygen when Gerard touches him.

The one side of his brain absolutely loathes the other, while the one that wants him to kiss Gerard is just trying to convince the distrustful side that it’s being unreasonable. Of course the distrustful side doesn’t trust the overly romantic side, so he’s not really getting anywhere.

Frank’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the door opening again and he remembers that he was supposed to do homework, so he shrugs his backpack onto the counter and unzips it quickly. He doesn’t want Gerard to think he was just daydreaming about him or anything. It wouldn’t be an untrue assumption, but Frank would rather not plant that seed in Gerard’s head.

“Okay, so should I just put the cold stuff in the refrigerator?” Gerard asks, as Frank takes a spot in one of the chairs at the table.

“Uh, I guess,” Frank says.

“Great,” Gerard says and he busies himself with that while Frank attends to the stupid math problems that he doesn’t give a shit about. After a couple minutes, Gerard finishes and he walks around to stand next to Frank, a little too closely. Frank can feel him looking over his shoulder and he’s also aware of Gerard’s breath on the back of his neck. It’s incredibly distracting.

“This shit looks hard,” Gerard says.

“Are you just saying that because it’s all in bumps?” Frank asks.

“Nah, there’s print above that, but it still looks hard.”

“You only graduated a few years ago!”

“Yeah, but I sucked at math. I also sucked at science, English, history, gym, and home ec.”

“That’s basically all the classes there are,” Frank says.

“Yeah, well I was bad at everything,” Gerard replies.

“Should I be worried that you were bad at home ec. when we’re going to make pizza?” Frank asks, noticing somewhat of a flaw in that logic.

“What? Oh, no, it was the sewing I sucked at. I once sewed my own sweatshirt into the hat I was making. I wasn’t so bad at the cooking parts. I was the one who got to throw the spaghetti at the refrigerator to see if it was done,” Gerard says.

“I am so proud of you,” Frank says, shaking his head as Gerard laughs at the sarcasm filling Frank’s voice.

“Don’t mock the spaghetti thrower!”

“I’ll mock him all I want.”

“Hey,” Gerard says, and grabs Frank’s shoulder to turn him in Gerard’s direction, “you mock the spaghetti thrower and he just might throw spaghetti at you.”

Frank’s breath catches in his throat because he’s all of a sudden really close to Gerard. He’s like, really really close to Gerard. Frank can feel Gerard’s breath on his face only inches away. He’s so close that if they were at the prom in a Catholic school, a teacher would pull them away from each other and they’d be put on opposite sides of the room. He’s that close.

Suddenly the romantic side of Frank’s head is reappearing again, but this time, it’s picturing Frank himself grabbing Gerard and kissing him which is not going to happen obviously. It’s the first time Frank’s fantasized about himself making the first move though and it’s an off-putting feeling, that’s also really pleasant.

“Uh,” Gerard seems to realize he’s too close and he takes a small step back from Frank. Frank tries to clear his head, and agitates his feet underneath him. He stops to breathe and then goes back to the homework he’d been trying to do.

Frank's mind is reeling and he doesn't know how to stop it. Gerard is still standing over him, but he's not bent over him, which helps Frank a lot. Frank just wants to throw his book on the damn floor and let Gerard make out with him right there on the table. What? Frank's seen a few movies when he was younger that his mother would've beaten him for.

Frank's body feels so hot he reaches for his juice. He grabs it, opens it quickly, and drinks it. Frank's well aware that the juice isn't helping all that much, but it doesn't stop him from drinking. Apparently he was more parched than he thought. Frank puts the juice down and ignores the way Gerard's eyes are peering into him to get back to his homework.

Gerard is watching Frank with an almost unnoticeable smile on his face. Frank makes him so happy he doesn't know what to do with himself. Frank also makes him so weak he can't even fathom standing if they kiss. Yeah, again, he seems like the confident one, but he knows he'd crumble under Frank's touch. It's just something about him that makes him melt.

Gerard doesn't even need Frank to touch him to feel like he's going to buckle and collapse. It's the way Frank's breathing shifts when they're just a little too close. The amazing way Frank raises one of his brows when he's intrigued on what's to come next of their closeness. The way Frank's lips part just a bit and he takes in a shuddery breath. All of that is what makes Gerard feel like ice cream on a summer's day.

Gerard shakes his head softly and grabs the chair next to Frank. He sits down and scoots it close to Frank and he sees Frank's body seize up. Frank tries to shake it off, but there's that telltale reddening rising on Frank's neck to his cheeks. He's on fucking fire and Gerard knows it's because of him. Gerard pretends to ignore it and leans close to Frank again, looking at his homework.

Gerard's so damn close his hair is touching Frank's face. It's brushing softly and Frank has to fight to not turn around and smash their lips together. He has to fight not to jump into Gerard's lap and press himself into Gerard. He's never felt so insanely turned on in his life before. He's never felt turned on before at all when he comes to think of it.

Sure he's... you know, but he never did anything about it, because of someone else. It’s mostly because he's a damn teenager with needs. Frank doesn’t tend to have those needs frequently though. That's probably the problem Frank tries to tell himself. He knows full well Gerard's the only problem. Well, he's not a problem, but Frank wants him bad so that is definitely a problem.

"You're smart huh?" Gerard asks breaking the silence.

Frank shrugs and turns to Gerard a little. "It's the only thing teacher's like about me."

"A lot more people should like you," Gerard whispers and he gets a little brave by pushing his nose against Frank's jaw.

"T-they d-d-don't-" Frank stops trying to talk to prevent sounding like an imbecile. The last thing he needs is a speech problem too.

"What's that, Frankie?" Gerard asks in a low and alluring tone.

Frank fucking shudders. He turns to look at Gerard and then instantly turns back to his homework when he hears the front door being opened. Gerard doesn't move away, but he does turn back to Frank's homework.

"I'm back Frank-ie... oh," Frank's mother looks at the two boys sitting together at the table, and she instantly notices the blush on both of their cheeks.

"Did you need the kitchen mother? I'm just about finished here," Frank asks in a voice way lower than normal.

Frank's mother fights back a smirk. "You're fine son. You're not in the way at all."

"I bought ingredients to make pizza-" Gerard starts and Frank sends thank you waves to Gerard with his brain for starting a conversation.

"Ohhhh no," Frank’s mom interrupts.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to him," Gerard rushes out.

"I can't take that chance. Sorry, Gerard," Frank's mother takes off her coat and goes to hang it up.

"Told you," Frank says.

"Just hold on."

Frank's mother walks back into the kitchen and goes over to the refrigerator. She sees the ingredients inside when she opens it, but ignores them, grabbing a juice, and then closing the refrigerator.

"He doesn't have to cut anything. I got shredded cheese, and I'll open the tomato sauce, plus put the pizza in the oven. He'll be fine," Gerard tries to reason with her.

"I don't know, Gerard."

"Please? I already told him I'd get you to say yes and he really wants this," Gerard says with a smile causing her to chuckle.

"No I-" Frank starts.

"Stop denying it," Gerard says and Frank sighs. "Please? We'll give you a piece."

"Hey now, you can't give away my pizza."

"We'll have more than enough Frankie, hush," Gerard says in a quiet tone as if Frank's mother wasn't standing right there.

She laughs and shakes her head at the boys, "Okay, but if anything happens to my boy, you will get hurt."

"I'm not worried about that, because I don't want anything to happen to him either," Gerard says grinning.

"Alright then. I want my piece too, Frankie," she starts walking down the hallway.

"Sure thing, mom," Frank says and then giggles.

Gerard looks over at Frank and grins, “I told you so.”

“You’re a miracle worker,” Frank says.

“What can I say? Moms love me.”

“That’s a superpower you have there,” Frank says.

“You’re one to talk, Daredevil.”

“Whatever comic boy,” Frank says, finishing off his last math problem. “I’m not sure I’m, uh, hungry yet.”

“No? Well then we have some time to kill,” Gerard says.

“Okay, uh, and what do you intend to do with that time?”

“Do you wanna go to your room?” Gerard asks.

“I, what? What’s wrong with out here?”

“Nothing, it’s just more private in your room,” Gerard says.

“Why do we need privacy?” Frank asks, his voice coming out a little squeakier than he would have liked it to. Gerard tries not to laugh at it.

“Just ‘cause.”

“Uh, okay?” Frank says, and then the half of his brain that doesn’t like Gerard’s presence at all starts throwing a temper tantrum. Frank shuts it up, because most of him right now wants to listen to the part of him that wants to be really near Gerard.

“Come on then,” Gerard says and Frank stands up, slowly. He feels Gerard grab at his hand for a moment, and Frank almost wants to drop the hand like a game of hot potato, but he doesn’t. He just lets Gerard take it, and drag him into his own bedroom. There’s the soft sound of the door closing and then Frank is alone in his room with Gerard.

Frank has only one thought going through his head and that is, ‘oh fuck.’

Frank knows his own room well enough not to use his cane, so he walks over until he finds the desk chair, because there’s not a chance in hell he’s going to go sit on his bed with Gerard right next to him. The last thing he needs is to give Gerard an excuse to get even closer to him.

Gerard notices Frank’s subtle yet very transparent motion to get away from him, and he just rolls his eyes, taking a spot on Frank’s bed.

“So, what do you wanna do then?” Gerard asks.

“I don’t know. This is your show, I’ll let you decide that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with just talking.”

“Talking?” Frank asks, “Or, uh, you know, there’s like TV or you could read me comics or something?”

“I didn’t bring any comics with me.”

Frank curses internally, because there’s something terrifying about being stuck in conversation with Gerard. Not that he doesn’t want to talk to him, he’s just petrified that he’s going to let something slip or say too much.

“Well there’s TV.”

“But, uh, I mean, you can’t see the TV.”

“I can still appreciate TV,” Frank says, “like, I can still pick up on what people are saying and put the story together from there.”

“You trying to avoid talking to me?” Gerard asks, seeing straight through Frank.

“What? No,” he says firmly.

“Then let’s talk,” Gerard says.

“A-about what?”

“Whatever.”

Frank sighs and then says, “how about you talk and I listen.”

“Uh, okay,” Gerard says, “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know, do I?” Frank says, “Uh, anything. I don’t care. Give me dirt on Mikey or something.”

Gerard chuckles, “Mikey? Let’s see. Well, Mikey’s afraid of sharks you know.”

“I do, actually.”

“You do?” Gerard asks, “Well that’s the only thing that came to mind when you asked for dirt. He once got dumped by a girl because she didn’t like his taste in music.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, he was like twelve, but still. I thought it was amusing,” Gerard says.

“Okay,” Frank says, “So then what about you? Tell me about you.”

“Me?” Gerard says and he contemplates for a little while, “I really like bad horror movies. The more fake blood the better.”

Frank shrugs, “I like comedies. They’re the easiest to understand. Like with action you miss stuff if you can’t see it. With horror movies, you only know something bad is happening when the violins pick up and then there’s a bunch of screaming. Comedies are pretty easy. You just have to listen to them make bad jokes that somehow make you laugh.”

“What about rom coms? Do you like them?”

“Not really. They’re all very arbitrary and predictable. Also, usually the only thing that helps you believe the two characters fall in love is that they’re both physically attractive, but when you can’t see them, it’s so much harder to buy it. Like, you wouldn’t believe how bland the dialogue is until you’ve had to watch a rom com without the visual aid,” Frank says.

Gerard somehow gets Frank to rant about movies for another hour. Frank’s not even aware that he does it, he just knows that one minute he’s talking about how boring Jurassic Park is when you can’t see it, to how good he found Austin Powers. Frank’s basis for movies is a little different than other people because he has to rate them on level of dialogue quality more than anything else, and if the dialogue isn’t strong as hell, he just doesn’t enjoy it.

“It’s getting close to dinner time,” Gerard says.

“What, really?” Frank asks. “I didn’t know so much time had passed.”

He only realizes that it has been a little while when his stomach growls.

"Maybe we should get to that then," Gerard says.

"Yeah."

"Just one thing, Frankie," Gerard stands up and walks over to Frank.

Frank feels Gerard crowding him and can't keep the butterflies in his stomach at bay. He's so tired of not being able to breathe, but if it's due to Gerard's presence that makes it a little better. Frank feels Gerard's hands clutch his and he takes in a shaky breath. Gerard pulls Frank up and they're face to face. Well, they would be if Frank wasn't so short.

Gerard's standing there looking at Frank and he loves how cute he looks staring back up at him. Gerard realizes that after all this time Frank's probably not going to answer him back. He squeezes Frank's hands lightly and notices Frank does it back, but only slightly.

"What would you do if I kissed you?" Gerard watches Frank lick his lips slowly and he knows it's on reflex.

Gerard is well aware that Frank is probably letting his mind wander off somewhere else. Gerard's mind is trailing off too, so he doesn't blame Frank. He's thinking about just leaning in and kissing him, but he doesn't want to chance upsetting Frank.

"I-I... I guess we'd have to see. I probably wouldn't have minded it now if you didn't ask. I would like to be caught off guard more, but still know it's coming without you asking," Frank doesn't even know if what he said makes sense, but that's as good as it's going to get with Gerard breathing on his lips.

Gerard leans into Frank's ear and whispers, "I'll remember that." He steps back and turns Frank until his back is against Gerard's stomach.

Gerard has his arms around Frank's waist and his lips on Frank's neck. Frank let's out an embarrassing whimper and Gerard smiles against his neck.

"I hope you know you give me the same feeling that I give you," Gerard kisses Frank's neck and then starts walking them towards the door.

Frank is barely aware that he's moving. He faintly hears the quiet shuffling of their sneakers against carpet and he knows they aren't still. It's kind of like he's floating. It's a very weird, but pleasant feeling that he's not going to admit to Gerard. Frank thinks he's being silly, because Gerard already knows.

Frank realizes what Gerard said and smiles. The thought of Frank making Gerard feel like this makes Frank feel fucking ecstatic inside. Gerard's arm comes from around him and he feels the wind as the door breezes by him. Gerard guides them out the room with his arm still around Frank. Frank’s sure he’ll figure how to breathe again sooner or later.