Frerard Face Down 4 xoxo

It was with shady light that the Way living room was lit as Gerard let Frank in before him. Each blind was turned on an angle, providing a semi-private environment for both the residents of the house and outside world. A single lamp in the corner was on its dimmer switch and the room smelt oddly of Glade Mood oils. Frank thought nothing of this, having only been in the house for about an hour, but Gerard frowned. As the commercials ended and both sat down, the taller glanced to the ceiling; to where his younger brother Michael was deliberately keeping a wide berth.

For a while they were comfortably amused with the clips from viewers of people falling down holes and off moving trucks. At first they laughed freely until realising that they were actually rather self-conscious about their individual laughs, at which point they restrained them behind awkward smiles.

During another commercial break, Gerard sat forward and stretching a little turned to Frank.

"I was thinking of making a coffee, can I get you anything?"

"Um . . . thank-you, I'll have whatever you're having."

"Sure, that's cool - how do you take your coffee?"

With a smile Frank shrugged and casually lidded his eyes for a moment.

"However you take it."

As the coffee machine began to raze the fresh filters, Gerard pushed aside the tea-towel hanging over the handle of the microwave and inspected his face. His eyeliner hadn't smudged, or congealed in any way of which he was thankful, but all the same he applied a little more before messing his hair and straightening up. He adjusted his belt and jeans and shirt and socks and laces and wristband and arched his back before flexing and stretching in a nervous sort of dance.

There was peppermint gum in the cupboard above the fridge, he was certain of it, but was there any point of using it before drinking coffee? Perhaps if he just kept some in his pocket he could offer it as soon as they'd finished? Or was that paranoid? And what if Frank mistook the misshapen lodge in his jeans for something else? Oh God that would be awkward. But in his back pocket his ass would look deformed. He had a nice ass; he wouldn't want to spoil it. And also what if he sat on it and then had to offer Frank mushied up gum?

Finally, Gerard bustled back into the living area with two mugs of steaming fresh coffee and a plate of chocolate-chip sugar cookies, with a small packet of gum neatly on the side, with some after-eight mints.

"Here you go." He half sang, ensuring he handed Frank the handle, regardless as to whether this burnt his own fingers or not.

"Thank-you. Um - the show finished, those were the last commercials, its some soap-opera thing now - do you follow it? Or . . . . . ?"

"God no, I'm not into that sort of shit - - - - - um," He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling foolish; "You don't . . . . . watch it, right?"

Frank laughed and shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee and smiling.

"As if you actually drink the exact same style of coffee as I do." He grinned, inclining his head to the latte they were both clutching.

"Really? I was worried you weren't gonna like it."

"No man, I love it. I mean, I'll drink anything usually, I'm not fussy about stuff like that but my preference is always this. Although I'm really more of a Coke person."

" . . . C-coke?"

"As is Cola? I'm not a drug addict Gerard!" He laughed, nudging g the other playfully with his foot.

Despite the blush and sudden feeling of being and idiot Gerard laughed, he didn't care it sounded stupid.

"So . . . . . Frank Iero - tell me, who are you?"

"Well, Frank Anthony Iero, is like a 4'9 dwarf with illegal yet utterly awesome (If I do say so myself) tattoos, a little sister, three dogs and guitar named Pansy. My parents divorced about four - maybe five years ago and I'm frigging glad they did because together they were bitter-sweet hell on earth. We moved to Belleville three weeks ago to start over after my Mom told her old Boss what she thought of him."

"A-ha. I like the sound of you already."

"So, Gerard Way. Who are you."

"Well, Gerard Arthur Way is taller than Frank Anthony Iero by about a head but doesn't have a clue how tall that actually is because he sucks at Math but is rather good at science. He has a younger brother Mikey whom he is later going to murder for reasons unknown to the world but himself. He has two parents and a grandmother who is like his favourite person in the world. And when he was in fourth Grade he played Peter Pan which is totally the coolest thing ever because it's usually played by a girl and he was probably too fat to wear the green tights that he did."

Frank let out a sigh in the form of an amused growl, an expression of glee on his face.

"Man I wish I'd seen that. But yeah, like you were ever fat."

"Oh believe me, I'm not touching those sugar cookies for a reason!"

With another crooked grin Gerard offered the plate to Frank, who instead set aside his empty cup and opened the gum, then offering some to Gerard.

"Thank-you."

"So, when's your birthday?"

"April 9th."

"A-ha."

"When's yours?"

"October 31st."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Ha, hell yeah. Kinda explains why I'm so messed up. I'm a changeling Frankenweenie Vampire! Mwa-ha-ha!" Frank's evil laugh was so deep and pompously operatic that Gerard snorted. He actually snorted.

Raising an eyebrow at this, Frank observed Gerard's face, as the taller clamped his hands over his mouth in utter horror at his own nerdish outburst. This prompted Frank to offer him the plate of snacks and with a perfectly innocent face and a soft, high pitched, British accent say,

"Cookie?"




Michael had been sitting at his desk doing absolutely nothing for almost an hour. He was annoyed. By the sound of what he could hear from downstairs they were not making out. This was what he had been trying to get them to do all evening. And his parents would be arriving home in another half an hour.

Just as he was considering somehow cramming them into the utility closet together, he heard something that made his heart stop.




Downstairs Gerard leant casually against the door frame, smiling as Frank continued to dance randomly for a few more minutes. Finally he stopped and grinned sheepishly.

"So yeah, it was pretty much like that." He finished, watching Gerard nod along.

"Awesome."

"Yeah."

A short pause rang out.

"Well . . . I had a really great time." Frank mumbled, casting pictures in the gravel with the toe of his shoe.

"That's good, so did I."

Frank looked up and smiled.

"Thank-you for having me."

Gerard returned the smile.

"It was a pleasure, thank-you for coming; we should definitely do this again sometime."

Frank nodded avidly.

"Soon." He added, catching the twinkle in Gerard's eyes and wishing he had a jar to keep it.

So with a gentle wave of both sadness and hands Gerard watched Frank plunge his hands into the pockets of his hooded jacket and vault the garden wall rather than working out how to open the gate. He stayed at the door long after Frank had disappeared from view, looking back only once to raise his arm in a final farewell.

An undignified thump landed at the bottom of the stairs.

Turning, Gerard found Mikey in a heap, looking very annoyed and disgruntled.

"Please do not tell me I just fell down the stairs to stop him going to find he's already gone." Mikey scowled, straightening his glasses to the end of his nose and looking up awkwardly through them at his brother.

"Yup." Gerard replied happily, walking passed to the stairs descending into darkness and his room. On the way passed he slapped his brother casually on the back of the head.

"What the hell was that for?!" Mikey cursed, turning to glare as he brother's head sank form view, but he caught the calling reply before the door closed.

"Ambience."