But You're Beautiful to me (Frerard)

Bare Feet

The door swung shut as Mikey walked through. He seated himself and waited for the curtain to open. He was now at another mental institution, but only to see a talent show from some of the better patients. Frank sat with him, although he had a few medical things still on him, a requirement to leave the hospital. Soon, as everyone had settled, the lights darkened and the stage was revealed from the huge red curtains. The first on stage were some guy and a lady. Frank’s jaw dropped. That man was the same creep at the hospital. The woman, however, nobody recognized. An announcer came on before they started, stating that they were to do a quick song.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for giving these perfectly fine people a chance to show their talents!” he said proudly. He walked off-stage and the two began. The guy started to play a bit of piano, just a background beat in a way. The lady stood at the mic, smiling. The guy began to sing.

“Well, they, encourage your complete co-operation, send ya roses when they think you need to smile…” Frank felt he knew that voice. He shrugged it off. The guy stopped. He muttered to himself, and shooed the girl off and grabbed an acoustic guitar from the side. He tried again with a different song.

“Now, come one, come all to this tragic affair,”

Frank couldn’t shake off the familiarity in his voice.

“Wipe off your makeup; what’s in is despair.”

Nope, he absolutely knew it. He zoned out and he kept singing. He snapped back when a particular line came up.

“If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, you can find out first had what it’s like to be me.” That. Was. It. He knew who it was. Well, he didn’t, because it couldn’t possibly be the same man, but he had a voice like Gerard’s. Damn, he was tearing up again.

Everyone was gone. Frank sat in the front row, not moving. His muscles decided to lose their motivation to leave, like his brain wanted. But he stayed. Nothing could make him move anymore. Well, maybe Gerard, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore. Unfair.

The lights dimmed to their lowest, and Frank’s eyes barely adjusted to the darkness. He felt something grab his arm, but he made no move to struggle. Maybe this is a criminally insane patient, he thought hopefully. Better for it to be someone else than himself. He struggled to keep up as the figure dragged him backstage. There was a small room, with just a mirror. Probably just a check-up place before they performed. The figure walked up to the mirror. Frank noticed who it was. The man, he said silently in dismay. Not that creep.

The guy took a pair of scissors and cut at his hair, it soon being quite short and not that bad for a self-haircut in less than 2 minutes. He turned around and looked Frank right in the eyes. His pale face was so familiar – Frank would not mistake it anywhere.

“Gerard,” he breathed. “Gerard!” He leapt up and hugged him as tightly as possible. Gerard made no move to hug back. Frank tried his hardest to keep his breathing under control.

“Gerard, what is it?” he asked, keeping his hands around him. Gerard pursed his lips together in slight anger.
“You don’t deserve me.” Those were the first words he had heard him say since so long ago. Yet such dark words, sounding dissatisfied with himself. “You’re too good to be stuck with someone with no control, and a fucking stupid pale face, too.” Gerard stated quite sharply. Frank tilted his head.
“Oh, Gerard, don’t ever say tha-”

“I can say whatever I want about my face, ‘cause it’s my fucking face.” He interrupted. Tears pricked Frank’s eyes as he grew angry.
“You know very well that you’re beautiful. And you know what I had done when your name kept coming up lately.” He told him. Gerard whipped around, grabbed the mirror, and smashed it on the floor. Then, he stomped on it.

With bare feet.

Frank was speechless. Blood quickly spilled onto the broken shards. Gerard had faked his own suicide because he didn’t think Frank would be successful in life with him clinging on. However, Gerard had managed to get a job making comic strips. Frank also had gotten out of the mental hospital.

 Wow, they’ve gotten far. But now Gerard was hurting himself right in front of who mattered most to him, to show that he shouldn’t be with a crazy fuck-up.

“See?” screamed Gerard. “I can spill blood and nobody will care! Your time spent on me is wasted and useless!” Blood still stained the floor, and Frank shivered the sight. The sight of someone so close to him being hurt made him want to throw up.

Opposite to Gerard’s prediction of Frank getting angry and leaving, Frank yanked him closer to him and smashed his lips to his. Gerard was reluctant, of course – but he soon realized that nobody would love him more than Frank.

On October 30th, Frank Iero and Gerard Way were married.