needles • frerard

fourty five

"Mornin', pretty boy." Gerard murmurs.

"Hi." Frank replies, rolling onto his back and stretching out his arms. He cranes his neck and kisses Gerard on the cheek before laying back down on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess."

"Hm. You have off today, right?"

"I do."

"Good. I do too. I'll tell ya what- how about I take you to breakfast, and then go to the parlor, since we just got a new shipment of ink and needles that I need to test out. You up for a free tat?"

"I am almost always up f-for a free tat." Frank smiles.

- - - - - - - - - -

They went to the same café they went to the day after the kiss, the same day Frank wound up in the hospital, the last time that Bob ever beat him.

The parlor is closed, as it's a Sunday, so they've got the place to themselves. Gerard is nervous. His heart is pounding and his hands are shaking. He turns around and looks at Frank.

"This is where we first met."

"I-I know." Frank nods.

"That was the day my life changed forever. I walked out here, and I saw you, and everything else just... stopped. I forgot how to move, or- or breathe, or do anything. Frankie, I'd never seen anyone as stunning as you. And then you spoke, and I felt so stupid for even daring to have a favorite song, the sound of your voice was so perfect. There's nothing about you that isn't perfect. Every day since the day we met, I've fallen more and more in love with you. You're everything to me. And... and that's why it breaks my heart to hear you say that you aren't enough for me, or that you think I'm going to leave you. I don't know what I'd do without you, honestly, I don't. You make me feel like myself, like I don't have to be embarrassed for singing in the shower or laughing too loudly or undressing in front of you. I love you more than I thought could ever be humanly possible. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. And I want to prove to you that I mean that with all my fucking heart."

Gerard takes a little velvet box out of his jacket pocket, then gets down on one knee. Frank's jaw drops. He opens the box to reveal a shiny black band, encased in the maroon velvet.

"Um, Frank Iero, will you marry me?"

The room fills with suffocating silence.

"You... want t-to marry me?" Franks asks slowly.

"Yeah." Gerard nods.

"You really w-wanna get s-s-s-stuck with me?"

"A thousand bad moments are worth one good one, remember?"

Frank's mind races as he tries to come up with another reason why Gerard shouldn't want to marry him.

"It's not legal."

Gerard sighs. "Not here, no. It's been legal in Massachusetts for a couple months now."

"Oh." Frank replies. "That's good. Uh, a-are you really sure you w-want to do this?"

"I've been sure I want to do this ever since you kissed me after your show. I know that you think you're a burden, but I don't. I think you're the cutest, most talented, smartest person in the entire fucking world. And yeah, you've got shit to deal with. But I love you, I love you so much it scares me sometimes, I love you so much I wanna cry when I look at you. I'm going to be here for you when you need me. I don't help you out of pity, I'm not staying just because I feel bad for you. I'm staying because I don't know what I would possibly do if I wasn't with you."