Wishing You Were a Ghost

Jejune Stars

They do the waffles, and they do the cuddles. They watch a movie, and talk about nothing, and play with the cat, and take a nap. Frank gets solid confirmation that Mikey bailed out of Gerard's birthday on purpose.

Okay, no solid confirmation, but the fact that Mikey bails again for lunch is pretty damning evidence in Frank's eyes. Gerard is bummed about it, but Frank tries to reassure him that Mikey is just doing Mikey shit, and he's sure that the re-rescheduled celebration will be just fine.

It also leaves Gerard's entire birthday wide open. And Frank, being a decent man, doesn't want to just leave him alone. So he may or may not stay and do cake that night. Like they used to.

Because Gerard needs a distraction. He is (rightfully) sad that his brother is an asshole, and Frank is nothing if not a good... friend?

Besides, people love doing sleepovers for their birthday, right?

So Frank stays the night again, and this time he does not leave bed to make breakfast. He lets Gerard wake up slowly on his own, even if it's already past noon. He scrolls on his phone aimlessly until Gerard stirs, and Frank looks over to find the other man staring at him.

"Do you have any idea how creepy that is?" he asks with a smile, reaching to brush Gerard's hair off of his forehead.

"Mm," Gerard hums in confirmation, blinking sleepily up at him. He shifts, getting himself right next to Frank until he has to lift his arm so that the (post)birthday boy can settle himself into the crook of it. "You used to tell me that a lot."

"I meant it," Frank says with a laugh. He kisses the top of Gerard's head with a long sigh. "I've gotta go home," he says softly. "I'm pretty sure Sharon isn't gonna want to play short-notice-pet-sitter for Lois another day."

He'd texted his across-the-hall neighbor yesterday begging her to be on Lois duty, and she'd agreed. Frank had sworn he would pay her.

He and Gerard parted ways with quiet kisses at the door that made Frank feel like he was flying all the way home where he did end up paying Sharon for being a lifesaver.

And then he gets to do that thing where he sits in agony for the next week, because that's when said re-rescheduled birthday dinner is actually taking place.

The good thing is that during this period of agony, Frank isn't left alone to dwell on it. He has Gerard to text with. He has Gerard, who sends him those pictures he took on his birthday (the ones from the canceled movie night, and the ones with the cake). He has Gerard to text with.

Those texts naturally lead to Frank putting Lois in her usual pet hotel this time so that he can come over to Gerard's the day before the festivities to have... Other festivities.

They roll around on the couch, and over the kitchen counter, and in the shower, and the bed. They leave bruises in places that are maybe a little too close to visible. Gerard's fingers mark out that same constellation map against Frank's hips again (Frank is the one to take pictures this time).

They exchange more I love you's, and they have been all week, but hearing it out of Gerard's mouth again is much better than reading it in a text message. It leaves Frank warm and fuzzy on the inside, and he feels like maybe Gerard is feeling the same way about it.

It's like the more times they say it, the more real it feels. They're less hesitant, less uncomfortable. More confident.

When the next morning rolls around, Gerard is awake first for once, and Frank is the one who gets roused from sleep with soft lips, and wandering hands. Gerard tells him that he loves him, and Frank begs him to show him.