Pyre (Frerard, Rikey, Ryden, Petekey)

26: The Calm Before The Storm

Gerard had snuck away today to see Frank again, although he did have to return to the coven later to attended Mikey and Ray's mating ceremony, but that was one of the perks of being mated to a human - they fell asleep decently early, so Gerard would have plenty of time to make it back before the proceedings started.

Frank had been waiting for him at the back door, which he instructed Gerard to use now instead of the front entrance. Frank had a small sliding screen installed in his fence to allow people to come in and out after he had noticed the hole there which was brought to his attention when one of his dogs had attempted to escape out of it. Gerard had to bite back the apology on the tip of his tongue when Frank had told him what had happened, because of course Frank didn't know that Gerard had been the one to make it in the first place on the night they had met, but he still felt bad for damaging his property, even if it had been necessary to his survival at the time.

The reason behind Frank's insistence that Gerard use this new entrance instead of the more typical one was caused by the black car that always seemed to show up outside of Frank's house late at night. Frank had told Gerard that he thought they were some FBI agents who were staking out the serial killer that was still on the loose, also mentioning that they had made him uncomfortable when they had interviewed him, which was why he didn't want them to be aware of his coming and goings, but Gerard knew they were the Winchester brothers after catching a glimpse of their faces on his way home, so he made sure to avoid them at all costs.

Gerard wasn't clear on if the hunters had managed to track him to Frank's place, or if their presence on this street was simply random coincidence, but either way, Gerard wasn't going to take any chances with his or Frank's safety, so he did everything he could to remain hidden from the hunters, hell would break out if they spotted him, and he refused to allow Frank to be caught in the crossfire.

The Winchester's vehicle had been absent this evening though, allowing Gerard to focus entirely on Frank without any thoughts of the dangerous men who could easily ruin everything for him if they found him getting in the way. Gerard had taken Frank to a small diner that was apparently one of his favorites earlier on, spending the rest of his cash on the meal in the process even though Frank had fought him for the check, but now they were back inside of Frank's house, snuggled together on the couch with full stomachs and warm hearts.

Per Brendon and Ryan's advice, Gerard had been forcing himself to wait before making anything official between the two of them, but his patience had reached its end today, and Gerard could feel the words bubbling at the back of his throat, pushing forward onto his tongue despite his best effort at containing them.

Gerard reasoned that now seemed as good a time as any to ask Frank to be his; they had been on quite a few dates, and Frank obviously cared about him, so Gerard decided to bite the bullet and take his chances, praying that Frank would react positively to his request.

"Frank," Gerard murmured lowly, bringing Frank's head up from its previous position cradled into Gerard's neck by gently placing two fingers underneath his chin.

Gerard paused when Frank's hazel eyes met his, his breath catching as Frank gazed up at him adoringly. Gerard was overcome with a sudden rush of love for his mate in that moment, and he was sure it would have brought him to his knees if he wasn't already sitting down.

"Is everything okay?" Frank asked worriedly when Gerard failed to say anything else, his nails digging into Gerard's sides as he pushed himself into a more upright position, a look of consternation pulling his features down as he waited for Gerard to continue speaking.

"Yes - I just...fuck Frank," Gerard groaned, unsure of how to voice the question now that the moment had arrived. "You know you mean a hell of a lot to me right?"