BEING EDITED - Remove the dark - Frerard

Two

I wake up to the clear sound of my alarm near my head. I groan and roll over to my side, to my phone. Once the alarm is off, I notice a weak blue flashing light. A message had come in. He replied! I unlocked my phone and. Wow. Several texts from the contact Gerard xø. As I stand up and walk into the living room area, I open the texts one by one.

Hello there, gorgeous. xoxoG the first one says. My cheeks get a little warm and I feel that I'm blushing. Would Gerard approach anyone like that? Surely, to greet me like this, it means he's either gay or bisexual, right? From seeing him so often, I know very well he gets along quite well with women. I decide not to think of that as I open the next one. Send at 4am... Who's even up at that time? Well, I guess Gerard is. Would you want to go out with me sometimes? Maybe catch a movie?  A smile spreads across my face and I open the next one, received half an hour later. I mean, I totally get it if you don't. I've been overthinking everything and I totally get it if you'd rather spend your money on a date with a girl. Wow, bold of him to assume I'm into girls or have female friends. I decide reply to this. The only person I'd be interested in seeing a movie with, at this second, is you. When are you free?  And as I hit the send button, the "read" already pops up below it. Wow, Gerard sure is eager for contact. I get a reply quite soon after. I did mean to ask you one thing he sends me, leaving me in the tension of what it might be. I send a few question marks and the question is the answer to the only question I had the past five minutes. Do you want to make this a date-date?  I jokingly reply with Wow, that's gay, to which he says Just like me and with a That makes two of us, I put down my phone and make myself a cup of coffee. Factually speaking, I'm bisexual. But for now, that was unnecessary information

After getting dressed in a shirt clear of any possibly political statement (aka it's plain black), my neatest pair of jeans and the shoes that are in best shape, I make my way out the door. I make sure to lock the door well, as I wouldn't want anyone to get their hands on my precious, few belongings with the crime wave that has been hitting this part of town. It's only a block or two to the coffee house, so I walk it. Meanwhile, still texting Gerard. We schedule a just-hanging-out date for tonight at 8 and as I keep telling myself it's just as friends and the voice inside my head tells me for now, I walk into the coffee house.

The coffee house is called Annie's, after the woman who started it. She's the current manager's grandma and Annie herself still likes to drop by every now and then. It's only 7am, but there's already quite a few people inside. Behind the counter is the girl that took my interview and hired me, Emma I believe her name was. She has an industrial piercing in her right ear and a conch in the left. Her dyed black hair is tied back in a tight, high bun and beneath her red apron she's wearing a Queen shirt. Cool, so band merch is allowed here. 

I walk up to the counter and say hi. She gives me a kind smile, points me towards the red apron and name tag laid out for me and says I came in at just the right time.

***

As I finish the spaghetti I'd cooked for myself after my shift, I think about Emma and how I think we'd be great friends. We got talking once the rush was over and we have quite a lot in common. As I wish my dishes and think about it some more, my actions and train of thought are disturbed by the ringing of the doorbell. I take the few steps to the door, confused. Gerard's not supposed to come over for another hour. But it is him, nevertheless. He's wearing the same clothes as last night, but his hair has had a wash. He's carrying a heavily packed suitcase and his eyes show slight panic. I let him in the small room and offer him a cup of coffee. He nods, puts the suitcase next to Pansy and sits down on the couch. I hand him the cup and gently as him what's wrong. His eyes fill with tears and only now I see that tears had previously already made their path down his pale face. Nevertheless, he starts talking anyway and I hear how much effort he puts into keeping his voice from breaking.

"I.. I told my parents about my sexual preference and my dad just snapped," He says, more whisper than speaking voice. My parents never gave me any backlash and accepted me for who I am. I feel a pang of sorrow in my heart. Sorrow for this boy's relationship with his father.

"Oh Gerard, I'm so sorry to hear that!" I whisper back. I offer out my arms and he gladly takes me in for a hug. He buries his face in the crook of my neck. I can feel the tears have finally escaped his eyes. "How did your mother and brother react?" I ask him gently after I had felt his body ease and release the tension he was holding. 

"They tried to calm him down. Mikey already knew, as we go out together quite a lot, and mum was very warm and she was crying her eyes out while helping me pack," his voice trails off again a little and I make the hug tighter for just one second to let him know I feel for him. "She even arranged I could go live with her sister for a while, while she sorts dad out." It warmed my heart to know he had a place to go to. "I guess me being kicked out was a thing long time coming, as I'm a 24 year old, living in my parents' basement with an art degree that gets me basically nowhere. I couldn't move out, not even if I wanted to, thanks to my student debt." He sighs sadly and I feel the embrace growing softer. 

"You know, Gerard. If living with your aunt ever gets too much, you're always free to sleep over here. I can give you a spare key, I have an air mattress I can put out for you, we can share my bed, whatever you feel comfortable with," I offer him. "But I don't recommend sleeping on my couch. It's a hand-me-down and god knows what happened on there." He chuckles at this and his eyes fill with tears again, only this time they are grateful.

"Thank you, Frank. You have no idea what this means to me." And he pulls me in for a tight hug again.

***

We had one of the most impressive and intense first dates ever. It was good we decided against going to the movies in the morning, because we talked until it was well into the night. We went to bed around 1am, seen as we both had to work in the morning.

I learnt a lot about him. On that note, it was a good first date. He's 24, works at the local comic store - which I knew, I'd seen him behind the counter there before -, he's into the same bands as I am, his younger brother Mikey and I are the same age and he likes reading and drawing comics. He was still emotional when we went to lay in bed and as he stayed close to me all through the night, even though the bed was spacious enough to fit three people of our size, I could sometimes feel a small sob escape him. I let him be. He tried to be quiet, which made it obvious he just wanted the closeness of a friendly human and feel what he feels in silence. 

A few hours later I wake up. He's finally fallen asleep. I take a few waking seconds to admire the way his hair falls over his face and his lips are parted slightly as a steady, slow breathing escapes them. Boy, is he pretty.