Break the Law For Me [completed]

s e v e n t e e n

No answer. Gerard just blinked hard, fixing his gaze to the lights above. After that explosion, he needed a moment to recover.

"What," He paused, quietly putting his things by the door. "What was all that about. . ?"

At last, he gathered the strength to explain. "I-" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I, uhm, I forgot to-to set the dates for your mock exams." He desperately tried to keep his tone level, but his voice cracked and he feared he would to. Being yelled at like that brought back awful memories and feelings, and he was doing everything he could not to seem utterly pathetic.

Frank tried to think of a million ways to console him because it looked like Gerard was about to burst in to tears, scream, or both. "They've expected you to do a lot in your first time teaching. . . It's-"

Digging the heels of his palms in to his eyes, Gerard shook his head. "These are-these are your mock exams, Frank, it's a big deal."

"I-"

"The deadline was yesterday and I missed it. Which means now we'll have to have the slots that are left. They could clash with other exams you have. This is going to take even longer for everyone, and it's all my fault." He rambled on, scraping his fingers through his hair anxiously. He began pacing, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't working at all. "God, I'm so stupid."

Shaking his head, Frank stepped forwards, putting a stop to Gerard's strides, almost crashing in to him. "You're not stupid." He tucked Gerard's hair behind his ears, then curled his fingers around his hands to bring them down from tugging on his hair. "You were just given a lot of classes to handle and a lot of work to do for your first time teaching, you're bound to make mistakes sometimes."

"But this is a big mistake." He frowned, avoiding eye contact, which was hard as they were stood quite close.

"Then I'll even help you if you need, yeah?" He offered, doing his best to aid the situation in any way possible. "I know it won't be much. . . But it'll work out alright." He offered a smile, squeezing Gerard's hands reassuringly.

Slowly composing himself, Gerard nodded, taking a deep breath.

Really, Frank didn't care if all the time they spent together made him fall for Gerard even harder than he already seemed to be, but he didn't exactly care. Crushes never last, so neither was this thing he had for his art teacher.

"Come here." Frank muttered softly, enveloping him in a hug. He went to run his fingers through Gerard's hair, but he remembered he'd told him not to last time. Instead, he settled his hands just above Gerard's hips, resting his chin on his shoulder as Gerard buried his head in Frank's chest.

"Thank you." Gerard mumbled, voice muffled by the fabric of Frank's clothes -or rather, Gerard's own jacket.

"I do mean it." He chuckled. "I'll try to help."

"You really don't have to." Hesitantly, he pulled back, shaking his head. "You have a lot of work and revising to complete, too."

"I want to." He suddenly felt very aware that his hands were resting on Gerard's hips and he moved them to hang awkwardly at his sides. He forced a nervous smile. "What can I do to cheer you up?"

"Oh, it's fine." Gerard rubbed his eyes, squeezing them shut. "It's a Friday, you can go home if you want." He wrapped his arms around himself, darting his eyes to the window. He felt the heat of Frank's stare on him and he would have met his gaze if he hadn't have felt so damn self-conscious. He always seemed to feel this way around Frank; always wondering what Frank was going to think of him. "I don't want to keep you here."

"It's okay, I like being here." He said quietly, quickly regretting his words in case the feelings weren't mutual. Locking those doubts in the corner of his mind, Frank took a deep breath. "Come on." He took Gerard by the shoulders, guiding him to a desk and in to a chair. "Sit down while I feed you biscuits."

Gerard giggled, at which Frank's heart skipped a beat, making him smile, because it was the cutest noise in the world.

Rummaging through the drawers, Frank located the biscuits, then pulled up a chair and sat next to Gerard, making sure they were a decent distance apart. He couldn't cope with any more butterflies devouring his insides.

"I wish it was always like this." Gerard murmured thoughtfully, picking out a biscuit, eating it slowly to allow the chocolate to melt in his mouth.

"Like what?"

"Peaceful, you know?" He sighed. "Everything is always so loud."

Frank remained silent, listening to the hum of the computers, the distant footsteps of staff preparing to go home, the harsh winds outside, and their steady breathing.

They stayed there for a while, enjoying each other's company and nibbling at chocolate digestives until Gerard huffed, getting up from his seat. "I have to get these dates sorted." He slouched at the desk, wishing for them to magically be done.

Pressing his lips in to a thin line, Frank nodded, "I have to get my art sorted."

Glancing up from the screen, their eyes met, both of their expressions melting in to a fond smile. "Music?" Gerard asked, already knowing the answer.

"Music."

[Published 24 September]
[Last edited 18 November 2019]