october challenge | frerard | ✔️

twenty three - im not following the theme 4 this one

soz, just wanted to write another. besides, i honestly don't wanna write one for this because i'm out of ideas and depressed and just need to get sucked into a universe of my creation at the moment; please do excuse me :/

twenty three: to survive gerard's shameless flirting; part two

"I kinda wanna go home," Gerard admitted at least ten minutes after the two of us had settled at the bar. He had a coke and I had a lemonade. I guess we were both sober tonight. We watched our drinks carefully as we sat there watching Mikey and Ray disappear into the crowd.

"Me too. Wanna bet Mikey and Ray won't notice if we leave?"

"They're probably making out somewhere," Gerard chuckled. "Wanna play a game?"

"What kind of game?" I asked, hoping he couldn't see the blush on my cheeks. 

"How many guy's numbers do you think I could get tonight?"

"Gee, I don't wanna play this kind of game, Gee. If you wanna go home, let's go home," I groaned, but he shook his head. 

"C'mon, Frankie, it'll be fun," he whined, but I shook my head. 

"I'm gonna have a smoke while you do that. If you wanna come with me, you can bum one," I offered, and his eyes lit up a little bit.

"Sure," he said gently. "I'd like that more, actually."

Damn, I thought, he was actually paying attention to me for once. I wonder what changed? Before I could linger, however, he was pulling me out of my seat, taking my hand and dragging me outside and to the alley between the bar and the next over. He grinned and pulled out his lighter. 

"Hook me up, lover-boy," he said with a grin, and I blushed and pulled out my pack of fags. I took out two and stuck one between my lips and one between his. He pulled out his lighter and I expected him to hand it over to me, but instead, he took my jaw in one of my hands and flicked his lighter on with the other, lighting my cigarette for me and then pulling back, just as my heart was beating so fast I could feel it in my throat. 

He grinned. "You good, Frankie, baby?"

"Stop calling me those names," I said with an exhale of smoke, "when you don't mean them."

He chuckled and lit his own cigarette and slipped his lighter back into his pocket, then inhaled deeply and exhaled his smoke away from my face. "Who says I don't mean them?"

I bit my lip to hide my smile. "Do you?" 

We both inhaled and exhaled the cancerous smoke before he finally answered quietly, "yeah."

I didn't say anything. 

"Frankie? I uh..." he trailed off and I leant against the brick wall of the exterior, facing him, and gave him a small smile. 

"What's up, Gee?"

"I really like you, Frankie. I know it's hard to believe because I act so uh..."

"Promiscuous? Yeah, you flirt with every guy you see," I chuckled. " You actually like me, huh?"

"I do! I do, I really do, I was just..." he trailed off and took a pathetic drag of his cigarette, dropped it, and stomped on it. I didn't. "I was just trying to make you jealous, mostly," he added with a whisper, and I may or may not have shrugged. 

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah, Gee, you're fucking insufferable," I said with a sarcastic little cackle, and then continued. "Every damn place we go together, it's like you can't keep your little hands off of anyone, or you make it your goal to at least get three numbers by the end of our stay or something, and you never pay any attention to me. I'm your best fucking friend, Gee."

"I... I'm sorry," he said, and when he looked up at me with what I knew to be genuine hurt in his eyes, I didn't really care. He was gonna get his way in the end anyway, I might as well make him feel a fraction of what I felt. 

"Yeah, no, I don't think you are," I said. "And the worst part of this whole goddamn thing is that I like you too, Gee! It's just that--"

"You like me too?" Gerard breathed, and his fingers tangled with my hand--the hand that was holding my cigarette, but I didn't have much time to care about my cigarette because his fucking fingers were tangling with mine and he was drawing me closer to him. "You like me too?"

"Of course I like you, you absolute dumbass!" I said hysterically. "Have you not noticed?"

He bit his lip to conceal what I knew was a grin and I rolled my eyes. "Well, I just thought... since I liked you, my brain was tricking me into thinking my feelings weren't one-sided. I thought that was just wrong."

"No," I said, annoyed, but also chuckling a little, and I pressed my face into his shoulder. "Mikey told you that I fancy you tonight at the restaurant, didn't he?"

"It wasn't the first time he has."

I pulled away and looked at him, horrified. "When else did he tell you?!"

"Uh," Gerard's cheeks went bright red, "yesterday, but I thought he was messing with me so it doesn't count. I've kinda been telling him how infatuated I am with you for a few months."

I really smiled this time. "You're infatuated with me?"

"Fucking hell," Gerard said, and I didn't miss the blush that spread across his cheeks. "Yeah."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've been complaining to Mikey about pining after you for around the same amount of time. I just thought you were completely disinterested in me, and I didn't wanna make things awkward, so I hid it from you."

"Wait, is that why... Is that why I heard you say my name last week on like... Friday night? At like three AM?"

My cheeks turned red. "Uh, what?"

Gerard giggled and squeezed my hand. "I like... heard you moan my name."

"I don't--I don't say names when I jack off!" I cried, and I knew I was right. He was fucking with me, he had to be, I'd done no such thing. "I wasn't even awake at three AM last Friday."

"Maybe you were dreaming about me," he mused and then smiled and took my chin in his hand. My heart rushed. "That's so cute. You were probably dreaming about me."

"You think I'm cute?"

"I think you're so cute, and so hot, and just extremely attractive in general," he said with one of his signature smirks, but this time, it wasn't actually that annoying. 

"You--you do?"

"Of course, I do, dumbass!" he said, and I felt his thumb brush the side of my cheek gently. 

"I feel the same way about you too," I mumbled, and then pressed forward, attaching our lips and bringing my free hand to cup his cheek in return. It was perfect--our lips barely moved and it lasted all of three seconds, but he reciprocated, pulled me closer, and when we broke apart, he grinned and then pulled me into another one, this one more perfect than the last. His lips moved gently with mine and his hand held onto mine firmly, his other one still gently brushing my cheek and holding my jaw. 

When we pulled apart, he was still grinning. "Wow," he breathed. 

"Yeah," I chuckled. "You're a great kisser."

"Why, thank you. You're also a marvellous kisser if I do say so myself," he said, and then pulled me in for another one before pulling apart. "You wanna go back inside? I promise I'll only flirt with you."

"You'd better keep that promise. You can't flirt with anyone else anymore."

"We're not dating yet, I can flirt with whomever I choose."

"Hey, Gee?" I said, stopping him and holding both of his hands in mine. His eyes lit up and he smiled. 

"Yeah?"

"You wanna be my boyfriend?"

"Fuck yeah," he said with a grin, and pressed his lips to mine once more before we walked into the bar.