SUPERSTAR

DADDY'S FRIEND

Gerard made breakfast for them – toast and coffee from his exclusive roast and they sat in his tiny homey kitchen.

'This shit is good,' Frank said taking a sip from it. 'You have to give me some to take home when tour ends.'

'Of course.'

After a while, he gave Frank a tour of his big somehow unkempt garden, where he felt they could get lost and never come back. It kinda felt like elves and fairies lived there, and Frank and Gerard weren't supposed to be there. 'Is your garden haunted our something?' he asked.

To which Gerard just laughed. 'Are you sure you're not high from last night?'

'Don't laugh, it's kinda scary.'

They sat under a tree, and Gerard lit another blunt, and they didn't talk for a while, just giggled and kissed.

Frank felt like a teenager again, which happened a lot when he was with Gerard.

They lay on the grass, and looked up at the clouds, making up stories out of the shapes they saw and laughing at everything. 'I miss my kids,' he said out of nowhere.

'You'll see them soon.' Gerard didn't know what else to say. He kinda wished he had what Frank had. He hadn't really talked about them, but it was clear they were the most important thing to Frank.

'I know – I just – I love doing this, but I miss being home and playing with them.'

'Do they live with their mom?'

Frank nodded. 'While I'm on tour, yeah. Well, this is the first one after the divorce. Before, they were staying with me on the weekends. We agreed that now that I'm touring again, they'll stay with me whenever I'm home.'

'That's good.'

Frank nodded. He didn't even know why he got sad out of nowhere. 'Your weed is making me sad. Do something.'

'What?'

'Kiss me.'

So Gerard sat up, leaning on his arm and did what he was told, making Frank feel like he's floating in the clouds.

***

They didn't do much talking for the rest of the day, and later at night, they headed to the hotel where everyone was staying to meet them there.

No one mentioned anything about them arriving together, and they didn't mention it either.

Just before midnight, everyone was back in their buses, and they were leaving for the next city.

When they made it to Vegas, they all went to iHop for breakfast, and Frank and Gerard could not stop looking at each other.

All the musicians and crew took a picture in front of The Strip, as a memento of the first leg of the tour. It was barely noon and looked different. They all posted it to their social media, and Frank thought it was funny that no one would notice him and Gerard were holding hands because one of the guitar techs was kneeling right in front of them.

That night the show was sold out, and afterwards, they made out in the restroom, as usual. Before heading back to their buses, they shared a cigarette in silence. It was like there was so much to say, especially being a couple dates away of going home for a while. They both knew it was only getting more and more serious, but they didn't want to talk about it, afraid they'd break a spell of some kind by giving it a label. They just kissed goodbye and went on their way.

The next couple days, at the Phoenix and Dallas dates it was almost the same. Just kisses and touches doing the talk.

They knew it was only a week off, and they'd be back on the road. But they didn't know if it'd work after that, if they were ready to make the commitment in case it did.

It was clear to both of them that they were more than tour fuck buddies. Even though they had never mentioned feelings, but looks spoke for themselves.

Not wanting to be away from each other, Gerard spent the last day in Frank's bus, not even hiding anymore. They sat in the main area, holding hands and hanging out with everyone. They talked about the TV show Tucker was watching, and then merch and past tour experiences.

Before the show, Frank called his kids, and insisted Gerard stayed there in the back room with him. 'Hi, dad!' he heard them yell when they picked the video call.

'Heeey!' Frank's face lit up just seeing and hearing them, and it was the sweetest thing Gerard had seen. 'How are? You're doing your chores and listening to your mom?'

'Yes, dad,' Miles said.  It was a minute or two before they mentioned the man sitting next to Frank. 'Who is that?'

Frank blushed just looking at him. 'Guys, this is daddy's friend Gerard.'

'Hi, Mr. Gerard!' they all said, and he waved back.

'Cherry, remembered that song I taught you on bass?'

'The one about the black parade?' his daughter answered.

'Yes, that one. Well, he is the guy who wrote and sang it.'

'Really? Awesome!'

They kept talking for a while, showing their dad everything they've done in school and talking about Lois, or asking where he was. 'I'm in Houston. You know where that's at?'

'Texas!' Lily answered first.

'That's right. And you know what? I'm flying home tomorrow morning, so I can pick you up and we can go to the movies.' The kids celebrated and then said goodbye.

'So this is the last show, then?' Gerard asked, taking Frank's hand behind the stage before it was his turn to go out and play.

'Yeah.' Frank was sad, he wasn't going to deny it. 'Until two weeks from now.'

'And what will happen?'

'I don't know.' He kissed Gerard. 'But I like you a lot. And I'm going to miss you.'

'Me too. And we still have a few hours after the show.'

'I guess. Break a leg, then.'

Then Gerard walked on stage as the audience cheered for him, and the first chords of his first single Na Na Na started.