Gerard had been left high and dry.
Bert had finally had enough of him bitching about Frank, so he left.
Fair, honestly.
He saw Hayley say something to Frank, and then they both looked up at him. He raised his head from where it had been resting on his hand, confused as to what had diverted their attention to him. Suddenly, Frank was walking away from Hayley.
He was coming over here? What the fuck?
Gerard's heart started beating with anxiety.
Frank took a seat next to Gerard on the cold metal bleachers. For a moment, all they did was look at the sea of people dancing.
"I'm sorry."
Gerard turned to face Frank, noticing the faint wetness in his left eye.
"I'm sorry for being jealous, and I'm sorry for not trusting you."
Gerard shook his head.
"No, dude. I was the one in the wrong here. I said a lot of things, I assumed a lot of things. I was a dick. I'm sorry."
Frank sniffed, smiling as a tear rolled down his cheek. "You were kind of a dick," he said, wiping his face with his sleeve.
"You too, nerd. Can we just... can we just be friends again? I missed you. Like, a lot."
"Yes, please, yes. I hate fighting with you." He leaned his head on Gerard's shoulder.
"Oh, one thing, though," Gerard said. "Why did you block me?"
"Frank raised his eyebrows in confusion, lifting his head to look at Gerard. "Block you? I didn't-" His face set with realization. "Oh. Shit, I dropped my phone off a bridge and it totally exploded. Well, not really, but all the glass was, like, all over. Your texts must have not been going through."
Gerard shook his head in disbelief. "God, I totally got myself all worked up about that. What were you doing on a bridge?" He asked, curiously.
"Hangin' out with Hayley," Frank said, his eyes drifting to the girl sitting on the bleachers across the gym.
"Are you two..."
"No... um, I like someone else."
Gerard grinned smugly. "Is it me?"
"No, it's Harry Styles. Yes, it's you, dipshit."
He leaned on Gerard's shoulder again, and Gerard leaned back, his cheek atop Frank's head.
They sat like that for the rest of the song, before it changed to something much more upbeat. Gerard stood up. Frank looked at him curiously before Gerard held out a hand. Frank took it, and the two sped down the bleachers toward the mob of dancing kids, hand in hand.
They danced for about a minute before Gerard's face suddenly lit up and he dashed off into the crowd. "What are you doing?!" Frank called. "One second! Stay here!" Gerard shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared into the mob. Frank felt a little nervous now, suddenly surrounded by all these people by himself. But Gerard was at his side again not a minute later, smirking like he was up to something. "What did you do?" Frank asked, uneasily.
Gerard only giggled.
Suddenly, a very, very familiar song came on. Frank's eyes lit in recognition. "No, you didn't!" He shouted, shoving Gerard. Gerard giggled like a little kid and held out his hand.
And so they danced to Crashing Waves, just like the first day they'd hung out, just like the way their feet had squeaked on the concrete floors, just like the first time in a long time that Frank had felt happy.
Tears came to his eyes, and he clung to Gerard's hands like they were the only thing keeping him anchored.
And it felt like they really were.
The song ended, and Frank, in full tears now, threw himself in a hug against Gerard, letting his tears run down his back. "I missed you," he whispered.
Gerard didn't need to say anything back.
God, they really were pathetic, weren't they.
Frank pulled back to look at Gerard. "You wanna go outside?"
Gerard nodded, and they left the gym, left the school, and sat on the grass by the shining, rippling lake, the silver moon reflected in its gentle tides.
Frank lid on his back, staring at the stars above him, and Gerard copied him so the two were laying side by side, staring up at the pricks of light reflecting in each of their eyes.
They stayed like that for a moment, neither of them talking, before Frank suddenly shot up and Gerard began talking really fast, both of them shouting the same thing.
"Oh my god, did you see that?"
"That was the first time I've ever seen one!"
"It was so quick!"
They'd seen a shooting star.
They giggled before laying back down, a little closer than before.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"It's kind of heavy."
"Um, sure?"
"What happened to your dad?"
Gerard's smile faltered a little, his eyes still on the deep, starry sky.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"No, it's okay, I just. Okay."
There was a moment of silence.
"He, um, he shot himself. Like, right outside my door."
Frank's eyes widened. "God. How old were you?"
"Nine."
"Jesus. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You didn't have anything to do with it." It was silent before he spoke again. "What happened to yours?"
"Sold heroine. Probably other stuff too. He got 10 years. 8 left."
"Christ."
Silence.
"Do you miss him?" The question came from Gerard.
"Sometimes. He was a good guy, but pretty fucking stupid to be doing dumb shit like that. It's his fault he's gone; it's his fault we're on our own. I get mad at him a lot. He's written me at least 15 times. Haven't opened 'em." Frank sighed.
"God. Parents are such messes."
"For real." Frank turned to face Gerard, and Gerard did the same, turning his head so his hair flipped behind him.
Their faces were probably about four inches apart.
"Hey," said Frank.
"Hey," Gerard smiled before he leaned in and kissed Frank on the lips.
It was only a few seconds, but it conveyed all it needed to.
"Will you go out with me?" Gerard asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Frank smiled so much that his eyes crinkled. "Absolutely."
Kids started coming outside, small groups at first, but bigger as the minutes ticked by. The dance must have ended. Gerard checked his phone. "It's 11. They probably just played the last song."
Frank's eyes widened. "Oh my God, wait, come with me."
He pulled Gerard to his feet so fast it was dizzying, then dragged him inside. The camera guy was packing up his stuff when Frank, out of breath, said "Excuse me!" He panted and the guy raised his eyebrow. "Do you have time for one more?"
The guy rolled his eyes. "I guess so. You want the polaroid, too?"
Frank fished a 10 out of his pocket. "Yeah."
Gerard looked at him. "Yeah, I'm not doing this."
"Come on!" Frank dragged him over, where he stood and pouted at the camera like a sad dog. Frank jumped on his back, making Gerard stumble from the sudden impact.
"Smile, you fucking idiot!" Frank screeched.
Gerard laughed, which made Frank laugh, which naturally is when the camera guy took the photo. Cliches are real, man.
"Okay, that was the polaroid one. Here." He handed the white rectangle to Frank, who slid it into Gerard's pocket. The guy readied his digital camera next, and Frank slid down from Gerard's back and leaned on his shoulder instead, doing an insanely widemouthed smile while Gerard did a gentle, closed-mouth one. The camera clicked.
"Thank you!" Frank said.
"There'll be a link to the photos on the school website."
Gerard and Frank left the building.
"Ah, hey, I gotta wait for my mom to pick me and Hayley up. Did you drive?"
"Yeah. I guess Bert caught a Taxi or something."
"I have to go find her."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"What?"
"Tomorrow's Christmas, idiot. You're coming over."
"Holy shit, I forgot about that!" Frank grinned, his face brighter than the fucking sun. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!" he said, running toward the building.
Gerard was left staring after him, butterflies in his tummy, grinning at the boy in the dumb, oversized suit who couldn't run disappear into the school.
He pulled the photo out of his pocket, almost developed, and looked down at Frank on his back, and the two of them laughing. He smiled to himself.