Requested on Tumblr
Reader: female
Warnings: implication of abuse
Word count: 1560
A/N: I usually don't write Frerard, but I liked the idea.
Neither Gerard nor Frank had cared when everybody had told them that it was a terrible idea to adopt a little girl when they were just barely adults themselves. But after that visit to the children's home Gerard had not been able to forget the face of a little girl who had quietly sat on her matrass and watched them. When he had asked Frank about it, late at night, right before falling asleep, Frank remembered her too. Something about her draw them in; a vulnerability, fear, but bravery to keep going on. Gerard fell asleep with the crazy idea of helping that little girl out.
A few months later, she had moved in with the two men. There had been many meetings, Frank and Gerard had talked to countless people, and finally made the decision to adopt the little girl. No one really knew where she was from, or what had happened to her. But it was obvious she had suffered through a lot. She let nobody near her. If people tried to touch her, she shied away, but she never cried. She flinched at loud noises or people shouting. She never laughed.
Frank and Gerard had spent weeks and all the money they had made with the newly started band, to redecorate their house. The big room next to their bedroom, the one with the window to the east, was now painted a warm, faint yellow, and Gerard had spent hours painting animals on the wall. A cot with star patterned bed sheets and many pillows was standing next to a small desk with many crayons and lots of paper to draw on. Under the window was a chest full of toys, and next to a pastel green wardrobe stood a shelve with picture books, fairy tale books and books for Frank and Gerard to read to her. They had also purchased a children's chair for the dining table and some more toys for the living room.
Gerard had been convinced that they had created a home that every child would love. Especially the little slide in the backyard would have made four year old Gerard's eyes sparkle, but (y/n) had been living with them for almost a month now, and he had never seen her play with any of her new toys, run around the house, or use the slide. He also never saw her smile, she barely talked which he found very disturbing, especially when he thought back to how many questions Mikey had asked him when he had been as old as she was now. She only spent her days sitting in her room, on the floor, fumbling around with the hem of her little shirt.
Of course Gerard and Frank had tried to get her out of her shell. They knew they should not get too close to her, because she would only distance herself further from them, so they had taken little toy cars and pushed them over the floor into her direction. She had looked at the cars, up at them, and continued playing with a string that she had pulled out of her shirt.
Gerard had tried to show her how to draw. He had picked up a few sheets of paper and the crayons right before she was finished with lunch. He had talked to her quietly while he drew a dog on the paper, making sure the crayons were within her reach and she had some papers as well. But instead of joining in, she just sat there and watched until Gerard was finished and then asked if she could get up.
The first time they seemed to be able to get an emotional response from their little Mystery Girl, as they lovingly called her, was when Frank had started fooling around with his guitar. It was one of his electric ones, but it was not plucked in because he knew how scared (Y/n) was of loud noise. He had sat on the living room floor, his back leant against the sofa, eyes closed. His fingers mindlessly strummed over the strings, plucking them gently. Suddenly something warm and soft touched his hand and a few notes were added to the melody, notes that he had not played. Carefully he opened his eyes and was met with the sight of the little girl sitting right in front of him. Her eyes were fixed on the strings, her fingers gently running over the hard material, drawing little sounds from the guitar. Frank continued playing, not wanting to let on that he had noticed her involvement. Her little fingers brushed against his the one or the other time. Frank noticed Gerard standing in the door, watching the two people he loved so much and his heart was filled with happiness.
But the bliss of getting closer to the girl was not lasting long. A few minutes after that she had gotten up and went back to her room, and when Frank had tried to help her with her jacket the next morning, she had hidden in a corner of the hallway until both Frank and Gerard had retreated back into the living room.
Almost another two weeks had passed since then and the two fathers were running out of ideas.
"She's sleeping on the floor again," Gerard sighed, and sat down on the bed, next to Frank who was reading.
(Y/n) had slept on the floor from the first day on. Instead of cuddling into her little bed, between all the pillows, she had curled into a tight little ball next to it, without pillow and without blanket. Gerard and Frank had tried to lay her into her bed when she was asleep countless times, but she had woken up every time, wriggled out of their arms and hidden underneath her tiny desk. So they had given in and instead covered the sleeping child with a blanket, every time praying she would not wake up.
"I'm glad we put carpet into her room, at least the floor is not cold," Frank mumbled, imagining how much more terrible it would be if she had to sleep on cold tiles.
"What do you think happened to her, that she does not even sleep in a bed," Gerard wondered, slipping under the blanket, wrapping his arm around Frank's middle.
"I can't even begin to imagine," Frank whispered, shivers running down his spine.
They had asked this question millions of times since they had met her for the first time, and sometimes Frank thought he did not even want to know the answer.
It was in the middle of the night, when Gerard woke up from the quiet click of the door handle. Sleepily he opened his eyes and turned to look at the door. In the light of the street lantern that fell in through the window, he made out the small figure of his daughter.
"Hey sweetie, what's up," he asked gently.
"Can I come in?"
Her voice was thin, weak, as if she had cried.
"Of course, what is it," Gerard asked, switching on the lamp on his bedside table, waking up Frank.
(Y/n)'s eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks flaky from crying and her lip quivered as she answered.
"I had a nightmare and it was so bad."
Some more tears spilt over and rolled down her little cheeks.
"Oh darling," Gerard climbed out of bed and knelt down a few feet in front of her. "What was it about, do you want to tell us?"
"You were gone and I was all alone and no one was here," she cried.
Gerard threw a glance over at Frank who sat in bed with disheveled hair.
"We're still here, you see? We're not going anywhere," Gerard promised.
He wanted to reach out so badly, wanted to hold the crying child and comfort her, but he was afraid she'd get even more scared than she already was.
"Do you want to sleep here," Frank asked, voice raspy from sleep.
The girl nodded quietly.
"Come here," Gerard whispered and carefully reached out his hand for her to take.
Much to his surprise she almost ran towards him, her little, sweaty, warm fingers closing around his. He walked her to the king sized bed and without hesitations she climbed onto the matrass and crawled in the middle of the bed where she snuggled into the pillow right next to Frank's head. Gerard slowly got under the blanket again, making sure not to surprise her with any fast movements. He checked that she was covered as well and slowly leant back.
"Do you want the light on or off," he asked.
"On," the little girl answered, her tears having stopped already.
Much to Gerard's surprise a small hand wrapped into his shirt and pulled him towards her. He reluctantly gave in and moved until she was safely lying between the two men. Frank shot Gerard a knowing glance, and motioned to the little fingers that were tightly holding onto their shirts. Her eyes were already closed and her breathing had calmed down from crying. She snuggled a little closer to Gerard, not letting go of Frank for a second and sighed quietly. At first Gerard could not understand what she was saying, but when he did, his heart almost burst with happiness.
"I love you, dads."