Gerard didn't ever think that he would want something serious but right now he wouldn't mind having a boyfriend. An actual, real boyfriend. He couldn't stop thinking about that as he watched Frank sleep. Sweet, sweet little Frank. Maybe it was because Frank was taking it slow that made him feel that way. He wasn't used to taking things slow but he really did like it. It really changed things up in the way that Gerard's heart seemed to beat.
"Hey, sweetheart?" Gerard asked, gently cupping Frank's cheek.
He stirred awake, looking up at Gerard with the beautiful green eyes that Gee was so fond of.
"Hey, I've gotta get going," he said. "I just wanted to tell you that."
Frank nodded, sitting up.
"I'll walk you out," he said.
Gerard got changed, walking out to put on his shoes when the door opened. Linda walked in wearing a dirty waitress uniform, bags under her eyes and her brown hair falling out of its ponytail.
"You must be Gerard," She said with a tired smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too, Ms. Iero," Gerard said.
"Please, just Linda," she said. "It's nice to meet you, I'm glad that Frankie has found someone that he likes, he was really heartbroken last time."
Linda gave Gerard a hug before going back to her bedroom. Frank came out, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie. He walked down to the elevator, going down to the ground level together.
"Have fun with Jamia," Frank said.
Gerard gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before getting into his car and driving home. He took a quick shower and grabbed some food before meeting Jamia at the mall. He gave her a hug, smiling happily.
"Okay, so, we are going to look for some cute dresses for you to wear to the winter dance," Gerard said.
"Are you gonna wear a dress?" Jamia asked.
"No, not to this one," Gerard said. "Maybe prom I will."
They went into a dress shop, looking through the racks of sparkly, colorful dresses.
"So, do you have a date to this thing?" Gerard asked.
"No, I usually just go with friends," She said. "Are you going to ask Frank? Oh my god, it would be so cute if you asked Frank. You could be winter kings together, it would be adorable."
"I think I will, I'll make a cheesy little sign and everything," Gerard said. "It'll be so adorable. And he'll get all embarrassed and cute."
"I've never seen Frank react this way around someone," Jamia said. "It is adorable. He is the sweetest person I know, honestly."
Gerard pulled out a simple, dark blue dress.
"Ooh, this one would look gorgeous on you," he said. "Go try it on."
She took the dress, heading off to the changing rooms. Gerard strolled around the room, looking at all the dresses that he would love to wear and own. Getting all dressed up was one of his favorite things to do, whether it was in a suit or a fancy gown.
"Gerard, what do you think?" Jamia asked, opening the curtain to her dressing room.
The fabric hugged her curves perfectly, dark fabric standing out against her soft, pale skin.
"Oh, Jamia, you look absolutely beautiful," he said.
"No, I don't know," she mumbled as she looked in the full length mirror. "I'm not really the biggest fan of the neckline."
She bit her lip, running her fingers over the halter strap.
"Never been the biggest fan of halters, just feel like it gives me too much side boob," she said.
Gerard chuckled. "Alright, I am going to find you something else that doesn't have a halter. Any preferences on necklines?"
"I don't think so, just not halter," she said. "Maybe a strapless. I don't know, strapless makes me nervous. I always feel like they're gonna fall down, you know."
"I wouldn't know, I don't wear strapless because I don't have any boobs to hold them up," Gerard said.
He brought Jamia a few more dresses, letting her try them on and critiquing each one of them. On almost all he just talked about how much he loved them. Jamia even convinced him to try on a few dresses too, all of which he looked fabulous in and did little model walks around the store.
"God, how do you look so good in dresses?" Jamia asked. "It's actually, like, unfair how much prettier you are in all of these. How does one look so damn good? What is your secret? Did you get plastic surgery?"
"I don't think attractiveness is completely about what you look like," Gerard said. "It's how you carry yourself. Your attractiveness is how confident you are, how you let others perceive you."
"I think that is just beautiful," Jamia said. "And I think you are absolutely right, it is about how we carry ourselves. I just need an ounce of your confidence and then I will finally have boys just falling on their knees for me."
"Oh please, Jamia, you already have boys falling on their knees for you," Gerard said. "You are absolutely gorgeous, trust me. How about we go look at some other shops before we go to the food court and grab a bite to eat."
"That sounds perfect," Jamia agreed.
The two walked out, heading into the jewelry store nearby. Gerard saw Jamia smile as she looked at a little heart necklace.
"Oh, that's cute," he said. "Is Frank a big jewelry person?"
"He wears rings sometimes and simple necklaces but that's it," she said. "I'm sure he would love something from you, though."
"What's he into?" Gerard asked. "What should I do as a totally cheesy winter dance proposal?"
"Oh, it would be so cute if you wrote a little song for him," she said. "He loves music so much, he wants to be a musician."
"What instrument does he play?" He asked.
"He wants to play guitar but he can't afford one," she said. "So instead sometimes he'll just go to the shop and they'll let him hang out there and jam for a little bit."
"Well, I can sing so maybe I can write a cute little jingle," he said. "That would be so cute. It can be like the movie where he stands outside with the big boombox playing music. It will be so romantic. His mom seems nice, very supportive of him."
"Linda is the best," Jamia said. "Totally makes up for his piece of shit dad. I feel bad, Frank is such an amazing guy and he deserves so much better than what he's got. He loves the world so much even though all it ever seems to do is beat him down. He deserves more, I wish he could get better."
Jamia stared at the little heart shaped necklace for a minute longer before pulling away.
"I do want to get a new charm for my bracelet," she said.
Gerard looked at her bracelet and saw three other charms. One was a little leaf, one was a music note and the last was a little heart.
"Ooh, the little panda is so cute," Gerard said. "Pandas are probably my favorite animals, especially the little babies. They are just so precious."
"Each of my charms have a distinct meaning," she said. "I want to get one for my grandpa, a little plane because he was in the Air Force. But...I don't know, I'm not really a fan of any of the ones that they have here. Maybe I'll check another store some other time."
"Sometimes I wish I had my ears pierced," Gerard said as he looked over a pair of sparkly diamond earrings.
"Why don't you get them pierced?" She asked. "They would look really nice on you."
"I'm just really not a fan of needles," Gerard said. "I do not like needles. Otherwise I would probably get some tattoos, Frank's are so pretty."
"That's basically all he spends his money on," Jamia said with a chuckle. "He gets birthday money and stuff and usually just spends it on new tattoos. Have you seen him shirtless yet? He has this gorgeous nuke on his chest and his back is completely inked up."
"I was so close to kissing him yesterday," Gerard said. "I'm gonna kiss him the next time we're hanging out together alone."
"You better make it sweet and romantic, he loves that stuff," she said. "And he wants a serious relationship."
"You know, I think that I really want that too," Gerard said. "I didn't used to be now I'm thinking that I really do. Frank just makes me feel so differently than I have ever felt before."
"Oh my god, that is so sweet, please date him because you two would be the cutest together," she said.
Gerard smiled, leading her out of the store and into a shoe shop instead.
"Now, let's see you work some heels," Jamia said. "I bet you can fucking rock some eight inches."
"Please, I've done ten inch heels," Gerard said, flipping his hair.
"You definitely have to teach me how you do that," she said. "I was wanting to get these one cute ass heels for winter dance but I'm not the best with walking in heels. Plus, I feel like it just gives me really ugly cankles."
"You do not have cankles," Gerard denied. "You are young and gorgeous and you are going to look absolutely beautiful at the winter dance. You should definitely win winter queen, you would look amazing with the tiara."
"I've won homecoming princess freshman year, it's not that exciting," she said. "Have you ever won?"
"I've won at every single dance I've been to," he said. "N-not to brag, or anything."
"No, you should brag because that is really amazing," she said. "You really are popular, I guess."
"No, I wouldn't really call myself popular," Gerard denied. "People know me, I guess, but I'm not popular. You're popular, you're in the popular group at school."
"I'm not sure how that really happened, the group of random skater kids became popular," she said. "Maybe it's just part of this trashy town that chooses the trashiest kids to be the most popular."
Gerard chuckled, inspecting a pair of heels.
"You moved here because your mom got a promotion, right?" Jamia asked and Gerard nodded. "When promotions come, don't people usually move to nicer areas, not shittier?"
"My mom actually works, like, a town or two over," he said. "My parents chose to move here because this is actually where my dad grew up."
"So this place must be pretty nostalgic to him then," she said. "I bet it feels weird being here again for him."
"Yeah, he says that a lot of it is actually still the same," Gerard said. "We live just a block away from the house he grew up in."
"Is his family still here?" Jamia asked.
"No, they've mostly moved away," Gerard said. "God, these boots are just gorgeous. But, you know what, I have enough boots. I need to promise myself to not buy any more shoes."
"But I never made that promise," Jamia said, picking up the boots. "I wish we wore the same size, then I could just buy them and you could borrow them whenever you wanted. We could totally share, like, shirts and jackets and stuff. I promise you, my closet is always open to you. I love sharing clothes but I never have anyone to share with because all I've got is Skinny Minnie Debby."
"Well, she won't be so skinny in a few months," Gerard said and Jamia laughed. "But thank you, and my closet is open to you."
Gerard gave her a hug, kissing her cheek.
"Come on, let's go get some food," he said. "You know, before I impulsively buy half of this store."
Jamia laughed, nodding her head. The two of them walked down to the food court, talking again about Frank and how cute he was.