turn that frown upside down
~[|]~
"Gee, could you maybe leave this at that table in the corner?" Frank asked as he finished placing the last shot of vodka on the tray.
The bar was busy, busier than it had been in a while, and Gerard could barley move around on his stool with the amount of people there.
Turns out, Friday nights really are made just for partying. Well, Friday nights and the undeniable fact that there was also a football game on that had peaked the interest of many locals and alcoholics.
Frank was working overtime, so much so that he was working himself into an early grave. Gerard hated it when Frank was tired and exhausted, and if he were in charge he would have let him go home this instant, but alas Gerard didn't work at the bar and he wasn't Frank's boss, but he had still been asked to deliver that tray of shots to that table by the television.
Gerard didn't mind helping Frank, and he knew Frank wouldn't ask if he really didn't need the help.
"Sure thing, Frankie." Gerard smiled, his voice barely audible over all of the chatter.
Frank smiled back at him gently before being yelled at by another costumer demanding a drink, and Gerard could tell by the way Frank had now started gritting his teeth that he was close to snapping and doing something he'd regret.
Gerard carefully lifted up the tray that had eight shots planted on it, and clambered out of his chair, trying his damn hardest not to spill anything. Luckily he was in fact used to carrying trays so it wasn't all that hard for him, but it was just the rough atmosphere that made it hard. The shoving and yelling and sweat.
It wasn't very nice.
"Um, d'you guys order eight shots?" Gerard asked as he approached the table that had five guys and three girls sitting by it.
He shuffled awkwardly as the man closest to him nodded and basically yanked the tray out of his hands.
"Never seen him here before," A voice belonging to another guy at the table said, "he's pretty."
Gerard presented an awkward smile, knowing full well that the alcohol had definitely hit these people and that he was now at the end of drunken, and unfortunately quite insincere compliments.
"Got a nice ass too." The one who had yanked the tray said, and he gave Gerard's form a look over as he did so.
Gerard's eyes widened at that, and he could feel his skin begin to crawl as his mouth fell agape.
"Yeah, especially for a guy." The other said again, and Gerard was only half aware of himself when he felt a fucking slap being delivered straight on his behind, and that's when he felt something deep down crack.
It was like he was that helpless high schooler all over again, or at the end of those catcalls he always got after his shift. Gerard just- he just couldn't deal with these kinds of interaction.
It hurt so bad, it hurt more than those interactions where you get your face caved in, because this one was intended solely on talking about parts of his body that he didn't even want to think about most of the time. He had already discussed with himself how it made him feel to have other people stare at him, but to touch him too, well, that was a whole other situation.
He didn't even register the hand coming up to slap the man across the face, the only indicator he had was that the stranger now had an angry red hand print on their cheek and his hand hurt. Gerard didn't wait around after that, only holding himself tight as he went back to his seat.
Gerard didn't want to stay in that bar any longer either, he just wanted to go home.
He spotted Frank cracking open a beer, and he smiled at Gerard who was most definitely not returning it. Hell, Gerard was incredibly ashamed as well as embarrassed- because now, for probably the third time that year so far, he felt like crying.
"Oh hey, could you-"
"I'm going home, Frank." Gerard interrupted as he hugged his middle so tight he thought he might crack a few ribs. But no matter how hard he was hugging himself he still didn't feel safe, and he could still practically feel a hand on his intimate parts that just didn't seem to budge off of him or his mind.
Frank stopped, and looked up to face Gerard with a frown, "Gee, are you okay?"
"I just want to go home." Gerard said, and he couldn't quite keep the crack in his voice out of his words. He looked down as he realised just how fucking loud everything seemed to be.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Frank tried but Gerard couldn't have any of that, he just wanted to be alone now.
He didn't feel comfortable, and he certainly didn't want to be in public company.
"Please Frankie, I just wanna go home." Gerard said again but with more desperation, his eyes having started burning with tears.
Frank didn't respond, or at least Gerard didn't hear anything, he was honestly too busy trying to bury himself mentally to notice anything going on around him.
He jumped straight out of his skin when he felt Frank's arms around his body pulling him into a hug. It seemed one sided though, because Gerard wasn't in the mood to hug anyone, not even his Frankie, he just needed some peace and quiet.
When Frank pulled away his eyes looked more hurt than ever, and that just made Gerard's eyes water more.
"You don't wanna a hug?"
Gerard braced himself for Frank's reaction when he shook his head, and the heartbreaking frown he got in return nearly split his heart in two.
"Oh," Frank said quietly more to himself, he looked down at his hands as he spoke.
"Iero, get back to fucking work!" A voice bellowed from behind Frank, clearly struggling to speak over everyones chatter.
Frank didn't even jump, he just looked back at the guy yelling and nodded. He glanced over at Gerard and sent him a weak, and rather fake, smile.
"I'll um, call you later I guess." Frank said, and Gerard nodded quickly.
He went to turn around but he was yanked back again by Frank.
"You know I love you, right?" He said earnestly, seemingly trying to cure Gerard's misplaced mood.
"I know," Gerard said, and Frank frowned so hard it looked borderline painful, "I love you too."
And then Gerard left.
- -
Gerard had gotten quite the screaming at work the next morning, because not only had he shown up in sweat pants, but he was also a literal zombie. He couldn't really sleep last night, he was too sad and anxious, and now he wasn't just sleep deprived but he looked hungover for some reason, which really didn't fly with Mr Bryar.
The choice of sweatpants was actually Gerard's last attempt to cling to a style where there won't be any comments made about his body, but apparently that was just too damn much for his menopausal boss with definite vampiric innards.
It was now Gerard's lunch break though, and he was sat by one of the booths eating a sandwich he had packed earlier that morning, around the time he was dreading his own existence.
"Mr Way, you feeling okay?" Ray asked as he came up behind him.
Gerard chose to ignore the fact that that definitely rhymed, and instead nodded certainly. Because he was okay, he was just going through a little phase at the moment, which really wasn't a phase at all because there wasn't anything really wrong with a stranger slapping his ass, it just made him feel insignificant and honestly, quite objectified.
He knew he shouldn't punish Ray, or really Frank for feeling off, but he can't help it. Obviously Frank would never objectify or do anything of that sorts to him, but the possibly that he could scared Gerard, because he didn't want to be some object to Frank. He wanted to be what Frank was to him, his very own sunlight.
Frank always shone light in Gerard's life when he couldn't quite manage to on his own, and yet now it seemed as if that barley mattered, because Gerard was sat alone with a concerned coworker, feeling like crap because he seriously didn't want to think about hands on his ass but that's all he could think about. How dirty and weird and used he felt, and knowing Frank, if Gerard really were to tell him, he'd only worry and try to beat up every single guy he sees, and as much as Gerard really would like to see that guy get punched, he didn't want Frank to be the one doing it.
He just wanted to erase the memory completely, which wasn't all that hard because he's done it before. With enough alcohol and compartmentalisation, you can erase practically anything.
"Gerard," Ray said, in quite a hushed tone because God knows what Bryar would do if he heard informal names being thrown around in his establishment during work hours, "are you absolutely sure you're okay? Because you don't look so good."
"Just a little sick." Gerard said, which was definitely not a lie because that's all he had felt since last night. Sick.
"Okay.. just tell me if you need anything then." Ray mumbled, patting Gerard's shoulder in a friendly way before getting up.
Gerard let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Toro left, taking another bite of his food. He had almost regained most of his breathing when his phone went off, and he wiped his hands before answering it. Of course not checking the caller ID.
"Hello?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing instinctively.
"Hey Gee," Frank said on the other line, and Gerard had to admit that he did nearly smile at his voice, "are you at the diner right now?"
"Uh, yeah it's my lunch break." Gerard said, and he was nothing short of confused.
"Okay great." Frank said, and Gerard could tell he had a wicked grin across his face.
"Frank, why are you-" Gerard was interrupted by the front door of the diner swinging wide open, and a fucking group of men walking in dressed exactly the same as each other with little dress hats and suspenders, and striped suits.
And then Gerard realised it wasn't just a regular group of men, it was a barbershop quartet.
Gerard's eyes went wide as they started harmonising and singing, making their way over to him.
Gerard could barley understand what they were saying his heart was beating so loud, but he definitely caught the amount of I love you's and your amazing's that were in the song. He was frozen it felt like, but he was definitely blushing like crazy and his stomach was flipping the fuck out.
When they finished, Frank spoke out of the phone Gerard had completely forgotten about.
"Did you like it?" He asked with a giggle, and Gerard felt his heart expand miles.
"Oh Frankie," He said quietly, all of his sickness and distress evaporating slowly into just unfiltered love.
A love for Frank, because he now realised how absolutely idiotic he sounded before. Of course Frank would never treat him like an object- Hell, he had simply been in a bad mood and Frank had organised a whole barbershop quartet for him, to sing for him at his own workplace. Just for Gerard.
"Does that mean you did?" Frank asked softly, seeming a little unsure of himself.
Gerard paused, "I loved it, Frankie."
Gerard grinned to himself, a grin so pure and massive it probably unnatural on his face.
"And I love you- I love you so much." Gerard added, needing to say it.
Frank laughed, "I love you too."
Geared smiled to himself still, even smiling up at the group of guys surrounding him with happy expressions.
He didn't even know what he did to deserve Frank, but he knew that Frank was better than all of those knight in shining armours he read about and hoped for. And luckily for Gerard, Frank felt the exact same way.
☹ ☹ ☹
sorry this sucked ass,
been feeling kinda crappy but i really did want to update, so the next chapter will hopefully be a bit nicer and more fluent :)
it'll be a bit more important with a lil more plot
i love all of you!