meet the family
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"Can you go ring the doorbell while I get our bags, Sugar?" Frank asked as he unbuckled himself from his seat.
Gerard swallowed down his nerves and nodded, soon exiting the car. He straightened out his blue shorts and shirt, fixing his hair before making his way to the door.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Gerard called out from in front of of the door after ringing the doorbell.
Frank laughed and closed the car trunk, "Gee, it's literally two bags, I know I don't work out much but I can carry two bags."
"I mean lord knows you've carried me.." Gerard mumbled.
Frank immediately frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in that cute way they always do when he's confused.
"Gerard, what's that supposed to—"
Frank was interrupted by the door swinging open, and a women with shoulder length black hair and a button nose standing there with a giddy smile.
"My little Frankie!" She cried, immediately pulling a red-faced Frank in for a tight embrace.
"Hi Ma.." He said, his voice muffled against the short women's hair.
Gerard shuffled on his two feet awkwardly as they hugged, and when the women that Gerard now knew was Frank's mother pulled back, her eyes met Gerard's.
They lit up and her smile spread like wildfire across her face.
"And you must be Gerard!" She said happily, and before Gerard could even respond with any sort of action, he was being pulled into a bone-crushing hug.
He felt himself smile softly, feeling her warmth and love surrounding him. He felt so safe for some reason, her embrace reminded him so much of Frank's, and it wasn't hard to see how they were related.
"Come on Ma, don't strangle him." Frank muttered in embarrassment and honestly in quite a whiny tone.
The women mumbled an apology and pulled back, clutching Gerard's hands tightly in her own.
"I've heard so much about you." She said, stating into his eyes warmly, "And you're so handsome too! No wonder Frankie took a liking to ya."
Gerard felt his stomach fill with butterflies at her words, glancing over at Frank who was staring at him proudly and with adoration.
"Th-Thank you." Gerard chocked out, his awkward smile on display for the world to see.
There as a brief silence then, where Mrs Iero- or Frank's mom rather, was just staring at him with that same bright expression.
Frank was the one to break it.
"Uh Mom can we go in? These bags aren't gonna unpack themselves." Frank said with an awkward laugh.
"Yes- Yes of course, come in and greet the others." She said hurriedly, rushing the two of them into the cozy looking home.
Frank laughed at her eagerness and brought along his and Gerard's bags. Gerard followed close behind, his body slightly shaking in anticipation and overall anxiety.
When they got to what Gerard assumed the living room was, Gerard was greeted with a handful of people.
"Frankenstein!" A guy with curly brown hair cheered with a dopey smile, his sky blue eyes brightening as they saw Frank.
Gerard watched in confusion as he ran up to Frank and pulled him into a tight hug, making him drop his and Gerard's bags on the ground.
"Eddie Spaghetti!" Frank laughed, wrapping his arms around the boy clinging to him.
Gerard smiled softly at Frank's happy face, and at how close he seemed to be with his this "Eddie" guy.
Soon Eddie was set down and his attention turned to Gerard, his eyes almost twinkling at the sight.
"And you must be Frankenstein's boyfriend?" He asked, his voice a lot softer, as if he were speaking to a caged animal.
Gerard didn't even feel offended at that, he knew he must look like a scared animal, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it.
Gerard nodded softly, trying his best to smile.
"Well, I'm Eddie, it's nice to finally meet ya." Eddie said sticking his hand out for Gerard to shake.
Gerard shook it slowly, his face turning redder by the second.
"S'Nice to meet you too, Eddie." Gerard mumbled quietly.
It looked as if Eddie was about to say something else when a loud thud made everyone's eyes turn towards the doorway, and low and behold, was another man that looked to be around Frank and Gerard's age. Though, he did look decidedly more drunk than the two of them.
He didn't say much as he tripped and ran into a nearby wall, instead just hiccuping along and making his way eagerly towards Frank once he spotted him. It seemed as if Frank hadn't been home in ages, and Gerard wondered why.
Though admittedly he hadn't visited his own mother or family even in more than a few months.
"Frank?" He asked, his eyes droopy as he approached Frank slowly.
Frank reached out to steady him as he approached, "Uh, hey Fred."
Gerard frowned as he looked at the two of them, Frank didn't look joyful like he did before, he actually looked quite skeptic and honestly a little bit annoyed. It was nothing like when he greeted Eddie, and it seemed more like a forced interaction.
Gerard was going to comment on it when he felt someone tug at his arm, leading him towards another area of the house.
He turned to see that it was in fact Frank's mother, and he couldn't even be mad that her grip was causing him slight discomfort. She just seemed so excited.
"Gerard, I wanted you to meet some of Frank's aunts while Fredrick settles down. It's never really a pretty sight." She mumbled the last part mostly to herself, her eyes narrowing in disappointment as she spoke.
Gerard tried not to focus on it as a pair of arms enveloped him again, this time belonging to a women with light brown hair and a few freckles.
"Hi! I absolutely love your hair, and your clothes- you look fabulous!" She said in one long breath, speaking faster than Pete when he was in a rush, which was fucking hard.
Gerard smiled and thanked her, her words actually making him feel all warm inside. All of Frank's family were so kind and welcoming, it wasn't hard to see that that's the kind of environment Frank was raised in. He wondered how Frank had developed such a tough exterior, well, tough exterior to those he didn't like or know, but never to Gerard.
"I really like your hair too." Gerard said gently, still trying his hardest to keep the shakiness out of his voice.
He didn't regret what he had said once her entire face lit up, "Thank you!"
Frank's mother laughed softly and introduced him to the other two women who looked amused. Gerard made note of the fact that she had said the words "Frank's boyfriend" many times, almost implying that this was an usual occasion. Was he the first boy Frank had brought to an event like this one?
Frank was twenty four after all, and surely he must have dated lots of people in that time- he even said he had slept with a multitude of people.
Gerard decided to voice his thoughts.
"Um, I- I just wanted to ask, does Frank usually bring people home to meet you guys?" Gerard asked timidly, trying his best to not seem rude yet still coherent.
Mrs Iero's eyes turned soft at his question, and they all seemed to shake their heads.
"Frank's never really wanted us anywhere near the person he was dating, well, dating is a loose term." A women with black hair and pink nail polish said gently, and Gerard couldn't tell whether he was incredibly flattered and joyful or if he wanted to pass out all over again.
Jesus fuck, what if their standard was so high now that he was the first boy Frank's brought home?
"Oh." Gerard said softly, and before they could really respond any further he felt yet another pair of arms wrap around his waist, although this time he was happy to report that they were indeed Frank's.
"Sorry guys, I just have to steal Gerard for a moment." Frank smiled before kissing Gerard's head. They all seemed to coo at them as Frank started pulling him back towards a staircase.
God this house was a maze.
Once they were in front of the wooden stairs Frank turned Gerard around, smiling contently.
"Missed you." He mumbled kissing Gerard's lips.
Gerard laughed as he pulled away, "I literally saw you ten minutes ago."
"Yes, that is far too much time apart." Frank nuzzled his face in Gerard's shoulder.
"Sorry they're all so nosy, I'm pretty sure this is like an alien invasion to them." Frank chuckled, making Gerard smile.
"I think it's sweet."
Frank pulled back, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Gerard confirmed, his hands finding their way to Frank's shoulders.
"I was worried you'd be overwhelmed. I swear like fifty people are just waiting to pop up and speak to you."
"Well, I mean it's a bit nerve wrecking but they're all special to you so I guess they're all special to me too." Gerard said, grinning warmly at Frank.
Frank grinned back kissing him with a lot more passion than last time, though he was still smiling into the kiss.
Gerard smiled back, letting their teeth clash.
"God, get a room." A voice groaned, clearly trying to get past the two of them to go up the stairs.
Gerard immediately pulled back with a red face, looking down at the ground.
"Don't be a dick, Fred." Frank said with a sigh, pulling Gerard into his side so they could shift out of the way.
"Don't be such a girl, Frank." Fred mumbled as he clambered up the stairs with a minimal amount of balance.
Frank sighed once he was gone, "Sorry, Fred's a bit of a junkie. He doesn't get out much so he doesn't know how to act around people."
Gerard nodded in understanding, "Is he your cousin?"
Frank nodded, "Yeah, he used to be just like Eddie, but... well, y'know." Frank said sadly, looking down at the ground.
Gerard frowned and pecked his lips.
"Come on, let's go meet the rest of these fifty people." He said, trying to lighten the mood.
Frank smiled back genuinely, still looking a little bit conflicted as he nodded and followed Gerard back to the living room.
And of course there were more squeals thrown their way.
- -
"Ma, where's dad? Is he coming later?" Frank asked as he plopped down on the couch with Gerard next to him. He kissed Frank's forehead as he sat back lazily, Gerard soon resting his head on Frank's shoulder.
Most of Frank's relatives had gone home to prepare for tomorrow, promising to bring lots of cameras for pictures and alcohol for the "after party."
Frank's mother, who had actually made Gerard call her Linda, walked in from the kitchen, now wearing a yellow apron with birds on it.
"Um, I'm sorry, Frank." His mother said quietly, making Gerard and Frank look up at her with curiosity.
"Your dad got caught up at work, I don't think he's gonna make it tomorrow. He's still in Italy." She said in a sad tone.
Frank's entire body slumped as his face deflated, "Oh."
There was a silence, and Gerard really didn't know what to do, so he just put his hand on Frank's hoping to subconsciously reassure him that it would be okay.
"I'm sorry." Linda said again, and Frank looked up at her with a brief and honesty quite fake smile.
"It's fine, Ma. It's not your fault." He said quietly, and soon Linda left the room, leaving the two of them alone.
"Frankie, are you okay?" Gerard asked quietly, moving some of Frank's chestnut hair out of his eyes.
Frank nodded softly, "Yeah, it's just... he always does this. I just hoped he'd actually show up this time."
Gerard felt his heart drop at Frank's sad tone, he wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"You deserve better than that," Gerard said against his hair.
Frank nodded weakly before exhaling slowly and pulling back.
"We should probably get ready for bed. I heard Aunt Cynthia is coming tomorrow and she screams so loud the whole neighbourhood files noise complaints." Frank muttered with a half smile, clearly trying to make things less tense.
Gerard giggled, standing up and pulling Frank up with him.
"Well, lead the way, Frankenstein." Gerard teased.
"Oh shuddup." Frank said with a light blush, leading Gerard to his bedroom.
Little did Gerard know that maybe that would be the calm before the storm, and that maybe that would be the last Thanksgiving dinner he would ever be invited to.
♧ ♧ ♧
okay next chapters gonna have some drama fellas, i promise
please don't hate me for all these fillers ah