✩ not edited ✩
welcoming fucking home
~[|]~
"Y'know, I don't even think Christmas is worth the pain you're about to go through." Gerard said with a sigh as he drove down the familiar neighbourhood.
Frank laughed from the passenger seat, "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Gerard resisted the urge to reach over and shake Frank until he understood just how chaotic and downright scary the Way house was during the holidays— not even just the holidays, always. The Way house was always a mess, whether figuratively or literally.
"Frank, my Mom and Dad are gonna be in the same house together for more than twenty minutes." Gerard said, "That's literal Hell in every sense of the word."
Gerard glanced over at Frank to emphasise the seriousness behind his statement.
Frank put a hand on Gerard's thigh, "Baby, c'mon I'm sure it's not that bad. Don't you want to see your family?"
Gerard shrugged and nodded, "I... I guess, I mean I haven't seen them in more than half a year."
"Why's that?" Frank asked, a frown on his face.
"Didn't have the time." Gerard mumbled, and that was only a half lie mind you.
Frank didn't respond, instead turning his head and looking out the window.
Gerard practically winced when he caught sight of his family home, the green grass and pale exterior just how he had left it.
He could see his father's car in the driveway, and he sighed internally. At least he didn't have to worry about Mikey, who was only coming later since he was out with a friend at the moment. He did still live at home and everything, so no one was really too worried about him.
Gerard turned into his driveway, sighing and parking the car.
"Well, we're here." Gerard mumbled, and Frank grinned.
"Fucking damn right, now c'mon I wanna see your old room." Frank said excitedly.
"Frank, calm do—" Frank was already out of the car heading to the back to get their bags.
Gerard sighed and rolled his shoulders, unbuckling himself before heading out of the car.
He head around to where Frank was taking out their small suitcases, closing the trunk hurriedly. He gave Gerard an award winning smile before heading to where the front door was.
Gerard just opened the door, knowing it was rarely ever locked.
The moment they walked in, the air around them was filled with loud arguing and the smell of apple pie. Gerard sighed, knowing that not even Christmas could save his parents' unruly marital issues— which technically didn't even apply because they were in fact divorced.
Frank held onto Gerard's hand when they heard the yelling, making Gerard send him a weak smile.
"Mama?" Gerard called out, closing the door behind him and pulling Frank towards the living room.
And then, right from thin air, she appeared. Gerard's mother grinned so hard it looked like she had a hanger in her mouth.
"Geebear!" She exclaimed, pulling Gerard into a tight hug, covering his face in kisses making him wince.
"God mama, please not in front of Frank..." Gerard mumbled, making her pull back and swat his chest.
Her eyes shifted to Frank who was laughing quietly to himself, "Frank?"
Frank nodded, and Donna immediately pulled him into a tight hug. In all honesty, Frank didn't seem half as surprised as Gerard had when Linda pulled him into a hug. He looked like he had been expecting it, and he seemed to hug her back just as tight, which made Gerard smile.
Then Gerard's father appeared from behind Donna, his hands in his pockets awkwardly.
"Hey Casanova." He smiled, and Gerard grinned before hugging him.
"How are you?" He asked Gerard, pulling back from their embrace soon enough.
"I'm alright." Gerard smiled, and Gerard turned when he heard his mother talking again.
"Oh Frank, you have no idea how happy we are that you're here! When Geebear called me telling me all about you I just had to meet you." She rambled, her eyes twinkling.
Frank seemed taken back, his eyes drifted to Gerard's happily, a certain glow in them.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Way." Frank smiled as he turned back to Donna.
"Oh just Donna is fine, or Mom if you're feeling a little bold." She giggled.
"Mama," Gerard groaned, "That isn't even remotely appropriate to say to a—"
"Thank you, Donna. If you're feeling a little bold yourself you can call me Frankie." Frank said in a jokingly hushed tone, making Donna's face light up.
Woah, Gerard thought, Frank was fucking good at speaking to parents. Had he done this before? Because it almost seemed like his own mother was ready to adopt Frank right away.
"Oh you are just lovely." Donna practically squealed making Gerard hold his face in embarrassment.
Donald went to say something, but Donna was already ushering Gerard and Frank to put their things away in Gerard's old room. Which was also the basement.
Gerard happily led Frank down the cold steps to his old room, glad to be away from
all of the commotion upstairs. Now, Gerard was certain that his room would look like absolute shit seeing as he hadn't even been down there in over seven months. But anything was better than dealing with his squealing mother.
"Having a whole basement to yourself must have been pretty sweet." Frank said, and Gerard nodded with a grin.
"Yeah, I mean I never left it, so.." Gerard mumbled, opening the door.
The moment they walked in they were greeted with a small breeze, and honestly, Gerard did have to say that it didn't look half as bad as what he was expecting. His mother must have cleaned up for him a bit.
Sure, there were still comic books littering the ground and most surfaces, and old artworks from high school hung up on some of the walls. He even had two sketchbooks open on his desk that he didn't even remember buying. His bed was made though, and the carpeted ground was free of stains which was fucking impressive.
"Holy shit, did you paint all of these?" Frank asked, his eyes in awe as he looked at the old unfinished paintings, stopping at a particular painting Gerard had done months ago of a tree in his backyard.
"Uh, yeah." Gerard mumbled, walking over to it to pick it up, "I sort of gave up on it."
Frank nodded, and looked around the room again.
"I see you liked comics then." Frank said, observing the amount of DC comics littering Gerard's room.
Gerard laughed, "Shut up Frankie, I didn't have any friends. What else was I supposed to get into?"
Frank set the bags down by Gerard's bed and looked over at him. His face now no longer playing but more sad.
"You didn't have any friends when you were in high school?" He asked softly, and Gerard shrugged, shaking his head.
"Nah not really." Gerard mumbled, feeling just a tad bit embarrassed. Usually he wouldn't give a flying fuck what anyone really thought about his past, but this was Frank. He wasn't just anyone.
"Why not?" Frank frowned, gently grabbing Gerard's hand and leading him to his bed so that they could sit.
Gerard looked away once they were seated next to one another, taking in a deep breath, "I- I don't know, I was just a loser, y'know? I was just the chubby choir kid, who did everyone's English homework... Not really friend material."
"Gee, being a bit overweight shouldn't mean no one wanted to be friends with you." Frank said, and Gerard laughed.
"Of course it did! I probably— if I hadn't lost all that weight you probably wouldn't have even looked at me twice, nonetheless pursued a relationship." Gerard said, "That's just what it's like, Frank."
Frank looked almost hurt by Gerard's words, retracting his hand slowly, "Do you seriously think I'm just with you because of your body?"
Gerard felt the residual panic set in, the panic that always came with him being a complete and utter moron.
"No, Frankie, that isn't what I—"
"Because I've told you time and time again that I love you, and do you really think I just say that because of how skinny you are?" Frank said, his tone a mix between hurt and trying to hold back anger.
And to his merit, he really did look like he was trying like he had promised Gerard.
Gerard was at a loss for words, "N-No, Frank, please don't twist my words..."
Frank didn't give Gerard a verbal reply, instead letting out a soft sigh and falling against the bed completely. He put an arm over his face so that the inside of his elbow was covering his eyes.
Gerard bit his lip, "Frankie... c'mon you know I didn't mean it like that."
Frank didn't respond, and Gerard could see the frown on his face.
Gerard himself sighed before deciding he wasn't about to let some really idiotic thing make them fight on Christmas eve.
He turned and swung a leg over Frank's midsection so that he was straddling his stomach, his hands coming up to move Frank's arm from his face.
Frank had his eyes closed and he let out a breath. Gerard let his hands trail up to run through Frank's hair, shifting a bit so that he could lean down close to Frank's face.
"Frankie... I love you, you know that. I didn't mean to make it seem like you only love me for my body." Gerard mumbled and he saw Frank crack open his right eye, but he still didn't say anything.
Gerard pecked Frank's lips, "Frank.. please."
Frank opened his eyes fully, letting out a groaning noise.
"Gerard, I— that really hurt, y'know? Saying that if you were a different body type I wouldn't have wanted to be with you." Frank said quietly, and Gerard looked away from
him.
Gerard shrugged noncommittally, "I wouldn't date me if I was fat again."
Gerard glanced up to see Frank's somber expression, and Gerard didn't bother adding anything to his statement.
"Gee, don't say that..."
It was silent for a few minutes, both Gerard and Frank quite lost on what to say. Thankfully after a while Frank spoke up again, his voice smooth like caramel.
"Look, I know you had a rough time being overweight as a kid, but you have to understand that I don't care about that. Gerard, what makes you beautiful isn't your body— though it definitely is gorgeous, what makes you beautiful is the very essence of you."
Gerard kept his gaze down on his lap, not really knowing how to respond to that, or any of Frank's words for that matter.
Honestly, he had always been egged on to lose weight in order to be attractive, especially to other guys, and hearing Frank dismiss the idea entirely really did pull at something in his heart. It made him feel even more connected to Frank, because he wasn't sat there getting mad about Gerard not telling him he was fat in his younger years, he was upset that Gerard would not just think so low of himself but also of Frank's love for him.
Gerard felt Frank's index finger gently lift his face up to look at him, Frank's forest green eyes sincere and full sympathy.
"Tell me how pretty you are." Frank said quietly, and Gerard couldn't help but shake his head.
"Frank, I—"
"C'mon Sugar, tell me how pretty you are... how beautiful every inch of you is." Frank said again, his voice soft and slow.
Gerard felt like his throat was closing in on him as he just continued to shake his head frantically.
"Frankie, I-I don—"
"Geetard, stop having sex with your boyfriend and come up!" Mikey's voice yelled from upstairs, which was actually followed by a loud scolding.
Gerard shut his mouth immediately, feeling Frank shift under him.
"I... I guess we can finish this another time." Frank said softly, and Gerard nodded as he quickly got off of him.
He straightened out his sweater before giving Frank a weak smile, honestly feeling like shit now. He didn't think his anxiety would turn to just downright sadness so quickly, but he wasn't at all pleased with himself.
Gerard just knew that it was, it needed to go away right the fuck now.
- -
"So, Frank, what do you do?" Donald asked, taking a sip of his wine. Everyone except Mikey sat in the living room.
"I'm a bartender." Frank smiled politely, still seeming a bit off from his and Gerard's conversation, but he seemed to be trying his best to put it behind him for now.
"Oh that's great, so I bet you could fix us up a nice drink before dinner?" He said, making Frank laugh with a nod.
"Dad," Gerard practically groaned, "please don't try to rope Frank into your Manhattan addiction."
Donald laughed and shook his head, "I'm not, just trying to find some common ground."
Gerard just looked down habitually, feeling Frank wrap an arm around his waist, which actually really caught him off guard. He glanced at Frank who was smiling gently, he really did seem to have moved on from their talk and honestly, Gerard appreciated that he was trying to make things normal again.
"Where are you from, Frank?" Donna asked, and Frank looked away from Gerard to face her with a brand new smile.
"I was born in Jersey, but part of my family's Italian." Frank said with an affirmative nod, and Donna smiled at him.
"Do you speak any Italian?" She asked, and Frank laughed slightly.
"Uh I suppose, I don't really," Frank giggled, "I don't really do it very often but I'm fluent, yeah."
"You're what?" Gerard asked, snapping his head to look at Frank.
"Oh don't act so surprised, baby. I know I'm a pretty face but I do know things too." Frank said, and Gerard rolled his eyes.
"Dumbass." Gerard mumbled, and Frank kissed the side of his head.
Donna couldn't help but let out a loud motherly squeal, "Oh you two are so sweet."
"Donna, don't embarrass them." Donald said, and her smile deflated as she turned to him, her eyes not warm anymore.
"I'm not embarrassing anyone." She said, and Donald sighed.
"I was just saying..."
Gerard zoned out their arguing, looking around the room with a sigh. He felt Frank's hand tighten around his waist as he nuzzled his face against Gerard's shoulder in a comforting way.
Gerard smiled a little as Frank placed a kiss on his shoulder.
But even with Frank seemingly trying to comfort him, after a few minutes Gerard couldn't take the stupid arguing anymore, it was so ridiculous. They couldn't even put their issues on hold on fucking Christmas— or for Frank's sake. It was so humiliating.
"Guys!" Gerard finally groaned, making them stop in their tracks, "Can you please cut it out and stop arguing, I— Mikey is more mature than the two of you, and he makes fart jokes during dinner."
Gerard knew he was crossing a small line with the way he was speaking to his parents, but at this point it didn't matter to him.
Donna and Donald both looked down with almost an embarrassment look, apologising to Frank.
Gerard could tell by the way Frank's leg was bouncing up and down and how his smile kept faltering that he was uncomfortable, and he felt really bad.
"It's alright," Frank said, putting on honestly quite a forced smile, "I mean you can just ask Gee, but at my house we always round up the entire Iero family, and this one time around Christmas my uncle, Robin, got angry that no one was letting him talk so he popped open a champagne bottle and accidentally hit his wife in the eye with the cork."
Everyone seemed to laugh at that, making Frank smile for real that time.
It was then that Mikey decided to emerge from his cave, making Gerard practically cringe in his seat. He didn't want to deal with Mikey embarrassing him too.
"It's nice of you to join us, Mikey." Donna said, a hint of edge in her voice.
"Oh for sure." Mikey grinned and Gerard, making his eyes widen.
He tried to send him a look of 'don't you dare fucking do anything' but Mikey shrugged him off like he always did.
"I actually came down for a reason," He said, "I wanted to talk to Frank in private."
Frank's body seemed to tighten in surprise, "Uh, alright."
Frank went to get up when Gerard tugged his hand gently, making him spin back around.
"Mikes, no, you're gonna scare Frankie." Gerard said, making Frank laugh slightly.
"It's fine, Gee." Frank laughed, kissing the top of his head before following a grinning Mikey to the kitchen.
Gerard's gaze shifted to his parents, who were smiling at him.
"So..." Gerard mumbled, "what'd you think?"
Donna hesitated before smiling happily, "We love him."
Gerard grinned, "Really?"
"Absolutely," Donald said with a nod, "He seems like a very nice young man."
"God, Dad... you don't have to say it like that." Gerard whined.
"At first I was a bit skeptic about the piercings and the tattoos, but he seems to care about you." Donald said, and Gerard nodded softly.
They were quiet for a bit until Frank and Mikey returned and Gerard was immediately skeptic.
"What'd he tell you?" He asked immediately as Frank say down, making him laugh.
"I told him about that time Ethan Burns asked you to the barn dance and you ended up breaking his foot." Mikey said with a laugh, making his way upstairs.
Gerard's face turned beet red, "Mikey!"
"I'm just kidding!" Mikey laughed back, watching as Gerard grumbled.
Frank giggled next to him, and Gerard covered his face, praying for the earth to come swallow him up.
"How did you... How did you break his foot?" Frank asked, his laughter lodged in his throat.
And before Gerard could deny him a response Mikey appeared behind the couch, his face next to Frank and Gerard's.
"It's funny you ask, because—"
"Mikey, if you tell this story I swear I will fucking kill you." Gerard said through his teeth, making Mikey grin even wider.
"Gerard," Donna sighed, "language."
Gerard rolled his eyes and looked at his lap, Mikey clearing his throat.
"Anyway," He said, and Gerard grit his teeth as he heard Mikey speak, "So, Gerard was around sixteen when this guy Ethan asked him to this barn dance. And Gerard had never been to a dance before, obviously, and so he was all excited and dressed up."
Gerard shifted a bit, knowing that not just Frank but his parents were listening to this story.
"Mikey," Gerard said quietly, "C'mon it's not funny, you proved your point."
Mikey of course ignored him entirely and kept going.
"Now, Gerard probably told you he was big— so of course none of the guys wanted to dance with him, but Ethan apparently did. And then while they were dancing, Gerard accidentally stepped on his foot and broke it, and somehow the whole school found out and some of the Seniors put a bunch of pork feet in his locke—"
Gerard sighed, getting up off the couch and rushing off to the kitchen with a red face.
He put his head in his hands as he angrily bit his lip to keep him from possibly breaking something, like that time he broke Mr Bryar's cash register and had to pay for it.
How could Mikey tell Frank that?
It was probably the worst night of his life, he had to spent the whole fucking night in the ER waiting room, with Ethan complaining about him and his weight and his bad dancing skills.
And now not only did his boyfriend know about that, but he himself was reminded of just how much of a fucking loser he was.
Gerard made a loud groaning noise, trying his damn hardest not to cry.
"Gee?"
Gerard heard Frank's voice call softly from the entryway of the kitchen, but he didn't budge.
"Gee, I—"
"I told you it makes a difference." Gerard whimpered, putting his hands down and already starting to distinguish the metallic taste of blood that came from biting his bottom lip too hard.
Frank's eyes were sad again like they had been earlier, and he opened his mouth but Gerard stopped him.
"Y'know Ethan didn't even ask me because he wanted to dance with me... it was some bet with his friend. Apparently they bet that I was desperate enough to go with anyone." Gerard said, his eyes watering.
Frank frowned harder, pulling Gerard into a hug.
"Gerard, I... I don't know what to say." Frank said quietly, "I thought I was an asshole during high school but Jesus Christ."
Gerard didn't say anything, just taking in a deep breath, sniffling for a bit before he spoke up.
"What were you like in high school?" Gerard asked softly, pulling back after he wiped his eyes.
Frank let out a small chuckle, "Honestly?"
Gerard nodded.
"I was a pothead." He shrugged, and Gerard raised an eyebrow.
"What?" He laughed a little.
"Yeah.. I um, bleached my hair and took my skateboard everywhere and smoked weed— I once hotboxed my room during my Dad's birthday party." Frank said, and Gerard laughed again as he tried to forget about their previous topic.
Frank smiled when he heard Gerard's giggling, "I was also in a band, and we used to practice in my basement a lot.. and once my neighbour yelled at us so we egged his house."
Gerard closed his eyes whilst smiling, leaning his head on Frank's chest.
"You sound more like a punk than a pothead, Frank." Gerard said, and Frank snorted.
"Just wait until you hear about the time I carved a dick on the inside of the Principle's desk drawer. It was huge." Frank said with a proud smile.
Gerard rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet.
"Thanks for not being like the rest of them, Frankie." Gerard mumbled after a while.
Frank didn't respond, he just kissed the top of Gerard's head.
❁ ❁ ❁
this fic already has so many chapters and i'm wondering if i should probably end it soon or not... i don't really know
but on a happier note:
more fan art!!
hotel_wicket made this awesome piece and it's really sweet so thank you! i really like that you did gee with his costume!!
halloween gee is such a diva damn 😳