not too proud of this chapter but hoping it'll make up for me not updating for a while <3
NOT EDITED!!
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THE TOM CRUISE EQUATION
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The sky was one of those baby-blue shades.
Not psychedelic candy-blue or the washed out grey so characteristic in wintery mornings. The clouds even seemed like puffs of radiant joy, ready to disperse into the wind, and travel the Earth. Frank watched them idly; pure, reflected rays swirled and mixed with the sky until all that was left was that perfect baby-blue, the same hue as before. It almost seemed as if the sky was inviting him to sprout wings and fly up to the warm thermal air.
The day was postcard perfect.
Frank even had the pleasure to gracefully walk beside Gerard, holding his hand and one of Gerard's spare books he had convinced Gerard to let him carry.
"Top three D.C villains," Gerard grinned, "Go."
Frank smiled nervously to himself, "Um, Riddler... The Penguin... and uh, C-Cat Woman?"
Gerard hummed, swinging their hands happily as a small breeze blew against them - despite the fact that Frank had really been praying it wouldn't be too cold out. He wasn't really one for complaining about the weather - but winter weather always meant he couldn't wear his baggy shirts without having to put on a thick jacket at the very least.
"Can I ask you something?" Gerard asked as his house came into view.
Frank nodded, slowing down to look at him.
Gerard swallowed, his small smile turning uncertain almost. "Do you, like, um, want to... maybe if you're fine with it, come to my house for a bit? N-No weird reason I promise, It's just my brother isn't home right now and I don't really like being home alone... It's fine if you can't though, I was just wondering..."
There was a small explosion in Frank's brain, the good kind of explosion- the kind that carried possibilities and pumped him full of electricity.
"Like, now?" Frank asked quickly, mostly from excitement or maybe nerves he couldn't quite tell. Knowing himself though, it was probably both.
Gerard nodded sheepishly, squeezing his hand. "Please?"
Frank nodded faster than he thought possible, watching a small grin come over Gerard's face as he did a little jumping motion in excitement. Frank felt a smile form all on its own as Gerard laughed happily, kissing the side of his red face.
"Yay!" He grinned, swinging their hands happily.
"We can go down to the basement; there's a pool table and a vintage arcade machine, oh and a projector too!" Gerard rambled on, making Frank grin a bit to himself. Gerard was adorable.
Gerard didn't seem to notice at all though, and he kept his mouth running at an almost inhuman speed. "Oh this is so amazing! Do you have any homework though? Because we should probably do that first... or eat- wait, do you eat and then do your homework or do you do your homework and then eat? Because I usually-"
"Princess, slow down," Frank surprised himself by giggling out the words. "No, I- I don't usually eat when I get home."
Gerard flushed a rosy pink at the pet name, squeezing Frank's hand in turn before nodding. "Oh o-okay... Well, I guess we can just bring some of Dallon's apple pie with us."
Frank's eyebrows furrowed. "Dallon?"
"Yeah," Gerard nodded, "He's like our helper- but my dad taught us not to label him as that. He's more like a family friend... he even sleeps at our house sometimes. Oh, and when me and my brother were younger he used to help us with homework and brought us to the park since my dad wasn't really home."
Frank had to admit to himself that the last part of Gerard's rambling made him a bit sad. Of course he wasn't a stranger to not having a father around, but he didn't really like the idea of Gerard being familiar with it too. Sure, Gerard seemingly at least had this Dallon guy, when Frank obviously didn't, but it wasn't some kind of competition. An absent father was an absent father, no matter what or who he was replaced with.
"I'm sorry," Frank murmured with a frown, making Gerard stop staring ahead to instead face him. His once giddy expression turned confused and his smile faltered.
"Huh?" He asked, "Why's that? You didn't do anything."
"I-I know... but, um, I'm sorry your dad wasn't around. You know, to help you with your homework... 'n stuff." Frank's face warmed up as he spoke, his fists clenching nervously around his grip on Gerard's books.
Gerard's eyes saddened considerably, and Frank followed the hard swallow Gerard's throat did.
"It's fine, Frankie. I don't even... think about it half the time." Gerard said softly, though Frank had a hard time believing him. "Let's just- look, my house is pretty close... how much homework do you have?"
Frank shrugged gently, biting his lip. "Not- Not too much, I guess."
"Awesome!" Gerard went back to being his giddy self, grinning and leaning over to kiss Frank's jaw quickly before pulling him a bit faster down the road.
And as they walked, Frank's blood seemed to wake up his brain, even though he thought himself already awake. His smile grew on its own accord as his jaw tingled from where Gerard had previously kissed it.
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➫ LOADING SCENE ➫
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"Frankie," Gerard whined softly, his eyes darting up from his Physics equations to Frank's scruffy brown hair that was tickling the crook of his neck.
Frank nuzzled his face more into Gerard's neck and smiled nervously before shaking his head as if to deny Gerard's silent request to stop. By now he thought he had a pretty good sense of when Gerard was genuinely uncomfortable and when he was just shy. Before, Frank would have jolted upright and stopped being so affectionate in fear of Gerard genuinely wanting him to cut it out - but Gerard had told him that sometimes he just got a bit nervous so he whined about it... but he actually quite liked Frank's affection.
Which Frank was totally okay with, because at the end of the day he himself wasn't the most confident guy out there either.
Gerard clenched his small fist around his chewed pencil, his face red. "Frankie, c'mon... it tickles!"
Frank swallowed down his shyness and turned to kiss Gerard's ear before pulling back. His smile huge when he saw Gerard turn a brighter shade of red and mutter something cutely.
It was as if ever since Anthony had chosen to rat him out to his mother, he'd become weirdly more secure in himself. At first it had the opposite effect- like, really opposite.
He couldn't even speak to Gerard in person properly for the first few days, but after a small mental breakdown and another awkward interaction with his mother who seemed at a loss for words, he was fine. Well, Frank wasn't so much fine as he was realising just how much he did like guys. And... really, how much he liked his hyperactive boyfriend.
"You're such a bully, Ticket boy." Gerard mumbled as he trained his eyes on his paper, but with his face being so comically red, Frank had a hard time believing his words. "You're not even Ticket boy anymore... now you're Ticket Bully."
Frank pouted, nudging Gerard with his foot before reluctantly moving back to focus on his own English analytical essay that needed writing.
Though not a minute later Gerard nudged his thigh with his sock-clad foot, pretending to be all indulged in his physics homework. And Frank couldn't help but smile as he pretended not to notice Gerard's little jab.
Gerard did it again, this time making Frank laugh softly as he looked up from his paper to Gerard who was pouting.
"You need something?" Frank laughed with a smile, but Gerard just let out a small grunt that was oddly cute.
And as Frank grinned to himself and went back to writing, he felt Gerard slowly shift off of his position on the floor into his lap, bringing his notebook with him. Frank watched Gerard pretend to be focused on his equations, but from his little smile Frank knew he wasn't focused at all.
"I thought you said I was a bully..." Frank mumbled, glancing up at Gerard teasingly.
Gerard swallowed through his crimson cheeks. "And you are... but you're a comfortable bully."
Frank hummed, looking back down at his own work before he felt Gerard quickly lean over to peck his cheek with a quick kiss. Frank's skin tingled for the millionth time as Gerard smiled to himself and wrote rapidly with his gross pencil.
Frank attempted to work for the billionth time too, but not a second later Gerard set down his book with a dramatic sigh.
"What?" Frank asked, a small part of him worried that he might have done something to trigger that response.
"This is so boring," Gerard whined childishly, looking defeated as he slouched against Frank. "I can't concentrate anymore... my brain's g'nna explode."
Frank giggled, "I don't think your brain's gonna explode, princess."
"It is though!" Gerard insisted, twisting his body to face Frank. "I can sense it... Like animals can sense a tsunami."
"Well... um, I don't think there's a cure for a brain on the verge of exploding." Frank laughed again, his heartbeat speeding up at how close Gerard's face was getting.
"I know one." Gerard smiled, making Frank tilt his head.
"What?"
"Cuddles and kissies." Gerard giggled with a cute grin, moving his notebook completely off of his lap so he could get more comfortable.
"I—"
"Unless you don't want to," Gerard cut him off quickly, his nervous seemingly coming back in full swing. "We can always... keep doing homework."
Frank shook his head quickly. He wasn't the most responsible student out there anyway. Not since he became friends with Jack.
Gerard smiled, mumbling a soft 'okay'.
It was silent for a moment before Gerard slowly leaned in to connect their lips, Frank taking in a shaky breath before hesitantly putting his arms around Gerard. Gerard did the same; choosing to wrap his arms around Frank's neck. Frank had mentioned it once before, to his own recollection anyway, that he did quite like it when Gerard did that.
Their lips went at it for a while, Frank's hands clenching and unclenching around his sweater paws as he applied more pressure against their lips - controlling the kiss for a change.
Though Frank nearly pissed himself in nerves when Gerard hiked himself up further in his lap, his crotch meeting Frank's lower stomach. Okay, Frank may have been more secure in himself and used to Gerard's mannerisms, but he still wasn't exactly Sex-Haver Extraordinaire. He still got embarrassingly close when they made out or even touched thighs.
It was then that Gerard pulled back slightly, smiling nervously before biting his lip.
"Do you," Gerard breathed out shakily, his fingers twitching as they rhythmically tapped against the back of Frank's neck. "Um,"
"Yeah?" Frank breathed, now way too flustered to even remotely concern himself with the fact that his English book was definitely getting wrinkled and squished under his leg.
"W-Want to, like, um," Gerard gulped again, and at this point Frank was using his two-brain cell head to put a few pieces together. Was Gerard suggesting they go further?
It wasn't like Frank was opposed to it, like, at all. He could never be against doing anything intimate with Gerard- that was like going against the laws of nature. No, that wasn't the issue at all. The only issue was Frank's obvious inexperience.
"D-Do you?" Frank breathed quickly, glancing up at Gerard's red face.
A few brown locks covered Gerard's right eye, his lips twitching up slightly in anxiousness Frank assumed. But then came Gerard's slow yet cute nod.
Holy Dog Shit.
Alright, Frank decided at that moment that he should probably specify what Gerard was on about. Because sure he felt like the luckiest son of a bitch in the tristate area, but he wasn't about to go assuming Gerard meant sexual things. Maybe Gerard was talking about homework again- or apple pie.
"W-Wait, I," Frank swallowed, "You... we, um, we're talking about s-sex stuff, right?"
God, Frank wanted to punch himself to unconsciousness.
But then Gerard's cute nod never came- instead his prominent blush worsened as he stared at Frank like he'd grown a second head.
"I-I..." Gerard looked down at Frank's lap, "I was g'nna ask if you w-wanted to maybe go on my unicycle again..."
Frank's eyes widened.
His lungs practically collapsed as he stared at Gerard like a deer caught in headlights.
Oh holy fuck— how did he read the situation so badly. Oh fuck, oh lord.
But it was then that the tension was broken by Gerard giggling loudly - his face still shy but his tone a lot less nervous.
"Frankie," He giggled breathlessly, "You- how are you always horny?"
Frank frowned defensively, "Hey! I-I'm not always horny... I-I'm not."
"Uh-huh," Gerard grinned, making Frank feel more at ease. At least Gerard didn't seem mad.
Frank stuck his tongue out at Gerard through his heavy blush, now hoping to move on from the subject as quick as possible - because he really didn't need Gerard to think he was constantly thinking about dirty stuff. Which, okay was only partly true, alright?
But it was then that Gerard spoke again, but for a completely different reason than Frank assumed. "If I... n-never mind."
"What?" Frank asked curiously.
"N-No, it's fine." Gerard said quickly, turning his head away from Frank's stare.
"Tell me." Frank whined, frowning as he attempted to bounce Gerard a bit in his lap to throw him off. "I wanna know now."
"But it's dumb." Gerard buried his face in Frank's big grey sweater.
"I don't mind..." Frank mumbled, smiling at Gerard's natural scent that he was only now noticing.
"Fine." Gerard muttered against his sweater, making his voice come out all muffled and cute. "If like, I had meant that I wanted to do that stuff with you... would you, like, is that something you'd want to do? W-With me?"
Frank was quiet for a moment as he swallowed. "I... o-of course. You— You're my boyfriend... right?"
"I-I know," Gerard said, his fingers thumping again as he clarified. "It's just, I'm not... nice looking... and you'd have to see all of that. You know? And like— I guess, I don't know... why you'd want to."
"What?" Frank was dumbfounded.
Absolutely shocked to his very core.
"You—... you think you're not nice looking?" Frank asked in shock. Because holy fuck he had a hard time processing the fact that Gerard was genuinely worried Frank wouldn't like seeing him under his clothes.
"Beautiful" to Frank was so very different from those starved adolescents they put in magazines sometimes, covered in so many different products they seemed barely human. To him Gerard had a kind of understated beauty. Perhaps it was because he was so disarmingly unaware of his prettiness, or maybe because Gerard couldn't see himself the way Frank saw him.
It made Frank feel horrible that the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen couldn't see the worth that was there - but when he looked up at Gerard's anxious eyes, his eyes only showed Frank his soul.
At that moment they were a deep pool of restless forest green, an ocean of hopeless nerves. As Frank looked into his eyes he knew, all the beauty of the universe couldn't even hope to compete with their hidden passion. Passion and calmness always turned Gerard's eyes into orbs of the brightest colours, and in them Frank read clearly that he would probably never truly be able to see just how perfect he was to Frank. Just how beautiful.
"Well," Gerard swallowed, snapping Frank out of his trance. "Um, n-not really. I- I'm not exactly Tom Cruise or whatever."
Frank couldn't help but scoff at that, his usually quite shy nature bleeding out as he became bolder. "Tom Cruise? You're— you're like seventy thousand Tom Cruises times twenty!"
Gerard's eyes looked alarmed at Frank's weird outburst. But Frank paid them no mind.
"I— you're the prettiest thing I've ever seen!" Frank let himself blurt out, his cheeks burning as he spoke. "I-I mean not that it all matters what I think but you can ask Todo; I talk about how beautiful you are all the time— and— wait, actually, um, d-don't ask him hat — he's probably gonna make me look really bad. I—"
Gerard interrupted him with a small breathy giggle, "You want me to ask Mister Todo how much you talk about me, Frankie?"
"Yeah! Wait, no, I—" Frank blushed wildly, "That... sounds weird... doesn't it?"
"A bit." Gerard murmured, but he looked a lot less upset than a few moments before. "But, it's really sweet."
"Really?" Frank breathed, letting himself get drawn back into Gerard's adorable face.
"Yeah..." Gerard nodded, smiling before pulling Frank into a soft hug. His face tucked itself into Frank's shoulder, nuzzling his nose against Frank's neck. "I didn't- um, I didn't expect you to actually... say anything to that. And I-I don't really agree with it... but, thank you, Frankie."
"You're welcome," Frank whispered, moving his lips to press against Gerard's hair as he breathed in his sent. He let himself relax as he shut his eyes slowly. "You deserve it."
There was a small pause on both sides, Frank fighting the urge to fall asleep as Gerard's sweet smell took him over. It was when Gerard leaned up to kiss Frank's softly that he seemed to click out of his tired state.
"I really like you..." Gerard whispered, his cheeks bright red as he looked up into Frank's eyes.
"I really like you too," Frank breathed, gathering up the courage to kiss Gerard's pink lips again. It seemed weird but Frank figured that maybe to the two of them, saying they liked each other had the same effect as saying they loved each other. Obviously Frank wasn't going to admit that maybe one of these days he was hoping for Gerard to say he really loved him, not liked him, but he would wait. And he certainly wouldn't be the first to admit it.
Well, not now at least.
"You um, you wanna go steal some apple pie now?" Gerard asked gently, staring at Frank with his cute doe eyes.
Frank had to admit that he was just slightly disappointed at the fact that they really hadn't ended up doing anything sexual- but of course he pushed his selfish thoughts aside because he had already been called out once by Gerard- he didn't need Gerard seriously thinking he had some sort of libido problem. Besides, Frank understood that maybe Gerard wasn't self assured enough for something like that at the moment.
"What about homework?" Frank asked instead.
Gerard pouted. "C'mon, Frankie, don't be a meanie. We can do it later... please?"
Frank smiled to himself despite his previous thoughts, playfully rolling his eyes before nodding. He watched as Gerard's happy smile lit up the nicely decorated basement.
"Okay," Gerard grinned, "But first we have to find my marbles because I don't wanna keep being annoying by tapping you."
Frank nodded in understanding, "I don't mind it though... s'cute."
Gerard flushed but just shook his head, crawling off of his warm lap. "N-No."
Frank watched as Gerard cracked his back cutely. Yeah, he thought.... he could wait for Gerard.
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LEVEL 25.0 COMPLETE!
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again i'm not too proud of this, but i'm hoping the next chapter will be better <3
but also!!
cemetery_sunsetz made this amazing fanart!! it's adorable thank you!!