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Gerard was frustrated. It had been a year since My Chemical Romance had split up and the front man was currently working on his debut solo album, ‘Hesitant Alien’. The album so far had 10 tracks, definitely enough tracks to constitute a full album right? Wrong. Gerard still felt like something was missing. But don’t misunderstand; Gerard poured his soul into this album. Up all hours recording and writing, and then recording some more but there was something missing. Gerard needed a punchy single, not necessarily the title track of the album, but a single that said “THE Gerard Way is back”. He only had two weeks left though to come up with this single before he had to air it on BBC Radio 1. No pressure there then...
He was coming into week three of working on this particular single when Lynz thought it’d be best to give her husband some space, so she took Bandit on a little camping trip. This didn’t help Gerard though. In fact, not only did it make him bored, but it also made him lonely.
It was now day five without the girls and Gerard decided he should probably get out of the house by now, actually witnessing daylight would probably do him some good, maybe even give him some inspiration. Walking out of the front door it was a nice sunny afternoon, however from within twenty minutes California went from the ‘Sunshine State’ to covered in suffocating dark cloud and rumbling thunder in the distance. Gerard decided to go to his nearest mall, not exactly the outdoors but close enough. He wandered through at a steady place, flicking through comics, checking out the makeup counters and ending it by getting his daily dose of caffeine. He decided to get his black coffee to go because if he stayed in the noisy, cramped and bustling mall any longer, he couldn’t promise what he’d do. Grabbing his coffee and making a dash for the mall exit Gerard turned a corner and collapsed into someone...
“MOTHERFUCKER” was the cry given out by the innocent bystander that was now swimming in boiling hot coffee.
It took Gerard a few seconds to collect himself from the pile of bones on the floor to realise what had just happened.
“O-Oh my God I am so sorry! Oh God, I-I can’t believe this” Gerard began getting more nervous the longer this ordeal went on, as passers by laughed all he could picture was the Newspaper headlines: GERARD WAY GIVES THIRD DEGREE BURNS TO INNOCENT BOY
“Gerard?”
Oh fuck. He’d been recognised. That’s it. Game over. He might as well scrap the whole solo album now because who wants to support someone who uses violence just to exit the mall. Gerard avoids eye contact.
“I am so fucking sorry! Do you want a picture or something? God that sounds so pretentious. What am I even saying if you were a fan then you wouldn’t be by now... I really am sorry. It was an accident I promi-“
“Look at me!” The younger boy grabs Gerard by the shoulder and shakes him lightly.
Gerard looks and sees the boy is none other than Frank Iero.
Gerard stayed silent and looked at Frank in disbelief.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else and talk? People are starting to take pictures.”
Gerard looked around and witnessed the full damage of the scene they had caused.
“Yeah sure, follow me.”
Gerard and Frank headed outside and ran through the rain in silence. When they got to Gerard’s car they then sat in more silence. Gerard was nervous. But why should he be? It’s just Frank after all. While driving Gerard kept sneaking glances at Frank. Frank had now styled his hair differently, it was longer than before, but he pushed it back, it was styled but looked effortless. He wore ripped blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt (stained with coffee) with a khaki cardigan. Who knew cardigans could look so cool? Frank looked slimmer than before, but still healthy.
They arrived at Gerard’s house and got out of the car in the continuing silence. He held the door open for Frank and walked in behind him.
“Are Lynz and Bandit not in?” Frank asked while admiring the comic-style art hung up on the walls that surrounded him.
“No, they’ve g-gone camping. Do you want some coffee?”
“Sure, although if you want you can just squeeze my t-shirt and that should be enough for the two of us.” Said Frank winking at Gerard, causing Gerard to laugh and his cheeks to turn a rosy pink. Frank noticed how nervous Gerard was and this was his attempt at lightening the mood.
“So, can I borrow a t-shirt?”
“Oh yeah sure! Uh, if you go up the stairs into the first room on the left, you should be able to find a t-shirt in there that’ll fit.”
Frank wandered up the stairs and into the room.
“Uhh, Gerard, this is Bandit’s room.”
“Yeah, aren’t you guys the same size?”
And there it was. Gerard had begun to feel comfortable again, it hadn’t taken long but the tension that loomed over the house was now lifted.
“You cheeky fucker!” Frank shouted as he stormed out of Bandit’s room and began opening the other doors until he reached Gerard and Lynz’s room. He rummaged through the draws until he found an old Misfit’s tee he could wear and he put that on. Since he was still throwing a fake tantrum he threw his old t-shirt onto the floor and pouted when Gerard came in. Gerard brought up the coffee to his room and handed a mug over to Frank.
“So how are things?” Frank said as he took a sip of his coffee.
“Things are going really well actually. Urm, Lynz is great, Bandit is great and I’m feeling great! The solo album is co-“ Gerard stopped after he realised what he’d just said.
An awkward air filled up the room. Frank sighed.
“Gerard it’s okay. We all have to move on, don’t feel bad about it just ‘cause you’re the first one.”
Gerard smiled and looked up at Frank.
“Can I listen to it?”
“What?! Urm well I don’t know”
“Awh come on! You can’t say you tease me like that!”
“Sorry Frank it’s not finished”
“Please Gee” Frank whined and looked up with the best puppy eyes he could muster.
“Fine.”
Those damn puppy eyes.
Gerard pulled out his laptop from the bedside table and clicked around until he found what he was looking for. He then sat on his bed with a thump, clicked play and avoided all eye contact with Frank. A steady piano opened the song as “Brother” filled the room. Frank stayed silent for a few seconds, before he began to subtly move to the music. His face was tensed as he concentrated on the lyrics.
/And brother if you have the chance to pick me up/
“Mikey?”
“Yeah.”
Frank sighed and sat next to Gerard on the bed.
“This is really good Gee. You’re so fucking talented.”
And that was it. That was all it took for Gerard to start crying right there and then.
“Woah woah hey! What’s up? Why are you crying?”
“’Cause I miss you.”
Gerard finally made eye contact Frank. They both stared into each other’s eyes. Tears fell down Gerard’s cheek in web-like lines. Choking through the tears Gerard managed to whisper out while looking at Frank pleadingly:
“” I missed you too”
Frank cupped Gerard’s face into his hands and pushed their lips together. The kiss was gentle and spread warmth throughout their bodies. It felt like time had stopped, as they were destined to stay like this for eternity. Their lips pressed together as Frank wiped the tears away from Gerard’s face. Gerard’s hands slowly moved to the back of Frank’s neck and stroked his hair. However, after what seemed like an eternity they both pulled away. Frank reached for Gerard’s hand and squeezed it, before kissing the top of his head, getting up and leaving. Frank walked out of the house and called for a taxi to pick him up. As he walked away he turned back and looked at the house once before he began grinning like an idiot.
Gerard was left sat in a state of bliss. He realised now what he had been missing. It was Frank. It was his best friends who he loved with all his fucking heart. Not loved in the way he would leave Lynz and run away into the sunset with Frank, but loved that if Frank had never been in his life he didn’t know that he would still be here today. Gerard brought his hands to his lips and picked up Frank’s crumpled up t-shirt from the floor and held it against his chest. Gerard stayed like this for a few minutes before, reaching into his bag and collecting his notepad. He scribbled down some lyrics and smiled.
Do you miss me?
‘Cause I miss you
Do you miss me?
‘Cause I miss you too