Seventeen.

"You mentioned you'd had girlfriends before" I spoke quietly, not wanting to ruin the calm and tranquil mood that had settled around us as we lay under the sheet in his bed, curled up together in what resembled a protective ball "Was it serious?"

"The girl I lost my virginity to wasn't" He sighed "Her name was Katie and we sat next to each other in art class. We became good friends and things sort of escalated between us. She was looking for someone that she could let out her hormones on, and I wasn't exactly objecting to the whole thing. I started to fall for her right after we first slept together, but then she found herself a proper boyfriend. I think she just fucked me because she didn't want to still be a virgin when she turned seventeen. Shallow reason, I know."

"You deserved a better first time than that" I frowned, hating the idea of someone just using him for sex and then chucking him away like leftovers. "Did you have sex with anyone else?" I hoped that someone else had managed to show him that he was someone to be appreciated and desired, not just a piece on the side.

"Yeah, I had a serious girlfriend for two years called Skye. We got very close very quickly, and in the end it was just too much for us both when we were so young and about to go in different directions. She was off to Dallas to study Drama and pursue a career starring in musicals and if she was lucky, TV. Whilst I was off to train for this career. It never would have worked out, and although it was hard to break up, it was the right thing to do. I think, looking back, she felt like more of a best friend to me than anything else."

"Did you love her?"

"I'm not sure. I think I might have. Definitely as a friend, but I think possibly as more too. It's hard to distinguish the two of them sometimes. But I was definitely attracted to her." He traced patterns into my bare back as he spoke, smiling every time I shivered.

"So you're bisexual" I nodded "At least you get the best of both worlds, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so" he chuckled "I didn't even realise until I met you. And from that moment I knew that I couldn't be a hundred percent straight, because every time I saw you my stomach felt funny and there were all these inappropriate thoughts clouding my head..."

"Tell me about it. It wasn't exactly on my to do list to get involved with a priest" I sighed into the crook of his neck "But here we are. Man, would I like to see the look on James face if he could see us right now."

"Don't even joke about him finding out" He shuddered "I hate to think what would happen."

"I think the phrase you're looking for is a complete and utter shitstorm" I giggled, despite how serious the threat was "Good job we're not going to get caught together, huh?"

"Yeah" I heard the nerves in his voice "I hope so."

"Hey" I leaned up so I was looking him the eye "I'm not going to tell anyone. None of my friends will know, okay? Not a single person. As long as nobody else knows, no matter how much we trust them, then it'll never get out. You can keep your questionably-suited job and I can keep the tiny shred of freedom I still hold on to."

"You can't let James and Isabel get suspicious. Keep pretending you hate coming to church, keep going home with a scowl and a sour attitude. And when we're around them at church just treat me normally."

"Don't worry, they think I have a girlfriend anyway" I shrugged, making him furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

"But I thought you told them you were-"

"I did, they just believe what they want to see. And all they see at the moment is that I stood up for my friend Lynz, who happens to be female, and they've made their own assumptions as to why I helped her. Granted, I let them, but they were the ones that pieced together the story."

"I guess that would probably work in our favour. Just be careful about how many lies you spin them Frank, I don't want them catching up with you."

"They won't, I'm a natural when it comes to lying and deceiving people" I sighed with content, making him laugh, his whole upper stomach vibrating with each chuckle.

"Remind me to never get on the wrong side of you."

"Nah, Just underneath me."

He rolled us so he was leaning down over a me, a smirk on his face as he leaned closer, bringing his lips dangerously close to mine "You're going to get me in so much trouble one of these days, Frank Iero."

"Better make it worth your while then" I mumbled before he started to kiss me again. It was slower than before, but that didn't mean it made my heart pound any less. With each pull of my lower lip my hands got more tangled into his hair. The fact that there was so much skin-on-skin contact throughout our bodies just made it even better, with the sheet wrapped around us like some sort of bubble of privacy away from the world.

We were interrupted, however, by the shrill noise of a phone ringing. I didn't recognise my own ring tone, so I just gently let go of Gerard and watched him lean out over the end of the bed and fish his phone out of his jeans. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the view I got when he leaned over. His skin was this ultra pale colour which made me wonder if he'd even seen a sun bed before in his life. Coming from New Jersey to England, the answer was probably no.

"Hey Brian" He answered the phone, and I remembered with a jolt that Brian was the other priest at the church, the one due back in a few weeks. The man that Gerard was learning all his experience from, ready for when he could run a church all by himself. If you asked me, he was more than ready, but then what would I know about priests? Except how to seduce them, that is.

"Yeah I sent them off, stop worrying" He said in a light, carefree tone, but I could see from the way he buried himself back underneath the sheets that he wasn't that comfortable talking to him right after he'd just finished having sex with a seventeen year old boy. "Yes, all the papers are done. Seriously Brian, i've got everything under control."

I should probably try harder to keep my mischievous side at bay, but I just couldn't resist crawling closer to Gerard. He was distractedly listening to Brian talk, so just flung an arm around my shoulder without really looking at me. It was only when my hand started to slide up his leg that he took in a sharp intake of breath, looking over at me with wide eyes. I just smirked and let my hand rest right at the top of his thigh, daring him with my eyes to let me go further.

"Y-yeah" He tried desperately to concentrate on Brian "Yes, I've done it. Do you know exactly when you're heading back? You're coming home early? How early? Oh okay, so two weeks today - ah!" He let out a gasp when my hand closed around his dick, unable to help himself. "Oh, yeah, I thought I saw a mouse, that's all. No! No just my mind playing tricks on me" He bit his lip and grabbed at the sheets with his free hand when I started to pump my hand up and down, watching him shiver beneath me "Look, I better get going. This is probably costing you a bomb. Speak to you soon though yeah? Okay, bye."

He hung up the phone and chuckled it onto his pile of clothes before sinking back into the bed and letting out a low moan, his eyes flickering shut as I continued to play around with him. I knew he hadn't come that long ago and so probably wouldn't again so quickly, so I stopped what I was doing and instead just cuddled closer to him, the smirk still prominent on my face.

"What was I just saying about how you were going to get me in so much trouble?" He opened one eye to look down at me with a bemused expression.

"What? The part where you grinned and totally accepted it?"

"Yeah well somehow I don't think your aunt and uncle would be so accepting if you turn up late tonight. It's already gone five, you know" He'd obviously checked his phone for the time when he answered it.

"Can't I stay a little longer?" I groaned, burying myself into the pillows. The time had gone way too fast for my liking, and I simply wanted to stay and lie in the bed with Gerard for the rest of the night.

"Nope, we don't want them to get suspicious" He sighed "I don't like it either, but it's the way it has to be for now."

"Fuck society" I grumbled, pulling myself to the edge of the bed where I started to pull my boxers and jeans back on "They ruin all my fun."

"Mine too sugar" He sighed. "But we'll find a way around it eventually. We've just gotta wait it out and go careful."

"It still sucks" I stood up and watched him do the same, just pulling his jeans on and not bothering with his underwear. Should that turn me on as much as it did? I'd have to mention that to him another time when I wasn't scrambling around, trying to find various pieces of clothing that had been chucked across the room.

"Come on, I'll help you find your stuff" He chuckled, leading me out the bedroom "I think you're t-shirt is still in the kitchen." Sure enough, when we got downstairs I found my last piece of clothing and reluctantly pulled it on, turning to see him waiting for me in the doorway.

"I can't make tomorrow" He sighed with reluctance "But the day after will be fine if you want to come round again. You still have my number, right?"

"Yep" I tapped my phone, which was still in my jean pocket "just text me or something."

"Okay" he pulled me in for one last kiss, this one softer and slightly more innocent than the ones we'd shared upstairs "I'll miss you, you know. You have this way or making me feel on top of the world, and not just when we have sex either."

"I'll miss you too" I gave him a soft smile "You make all the bullshit in my life fade away for a bit."

"Glad to be of use" we'd made it to the front door by this point.

"Oh, you're always of use" I winked at him before opening the door and stepping outside. When i got to the end of the path I checked both ways, glad to see the street was void of people before I headed off in the general direction of home, trying to make the smile that was radiating from my face turn back into it's usual scowl, ready for when I got back.

"Hey" I yelled, slamming the door behind me and kicking off my shoes. Ray smiled up at me from where he sat sitting on the sofa, a textbook balanced on his lap and a pencil sticking out from behind his ear.

"Hey" he smiled back "How was church today?" James looked up from where he was sitting and glanced wearily between the two of us.

"Fine thanks" I ignored him, even when he tried to catch my eye or give me a look that told me he obviously disapproved of me conversing with his son. He'd just have to deal with it - I wasn't going to stop just because it would make him feel better about what he was exposing Ray too. Honestly, Ray wasn't even that found of him anyway. "The normal stuff. Sorting through books, Gerard was busy with the school applications-"

"Frank why don't you see if your aunt needs a hand with anything?" James cut me off with a cold stare.

"I'm good here thanks" I sat down on the chair opposite Ray and pulled my phone out, half heartedly scrolling through my messages to see if Pete had any news. He just said that he and his friend Joe were going to see Foo Fighters and how he wished he was going with me too. I told him to have a great time and try and catch a pick for me, to which he told me in no uncertain terms that if he caught Dave Grohl's guitar pick that there was no way in hell that he would give it up and send it to me, best friend or not. That made me chuckle to myself.

"Frank?" I looked up to see Isabel in the doorway, the phone in her hands "Your parents are on the phone, they want to talk to you."

"What do they want?" I narrowed my eyes, not sure if I even wanted to talk to the people that had sent me packing across the Atlantic ocean so I could become someone else's problem and they could relax and have some time without me.

"To talk to you of course" She sighed, rolling her eyes "And every minute we spend standing here talking about it is money they're wasting calling us" She held the phone out and I eyed it wearily. From the way her and James were looking at me I knew I was expected to take it and act like a well behaved son.

I glanced over at Ray, who gave me an encouraging nod. I knew what he was trying to tell me - just take the phone, it's easier if you just take the phone and talk to them, even if not for long. He had a point, it would just create unnecessary drama otherwise.

"Fine" I grumbled, and grabbed the phone, exiting the room so neither of them could overhear my conversation. "Hello?" I asked in a snappy tone as I climbed the stairs, sitting down on the end of my bed and shutting the door behind me.

"Frank, how are you?" My mother's voice floated through the phone. My parents had that system where they could both have a phone each and talk to the person on the other end together, so I heard a small hello come from my dad at the same time.

"Alright. What do you want?"

"To check up on you of course" She spoke as if everything was fine between us, as if we were the best of friends and our relationship wasn't on the rocks. "We haven't heard from you in two weeks and we wanted to know how you were doing."

"So you wanted to check I was behaving and haven't burned the place to ashes yet" I rolled my eyes, seeing right through their behaviour for what it was. They felt guilty for making my aunt take me in and deal with all the problems and issues that came with me, so now they were phoning to check that they hadn't had enough of me already (which they probably had) and that I hadn't already been sent to jail.

And people wondered why I didn't miss them.

"Can you really blame us for being worried?" My dad asked, at least he was being honest with me "with a record like yours, we have every right to be worried about you playing up and causing greif for your aunt and uncle."

"What I do isn't your problem anymore."

"It's always our problem - you're our son" He snapped back.

"You don't act like I am" I grumbled "I'm the pest that needed removing. Well congratulations, consider me removed from your lives permanently."

"Don't act like that. The move has done you good. There's nothing new on your record and Isabel said you were settling in okay. Apparently you've even got a girlfriend" my mom definitely sounded happy about that last part. She hadn't been angry when I'd told her that I thought i was Bi, maybe even gay, but she hadn't been particularly thrilled either.

"I guess so..." I hadn't wanted them to find out about that little lie too, but then I guess it was going to happen at some point.

"That's great news Frank" She enthused "You see? I knew this move would do you good."

"Don't pretend like you did this for me. You did this for you because you didn't want to be the one held responsible for bad parenting anymore. You were bored of the looks you got when people found out I was your son so you sent me packing and just let me become someone else's problem. You're only calling me now because you feel guilty for throwing away your only child" I all but spat into the phone, letting everything that had been building up inside me over the past week come flooding out.

"Frank-" my dad started.

"Don't even talk to me. I don't want your pity calls. Goodbye" I hung up and let the phone drop onto my bed, not caring if the others heard me yelling before. I felt better now that i'd had a go at them both, even if I had upset them. Maybe it was Gerard that enhanced my don't-give-a-fuck attitude. The fact that they'd sent me here to get away from trouble, and yet I was already in deeper shit than they could ever imagine was somewhat ironic to me.

In fact, just thinking about what they'd say if I told them i'd just fucked a priest was enough to make me laugh quietly to myself.

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This update was fuelled by crown the empire.

~ Headfirst for Helena