Gerard loved Christmas, it was by far his favorite holiday. His dad always made tree shaped pancakes and decorated them like trees using frosting. It wasn't the healthiest meal but damn it tasted good. Then they would all open presents and just hang out around the house all day in their pajamas. They always ate steak for dinner and then stayed up late watching Christmas movies together.

"Good morning, boys," Donna said when Gerard and Mikey walked down into the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?"

Donna didn't get much time off from her work, she was grateful that she got the day off on Christmas to spend some time with her sons.

"Good," mikey said.

"Merry christmas," she said, giving them both hugs.

"Merry Christmas, mom," Gerard said.

They all sat down and ate happily.

"So, Gerard, how are things going with Frank?" Donna asked.

"They're good, other than those stupid notes," he said.

"And what about you and that other girl, Mikey?" Donald asked.

"Girl? What girl?" Donna asked.

"Mikey went on a date with a girl from school," Donald said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. "You should have taken pictures for me. I missed your first date!"

"Don't worry, mom, I stalked them and took secret photos of them for you," Gerard said.

"Did you really?" Mikey gasped.

"No, no, of course not, that's just weird," Gerard said.

"I'm sorry I missed it," Donna said. "Hopefully I'll get to meet her. And I still haven't met Frank, Gerard."

Gerard just shrugged, taking a bite of his sugary pancakes.

"Maybe I can try and invite him over later, he doesn't usually do much for Christmas," Gerard said.

"That sounds nice, maybe him and his family can come over for dinner and watch movies with us," Donna suggested.

Gerard nodded, going to the fridge to get some juice. They finished eating and sat in the living room, opening gifts that their mom insisted was from Santa. The gifts mostly consisted of clothes and books, exactly what both boys wanted.

They helped clean up the wrapping paper before Gerard went upstairs. He wasn't sure if he should call Frank or not, he didn't want to disrupt him if he was doing something. He decided to send him a quick text before laying on his bed.

Gerard: Hey, do you and your mom wanna come over for dinner and to watch movies?

He sighed, looking at Mikey, who was adding his new books onto his shelf. It had to be in alphabetical order by author's last name, Mikey wouldn't have it any other way.

"Have you asked Kristin out for the second date yet?" Gerard asked.

"No," Mikey said. "I'm waiting for the right time."

"Don't wait too long," he recommended.

Frank: sure, we would love to come over

Gerard: good, come over at like five or something and wear pajamas

Gerard sat up and went downstairs to find his mom.

"They said they would come over," Gerard told her. "Will you help me wrap Frank's present?"

"What'd you get him?" Donna asked.

"A guitar," Gerard said.

Gerard knew that he promised no gifts but when he saw the guitar seventy-five percent off at the thrift store he just couldn't help himself.

"You're gonna have to learn how to wrap presents yourself, I won't always be able to do it for you," she said.

Gerard nodded and she taught him how to wrap the gift. He could hardly wait all day and as soon as Frank came over, he tackled him in a hug. The parents all gave their friendly introductions before heading to the kitchen. That left frank and Gerard alone in the living room.

"I got you something," Gerard said.

"We agreed on no gifts," Frank said.

Gerard handed him the box, a huge grin on his face.

"This is big," Frank said. "Gerard, come on. You know I don't like gifts."

"You can hate me all you want but just open it up first," he said.

Frank sighed and unwrapped the gift, freezing when he saw what it was.

"A guitar?" He asked. "Y-you bought me my first guitar?"

"You like it?" Gerard asked.

Frank looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Gerard, this is amazing," he whispered. "I-I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to," he said. "This is an apology gift to make up for all the bullshit that we've both had to put up with because of the notes. And as an apology for lindsey being a bitch to you."

Frank pulled the acoustic guitar out of the box, strumming it a couple of times.

"Gerard, oh my god, this is seriously the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," he said. "I-I don't even know what to say. This is...holy shit."

"I'm glad that you like it," Gerard said.

Frank nodded, giving him a soft kiss.

"Boys! Dinner!" Donna called.

They went to the kitchen, all sitting around the table.

"Thank you for inviting us over," Linda said.

"Of course, I just hope we didn't interrupt any plans that you might have had," Donna said.

"Honestly, we aren't too big on holidays," she said. "But it's so nice to finally meet you, Gerard has been such a sweetheart."

"He always is," she said, smiling proudly at her son.

Donald passed out plates and Frank looked like he might pass out at the large piece of reddish steak on his plate.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I forgot to say that Frank is a vegetarian," Gerard said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, hon," Donna said. "We still have the vegetables and mashed potatoes and if you want I can warm something up for you. We have some tofu I can cook up in just a few minutes."

"No, it's okay," Frank said. "I-I've kind of lost my appetite, anyways."

They ate quietly and Frank poked at his green beans, which were on a new, clean plate. It was mostly the adults who talked, having their quiet, polite conversations. Everyone moved to the living room and watched Christmas movies until it grew late.

"I need to get going, I have my shift starting at midnight," Linda said. "Come on, Frankie, let's go."

"He's allowed to stay the night, if he wants," Donna offered.

"Can I, mom, please?" Frank asked.

"Alright, I will see you tomorrow, then," Linda said. "Call me if you need anything."

Frank nodded, giving her a hug before she left.

"I think we should all call it a night," Donna said.

Everyone went upstairs to their rooms and Mikey sighed.

"I don't wanna sleep in the same room as you two, you're gross together," he said. "I'm gonna go sleep on the pull out couch in the basement."

"Alright, have fun," Gerard said.

Mikey grabbed a change of clothes before going downstairs. Gerard gave Frank a change of clothes, turning around so he could change. They climbed into bed together, smiling happily.

"I'm really sorry, by the way, that I didn't get you anything," Frank mumbled.

"No, no, you don't have to worry," Gerard dismissed. "This is just an apology gift, I told you that. Just an apology. For all the shitty notes and you getting pulled into the police station and for Lindsey being a bitch."

Frank sighed, resting his head on Gerard's shoulder.

"Sorry about dinner, I forgot to tell my parents that you were a vegetarian," he said.

"No, it's okay," Frank said.

"Guess I've got a lot to be sorry for," Gerard mumbled.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything," Frank stated.

Gerard pulled Frank close, giving him a soft kiss.

"Although, I am starting to get a little bit hungry," Frank said.

Gerard smiled and took his hand, sneaking down to the kitchen. They found a bag of chips and sat together on the floor as they ate. Gerard noticed that Frank was pretty quiet the entire time, he had been rather quiet all evening.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, of course," Frank said.

"You just seem somewhat quiet," he said. "I don't know, I just wanna make sure that everything is okay with you. We have both been going through a lot recently with all these threats."

"It's nothing, it's just that holidays in my house aren't the greatest ever since my dad left," Frank said. "So, basically my whole life. I know that holidays really upset my mom so thank you for inviting us over. It's a better change than our usual Christmas evening."

"Which is?" Gerard asked.

Frank sighed. "Board games, chinese takeout, old dvds."

"Your mom works on Christmas?" Gerard asks.

"Yeah but she usually tries to get the night shifts so that way she gets to spend the day with me," he said.

"Does she always work holidays?" He asked.

"Yeah but on Thanksgiving it's cool because she works until the evening and they let her bring home two meals for free for the both of us," Frank said. "And on Halloween she works the day shift and that night we always dress up in costumes and eat my discount cake with friends while we pass out candy."

"Well, I'm sure my parents would love having you guys over for more holidays," Gerard said. "They seem to really like you and your mom."

Frank smiled, eating quietly.

"Are you nervous about seeing your dad?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah," Frank sighed. "It always sucks being there. My stepbrothers are total twerps, they love to pull pranks on me. It is the worst."

"Does your mom know that you hate going there?" Gerard asked.

"She knows it's not my favorite but I try not to complain to her too much because I don't want to put that stress on her," he said. "It's part of the custody agreement, I go there for birthday and Christmas."

Gerard nodded, holding his hand.

"You know that I'll always be here for you if you want to complain about your dad, right?" He asked and Frank nodded. "Or complain about anything else, for that matter."

"Speaking of wanting to complain, anymore letters?" Frank asked.

"Nope, none at all," Gerard said. "I would hope that this person has backed off but, honestly, it's only been a few days so I can't really tell. Whoever this is, they are just plain irritating."

"Has Detective Orzechowski given you any sort of update?" Frank asked.

"Nothing so far," Gerard mumbled. "And that creep is still out there, probably staring at us through one of the windows right now."

"Ugh, don't say that, that just gives me the creeps," Frank said. "Honestly, half the time that we're together it feels like someone is watching us."

Gerard noticed that Frank's fingers were bandaged up and he frowned.

"Hey, what happened?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing, it's a long story," Frank said.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking down at his lap.

"You getting tired?" Gerard asked. "We could head up to bed, if you want."

Frank nodded and Gerard put the chips away before leading him upstairs to bed. They laid together in the dark, listening to the clock on the dresser tick quietly.

"You would tell me if something was wrong, right?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Frank said. "It's just that thinking about my dad usually gets me kind of upset."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you by bringing up your dad," Gerard said. "Another reason for the apology gift."

"You don't need to apologize," he said with a soft chuckle. "Gerard, I really like being with you, no matter what. You don't need to get me apology gifts for working with the police or for talking to your rude ex-girlfriend."

"Maybe I can make it up to you some other way," Gerard said, his finger running over the waistband of Frank's pajama pants.

"No, no," Frank said with a small chuckle, brushing his hand away. "That sounds really nice and all but I'm tired."

Gerard smiled, kissing Frank's forehead. The two curled up together and fell asleep under the covers.