Chapter 8

It was just another Saturday; a Saturday like any other. Gerard had the afternoon shift so he got to sleep until late while Jesus got the morning shift and they switched at one in the afternoon, sometimes they even had lunch together, when there were no customers and work was slow.

Gerard liked Jesus.

Jesus was a man in his mid-twenties, with long brown hair and a pretty thick beard which Gerard envied, not that he would ever admit it out loud. They shared a strong passion for Grant Morrisson and Madonna, so they enjoyed their conversations whenever they saw each other.

Despite his name, Jesus was not religious, and neither were his parents. But he did look a bit like the religious figure, with his matching brown eyes and his slightly dark skin, as well as his Hispanic accent, because contrary to popular belief, the so called real Jesus was not a white man.

This Jesus, Gerard's Jesus, was quite a hippie- Mikey's words, not Gerard's. He was always wearing baggy clothing and no socks, and Mikey also accused him of smelling and not taking baths. Clearly, Mikey wasn't Jesus' biggest fan. The guy was even more often than not bringing in flowers he had picked up on his way to work and set them on the counter or around the library. Gerard thought Jesus was quite rad.

He was vegan and was always on time, and yeah, maybe he smelled like weed some days of the week, but his Dad was a friend of Gerard's father, and Jesus himself was Gerard's friend (Acquaintance? Colleague?).

Anyways, that day was like any other Saturday: Gerard woke up super early, meaning at eleven in the morning, took a quick shower, brushed his teeth as he peed and then got changed. His outfit that day consisted simply of a black shirt and grey sweatpants which said 'Supernatural' on the side. Because he had to represent the love he felt for the Winchesters... Perhaps more like represent his love for Jensen Ackles face. Black converse and his white hair were the same as daily.

Brushing his teeth was pretty much useless, since when he got downstairs he grabbed the brown bag on the counter top, which undoubtedly held a grilled cheese inside, and walked outside to have lunch with Jesus.

His Dad was most likely already at the shop, and Mikey being Mikey was sleeping, and he wouldn't wake up until at least four o'clock. Their Mom worked on Saturdays, so he could guess where she was. With his phone tucked safely in his pocket, Gerard marched outside and into The Way To Go, grinning at Jesus, who was already behind the counter, arranging the stray flowers of the day in front of himself.

But when Jesus saw Gerard and the latter opened his mouth to greet him, he was interrupted.

"There's a boy who asked for you, he's in the library, basically eating all our Stephen King section. He has a chill vibe though, you should go," Jesus said, motioning to the little library section. Gerard looked over, having a strong idea of who that boy could be. Gerard placed his brown paper bag on the counter, careful not to squish any little flowers. Jesus continued, "Here, picked this one for you,"

With a lopsided smile, Jesus handed him a yellow little flower, which was already dying and decaying from having been plucked off the ground, but Gerard appreciated the gesture. After thanking Jesus, he shuffled towards the bookcases that made up the walls of the library.

He quickly spotted Frank, who was curled up on one of the brown sofas the store provided, his brow furrowed and his nose almost pressed to the book. From his place, Gerard could see it was one of Stephen King's longest novels. Frank's thumb was caught between his lips, teeth gnawing at the black nail polish on it, looking deep into his lecture. Gerard almost didn't want to interrupt him; he looked perfect for a picture, or to draw, or something. Gerard guessed the least creepy thing he would be able to do was memorize the image, for Frank looked like an adorable toddler with his feet raised on the seat and knees pressed against his ribcage.

Before he could let his presence be known, Frank's head snapped towards him, face almost lighting up at the sight of Gerard.

"Gerard!" He exclaimed happily, and immediately straightened up, sitting properly on the seat, book forgotten on his lap. "Didn't really know when your shifts are, so I decided to drop by but you weren't here, and then I got caught up reading Carrie, one thing led to another and I moved on to It,"

Frank's grin was quite contagious, but Gerard managed to resist, except for the small tug at the corners of his mouth. Gerard remained quiet, his eyes scanning Frank's face much like the shorter boy's were. Gerard still didn't know if he was being checked out, but he sure as fuck was checking Frank out. His eyes moved with Frank as he got up and left the book on the chair he was previously sat on, walking towards Gerard and eyeing the yellow flower in his grasp.

"No way, you even brought me flowers? You sure we aren't boyfriends? Because it seems like it, Gee-boy- Look! We even have nicknames for each other; we must be like everyone's relationship goals, with how cute we both are and everything,"

Gerard blushed and held his hand up— sure enough, the flower Jesus had previously given him was there. Though he still didn't get why Frank was flirting with him so much (was it even flirting? Gerard was quite sure close friends didn't refer to themselves as boyfriends), but Frank was damn cute, and Gerard was going to take advantage of that, even if Frank was joking around, which was Gerard's biggest concern: that Frank's flirting had all been one huge joke, and when he attempted to flirt back he would be laughed and pointed at.

While this all ran through his mind, Gerard felt a pair of fingers press against his glabella, smoothing out the wrinkles that formed when he furrowed his eyebrows. Prior to that, he hadn't even noticed he was so deep in thought, furrowing his brow and everything. He relaxed his face, and watched as Frank took the little flower from his bigger hand and tucked it into his own hair, right above his left ear.

Frank put his hands under his chin, making an innocent face, "How adorable do I look?"

"Very," Gerard stuttered out. He said awkwardly, resisting the urge to scratch the back of his neck, a habit he had when he was feeling awkward or shy or both at the same time. He wasn't the best at flirting, "You look pretty adorable,"

"Awww, aren't you the cutest," Frank giggled. Gerard decided he liked the sound of Frank laughing. The short boy was quickly crawling under his skin, and the fact that he was attractive, quirky, quite funny made it pretty impossible not to start -slowly but surely- developing a crush on him. When Frank continued laughing at the whole situation, a small smile appeared on Gerard's lips, and he ducked his head, looking at Frank's dirty Vans instead of at his face. His fringe was long gone, so he had no hair to hide behind, and when he looked up when Frank's laughter died out, his gaze was met with the short boy's.

Gerard cleared his throat and looked away quickly.

"You're pretty adorable yourself, you know? Wait, no, scratch that, beautiful, the word I'm looking for is beautiful," Frank smiled, and Gerard's cheeks tinted red once more, though he raised his head and forced his eyes to remain on Frank.

"Is this all some kind of joke?"

He asked softly, but Frank looked taken aback: "A joke? What, me saying you're beautiful? All a hundred percent true, Gee-boy. I find you rather attractive, and, if you haven't guessed by my multiple flirting attempts, I'm romantically interested in you. I don't know if you are, but either way, you're fun to be around, and though I would really like for us to be more than friends, I'm cool with just hanging out,"

He finished with a shrug, and looked away from Gerard, whose face was beet red. Short, cute guy wanted to date Gerard? Well, he hadn't specified, but he wanted to be Gerard's... romantic interest? Gerard would love that. Frank continued talking before Gerard could come up with a response.

"God, you're really pretty,"

Gerard was basically a puddle on the floor. He really couldn't help himself, and since he wasn't good with words or speaking, he did the next best thing, which was completely out of his comfort zone and surprised even himself; Gerard stepped forward and closed his eyes, awkwardly placing his lips onto Frank's and hoping for the best.

They stood there for a second: it was their first proper kiss, since Frank's little pecks on the corner of Gerard's lips didn't really count, like, at all.

Frank's eyes were wide open for a mere moment, looking at Gerard's closed lids, before he relaxed into the kiss and let one of his hands cup the side of Gerard's face, while the latter's hung awkwardly at his sides. Frank let his other hand bunch the material of Gerard's shirt in a loose fist, though didn't try to deepen the kiss or move things forward. He had to stand on the tips of his toes to comfortably reach Gerard's lips, but he didn't mind, not even one little bit. Frank was content with just having their mouths pressed together in the middle of the library.

When they had to reluctantly pull away (because it would be kind of weird if they had just stood there with their mouths pressed against each other's for two long minutes), Frank let a smile slip onto his face, while Gerard, being Gerard, blushed slightly.

"So, that was nice," Frank commented casually with a laugh, and didn't miss Gerard's own snort of laughter, and the grin that spread over his adorable features. The white-haired boy's hand came up to re-tuck the falling flower behind Frank's ear, since it was threatening to slip off and onto the floor.

"Yeah, nice,"

--

"What the fuck, Gerard,"

Mikey was usually a very understanding person. Despite his ever-present poker face, Mikey was patient and kind to everyone, for he had become the 'psychologist' friend of his group; you know, the one that all their friends come to when they are having an existential crisis or a panic attack or just need to rant to someone. Mikey was your typical 'I'm here if you need to talk', and that was always taken advantage of.

Not that he disliked it, because he did love being able to help his friends and family -because Gerard often came to him for advice, despite being the older sibling.

He did let himself be a bit more direct and literal towards his brother Gerard, and said what he thought, with no such thing as a mouth-to-filter feature.

The Way brothers were standing in the shop alone, no customers in sight, in that warm Saturday afternoon. Jesus was long gone, as was Frank, and when Mikey had rolled in, demanding to be entertained, Gerard thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to tell him what had happened with Frank, everything from catching him tagging to the kiss that very same day. Because after their encounter at the cinema, Mikey was unable to get a single word from Gerard about the matter.

"So, you like him?"

Gerard shrugged, "Yeah, I guess... He's pretty cute, and annoying in the most adorable ways. He also said he wanted to be with me- well, not literally, but he said he found me adorable and that he flirted with me all the time because he, like, like he likes me? That's a lot of 'like' in one sentence, geez- Oh! Did I tell you that he had even tucked the flower behind his—"

"Way too many times, Gerard," Mikey interrupted him, looking annoyed. "I love you and all, but there was no need to gush about how attractive and into horror books he is for like two hours, you could've just gotten straight to the point. I swear I will choose to be deaf, like those people who choose to be mute? Like they choose not to talk, y'know? Pete's friend did that for like a year, it sounds so deep-"

"Mikey, what the Hell, you can't choose to be deaf, that's not the same," Gerard shook his head as Mikey narrowed his eyes and then shrugged.

"Whatever. Anyways, I'd say go for it, not that you came to me for advice on that, but I mean, if he no one ever finds out he vandalized the store, I say there's no harm in dating him, or making out with him, or fucking him- oh God, I'm scarring myself what the fuck," Mikey shuddered as para Gerard daydreamed about Frank.

--
21/3: when did this story turn into a meme tf

oh hi past me lmfao

it appears to be my birthday, yet this is my gift to u ¡!!¡ thats why i didnt update earlier :D also i should rlly continue writing this story, i only got 2 more pre-written chapters lmfao

i send love and shitty smut,
-blue