Even though Mikey's apartment building wasn't that far of a walk - maybe fifteen minutes at the most under ideal conditions, Frank was exhausted already from carrying most of Mikey's weight on his shoulders, and they had barely even made it halfway.

Frank had plenty of practice dragging his own drunk ass home after a long night, but this was the first time he had ever had to take into account someone else who was in a worse state then him, and Mikey wasn't drunk, which was something he kept having to remind himself of.

Mikey had been silent for over five minutes now, and Frank was really beginning to worry about him. Even though he had assured Frank numerous times that he would be fine after a few hours, Frank wasn't so certain.

What if he really was suffering from an overdose, and Frank just didn't realize it. He didn't have any previous experience with drugs, so he wouldn't be able to recognize the signs of one if that was indeed the case, so he just had to hope that Mikey was right about this.

"Come on Mikey, talk to me," Frank huffed out, needing to make sure that he hadn't passed out on him or something, even though his feet were still stumbling along lazily, which meant he had to be at least partially conscious.

"What do you want me to say?" Mikey mumbled softly, and Frank exhaled a sigh of relief at the fact that Mikey was still semi-functioning.

"I don't care, anything really. Tell me something I don't know about you," Frank shrugged. That was a pretty broad topic since he had only met Mikey a few hours ago, so that should give him plenty of options.

"I used to be in a band," Mikey sighed out after another minute of nothing but Frank's heavy breathing and their echoing footfalls resounding down the quiet street.

"Oh yeah? Were you any good?" Frank had to admit that the fact that Mikey was a musician made him even hotter in his eyes, but now was not the time for those thoughts.

"Yeah man, I think we were pretty decent, even though that might make me sound stuck up or something," Mikey chuckled dryly.

"What were you called?" Frank asked, trying to keep Mikey's attention on their conversation, and not on how far they still had to go.

"My Chemical Romance. I thought of the name actually, it was the title of some book I saw when I worked at Barnes and Noble, and I always loved it. So when my brother came to me with this crazy idea to get a band together, I suggested it, and he went for it."

"Hmm...I haven't heard of you guys, but I'm more of a classic rock guy myself. What instrument did you play?" Talking with Mikey was actually doing a good job of distracting Frank from his aching limbs and Mikey's dead weight, not to mention he was genuinely interested in Mikey's band.

"I was the bass player, I taught myself just so I could be in the band - dropped out of college and everything for it, and then Gerard goes and ends it before we barely even got started." Mikey's words were laced with venom, and Frank winced in sympathy. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to have your band break up, but from the way Mikey was reacting just from talking about it, it really fucking sucked.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did he call it off?" Frank could sense that this was something Mikey would never talk about when sober, especially not to a complete stranger, but Frank was truly curious about what had happened.

"I don't even know...it was so unexpected. The band was his baby; he created it, and then one day, out of the blue, he says it's over. I mean, yeah - a lot of shit happened, and we were all getting pretty fucked up, but breaking up the band only made it worse in my opinion," Mikey scoffed angrily, and even though Frank really wanted to know more, they had finally made it to the apartment complex that Mikey had said he lived in, which was called Synergy Gardens, whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean.

"Hey Mikey, we are here. Which one do you live in?" Frank really hoped that Mikey would remember, because this place was huge, and it wasn't just one large building with different levels. It had numerous sections to it that sprawled all over the place, and Frank didn't even see a front office where he could ask for help.

"The number is 515, but they don't do it by floors or whatever, it's just kinda random. If this is the front gate, we need to follow this road for a bit." Mikey pointed to his left, and Frank trudged along in the direction Mikey said, hoping his navigation skills were still functioning, because his legs were getting really fucking tired.

"Now what?" Frank gasped out when the road ended in a sort of cul-de-sac, forcing Frank to pause as Mikey gathered his bearings.

"Just walk up that path, and then it's the building on our left. It's on the second floor, three or four doors in I think."

"Okay - fuck that's a lot of stairs..." Frank groaned when he caught sight of the metal steps they would have to climb to reach the second level. It could have been worse though, so Frank was grateful that Mikey didn't live on the top floor at least. There was probably an elevator around here somewhere, but Frank was too exhausted to waste the effort looking for one.

"I know, I'm so sorry Frank. I haven't said thank you enough for this," Mikey huffed out, and Frank noticed that he was supporting himself a little better now, even though he was still leaning on Frank pretty heavily.

"It's fine dude, like I said before - I like you, and there was no way I was going to leave you in the bar." Frank tried to brush it off like it was nothing, but Mikey wasn't having it.

"No, you totally should have, and I would have deserved it, but you didn't. I swear - I'm taking you out to dinner or something as an apology."

"If you want to." Frank turned his head slightly in an attempt to hide his growing blush.

"I do." Mikey grinned down at Frank when they paused momentarily to build up some energy to tackle the stairs.

"Well let's get you home first, and we can talk about dinner later," Frank smiled back before hefting Mikey into a slightly more comfortable position and tackling the first set of stairs with a renewed sense of energy brought on by Mikey's words.

After what seemed like hours of struggling up the metal stairs, but what was probably only five minutes at the most, Frank and Mikey made it to the second floor. Frank actually had to stop for a moment to catch his breath before continuing down the long hallway. He didn't think he was that out of shape, but carrying a full grown man across town was the most exercise he had participated in all year.

"Almost there," Mikey whispered, and Frank could only nod in agreement.

"515 right?" Frank asked while he glanced at the swirling numbers that decorated each door.

"Yeah, it's the next one on the left."

Sure enough, after only a few more painful steps, the door embossed with the number 515 graced Frank's vision, and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for making it this far without collapsing. Grasping the doorknob with his free hand, Frank tried to turn it, but it was locked.

"I need your key," Frank panted out as he leaned Mikey up against the wall to give his aching arms a rest, and Mikey a free hand to fish the key out with.

"Fucking hell - I don't have it...I meant to go back to Ray's after I went to the bar. All my shit is there." Mikey admitted with a guilty look on his face after patting down his pockets quickly, causing Frank to stare at him in disbelief.

"How am I supposed to get in then?" Frank groaned loudly, because there was no way he was going to walk all the way back to the front gates to try and find someone to help them, not without a quick sit down at the very least.

"Just knock; my brother should be in, he never leaves the apartment unless he has to," Mikey sighed out as he let himself slip to the ground, his gangly limbs sprawling out around him at an awkward angle.

"God I hope he's home," Frank muttered under his breath before raising his fist and rapping firmly on the door.

Luckily for him, he heard someone moving around inside, and he didn't have to wait long before the door was yanked open rather roughly by who Frank could only assume was Mikey's brother, Gerard.

And to this day, Frank had no idea what he did, or even said, when he got his first glimpse of Gerard Way, because time seemed to stop and speed up all at once. Frank felt frozen in his body, and he couldn't command it do anything besides for stand there and gaze at Gerard.

Gerard was seriously captivating, and Frank never really stood a chance. Frank had thought Mikey was cute, and he was, but Gerard was on an entirely different level. The brothers had some similarities, but the features they shared seemed to flow better on Gerard's face, and Frank actually forgot how to breathe as he continued to stare awkwardly at Gerard.

Everything about him; from his cheekbones, to his inky black hair which just barely brushed his shoulders, to his stunning hazel eyes which were flecked with green and gold, made Frank's knees go weak and his heartbeat speed up.

And even though Gerard was clothed in a ratty pair of sweatpants and a dirty white t-shirt, holding a half empty beer bottle in his hand, he pulled it off in a way that no one else could.

Gerard was just beautiful, no - that didn't even cover it, he was stunning, gorgeous even - he was too good to be real, at least in Frank's opinion, and he had the odd desire to reach out and touch him, just to make sure he wasn't some figment of his imagination that Frank had just conjured up.

But Frank couldn't move his arms, or any part of his body, just his eyes actually, which roved up and down Gerard's slim figure hungrily.

It was if the universe had paused this moment in time, just to put emphasis on the fact that Gerard was special, and important, and the world wanted to make sure Frank realized that, even though he probably would have figured that out all on his own.

Frank knew Gerard was different the second he first laid eyes on him, but he wasn't able to fathom how much. There was no way he could have discerned how truly broken Gerard was under his flawless exterior, and how much he could potentially fuck Frank up if Frank allowed him into his life.

Frank had no idea that this was the moment that would change his life forever, but it was, and if he had any clue what was about to happen, he would have ran off as fast as his shaky legs could carry him, but he didn't know - of course he didn't.

And because Frank couldn't see into the future, he didn't hightail it out of there; instead, he drank in Gerard like he was the last drop of water in a desert oasis, and it didn't matter that the alluring liquid was laced with poison, because Frank couldn't taste the deadly substance, and it was just too tempting to resist, even if he had been aware of it in the first place.

Frank was clueless about how much time had passed as stood there trying to absorb every minute detail about Gerard, but it seemed like hours had flown by, but in reality, it had probably been thirty seconds at the most.

Frank had no idea why Gerard had seized his attention so quickly, and why he couldn't stop staring at him, but he had just enough alcohol still swimming through his bloodstream not to question his strange behavior. He simply wrote it off, because Gerard was the hottest person he had ever seen in real life, so his reaction wasn't really that weird - right? It totally was, but Frank was passed the point of caring.

And a small part of his brain was screaming at him to get a grip; he had just been crushing on Mikey minutes earlier hadn't he, and if Mikey was out of his league, Gerard was so far beyond Frank's reach that they might as well live on different planets, but Frank didn't want to be logical right now. Frank wanted to take a risk, because his entire existence was filled with being responsible because his mother couldn't, and Frank was so tired of playing it safe.

And it didn't even matter that he didn't know Gerard at all, and that he might not even be gay, and that Frank was acting like a total creep, because Frank had never felt this way before about anyone, and he couldn't help but think that this is what those romance movies always tried to convey when the main characters met for the first time, but their cheesy renditions didn't do this feeling justice - not by a long shot.

Honestly, it was probably only because Gerard was gorgeous, and Frank's usual hookups were decent looking at best, and much older than him for the most part, so he had no chance - or even the desire - to ever pursue anything more with them besides for one night of pleasure, so that was a reasonable explanation for why Frank was basically falling head over heels for a guy he had only met five seconds ago.

And even though Frank knew he needed to move, or at least wave, his brain seemed disconnected from his body, and everything else besides for Gerard had become fuzzy and unimportant.

Frank's gaze kept being drawn back to his eyes; there was something about the colorful irises that made Frank want to examine them for hours so he could pick out each individual shade that was speckled throughout them. Frank was an eye man, like some people are a butt man, or a boob man - not that Frank didn't appreciate a nice butt, but Frank was a sucker for a guy with pretty eyes.

Gerard's eyes weren't just pretty though, they were something else entirely, and Frank felt the need to make up a new adjective simply to describe them. They seemed so mysterious, like all the secrets of the universe were contained inside them, if you could only find the key, and Frank wanted to know it all, even if the knowledge ended up destroying him.

But there was something darker underneath the surface, something painful and hidden that even the hazy blur of alcohol couldn't eradicate completely, and just how Frank had felt a kinship with Mikey from the start, that feeling was intensified with Gerard one thousand fold, even though he hadn't spoken one word to him, but that didn't matter right now.

And even though Frank felt like time had been suspended just for his own personal gratification, it really hadn't. In reality, he had been standing in Gerard's doorway and staring at him in the most creepy manner possible for at least a minute now, but Frank liked to believe that he maintained some composure, and actually said something decently relevant, or at least 'hey', even though he really hadn't even opened his mouth.

And when Frank finally snapped out of whatever weird haze the sight of Gerard had put him in, he realized that Gerard was too distracted by Mikey, who was still leaning against the wall weakly, to notice Frank's weird as fuck behavior, and he breathed a sigh of relief at that fact.

"Can you help me get him inside," Gerard spoke while motioning for Frank to help him get his brother up off the landing and into the house.

Those were the first words that Gerard spoke to Frank, and even though it wasn't anything profound - or even memorable, it was to Frank.

Gerard's voice was just as gorgeous as his appearance, even though it wasn't what Frank had expected. It was slightly higher pitched then Frank had imagined it would be, but it was melodic as well, strung through with a thick Jersey accent which put Frank's to shame, even though he had lived here his whole life.

Realizing he had been zoning out again, Frank jumped slightly in embarrassment before hurrying over to Mikey's side, and between him and Gerard, they easily carried the lanky man into the house.

"Fucking hell Mikes..." Gerard was muttering under his breath, and Frank wondered if he should introduce himself, or maybe he had already done that earlier, and he just couldn't remember it.

"I'm fine Gee, I just need to sleep it off. This isn't the first time this has happened," Mikey scoffed, causing Gerard to roll his eyes obnoxiously.

"Yeah I know it isn't, but that's why you should fucking quit. This stuff is going to kill you!" Gerard exclaimed angrily, but he was still gentle with Mikey as he helped him walk into the living room.

"Oh like you're one to talk," Mikey shot back, but his harsh words didn't seem to faze Gerard at all.

"This isn't about me, fuck - let's just get you in bed, we can talk about this later," Gerard sighed out in a tired tone of voice as he scooped Mikey up bridal style, setting down his bottle of beer on a nearby counter first, leaving Frank to stand there awkwardly by the couch with no idea what to do now. He didn't want to leave, not before he got a chance to speak with Gerard for a little bit, but this was obviously a private situation, and Frank didn't want to intrude.

"I - I'll just go...uh -" Frank stammered out, but his mouth snapped shut when Gerard turned around and graced Frank with those stunning eyes again.

"No, please stay. This will only be a minute. Just make yourself at home, there is beer and stuff in the fridge. I'll be right out," Gerard offered, and Frank really couldn't say no to that, so he simply nodded in acceptance before sinking down onto the couch slowly, glad for an opportunity to rest his tired legs.

Frank had to take a moment to gather his wits, so he glanced around the apartment idly in an attempt to calm himself down. It was actually a really nice place, despite the mess that was scattered around the room. Random prices of paper littered almost every surface, and on closer inspection, Frank noticed that most of them contained half-finished sketches, or scratched out words, but the majority of them had been crumpled up and tossed aside without any effort being put into placing them in a trash can.

The coffee table was almost completely covered in empty beer bottles, and even one container of absolut vodka, and Frank hoped that it was an accumulation of a couple of days of drinking, because even with Frank's high tolerance, he would probably have kidney failure if he drank that much in one night.

There was also quite a few take out containers interspersed among the alcohol, which backed up what Mikey had said before. Gerard really must not leave his apartment unless it was absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, observing his surroundings did nothing to soothe Frank's racing heart, and he was slightly worried he might pass out soon if he didn't calm himself down. He had no idea why he was feeling this way; it couldn't just be because of Gerard, that would be preposterous, it was probably just a combination of too much exertion and alcohol, because those two didn't really mix.

That wasn't to say that Gerard wasn't part of the problem - of course he was, and Frank had no idea what to do about that now that the initial feeling star struck feeling had receded slightly. Frank had a crush on Gerard, that was obvious, but just like usual, nothing could happen, because Gerard was an adult, and Frank was still technically a child, and there was no way Gerard would ever be interested in someone like him.

And even if he somehow did want to be with Frank, there was no way it could ever actually happen. Frank worked almost every evening, not to mention still attended school, and the rest of his free time was taking up by watching over his mother, which was why Frank never even considered trying to find a relationship. One night stands were all he would ever get, and Frank thought he was okay with that fact.

He could still try to hook up with Gerard though, that wasn't outside the realm of possibilities, and one night with that gorgeous man would be much better than nothing. It felt sort of strange though; Frank had been planning on sleeping with his brother only a few hours ago, and Gerard wasn't a lonely man looking for a quick fuck in a bar, so he probably wouldn't be open to the idea.

Frank's head was spinning wildly now, and he just wanted all of his confusing thoughts to shut the fuck up for a minute so he could gather his bearings and regain some semblance of the normal, in control Frank he usually was. Two cute guys shouldn't have the ability to throw his entire world into chaos, but apparently that was all it took to make Frank into a pathetic mess - not that he had been in good shape to start with tonight, but Gerard and Mikey had definitely intensified the feeling of being an absolute wreck of a person.

So Frank did the only logical thing he could think of - at least, it was logical in his fucked up mind, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer, because alcohol fixed everything right?

Once he had opened the bottle and brought it to his lips, Frank realized that he could hear Gerard and Mikey speaking in low tones from the next room, and even though he knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, Frank couldn't resist listening in on the two brothers.

"Why the hell didn't you text me back? I was worried sick," Gerard's voice came through the walls, and Frank could tell he was pissed.

"I left my phone at Ray's okay? I didn't do it on purpose, and I was going to head back there before this happened."

"You scared me Mikes..." Gerard's words were so soft, Frank wasn't sure if he had heard them right, so he pressed his ear against the adjoining wall, ignoring the guilty twist in his stomach as he did so.

"It sure as hell doesn't look like it," Mikey spat out coldly.

"What the fuck was I supposed to do? I called Ray, and he said you took off, and I wasn't going to search the town for you."

"Whatever Gerard, I don't care anymore. Just leave me alone. Tell Frank thanks again okay," Mikey sighed out in a tired tone of voice.

"Yeah I will...what is he, your new boyfriend or something? I thought you and Ray were dating?"

"No, Ray and I just fuck sometimes, we aren't actually together, and Frank isn't my boyfriend either. I met him at a bar, and he bought me a drink, then he offered to help me home. He's really fucking sweet, so be nice to him okay? I'm just gonna sleep this off." Mikey's voice became even more muffled, and Frank could only assume that he had buried his face in a pillow.

"I'm checking up on you in an hour," Gerard warned his brother sternly.

"I'm not gonna fucking die Gerard."

Frank didn't stay to listen to the rest, because he heard footsteps leaving Mikey's room, and the last thing he wanted to do was get caught being a complete creeper by the hottest guy Frank had ever seen, so he scrambled back into the living room, managing not to spill his beer in the process, and by the time Gerard emerged from the hallway he had disappeared down early, Frank was casually reclining on the couch while sipping his beer.

"Hey," Gerard waved, and it was just a simple word, and a pointless gesture, but Frank felt like he was drowning in the rush of butterflies that seemed to attack him the moment Gerard acknowledged his presence, and no matter how many times Frank told himself he was acting like a fourteen year old girl with a crush, and he needed to man up before he completely embarrassed himself in front of Gerard, that didn't stop him from feeling like his stomach was tying itself into knots, and his heart might just beat straight out of his chest if Gerard kept looking at him with that adorable smile on his face.

"Hi," Frank smiled back, and that was it - Frank had sealed his fate with that stupidly simply sentence, even though he had no idea what the fuck he had just gotten himself into.

But that is the thing about life; it doesn't come with a guidebook, and it isn't a video game that you can just turn off and return to the last saved point to try again. Frank had taken the plunge by choosing to stay in Gerard's house, and no matter how this all was going to end, it had started, and there was no going back now.

If Frank had an inkling of what was to come, he never would have walked Mikey home in the first place, and his entire life would have turned out completely differently, but he did take Mikey home, and it was too late to retrace his steps and change his decision.

Fate, or destiny, or whatever the fuck controlled people had its claws firmly embedded into Frank, and he couldn't escape now, even if he wanted to.

Fuck this chapter took forever to write, and I really didn't mean to make you guys wait so long, but it is pretty lengthy, so hopefully that makes up for it, or something like that haha.

I also have strep throat, so concentrating on anything is super hard, because I can barely eat or sleep because it hurts so much, so if my updates are slower for a while, that's why.

This chapter is dedicated to 20_dollar_nosebleed because they are a super awesome writer, and it makes me excited that they are reading this story, so thanks love ^_^

Btw, thanks for all the reads and votes from everyone. I'm really happy with how much you guys seem to be enjoying this story, it seriously makes my day when I get a new comment or whatever, so keep it up, if you want to that is haha.

((((dying of strep throat vibes))))

<3 starr