Gerard and Frank sat in Frank's living room, opposite Mrs Iero, who was glancing between the two of them with an all too smug expression upon her face, and really, there was no question about the fact that it was making Gerard just a little uncomfortable, as they hadn't even met the woman before, but Frank was just incredibly pissed off with his mum, because she was really going to go all out to embarrass him here, and without a single doubt.

"You've done well for yourself here, Frank, they're cute." Mrs Iero grinned to herself, leaving Frank throw his head against Gerard’s side: the older of the two already blushing like hell at the compliment given to them by their boyfriend's mum, of all goddamn people. "So, Gerard, Frank's being incompetent, as usual, so tell me about yourself."

"I'm not incompetent." Frank protested, looking up at his mum with an angry kind of pissed off toddler pout, and Gerard fucking snorted, which earned them one hell of a glare. "Stop it, that's mean."

"Oh shut up." Gerard rolled their eyes, blushing a little as Mrs Iero caught their gaze with a 'please don't start making out while I'm here expression'. "Well... uhh... I'm Gerard... I'm seventeen... I'm... well... I don't know... I'm kind of uninteresting... I do art and drama and those kinds of things, I guess. I really like your son, thank you for not being a horrible person to him about the whole gay thing, because my mum was kind of weird about it."

"Oh, that's just ridiculous, you're still her child, your sexuality, your gender, anything - that's nothing at all in comparison to the fact that she's your mother and she's supposed to love and support you." And it was exactly then that Gerard decided that they loved Frank's mum, not as much as they loved Frank, of course, but a close second, perhaps. "So, when did you come out to your mum?"

"A few months ago, I guess... it was kind of weird, I don't know she was kind of giving me and my brother the whole don't go getting girls pregnant talk and Mikey couldn't stop laughing because he knew, and well, she started telling Mikey not to sleep with girls, and she was a good few years late, let's say. It was kind of weird, but I've known for a long time, and I came out to Mikey ages, like years ago, I mean, he's my brother... we're close, but... we kind of hate each other, but not really, I don't know, it's weird, but I love him a lot, and well, he didn't quite understand it at first, necessarily, but he was accepting... that's just who I am, I mean so..."

"You're lucky to have such a nice brother." She told them, smiling a little, and only coming to notice how Frank had stayed utterly enthralled with Gerard throughout the entire telling of their story after she'd finished speaking, and really, well, it was just cute.

"I know."

"You're my favourite over Mikey." Frank smiled, leaning into Gerard's side, before blushing just a little as he came to remember that his mother was scrutinising his every damn move.

"Shouldn't pick favourites, should you, Frankie?" Gerard winked at their boyfriend in a way that really wasn't appropriate considering that his mum was in the room, but damn, whatever, Gerard had no chill.

"So, Frank, what's the deal with Bert... I mean, you know, I don't like him, but-"

"He was a dickhead to me, started hitting on me and stuff..." Gerard sighed out, answering for Frank, who was just making it blatantly obvious as to just how uncomfortable this question made him.

"He's ga-" 

Gerard panicked, having forgotten about the whole crossdressing thing and why that wasn't exactly the best thing to bring to Frank's mum for just a moment.

"No, he thought I was a girl." Gerard shrugged it off, glancing across at Frank, whose cheeks were really nothing short of a horrible shade of red, but with the situation, it was to be expected.

"They make a convincing girl, like scarily convincing in a short skirt and a face full of make up, I promise, mum." Frank blushed a little, realising far too late that thinking of Gerard in a miniskirt in front of his mum wasn't exactly the best idea, but fuck it, he was already fucked right now.

"Bert's just a general douche, I mean... not the kind of guy I'd want to be associated with, like ever." Gerard added, meeting Frank's gaze and kind of just throwing that out there.

"I used to be a royal asshole when I was friends with him, okay, you know that, don't you, Gerard?" Frank sighed, biting his lip, and avoiding his mum's gaze, because this was really not the best conversation to have whilst she was here, for serious now.

"Mhmm... I know. I did experience it first hand, believe it or not..." Gerard met Frank's gaze: wide eyed and scared, and fuck, they were sold. "Sorry... I... you're the best boyfriend ever now, I promise, I just... it's nothing, don't worry."

"Good, because I l-love you..."

"That was a ballsy move in front of your mum." Gerard grinned a little, glancing across at Mrs Iero who was just a little more amused that Gerard's prior comment than she should have been. "I could have rejected you, like in front of your mum, and that would have been all kinds of embarrassing, wouldn't it? I love you, though, you know that."

"Yeah, I know that, that's why I went for it." Frank grinned that 'I knew what I wads doing all along' grin that was at least ninety five percent utter bullshit, because, well, he was certain that he'd fucked up for about five seconds then.

"Sure." Gerard was unconvinced, but they didn't care, because Frank was cute, and Frank’s mum was definitely considering leaving them to it now.

"I think now's a good time to leave before you two start... well... please don't... I'll be in the other room...." And Frank's face was the colour of a fucking beetroot as his mum stood up and made her way for the door. "But, Frank, I one hundred percent approve of Gerard, you know, which makes a change, because I really don't tend to like your friends, but... Gerard, you're lovely, and I trust you to look after my idiot of a son."

"I'm not an idiot." Frank protested, one hundred percent offended by those cruel, cruel words.

Gerard met his gaze with a small smile. "Sure."

-

Gerard was doing great, absolutely great: Mikey was awkwardly off and sort of cold and there was definitely something to be noted going on between Lindsey and Alicia, but none of that mattered nearly as much as Frank did to them.

Gerard was genuinely happy right now, and really, that was opportunity was close to one in a million, and although they were stupid enough to create another identity in order to get Frank Iero's attention and potentially ruin their life in the process, they weren't quite stupid enough to fuck this newfound happiness up, or at least that was what Gerard liked to think.

They were just about done with Twelfth Night, and really Gerard was just happier the soon that they didn't have to deal with Gabe Saporta practically wetting himself over Gerard in a dress. Then again, there was that incident a few weeks ago now, that had ensured that Gabe had avoided Gerard like the plague, which really had worked in their benefit in the long run, but still, Gerard was just looking forward to getting out of that mess.

He had considered quitting after Twelfth Night. It was a stupid idea, because damn, Gerard was good, they were the goddamn lead in the play, after all, but this was a self confidence thing, this was the advice of a therapist from three years ago, and Gerard reckoned they didn't want to be tied down to that for their rest of their life.

Anyway, they were happy now with Frank, and it was foolish to trust all your happiness and emotions in one person, but Frank Iero really wasn't just 'one person': Frank Iero was the goddamn cutest and most accepting asshole in the goddamn world, and Gerard was goddamn sure of it.

But it didn't matter now, because Gerard was at the theatre for the next few hours, and it had been a goodbye text to Frank with a string of assorted emojis (including a snake, a hat, a chair, and a hamster, and then something that vaguely resembled a blowjob gesture, but even Gerard wasn't sure on that one), and from then on, they'd pocketed their phone, and mentally prepared themself for any possible encounters with Gabe Saporta, really, Gerard was just praying that the guy was somehow just miraculously ill, and maybe it was kind of fucked up to wish illness upon people, but Gabe Saporta was a royal pain in Gerard's butt, and not in the way that Gabe would like to be (thankfully).

At least it wasn't raining today, anyway, and at least Gerard had the slightest damn clue as to who they were and Frank Iero wasn't the boy at the bus stop catcalling Gerard with his asshole of a best friend, but the boy texting Gerard back right now from his bedroom, having not contacted the asshole of a best friend in days now, but Frank didn't care, at all: he had Gerard, and Bert was goddamn irrelevant, and in fact, only certain to fuck this all up, but still, guilt was present deep in the back of Frank's head.

It always was.

And perhaps the same could be said for Gerard as they made their way inside and felt their gaze meeting the all too familiar one of Gabe fucking Saporta, and fuck, because they were one hundred percent out of here and running off to go live as some sort of reject in the African jungle, because fucking Gabe Saporta, seriously... was not Gerard's idea of a fun time.

"I swear you're always fucking late, huh, Way?"

And Gerard mentally groaned to themself, making their way straight past the asshole with far more self confidence than he ever deserved, and just hoping to get this all over with, and get as far away from Gabe Saporta and awkward situations he brought as possible.

"Listen to me, Gerard, come on, dickhead, I'm right here, pretty boy-" And it was like that that Gabe Saporta got Gerard to talk.

"I'm not a boy, Gabe, and even if I was, I certainly wouldn't be your pretty boy, okay? Fuck right off. I have a boyfriend, and I fucking hate you - you fucking ruined my life for months on end, and fuck- no, Gabe, no." Gerard shook their head firmly, leaving Gabe to slowly process the information, and of course, inevitability trip over the 'gender hurdle'.

"Not a boy?" Gabe raised his eyebrows at that, looking Gerard up and down - generally unconvinced. "I can see your dick with jeans that tight, I know you're a boy, which is really helpful, as otherwise, the amount of makeup does make sure that it's not immediately obvious."

"Sex and gender are two different things." Gerard sighed out, knowing by now that Gabe wasn't just going to stop this without them explaining it fully, and most likely, he still wouldn't drop it then. "I'm non binary. They/them pronouns... gender neutral, that kind of thing. I'm not a girl, I'm not a boy... I'm somewhere in between, I guess, I don't know. But your sex that's biological, your genitals, what you were born as yeah, that's what's in your pants, but gender, that's who you identify as - that's pronouns and who you feel comfortable as."

"So instead of Gerard Way, it's like Gerard They." And Gerard was damn close to slapping Gabe at this point.

"Now is not the time for fucking puns, Gabe, I don't like you, okay, fuck off and leave me alone. As I said, I have a boyfriend-" Gerard, of course, knew that it was always the time for puns, but it was just that Gabe Saporta didn't deserve the time for puns, especially when he was going to be such an asshole about it.

"Wait, what, you actually do have a boyfriend? Like, that wasn't just a joke or something?" Gabe's eyes practically popped out of their sockets at this point, and needless to say, that wasn't really helping Gerard's self esteem all that much.

"Yeah, I do. His name's Frank, and he'll kill you if you don't fuck right off." Okay, maybe Gerard was going for a slight overstatement here, considering that Frank was about four centimetres tall and generally incapable of killing anyone, but they hoped that Gabe would just get the idea and leave them alone by now.

"Frank...? Do I not get a last name, Gerard? I need to stalk the shit out of him on Facebook, you know that, don't you-"

"Gabe, do you want me just to find you a fucking boyfriend so you can shut the fuck up and stop harassing me?" Gerard suggested, meeting Gabe’s gaze as the eighteen year old looked to even be seriously considering it.

"Only if he's hot. You have two weeks, Gerard."

"Fucking finally you'll stop, praise the fucking-"

"I going to search your friends list for people called Frank and stalk him from there, still. I'm just curious, I promise."

"I'll block you. I'll cockblock you."

"Fine." And with that, Gabe Saporta pulled himself together as he continued in the daily struggle of working out just how the hell he felt about Gerard fucking Way and their stupid cute smile and fucking nice personality that Gabe didn't deserve.

There couldn't be that many Franks in this town after all.

Let alone, gay Franks. Gay Franks that would consider dating an emo mess, teenage gay emo Franks with issues.

Issues: you had to have them to want to consider boning the great emo fucklord that was Gerard Way, and Gabe knew that more than anyone.

-

Alicia was all nerves, but fuck Mikey, and fuck that stupid pact, because these nerves were giving her a goddamn headache and she could barely understand what the fuck was going on in her French class normally, let alone with her skull caving in on itself: determined to kill her in the goddamn lesson if she didn't stop glancing across the room at Lindsey, because it was the sixteenth time in ten minutes now, and that was getting fucking obsessive.

And fuck Lindsey and her self confidence, and her sexuality and how on earth she actually had the slightest fucking clue as to what she was actually doing, because Alicia was like a lost, slightly gay puppy, because this wasn't nothing: sixteen- seventeen glances in ten minutes wasn't nothing.

And Lindsey Ballato was wearing an especially short skirt today, and yes, Alicia really had noticed.

Alicia didn't exactly have an excess of security and self respect - she'd dated Mikey Way for several months after all, but then again, that was a dark time when she was friends with fuckboys and Bob Bryar who sold weed to the whole school, and didn't have two best friends who she actually cared about, and in the case of one of them, was a little bit in love with.

Maybe this was an improvement, and perhaps the only consolation to Alicia as she looked at Lindsey for the eighteenth time was the fact that no matter how badly this went, it could never go as badly as her 'relationship' with Mikey had: she had slept with Pete that one time after all.

She wondered if Mikey knew about that.

She wondered if Mikey was doing any better than staring longingly at Pete by now: probably not... it was Mikey, after all, who was probably the only person in the goddamn world who was more pathetic than her.

And fuck, because Lindsey had fucking turned around, and fucking caught her staring, and now the teacher was saying something to her in French, and Alicia was absolutely fucked, and Lindsey was fucking giggling in the corner, because she was enjoying how nervous this was making Alicia much more than she ever should.

Fuck this.

Alicia was about four hundred percent done right now, but there wasn't a damn chance in hell that she was going to let Mikey Way fucking win, was there?"

-

"It's like you've forgotten all knowledge of the French language, Alicia, you know, kinda weird that is." Lindsey caught up with her best friend after class, pushing through the corridor to reach her pace: Alicia blushing furiously as she did so, because Lindsey was a million miles out of her league, and Alicia was just a million miles out of her depth.

"Whether I had any knowledge of it in the first place is still rather questionable." Alicia shrugged it off as best she could: whatever she was trying, and Gerard was totally just down the end of that corridor and if she kept walking fast, she could catch up with them, and give Lindsey a slight distraction from ruining her life, even if just for a few moments.

"Sure it is." Lindsey grinned, like she knew something she wasn't supposed to, which really, was unbelievably likely, and in fact, just true, because Mikey Way was a fucking asshole, and a cheater at best: when it came to both bets and relationships.

It was a matter of ten minutes behind the canteen three hours ago, and Mikey had summarised the whole mess and gave Lindsey a packet of jelly beans and a lipstick that was in the bottom of his school bag that had probably belonged to an ex-girlfriend at some point within the past two years, and with that Lindsey had agreed to fuck with Alicia's head a little and give Mikey just enough time to grow the balls to figure out how the fuck he was going to sort this mess with Pete: Lindsey had refused to help him on that one, as he'd been unable to find any more suitable bribes in the bottom of his backpack.

Goddamn, Mikey was going to have to end up actually asking the advice of someone who might even know what the fuck they're doing here, like Gerard or something - god forbid!

"Hey, Alicia, do you like my lipstick? It's new." Lindsey didn't quite give Alicia the luxury of reaching Gerard, before she pounced with her flirting and lipstick and the result of just how far Mikey Way was prepared to go to win a bet.

"Uhh... it's... pretty... I like the colour... I... it's looks great on you, I mean, you always look great, but... greater." Yeah, Alicia was fucking fucked by now, and Lindsey did love the confidence boost it was giving her, and if she could keep convincing Mikey to give her free lipstick for this, then she was more than prepared to keep it up forever.

"You look pretty cute too, Alicia." Lindsey added, but before Alicia could even consider responding with the slightly gay mess of a heart in her chest right now, Gerard had noticed them, and Alicia made a mental note to fucking owe them her life for that.

-

Mikey reckoned that bribing Lindsey was somehow just a little out of line with the rules, but for the most part, he didn't really care all that much either, because damn, he did not like losing, but still he was damn glad that he'd been trusted with Alicia's great big lesbian secret, because no one really tended to tell him anything (and he had the nerve to wonder why). 

Okay, he really wasn't Alicia's first choice, but he was her final choice, and it was rather self explanatory, because he had ended up telling Lindsey, but then again, it was pretty damn obvious that Lindsey already knew, and that she would do anything easy for some free lipstick: maybe Mikey would have to start stealing Gerard’s, which would really be just doing them a favour, as it ensured that they'd have less to hide from their mum, who really wasn't exactly the most understanding person when it came to gender, or well, anything, but whatever.

He had a really good excuse not to talk to anyone about this mess though, because Gerard was out at theatre or something, and their mum was working, and Pete was well Pete, and it was really damn unlikely that Lindsey would be at all inclined to help him, again. Of course, there was always Frank, but the whole thing between Gerard and Frank had really made Mikey and Frank's friendship kind of awkward, because well, Mikey had difficultly looking at the guy without being forced to imagine Frank sleeping with Gerard, which was kind of awkward and well damn uncomfortable, to say the least.

But Gerard was at theatre so Frank would definitely be free, and after all, the two kind of needed to talk, and really, Mikey knew he just should, even if not about Pete, even if it was just menial and unnecessary: Mikey needed to see Frank, perhaps even if just for the hope of maintaining their friendship.

Because if things fucked up with Pete, Mikey was pretty much alone after that: anyway, Frank knew an awful lot about gay things, didn't he? So, surely, Mikey was just doing the right thing here, and that was exactly what he managed to keep convincing himself as he sent Frank a text: something pointless about him just coming over and an excess of emojis just to stop Mikey freaking the fuck out over nothing, because hell, homosexuality was killing him.

Hey, maybe the bible was right, hey, maybe Mikey should just rush over to the nearest church right fucking now and ask God to cleanse his soul, because damn, we all know that shit is a perfect 100% cure for homosexuality and sin.

But Mikey kind of wished it was, because he had no balls (metaphorically, thankfully) when it came to explaining how he felt and as to just what the fuck was going on with him and Pete, because damn, it was so much easier when he was just fucking girls because, well, he could, but whatever, they hated him now, and with good reason.

Mikey Way wasn't a very nice ex-boyfriend, to say the least: he was the kind of boy Taylor Swift would write a song about, or something, which was truly an honour of course, because damn, having a Taylor Swift song written for you, but yeah, Mikey Way was just a little bit of a fuckboy, to say the least.

So maybe he just shouldn't date Pete, for Pete's sake, but before Mikey could fully chicken out of this mess, Frank was at his front door, and he was forced to face up to reality and just spit this mess out before he just ended up punching himself square in the face, because really, he kind of was getting close now.

"Hey, I'm sorry we haven't exactly hung out in a while." Frank was a little awkward as he made his way inside, after all, he wasn't exactly used to just standing in the living room, as opposed to fucking Gerard in it, but whatever, this change was probably for the better, well, in Mikey's mind at the very least.

"It's fine... you and Gerard... and me... and my train wreck of a love life." Mikey sighed out, biting down on his bottom lip as he wondered just what it would take for this mess to clear itself up, because seriously, this bet wasn't at all fair: if he hadn't bribed Lindsey then Alicia would have already won, and damn, he needed to steal some of Gerard’s make up if he was going to keep this up.

"Train wreck of a love life?" Frank raised his eyebrows at that: unable to suppress his instant curiosity, but then again, that was to be nothing but expected in consideration of the situation.

"Yeah, train wreck. It's kind of complicated and you're going to listen before I chicken out again, because I'm killing myself here, and yeah, I... yeah... look, sit down, preferably pick a sofa you and Gerard haven't made out or fucked on, because that's not really something I want to sit in."

Frank sat on the floor.

Mikey grimaced like hell, but sat down opposite him: putting his phone on silent and out of reach on the table: forcing himself to concentrate, and well, just grow some goddamn balls. Like, haven't you people ever heard of growing some goddamn balls?

"Well... Pete and I... that's kind of a thing... sort of not... I don't know... don't even ask me about my sexuality because I don't know, and yes it's ruining my life, because we keep kissing and he's done with me not being sure, but still I don't know what this is and how I feel and I'm fucking up the friendship entirely, and then, the other day, Alicia came over to talk to Gerard about something, but they weren't in... I think they were fucking you at the point, actually..." Mikey narrowed his eyes at Frank, who couldn't help but blush just a little.

"Fucking me? Nice guess, Mikey. Gerard's such a fucking bottom: anyone can tell that." Maybe that wasn't exactly a younger brother appropriate comment, but it certainly gave Frank an excuse to laugh his fucking head off.

"Okay, thanks for the knowledge that you put your dick in Gerard, that's some information I needed, thanks... I... thank you... but okay... Alicia and I got talking, and she ended up telling me the thing she was going to tell Gerard: she just needed advice, okay, but she has very much the same situation as I do with Lindsey, and well... we made some sort of fucked up pact with a forfeit for the person who doesn't grow the balls to make their love life work first... and I kind of bribed Lindsey to help me with some lipstick, but that's not going to work forever and I need, I need some gay advice, Frank."

"Oh, Mikey, I thought you'd never ask." Frank grinned, exaggerating his gestures in the goddamn campest way ever, which was more than just a little amusing, to say the least.

-

hey look more chapter!!! i am very proud of the title also very tired. i dont know what im saying i stg i spent more time spellchecking this chapter than actually writing it i can't spell for shit seriously like lmao i love spellcheck because no one even knows!!! okay votes and comments and all of those things would be cool bc ily all lots<3