nine: is the lemonade sparkly?

Frank didn't want to be here. The last place he wanted to be after dark without a friend was at a goddamn bar. And it wasn't as though he'd come here alone unwillingly. He had absolutely zero ties to this bar. Yeah, sure, he'd been here a few times before, but he'd lost interest after he'd lost interest in alcohol altogether. It was a recreational thing now, only done on special occasions where you knew you could get good alcohol. But that was beside the point.

Frank hadn't come here alone. He'd come with Ray--his best friend had dragged him here--but now Ray was off making out with some tall skinny blond dude, and really, the only reason why Frank wasn't leaving was that Ray was his motherfucking ride. So he just stayed slumped at the bar closely monitoring his glass of water just to make sure he didn't get roofied.

"You gonna buy anything?" the red-cheeked old bartender asked sympathetically and stroked his white beard. "Usually when people sulk, they get wasted, but you're either going strong sober, or you know that doesn't work for you."

"My friend brought me here, and he's my ride home. But he's already drunk so I'm gonna end up being the DD for tonight, I think," Frank responded, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ray was still there. He wouldn't abandon him at a bar without a ride home, would he?

"Awe, shucks. Well, I'm sorry to say this, but you've either gotta buy a drink and keep us in business or convince your friend--wherever he is--to get going, man."

"I'll... do you have like... Can I just have a coke?"

"I only got Pepsi left for tonight," the bartender said with an apologetic smile. "But I also have Dr Pepper and lemonade."

"Is the lemonade sparkly?"

"No."

"Then lemonade it is, my man," Frank said with a tired smile and shrugged his shoulders even further up before he reached into his pocket for a five-dollar bill.

"Three fifty."

"Keep the change. You've been really nice," Frank said, and the fat old bartender gave him a wink and waddled away to another customer.

When Ray was going to be done at a gay bar was beyond Frank so he took his time sipping at his lemonade, keeping an eye on it too. Again, he wasn't about to get roofied.

"Hey, baby, you look like you're havin' a rough night," a gruff voice echoed in Frank's ear. The man--whose hair was thinning and eyes were crinkly leant in. His breath smelt of alcohol as he whispered, "You want me to make it a whole lot better, sweetheart?"

Frank pushed him off. "No, thank you."

"Oh, come on, you look so pretty sitting there," the man slurred and laid a hand on Frank's thigh. "Lemme make you feel good, huh?"

"I said no the first time. Fuck off," Frank replied, raising his voice a little and trying to shake the man's hands off of his thigh. It was around eleven-fucking-thirty, and now, Frank had decided he was never gonna let Ray drag him to gay bars for no reason ever again.

"Why're you being so pushy, baby? A pretty thing like you should be looking for some fun shouldn't you?" he insisted, and now his hand was crawling up Frank's thigh and Frank thought he'd never leant further away from a person before.

"I said get the fuck off, man, what's your deal?"

"Oh, come on, you know you want me--"

"My boyfriend said no, asshole," a voice boomed from behind Frank--one that definitely didn't sound like Ray's, and then the voice's arm was slipping around Frank's waist and pulling him close to his chest protectively. "He's already taken, so you can kindly do as he said and fuck off."

Frank's heart was beating rapidly, but as soon as he heard 'boyfriend,' he seemed to piece together what was going on and leant gratefully into the unknown person behind him, hoping to god that he wasn't some sort of predator too.

The man got a look of recognition in his eyes, and shrugged angrily. "He wasn't gonna be any good refusin' me like that anyway," the man grumbled, and surprisingly, he slid off the barstool and actually walked towards the door.

The arm immediately removed itself from Frank's waist and then the arm and voice had a face, and goddamn it was pretty. The man had bright red hair and a small smile and bright, kind eyes. He took the place of the old man next to Frank at the bar.

"I'm Gerard," he said and extended a hand. "Gerard Way. I'm sorry if you're actually taken already."

"Frank Iero," the short man responded shakily. "I'm not taken don't worry, but oh god... Thank you so fucking much. I really appreciate what you did for me there."

"A guy was getting harassed, was I not going to step in? Besides," Gerard smiled a little more. "You're pretty cute. I thought I might say hi anyway."

Frank felt his cheeks flaming as he smiled back and mumbled, "You're not so bad yourself."

Gerard chuckled a little bit and then leant an arm on the bar so he was facing Frank--and leaning towards him too. "I don't mean to be an asshole, but you do look pretty upset."

"I don't need a quickie in your car, thanks," Frank said and felt his heart sinking as he leant away.

"Nah, I don't fuck on the first date. I was gonna ask you if you needed someone to talk to, or you know... hang out with for a while."

"First date?" Frank repeated.

"Well, not exactly, but there could be one if you wanted there to be."

Frank felt his heart soar and he smiled. "You know, I think I might just accept. You seem like a good guy."

"I'd like to think I am one."

"So, if you're not here looking for someone to fuck, why are you here?" Frank asked and almost took a sip of his lemonade when he realised he hadn't been watching it. So he set it down.

"My brother dragged me along saying I need to socialise. And now he's making out with a white guy with an afro."

Frank cackled and grinned. "That's my roommate, Ray! I'm here for exactly the same reason, dude."

Gerard grinned and rubbed his eyes with one of his hands. "Oh my god, this was like..." he giggled. "Don't tell me they like... know each other and set this up."

Frank shrugged. "Maybe, but I kinda doubt it. I feel like my friend woulda told me."

"I feel like my brother should have told me."

"You probably wouldn't have come along if he did," Frank pointed out, and then Gerard grinned.

"Right back atcha, babe."

Frank felt the colour rising in his cheeks again. "You know, the 'babe' thing... I didn't like it coming from that old man, but from you... it's nice."

"Good," Gerard said and smiled. "Oh, I just got a text."

"Hey, same," Frank said and checked his phone. It was a message from Ray. "Oh my god, they fucking set us up, those motherfuckers."

Gerard looked up from his phone and showed Frank the text message to confirm that they'd both received the same one. "Those tricky little bitches. I bet they're dating."

"I'm gonna get Ray back for not telling me he had a boyfriend."

"I'm gonna get my brother back," Gerard mimicked, and then Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Kiss me."

Gerard looked confused. "What?"

"Kiss me; they're looking."

"Um, okay," Gerard said and then leant in hesitantly. Frank held Gerard's cheek gently as they kissed, their lips soft and tender against each others'. When Frank pulled away, he smiled.

"Wow. Okay, I'm not even mad anymore. How about you?"

"No, I can't even... be upset," Gerard said and looked down, his fingers coming up to touch his lips.

"What, you never been kissed before?" Frank teased and Gerard rolled his eyes.

"No, it's just been a long time since I've had a kiss that good."

"Me too," Frank said and then took Gerard's hand and flipped it over so his palm was facing upwards. He took out a pen and rolled up Gerard's sleeve.

"What're you doing?"

"Giving you my number."

"I have a phone you can type it into, idiot," Gerard giggled and Frank rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but it's more romantic this way."

"The lights are so dim, you probably can't even see what you're--"

Frank huffed and put his pen away. "Fine, fuckin' gimme your phone then, killjoy," he teased and grinned at the way he could just make out Gerard's cheeks as they saturated with colour. He took out his own phone and opened a new contact and exchanged numbers with Gerard.

"You still wanna go on that date?" Gerard asked taking Frank's hand again.

"I'd love to," Frank smiled and squeezed Gerard's hand. His phone buzzed and he face-palmed when he read the message. "Ray just left without me. Says I'm not allowed to come home tonight."

"My brother just told me to take you home. Goddammit, Mikey," Gerard sighed. "You can have my bed for tonight, then, I guess."

"If you promise to keep things innocent, we can both have your bed," Frank said gently and Gerard smiled.

"Sounds good. We can like... binge movies or something."

"As long as we cuddle," Frank added in with a wink and revelled in the way Gerard's eyes lit up and his cheeks grew redder.

He squeezed Frank's hand. "I guess this is gonna be our first date, huh?"

"Yeah, but I'd love to buy you coffee sometime too," Frank said, getting up from the barstool and watching Gerard's grin develop.

"That sounds incredible, babe."

---

Gerard's flat was cosy, and as soon as they got in, Gerard took Frank's jacket for him and hung it up. Frank took off his shoes and then Gerard brought him into the kitchen.

"Coffee?"

"It's too late for coffee," Frank pointed out sadly.

"It's never too late for decaf," Gerard waggled an eyebrow, and Frank just couldn't say no to a cup of coffee, you know? As Gerard let the water boil, he leant against the counter facing the one Frank was leaning on and smiled at him, cocking his head to the side.

"What?" Frank asked, laughing a little, slightly uncomfortable.

"If someone told me a cute guy would be coming home with me to cuddle and watch movies and drink fucking decaf coffee tonight, I woulda laughed in their face," Gerard said with a little laugh.

"Come on, I'm not that amazing," Frank said and rolled his eyes, pushing off the counter to stand in front of Gerard. He wouldn't ever say it, but he was aching for another kiss like the one at the bar. Gerard put his hands on Frank's hips gently.

"This okay?" he whispered and Frank nodded, draping his arms over Gerard's shoulders.

"This?" he asked, and Gerard affirmed, letting his feet spread further apart on the floor so he could pull Frank closer to nestle in between his legs.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, copying Frank's words from earlier that night.

Frank nodded and leant in, one of his hands coming to cup Gerard's cheeks again. He almost smiled when Gerard leant into his hand, and he would have smiled if their lips weren't pressing together in a sweet kiss that rivalled the one from earlier that night.

But it automatically won when Frank's tongue tentatively ran over Gerard's bottom lip. Gerard pressed his lips against Frank's with just a little bit less hesitance and opened his mouth to let Frank's tongue in. And when it came back out, Frank nipped gently at Gerard's bottom lip and then pecked him gently again, slowing it all down so he could pull away and rest his forehead against Gerard's.

"Wow," Gerard just breathed when they pulled apart, and Frank did this little giggle that made Gerard's heart twist knowing he'd never get sick of hearing it. "Babe, that was..."

"Yeah, wow's right," Frank said and felt himself blush at the nickname.

And that, of course, was right when the water had decided it was finally boiling. Gerard pulled away from their embrace after another peck on the lips and busied himself with making the coffee and Frank just leant with one hip on the counter watching the man scurry around and get milk and sugar out and hand a mug to Frank.

Frank made his coffee and Gerard made his, and then Gerard was almost about to leave the room when he paused. "Wanna drink it in here or while we watch a movie?"

"That's really up to you," Frank said with a little grin, and Gerard shrugged.

"Okay, well there's a lower chance we'll spill it in here, so we could sit," he gestured to the small island and Frank grinned. "How does that sound."

"Wonderful. I'm drinking coffee in a hot stranger's kitchen. Wonderful."

"I'm not a total stranger," Gerard scoffed and mocked offence, bringing a hand up to his heart and Frank did the little giggle again.

"No, I suppose not. I wouldn't have let a total stranger take me home," Frank said and winked as he sipped as his coffee. Gerard's cheeks turned a beautiful crimson.

"It's not like we're gonna be doing anything, though," he said as if assuring himself of the fact. "I'm not really a fan of fucking anyone before the second date."

"Yeah, me neither. We don't even know if we'd work together."

"Oh, we would," Gerard assured him.

"How are you so certain?" Frank asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "I'm not exactly saying you're wrong, but..."

"I'm a switch."

"Even switches get tired of doing the same thing over and over again."

"Well, you're a switch too, aren't you?" he said and took a drink of his coffee. Frank masked choking on his.

"How did you know?" he said, feeling his face hot.

Gerard shrugged. "Good guess. Besides, takes one to know one."

"Fair," Frank said and finished his cup. Gerard seemed to have already drained his. "I'd love to take you up on that movie if you take me up on the cuddles."

"Alright, you sap, come on," Gerard said and took Frank's hand, weaving their fingers together and bringing him to a little living room with big windows and an okay sized tv. They settled on the sofa and Gerard made a blanket appear out of thin air while Frank fiddled with the remote, flipping through movies on Netflix.

"You have any idea what you wanna watch?"

"No clue. I don't care. We don't even have to watch anything if you don't want to."

Frank turned the telly off and smiled in the low light. "Yeah, let's talk, I wanna know more about you."

"Okay," Gerard said and wrapped an arm around Frank's waist just like he had at the bar. "This okay?"

"Mhm," Frank said and moved a little onto Gerard's lap and laid his head on his shoulder. "This good for you?"

"Yeah, you're so nice and warm," Gerard said softly and carded a hand through Frank's hair.

"You are too," Frank said and placed a kiss very hesitantly on Gerard's exposed collarbone. I mean, it was right there, what else was he supposed to do? Gerard hummed in approval, so Frank gave him another one and then let his head rest against his shoulder again.

"What do you do for a living, Gerard Way?"

"Write comics mostly. I sell art too at little galleries here and there."

"I'd love to see some."

Gerard bit his lip and suppressed a smile. "Alright, if you really wanna."

"Yeah. I do."

"Do you get inked as a living?" Gerard teased.

"Unfortunately not," Frank said, grinning. "But I spend most of what I make on that apart from my side of the rent."

"So what do you really do?"

"I'm a musician. I have a band, but I also take photos for this music magazine."

Gerard grinned. "That's so sick! What magazine?"

"Alt Press."

"I fucking love Alt Press. Damn, I didn't know you took photos for them, that's so cool."

Frank bit his lip and pulled away so he could look at Gerard while they talked. "Thanks. Not a lotta people think so."

"What the fuck?"

"I don't care," Frank said. "I make music and take photos for a living and it's working out pretty well for me. I don't care what people think."

Gerard's fingers came up to stroke the side of Frank's face softly. "That's really punk rock of you, Iero."

Frank leant into Gerard's hand and grinned. "You pronounced it right!"

"I heard you say it when we met, don't get too excited, babe," Gerard said and admired the way Frank's eyes rolled and lips tilted up into a smile.

"Whatever. You still said it right," he murmured and realised that Gerard's eyes were flicking between his eyes and lips, and grinned, holding Gerard's chin between his thumb and forefinger. "C'mere."

Frank pressed his lips to Gerard's again, and Gerard indulged him, pressing back and opening his mouth slightly when he felt Frank's lip piercing shift down and his tongue run over his bottom lip again. And they were back to where they were before they started drinking coffee. Soon though, they both slowed down and pulled apart, and Frank put his head in Gerard's shoulder again.

"You tired?" Gerard asked and then yawned.

"Yeah."

"Wanna go to bed?"

"Promise you won't try anything," Frank insisted.

"I promise. I'm tired anyway, I'm not gonna start anything," he replied and then the two of them yawned together, making them giggle and break before they could even yawn properly.

"C'mon, let's go to bed then," Frank said and slowly got off of Gerard's lap and waited for directions to his bedroom. Gerard laced their fingers together again and they walked hand in hand to Gerard's bedroom. Frank was honestly too tired to even try to look at anything on the walls or even the colour of the bedsheets, but then Gerard turned on the light.

Black and white and red and some blue seemed to be the general colour scheme, and as much as Frank wanted to appreciate it, he knew he could do so the following day when he was awake enough to do so. Gerard threw him a soft shirt and a pair of pyjama pants.

"I'll change in the bathroom, kay?"

"Sure," Frank said, and changed quickly as soon as the door was closed. He folded his clothes and put them on a desk chair that stood turned away from the desk and slid into the bed and under the covers, pulling them up to his chin.

Gerard knocked, and when Frank called that he could come in, he still opened the door slowly and peeked in before he walked in and closed the door behind him. He dumped some clothes in a basket in the corner and then switched the light off and crawled under the covers with Frank.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

"No, not at all," Frank started and then shimmied towards Gerard who looked extremely concerned. "C'mere and let me hold you. Unless you don't want me to."

"I could hold you too. You're smaller than me, so it'd work better."

"We'll take turns," Frank said, knowing that it was bullshit and they'd fall asleep before they got to switch.

"Okay but it's your turn first," Gerard agreed, and then waited for Frank to turn around so he could slip an arm around his waist and draw him to his chest. "This good?"

"Mhm. Feels nice," he mumbled in response, acutely aware of all of the consent that Gerard had asked for that evening. No one had ever done that for him. He let himself smile as he drifted off, getting a warm and fuzzy feeling when Gerard shifted so that Frank's head was tucked into the little space under his chin. He had a really good feeling about this.