Frank's been working for the Way family for as long as he could remember. After his mother passed, Frank was left under the care of the Way's butler, Ray. He did miss his mother, but he was also grateful that Ray took care of him.

Growing up in the Way mansion, working beside Ray, allowed Frank to interact with the other staff and occasionally members of the Way family. He didn't see Mr. Way often because he was always away on business trips.

Mrs. Way can be scary sometimes, but for the most part, she's nice especially to her youngest son, Mikey. She always praised him for just about everything he did. He was the definition of a perfect son in her eyes. Her other son, however, didn't give her the same reaction.

Gerard had always been more shy than Mrs. Way would have liked. Though she didn't approve of the way he wouldn't live up to the family name, she could tolerate it enough. What she couldn't handle was when a girl came over and got Gerard to try on her skirt.

Frank never saw that girl after that day. What he did see was Gerard walking around the house in skirts every now and then. Frank was embarrassed to admit he couldn't take his eyes off the boy when he did so. Mrs. Way didn't like that at all.

Frank looked forward to the days Gerard would dress in drag and was pleasantly surprised when the boy tried on makeup. Frank's opinion on the eldest Way son's attire didn't matter though if Mrs. Way disapproved. Now Frank was not an expert in parenting, but she didn't handle the situation very well.

"You're a disgrace to this family, Gerard. Why can't you be more like your brother? He acts the way he is supposed to. He doesn't wear skirts or makeup like.. like a," she stopped not being able to finish the sentence. Gerard's head was low in shame as he fidgeted with the hem of his skirt.

"But it makes me feel pretty," he tired to explain.

"You're a boy! You're not supposed to look pretty. I didn't raise a baby girl." Frank watched this similar interaction between the two members any time Gerard was caught in opposite gender clothing.

The staff wasn't foreign to the two's relationship and never questioned Mrs. Way's parenting skills. No one was seemed fazed expect for Frank of course. Like he was taught, he stayed quiet and did his job. All he could do was stop himself from retaliating against his boss.

"Ray," Frank spoke softly to his caregiver one night. Ray was at the desk in the corner of their small room. He looked up from whatever he was writing and faced Frank.

"Yes Frankie." Frank let his next words circle his head, debating on whether he should voice them or not. He dropped his head, staring at his hands.

"Why does Mrs. Way always treat Gerard so badly?" Ray sighed and stood up. He went over to where Frank sat in his bed and took the small space beside him. He wrapped an arm around the younger boy and pulled him close. Frank got comfortable against him, thinking back to when Ray would pull him into the same position when Frank was much younger.

"Gerard is a boy Frank," he started softly. "And Mrs. Way wants him to dress and act like a boy." He made it sound like there was nothing more, that it was a simple as the alphabet. Frank must've been dyslexic because he wasn't understanding.

"But he wants to dress in girl clothes," Frank stated. Ray nodded.

"Mrs. Way says it's wrong for him to do that."

"But it's not wrong," Frank argued quickly, getting upset. He pulled away from Ray and looked up at him frowning. Ray chuckled at Frank's reaction.

"You're right. It's not wrong of him to want that, but that's not what she believes and we are in no position to tell her otherwise. Understand." Frank's frown deepened.

Frank was aware on where he stood in terms of authority. He was born at the bottom of the chain and he didn't mind it really. He didn't mind until he realized his place in the world didn't allow him to help the beautiful boy in a skirt getting yelled at by his narrow-minded mother.

"I know you want to do something, but our job is to serve the Way family, not criticize their parenting." Frank nodded hesitantly. "Good. Now go to sleep, Frankie. It's late." They got ready for bed, but Frank's mind was still running. He knew what his job was, but he hated needing to stay silent anytime Mrs. Way had another go at Gerard's fashion choices.

As the time went on, Gerard would dress more and more to his own liking, looking more confident that he had before. Frank loved to see Gerard happy for those few moments before his mother saw him. Frank did as Ray told him and kept silent.

The day came when Frank decided he could no longer ignore the verbal abuse Gerard was given. It was the day that the abuse was no longer just verbal. If the loud smack echoing down the long hall wasn't enough to alert the staff of what happened, the red mark on Gerard's cheek was indication enough.

Frank stood tense as he watched Gerard clutching his cheek as he fought against his tears. He was looking at his mother in disbelief. Mrs. Way showed no remorse for what she had just done. Her lips were turned down in a frown.

After a moment, Gerard scrambled away from his mother and ran to his room. Mrs. Way gave no reaction, simply turned away and retreated to her own room. Frank's head turned back and forth between the two doors. His head fighting to decided whether to stay an obedient worker or check on the boy he'd been admiring from afar.

Before he could process what he wanted to do, his feet were moving down the hall. He found himself in front of a wooden door. He could hear soft crying coming from the other side. His chest ached at the sound. With a deep breath, he knocked.

"Go away," he heard a weak voice say. He was tempted to follow orders until he heard crashing coming from inside the room. He looked around the hall, making sure there was no one around. Hesitantly, he opened the door and slipped inside.

His heart broken when he saw Gerard at his vanity mirror trying to fix his eyeliner that was immediately ruined by the tears streaming down his cheeks. Frank noticed the array of palettes, sprays and other items littered on the floor around Gerard.

Giving up, Gerard threw the eyeliner into the collection of makeup supplies on the ground. He dropped his head into his hands and started to let his cries out. Frank approached the boy and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Gerard jumped up at the contact and took a few steps back. When he saw it was a staff member, he dropped his head.

"You shouldn't be in here." His voice was soft and shaky.

"I-I know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," he said quickly, almost interrupting. "You can go." There was a certain sharpness to his tone, but wasn't as threatening as Gerard wanted to make it.

Gerard closed his eyes and waited for the sound of the door opening and closing. What he got was a hand gently cupping his unmarked cheek, brushing away his tears. He looked up to meet Frank's tender gaze.

"Pretty boys like you shouldn't cry," Frank whispered. Both their hearts were pounding wildly from the contact. They were still for a moment before Gerard back away again. He shook his head and looked down at the ground.

"I-I'm not pretty." Frank frowned.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because It's true. I'm ugly. Everyone tells me so."

"Who told you that?" Frank's voice grew a bit in volume as he thought about anyone telling this boy such lies.

"My mother, friends... the world." Gerard's voice grew quiet as new tears formed. Frank clenched his fist, upset at what Gerard had to endure constantly. Frank hooked his hand under Gerard's chin, raising it to meet his eyes.

"The world is ugly," he started. "But you're beautiful to me." Gerard eyes lit up at Frank's words, but quickly tried to suppress the feeling he got from the boy in front of him.

"You don't mean that," he mumbled.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't." Gerard chewed his lip, trying to find a reason as to why Frank would be lying.

"But I dress like a girl." Frank chuckled softly.

"I've never seen a girl look as good in girl clothes as you do, Gee." Gerard felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the nickname. "I think you should wear those clothes in public, not just the house. Then people can see how good you look." Gerard shook his head quickly out of fear.

"Oh, n-no. I could never do that. Mother would be so angry and I... she would.. I-I can't." He dropped his head in defeat.

Frank grabbed Gerard's hand and pulled him over to the chair in front of the vanity. He started cleaning off Gerard's messy eyeliner. He grabbed the pencil that was thrown on the floor and went back to Gerard. There were no more tears to ruin the newly added liner.

Gerard kept his eyes on Frank's concentrated face. He put the pencil down and stared at Gerard. His eyebrows were creased and his lips were turned down as he thought. 

Frank tilted his head to the side as he brought his hand up and ran his fingers through Gerard's black hair. Gerard tried ignoring how much he enjoyed the feeling and tried to figure out what Frank was thinking.

"What?" Gerard questioned. Frank was quiet for a while, sorting through his thoughts. A smile slowly grew on his face.

"Red," Frank finally said.

"R-red?" Gerard would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. "What do you m-mean?" Frank turned the chair so that Gerard was now facing the mirror. In the mirror, Gerard watched Frank lean down close to his ear.

"Let's dye your hair red." Gerard's jaw dropped. He began to shake his head with his mother in mind but stopped. He watched Frank comb his fingers through his boring black hair.

Red.

Mother would be furious, but then again, everything Gerard did upset her. What would be the difference if he does this? He found a smile on his own face. He moved his eyes to meet Frank's in the mirror. With a nod, he agreed.

"Red."

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A/N:

Forgot I wrote this story. I'm not good at frerard stories, but I really enjoy this one!