"Okay, sit down everyone." the maths teacher spoke, and every student did so.

Gerard sat down next to Brendon as he usually did, because maths was the only class he had in common with him and both of the Iero twins, so he and Brendon agreed that they would always sit next to each other in this class, to avoid a war between the twins.

Frank and Anthony respected that, and today Frank really didn't want to sit next to Gerard anyway.

"So as you know, there are only a few months of school left before summer break..."

They were in fact only at the begining of April, and by the way Gerard had celebrated a few weeks ago his 17th birthday with his family.

"...and I wanted to announce that next week, the whole class is going on a trip to Cambridge for a week, to study England's history."

The whole class cheered loudly. That was another advantage of being in an expensive school : awesome school trips.

"FUCK YEAH !" Frank yelled loudly, bouncing from his seat and making hand gestures because he just didn't fucking care.

The maths teacher replaced her glasses in a way that vaguely reminded Gerard of Mikey.

"Mr Iero, you would be kind not to scream in my class and to watch your language?"

"Sorry ma'am, I'm just so glad to leave this shithole !" Frank smirked, almost defyingly, making the whole class laugh -except Anthony, probably.

"E-Excuse me?!"

"I'm just saying I am happy to go." Frank put on a smile that looked far too innocent for him and didn't seem to belong on his face.

"I prefer that. Next time I will dismiss you Frank, this is your last warning. And for God's sake, sit down !"

Frank did so with a sly smile on, and Gerard could see him discreetly high five Pete who was sitting next to him.

Gerard's gaze met his and he shyly smiled. He wasn't expecting Frank to smile back, but at least react in a way, give him a sign as some sort of hint on his current feelings towards him. That's exactly what Frank did. He flipped Gerard off, actually. We can say that it was pretty clear as to his current feelings towards Gerard.

Gerard's heart skipped a beat and he felt a lump in his throat. He knew he deserved it though, he knew Frank hated to be treated as a manwhore, and Gerard really had crossed the line. He wasn't expecting Frank to forgive him like that, especially if Gerard couldn't forgive himself, which he really didn't.

"I'll let your respective history teachers explain all the details as to the papers you'll have to write." Gerard heard the teacher say.

Anthony raised his hand.

"Excuse me but how many will we be in the families?" he asked, making Frank roll his eyes.

"That's an excellent question, Anthony." The teacher said and Frank huffed in his sleeve, making Pete chuckle.

"You see, you'll be lodged in a youth hostel and not in local families since, as you know, England is an English speaking country so learning languages really isn't the point of this trip. Contacts with British historians will be enriching enough to learn its history. Moreover, there will be enough room for you to have your own bedrooms. Don't expect suites though." the teacher smiled and Anthony thanked her.

"And for the record, we'll go there by plane. Will accompany : myself, Ms. Clarke..."

The class cheered at the news that the sweet Ms Clarke would join them.

"Mr. Wilkins, Mrs. Cooper..."
The two history teachers.

"...And Mr. Hammerschmidt."

A buzz of protestations at the mention of the physics teacher rose up in the classroom.

"Be quiet !"

"Looks like Dr Jekyll's tagging along..." Brendon mumbled to Gerard, making him giggle. 'Dr Jekyll' was how most of the students nicknamed the feared and hated professor, too lazy to memorize his name.

His very advanced age, his aforementioned German name, his knowledge of chemistry, and his authoritarian - almost maniac and sadistic - attitude also caused the people who hated him the most to spread the rumor that he was, in fact, an ancient nazi that used to work in concentration camps.

This is, however, both irrelevant and false since Mr. Hammerschmidt was in fact born in 1949 in the United States of America, more precisely in the state of Ohio.

______

As soon as he arrived home, Gerard packed his suitcase with everything he might need, and his mother took care of stuffing it with things he might never.

As he was putting his diary in the suitcase, Mikey knocked at his door and came in.

"Gee, can I... talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"About Pete..."

"Yeah, what's new?"

"He... He asked me out."

"Mikey, that's wonderful!"

Gerard found it really odd from somebody like Pete, but he was happy for his brother nonetheless. Mikey, however, didn't seem as thrilled as him.

"Well, I- I thought about it a lot and..." Mikey gulped.

"And what? ...And what, Mikey?" Gerard softly spoke.

Mikey bit his lips. "Gerard, I... I think I'm gay... I think I love him..."

His eyes watered, he was on the verge of bursting into tears.

Gerard stood up and pulled him in his arms. "Hey, why are you so sad? It's okay to be gay." Gerard petted his hair.

"It hurts Gee... It feels so bad..." Mikey sniffled in Gerard's shoulder and hugged him tightly, tears escaping his eyes. His voice was as shaky as the rest of his lanky body.

"Why? If Pete loves you back, then what's the matter?"

"I don't know..." Mikey cried.

"I think I do. Love hurts... but I think what upsets you most here is that you found out that you're gay, isn't it?"

"Maybe... I- I think you're right..."

"Mikey, it will take time to come to terms with that. It'll hurt, but I've been there too, you know? If I could handle it, then so can you, you're strong. You're just scared and it's okay, it's totally fine. It's human, Mikey."

"So you think I should accept?"

"I think you should. But be careful, Pete's a player. He might not be the Prince Charming you expect him to be. Your first boyfriend is not always the right one."

"But... Who is right for me then?"

"Maybe it is Pete, but only time will tell. Love is not something you're struck with, it's something that you build. Mikey, you have to find someone who tells you 'I love you' even when you don't need to hear it, someone to remind you that you're not alone. So if you wanna find someone right for you, don't be a dick obviously but above all, be yourself. Be yourself and wait for the right person to see the beauty in you. Once you've found them, don't let them go. Make them the happiest you can and they'll make you the happiest boy in the world."

Mikey nodded, mentally noting all of that. "Hey, about my... Potential homosexuality... Please don't tell mom, I wanna be the one to tell her. If I'm gay. In fact, don't tell anyone."

"I won't, I promise. I want you to know that I'll always be here for you, okay? Pete will be here to help too, you know? If someone bothers you about if or makes you feel bad, you tell him. Knowing him, he'll handle it... pretty well." Gerard smirked and Mikey giggled.

Pete had told Gerard he had delt with a group of homophobic shits before, and how he had handled it. It had been... Efficient.

He had managed to sleep with two of them, one after another, his dick really was doing wonders. As to the ones that were stubborn to the point of continuing to insult him and his newfound friends with benefits, well... He had simply beat them up badly.

Ever since, Pete obviously never kept himself from shouting this story on the rooftops as soon as he had the chance, and oddly, after that day, people were a lot more respecting...

______

The D-day eventually arrived and Gerard got up at dawn, for once, and still to Billie Joe Armstrong's voice.

"Bye Mikey, be nice while I'm gone, you're the man of the family now."

"Bye Gee, I won't miss you."

Great, Mikey had come back to his bratty self.

"Bye Virgin, try not to burn the house down."

"Bye Princess, try not to get an STD while you're gone." Mikey retorted with that giggle Gerard found so adorable. Gerard couldn't hold it anymore and pulled his brother in a hug and harshly ruffled his chestnut hair.

"Ouch! Okay, okay, I lied," Mikey bit back a smile. "Maybe I'll miss you. Just a little."

"Me too." Gerard kissed his head. "You take care, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"Not my type." Mikey giggled.

"Yeah, sure." Gerard pulled back. He was now ready to go. He was ecstatic about this trip, he just wished he could have been there for Mikey all the time, Mikey was going through a difficult period of his life where he needed help.

Mrs Way drove him to the airport, where a few students in uniform had already arrived, and dropped her son after another hug.

A week is a lot, especially when you're more than 5000 km away from your family, but Gerard was with all his friends, so he wasn't too stressed about it. Moreover, he was going to another English speaking country so language wouldn't really be a problem.

Gerard hugged his mother and hopped out of the car. He took his suitcase and a deep breath as his mother left, and joined his friends.

Here we go...

______