Frank waited for the sound of the front door shutting and ran a hand through his black messy hair to put all the strands in his face aside.

"...Anthony, what the hell?!" he snapped at his grave brother in front of him.

"I see what you were trying to do here, and I won't let it happen. He's not a freaking fucktoy !"

"Why do you have to be such a fucking cockblock?! Last time I checked, I do what I want with my dick, and so does Gerard, so mind your own fucking business."

"So I'm the one at fault now?! Did you even ask for his consent?"

"Of course I did." Frank crossed his arms.

That wasn't exactly true, Gerard hadn't given his explicit consent yet when Anthony had walked in - but Anthony couldn't know and didn't need to know that. Frank really would have respected Gerard's choice whatever it would have been. He was genuinely convinced that Gerard would have said yes anyway.

"And did that even occur to you that he was just TOO SHY to say no?!"

"STOP YELLING AT ME !"

"You're impossible. You're just gonna play with Gerard and ditch him when you're not having fun anymore. You're just a fuckboy." Anthony spat. "You don't like him like I do."

"Oh yeah?" Frank scoffed. "How do you know? You're not in my head. What if I wanted something else with him? Something different?"

"You, Franklin Thomas Iero Junior, want a long term relationship with him? With an actual human being?" Anthony mocked.

"Yeah, why not?" Frank frowned, folding his arms in a defensive manner.

Anthony was right though. Frank wasn't planning on dating anybody, ever. He wanted to have sex with whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without having to deal with a jealous boyfriend. He wasn't made for dating but for intense affairs.

"I don't believe you, you're just gonna break his heart."

"Oh because you're sure you won't?"

"Shut up, I'd never hurt him. I love him."

"Yeah sure, after talking to him, like, twice. You're so naive, brother dear."

"You're doing all of this because you're jealous ! Jealous that I might've found someone that really matters to me and because in the end, you know you're gonna end up alone. Let me tell you this. You stay the hell away from him, do you understand?"

Anthony took a step forward menacingly, and Frank did too. "Make me."

Anthony balled his fists and gnashed, but gave up. He knew how much it upset their mom when they fought, and one of them had to be the responsible one. But oh God, he would've loved to punch Frank in the mouth right now, and was really considering doing so anyway.

"I'm warning you." Anthony spat before leaving.

Frank smirked. Yeah, that's what I thought. Such a fucking coward.

Frank eventually thought about what Anthony had said. 'You're gonna end up alone.'

Frank was a wolf. He was made to live in a pack but not in a relationship. Loneliness didn't scare him so much. He wanted to stay free, and living free often means living alone.

______

Gerard mentally scolded himself on his way home.
You barely know him and you would've liked whatever he wanted to do to you, what the hell is wrong with you?!

Gerard might have enjoyed it, but he didn't really want it.
In the end it was a good thing that Anthony had walked in, not because he didn't like Frank - he really did -  but because he didn't want to have sex with Frank because he knew that if he did, he would lose Frank.

According to many people, Frank was a player and nothing more, but Gerard saw a little something in him and maybe - just maybe - if he didn't play Frank's game, he could stay friends with him. At least Gerard hoped so.

In fact, Gerard didn't want to have sex with anyone, he was kind of... - Well, 'disgusted' would be a little exaggerated but that's the idea.

Gerard would hate to be used or just seen as a pretty piece of meat.
He surely didn't want just fucking, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for love. As he had said, he wasn't interested in dating.

He was exhausted, he'd spent more time at Frank's than he had thought.
He went to his bedroom and collapsed on his mattress ; he felt like getting an aspirin, but he fell asleep before doing so.

______

Frank was really annoyed by his brother, he really needed to get out and think. Luckily he knew the perfect spot for that. He grabbed his old guitar and went out.

He walked and walked alone, until he arrived at his favorite spot : a small hill with a big oak on the side of it, a bit distant from everything. Enough to be alone in peace and think, but not enough to disconnect from reality.

Frank sat down and peered at the city thoughtfully.

From here, he could see the whole town and its lights, the stars, and above all the sunset. That was his secret garden.

It was a little too late for the sunset, it was already dark and all Frank could see were the last sunbeams painting the clouds golden from below, and the moon behind him casting the sun away, along with a thousand stars that looked like an army of sparkling dust.

Frank sighed and sat cross-legged, thinking about what Anthony had told him earlier.

He was right.
Frank was jealous of him.

Anthony has always had everything he could ever ask for - except true love.
Of course he had had his share of boyfriends - girlfriends sometimes - but never something serious.

And Frank would be more than glad to steal Gerard from him right before his eyes. After all, Anthony didn't own Gerard and Frank had every right to hit on the redhead.

Besides, Gerard happened to be 'highly fuckable' to Frank, and possibly one of the hottest guys Frank had ever seen. He had to admit, his brother had great taste. It was a shame Anthony had walked in back then, really. But well, it was just for another time.

Frank didn't see anything wrong with his own way of living, he wouldn't be acting like that if he did. To him, Anthony embodied everything that was wrong.

Frank was more than fine with being a manwhore. Too bad for him that most of the guys he hooked up with didn't make him work for it...

Frank couldn't care less if he was ruining what Anthony had for Gerard - if he did have something, and wasn't just falling in love with someone that Gerard was not.

Frank thought for a long time and made an important decision. He made up a plan to get his revenge on Anthony. He was going to try something he had never done.

He was going to seduce Gerard and win the boy's heart to keep him away from Anthony. He didn't know, however, that it was exactly what Anthony intended to do as well.

Frank sighed again and took his guitar.
He needed to sing to let his feelings out. Some people are like that.

At least here, no one could hear him. He made sure no one was around and started singing.

"No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man,
To be the sad man,
Behind blue eyes...

And no one knows what it's like
To be hated,
To be fated,
To telling only lies..."

Frank felt tears drip down his cheeks and resumed singing, louder, as he was shouting to the city and to the world.

"But my dreams, they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours only lonely
My love is vengeance that's never free..."

Frank put down his guitar and wiped his teary eyes, not feeling like singing the rest of the song. He loved it, it perfectly put words on what he was feeling everyday, and especially these past few days.

Some people might think that a punk guy like Frank couldn't cry, but these were the people who forgot that his leather jacket and his attitude were just a facade to mask his sensitivity and how hurt he was inside.

Frank would never let anyone see his wounds though. As said before, he was a wolf : he had his pride, his reputation, and he would never let anyone see that he was hurt, because his reputation was pretty much all he had left.

Frank took a deep breath and leaned against the tree's trunk, and looked up at the dark sky. He closed his eyes, enjoying all the feels and the fresh breeze, registering the sensations before getting up. Time to go home.

______

Gerard was waken by Mikey shaking him. "Rise and shine sleepyhead."

"Mmh, what time is it?" he sleepily let out.

"It's 7 am. Mom thought it'd have been better to let you sleep the night. You ran a marathon with Frank or what?"

Frank.
Oh God, that was so embarrassing.

Gerard really hoped that things wouldn'd get awkward between them, he didn't want to spoil their friendship.

"Come on Mikes, you know I just need to sleep a lot." he yawned.

Gerard really did, sometimes he would pass out from exhaustion as soon as he got back from school.

His motivation level was close to zero but his growling stomach encouraged him to get up and go get breakfast in the kitchen.

•••
He and Mikey arrived at the school, and Gerard saw Frank step towards him.

"Frank, hi..."
Jeez, could I possibly act more awkward?

"Hey Gee, I... wanted to apologize for yesterday."

"-Please don't! I-I should've said something or..."

Mikey frowned, his gaze ocillating between Frank and Gerard.

"No, that's on me. That was uncalled for and I'm sorry."

Frank really was. He was taking things too fast without thinking what Gerard wanted, and that definitly wasn't a way to get in his pants.

"...It's okay, we're all good."

Frank smiled and left, and Mikey patted Gerard's shoulder, still frowning in confusion.

"I might've interpreted this conversation the wrong way but uhmm... What did you say you two did yesterday, again?"

______

Gerard sat in the class next to Anthony, who asked him if he wanted to hang out after school. Gerard nodded. "Yeah sure, we can go for an ice cream or something."

"So tell me, what happened exactly yesterday between you and Frank?"
Anthony knew very well what his kinky brother had had in mind, he just wanted to see things from Gerard's point of view.

"I told you, he taught me how to tie ties, and he..."

"He what?" Anthony pushed.

"He... It was nothing, really, he just... Slipped."

Anthony arched an eyebrow.
"If you say so. Just- be sure of what you want, okay?"

Gerard nodded and looked down to hide his flushing. Did Anthony know?

Anthony and Gerard eventually left the school after the latter had told Mikey not to wait for him.

"Belleville's not a big town, but there are still beautiful places."

Gerard let Anthony lead him through the picturesque streets.

"Anthony there's an ice cream truck!"
Gerard tugged on his sleeve like a child would. Anthony chuckled. "Alright then. It's on me."

"No way. What flavor do you want?"

"Now that's a hard question you're asking me... I'll go with vanilla."

"Okay, strawberry for me."

Gerard ordered the milky ice creams and joined Anthony on a bench.

"I love ice cream", he dreamily stated,
licking his. "Hey, can I taste yours?"

"Sure." Anthony held his ice cream out to Gerard, letting him taste it. He suddenly raised it up to spread it all on Gerard's face, making him yelp in surprise while Anthony burst out in laughter.

"You-... Are you serious?!" Gerard laughed his ass off. He wiped most of the cream off his face with his fingers and licked them. "You're an ass," he frowned, pretending to be mad.

"I'm- I'm sorry but... Don't worry, ice cream looks good on your face." Anthony hardly stopped laughing and quieted down.

"Hey, you still got some on your cheek... here."
Anthony took it off with his thumb, but his hand stayed on Gerard's face, cupping his cheek.

Gerard let out a little nervous giggle at the sight of Anthony peering at him.

Anthony took his hand off, lightly scraping his throat.
"Can I taste yours too? Just don't spread it on my face, okay?"

"Can't promise that." Gerard winked, making Anthony laugh in the process.

______

Song of the chapter : "Behind blue eyes" by Limp Bizkit