Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/642865.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Underage
  Category:
      M/M, F/M
  Fandom:
      My_Chemical_Romance, Bandom
  Relationship:
      Frank_Iero/Gerard_Way, Mikey_Way/Pete_Wentz
  Character:
      Gerard_Way, Frank_Iero, Mikey_Way, Pete_Wentz, Ray_Toro, Patrick_Stump,
      Ryan_Ross
  Additional Tags:
      Bandom_-_Freeform, Frerard, Pikey
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-01-01 Updated: 2015-10-26 Chapters: 2/9 Words: 5896
****** Can't Complain ******
by orphan_account
Summary
     Gerard's world is a daily rhythm of complete conformity within his
     life. However, this all changes when a new student is enrolled in his
     school.
***** Anti-Climax *****
Gerard is sitting on the white marble steps in the front of Yancy Academy,
smoking a cigarette silently while his friend Ray Toro sits next to him and
babbles on about a concert he wants to go to afterschool. Gerard only hears a
few words that Ray says, too caught up in his thoughts to notice when his
friend asks him if he wants to come along. Ray taps him on the shoulder when he
doesn’t respond, jarring him out of his thoughts and forcing him back into the
real world and out of his fantasies.
“I said, ‘do you want to go, too’?” Ray says, shifting his sitting position to
face Gerard.
“Sure,” Gerard says absentmindedly, staring at his friend for a couple seconds
before turning away to take another drag of his almost finished cigarette. Ray
shakes his head disbelievingly at his friend’s aloof state, his light brown
curls bouncing slightly and his mouth forming a slight smirk. But this is
normal for Ray. Gerard’s always been one to daydream.
“What are you thinking about?” Ray asks Gerard suddenly, following a period of
silence that anyone other than them would consider awkward.
“You don’t even want to know,” Gerard replies, still slightly out of it. 
“No, seriously,” Ray says, standing up and brushing off the dirt that had been
transferred from the steps to Ray’s black linen pants – the ones that, along
with a dress shirt and a tie, were the uniform that was strictly enforced at
Yancy Academy. “You’ve been staring into ether for god knows how many minutes;
what are you thinking about?”
“I don’t know,” Gerard says simply, maintaining his blank expression. Ray huffs
at this answer, and is about to inquire further when a loud bell sounds,
signaling the end of lunch.
“You better tell me in Chemistry,” Ray says, grabbing his backpack off the
stairs and slinging it over his shoulder. Gerard stands up, following Ray’s
example, and drops his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out with his dress
shoes. Then he follows Ray through the mostly-deserted hallways towards Room
107. When Ray reaches his class, he turns to Gerard and gives him piteous look
because Ray knows that Gerard has Algebra 2 next and Ray also knows that Gerard
can’t do math for shit.
“See you in an hour,” Ray says, walking towards Room 104’s doorway. “I can’t
wait for you to tell me what you think about.” Ray says as he opens the
classroom doorway, disappearing from sight when the door shuts. Gerard scowls
to himself, thinking hard about whether to attend class or not. He’d already
skipped a couple of classes, and although he doesn’t care about math in the
least, he wants to please his parents, since they promised him to pay for his
college tuition next year. He decides that a little math can’t hurt, and begins
walking to his classroom, eyes on the ground.
“Fuck,” Gerard swears as he feels his body bump against another. He looks up to
find out who he’d bumped into, and swears again when he sees a short black
haired boy with hazel eyes and a snakebite piercing near the edge of his lower
lip. Gerard begins to blush as the unknown boy smirks at Gerard.
“Is this Algebra 2?” The unknown boy asks Gerard, his smirk still spread across
his face. It takes a few seconds for Gerard to respond, as he’s captivated by
the stranger.
“Y-yes,” Gerard stutters, bringing his hand up to his head to move his hair out
of the way of his eyes. The unknown boy nods in appreciation, opening the door
to Room 107 and holding it so that Gerard can grab the side of the door and
enter the classroom, too. Gerard looks around once he’s inside, trying to
search for a seat far from the front of the class. He finds one, and is
approaching it when the unknown boy sits down in it, eschewing his decision. He
looks around, trying to find another seat. There’s only one left, next to a boy
with short black hair and tan skin whom Gerard recognizes as Pete Wentz, the
champion of Yancy Academy’s tennis team. Gerard internally groans and sits down
next to the obviously more popular kid, who is in a conversation with one of
the many girls who want Pete in their beds.
Gerard’s teacher begins to talk, and Gerard instantly begins daydreaming again.
This time, his thoughts drift toward the unknown boy who he bumped into. Gerard
wonders whether the kid is new or whether Gerard’s just never seen him before
(though it’s highly unlikely, since there are only about two hundred students
at Yancy Academy, so it’s hard to miss new students.)
"Mr. Way, will you be joining us today, or do you need to sleep?" The teacher
asks, interrupting Gerard's thoughts of the unknown boy. Gerard scowls at the
teacher, avoiding the old man's eyes.
Gerard's Algebra 2 teacher is a nasty man by the name of Robert Jenkins. He
possesses beady eyes that are brown but dark enough to be pitch black and a
balding head that seems to shine to Gerard. During the past year, Jenkins has
taken it upon himself to see how many times he can mock Gerard.
“I guess so,” Gerard mumbles, slouching in his chair and flipping his black
hair to his right side so he can better view the classroom.
“Students, we have a new student joining our school,” Jenkins says as he points
towards the unknown boy. All eyes turn on him, and he blushes, smiling
embarrassedly. “Please welcome Mr. Iero.” A few people say hello to him, but
instead of saying greeting him, Gerard takes a moment to stare back at the boy.
He’s impressively built, short but still somewhat skinny. His clothes look no
different from everyone else’s, yet the snakebite throws Gerard off a bit. In a
school full of tan skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, his single piercing makes
him seem alien.
The boy catches Gerard’s eye, and Gerard turns around quickly, feeling his face
burn red.
“Now, let’s continue from where we left off yesterday. Can anyone tell me what
an asymptote is?” Jenkins asks his class. A few hands raise, and Jenkins points
to one arbitrarily. Gerard pretends to listen, but his mind still wanders to
the new kid.
“Mr. Iero, what are you doing?” Jenkins asks, and along with the rest of the
class, Gerard turns and looks at him. Gerard realizes that the new kid has
headphones in his ears, and he turns to see Jenkins’ reaction. Jenkins is less
than pleased.
“Hmm?” The boy says, confused at why he’s been called out.
“Students are not allowed to use electronic devices in school, period. Do you
want to end up like Mr. Way over here?” Jenkins says, pointing accusingly
towards Gerard. Gerard bites back his anger, squeezing his fist tight and
trying not to react.
“I don’t know, do I?” Iero says, and I smile at his response.
“No, you don’t.” Jenkins says, furrowing his brows at the boy. “But just to
reinforce this idea, you can stay after for an hour with Mr. Way this
afternoon.”
“But that’s not fair,” Gerard says, the words accidentally slipping out of his
mouth. Once he says them, he knows he’s screwed.
“Well then, maybe it would be more fair if you two stayed after for an hour
this entire week,” Jenkins smiles, turning back to his whiteboard. “Now then,
turn to page 203 in your book.”
For the next forty minutes, Gerard stares into his textbook, trying to absorb
the information but failing. However, it’s better than most past classes
because Jenkins ignores Gerard for the most part. When the bell rings, Gerard
puts his book inside his bag quickly before sprinting out of the class. He runs
past his classmates, who are streaming out of their respective classes and into
the hallways, stopping when he reaches the southeast stairwell. He begins
walking up the stairs, gripping the railing tightly. When he stops, he’s
reached the third floor. He stops to breathe for a second before beginning to
run again. 
Before long, he’s reached his Chemistry class, where he finds Ray waiting for
him with a delighted smirk on his face. Gerard approaches his friend, nodding
towards the door in signal for the other boy to open it. Ray opens the door,
holding it open as Gerard walks in. Soon after, Ray walks in, letting the door
creak shut behind him. They both meander towards the back of the classroom,
finding their own special corner to sit in. Their Chemistry class is one of
their favorites, since their teacher doesn’t quite know how to do her job and
therefore gives all of her students good grades for not interrupting her
constant book reading. Plus, she’s taken a liking to Gerard and Ray, who are
the only non-popular kids in the classroom.
“So, what have you been thinking about today?” Ray asks Gerard as they both sit
down at the marble lab table, setting their backpacks on top of it and sliding
into seats that face the back wall. “And don’t give me a bullshit answer this
time,” Ray says as Gerard opens his mouth to reply. Gerard huffs, flipping his
friend off.
“Well, I kind of thought about that new kid,” Gerard says, feeling the tips of
his ears start to turn crimson red.
“What new kid?” Ray asks, and Gerard feels stupid as he realizes that Ray
hasn’t seen the new kid yet.
“Nevermind,” Gerard says, and Ray is about to press him for more information,
but then their teacher enters the room, late as usual. She makes no effort to
stop her students from talking amongst themselves as she sits down at her desk,
reaching in her black handbag and pulling out a novel. She opens it and begins
to read, mumbling something about not wanting to teach today to her class.
“When should I pick you up later?” Ray asks Gerard, changing the topic to
Gerard’s relief.
“Can you pick me up around five? I have detention afterschool today,” Gerard
says, and Ray frowns.
“Why?” Ray asks, and he reaches into his backpack, pulling a book out of it.
“Jenkins,” Gerard says, and Ray gives him a knowing look before turning his
attention to the book in front of him. The next forty-five minutes go by in a
flash, as Ray reads his book and Gerard doodles in one of his notebooks,
drawing pictures of a short boy with a lip piercing and black hair.
 
-
 
“Mr. Way, thank you for joining us,” Jenkins says, smiling smugly at the boy as
he enters the room. The new boy is already sitting in a seat when Gerard
arrives, and he looks at Gerard apologetically when he enters. “Now then, I
don’t suppose you know why you’re in detention?” Jenkins asks.
“To make sure he,” Gerard points at the new kid (which he realizes he doesn’t
know the first name of), “doesn’t turn out like me?” Gerard says in mock
seriousness, rolling his eyes at Jenkins.
“Exactly. And do you know how we’re going to go about with that?” Jenkins says,
and Gerard groans.
“Organize books?” Gerard asks warily.
“Not today. Today, I’ll let you two get to know each other; tomorrow, you two
will have the honor of organizing all the books in this classroom. Now, get to
it while I grade homework.” Jenkins says, and motions for Gerard to sit down
next to the boy he doesn’t know. Gerard saunters over, dropping his bag on the
floor and sitting down in his seat. 
“What’s your name?” The new boy says, and Gerard is taken aback by how nice and
welcoming the boy’s voice sounds.
“I’m Gerard,” Gerard says, and he forces himself to smile at the boy who is now
facing him. The boy nods with a smile on his face, holding his hand out towards
Gerard.
“I’m Frank,” the boy says, and Gerard smiles, happy that he now knows the boy’s
name.
“Well, Frank, where did you move here from?” Gerard asks Frank, looking him in
the eyes as he does so. Frank quickly catches Gerard’s gaze, but lowers his
eyes to the ground as he replies.
“I’ve actually lived in Belleville all my life, but I was transferred to this
school because my parents wanted me to change schools,” Frank says, speaking
excitedly but maintaining his downward gaze.
“Really? Me, too!” Gerard says, more exuberantly than he means to, causing
Frank to glance up at him.
“Cool,” Frank says nonchalantly, looking down again and beginning to peel dead
skin off of his left index finger. “What music do you like?” The question
catches Gerard off guard, since he’s never really been as into music as his
sister.
“I don’t know. I kind of like Nirvana, R.E.M., and Pink Floyd, but my sister
makes me listen to lots of music, and now I really like some of Black Flag’s
old albums,” Gerard says, smiling when he sees Frank’s face light up at the
mention of the bands he’d spoken of.
“You like Nirvana and Black Flag?” Frank says, his smile widening as Gerard
nods apprehensively. “That’s awesome!”
“What’s awesome?” Comes Jenkins’ voice; he’s lifted his head from the endless
pile of papers on his desk and is now staring at the two boys, confusion all
over his face.
“Gerard offered to tutor me in English,” Frank says, quickly covering up for
the both of them. Jenkins is still suspicious, but smiles at Frank, unamused.
“That’s great,” Jenkins says dismissively, turning his eyes back to his papers.
Over the next fifty-or-so minutes, the two boys discuss music in depth (with
Frank taking the helm of the conversation) while Jenkins ignores them and
grades papers frantically. When Jenkins finishes looking over one of his stacks
of papers, he looks at his watch and realizes that he’s kept Frank and Gerard
an extra half an hour. Embarrassedly, he dismisses them and they rush to leave.
They end their conversation as they walk down the hallways, reaching the school
entrance quickly. As they exit the building, Frank notices his mother’s car
parked in front of the school, and he rushes his goodbyes with Gerard.
“I’ll see you later!” Frank says, running towards the silver Toyota and quickly
getting in. The car speeds off, and Gerard is left to walk home alone.
 
-
 
“I’m home,” Gerard shouts, opening the great front door to his house. The door
creaks uneasily as Gerard lets it close behind him. He hears a muffled ‘hello’
from the kitchen and walks through the dimly lit hallway towards it, smelling
sweet foods being baked in an oven.
“What’s up, big bro?” asks Sam, in the middle of spooning what looks like
whipped cream into a pastry bag and preparing to insert it into the pastries
she’s baked. Gerard walks over, and Sam puts down the pastry bag and spoon
before pulling Gerard into a bear hug.
“I’m going to get changed. Tell mom that I’m going to a concert with Ray
tonight,” Gerard tells his sister, letting go of her and turning around to
leave the room.
“Cool,” Sam says, getting back to her baking project. Gerard walks past the
kitchen until he reaches a flight of stairs that lead upstairs. Using the
banister for support, Gerard makes his ascent. When he reaches the top, he
turns right, walking into his bedroom and shutting the door. He pulls his tie
and dress shirt off, overheating slightly. He flips a switch, turning his
overhead fan on. He then proceeds to pull the rest of his clothes off and sits
on his bed, naked.
He blushes when he notices that he has a hard-on. Gerard makes sure that his
door is locked before beginning to stroke his cock, feeling it harden. He lays
down on his bed, closing his eyes as he pumps his cock. His thoughts
immediately turn to the new boy, Frank. This both frightens him (because he’s
not very sure why he’s thinking of Frank while masturbating) and turns him on
more. He thinks of Frank’s smile, how good his lips must taste. How good his
lips would feel around his cock, looking up at Gerard as he bobbed his head,
pleasuring Gerard even more, how fucking good-
Gerard’s thoughts are interrupted as he hears a knock on his bedroom door.
Gerard immediately sits up, his hand flying away from his cock as he looks down
at the floor, trying to find his underwear.
“Do you want a cannoli?” Gerard hears his sister say through the door. Gerard
groans.
“Sure thing, sis,” Gerard says, pulling on his underwear. “I’ll be down in a
minute.” Gerard gets up, his cock still throbbing with pleasure. He
begrudgingly looks through his closet, finding a ripped pair of dark blue jeans
that are somewhat tight. He puts them on, feeling the fabric against his
erection. He then puts on a Neutral Milk Hotel t-shirt (which he should
probably return to Ray, since it’s his shirt. Besides, he’s never even listened
to the band; all he knows is that it’s indie rock).
Gerard unlocks his door, leaving his room and walking downstairs into the
kitchen where he finds Sam finishing up squirting the whipped cream into the
chocolate-covered pastries. 
“What’re these for?” Gerard asks as his picks up one of them, taking a bite of
it.
“I’m making them for my Spanish class tomorrow, since we’re having a party. I
want to show off my baking skills to the girls,” Sam replies, smirking at her
brother, who looks extremely content with his treat.
“How’s your all-girls school treating you?” Gerard asks, his mouth full pastry.
“They're all really nice to me. I think I'm becoming popular,” Sam winks,
turning to put the tray of chocolate-covered cannolis into the fridge. Gerard
smiles, knowing that this is probably the best thing that's happened in their
family's lives in a while. Previous to attending Mount Saint Mary Academy, she
had gone to a public school. Both Sam and Gerard's lives during that period of
time had been hell.
“That's awesome,” Gerard replies, somewhat absentmindedly, as he stares out his
window, thinking of Frank once again.
“Looks like someone’s got you distracted,” Sam says mockingly, giggling at her
older brother when he comes out of his daze, his face turning bright pink.
“Sh-shut up,” Gerard says, blushing even more now. Sam presses on, raising her
eyebrow at him and prompting a response from Gerard. “There was a new kid at
school today,” Gerard admits to his sister, and she grins back at him.
“Was he cute?” She asks, and Gerard nods, looking at the ground. “Well, is he
gay?” Sam continues, interested. 
“I don’t know. With my luck, he’s probably the straightest boy in school,”
Gerard complains, groaning at the thought.
“Don’t think so negatively,” Sam says, smiling at her brother brightly. “I bet
he’s the biggest fairy around!”
“We can only hope,” Gerard says, giving her a forced smile. They sit in silence
for a while, neither of them moving as they think tentatively about different
subjects. It is a moment of perfect stillness, when their whole existence is
meaningful to them if just for a moment. This impeccable blank moment is broken
when the bleep of a car is heard from outside the house. Gerard turns,
startled, and Sam breaks free from her trance and stares at the window that the
sound has come from.
“I guess that’s my signal to leave,” Gerard says sheepishly. Sam nods
thoughtfully, pulling her brother into a quick but affectionate hug before
pushing him towards the kitchen entrance playfully.
“Don’t make him beep again,” she says, and he grins, taking a second cannoli
before jogging towards the front door, taking a bite of it as he opens the door
and runs out and around the house to get in the car with Ray.
***** Up and Leave *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Ray pulls up to the side of the road, the right side of his car almost climbing
the sidewalk. After checking the position of his car, he twists the keys,
pulling them out of the ignition.
“Ready to go?” Ray says, taking a puff on the joint that they had been passing
for the past ten minutes. 
“I guess,” Gerard says, taking the joint and putting it to his lips. They had
been driving around for the past hour or so, waiting for eight o’clock. Now it
was time, and as they get out of the car, they began to hear noise.
Gerard throws the joint to the ground, stomping it out with his right foot.
After locking the car, Ray begins to head in the direction of the noise. Behind
him, Gerard follows, feeling anxious. Ray is used to the whole live music
scene, ever since his parents brought him to see Nirvana when he was a kid.
Gerard, on the other hand, was never allowed to go with Ray to see local music
until he turned sixteen (a few months ago), so he was still unused to the
experience.
“Cheer up, it’s going to be awesome,” Ray says, and Gerard is comforted by the
fact that Ray has always known what Gerard is feeling. The closer they get to
the dive bar hidden behind restaurant chains and a pawn shop, the louder the
sound of people becomes, until it’s all they can hear.
Gerard can see the neon lights in the bar’s singular window which spell out
‘Icarus’ in glowing red letters. Standing in front of the door is a large man
with rose-tinted glasses, and as they approach him, he gives them a look of
disdain before holding his hand out. Before he can ask the doorman what he
means, Ray mutters ‘cover charge’ and Gerard pulls $10 from his wallet, handing
him the bill. The man moves out of the way, and the two of them walk inside.
Gerard looks around, noticing that there are already at least fifty people
crowding in front of the stage. Looking back, he sees that Ray has already
started walking towards the crowd, and Gerard follows his friend into the mass
of people. Ray waves to a couple of them as he passes by. Gerard follows him,
trying to avoid bumping into people as they continue forward. Suddenly
stopping, Gerard bumps into Ray, who doesn’t notice at all.  Turning to a kid
with messy brown hair and even browner eyes, Ray starts talking. The band on
the stage grows loud as they start to play a song (which they proclaim is their
finale), and Gerard can’t hear them talking under the music.
Taking this time to familiarize himself with the exits, Gerard looks around.
Besides the front entrance, there were two exit signs which glared with
artificial redness. Ever since he had experienced a mosh pit get out of hand,
he prepared himself for those kinds of situations just in case.
“Gerard, this is Ryan,” Ray says, and Gerard turns around, facing his friend,
who steps aside, allowing the person he was talking to to step forward. Ray’s
friend can’t be more than two years older than me, Gerard thinks. With those
clothes he looked like a homeless man had found a box of clothes from the late
60s. In a good way.
“Hi,” Gerard says, a bit flustered. Ryan smiles back, and begins to speak.
“How do you know Ray?” he says, putting his arm around Ray’s shoulder.
“Childhood friend,” Gerard replied succinctly, eyeing the older boy. He seems
to be comfortable with Ray; most likely one of his musician friends, Gerard
thinks. “Are you in Ray’s band?” He asks, and Ryan chuckles loudly.
“No, Ray would never let me take the spotlight from him,” he says, and Gerard
can see Ray tense up a bit. One thing, the only thing that really got Ray
angry, was talking bad about his music. However, he didn’t seem to be taking it
badly. “Plus, I already have one,” he says, removing his arm from around the
nape of Ray’s neck.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if I can’t get a drink,” Ray says,
flashing Gerard his fake ID and grinning mischievously. As he leaves, he
mouthed the words ‘thank me later’, and Gerard understands now.
“So, Gerard, what music do you like?” He hears Ryan saying from behind him, and
he turns to face the chestnut-haired boy.
“You know, a bit of everything,” Gerard replies, and Ryan narrows his eyes.
“But like, what kind of music? Are you a metalhead, or do you prefer hip-hop?”
Ryan asks him, and Gerard answers.
“Alternative, I guess? I don’t know, Ray’s the musician. I’m the… well…”
Gerard’s voice trails off, and Ryan gives him an alluring look.
“Good,” Ryan responds, as if he’s been evaluating Gerard and it turned out
well. “Let’s hang out after the show,” he says, and as the music stops, he
starts walking towards the stage. Surprised, Gerard walks forward, attempting
to see the stage. As he finally manages to get past the crowd of people, he
sees a second band setting up - one which includes Ryan, who is standing at the
forefront of the stage, a Gibson ES-335 hanging from his shoulders.
The drummer finishes rearranging the drum set, and Gerard sees Ryan looking at
him as he strums the first chord of a song.
“We are Volt Valor and this is Quake,” Ryan speaks calmly into the microphone
as he continues with the chord progression. The tempo is quick, and Gerard
feels better about the experience already - he wasn’t sure if it was the weed
or the hot guy he had met, but he was feeling happy.
As Ryan sang - a light yet confident voice which was barely off key - Ray
returned with two beers.
“You can thank me now,” he grins at Gerard, who is blushing.
“H-how did you know?” Gerard asks him, stuttering in a fearful voice.
“How could I not know, dude? We’ve been friends since elementary school, I know
you’re gay,” Ray says, handing a beer to Gerard. Gerard takes it, sipping and
making a disgusted face.
“Hey, it’s beer, the whole point of it is that it tastes nasty,” Ray smirks,
and Gerard takes a gulp of the skunk beer, driven to prove he can drink.
“How did you meet him?” Gerard asks after taking a smaller sip than before. He
looks up into Ray’s eyes.
“Ryan? I met him in summer camp,” Ray says, gulping down a quarter of the beer.
“He’s really into music, but he’s also really cool,” he affirms, as if
answering the questions Gerard was thinking.
“And how did you know he was…” Gerard says, stopping before saying the word
that he’s always tried to avoid.
“Gay? A fag?” Gerard hits Ray’s shoulder, and Ray laughs. “I’m just kidding,
jeez. He was well known in camp for getting with a bunch of people. He’s a
pretty good musician, though.” Ray looks up onto the stage, and catches Ryan
staring their way. Ryan smiles, playing a nice riff before continuing to sing.
“Do you have a curfew tonight?” Gerard asks his friend, and Ray shakes his
head, grinning.
“I’ll tell your parents you’re staying with me tonight,” Ray says, and Gerard
smiles, hugging Ray.
“Thanks, dude,” he says.
“Gay,” Ray replies in a mocking tone. 
Throughout the next half hour, Gerard and Ray listened to the music and had
fun. After a cover of Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) and an original song to provide
a dramatic conclusion to their set, Ray walks back over to the bar to get a
second beer for himself, and Gerard stays in the front of the audience,
watching the band pack up. As he sees Ryan walking towards the front of the
stage, he turns away, not wanting to be caught looking.
“Ready to go?” Ryan asks, jumping down from the stage with his guitar case in
his left hand.
“Where?” Gerard asks, still unsure what ‘hanging out’ entailed.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m about to fall asleep. Do you want to get
coffee?” Ryan asks, and Gerard blushes slightly, thinking about what ‘coffee’
could mean. 
“Sure,” Gerard says, and they begin to walk towards the exit of the bar.
“Hey Ryan, take care of him for me,” Ray says as we pass him.
“Don’t worry, I won’t break him,” Ryan turns and winks at Ray, who, along with
Gerard, blushes a crimson red.
“Bring back by 11,” Ray calls after us, and Ryan puts his hand up as he walks
away.
The air is brisk outside, and they both walk side by side, forward, even though
Gerard has no idea where Ryan’s car is located. As they walk, they talk about
music, and Gerard lists off the bands he listens to. As they reach Ryan’s car,
a dark green 2000 Subaru Outback which looked a bit rusty around the edges,
Ryan opens the passenger side door before walking to the other side and getting
in.
Gerard follows suit, sitting down in the car and shutting the door.
As soon as Ryan turns the key in the ignition, music begins to play loudly from
the speakers. Ryan pulls the car out of the parking lot, turning right down the
street which leads to main street.
As the car speeds across the lamp-lit street, the two inside talk about
themselves, getting to know each other as they head towards the center of town.
 
-
  
“…and an iced coffee, please,” Ryan says, standing in the front of a long line
of people waiting to get coffee at the town’s local hipster coffee shop,
Chowder Coffee, which has an off-putting name but apparently really good.
Gerard is standing to the side of the line, looking forward. As Ryan turns
towards him, Gerard once again averts his gaze, but when he looks back, he sees
Ryan walking towards him, smiling.
They both sit down at a raised table against a window that looks out upon the
street outside, giving them a view of all the closed shops outside.
“What did you think of the show?” Ryan asks Gerard, who is staring blankly out
the window.
“U-um, it was really good,” Gerard, embarrassedly turning back to face him.
Ryan smiles back at Gerard for a second before begging to laugh.
“Hahaha, I guess,” Ryan says. Gerard begins thinking about what Ryan could’ve
meant but his train of thought is interrupted by a waitress coming to the
table. Ryan turned towards the girl, thinking her and continuing to look at her
as she walked away. After a few seconds, he turned back to Gerard.
“What was that?” Gerard said, looking at Ryan through narrowed eyes.
“We aren’t in a relationship yet-“ Ryan says, still smiling as he raises his
head and laughs again.
“Yet?” Gerard says, blushing and avoiding the other’s eye contact. Ryan begins
to speak as Gerard gulps down half a cup of coffee with extra half and half.
“If we’re still together in five dates, we can talk about it, but for now, I’m
just courting you,” Ryan says, giving Gerard a once-over.
BZZT! Gerard’s cell phone beeps, and he reaches into his pocket, taking it out.
“One second,” he says before answering the phone.
“Did I interrupt anything?” Ray says in a teasing voice.
“Very funny, asshole,” Gerard replies, smiling happily.
“So listen, my parents say they’re going to have dinner at their friends house,
so come over, dude,” Ray tells his friend. Grinning, Gerard says ‘see you
later,’ and shuts the phone.
“Party at Ray’s house,” Gerard tells Ryan.
“Cool,” Ryan replies, grabbing his coffee with his left hand and beginning to
lead Gerard out the door.
  
-
 
Gerard is drunk after a half an hour of beer pong, which he inevitably loses
against one of Ray’s older friends. The party isn’t as loud as the bar, but it
feels a bit more inhospitable because Gerard doesn’t really know many of the
people at Ray’s house. Ray is a senior, whereas Gerard is a junior. Even though
they’re best friends, they don’t really see each other in school other than at
lunch and at Chemistry (which Ray takes because he’s terrible at science).
Sitting in a couch that was dragged closer to the beer pong table, Gerard
watches the game of beer pong. As they play, Ryan sits next to him, his left
arm around Gerard’s neck.
“C’mon, Searson!” he says sarcastically before realizing what he said and
laughing.
Ryan looks at Gerard, amusedly smiling and stroking his neck. Gerard yawns,
closing his eyes for a couple seconds before jolting awake again.
“Oh shit,” Gerard says, blinking and looking around. “I think I need to go to
sleep.”
“You can take my bed,” Ray says from across the table.
“Thankss, ray of sunshine,” Gerard says sloppily, getting up too quick to
realize that he’s too drunk to walk.
“I got him,” Ryan tells Ray, turning and catching Gerard as he stumbles down.
He picks the drunk boy up and begins carrying him upstairs. Once he’s upstairs,
Ray gets up, excusing himself and creeping back upstairs.
From the stairs, Ray watches Ryan as he puts Gerard into bed. By now, Gerard is
already pretty much passed out, and after pulling the sheets over Gerard’d
body, he plants a kiss on the top of his head. Walking out, he sees Ray
watching him.
“What’s up?” Ryan says, and gives Ray a polite smile.
“Listen up, dude,” Ray says, and sighs. “Gerard’s my best friend. This sounds
pretty cliché, but I swear I’ll kick your ass if you do anything to hurt him.”
“I’m innocent,” Ryan says, a faux-hurt look upon his face.
“I know you like to date-and-dump, so I have to be sure that you won’t do that
to him,” Ray says and pats Ryan’s skinny back rather hard.
“Trust me,” Ryan responds.
“For now,” Ray says menacingly, turning away and walking downstairs.
Ryan is at a lost for words for a second, but he quickly regains his composure
and follows Ray.
“I’ll see you later,” he says to Ray, who nods and walks back to the table.
Stupid Toro, Ryan thinks, his face contorting into an expression of rage after
he exits Ray’s house. 
When he gets in his car, he begins to rant out loud.
“I’ll fucking kick your ass, Toro. Goddamn asshole, that kid. Fuck. FUCK!” Ryan
shouts, driving fast as he drives home. “What the fuck is date-and-dump? Is it
my fault that nobody is ever good enough for me? Goddamnit. Fucking shit.” Ryan
swears the whole way home. Pulling into the empty driveway, he enters his home.
Trash is everywhere, and he quickly walks upstairs. He unlocks his bedroom and
enters before locking the door shut. Ryan sits in an old desk chair, opening
his computer and opening chrome.  After going to Facebook, he minimizes the
screen and opens a program on his desktop with a green ‘A’ and a circle around
it horizontally.
The file takes a while to load, and Ryan checks his emails and Facebook
notifications while he waits.
After a few minutes, he opens the program again, and the screen fills with
information. Ryan begins typing.
 
Chapter End Notes
     I can't fucking believe I wrote another chapter but now I'll actually
     finish this story
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