Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/4491267. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: My_Chemical_Romance Relationship: Frank_Iero/Gerard_Way Character: Frank_Iero, Gerard_Way, Mikey_Way, Original_Characters Additional Tags: Frerard Stats: Published: 2015-08-03 Updated: 2015-09-08 Chapters: 5/? Words: 3138 ****** Hopeless Romantic ****** by waylien1 Summary "And when he turned to cross the street, Frank noticed that he was possibly the most beautiful man he had ever seen." ***** Chapter 1 ***** A cool wind blew through the trees, scattering leaves around in a colorful autumn dance. It was chilly, but not overly so, and it was nice, or at least as nice as days in Jersey could be. A particularly hard wind suddenly flew through the trees, and a shiver was sent down Frank's spine. He zipped his black hoodie up as high as it could go, jammed his hands in his pockets, and continued on his walk through the city. It would have been a peaceful walk for the boy, but yet, he had gotten into another fight with his mom. He doesnt even know what they are fighting about anymore, they used to get along so well. But when his dad died, well, things had gone downhill with him and his mother. They still loved each other deeply, and always would, but Frank supposed that they just both expressed their grief over the loss as rage, for it was an easier emotion to deal with, a filter emotion, hiding the true issues deep inside. Frank sighed. Three years had passed since the car accident that had left his father dead, and yet, he still missed him so much. Frank had only been thirteen at the time, and the loss of his father made his transition into teen years so much harder for him. The grief had overwhelmed him, filling him up, overflowing into depression and blind rages that weren't really about anything in particular, he just wanted, needed to yell at something. Maybe it was because he was mad at his father for leaving him. He knows it wasn't his fathers fault at all, but deep down, it still hurt. Frank kicked absentmindedly at a stone lying on the rocky ground, sending it cascading into a nearby puddle. He chuckled at the 'plop' sound that emitted when it hit the water, and looked up to the street. It was the typical Jersey city scene, A few trees lining the blocks, run-down stores and mini-marts, maybe the occasional music store. And as he glanced across the street, he saw a man. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was wearing black skinnies and a worn leather jacket, so worn that Frank swore it was barely together and could fall apart at any given moment. His hair was black and fell down to his shoulders, and had a slight greasy look to it, as if it hadnt been washed in ages. Frank grimaced. He himself needed to be clean, partially because of how he was always sick, partially because of how he hated the feeling of being grimy. Despite his hair though, the man looked as if he had put a fair amount of effort into his appearance. And when he turned to cross the street, Frank noticed that he was possibly the most beautiful man he had ever seen. His face was round, but his jaw line defined, and his nose was small. He had these pink, beautiful lips that were perfectly kissable, and his eyes were the perfect mix of hazel and green, seeming to shimmer in the sunlight. The sight of him stopped Frank right in his tracks. He had always been curious about men, but he had never found anyone that appealed to him as much as women. Until now. The man entered a small corner store, and curious about this man, Frank followed suit. The bell above the door ringed when he entered, and a small Italian man grumbled out a greeting to him with a heavy accent. Frank smiled at him, and set about to find the man from the street. Spotting the man in the dairy aisle, he walked non-nonchalantly over, and found him examining a carton of milk. “I wouldnt get milk here, if I were you,” Frank said, and the man looked up at him. God, he was even more gorgeous up close. He smiled. “And why is that?” He asked, cocking up his eyebrow. “To be honest, the stored around here are pretty shady. I wouldnt be surprised if that was weeks past its expiration date,” Frank explained, shuffling over to get a closer look at the carton. Gerard chuckled. “Thats kinda why i'm checking it man,” He said, laughing lightly. Frank blushed, feeling dumb for not realizing that. “Oh. Yeah, well that would make sense,” He mumbled, looking over at the cheeses. Gerard laughed again, a light and airy laugh that made Frank feel completely better about the situation. “I'm Gerard, by the way,” He said sweetly, and extended his hand. Gerard. What an odd name. It suited him though, Frank thought, before he shook his hand, and smiled at him. “Frank,” He replied, and Gerard nodded. “I like that name,” He said, and finished examining the milk. “Well, I should probably get going, finish making dinner.” Frank nodded, feeling slightly disappointed that our short conversation was ending. “It was nice meeting you,” He said, and smiled at him. “You too, Frank. Maybe i'll see you around,” Gerard said. He waved at Frank as he walked away, and Frank examined a few shelves after he left, making sure not to leave too soon after him. All the while he had a dumb smile on his face. ***** Chapter 2 ***** Chapter Summary "At around nine, the realization hit Frank that yes, there was school tomorrow, and he would have homework, and tests, and probably people that he hated, and have to wake up early." Chapter Notes Sorry about how short this chapter is, the next few chapters should be longer, I hope you enjoy! The following morning, Frank awoke at around 10 am. Sunday, thank fuck, Frank thought, as he lay back down to wake up a little more before going down for breakfast. He thought about his dream, which not surprisingly, had been of Gerard, and his beautiful eyes, and his gentle laugh. 'This is stupid,' Frank thought, 'I mean, I barely know the guy. For all I know, he could be a total creep.' sighing, he rolled over to the side of the bed, dragged himself up, and went downstairs to go and grab some cereal. “Good morning Frank, sleep well?” His mom asked as he sauntered into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes. He grumbled out something along the lines of “Yeah, I guess,” and opened a cabinet to pull out a box of Lucky Charms. He smiled tiredly at the box, and began to make his cereal. “Have you seen Sam recently? I ran into his mom at the store this morning, she says that Sam misses you,” She continued, reading an article in the paper. Frank groaned. “I'll take that as a no. You really should get together with someone soon Frank, school starts tomorrow, and it would be nice for you to broaden your horizons this year,” She finished , taking a sip of her coffee. “Yeah, I know, its just there are only so many people in all of Jersey,” Frank grumbled half heartedly, and began to eat his bowl of lucky charms. For a good five minutes, the only sounds in the kitchen were the clinking of spoons on porcelain bowls and the occasional sip. Frank had forgotten about school. He sighed, and got up to put his bowl in the sink. He had already gotten everything he needed the week before, books, uniforms, pencils, and even a new backpack. His backpack last year had gotten ruined when he accidentally put a open bottle of coke into it. He used it for the rest of the year, but it always smelled faintly of slightly-off coke, and it was exceedingly sticky. “So Frank, i'm off to work, text me if you need anything, I love you,” His mom said, standing up and kissing his cheek. She grabbed her briefcase from the couch, and left, the door loudly closing behind her. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Frank had written a little song on guitar, watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the millionth time, and even left the house to see if Gerard was in the neighborhood. He wasn't. At around nine, the realization hit Frank that yes, there was school tomorrow, and he would have homework, and tests, and probably people that he hated, and have to wake up early. Falling back onto his bed, he let out a sigh, and decided that he might as well go to sleep. Sleep solved all problems. He pulled the covers up over his body, snuggled down into the mattress, and dozed off under the gentle glow of the moonlight. ***** Chapter 3 ***** Chapter Summary “Hello class, my name is Mr. Way.” Frank woke up to the blaring of an alarm clock at precisely 7:30 in the morning, a full three hours earlier than he was used to getting up. He buried his face into his pillow, listening to the ongoing “Beep, beep, beep” of the alarm. A full two minutes passed before Frank could no longer take the beeping. He sighed, pressed the off button, and dragged himself out of bed to shower and get dressed. The first day of school was always the worst, in his opinion. You have new people, new teachers, new schedules, and it was just a bit too much change. He wondered if his teachers this year would be somewhat alright as he showered, and thought about how it wouldnt matter too much, because after this year, he was off to college. He had applied to a lot of different schools, and of course, had yet to hear back. He smiled lightly as he got out of the shower, dried himself off with a towel, and threw on his uniform, gray slacks with a white shirt and red tie. It was really a god-awful uniform. Deciding to punk it up a little for just the first day, he slid in his lip ring, put on his skeleton fingerless gloves, and messed his long black hair up just a small bit, enough to make it look like orderly chaos. He did one last check in the mirror to make sure everything was in order, and then grabbed a cereal bar, a black hoodie, and his backpack before yelling goodbye to his mother and running out the door. By the time Frank had his first class, he had gotten lost twice, ran into three people, and dropped his books once. People had been pretty nice about all of it, and one girl had stopped to help him with his books. Her name was... Clarissa? Claire? Cassandra? Oh well. One dude had been a grade-a jerk when Frank ran into him, but he was a jock and honestly, what else could you expect? Frank had managed to get it together-thank God-by first period, and made it into the classroom just a few minutes before the bell rang. He grabbed a notepad and pen out of his backpack as he heard the ring, signaling the beginning of the first period, and he looked up at the teacher. “Hello class, my name is Mr. Way.” He said, his voice crystal clear, without even a hint of nervousness in it. Frank's eyes widened. Shit. Hot man Gerard from the corner store was here, in front of him, as his goddamn history teacher. Fuck. “Now, as you most likely know, this is history class, and I would like to make this lesson at least tolerable for you all,” He continued, giggling at his own joke. And man, was he adorable. “I'm screwed,” Frank thought, burying his face in his hands. “Oh so very screwed.” ***** Chapter 4 ***** Chapter Summary By the time lunch rolled around, Frank had only thought about Ger-Mr. Way- a total of at least 20 times, which greatly sucked for all parties involved. Chapter Notes Hey, sorry for not updating, I was in Toronto for a week, so I didnt have much time to write :) also, this Mike is not Mikey, I fucked up in naming and I just realized my mistake, Mike is a different character By the time lunch rolled around, Frank had only thought about Ger-Mr. Way- a total of at least 20 times, which greatly sucked for all parties involved. Frank, because he didnt want to have a crush on his goddamn teacher who was like, what? Thirty years older than him? And the teachers because Frank was dozing off while they were explaining their syllabus for the upcoming year. He sighed as he thought about how long the year was gonna be, and chewed thoughtfully on his sandwich. “So then I said 'Well if I was gonna touch that fuckin bird, I would- Frank?” Mike said, waving a hand in front of Frank's face. “Yo Frank, are you even listening to me? This is a grade fuckin A story right here man.” Frank shook his head and nodded. “Yeah, some guy wanted you to touch a dead bird and you didnt want to,” Mike laughed. “Dude, thats all you seriously heard. I mean there was like, at least five minutes of a lead up to that point. Are you feelin okay? You look sorta flushed,” Mike said, and put his hand up to Frank's forehead. Frank batted it away, smiling lightly. He and Mike had been friends for about ten years now, and was pretty much a part of the Iero family. Frank had met him one day in the park, when he kicked over a sandcastle Frank had been working REALLY hard on. Frank, being seven, had of course started to sob, and Mike helped him re-build it, feeling bad that he had made the kid cry. Ever since then, they had been fairly good friends, even if Mike was an annoying bastard who cursed like a sailor on goddamn steroids. “Yeah, i'm all good. 100% a-ok over here,” Frank said, shooting him a big toothy grin. “Alright man, whatever you say. But if you're getting sick again, I swear to God, I will send you to a lab for medical testing.” Frank laughed. “Seems fair enough. Hey, what class do you have next?” Frank asked, taking another bite of his PB&J. Mike groaned. “Shit man, like English or some shit with that new guy Mr. Way. I hate new teachers, man. Theyre always so worried about being liked. I mean, goddamn, we arent gonna like you either way if youre gonna teach us what the 'real' meaning of 'the sky was blue' is.” Frank blushed at the mention of Mr. Way. “I don't know man, i've liked a lot of my English teachers. And Mr. Way is a pretty alright guy, I had him first period. Its not even english, its History," Frank mumbled into his sandwich. Mike looked at him. “Shit Frank, you've totally got the hots for Mr. Way.” Mike said, a giggle working its way out of his mouth. “No I fucking don't Mike, he's just an alright guy and I dont want you dissing him before you even know him,” Frank explained hurriedly, his face burning. Mike started to full out laugh. “Dude, I was just joking, but oh my god, you so do. Aw man, that is really fuckin funny,” Mike said, his laughing dying down. He giggled a few more times, before finishing. Frank's face was red as a cherry. “Okay, even if I did like Mr. Way, WHICH I DONT,” Frank began, watching Mike roll his eyes. “It would never work, I mean, he's my teacher for Christs sake, and isnt that like, illegal? Or something?” Frank finished, glaring at Mike. “Oh man, I guess you're right. Shit, little Frankie's first true love, and he cant even fuck him,” Mike said, making a sad puppy-dog face. Frank laughed. “Mike, you're such a goddamn jerk.” “Don't you know it, baby.” ***** Chapter 5 ***** The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Classes passed, Frank thought about going home, and the occasional chat with an acquaintance that he hadn't seen all summer. By the time the end of the day rolled around, Frank was more than ready to go home. He was taking the bus with Mike today, on account of Frank's mom wanting him to spend some time with a friend, so he leaned against the “Smoke wall,” which was named, of course, because it was rather secluded from the rest of the school, and therefore was a good place to smoke. Sighing, Frank took out a cigarette, and lit it. Smoke billowed out of his mouth as he blew, the eddying wisps serving as a good time-killer while waiting for Mike to finish doing God knows what. “Hey, Frank, right?” Frank was startled out of his thoughts by a raspy voice. Jumping slightly, he turned to see none other than Mr. Way looking at him, blowing smoke out of his nose. “What?” Frank asked, in awe of the way the older man looked, leaning elegantly against the wall, black hair slightly rumpled, with a well-fitting waistcoat finishing it off. Frank felt his dick twitch in his slacks. Mr. Way smiled. “Thats your name, right? Frank? Sorry if I got it wrong! I mean, I think I remember you saying that at the store, you know,” Mr. Way rambled on, obviously nervous that he had mistaken Frank's name. Frank felt his heart swell. “Nah man, you got it,” Frank said, smiling. “Frank Iero, at your service.” Gerard laughed, his laughter echoing through the nearly empty courtyard. A few minutes passed in silence, just the occasional intake and exhale of smoke from their lungs. Mr. Way smiled lightly. “I just remembered, that milk at the corner store,” Mr. Way began, chuckling lightly. Frank looked at him curiously. “You were right, the expiration date said it was a-ok, but my stomach disagreed.” He finished, looking gently at Frank. Frank laughed. “I told you, Mr. Way. Gotta keep both eyes open in those corner stores,” Frank said lightly, nudging Mr. Way with his elbow. Mr. Way laughed. “Shoulda taken your word for it, spent most of the time I needed to prepare for class in bed groaning and watching Star Wars,” Mr. Way said, blowing a billow of smoke out of his mouth. Frank laughed, looking out into the parking lot. Autumn leaves swirled down from the trees, in an almost tranquil dance. Frank was about to mention this to Mr. Way, when he saw Mike turn round the corner. As he saw Frank and Mr. Way together, smoking peacefully in this secluded area of the campus, he froze for a second, before wiggling his eyebrows at Frank. Frank quickly checked to make sure Mr. Way hadnt seen (He hadnt), and then flipped Mike off, making the biggest “Fuck off, fucker,” face he could. Mike laughed silently, and then gestured that he was ready to go. Frank nodded, and threw his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. “Done so soon?” Mr. Way asked, smiling lightly at Frank. “Yeah, my friend just got out, I need to get home with him, or my mom will kill me by morning,” Frank said, grinning. Gerard chuckled. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Frank. I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose,” He said, tapping the ashes off of his cigarette. “Yeah, uh, see you tomorrow,” Frank said quickly, and ran off to meet Mike at the bus stop. “So how's your boyfriend doing?” Mike asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Frank glared at him. “Mr. Way is doing fine, and we are not dating Mike, Jesus,” Frank said, punching him lightly in the arm. Mike laughed. “But you wanna date him, dont you Frankie?” “Mike, shut the fuck up,” Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!