The Sharpest Lives.

Chapter 9: Cat and Mouse (Gerard's POV)

We were sitting on a Starbucks that was fairly close to my own house, and Frank couldn’t stop moving his hands and tugging on his tee, so I deducted he was nervous and it made me smile. A lot had happened since yesterday, we had kissed. I didn’t know what that meant for Frank, but it meant a lot for me. I had only kissed Bert and I hadn’t felt a thing, but with Frank it was different. My stomach seemed to start doing back flips every time his lips were near mine, and as much as I liked it, I didn’t know if I wanted a relationship. I was too fucked up to be with someone, but I was willing to try for Frank. I knew I wasn’t going to be ‘’boyfriend material’’ in a day, so we better took things slow.

‘’Frank, what was last night for you?’’

‘’Uh… it was, er… it was nice?’’

This kid has to be kidding me. Nice? What were we? Highschool boys?

‘’Nice? Frank, I don’t know how to take that, you may need to be a bit more specific’’

‘’Gerard, look, this is a first for me okay? I have only kissed girls and I have never been in a relationship, I don’t know how to describe it. But it was fucking nice, it was the best thing that has happened to me in over a year’’

‘’Uh… are we… do you think we are in a relationship now?’’

‘’I don’t know’’

‘’Look, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. Listen to me before you talk again. Fuck, Frank, don’t look at me with those eyes, I can’t concentrate. I am a fuck up, okay? The only relationship I’ve had is the one I had with Bert, and we were fuck buddies. Not even that, I was his bitch. I want to try and be with you, but I can’t get to that point in a day. I need time. We can continue being friends, we can continue with the teasing and the kissing and everything until we are both comfortable enough around each other to start something… that is if you want to, of course’’

He just remained there, looking at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes of his. He was spinning his now empty mug of coffee in between his more than attractive tattooed hands, and fuck was it distracting. I was scared that he wasn’t talking, I was scared of his silence. Damn, I’d have preferred if he yelled at me, but silence wasn’t a good sign.

‘’Gee… I… I am very romantic. I can’t have fuck buddies, I can’t kiss and feel nothing. I’m not saying that I want to marry you tomorrow, but obviously I do have feelings for you. I like you a damn lot, and if we continue with this it will turn into something more. And if you felt nothing yesterday you aren’t going to feel it in a week. I’m sorry, I can’t do this’’

‘’Frank, you haven’t understood a thing about what I just said. You think I felt nothing? My fucking stomach was throwing a rave last night. I really like you, that’s why I don’t want to fuck things up by moving too fast. I am not exactly a person who likes to be around people, I like to be alone. But I want to try for you. I don’t feel like I want to be alone around you, I can be myself. I care about you. I just don’t want to ruin this’’

He then looked at me hesitantly before leaning in and kissing me. Fuck, he was such a good kisser. When he pulled away, too soon if you ask me, we stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds until breaking into laughter. It felt nice having someone to laugh with and that was a first. Frank Iero had arrived to my life to turn it upside down and he was succeeding. The scary part was that I was liking it and I couldn’t stop thinking about how he would want to be in a relationship eventually and I didn’t know if I was ever going to be prepared and that might mean losing him. Fuck.

I stood up to order another cup of coffee for me and Frank and spotted Bert entering the Starbucks. Well, that was going to be it for me. He was going to beat me up and then throw my cold corpse into the river. I hadn’t called him after taking his drugs and he told me to do it. And fuck, Frank was there with me. I went back to our table just hoping that Bert hadn’t seen me, but I am not the lucky type.

‘’Well, well, look who’s here! My favorite slut, and looks like he isn’t alone as always. Who’s this Gerard?’’

The jealousy that stained his words surprised me. He was the one telling me a week ago that we weren’t exclusive, what the fuck did he expect?

‘’Gerard isn’t a slut. I’m figuring you’re Bert, so leave us the fuck alone’’

F u c k m y l i f e.

‘’Oh, the shortie is a feisty one, isn’t he?’’

‘’Bert, leave him alone. Now’’

‘’I thought you were the one taking orders from me, sweetheart. It only works when you are on your knees, though, doesn’t it?’’

I just lowered my head, cheeks burning and tears starting to show up. Why then? Why when everything was starting to go well Bert had to appear and ruin it all for me again? Frank is going to hate me. Frank isn’t going to want to be with a slut like me.

Frank then stood up and his face was so close to Bert’s that they were almost breathing into each other.

‘’Listen here, dude. Gerard is with me now. You can throw a fucking tantrum if you want to, I’m not scared and I’d love to punch that ugly face of yours, but you are leaving him alone. If I ever see you near him again your life is going to turn into hell, and believe me when I say it, because I’ve lived there. Get the fuck out now or I will seriously kick your ass’’

My jaw dropped to the floor. He didn’t yell at Bert, he almost whispered it in a very calm manner and it was so fucking sexy it almost hurt. But Bert, being the jerk he was, just laughed.

‘’You? Kick my ass? Are you going to stand up on a chair for that, sugar?’’

‘’You asked for it, Bert, remember’’

Suddenly Frank grabbed Bert’s t-shirt and pulled him out of the Starbucks and threw him to the floor, then he punched Bert in the face and kicked him in the stomach. But Bert wasn’t going to go without fighting, so he stood up and punched Frank in the face, and as he was preparing himself to do it again, I stepped in between of them and received Bert’s closed fist in my face like I did a couple of days ago.

As my head hit the concrete, I saw black.

‘’Gee?! Gee! Oh god, Gee, wake up, please baby’’

I opened just one eye and looked at Frank who was holding me against his chest. We were still outside the Starbucks, surrounded by some nosey assholes and Bert was gone. And Frank had blood on his face. Fuck, this was all my fault.

‘’Frank, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault. I’m a fucking whore’’

‘’Don’t ever say that again, do you hear me? Look, I kicked Bert in the balls and he just ran away like the pussy he is, so we are safe now. Do you think you can walk?’’

‘’Yes, I guess so’’

He helped me to stand up and grabbed me by the waist. We got a few disgusted looks from the customers that were being nosey outside the Starbucks, but I and Frank flipped them off. I wasn’t going to deal with anyone’s bullshit.

‘’Do you want to go back to your house?’’

‘’Fuck no, my mother would flip out if she saw me like this’’

‘’Yeah, you have a lot of blood on your face. Let’s go back to mine, then’’

He was nervous as fuck. I could tell I was the first person he was inviting over to his house and that made me sad. And not because I was the first person coming over to his house, but because of the reasons. I didn’t know what had happened to him, I didn’t know why he believed he was in danger. I just knew it must suck a fucking lot and that I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to protect him, and that was a first in my life if you didn’t count Mikey. I didn’t give two shits about anyone who wasn’t family, and I didn’t know if I liked that warm feeling that seemed to have taken over my chest, but Frank’s hands were around my waist and that’s all that mattered.