Acknowledged Him a Man (Frerard)

Chapter 2 - Pete Wentz

Frank handed Gerard another bottle of white wine, two bottles of whiskey, and a glass skull bottle of vodka. Did he plan for them to drink it all at three in the morning? Let alone, how were they meant to pay for it...

The store didn't appear to be a liquor store—or any store. A brick building, no sign, in an alley near Frank's college. Gerard was sure that legally this store wasn't supposed to be selling liquor, however, they acquired good business from broke college kids in the early hours of the morning.

At the counter, they placed their stack of alcohol. Gerard reached for their black wallet stitched together by a pink thread, they only had ten dollars and nineteen cents, fuck...

Frank waved his hand in dismissal, "Gerard, it's my treat."

Although Gerard would have liked to protest, they were broke.

In front of them, the blonde woman, around college age, finished paying for her bottle of cheap champagne. The cashier, with the name tag Pete, beamed as Frank walked towards him, flattening his shirt, standing up straighter, clearing his throat.

Another gay Gerard had to compete with?

How many fucking girls and gay had fallen in love with him...

"Frankie, missed you at poetry club," said Pete, scanning the white wine, then the vodka.

Poetry club?! There was a poetry club? Note to self: learn how to write poetry. Gerard would watch some YouTube tutorials later, right after they finished reading a feminist analysis of Ophelia from Hamlet—it didn't help that they hadn't read Hamlet, however, they had watched The Lion King many times.

Frank giggled, fiddling with the lighters on the counter, "I'm so sorry, Pete, with midterms coming..."

"Yeah, I get that. How's Maxine?"

Who the fuck was Maxine? God, why did Gerard have to fall in love with a straight boy that everyone else had a goddamn crush on.

"What?" Frank turned their head on an angle and laughed, "Oh... Maxine and I... we... aren't dating."

Pete shuffled, scanning the skull vodka, "I thought she liked you and—"

Frank smiled, shrugging, "Shotting testosterone straight into my veins makes me so irresistible."

Frank winked at Pete. Why didn't Frank wink at them like that?

Oh no, maybe Frank was a bit gay but only for Pete and not for Gerard, and they would just be friendzoned forever. They didn't know what was worse him being straight and therefore not able to love Gerard or Frank being bisexual however, simply not like Gerard back.

Both were dreadful options; couldn't Frank give Gerard one chance?

Pete peered down at the cash register, biting his lip, "Are you coming to the Cork Tree tomorrow?"

What the fuck was the Cork Tree? Another exclusive club? A secret party? A college cult? Did Gerard have to be there? There was so much to keep track of in Frank's life, they didn't know how he did it.

"You bet." Frank paid by tapping his credit card and grabbed the two bags of drinks. "See ya, Pete."

Pete waved goodbye as they walked out of the store, the door chiming as they left.

Frank was underaged, as he was twenty, how the fuck didn't he get carded? Even as a twenty-three-year-old, Gerard always was carded, no matter how much they attempted to use their nonbinary homosexual charms to seduce the cashier, it never worked.

Fuck, Gerard wanted everything that Frank had.

Down the dark alley, he swung the plastic bags back and forth as they strolled.

Gerard asked, "Do you want me to help you carry them?"

Frank laughed, "I don't take T for nothing, maybe I want to show off my pecks."

"On your chest?"

"Exactly. I haven't been working out for nothing." They both turned, crossing a road —an abandoned wasteland in the early hours of the morning. "I've got a surprise for you."

"For me?"

"Of course," Frank smiled wider. "You'll love it."

And Gerard had one for him, though, they were sure he would feel the exact opposite about it.