Mint and Honey (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 14: Eat My Fuckin' Shorts, McCracken.

"I'll have a plain vanilla cone, please." Frank smiled at the woman behind the counter and then looked at Gerard, who was still peering at the menu above and tapping on his chin, twitching his fingers in order to get his brain to focus.

"I'll have..." Gerard looked up with one last glance, confirming and repeating his order in his head one more time before he felt confident enough to say it out loud, "Yeah, a waffle cone with chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce, and sprinkles."

"Good God." Frank cringed, "You'll die at twenty."

"Worth it." Gerard grinned as he handed the woman some crumpled notes before they went and sat at one of the high-bar tables, watching as the woman began preparing their cones. Frank looked around nervously at the people, drumming his fingers on the metal tabletop, "Relax. You're fine." Gerard reassured under his breath as he went to grab Frank's dessert for him. Gerard returned, smiling as he gave Frank his ice cream, noting that his unease still tampered with his pretty features.

"May-Maybe we should go." Frank cleared his throat, his brow still furrowed, "I don't-"

"Frank, relax..." Gerard chased a drip of melting ice cream and slurped it - probably louder than he should have - and pushed his glasses up on his nose with his knuckle, "No one is even looking at us."

"Stop being so fucking disgusting," Frank muttered, "You're a wolf, not a dog. Have some class."

Gerard couldn't help the grin on his face as he slurped at his ice cream a second time, watching the shudder crawl up Frank's spine at the very obnoxious sound. The omega glared at his counterpart, biting at the bottom of the cone to suck at the innards of his soft serve. Gerard smiled smugly, knowing that he had come out of that silent argument with a clear victory.

He softened when he saw the irritation dissipate and the anxiety return to Frank's face, contorting his expression once more, "Let's go for a walk."

Gerard made his way to the door, pausing when he realized that he was alone. He turned to see Frank grabbing a large handful of napkins from the counter before he crossed the floor. Gerard stared at Frank's legs for a moment longer than socially appropriate, glancing up at his face with a sheepish grin as he held the door open.

They walked out of the parlor, both wolves automatically gravitating toward one another for reasons opposite; to protect and to be protected. Gerard felt an immediate swell of pride in his chest at the thought of protecting his omega and at the fact that the omega felt safe around him. He pushed the smile from his lips, doing his best not to look like an idiot as he looked up at the AMC Theatre next to them as well as across Halstead Street at the large wooden doors of the public library, "Where do you wanna go?"

"Well, we're at the top of the hill..." Frank looked at the park that was across from the library, "Let's just go and sit by the bridge."

"Sure thing, amigo." Gerard licked at his ice cream, doing his best to keep his incessant slurping to a bare minimum, as they turned and made their way toward the park. They walked idly through the grass and looked around at the few people who were enjoying the broiling Midwest sunshine. They walked past the enormous bronze statue of The Boy that stood next to the river, gleaning ominously as it guarded the Red Mill. Gerard gave the installation a scowl, always having hated that enormous statue and its creepy uncanny-valley gaze. They walked through the few trees at the end of the park and walked onto the road of the bridge near the Red Mill dam.

"We could go to the Springs?" Gerard shrugged as he chased a droplet of melting ice cream down the side of his hand. He made a mental note to wipe his hands on a napkin before touching Frank in any way, remembering his pedantic meltdown the last time Gerard had sticky fingers. He cleared his throat, "Pretty sure the gang isn't there anyways."