Land of the Lost

EPILOGUE

Three years later

'Iero, Frank Anthony,' the voice announces over the speaker.

Frank takes a deep breath and shakes off the nerves as he walks up to the stage.

Today it's the big day.

He's graduating college.

He walks up to the school faculty and shakes their hands, and takes his diploma.

In the crowd, his mom and Gerard are cheering loud and clear, and Frank just smiles. It's too sweet to be embarrassed about it.

His family is here for him, supporting him every step of the way. He wouldn't be here without them.

Once they take his picture, he runs back to his seat, and tries not to cry.

Thinking back of his high school days, when he didn't fit in, and his teachers told him he had a lot of promise, but there was no way his parents could afford to pay college. So he had to work harder to get a scholarship.

Not that he was missing any parties or had to stop hanging out with friends, since he didn't have any. And it became a distraction from his lonely life, sort of.

He thinks of middle school, getting bullied for being a nerd, wearing glasses and being too quiet. Having to spend many lunch hours sitting by himself, thinking he'd never get anywhere.

And now he has a psychology degree, doing an internship at the clinic, and living with his boyfriend.

Before he knows it, the ceremony is over, and he goes look for his family.

They're not hard to find. He sees all the balloons in the distance, and Gerard is holding the biggest flower arrangement. And they're all screaming 'Frankie!! We love you, Frankie!' How can he miss them?

He almost runs to them, and Gerard grabs his face with his free hand, and plants a kiss on his face. How did he get so lucky? 'Congratulations, honey,' Gerard says.

'We're so proud of you, Frankie,' his dad says, approaching for a hug, and then his mom kisses his cheek and tells him how happy she is that he did it. And Frank is sure she's crying.

'Let's go,' his dad says. 'Your grandparents made dinner to celebrate.'

***

It's been a long day, and Frank and Gerard are just coming home way past midnight.

Their apartment is small, and not fancy at all, but they have everything they need. Their two dogs, Ghoul and Pansy, a huge collection of books, and their bed. Their walls are covered with Gerard's paintings, and Frank has a desk by the corner where he's writing his book.

They take the dogs outside, and have a cigarette in the meantime, and then walk back inside.

'Hey, I forgot to show you your gift!' Gerard whispers.

Frank just smiles, blushing. 'I thought those flowers were my gift. We're supposed to be saving for a car, babe.'

'I got something even better.'

'Oh, yeah?'

Gerard nods, and takes off Frank's cardigan as he pulls him for a kiss. Yeah, this is definitely better. Gerard's hands caressing his now tattooed arms. Frank takes off his glasses and puts them out of the way, not breaking the kiss, and follows Gerard to the room.

He finally found his place. 

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AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...

I'd love to know what you guys thought!

and thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all the love you gave to this story! thank you to everyone who read it, shared it, left comments and gave this story a bit of your time... this goes especially Andrea, who always asked me more from them and treated them as her babies, I hope you liked it <3