Drowning Lessons

Ch.23- Cigarettes and Hotel Windows

A/N: time jump bc Im lazy and I also dont want to make this fic like 500 chapters long.. And bc I had no further ideas.

Enjoy▪▪

It's been three months since the diner date and they haven't gone out since. Although, that night, Frank pulled Gerard into the room by his tie, throwing him onto the bed. Frank told Gerard that he wanted him to fuck him and Gerard's asked him multiple times if he was sure. Frank would smirk and nod, pulling Gerard down onto him for a sloppy open mouthed kiss. Gerard would do the necessary and align with Frank. Frank was on the brink of tears when Gerard asked for an 'Ok' sign again. This time, Frank backed out. "I don't wanna do it." He said, shaking.

Gerard told him he understood, and he did, but damn, he wanted to fuck the hell out of him. But not without consent. Gerard wasn't the type to follow through with something because of what he wanted. He simply said ok and helped Frank get dressed again before walking to the shower. He decided he'd get himself off in there, letting Frank do what he wanted to himself for 45 minutes.

And it had been that way each time Frank had mentioned it. Gerard would be ready to push the tip in, and Frank would quickly push him away and it wouldn't go any further.

Gerard never pressured him into it, and he didn't plan on it.

Now, the couple had been gone for a while and Frank had barely checked his phone. But Frank didn't care. He didn't need the people back home, and they sure as hell didn't need his so-called 'psychopathic' soul. They didn't care either, but neither did Frank.

As of now, they were sitting in a room on the fifth floor of a shady but nice looking hotel, which, as a matter of fact, they are keeping for a month. How they got it that long, neither of them were entirely sure. But Gerard was a flirt and was good at batting his eyelashes and paying extra money. So, they get a quality room in a hotel that resides in Oklahoma.

It's two o'clock in the morning and Frank is sitting on the bed, watching as Gerard dances around the room, vodka bottle in one hand, an cigarette in the other. Frank has never had vodka before, and he had been trying to get it from Gerard for the past hour.

"Geee! Come on! I'm not a little kid! I just want a few sips!" Frank giggled, watching as Gerard hit his side on the nightstand.

"You're not 21, either Frankie." Gerard slurred.

"Neither are you!" Frank groaned. He smirks and bites his lower lip, staring at Gerard with eyes that could impregnate anyone who dares to look.

"Whatever. You're funeral. Here. Be careful." Gerard hands the bottle to Frank, who takes it a bit too fast and a bit too excitedly.

Frank looks at the bottle before putting it to his lips. He smiles at Gerard as he tilts the bottle up, leaning his head back. He cringes as the liquid runs down his throat, an odd sensation ringing through his body. "So, what ya think?"

Frank could only smile as he takes another drink, and another, and finally Gerard has to take it away. Frank groans and says that he isn't drunk, he just can't walk or see straight.

The younger takes the bottle and drinks some more, clearly not knowing his limits. About ten minutes later, he's laying on the floor, Gerard by his side, and is crying and thinking and just letting weird shit come out of his mouth. "You realize that we could die any second? This could be the last conversation we ever have. I could die tomorrow morning. You could die next week. You could get up to go to the bathroom and I'd be dead when you got back. Do you not understand that? Or, or, we could, w- we could, Gerard I don't want to die. I don't want to leave. I want to live forever. I want to stay young and make mistakes and make bad choices and do stupid stuff like camping out in the parking lot of a Walmart or jumping the fence to a fancy house and spray painting the windows. I want to smoke a pack of cigarettes everyday and drink alcohol and smoke weird things and get tattoos and just live. I want to live, Gerard."

Gerard let this sink in a bit before saying anything. "And I'll be here, right by your side, to do all of that. You wanna get a tattoo? I'll take you to get as tattoo. You wanna spray paint some windows? I ain't stopping ya. I'll be by your side till the day I die."

"But don't you want to not die?" Frank asked.

"It's part of life, Frank." Gerard takes a drag from the cigarette, passing it to Frank. "We're born, we grow up and learn, then we get old, and eventually, the time comes when we have to say goodbye, to everything. To the life you make, to the hearts you break, everything. Even the ones you love most. But don't fear, you'll know when your time is up. But until then, lets just live, like you said. We're only young for a fraction of our lives. Let make it count." Gerard finishes.

Frank smiles and jumps up, running to the window. He opens the glass and sticks his head out. The January air blowing on his face, snow falling softly, landing on the younger boys hair, which now is nearing his shoulders. It's been dyed a black/brown colour and Gerard says it looks "absolutely beautiful."

Frank giggled and stuck his head back in. "It's snowing!"

"I see that." Gerard said softly as he took in Frank's appearance. The small boy was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and one of Gerard's hoodies. His hair was pushed away from his face momentarily, and he was smiling like a sick year old child on Christmas. His cheeks were red from the cold, but he clearly didn't care. He was leaning out again, laughing and shaking his head back and forth.

Gerard grabbed a camera from his bag, one they bought recently. So far, there's pictures of mainly Frank, looking out the car window in the rain, smiling at a cloud, a butterfly, and one of Gerard from when he was sleeping; his arm stretched out and bent upwards towards his head and his mouth slightly open, covers pulled up to his chin. It's almost peaceful.

Gerard turns around and takes a picture of Frank. The camera clicks, signaling that its captured the moment and Frank turns around, smiling even more.

"I lo-" he stops. "Come here. Wait no, here. Put some shoes on too." Frank says, throwing Gerard a hoodie and putting shoes on. Gerard does so, confused, but not arguing. Frank grabs his boyfriend's hand and walks them out of the room. Walking to the elevator, Gerard gets the idea.

The boys run outside, shivering as the cold hits him. Frank pulls Gerard under a streetlight, hugging him close. He looks up at the black haired boy and kisses his cheek, standing on his tiptoes. "Gerard.." He starts.

"What, Frank?"

"I lo-.." They hadn't said it yet, but Frank wanted to let Gerard know how much he cared, how much he really did love him. Frank had been wanting to say it for a while now, but wanted to wait for the right moment.

Right now, in the cold, in the snow, under the streetlight, at nearly three am, alone, in the quiet, away from the town that gave them hell for what seemed like forever, in the shitty town outside of a shady hotel, this, was the perfect moment

"Iloveyou." Frank says so quickly he can barely understand himself.

"What?" Gerard had heard him, but he wanted the boy to say it again.

"I, Frank Anthony Iero Jr, love you, Gerard Arthur Way." He smiles.

Gerard grins and replies, "I, Gerard Arthur Way, love you too, Frank Anthony Iero." The boys giggle and Frank pulls Gerard down to kiss him. They stand there for a bit, kissing sweetly, taking in each others body heat before breaking away.

"I'm cold, Gee." Frank says. Gerard swoops him up, carrying him bridal style back into the hotel, setting him down in the lobby. "I love you." Frank says again before racing to the elevator.

Idk.... Too much cute stuff makes me happy and I won't stop smiling so I'm bad at writing this kind of stuff... AND ITS BEEN FOREVER SINCE I'VE UPDATED DAMN

Anyways....

Toxic Fighter signing off,

Until next time, my friends