the persistence of memory ♤ frerard

night//ten

The next night, Gerard was no where to be found, which made me extremely sad. Something about him made me happy. But at about two in the morning, while I was sipping semi-warm coffee on my porch, a face popped out of the bushes, saying "boo!" which made me nearly shit myself.

"Goddamn it, Gerard!" I yelped, spilling my coffee all over myself. Gerard started laughing hysterically and he managed to climb onto my porch and take a seat next to me on the porch-swing, grinning like a madman.

"Are you enjoying yourself this very fine night?" Gerard mused, looking at me expectantly. I sighed and took off my coffee-soaked shirt before throwing it at Gerard, chucking it at him when he haphazardly caught it and laughed at me, but the laugh caught in his throat when he really looked at me.

"Seems to be a very fine night, except for the fact I got worried when I couldn't find you, and then he fact I spilled fucking coffee all over myself," I told him. He rolled his eyes and set the shirt on the small table next to him.

"Sorry about that, my brother had some problems and he needed his big brother to help him."

"Quid pro quo, Gerard."

"Alright.

"What's your brother's name?" I asked, quickly studying his facial expressions, which turned sad pretty damn quick.

"Micheal (Mikey) James Way," Gerard told me. "Why are you so insecure?" I nearly choked on air when he asked.

"I'm not!" I lied, crossing my arms over my bare chest. Gerard rolled his eyes and patted the top of my head like a dog. 

"You are, don't lie. Just tell me why."

"I didn't have a good childhood," I admitted, dropping my gaze to my lap, where my hands now messed with the waistband of my sweatpants. Gerard's eyes shown with sympathy, and this time he pulled me into a hug.

"W-  'you don't know if I even like men'," I said, mocking him.

"A wise man once said, you don't have to like men to get hugged! Friends hug each other, and you needed a hug, so I hugged you. Simple as that," Gerard said, smirking proudly.

"Word for word, impressive. But, that flies out the window when one is shirtless," I told him, patting his cheek lightly.

Then he did something that surprised me. 

He took off his shirt and set it with mine, before hugging me again. "You said if one is shirtless," he whispered, his lips right next to my ear. 

"I did, didn't I?"

"Mhm."

"Well, I like men anyway."