ghosts and cigarettes ; frerard

you would cry your eyes out all along

gerard was okay.

he was, really.

frank could tell- the past two weeks since gerard had called frank to his house had calmed him down and he had that glint back in his eye. the police were looking for mikey, and that was a big relief to gerard.

that was something else frank could tell- when the police had showed up and told them they were going to do anything they could to find mikey, gerard visibly relaxed and leaned into frank's shoulder. gerard's mother wasn't the kindest to gerard- she kind of took it out on gerard, as he was the only one home at the time, and gerard hadn't taken that well, but he was recovering steadily.

the bell above the door of the bustling coffee shop rang as the door opened. frank looked up from where he was showing patrick how to operate the cappuccino machine to look at who had walked though the door. one he saw the familiar mop of dark hair, he grinned and said goodbye to patrick. he hung his apron up on the hook and pushed his way through the line to throw his arms around the unsuspecting gerard.

"wha- oh, hey, frank." gerard smiled, turning around and hugging frank properly.

"hey," frank grinned, eyes shining up at gerard.

gerard looked at the clock. "can you leave three minutes early?"

"'course. anything for you, love," frank teased, and called out to brian that he was leaving. he lead gerard out the door and a little ways down the sidewalk through the crowd of people until they reached the brick wall they always smoked against.

frank wordlessly handed his lighter to gerard, who lit the cigarette that had found its way inbetween gerard's fingers.

gerard's fingers were something frank enjoyed looking at. they were long and slender, and did everything with incredible care, almost as if everything they touched would break. they were deft, though- they did everything with precise measure and hell, if frank could draw, he would draw gerard's fingers over and over again.

frank watched as gerard held the cigarette up to his lips and inhaled. he imitated the taller man and lit up, placing the cigarette inbetween his lips and breathed in a drag of the smoke, reveling in the acrid burn in his lungs and the immediate rush of release he felt as the smoke infiltrated his body.

"do you believe in ghosts?" gerard spoke suddenly, causing frank to jump a bit at the sound of his voice.

frank looked at gerard curiously. "i don't know. why?"

"dunno." gerard shrugged. "just... thinking, i guess."

"i bet by now you have some incredibly thought out theory about ghosts, don't you." frank joked. "you've got your thinking face on."

gerard only shrugged and took another drag from his cigarette. "yeah, i guess."

"care to enlighten me?" frank smiled a small smile, turning so he was leaning sideways against the wall and facing gerard on the bustling pavement.

gerard took a deep breath through the cigarette and blew the smoke out of his mouth, watching it furl into the air. "ghosts are something else entirely, i think. people say ghosts are supernatural, and i can see why they'd say that, but in reality i think they're almost human. i think of them like imprints. when a human dies, their imprint is left on the world. it can take form however you want it to- in a memory, as a thought, or, as many people see it, as something you can't see but you know it's there. that's how i think of it- ghosts are marks left on the world, and you can choose to interpret them how you'd like." gerard shrugged and frowned at the cigarette in his hand, which had burnt down almost all the way. "i don't know. it's probably stupid."

frank furrowed his brow. "it's not, i- i never thought of it that way. it makes a lot of sense." he tilted his head at gerard, who was looking up at the smoke in the air, head tilted against the wall. "you're so poetic when you speak, y'know."

"am i?" gerard hummed.

frank nodded a bit. "mhm."

they smoked in silence, watching the passerby. gerard threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, the embers in the tip fading from orange to black. frank did the same, and soon, they were sitting back in the coffee shop, which was now almost empty.

"so," brian called from behind the counter where he was wiping down the coffee machines. "are you two..? what's your deal? are you," brian paused and wiggled his eyebrows. "doing the do?"

"i-" frank's eyes were wide, and he blushed. "well, i- brian, what? why?"

brian held his hands up in defense as gerard chuckled. "it was a simple question!" he exclaimed, turning back to the coffee machines.

"we're dating," gerard covered for frank, who was a blushing mess behind his hands. "frank's my boyfriend."

"well." brian smiled. "wasn't so hard, was it?"

"it wasn't that part that- bothered me! it was- ah," frank hid behind his hands again. "stop," he whined, stomping his feet a little.

"okay, okay." brian held his hands up again. he turned to gerard. "you taking care of my boy?"

gerard looked confused. "he's your- frank, he's your dad?" he questioned, turning back and forth between the two.

"no, no," brian laughed. frank shook his head violently, but brian continued. "i took 'im in." when gerard looked more confused, he elaborated. "off the streets, see."

gerard's face was blank. "ah. yes, of course. sorry." he looked at deal with a face that said, we're going to talk about this later.

frank shrank into his seat as gerard stood up. "alright, well, i haveta get back to work. i'm only allowed an hour break and i spent it all on you." he teased frank in a friendly way.

frank fluttered his eyelashes. "i'm honored!" he squealed.

gerard snorted. "alright, princess, i'll seeya around." he waved goodbye to brian, and then he was gone.

as soon as gerard had left, frank whipped around to face brian. "what the hell was that about?" he hissed, fists curled at his sides.

"what?" brian stood wide eyed.

frank groaned. "you didn't have to tell him i was homeless, now did you."

"wait, he didn't know?-"

"no! no, he didn't know, and now he's gonna confront me about not telling him." frank pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead and groaned again. "he's gonna think that i don't trust him or something. either that, or he's gonna treat me different. like i'm- i'm- broken, or something."

"i'm sure he won't do that," brian consoled. "he seems like the understanding type."

"i mean- yeah, but- y'know, whatever." frank pushed past brian and behind the counter, making a beeline to the kitchen in order to get to the stairs so he could lock himself in his room and play 'angsty teenager'.

gerard seemed understanding, and he was- but he wouldn't be able to understand this.

--

i'm trying to get this fic dOne so i can post it on ao3

comment on my thiscrush ? maybe idk u don't hAve to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ily !!

-xouri