He Likes Me

6

The restaurant was virtually empty, just how Gerard liked it. The less prying eyes, the better.

A waitress with a face Gerard recognised but couldn't put a name to led him and Frank to a table near the back, close to the window so they could watch people on the streets pass by. Gerard found watching the hustle and bustle and city life comforting; it showed him what he wasn't missing out on.

As soon as they were seated and had ordered their drinks and food, Gerard excused himself to go and call Mikey because he 'really should call him back now'. He felt a little guilty leaving Frank alone in a strange place, but the wide smile on his face when he leant over the table to give Frank a quick kiss told him Frankie didn't really mind.

He checked under the stalls for any feet first and, when he was satisfied that there was no one there who could call the nearest mental asylum and inform them that a patient had escaped, he called his brother and prepared to tell him the whole story.

Mikey picked up on the seventh ring, just as Gerard was about to give up and call him later, and when he greeted Gerard he sounded breathless. Gerard wondered what he'd been doing, but pushed it to the back of his mind for now. He had more important things to be thinking about now, like the gorgeous, completely made up man sitting in a seat in Gerard's favourite restaurant waiting for his lover to return.

"What is it Gerard?" Mikey asked, sensing something was wrong. Gerard never called him before calling his parents, and this wasn't his usual eight o'clock call. On top of that, Gerard had been ignoring him all day and Mikey was probably growing more and more concerned as the minutes ticked by. Gerard felt bad for worrying his family, but he'd had to look after Frankie.

"He's real." Gerard said straight away, choosing to just say it outright rather than beat around the bush. He knew Mikey would be confused, then disbelieving, and then quite possibly worried for his brother's sanity, but Mikey had to believe him. He knew he was the only one he could trust with this secret, and if Mikey didn't believe him he would have to keep it all to himself.

"What? Gee, what're you talking about?" Mikey replied. Gerard heard muffled voices coming from the other end of the phone and Gerard wondered if he was actually at their parents' house or if Mikey was with someone else.

"Frank!" Gerard cried, lowering his voice immediately and peeking through the circular window in the bathroom door to check Frank hadn't heard him. He was sitting quite happily at their table, watching as a waiter walked by to deliver food to someone else. "Frank is real."

There was a long pause where Gerard knew Mikey would be thinking about what he said and assessing it, coming up with a reply that wouldn't make Gerard seem insane but would also let him know that Frank wasn't in fact real.

"Frank ... Iero?" He finally said, checking they were thinking of the same Frank who was not previously real but was now. Gerard rolled his eyes, sensing Mikey's dubiousness over the phone. "As in: your made up dream man, Frank Iero?"

"Yes!" Gerard pressed, just wanting Mikey to believe him so he could go back to Frank already. He was probably getting lonely and worried that Gerard was taking so long. "I wrote about him, and I drew him, and then the next day he was real! He was in my bed!"

Mikey sighed exaggeratedly and Gerard groaned, knowing it was going to be difficult to persuade him. "Gerard..." He began, but was cut off.

"Mikey! I am telling the truth, I swear to God! I don't know how, I don't know why but somehow Frank is real, like really real, and he's eating dinner with me! He thinks he's in the relationship I wrote about!"

"Gerard, you know that's not true. Are you seeing things again?" Mikey's tone was gentle but firm, certain but not cruel, allowing no room for argument. He didn't believe Gerard. He thought he was crazy.