Welcome to the Pride Parade [Frerard AU]

Part III: Chapter 17

          

CHAPTER 17 – BELIEVER

I sat at my desk, finishing the drawings I'd started but never completed all throughout summer. A guitar, a pair of ducks, lots of rainbow-themed objects and people. Now I was tracing color over the four of us with different instruments, as if we were in a band together. Mikey, of course, was on bass, and I'd put Ray and Frank as guitars. I was the lead singer, a previous version of me from when I'd had black hair. I stopped my pencil when my phone lit up.

From Frank Iero: Let's go out

From Gerard Way: omg!! I've been waiting for you to ask!!1!1

From Frank Iero: Haha. Really, though, are you available today?

From Gerard Way: I'm always available. More convenient for plot progression to keep my schedule open.

***

"Have you seen your new class schedule yet?" Frank asked, fiddling with the collar of his shirt. "They just emailed them all out."

"I saw it there," I admitted, "but didn't open it. I don't want to think about school yet."

Frank forced a laugh. "Understandable."

Silence followed, the first moment of discomfort I could remember being in our relationship. Something lingered in the air, though I wasn't sure what.

"So!" Frank said. "Exciting news. Well, not exciting. Interesting. Well-anticipated news." He began nervously rubbing his palms on his thighs, then fiddling with the neck of his shirt. I tilted my head, curious where this could be leading.

"I... My mom got the note."

"She did??" I exclaimed. "So? What did she say? How did she take it? Well, first off, how do you know she got it?"

He forced a laugh. "Slow down. I'll tell you everything. She wrote me a note back. It was very politely written, actually." He raised a finger to put me on hold temporarily, and then fished a thin sheet of notebook paper out of his pocket. "Here it is."

"You're gonna make me read it instead of telling me?" I raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"More suspenseful that way, don't you think?"

"I guess it is." I smiled fondly at him, and he nodded at the note. I unfolded it and read its contents.

Frank –

I talked with your father last night and we've come to an agreement. When he gets home tonight, we'll all talk.

-Mom

I read it over a few times, trying to fully absorb what it meant. I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting – a definite "it's okay" or "it's not okay," maybe. The word agreement popped out as strange; what was there to agree or disagree about? Accepting or not accepting their son?

"So... Did you get a chance to talk with them?" I asked, handing the note back.

"Last night. Yeah. Want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Good news, of course."

"They easily guessed you were the one I was dating," he chuckled.

"You mean you didn't write my name in the note?" I asked, a bit thrown.

"No! All I told them was that I had a boyfriend. And one of the first things my dad said was, 'Are you dating your friend Gerard?'"

I barked a laugh. "We were that obvious, huh?"

"More like I was that obvious. You've never even met them. I must talk about you a lot more than I think. Or they were still reading our texts. One of those."

"Let's go with the former," I said. He nodded grimly in agreement.

"So..." I prompted. "The bad news?"

"Like I said, they were very respectful about the whole thing. Frighteningly so, actually. The long and short of it is, they're not interested in raising a homosexual kid."

I stared at him, not quite grasping what he meant. He didn't look at me, only at the sky, rocking back and forth almost imperceptibly.

"So... I'm looking for someplace else. I don't know if any of my cousins or grandparents will accept me or not, but I'm sure if I-"

"Frank, oh my God, they kicked you out." I lurched forward to grasp his hand tightly between both of mine.

"It's weird, though. I'm not that upset by it. I kind of feel like it's a blessing, in a way. That house was never good for me." He tried to smile at me, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Maybe not, but they're your parents, no matter who you are or who you love. That's not supposed to matter." My vision began to blur as tears clouded my eyes. I quickly blinked them away. If Frank wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to, either.

"Supposed to doesn't do a lot, does it?" he said darkly. "Anyway, that's the situation right now."

"Is this an immediate thing? Are they going to hurt you if you keep going back there? What can I do?"

"They said to find a new place by Friday. That's..." he thought for a moment. "six days from today. I'm sure someone will provide a good place for me."

"Will you move far?" A tear finally dripped down my face, and he pried his hand from my vicelike grip to cup my cheek and brush it away. He held his hand there, forcing me to face him. I let my eyes drift to the ground, unable to hold eye contact for long.

"I can't answer that right now."

"I'm sorry."

"Look who's apologizing now," he smiled sympathetically.

"You told me you thought that maybe you weren't supposed to give the note to them. Why did you do it then? This whole thing was avoidable!"

"Shh... I'm okay, Gerard. I'm okay. Relax." I obediently took a shaky breath.  He continued. "I gave it to them because for a moment I thought of the best case scenario, like you kept telling me to. If I kept it a secret any longer I was going to explode. There was a chance they'd love me anyway. A part of me thinks they still do. But for now, I just have to start planning for my future a little earlier than I'd anticipated."

"Just... please don't leave." I whimpered. I collapsed into him, and he caught me there and began stroking my hair. I didn't have any more words to say. All I could do was cry. He was losing everything. The idea of someone hating Frank so much that they didn't want him around anymore broke my heart. And his parents, of all people! The ones who signed up to have a child and knew, going in, that they couldn't customize him. He existed the way he was and as parents, it was in the job description that they raise him no matter who he became. They failed their job. They quit it. I didn't understand why they'd found it so hard.

"You want some more good news?" he asked gently.

"Yes, please," I whimpered.

"They didn't make me break up with you. We still have each other."

"Ha. They couldn't have broken us up if they tried."