pretty when you cry//frerard

chapter 1

          Frank tied the skeleton bandana up to cover his face and grabbed a can, he carefully sprayed the last details of his "art" onto the brick wall. Most people would call this vandalism, but not Frank, Iris and Kellin, they saw it as fine art on the highest degree. Frank smiled in satisfaction, staring at the masterpiece.

It was perfect.

"Iero." Kellin whispered, his voice cut through the night. Frank turned, watching as Kellin held his hand up. Frank skillfully tossed him a can of spray paint from his large bag- colored neon orange- before grabbing another random one to hand to Iris. They had already emptied a few cans, but they had plenty more.

Suddenly, there was a a noise behind them, and Frank whipped around quickly, watching in horror as a light flicked on. He heard yelling and not even a second later, someone was in the alley, chasing after them.  In a silent agreement, they all took off. "Where do we go!" Kellin asked, sprinting next to frank.

"This way!" Iris responded, pushing ahead so she could lead them some where, her hood had fallen down and her neon green hair bounced on her shoulders.

Frank's lungs burned. The sound of the bottles in his bag clinking together rang in his ears. He was definitely slower than the other two. Kellin turned his head, stifling a groan as he noticed his friend slowing down. Kellin's hand gripped the handle of Frank's backpack, pulling him along.

The two boys looked at each other, but followed their friend to where she was leading them.

She took a sharp turn, going up to an apartment door. She dropped to her knees and pulled a shiny pin out of her hair.

"Iris!" The boys hissed, standing in the shadows of a nearby dumpster.

She jammed the pin into the key hole, and wiggled it skillfully. Suddenly, the door opened, and Iris smirked at them, jerking her chin towards the door before straightening up and walking in.

One month earlier

Gerard held his books tightly against his chest as he squeezed through the crowd.
Starting at a new school for your junior year is definitely not the most exciting thing in the world, and for Gerard, small, shy, antisocial Gerard, it's even worse.

He was very early, but so was everyone else. The only difference is that they came to see their friends, as Gerard came early to ensure that he would get to the right class on time.

He wove through the bodies, just trying to get to his first class, when he ran into a girl - who was significantly shorter than Gerard, so she was sent onto the ground.

"Oh! I-I- I'm so s-sorry-" he stuttered out as he held his hand out to help her up. He was  expecting her to yell at him. All she did was smile and accept his hand. "Hey, calm down, it's no big deal." She assured him. She was - like mentioned before - shorter, with a curvy figure, and short green hair. She was very pale, and had a silver hoop in her nose and lip. She was dressed in a flannel and a pair of black skinny jeans and Her makeup was dark, but she looked friendly none the less.

He nodded, his cheeks flushing red as he tried to keep going, but the girl grabbed his arm. "Hey, are you new?" She questioned him. Gerard nodded slowly, not making eye contact.

"Ah, well hello, I'm Iris." She smiled again. "I'm Gerard." He smiled back, gaining a little bit of confidence.

"Well Gerard, feel free to sit with us during lunch okay?" She smiled at him. He nodded, blushing slightly as they parted ways.

He went left and she went right. Luckily, Gerard was able to find his classroom the first time, and took a seat in the very back.

He caught a few glances, people most likely wondering who the new kid was. He just focused his attention on the grain of wood in the desk, and when the teacher asked if their were any new kids, he just raised his hand slightly, slumping even farther into his seat.

"And what is your name?" The teacher, Mrs. Stewart asked. "Gerard." He mumbled. "What was that?" She asked again politely. Gerard sat up this time, pulling a fake smile on his face.

"My name is Gerard." He spoke clearly. Mrs. Stewart smiled, nodding a bit. "Thank you, Gerard. If he needs anything, I expect you to help him." She spoke to the class. Gerard just averted his eyes and leaned back in his seat again.

Finally, the first few classes were over, and the students were dismissed for lunch.

Gerard made his way into the cafeteria, almost immediately spotting the head of bright green hair. She was sitting with a few other people, but Gerard practically sighed in relief when he noticed the open seat between Iris and a kid with black hair.

He slowly walked over to them, sliding into the seat next to iris- who was sitting on her knees- so she immediately sprang up, wrapping her arms around Gerard playfully.

"Here he is! Guys this is Gerard! Gerard, that's Vic, Kellin and Hayley." She told him, pointing each on of them out. Gerard smiled shyly when they all greeted him kindly.

"So I hear you're a junior?" Vic asked. Gerard nodded, looking at the older boy. He had tan skin and long, curly hair. He was wearing a snap back and had a silver hoop in his nose.

"That's cool, Iris and Vic are seniors, but I'm a junior too, so looks like you're stuck with me." Kellin teased, nudging Gerard's shoulder with his own. Gerard began to get more comfortable with the three, so he started talking more, and was kind of sad when the bell rang and lunch was finally over.

Gerard and Iris walked together out to the lockers. He went to say something, but someone  caught his eye. He saw a boy from down the hall. He was slightly shorter than Gerard, with short black hair and piercings. "who is that?" Gerard asked, pointing over at the boy. Iris followed his gaze until her eyes landed on him.

"Oh him? That's Frank. Little shit, that's what he is. He's a senior, like me, we have been best friends for a while." She told me, giving a nasty look in his direction, followed by something more playful. 

They watched as he made his way towards a girl with dark hair standing by her locker.

"Hey, Lindsey, I ever tell you that you put the ass, in fant'ass'tic? Wanna go on a date?" he said with a cocky smile, leaning against the lockers. She scoffed, slamming the locker shut before turning away. "Is that a no?!" He called after her. He sighed, looking over when his eyes and Gerard's eyes met.

Gerard looked away quickly but it was too late, he was already coming over here.

"Hey Iris!" He said in a cheery voice, not taking his eyes off of Gerard.

"Fuck off Iero." She said, but she had a smile on her face. Gerard watched intently, studying their interesting relationship.

"Yeah? Give me a time and a place." He said with a wink. "I said fuck off not fuck me, you make no sense." She nudged his shoulder with hers and looked back at Gerard. 

"Frankie, this is Gerard." Iris smiled at him, and so did frank, Frank's smile being a bit more flirtatious than Iris'.

"Well hello Gerard, I'm Frankie." He said, holding his hand out for Gerard to shake, but when Gerard grabbed it, he pulled it up to his mouth, kissing his knuckles gently. Gerard blushed, his knees going weak.

Frank kept eye contact with him his lips lingering on his knuckles, before dropping his hand completely.

"I must be off, see you later." Frank said, winking at them once more.

Gerard let out a breath, looking over at Iris who was smirking. "So, uh, I.... What's he into?" Gerard asked, trying to be casual, but made Iris laugh none the less.

"Are you asking which way he swings?" She giggled, making Gerard blush. "He's into everything that has a heart beat, my dude. He's got a boyfriend though." She told me.

He nodded in response, starting his walk towards class, "just wondering." He told her as she walked beside him. All she did was grin, "What class are you headed to?" She asked him.

"Uh, chemistry." He told her. He had his whole schedule memorized by now. He studied in from the day he got it.

She gave him a blank stare for a moment. "Hold on, I think I am too." She questioned herself, pulling out her schedule from her pant pocket.

Iris nodded to herself, before noticing Gerard's gaze on her. He blushed, and  instead of chastising him, She gave him a wide smiling, taking his hand