Adore // Oneshots

Coffee's For Closers (Frerard)

CATEGORY: Fluff
FEATURING: shy!Frank and genderfluid!Gerard
TRIGGER WARNINGS: None
PROMPT: Frank Iero works at a music store, and gets distracted by one customer in particular.
WORD COUNT: About 1,630

It was a bright and clear August morning. Though the bitter chill of autumn had begun outside, the music store downtown was nice and warm. It was filled with the sound of CDs clacking together as people flicked through them, the beep of a cash register after each purchase, and then faint sound of a Fall Out Boy song playing quietly over the stereo.

For Frank Iero, it was just another day on the job. He was taking select VHS tapes, mostly unwanted, off of the shelf, and putting discount stickers on them. People rarely did buy VHS tapes at the shop, but when they did, they were usually collectors. These few VHS tapes, however, had been at the shop for ages, so Frank's boss had told him to lower the price.

He liked working at the music shop, for the most part. They sold CDs as well as VHS tapes, DVDs, used video games, and even some old records, and since Frank worked there, he got an employee discount. Sometimes, if he'd had a bad day, Frank would by some cheap horror movie and watch it after work, eating popcorn and drinking a craft beer on the couch.

"Excuse me, do you have any of The Misfits?"

Frank turned around to see a young man about his age, though taller than he was. He had tangled black hair that stopped just above his shoulders, paired with hazel eyes and pale skin. He wore a plain dark gray t-shirt and dark jeans, along with some black converse. 

"I believe we do." Frank put down the VHS tape he'd been holding. "Here, I'll help you find them."

The shorter boy led the way to the punk music section, and started flipping through the stacks of CDs, with the customer standing at his shoulder. "Are you looking for a specific CD?"

"American Psycho, if it's there," the customer said politely. Frank nodded his head slightly as he continued searching; he was a Misfits fan himself.

He was entirely aware of the customer standing at his side, waiting patiently for him to finish looking, and something about that made Frank's cheeks burn.

After going entirely through the 'M' section, Frank found several Misfits CDs, but not American Psycho. He stopped searching and faced the customer again. "I'm sorry, but we don't seem to have it. We're getting another shipment of punk CDs tomorrow, though. Might have it then."

The customer nodded decisively. "I'll come back tomorrow, then. I work at the coffee shop around the corner."

"Can I help you find anything else...?" Frank questioned. He didn't know the man's name.

"It's Gerard." The customer gave him a grin, and for some reason, it made Frank grin too, with a strange feeling in his chest. "And no, that's all. Thank you."

---- ---- ---- ----

The next day, Frank was unloading the shipment of punk CDs from the truck parked out front. It was still chilly out, so he wore his leather jacket, although it didn't help much. His Green Day pins clicked against one another as he moved.

Frank wished he had someone to help him unload all the boxes. His coworker, Lindsey, had called in sick that morning, so he'd been left to take care of it himself. His boss, Brendon, rarely worked, except maybe to run the register. Although, Frank suspected that Brendon only did that just to flirt with attractive customers.

"Excuse me, do you have any of the Misfits?"

Frank turned around and almost dropped his box of CDs. Standing there on the sidewalk, watching him, was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and hazel eyes. She wore a dark blue sweater over a white skirt, with blue and black striped socks going up to her knees, paired with black Mary Janes.