On your knees // Bandom

9. The (Shipped) Gold Standard.

An// Is the title a pun because I ship them? Probably.

LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION.

SCENE4 [two boys kissing at a Smiths Concert.]

And what of the buildup? Read on.

~

It starts with Gerard winning a bet.
He woke Mikey way too early, bouncing into his room and throwing the curtains open. Golden light spilled out of his window and into Mikey.
"Bitch." Mikeys initial reaction left much to be desired but whatever.
"You owe me a record!"
"What?"
"Frank. The bet."
"Im barely awake, Gee, we'll do this later."
"Love you too, bro."
"Fuck off."
"Theres coffee downstairs."

By the time Mikey made his way to the kitchen, the coffee was cold, but the thought was there, nonetheless.

The go-to record store in town was called Ricky Rebels Records and it had almost every genre. Which was unusual and unique and absolutely fabulous. The guy behind the counter recognised them immediately and raised his hand in greeting.
"Hey Jon" Mikey returned the sentiment but Gerard was already running his fingers through boxes of music he had already memorised.

He picked out a Misfits one in the end, and he was edgy enough to actually own a record player to play it on.
Jon grinned as he scanned it. "Love that one myself."
"Yeah, I think its not my favourite anymore." Mikey grumbled as he paid and Gerard laughed.

As he clutched his plastic bag of delights on the way home he babbled about his new comic. Mikey was way too used to this and put a headphone in. Nodding occasionally, not that Gerard cared.
"So, like, theres this bad guy called Korse and he totally kills Party Poison in the end which is-"
They had reached the door and Mikey left him to return to his room as soon as possible. Gerard put on his new record and opened his closet.

~

There was then the impossible task of what the fuck to wear when he picked up Frank Iero from his mums place and took him to a Smiths concert. He was also planning on kissing him, so he had to look good, but it wasn't a date.

Simon Spier may have googled 'how to dress like a gay guy' but he did not have to google 'how to dress gay enough to make this feel like a date with your (gay) friend who you want to be your boyfriend but not gay enough that his mum (who thinks he's straight) is suspicious'

He goes into Mikeys room again. He was sitting in his bed with his headphones in, the curtains had thankfully been left open but it was the only light source and Mikey really should have had a shower.
"Hey, bro, y'know how you love me?"
"No?"
"Yeah, what should I wear tonight?"
"A shirt. Don't iron it though."
"Like? With buttons?"
"Yeah." Mikey nodded, almost like he was trustworthy "Do you have that black one with short sleeves?"
"Yeah?" He had bought it for some sort of reasonably formal occasion involving their great uncle and his now ex-wife.
"Wear it with old jeans."
"When did you get good at this?"
"Pete."
"Thats a lie. Pete Wentz has even worse fashion sense then me and thats saying something."
"Uhhh, Brendon? I think I remember him coming round and judging my wardrobe at some point."
"Sounds like something Brendon would do, to be fair."
"Uh huh." Mikey put his headphones in again, and Gerard threw a pillow at him before leaving.

Makeup was also on the agenda, but he tried not to go overboard and settled for simple red eyeshadow. He couldn't be bothered with eyeliner because he'd probably fuck it up a bunch and he was not in the mood to spend hours crying into a mirror. So, electing to ignore his expertise in the eyeliner department, he left the pencil in his draw.

~

He'd been to Franks house a million times, and Linda loved him, but it was still slightly nerve-wracking to have her eyes scan over him as she answered the door.
"Frank'll be down in a minute."
"Okay, thank you."
"Do you want a drink."
"Im good."
"Gerard," she paused carefully "I'm not homophobic."
"Sorry?"
"So, uh, your choices are a little obvious and I don't want you to feel unwelcome in my home."
Gerard was glad he had decided against the eyeliner as he felt like he was about to cry.
"Thank you, Linda."
She hugged him awkwardly and Frank came downstairs to see them like that. He coughed. Linda relaxed her grip and Gerard sniffed as he turned to Frank.
"Hey, halloween boy." His voice was not that steady but he had just been accepted by a motherly figure and was trying to ignore how good Frank looked with artfully messed hair and a tight t-shirt, so who could blame him?
"Hey, uh, mum? See ya."
His mum gave a little wave and let Gerard lead him out to the car.

~

The concert was almost over, but of course there was the thank you New Jersey speech. Gerard was pretty sure Moressey was just trying to be controversial when he stood on stage and shouted 'Kiss whoever the fuck you want'. But it didn't stop him from turning to Frank and putting two fingers under his chin, tilting his head up and watching his eyes widen before pressing their lips together like the taste if him was keeping him alive. Kissing him so much more than the soft dare of his party.

It lasted only a second before Frank pulled away and Gerard realised his mistake as watched his doubts come to life in the other boys face. "What the fuck was that, Gerard" he sounded upset and Gerard kicked himself for not asking him first.
"Moressey said to kiss who you wanted to and it'd be rude to deliberately disobey him?"
"You wanted to kiss me?"
"Was that not obvious?"
"No! No it fucking wasn't because I've been  very obviously in love with you since day one and I figured if you liked me back then you'd actually do something about it."
"Didn't I just do something about it?" Gerard pointed out. "Also I bought you a ticket to this thing?"
"You said it was spare?" Frank was calming down slightly as the shock passed
"Well, actually, I only had one ticket and nobody to go with so I was gonna sell it but I bought you a second ticket instead."
"Fuck. I should pay you back then."
"You could," Gerard acknowledged "but I did just kiss you and you said you were in love with me so you could also call it a date and let me pay?"
Frank sighed. "Im buying you merch, how much was my ticket?"
"Im not saying. But I want a t-shirt."

The shirts were $20 and his ticket was definitely more then that, but it appeased Frank and now Gerard had a Smiths t-shirt, and possibly a boyfriend. So really a win-win situation.

Frank turned to him when they got back in the car, shitty inside parking lot lighting casting shadows on his face.
"Im sorry for freaking out."
"Im sorry for not asking you first."
"Thanks," he paused. "But if you were to, uh, ask me again, I maybe wouldn't refuse you."
Gerard raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then," he paused, searchibg fir the right words. "Halloween boy. I don't think I'm in love with you-"
He was cut off by Frank. "Great start."
"Shut up. I don't think im in love with you because I think 'in love' is a decision when you're serious about a relationship. But I do think I might love you. And I definitely really like you, I really like your smile, and your laugh, and the way you get excited about things like Halloween, and how terrible you are at Mario cart despite owing at least three games, and I really liked kissing you, so I hope you'll let me do it again?" He looked up.
"Fuck, yes, definitely." Franks eyes were wide.

He moved slower this time, Franks face already tilted towards him, and he payed attention to the way he tasted of coffee and vanilla. To the way his hair brushed Gerards cheeks and the soft skin of his neck.

"So," Frank said when their second(third??), slightly more successful, kiss ended. "So you, uh, do you wanna be my boyfriend?"
"I thought that was already established."
"How are you so smooth about this? I thought you weren't meant to date people who were chill on the first date because they don't care what happens."
"I care a lot about what happens, but I did kiss you without warning and you still asked me to be your boyfriend so I can't fuck up that much more."
Frank laughed. "Point taken."
Gerard started the car. "Its late, I gotta get you home."
"Okay. Thanks for tonight."
"My pleasure."

Gerard stopped outside Franks house.
"Hey, Frankie?"
"What happened to Halloween boy?"
"My apologies, let me start over again," he paused "Hey, babe?"
Frank responded by putting his head into his head in his hands to hide the blush.
"Yeah?" He mumbled.
"Night."
Frank looked up, leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, then left the car without a word. He didn't even look back as he slipped through the front door.

~

When he got home, Gerard interrupted Mikeys sleep for the, what? Third time that day? 
"Heyyyy" he sat down at the end of his brother bed.
"What do you want?" Mikey sat up slowly.
"Just to say that the gig was great, I got a boyfriend, Frank bought me a t-shirt, etc."
"You expect me to be surprised?"
"I expect you want details."
"Why would I?"
"Okay, whatever, I'll just leave." Gerard got up and Mikey grabbed his wrist.
"No. Tell me everything."
He did.

An// how obvious is it that I have consent issues? Also how many parallels with Ry/Dall.
+ I got the three cheers picture disc album its so cool omg. (I have no money left) xx