frerard one shots | ✔️

sixty ~ stuck (part three)

"Good morning, Mr Way," Linda Iero said calmly as Frank and Gerard walked into her office. "Good morning, Frankie."

"Morning mum," Frank said and frowned at the pained smile that Gerard held. "Don't call him that mum. Just call him Gerard."

Gerard squeezed Frank's hand, and they settled on the settee in front of the crackling fireplace across from the armchair that Linda sat at. She shrugged and then poured three cups of coffee.

"Alright, I won't. I understand why," she said, and then stared at Gerard, her whole facade crumbling to the ground and the loving mother figure taking its place, "I'm sorry, darlings. Why are you two here?"

Frank sighed and cradled their intertwined fingers in his free hand. "Want me to tell her babe?"

"N-no, I can tell her. Mrs Iero, something unfortunate happened yesterday," Gerard began.

"Oh? What happened, dear?" she asked gently, and plopped sugar and milk into her coffee and stirred.

"Well, uh... Frank and I went to see a movie, and when I got home, my father was waiting for me in my flat. He said that my mother had seen the two of us walking out of the theatre holding hands. I lied and said that it was someone else, so my parents are satiated, but it was extremely worrying."

Frank squeezed Gerard's hand, and Linda responded, "I can see how. Please continue."

"Well," Gerard kept up, "I called Frankie then, and he told me to come over. I did, and we were speaking about it, and um..." he faltered. "Frankie, c-could you take it from here?"

"Of course, baby," Frank said gently and then turned to his mother. "I was thinking that... well, he said that he could tell us everything about what's going on in the Way family. Their agenda up to today and stuff. He wants to run away. He doesn't want to stay in the family anymore. So if we use what he tells us to take them down, maybe we could offer him protection? I know it seems far out, and it can happen slowly, and he could be undercover for us for a while, but..."

Linda smiled a little. "I don't want there to be any exchange here. I don't want to make a deal. We'll offer you protection, Gerard. You said you'd be willing to give us information?"

"More than willing if it'll end hostility, or at least bring my family down," Gerard said. "I would need a place to stay if I got found out though."

"Don't worry about that. We'll always be here if you need someone to fall back upon, even if you and Frankie don't end up... working out. You can give us information. We can give you shelter, but there need not be a correlation or exchange between the two. It'll just be out of the willingness to do good, understand?"

"Of course, Mrs Iero," Gerard said, and Frank squeezed his hand. "That sounds wonderful."

"Great," Linda grinned. "And you know, Gerard, you're like a part of the family already, so don't hesitate to ask for help or support, alright, dear?"

"Thank you so much, Mrs Iero."

"You're taking care of my Frankie, it's the least I could do in return," she hummed and smiled at the boys before standing up. "You two make a great pair."

And with that, she took her cup of coffee and walked out of the room, leaving the two boys on the couch. Frank leant up to kiss Gerard, and Gerard kissed back and pulled away, resting his forehead on Frank's.

"I love you," he managed before the first few tears slipped out of his eyes.

Frank wiped a few away with his thumb and then brought their lips together one more time. "I love you too, baby. We'll get through this."