midnight madness |frerard; boyxboy|

Player 64

Before the read:  

(1) this is in no way written to upset any readers who may be religious!! Maybe it won't, but I didn't want to come off as pretentious. (2) this will be a long one shot because I wanted to establish some back story.

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Gerard remembered the first time he stepped out of his mom's car and onto the church grounds in his soccer uniform. His mother didn't want him playing with the kids in the neighborhood, she would rather him join the church team. Gerard didn't mind since most of his friends were from church anyway. At ten, he was still in that awkward phase: he hadn't grown into his features and he was chubbier than most of his schoolmates, putting a target for bullying right on his back. 

His mother was aware of the torture he faced at school. She insisted he not fight back physically or even "stoop low enough", as she had put it so sweetly to him, to argue with the punks in his grade. Instead, she wanted him to join sports and develop some self esteem. 

"You can't control what they say to you, Gerard, just how you react," she had told him with caring eyes, pressing a bag of frozen corn to his bulging cheek. "And I think this will be good for you. You'll be on a team and feel good about yourself. I want you to be able to handle those..." She had trailed off then, not daring to say a bad word. 

And his mother had been right. Gerard had fit in with the church soccer team. He knew most of the other boys since he was younger and it made him feel great to be a part of something. He stuck with it and played on the team through high school. 

In high school, two major things happened to Gerard. First, he started getting uncomfortable in the locker room before and after games. He didn't know why at first and didn't mention his feelings to anyone, scared that they would tease him for suddenly becoming shy. 

The reason became clear when Gerard had gathered his things and went to find a shower with one of the curtains, not wanting to use to communal one. He pulled it back and felt his breath catch in his throat when he realized it wasn't empty. 

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry," the words just fumbled out of his mouth as his teammate laughed in response. 

"No worries, man, it happens."

He shut the curtain and went to the next one where he breathlessly put his things down. Pressing his hands to his cheeks, he took a deep breath and backed against the far wall. In that moment, he realized he wasn't upset he walked in on one of his teammates, he was upset because the flutter in his stomach felt natural. 

He realized the embarrassment he felt was from clarity: he liked boys. 

The second major turning point for Gerard was when Frank Iero joined their soccer team during their senior year. He was from the outskirts of town and his family wanted to change churches. His family seemed more laid back than most of the boys' on the team, and it reflected in his unorthodox way of playing. Gerard made sure not to lose focus or make his infatuation too obvious, but he thought Frank was absolutely gorgeous. 

Smooth black hair that he wore tied in a half-up bun for practice and games, olive skin, and dark honey eyes that made Gerard's knees weak when the sun touched them. Maybe his hopeful eyes were just fooling him, but he swore sometimes he caught glimpses of ink under his jersey sleeves or shorts. He didn't look like the other boys on the team. He was so sultry, so devastating in the most tempting way. 

"64! Get it together, son!" The coach called to Frank, who was making an obscene gesture to another player, completely ignoring a blind spot. 

Gerard internally scolded the coach for, well, doing his job. Soon after, they took a break. The coach handed out full cups to each of them before putting his hands on his hips loosely.