EARLY SUNSETS

08 . i am you, and you are me... and we are perfectly imperfect.

When Frank arrived to Gerard's house, just before midnight, he was surprised not to find him in his room. He was starting to panic, when he heard Gerard's voice coming from upstairs. 'Frank! Over here, in the kitchen!'

So he headed upstairs, and found Gerard cooking something. 'What you doing?' Frank asked, walking up to Gerard and leaving a kiss on his cheek.

'Mac and cheese.'

'Isn't it a little late for mac & cheese?'

'Maybe, but I figured you'd be hungry, so –'

'You did this for me?' Frank couldn't believe it. No one had ever stayed up that late to welcome him with food.

Gerard nodded and leaned in to kiss him. Frank couldn't help smiling at the gesture.

He loved how their relationship had become so domestic. From sucking each other's dicks at parties to coming home to his house after work and him cooking for Frank. He had never imagined this would come out of that.

He sometimes wondered if it'd be better to just move in with Gerard since he was staying there every night now, but he knew Gerard was still in the closet and he hadn't really explained their relationship to his parents – though his dad knew. But Gerard had told him he was happy to have him there all the time, and Frank was happy too, so –

And though he still liked Jamia, and being with her, every day he was more and more convinced he was actually in love with Gerard. Which was making his decision to be poly a little complicated.

Gerard served two bowls, and Frank got Cokes from the fridge, before they headed back to the basement. 'This is so good!' Frank said when he tried the mac & cheese. 'Thanks!'

'Anytime.'

'I'm gonna take your word on that.' They kissed again, their lips tasting like white cheddar cheese, which Frank loved.

'So –,' Gerard interrupted while they were watching some lame reality show. 'I wanted to talk to you.'

Fuck. Frank got scared. That usually meant a breakup, at least in Frank's book. Just when he was the happiest he'd ever seen.

Gerard continued before Frank freaked out even more. 'It's actually good news. I wanted you to be the first one to know.' He paused. 'Remember that little project I told you about, the Breakfast Monkey cartoon? My friends and I got enough budget to do a couple episodes, and maybe a chance to meet with a network to pitch it.'

'What?! That's amazing! I'm happy for you, dude!' He hugged Gerard and kissed him, all excited.

'Thank you!' The way Gerard smiled, all adorable, made Frank melt. 'So here's the thing – I'm gonna have to go to NYC to work on it to have it ready as soon as possible before the network backpedals.'

'When are you leaving?'

'Tomorrow morning. It'll only be couple days, maybe a week.'

Frank was so happy for him, but now, he couldn't help be sad he was going to be away from Gerard for who knows how long. 'I'm so proud of you, Gee.'

'Thank you.'

They just sat there, and Gerard told him he could spend that time with Jamia. Frank knew that. He knew he was luckier than many, but he couldn't think about anything other than how much he was going to miss Gerard. 'I love you,' he said it.

He'd been meaning to for a while. He was sure of it, and he didn't know why it came out just then, but he was glad it did. He wanted to tell him he was the most important person in his life, and that he loved having him in his life.