Getting Over The Differences *.°·*frerard*·°.*

Amaryllis (Splendid Beauty)

After he was done with work, Gerard had rushed to his room to pick out an outfit. Currently, he was rummaging through his droors trying to find something that didn't look awful and was having lots of trouble. Finally, he just decided on a grey tank top with black skinny jeans and a white jean jacket.

"Does this look okay?" Gerard asked Mikey as he stepped out of his room, and twirled around a bit for effect.

He looked up from his phone for a split second, then back down at the screen "Yeah, looks good."

Gerard sighed "You barely looked at my outfit, Mikey."

"Yeah, y'know why? Because I know you've probably been beating yourself up over an outfit-even though it won't matter what you look like because he'll still probably want to be with you-and you thought that this outfit was the only acceptable one in your closet, so if I say no you're gonna have to pick a completely different outfit even though it doesn't fucking matter." Mikey looked up from his phone then "Did I get that right?"

"Uh... Yes. I just don't want him to think I'm hideous." Gerard said timidly.

"You're not hideous, Gerard. You'll be fine and, oh look! It's seven now! Go get some ass!" Mikey said as he pushed Gerard out the front door of his apartment.

Gerard walked over to the tattoo parlor, unable to shake this nervous feeling he had. What if he wasn't good enough for Frank? What if this first date was also their last? All of these nervous thoughts filled his head as he cautiously opened the door and stepped inside in amazement.

The lights were dimmed to a romantic setting and rose petals littered the floor of the once grunge-esque tattoo parlor. The tables, which once were littered with needles and ink, were now covered in candles that made the whole room smell amazing. And in the middle of it all was Frank who was still in his leather jacket and Misfits shirt, holding a large bouquet of roses close to his chest. Gerard didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to say. Everything was leaving him awestruck, leaving him wondering how Frank did something like this or why he would do something like this for someone like Gerard. He knew he wasn't worth it, knew he wasn't worth the bright candles and red roses even if he enjoyed them. He knew Frank shouldn't be wasting his money on him... But he couldn't help but smile as he gazed over the lovely scene.

Frank smiled back at him "Do you like it? It's not too much, is it? I just thought that maybe we could have dinner here?" Gerard walked up to him, still smiling.

"I love it. It's just so amazing." He asked while still looking around the room. Frank held out the bouquet which Gerard took hesitantly "You really shouldn't have gotten me flowers. I don't want you to waste your money on me."

"It's not a waste if I'm putting it to good use." He said "Now, I don't really have proper chairs, but the ones that I use for work should do. I'll go get the table." And he rushed to the back room, leaving Gerard to marvel at what he had prepared. He took a seat in one of the big leather chairs Frank used for tattooing.

When Frank came back he had a folded up table under his arm and he set it down between two chairs that he moved to face eachother, one being the one Gerard was sitting in. Then he got a candle and put it at the center of the table and sat down in his chair so he was facing Gerard.

"Where do you always get all these flowers from?" Gerard asked, and he was genuinely curious. As far as he knew he was the only flower shop in town, yet Frank always found a way to get roses somehow without him noticing.

Frank smirked "There's this app where you can order flowers online. Whether it's bouquets or single flowers, they just bring it right to your doorstep. So I ordered some bouquets and, well, the rest is history." Gerard, of course, had no idea such an app even existed, but still didn't like the idea that an app could easily do his job for him "So, how did you get to own the flower shop?"

"It's family owned. I'm the oldest kid in the family so I took over the business. My younger brother Mikey lives in Florida with my parents now and he's trying to open up his own shop down there, trying to spread the business, y'know." Frank nodded as Gerard explained everything paying very close attention.

"It must be hard being the only one up here. You don't really have any contact with your family." Frank commented. He wanted to say he didn't need the contact, that he wanted to be away from his crazy parents. But he couldn't seem to be able to explain that to Frank, considering tattoos were what his parents disliked and he literally ran a tattoo parlor.

"What about you?" Gerard asked "Do you have any family up here?" He noticed Frank fidget with his hands when he mentioned his family, picking at the skin around his fingers anxiously.

"I don't really talk to my family much anymore. Went to college to get a music degree, but they wanted me to get a stable job and, well, we just don't talk." Gerard thought back to that time Frank played music outside his window. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't quite place the song that he had played for him. But Frank quickly changed the subject "I hope you're okay with pasta by the way, it's still in the kitchen cooking."

Gerard smiled "That's perfect, I love pasta. Can I ask how you learned how to tattoo people? Like, do you practice on actual people or?..."

"No, I think if anyone let me practice tattooing on them when I was just starting out they would have asked for their money back." They both laughed at Franks joke, although he was half serious "Actually, to practice we use pig skin, even if were vegetarian."

Gerard made a face of disgust. He couldn't image what it must have been like to practice every day on another animals skin. Before he could lose his appetite though, Frank got up to go get dinner. So far, Gerard was having a nice time and even if his parents disapproved, he didn't care. He was sure that there would be a next time.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been having a bit of a writing block for now. But I promise that I'll try and update more.