TONIGHT WE'RE GOLD

THIRTY-FOUR

I'm getting married.

That's the first thing in Gerard's mind when he wakes up.

He never thought the day would come, but here he is, barely a week away from the big day.

He looks to his right, where his fiancé is sleeping peacefully, unable to believe how it had happened.

He still remembers the day they met as if it was yesterday.

It was the deadline to send the manuscript to his agent. He didn't have any sleep the night before in an attempt to meet said deadline, so he was already in a bad mood that morning. He couldn't remember when was the last time he had showered and the house was a mess.

Mikey had tried to convince him to stay with him and his family for a while, but Gerard told him maybe after he'd finished his last edits. He was okay. Or at least that's what he wanted them to believe. And he wanted to believe it too.

But his hands were already shaking from the four cups of coffee he had, and he had almost smoked a whole pack of cigarettes.

It had been a while since he was that anxious.

It wasn't so much that writing, or the deadline was making him anxious.

He didn't know what it was.

And to make matters worse, Lotion puked in the carpet.

'Couldn't you just wait until I was done with this?' he asked the cat. 'Just give me ten more minutes, okay?'

Then he heard kids laughing outside, yelling at each other. He didn't want to be like all those old people, yelling at the kids, but he was tired of them being little assholes outside his house. He knew he was the neighborhood hermit, and that his house was the one all the little kids were afraid to get close to because they were told a mean, old guy lived there and he didn't like people and he ate kids for fun. He'd heard people whispering about him when he went grocery shopping. That only made his anxiety worse and even harder to go outside his house.

He knew people feared him, even though he'd never been rude or done anything to them, but apparently they were just afraid because he was a writer who spent all day at home and didn't talk to anybody.

He hated that, but there was really nothing he could do.

He just looked out the window, and then he noticed all the trash all over the lawn.

And he couldn't help it. He opened his door, and stepped out. 'Hey!' Gerard yelled at them.

Then, a dog came out of nowhere, barking at the kids, and the owner right behind. 'Get the fuck out of here!' the man yelled, and the kids ran away. But all Gerard could see was the man with the dog. He was short and had tattoos all over. And he came like a fucking angel to save him.

'You don't have to do this,' Gerard told him as the man helped him pick up. Why was he being so nice? No one was nice to him.

They saw him as the monster in that house.

But not him.

He helped him clean the trash, and pet his dog, and he introduced himself. 'I'm Frank.'

And now that they were closer, he gave him a better look. He was fucking gorgeous.

But there was no way he liked men, let alone that he liked him. He had greasy hair and was wearing a bathrobe. This dude smelled like cologne at seven in the morning! He seemed like someone who had his shit together, and probably a family! 'I guess I'll see you around,' Frank said.

Gerard tried to keep him out of his mind.

He was okay by himself.

Not really, but there was no way someone would put up with his shit. Let alone someone so perfect like him.

Yet, he said hi the next morning.

And the next.

And Gerard didn't want to seem like he was waiting for him, because that was stupid, and he was in his forties. But he couldn't help it. It brightened his day. The fact that someone else was nice enough to say hi to him, that someone cared.

Without realizing, it went from waving at each other every morning to having coffee at his porch steps to going to the park to walk Lois.

And now, they're getting married.

After many months of struggle, Frank's relapse, helping him recover and start from scratch. And now they're here.

He's marrying the love of his life.

***

'Did you call Hambone and the guys?' Gerard asks on their way to the grocery store to buy the last of the ingredients for Christmas dinner. They're supposed to be hosting dinner for both their families, just two days before the wedding.

He still has no idea why they thought it'd be a good idea to do it so close to Christmas.

'Yeah,' Frank answers, parking the car. They go through their list twice because Gerard is nervous that he might have forgotten something. This is the first time they have all these people at home, and he wants it to be perfect.

At least they hired someone to be in charge of the catering for the wedding, Frank thinks.

But he's nervous too.

They planned it for a month, asking favors from friends, their parents. They want it to be perfect.

Frank was in charge of getting the band, so he called his friend Hambone and asked him if he could get the gang together to play at the wedding, and he gladly accepted. His mom was in charge of catering, and Gerard's mom of getting the fancy china set, as well as the table linens.

Frank called one of his friends who owned a tiny concert venue where they used to play, and it seemed like the perfect place for the reception.

In the meantime, Gerard is in charge of getting someone to officiate the wedding. Since neither of them is religious, he asks Mikey to get ordained online. 'What?!' his brother says when Gerard asks him.

'Please,' he says. 'It's really important to me.'

'Fine, I guess.'

Christmas day goes well, and Frank starts crying thinking next year they'll have their baby.

'I can't believe it,' he says the night before the wedding, lying in bed. 'We'll be married tomorrow.'

'Me neither.' Gerard tries not to cry but it's impossible. Frank really came into his life and changed it for good.