What Are Roommates For?

14. New Year's

Frank's POV

"Come on! It's New Year's Eve, it's supposed to be fun."

"No, no, remember when I got drunk and you took care of me the whole night? Yeah, big fat no. I mean- I got art to do!"

"Gee! That was one time-"

"Then I got drunk with you, Frank. Come on, this is my first year staying home and I wanna do art... You can go and have fun."

I crossed my arm and leaned against the wall, nodding and kicking off my shoes, shrugging off my jacket. We weren't mad, he was was just stubborn. He kind of had a shocked look, even though I wasn't doing anything but slightly undressing.

"What are you doing? Frank, I told you, just because I don't want to go to a party doesn't mean you have to stay at my pity party."

"It's not a pity party, it's an introvert party. I'm staying and practicing my guitar."

Gerard chuckled and shook his head, moving his knees up to look at his sketchbook. I went to my room and grabbed my guitar, smiling as I put the strap up on my shoulder. I went and sat on my couch, messing with the chords and looking over at Gerard.

"Last chance, I'm playing guitar."

"Who says I don't want to listen to you play?"

I laughed a little and started to play one of the songs I heard Gerard humming an hour ago. I have never seen someone's head spin around so fast, his wide eyes projecting from his sockets as I played. I was smiling as my fingers moved, waiting for my favorite part and letting muscle memory sink in as the ending faded from the chords.

Gerard's face was applauding me, though, with my position of sitting, I kind of just waved instead of bowing. I blushed as he put the sketchbook down, looking at me with something in his eye, but I looked down before I could know what it was.

"Frank, that was amazing... You think you could stay in that position for a little bit longer?"

I tilted my head as I looked at him, slowly nodding. I was a little confused, but as he grabbed the sketchbook, I understood.

"Do you need me to stay still, or should I still play?"

"If you can stay still while playing, be my guest, but I'm gonna need you to stay still when I get to your fingers. That alright?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Take your time."

I started playing a little, lazily playing the chords to a Misfit song that may or may not have been on the CD that Gerard gave me for Christmas. Yes, I had been listening to it, even blasting it when he went to Ray's. I thought it was really nice though, I still hadn't taken off the fingerless gloves either, the exception being when I went in the shower. Sitting here now while he drew me was something different, a part I wished to keep going. Maybe this is what I was missing the first time I came to college; him.

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I was laying on the couch as Gerard was coloring the drawing, now able to strum my guitar as I pleased, but I was super antsy and curious as to what the drawing looked like. Come on, who wouldn't be? Though I was anxiously waiting, I decided to play a little song that I thought was romantic. I'm sure it wasn't intended as such, but it was nice to pretend. I had already accepted that I had a small portion of feelings, not that I would tell him... Maybe.

"You almost done?"

"Kind of, almost... How much time do I have until midnight?"

I sat up and grabbed my phone, flipping it around and feeling a little panic for a minute. If I didn't check now, we would have missed the countdown.

"You have 3 minutes."

"What?! We almost missed the countdown, turn on the TV."

I put my guitar aside, grabbing the remote in a hurry as I flipped from the Roku channel to cable. I found the countdown and smiled, seeing the 2-minute countdown. I took the strap of my guitar off, going over to stand with Gerard. Both of us talked for a moment until the 10 seconds started to count down.

"Ten-"

"Nine-"

"Eight-"

"Seven-"

"Six-"

"Five-"

"Four-"

"Three-"

"Two-"

"One-"

In union, Gerard and I yelled out 'Happy New Year!' Both of us cheered, hugging each other and laughing a little as we parted a little. His hands still held my sides, looking down at me and smiling.

I could feel Gerard's heat underneath his palms, the blush on his face made me aware of my own heat that had run to my face. I looked at his eyes and tried to subtly look at his lips, almost stepping away before I felt his hands move to wrap around me. One of them loosened and the heat of his palm was on my face now, the simple touch giving me enough confidence to seal the space between us.

Gerard's lips were soft, warm, a little chapped. We didn't move for a while, his head slightly tilted as was mine. God, I've dreamt of this happening before, but I never imagined that someone could ever be so gentle. As much as I wanted it to last for a little longer, both of us needed to breathe. I heard him slightly chuckle as he panted, his arm around me slightly letting go of me.

"This is the first time I've actually had a New Year's kiss."

"... Same here, I've never dated someone near New Year's."

Gerard smiled, his cute little blush spreading across his cheeks as he moved to place a little kiss on my forehead. His hand slipped down, his arms holding me around my waist, my hands resting on his hips.

"W-would you ever want to do that again?"

"Yes! I mean- yeah, yeah. It was... Nice."

It was my turn to chuckle, kissing his cheek before I let go and just kind of rested my head on his chest. I looked up, smiling and giggling as Gerard moved his arms away. He sat down, closing his sketchbook before I could get a peek at how the progress was going. I sat down on his lap, looking at the TV and seeing everyone still celebrating.

"Gee? Does this mean... We're-"

"Dating? I'd like to, but only if you mean it."

"I think that was clear from a few minutes ago, Gee."

I smiled and grabbed the blanket, kissing Gerard's cheek as I put it over us. I snuggled up to him, feeling his arms wrap around me as we changed the channel back. We were searching for a movie, skimming through them until we settled on a horror movie. They never go out of style. As we sat there, our warmth combining with time, I started to drift off, moving to the crook of his neck to kiss his cheek one last time. I felt myself relax, falling asleep faster than I ever have before.