The Consequences of Befriending Gerard Way (frerard)

Three: Gym class and bad movies

To say the least, Frank was terrified of gym class. Bellview high had no unisex bathrooms, and there was no way in hell he'd be forced into changing in the girl's changing room. On the other hand, if he was in boy's he's be harassed or worse as soon as he took his shirt off. Also, exercising in his binder was basically a guarantee he'd end up with a bruised chest. Luckily, Frank only had gym on Fridays, so he only had to miss one class a week.

That's how Frank found himself hiding under the bleachers at the edge of the football field, hood up to protect from the slight drizzle of rain trickling through the seats.

"Frank?"

Frank looked up at the person calling him. "Gee?"

Gerard was jogging towards him, dark hair covering their face. As they neared, Frank saw that their eyes were red and puffy, as if they'd been crying.

"Gerard!" Frank pulled them under the protection of the bleachers. "What happened?"

Gerard wouldn't make eye contact with him. "Nothing. Why are you here?"

"Skipping gym-- Gerard, seriously, what's wrong?"

Gerard fell against Frank, burying their head into Franks shoulder and hugging him tightly. "I thought I might actually try to go to gym this year. Some asshole said he'd kill me if I went into either changing room."

"Oh, Gee," Frank said, running his fingers through Gerard's damp hair. "It's okay, you're okay."

"I am now," Gerard whispered, letting go of Frank and stepping backwards. Frank felt the warmth that Gerard had left on his chest linger even after they parted. "Can I hang here until gym class is done?"

"Yeah, of course!" Frank said. Frank leaned against a support for the bleachers, pulling out his phone and headphones. "Wanna listen to some music?"

Gerard nodded, taking an earbud as Frank opened his phone and began looking through his music. "The Misfits?"

Gerard nodded with a small smile. "That's great." They stood right next to Frank, their shoulders brushing as the music filled the space between them. Gerard stared out at the rain blurred school, their eyes wide and sad, like a deer's. Frank studied their face, the way their messy hair perfectly framed their soft features, the way their eyes, rimmed in dark eyeliner, were still puffy from crying. A small smile crossed his face. How is it possible for someone to be so perfect, Frank thought. Gerard glanced over at him and Frank quickly turned away, knowing he was blushing.

"Hey, wanna come over tonight? We can watch some horror movies," Gerard asked.

"That sounds awesome!" Frank said.

A smile graced Gerard's lips. "Good."

---

Mikey sat in the very back of his math classroom, next to the radiator that was always on high. Maybe if he was lucky, it would catch something on fire and he could get out of the godforsaken class. The teacher was droning on and on about linear equations or something Mikey had learned about in middle school. Damn, middle school felt like years ago even though he was barely through his first week of high school.

Pete handed Mikey a note under the table. Mikey took it and unfolded the scrap of paper. Look outside. The track team's running. Mikey frowned at the note, looking out the window. The track team was running. It was drizzling out, who would want to run in that? Mikey gave the boy next to him a confused look. Pete took the note back and scribbled something.

The track uniforms are sexy, Pete wrote. Like, damn.

Mikey gave him an even more confused look. It was a track uniform, there was nothing sexy about it. He took the paper and wrote, not really.