Romantic Notions (Frerard)

Three: Tentative Greetings

Mitch was indeed quite peeved when Gerard walked through the door, loudly meowing and pacing back and forth on the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry, Mitch, I know I said I'd be home hours ago, but Lindsey kept distracting me, and I got caught up answering letters," Gerard rambled, setting his briefcase on the floor by the couch before heading into the kitchen to feed Mitch.

"I know you're hungry, buddy, but you've gotta give me a break," he appealed, not making any headway with his angry cat. He grabbed a can of cat food from the cupboard as he spoke, Mitch practically pouncing on the food as soon as it was out on a plate. "It's not my fault I always have so much work to do..."

He leaned his elbows on the counter as he watched Mitch eat, reaching up to ruffle his ears before shuffling over to the fridge to find a makeshift meal of his own.

"Anything interesting happen today while I was gone?" Gerard asked as he made himself comfortable on the well-worn couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Mitch jumped off the counter and made his way over to him, softly purring as he cuddled up against his side.

"Did those two pigeons stop by to visit today?" Gerard said as he twirled cold spaghetti around his fork, stroking under Mitch's chin with the fingers of his other hand.

He was referencing a pair of pigeons that'd nested on the roof of their apartment building, the grey birds often perching on their balcony railing during the day, sometimes even venturing across the small terrace to look through the glass doors and taunt Mitch with their freedom.

Gerard finished eating before he began talking again, Mitch following after him as he carried the dirty dish into the kitchen and put it in the sink. "You'll never guess what happened to me," he said excitedly, picking Mitch up in his arms as he headed into his bedroom.

"God, Mitch, I met the most beautiful guy today... He seemed so brooding and intimidating at first with his dark clothes and his lip ring, but he had the most sparkling eyes I've ever seen, and he had so many gorgeous tattoos with a voice like honey... He fucking blushed while I was talking to him, Mitch, he literally blushed..."

"I'm rambling, aren't I?" he chuckled a few moments later, Mitch's blank look telling him everything he needed to know. "Sorry, Mitch, he's just so pretty..."

He set Mitch on the end of his bed before starting on the buttons of his shirt, switching his dressy clothes for just a pair of old flannel pajama pants before crawling into bed. He softly sighed as his head hit the pillow, all the exhaustion from the day settling on him at once.

"Do you think he could ever like a guy like me, Mitch?" he yawned after a while, a small smile curving his lips as Mitch crawled up onto the pillow next to his and curled into a ball to sleep. The grey cat mewed softly in reply to Gerard's question, seeming to have doubt in his tone--if cats' meows even could express such things as doubt within them.

"Oh, hush. Let me have my hope," Gerard chuckled, flicking off his bedside table lamp before snuggling down under the covers and closing his eyes.

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Gerard was swept up by Lindsey as soon as he walked into work the next morning, the dark-haired woman excitedly pulling him along.

"Have you met Frank, yet? He just started working here," she introduced, a light blush tinting Frank's cheeks as he noticed him and waved.

"Yes, Lindsey, we met last night," Gerard chuckled in response, amusedly shaking his head at her as he walked over to the tattooed man.

"Morning, Frank! Have a lot of mail to deliver today?" he said cheerily, Lindsey just watching him with a surprised look on her face. Most people in the building only knew of Gerard because he was this famous author that worked there, not due to actual conversations with him.

But here he was, casually talking to the new mailroom boy as if he'd always been social like this.

"Definitely. I've got at least thirty here just for you," Frank chuckled, bending down to grab them from the lower shelf of the mail cart.

"Alright, thanks," the blonde man replied with a smile, biting his lip briefly as he struggled to think of something else to add to the conversation. "I'll see you around, then, Frank."

"See you later, James! I'm sure I'll have another fifteen or so letters for you by the end of the night," Frank chuckled, waving before heading off to deliver more mail.

"What was that about?" Lindsey asked as she stepped over to Gerard, the blonde man just shaking his head.

"What was what? Now I can't even talk to people without it being a headline?" he teased, taking a sip of his coffee before settling down into his plush desk chair.

"Well... no, not really! You never talk to anyone in this office, and now you're friends with the cute new mail guy?" Lindsey replied, pointedly raising her eyebrow.

"You think he's cute?" Gerard asked nonchalantly, trying to ignore the heat he felt rising in his cheeks. Lindsey analyzed his expression for a moment, a slight smirk curving her lips as she came to the realization.

"You think so, too—don't you?" she asked, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Gosh, that's adorable."

"It's not like that, Lindsey, he is attractive, but he'd be too young for me anyway, and I just think we could become good friends." Gerard quickly replied, dismissing her ridiculous idea. He was not starting to develop feelings, especially not for a coworker.

"Whatever you say, Gerard..." Lindsey sighed, her doubt obvious in her voice.

She had never seen Gerard like this before, and she was absolutely positive Frank had something to do with it.

~~~~~~~

Sorta a filler I guess???

-Bren xo