ONE: Vanilla on My Hands

35: It's Not So Bad When You Get Used to It

"Is that really the time?" Frank asked when he glanced down at Gerard's silver watch and saw that it was nearly six in the evening. He should have noticed by the fact that it was starting to get dark outside, but he hadn't been paying attention to anything else other than the extensive contract. Frank set the marker on the desk, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stop them from feeling so dry and tired, and stifled a yawn, "I didn't realize that I'd been here all afternoon since we got back."

"We didn't get back until a little later than planned," Gerard reminded Frank of their slightly extended lunch break, not taking his eyes away from the computer while he typed, "Plus, you have been rather preoccupied, you dirty boy."

"The contract is important," Frank added primly.

"The contract wasn't to what I was referring, dear boy. I was merely mentioning the sordid state of your mouth that lead up to you doing your contract." Gerard whispered, "When one mentions they have a persuasive mouth, you usually think they have a charm and wit..."

"Don't I have a charm and wit?" Frank asked coyly, batting his eyelids at Gerard, who turned to look at Frank with his eyes narrowed. He reached out, clamping his hand around Frank's jaw in a stern hold, bring his face in until they were inches apart.

"You have an entrancing charm and copacetic wit, runt." Gerard whispered, "But I was talking about how perfectly it fits around me and how pretty you look when you choke on it."

"I-" Frank shuddered a shaky breath, staring into Gerard's unwavering and incomparable gaze as an ache set in his jaw that felt so similar to the ache he had felt only a few hours before. Gerard let go, stroking a finger over where he had been holding, and went back to typing an email. The skin where he had brushed with his knuckle seemed to tingle and Frank's entire body had taken a moment to reboot after crashing like an old computer. He inhaled, looking down at the contract and book in front of him. It was all he had done since they got back, he had decided to reread what he had agreed to, wanting to refresh himself after lunch, "I just feel bad. I haven't exactly done any work today."

"Don't worry about it," Gerard brushed off Frank's comment quickly, "I told Derek that I was training you some more so he's been filling in for you."

"Is that what we are calling this now, huh?" Frank raised an eyebrow at Gerard, eyeing him up, placing one hand on top of the contract, "My 'training'?"

"Well, it is, isn't it?" Gerard responded rather bluntly, looking at Frank like it should have been obvious, "I wasn't lying when I told Derek that I was going to be training you."

"You just bent the truth," Frank smiled cockily, leaning back in his chair, clinking his tongue bar against his teeth, "I get it. No one will ever know what happened behind your closed door."

"Good," Gerard nodded. He took a moment away from what he was doing, looking over his work while he ran his hands through his hair, scratching at the back of his head, "But, I think that is enough for today. You have done well, boy, I'm impressed. Covered more than I expected."

"Yeah, me too," Frank nodded, thumbing through the lengthy contract, letting the pages he was holding fall back down onto the pile that he was still going to have to go through, "I take it, I'm finishing this off tomorrow?"

"Probably a good idea. You don't want to overwhelm yourself in one sitting," Gerard agreed whilst shutting down his email before switching off his computer, "Plus, I would like to go home."

"Yeah," Frank tried to sound enthused about the idea of going home, but to him, home meant going back to his crummy motel room. Gerard started packing away his things while Frank just sat there, hating the idea of going home. The shame crept down Frank's spine almost immediately while he remained seated in his chair, "Should probably go home, too..."