Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance

Beautiful Loser

by BrightLights 9 reviews

Gerard is a loser working at a comic book store. Frank is the long, lost friend that makes his life a little less boring. And this summary sucks a whole lot more than I intended it to. Gerard/Frank.

Category: My Chemical Romance - Rating: R - Genres: Humor,Romance - Characters: Frank Iero,Gerard Way,Mikey Way - Published: 2012-04-23 - Updated: 2012-04-24 - 1674 words

5Ambiance
Chapter 1: Four Years


Many things can happen in four years and Gerard Way was well aware of this. Four years ago he was a seventeen year old misfit trying to survive high school without sustaining any major injuries. Four years ago he had no clue that he would end up working at a shitty comic book store making barely enough money to sustain his smoking habit. Four years ago he would have never thought that he would be living in his parent’s basement, thriving solely on a diet of cigarettes, beer and potato chips. Four years ago he would have never, ever imagined that he would still be a fucking loser. But life is full of surprises… and a large majority of those surprises can happen within four short years.

“Mikey!” Gerard calls as he stands impatiently by front door, placing his hands on his hips in a way that makes him look absurdly feminine. Mikey comes bounding down the stairs a moment later, nearly tripping in his haste.

“Sorry,” the younger boy says, “I, uh, couldn’t find my glasses,” He breathes heavily, cheeks tinged with pink. Gerard can’t help but notice the thin, line of sweat glistening on his upper lip. He smiles knowingly.

“Yeah, sure…”

Mikey writhes in discomfort before rushing to open the front door. They head straight towards Gerard’s beat-up, black El Camino. Upon first glance, the van seemed like any regular, old piece of junk, but upon closer inspection, one would recognize its real beauty. At least that’s what Gerard says whenever anyone insulted his beloved ride. Despite its warped state, the van had character and held unbelievable sentiment. Gerard had his first make-out session in the back of that van, smoked his first joint in the front seat and heard his first Beatles’ song in it while on a joyride through the city. That van was his baby.

“So, how are things with Kelly?” Mikey asks cautiously as Gerard speeds down the empty, Jersey highway. The older boy hesitates for a moment, noting the way his gut sinks at the mention of her name. He shakes off the feeling, wrapping his long, pale fingers a little bit tighter around the steering wheel.

“Well, apparently she thinks I’m a waste of her fucking time and she’s not going to waste another minute putting up with my bullshit when she could have any other guy she wants,” Gerard replies blandly. The words sound strange coming out of his mouth and for some reason, he has the urge to laugh. Laugh at just how fucking pathetic his life is, “Basically, there is no more Kelly. We’re over.”

Mikey is silent for a moment while as he fiddles with the straps of his backpack, making an effort not to look at his brother. He feels bad for him. Gerard has always had the worst luck with girls and Mikey’s never really been good at consoling people when they’re hurt or upset. He clears his throat, “I-I’m sorry…”

Gerard laughs now, but it sounds terribly forced, “Don’t apologize, Mikey. You didn’t do anything wrong. And I’m fine, I will be… eventually.”

And Mikey believes him. Gerard has been in much more tedious, much lengthier relationships than this 3-month fling with Kelly Slovak. He’ll bounce back in a few months, yes, and things will be back to normal. Hopefully.

They pull up at Belleville High a few moments later. Mikey gets out quickly, offering his brother a quick goodbye before rushing toward the front entrance. Gerard smirks softly before driving off.


*


As much as Gerard hated working at Belleville Comics, he had to admit it was a pretty cushy gig. He was only required to do three things: put up price tags (very simple, perhaps his favorite activity, besides lunch), stock the shelves (involved lots of lifting, but wasn't horribly demanding) and show the customers who couldn’t be bothered to read the overhead signs, where to find different comics (definitely his least favorite activity as he wasn’t one for human interaction). But at the end of it all, it was probably the only job that would fit someone like Gerard. But that didn’t make him like it any more than what was absolutely necessary.

“Excuse me?” Gerard hears someone ask as he’s stocking the new Batman comics.

“What do you need?” he sighs, decidedly not looking up from his task. These interactions always went by quicker if the customer thought he was busy. Which he was, but he wanted to make it painfully clear.

There’s a slight pause before the customer laughs and Gerard immediately stops his actions. The sound sends an overwhelming tremor of nostalgia crashing through his system, suffocating warmness spreading out through his chest. That laugh. That giggle. It’s so familiar that Gerard’s brain seems to have short-circuited, ridding itself of all memories and thoughts and focusing solely on that laugh. A laugh that Gerard knows so well, it hurts. A laugh that he’s heard time and time again. But it’s distant. Something from the past and the 21-year-old can’t quite place it.

So his eyes flick up to the person at his side, scanning every inch of them.

It’s a boy, several years younger than Gerard. He’s dressed entirely in black save for a pair of well-worn, red converse. His hair is cut short, close to the scalp, revealing the soft curves of his jaw line. His eyes are large, warm and golden matching up nicely to his smooth, tanned complexion. Plump, pink lips stretch over perfect teeth in a devastating smile that makes Gerard’s mind click with instant recognition.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” the boy asks, a hint of amusement in his tone.

But he’s wrong. Gerard certainly remembers him. How could he forget the boy that left his younger brother all alone to fend for himself during his brutal freshman year of high school? Mikey had been depressed for months when his best friend left. He hardly ate or slept and of course, Gerard felt for him. But it wasn’t entirely Frank’s fault. In fact it wasn’t Frank’s fault at all. His parents divorced and his mother decided she did not want shared custody. After 3 grueling months in and out of court, the judge sided with Linda, forcing Frank to move all the way to California to start a new life.

But he was, quite obviously, not in California anymore. He was in Belleville, New Jersey, standing right in front of Gerard and smirking like a bastard. The 21-year-old could not control the smile that forced its way onto his lips.

“You mother fucker!” Gerard exclaims, dropping all the comics he held and throwing his arms around Frank’s waist. Frank giggles again while pushing his body flush against Gerard’s and squeezing him around the neck. They stay like that for several seconds, making up for the four lost years. Gerard was utterly amazed by how solid Frank felt. How warm he was. He’d never admit it but he was almost as distraught as Mikey when Frank left. Frank may have been Mikey’s best friend, but he and Frank got along really well. There were some things that Gerard has told him that he would never tell anyone else, even Mikey. There was a bond between them that Gerard wasn’t quite ready to understand… not yet.

“We fucking missed you, dude! Mikey is gonna die when he sees you,” Gerard says as he breaks their hug, promptly noticing that everyone in the store had turned to look at them. He’s tempted to flip them all off, but decides against it. He needs to keep this job, no matter how much he hates it.

“I missed you guys, too. You have no idea how hard it was for me being away from both of you,” Frank says, eyes alive and sparkling as he looks at Gerard longingly, taking in every detail, “You haven’t changed a bit,” Frank ruminates, catching his lower lip between his teeth.

Gerard laughs a little because he can’t say the same about Frank. He was nothing like the short, scrawny little kid that Gerard remembered. Although he was still quite short, his face was a lot less round and he had definitely gained weight, but he wasn’t big, not at all. He was still petite, much like his mother, but he’d certainly filled out. His right nostril was pierced. And most notably, his head was shaven. Four years ago, Frank had long hair that covered most of his face. It was kind of like his shield from the world. But Gerard decided he liked it better short.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Gerard asks as bends to pick up the fallen comics. A few of them were ripped and he knew he’d get in trouble for it later, but at this moment, he didn’t really care. Frank followed him soon after, helping him collect the books.

“I wanted to buy some comics to surprise you guys. Kind of a sorry-for-leaving-you-for-four-years present,” the younger boy explains jokingly.

Gerard laughs, grabbing the handful of comics Frank had picked up and adding them to his own pile.

“No need for that, really. Just seeing you is more than enough.”


~~*~~


A/N:

Can you handle the fluff?

So, I posted this on Sunday but I decided it wasn’t really the best it could be. So I took it down, made a few tweaks and tossed in a little more fluff and here we have it. This is quite possibly the sweetest Frerard I’ve ever written. And sweet isn’t really my style so... it may get a little more raunchy as the story progresses, but for right now, let's enjoy the cuteness, shall we? Tell me your thoughts, please!
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