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Frank's POV

"I'm starving," Gerard said, after about half an hour after Elena left for her bridge club. "I missed my lunch period today skipping with you." He grinned.

"Well, getting a bloody nose and coming home with you made me miss my lunch period," I joked back, returning the grin.

"What say you and I go get food, shall we?" he replied, trying to sound formal. I giggled; Gerard and formal didn't exactly mix. "Is there anything good around here?"

"Yeah, there's a pretty good pizza place around the corner," I answered. "And it's cheap."

"There's a cheap pizza place near my house? Thank God!" He got up and put his black jacket on, while I stood by the door waiting for him. I stepped outside as he wrote a note to Elena, telling her where we were. "In case she gets back before we do," he explained. "I don't want her to worry."

I marveled at the love Gerard and his grandmother shared, and it made me wish my family were like that. My thoughts were interrupted by Gerard brushing past me and locking the door behind him. "Let's go," he said, and we were off.

I led him down the street and turned a few corners, and we were at the pizza place. It was an old, run-down-looking place, but it had the best pizza in all of New Jersey. "Ta-da!" I said, and he laughed and went inside.

It was then that I remembered that I didn't have any money, since I hadn't stopped at home. I informed Gerard of this, and told him I'd just wait for him to finish.

"Nah, I figured you wouldn't have any money, so I brought extra," he said, stepping up to order. What would this look like to someone else, a date? He would be paying for two guys to eat pizza together. Yeah, it looked like a date.

"I'll be sure to pay you back," I said a little loudly, so anyone who might be watching us would at least know we weren't together.

"Don't worry about it. Consider this my little gift to you. Can I get two slices of pepperoni, and... what do you want, Frank?"

"Two slices of spinach alfredo pizza, please." Gerard furrowed his eyebrows at my words, to which I grinned. "I'm a vegetarian."

"Is this order... together?" The man who was taking our order looked from me to Gerard, and back to me suspiciously. Oh, great, he must think we're a couple.

"Uh, yeah," Gerard said, fishing in his wallet for his money, pretending he didn't see the man's reaction.

Okay... what do you want to drink?" he asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Uh..." Gerard said, still struggling with his wallet. "Sierra Mist."

"Coke Zero," I said, and waited as Gerard paid, and then we found a table.

"Thanks, Gee. I'll pay you back as soon as I can," I repeated.

"I said not to worry about it. Besides, it was cheap. We're good." Damn if Gerard always got his way. I smiled.

"Thanks. Not just for this, but for all of today."

"No problem, Frank. Glad I could help."

"You didn't just help; you saved my ass. Multiple times. Hell, you may have even saved my life!"

"No, I didn't. I'm not a hero, Frank."

"I don't care. You're still unbelievable." Wait, did I just say that? Thankfully, the guy who took our order came just then with our drinks, setting them down in front of us.

"I wouldn't say unbelievable," he retorted, sweeping his black hair out of his eyes. Shit, he heard it.

"You and Elena both," I said, trying to cover it up. I took a sip of my drink to avoid further discussion on the matter. "Bleh! This isn't Coke Zero!" I spat, looking at the man who just brought the drinks.

"Is something wrong?" he asked across the restaurant, not bothering to walk towards the table. The only other two people in the restaurant looked over at us, then at the man, and continued to eat their pizza.

"Yeah, I think you gave me the wrong drink," I replied. "I asked for Coke Zero."

"And I asked for Sierra Mist," Gerard spoke up, making a face in his drink as well. I thought I saw a slight smile flicker across the man's lips, and he apologized, which sounded like more of a sneer than an apology. Yeah, I guess he thought we were a couple, and was immature enough to make fun of it.

Bringing us the correct drinks, he didn't even offer to take the price of the drinks off the bill. Gerard and I decided not to leave a tip, and carried on with our conversation.

"I didn't know you could fight," I told him admiringly.

"I can throw a few punches, that's about it. When you're a homosexual going to many different schools in a short amount of time, you learn to defend yourself against homophobes pretty quickly."

This made me feel bad for all the things I'd thought about gays. I know now that they're still people; they just love a little differently.

Gerard's POV

The homophobe who messed up our drinks also messed up Frank's pizza. He's a vegetarian, and the asshole threw some sausage on top of the spinach shit Frank ordered. He didn't mix it in; he put it where Frank could pick it off, but it still pissed me off that he would stoop so low because he thought Frank was gay.

"I know I won't be coming here anymore," I told Frank.

"I don't understand it," Frank said. "They never mess it up this bad."

"Welcome to the world of homophobes," I told him simply, and waited until he had picked off the last piece of sausage and taken a bite of his pizza to eat mine.

"So, your grandma," he paused to swallow. "Is really going to let me stay the night?"

"Yes, Frank. It's not like she's going to kill you if take one step into our house." What was it with this kid, and everything being okay with parents? I mean, come on, he was just staying a simple night, not a decade.

"Sorry. It's just that my mom's really iffy when it comes to stuff like that. I've never had anyone stay the night at my house."

I almost choked. "Never?"

He nodded calmly. "Who would want to? Both of my damn parents are wasted all the time, we never have any money for food, and there's just no hope for either of them at all. Who the hell would want to hang out with freaks that drink so much they can't live right?"

I grew silent, looking down at my plate. "My boyfriend in seventh grade," I said very softly. He apparently heard me, and I could see the regret in his face. He knew he had said the wrong thing and he felt bad, I could tell.

"Shit, Gerard, I'm sorry," he started.

"And don't say there's no hope for them. There's hope for everyone, as long as they're willing to help themselves. As long as someone's willing to help them..." I trailed off. I couldn't help it.

After about a minute of silence, he asked if I was done, and I was. As we got up to leave, Frank pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry, Gee," he nearly whispered, and we left the pizza place for the last time.