FicWad

Can I fangirl for a minute? This story got a 4 rating on chapter 2 and like 220 views. I'm in shock! Thank you all so much.

The next morning at the cafe went quickly for Gerard. He was the one taking the orders while Frank watched, making sure he was doing it right, so time flew by. He had expected things to be really awkward with him and Frank after yesterday. Like after Frank went home and had time to think about how creepy Gerard truly was, not that he thought that Frank would think about him, he would get someone else to train him....or just have his mom fire him.

That didn't happen though. When Gerard came into the cafe at nine on the dot, Frank greeted him with a bright smile and sparkling eyes.

“Ready for your time to shine, Gerard?” Frank said, passing him the round tray from behind the counter.

Gerard was a little taken back. Frank was really okay with Gerard being the creeper, starer that he was, huh? Apparently so, because before Gerard could respond, Frank leaned in close to him like he was about to share a secret.

“Oh, and I’m really excited to see your sketches. You brought them right?” Frank's eyes twinkled up to Gerard's with...anticipation? Excitement maybe?

“Yeah, they're in my car. I could go get them if you wanted to look at them now.” Gerard turned his head away from Frank's gaze, looking at the small amount of customers in the cafe.

“No, I'd rather wait until break.” Frank walked out from behind the counter, leading Gerard to their first table. “I want you to have my undivided attention.” Frank winked before introducing himself and Gerard to the customers, easily.

Was it possible that Frank was coming onto him?

No, that would be silly. Frank was not coming onto the failed artist, living back in his parents basement. That's an outrageous thing to think. Right?

Gerard really didn't have time to dwell on whether Frank was actually coming onto him because the cafe ended up getting pretty busy that morning. Almost every table was filled with people and there were only three waiters on staff, well four if you counted Gerard, but he and Frank were kinda a team.

When it was finally time for their break, Frank got the food for them while Gerard went to his car and grabbed his sketchbook. Gerard made it to the picnic table in the park before Frank and while waiting for the younger man to come back with the food, he flipped through his sketchbook. This was his old book. The one from art school and he was worried that the sketches would be too graphic or too different or even too creepy. Gerard did draw people. Stranger people. Like all the time. It was kind of his thing.

Frank arrived as Gerard had just finished flipping through the book. He looked up when Frank sat down with a smile imprinted on his entire face. Frank split up the food and opened his container, picking up a half of his sandwich.

“Alright, man, let me see these things.” Frank said before opening his mouth, taking a big bite out of the veggie sandwich Benny made specially for him.

“Do you want to eat first or something?” Gerard asked nervously. The only people that had seen these sketches were Mikey. Well Mikey and about half of his art school, but that was a different environment, a different time.

“Nah, I can multitask. I’m a waiter.” Frank giggled and set down his half of his sandwich wiping his hands off with a napkin. “Pass 'em over. I promise not to get shit on them.”

Gerard just nodded, sliding the book across the table. He wasn't worried about Frank's sandwich ruining the papers. There were enough coffee stains, cigarette ash, and vodka spills on the pages for it to be comical. A few crumbs from a toasted sandwich would not matter.

Gerard kept his eyes down on his sandwich as Frank flipped through the book. He pretended that the sound of the crunch of his sandwich drowned out the 'Hms' and 'Wows' that Frank made while looking at his creations. While waiting for Frank to finish, he moved his eyes to the engravings on the wooden table, letting his mind get lost in the stories of the people that marked the wood. Anything to keep his mind off of Frank and his appreciative, amazed noises.

“Fuck, Gerard. These are really good.” Frank said after an excruciating amount of time.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, taking a large bite of his sandwich so he wouldn't have to talk.

“No, man, I really mean it. Like you should be a professional or some shit. I've never seen anything like this.” Frank continued, flipping through the book again to look at the sketches again.

Gerard nodded and swallowed the huge amount of food that was in his mouth. “I went to art school.” He spoke quietly.

“Yeah?” Frank looked up at him, the book opened to an elaborate city scene with a ghostly woman traveling through it. “Are you like on break now? I am too. Gotta love the long ass college breaks.” He smiled, taking another bite of his almost forgotten sandwich.

“Uh, no. I graduated already. About a year ago actually.” Gerard continued speaking quietly.

“Oh. That's cool. Hard time to find a job? Did you go into the city? I bet with your talents you could get like, any job you wanted.” Frank pushed on, looking back down at the book, turning the pages.

“I had a job.” Gerard mumbled. He looked at Frank and he was so glad the boy had his eyes cast down. He didn't want to see the disappointment in those beautiful eyes. “I got fired.”

When he saw Frank's head start to tilt up, he immediately shot his head down, staring at the 'H&S 4Ever' on the table. Letting his mind wonder away from the dreaded conversation at hand, he thought about the initials. Was it Harry and Sam? Henry and Sabrina? Hannah and Steve? How old were these people? Are they still together? Did 4Ever actually mean forever for them?

“Oh, what happened?” Frank interrupted his thoughts.

Gerard sighed and left the couple, Hannah and Steve, he decided, and lifted his head to look at Frank. Damn himself for always having to tell people the truth.

“I was...” He stopped, taking a deep breath. “I am, an alcoholic.” Gerard sighed looking directly into the pools of beauty. “And I was addicted to pills. Bad combo for trying to keep a job.”

Frank let his hand leave the book and move to the middle of the table, just in front of Gerard's. “You're clean now?” Gerard nodded. “Then that's all that matters.” Frank let his hand cup the top of Gerard's. He squeezed it gently and gave the older man a reassuring smile.

Gerard nodded again and looked down at their hands. He really wanted to turn his hand up. He really wanted to let his palm touch Frank's and let their fingers intertwine. He wanted to feel the heat from Frank's body and let it mingle with the heat of his own body. He just really wanted to hold Frank's hand.

And so he did.

He carefully turned his hand around under Frank's causing Frank nearly pulled his hand away, thinking that Gerard wanted the interaction to stop. But when Gerard clasped his thumb around the top of Frank's hand, the smaller man stopped, looking down at their hands. Their fingers intertwined soon, almost on their own accord, and a small smile graced Gerard's face. Their hands were perfect together.

After a few moments both men turned their heads up to look at one an another. They both had blushed smiles adorned on their faces while Gerard's thumb absentmindedly stroked the curve of Frank's thumb. It was normal, natural; like their hands knew the way together. That Gerard's thumb was supposed to be feeling the small bones and tendons in Frank's hand.

“Did you draw me yet?” Frank asked quietly, eager to know what Gerard perceived the younger man as.

“Yeah.” Gerard responded lightly. He didn't really want to tell Frank that he had spent all of last night meticulously drawing Frank. He didn't want to tell Frank that he had gotten frustrated and crumpled nearly a whole book of paper when the lines that he drew didn't accurately portray the beautiful boy that he had met yesterday. He didn't want Frank to see the pictures until they were as perfect as the subject.

“Can I see it?” He questioned.

“They're at my house.” Came the reply.

“Tonight then?”

“Sure.” And his plan to keep the Frank that he drew hidden, had failed.

The rest of the day went quickly. The two men assigned a time and a place that they would meet after they went home and changed. The designated spot was the local marina. There were small personal boats docked there, a huge baseball field that local teams played at, a parking lot that was a dimly lit, and a long dock that lead to a secluded spot in the middle of the bay.

They decided to take separate cars, Frank lived on the west side of the marina and Gerard lived on the east. It was impractical for them to carpool. Frank arrived first. His beat up Ford, dirty with water bottles and books from his last semester classes, parked in the spot directly in front of the dock. His lights shone on the secluded wood, hidden by the bushes.

Then Gerard showed up, his red Olds Mobile parked a spot away from Frank's. He looked over at Frank's car and sighed a breath of relief when Frank motioned him over. He didn't want the younger man to see what a disaster his car was. There were sketchbooks and pencils and folders all scrambled across the back seat. It was horrendous.

He grabbed the small sketchbook from the passenger seat and climbed out of his car, walking the small distance to Frank's car. He opened the passengers door and got it, smiling softly at Frank, “Hi.”

“Hey.” Frank smiled, reaching for the sketchbook before Gerard had even shut the door. “Let me see.”

Gerard reluctantly handed the book over and Frank opened to the first page immediately. The first image was of Frank bent over the coffee machine, trying to get the buttons to cooperate. In this sketch, Frank's face was not on the paper. His back was to the viewer.

The next image that Frank turned to was Frank's profile as he talked to a customer. The details of the cafe and the customers were amazing. It was like somebody had just taken the color out of the world and put the outlines on a paper. Frank was astounded by the detail that Gerard had put into him, too. Every wrinkle and every crease in his uniform was shown. The way his hair fell around his face was immaculate.

The third sketch was Frank sitting at the wooden table, face front. Frank was slightly off to the right of the page and the scenery of the park was something out a photograph. It was amazing. And the detail of Frank's face was exceptional. Every single feature was shown like it was the most beautiful thing; even Frank's embarrassing chicken pox scar.

As Frank turned to the last and final sketch, his eyes drifted up to Gerard's for a second. The older man looked nervous and scared. Frank gave Gerard a small reassuring smiled before turning his eyes back down to the sketch. It was a simple sketch. Two hands on a wooden table, intertwined.

Frank was in awe.

“Gerard. These are beautiful.” He looked up at the older man, his face sincere.

“Thank you. They're just sketches.” He blushed looking away from Frank.

“No, Gerard. They're beautiful.” Frank placed the sketchbook in his lap and raised his right hand, placing it gently on Gerard's cheek, turning the older man's head toward him. “You make it all so beautiful.”

“I don't have to make anything beautiful. It's naturally like that.” Gerard spoke honestly, looking directly into Frank's eyes. He didn't think he added anything to his sketches that wasn't already there.

Frank smiled broadly and scooted closer in his bucket seat, to lean over the center console. He looked into Gerard's eyes silently telling him what he was about to do. Upon receiving no objection, either because Gerard didn't understand the eye language or he truly wanted it to happen, Frank leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to Gerard's. The kiss was short and tender; the two pairs of lips were receptive to the feeling.

When Frank pulled back, after deciding not to completely ravish Gerard, he let his forehead rest against Gerard's before he whispered, “I'm gay.”

Gerard let out a small, airy laugh and brought his hand up to rest on Frank's. “I'm gay, too.”

Frank nodded slightly, biting is bottom lip, and nudged his nose gently against Gerard's. “Do you want to take a walk on the dock?”

“Sure.” Gerard said but he didn't move. He stayed there, his forehead pressed against Frank's while he held Frank's hand on his face. He then leaned forward, this time initiating the kiss. A kiss that lasted much longer than the first. This kiss involved a turn of the head and open mouths and tongues. It was deeper, but not sloppy. This kiss was romantic.

This kiss was beautiful.

When the two men finally pulled back, Frank smiled widely at Gerard, “Come on. Let's go.”

Gerard smiled back and nodded dropping his hand from Frank's, opening the door and stepping out of the car. He walked to Frank's side of the car, smiling as the other man returned smiled and blushed. He took Frank's hand and lead him to the dock, walking the short runway to the end where they could watch the waves crash against the wood.

When they reached the end, Frank leaned over the railing, dragging Gerard along with him as he looked out at the waves rippling for miles.

“I love it here.” Gerard whispered.

“Me too.” Frank agreed, turning his head to look at Gerard.

The older man smiled and leaned forward pressing a light kiss to Frank's forehead. “Why isn't this weird?” He wondered out loud. Shouldn't this be strange? They've only known each other two days.

“I dunno,” Frank whispered, unlocking their fingers and wrapping his arm around Gerard's middle. Gerard then placed his arm gently around Frank's shoulders pulling the younger man close to him. “I really like it though.”

“Me too.” Gerard placed a small kiss to the top of Frank's head. “Let's take it slow, though, yeah? Like dates and stuff, okay?”

Frank nodded and looked up at Gerard, “Okay. One condition though.”

“Oh?” Gerard raised an eyebrow, looking down at Frank. “What?”

“I get to keep the pictures you drew of me. And the hand one.”

Gerard laughed turning his head back to the waves. “That's fine. They'll be plenty more where those came from.”


Too slow? Too fast? Let me know! xoxox