FicWad

Tomorrow is the Valentine's day party at school and Frank is so excited his itty bitty body is trembling. He and his mother, Linda, are setting at the kitchen table decorating his shoe box for the party. His mom draws and cuts out the hearts then lets Frank apply the glue to paste them to box.

Linda smiles as she watches him concentrating; his tongue pinched between his little lips as he struggles to smear the glue stick across every inch of the tiny pieces of paper before slapping them onto his creation.

"Done!" he crows as he applies the last heart.

"You did awesome Frankie!" she says approvingly. The box in question was covered in black tissue paper with orange hearts instead of the normal pink and red that was traditional of Valentine's Day. They were Halloween colors. Frank loved anything to do with the holiday. It was his birthday after all. It might be a bit unconventional but she was not about to discourage the six year old from being creative.

"Let's get the Valentines made now and then we'll get you ready for bed," she said.

Frank pulled out the list of names for his classmates and they began folding and writing names on the Star Wars themed cards. When they finally finished his mom looked over the list of names.

"Oh! We forgot Gerard," she noticed.

Frank just smiled brightly up at her.

"Gerard gets a special card!" He declared. "He's my best friend."

"Oh? What about any of the girls in your class? Do you want to make them any special cards too?" She asked curiously.

Frank scrunched up his nose like he just smelled something bad.

"Eww mommy! Girls are icky!" he said looking grossed out.

Linda laughed and pulled him in for a hug. She was secretly glad he was in his cooties phase. She wanted to be the only girl in her little man's life for a little while longer.

****

Frank tucked the homemade Valentine loving into his backpack with all his other school things. Once he made sure it was safe and sound he began picking his clothes out. He chose a pair of black jeans and a red shirt with a pattern of black skeletons. It was his favorite shirt. He wanted to look his best so he picked his matching red Chucks.

Pleased with his appearance he grabbed his bag and headed to the bus stop with his mom. She kissed him goodbye and he was off to school. It was going to be a cool day he decided.

****

When he entered the classroom he immediately scanned the room for Gerard. It didn't take long to find him. His long black hair was unusually neat that morning and Frank giggled at the thought of Gerard's mom chasing him around the house with a hairbrush. He never liked to brush his hair.

He also noted Gerard's outfit. It was unique just like his friend. He had on a long sleeved shirt with black and white stripes and a pair of navy blue corduroys. Frank blushed a little when Gerard saw him staring. He wasn't old enough to know what a crush was but he kind of had one. The pudgy boy just smiles with all his tiny showing and waves for his friend to come over to him.

They showed each other their Valentine boxes before the bell rang and they had to go to their seats. The party wasn't until the end of class and Frank wanted it to be time as soon as possible.

*****

The morning consisted of coloring, practicing writing the alphabet, and a worksheet on shapes. Frank normally enjoyed the school work but he couldn't help how excited he got when it was finally story time. It was his favorite part of class and it meant the party would be right after.

Scurrying from his desk he skipped over to the carpet in the back of the room. He was just about to plop down next to Gerard when he saw that his worst enemy was already setting in his spot.

Lindsey looked up and stuck out her tongue at him. 'Stupid Lindsey with her stupid hair,' Frank thought grumpily. Whenever he and Lindsey would argue he would make fun of her many colorful barrettes. He felt she wore too many and he made it a point to tell her so every chance he got.

But right now it was story time so he just sat down on the other side of his friend. He scooted closer to him showing his possessiveness and gave Lindsey an angry glare. She just ignored it and grabbed Gerard's hand.

Frank's face turned red with rage and he tried not to cry when Gerard didn't recoil from her. He stared hopelessly as his lap as the teacher read. He didn't even pretend to be interested in the story. When it was finally over he expected his friend to follow him back to the desks. When he didn't Frank became sulky.

"Let him go Lindsey he is my best friend and I want him to come sit with me!" he said feeling upset.

"Well he is my boyfriend!" She retorted.

Frank gave her an evil look.

"Whatever Lindsey. Gerard wants to be my boyfriend!"

It was a bold statement and despite her protests that 'boys couldn't have boyfriends' he chose to drive the point home by smacking a wet kiss to his best friend's cheek. Gerard's eyes grew wide and he brought a pudgy hand up to his chipmunk cheek. He was blushing a deep red as he stared at Frank.

Frank grinned and grabbed Gerard's free hand and pulled him toward his desk. He pulled out the black heart valentine he had crafted himself and handed it to his best friend. Gerard shared his Hershey kisses with him in return. They were inseparable from then on.

***

(Ninth Grade)

Gerard and Frank are setting on the Way family's back porch sneaking a smoke and staring at the stars. Frank takes a long drag from his cigarette before carefully blowing out the smoke and clearing his throat; beginning to speak in a quiet voice.

"Hey Gee? I-I kind of have something I want to tell you..." he stammered.

Gerard looked at him curiously with his eyebrows raised.

"What is it Frankie?" He giggled. He wanted Frank not to be so nervous. He was being weird lately. Gerard bit his lip while he waited for his friend to find the right words. He even dared to get his hopes up a little. He had loved Frank a long time.

"Well...I-I sort of like you..."

Gerard smiled warmly. "I like you too Frank. You're my best friend."

Frank began picking at the holes in his jeans and when he spoke Gerard could barely hear him.

"Like you more than a friend," he murmured. Gerard's breathe caught in his throat because yeah, now he was sure they both felt the same.

He reached into his back pocket and produced his wallet. He reached in and pulled out a black piece of paper. It was in the shape of a heart and was starting to fall apart. He handed it to Frank.

Frank stared in disbelief. "You kept it?" he breathed. Suddenly he didn't seem so nervous anymore.

"So, you'll be my boyfriend?" he asks.

Gerard begins laughing a deep and silly belly laugh.

"I'm not laughing at you by the way. I just kind of thought I already was your boyfriend, " he explained gasping for air. "But the answer is yes now that you're asking all official like."

Frank smiled and began giggling himself. "We are such dorks."

Gee pulled him closed and kissed him on the cheek. "The worst kind!" he agreed.