FicWad

They found a little coffee shop inside the large airport. It was nothing special, actually it was quite horrible to be honest. The coffee was thick and tasted like it was made two weeks ago, it left a thick ring of coffee bean grinds when Gerard tilted the cup.

The table they were sitting at was dirty when they approached it, but being the only free table left, Frank just laughed awkwardly and threw out the paper plates and take-away cups that were left behind, trailing crumbs. The music was corny, playing some sappy country love song. The voice of the singer alone making Gerard cringe whenever he decided to go into soprano mode.

Gerard didn't mind though, as he looked up from his barely digestible coffee, to where Frank was telling Gerard about a horror flick he had seen in Paris, his eyes wide and expressive, his legs bouncing energetically and his hands making gestures when he said something particularly exciting.

“And then right when she was going to escape the room, he came up behind her and chopped off her head with the fucking thing! It was so amazing! Blood everywhere. Even the guts looked real.” Frank finished, smiling maniacally. He picked up his iced coffee, and took a large gulp from it, “Too bad I couldn't actually understand what they were saying though.” he added as a afterthought, chewing on the bright green straw.

Gerard smiled, and put his palm in his hand, elbow poised on the table. “Sounds lovely.” he said sarcastically, lowering his mug and putting it onto the checkered surface.

Frank laughed, and he nodded enthusiastically. “Oh it was. I enjoyed that movie a lot. Maybe too much.”

Frank was just 'too cute', Gerard thought. What with his almost constant need to be moving, the kid just exuded energy. Gerard could almost feel it radiating off of him. He hadn't noticed it before though, but that was probably because Frank had never actually been sitting down when Gerard met him, and when Gerard thought about it, even on the plane Frank seemed to always be in motion.

“Uh-huh.” Gerard picked up his croissant and started peeling off the first layer, then placed the buttery bread on his tongue. When he swallowed, he licked his lips to get rid of the crumbs. “So, if you were in Paris, how come you were at the movie theater watching some cheesy horror flick when you could be out seeing the sights?” Gerard tilted his head to the side. “ 'Cause I've heard that Paris is a very interesting place to visit, especially at night.”

Frank shrugged. “I guess I'm just not that interested in sight seeing.”

Gerard nodded, though on the inside he was jealous. He'd always wanted to go to Paris, and see the sights. It was a dream come true. Of course, he wanted to be with the love of his life when he went there, because what fun was it to visit one of the most romantic cities when you're alone? Not that he ever could go to France, since he needed money for that, which Gerard had very little of.

“I've always wanted to go there. To see the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, especially the Louvre.” his eyes turned a little glossy, and his expression turned wistful. “It sounds so beautiful and lovely. All of it. I've always imagined meeting my true love in Paris.” he murmured softly, tearing off more pieces of his croissant absentmindedly. He then blushed when he realized what he'd just admitted, and he covered his cheeks to hide it, looking down. “Oh god, I'm such a girl.”

Frank smiled softly as he shook his head. “No you're not, you're just a romantic.” Gerard felt Franks calf brushing past his own as he said it, and he looked up and smiled sweetly, his leg following Frank's when it moved away, and he brushed Frank's calf back.

“A hopeless romantic though.” he mumbled.

Just then a shrill high-pitched version of “Cardiac hearts.” interrupted their little moment, and Frank mumbled a 'Sorry' before fumbling through his back pocket in search of his phone. When he pulled it out (which took a bit of time. Frank's fingers had a hard time searching through such tight jeans.), he looked at the front of the phone to see who was calling and his goofy smile turned instantly serious.

Gerard saw him mouth “My boss.” and he “Oohh'd.” understandably, and he got up to go get him and Frank more coffee, motioning with his hands by lifting up his drink and tilting his head to the drink bar.

Frank nodded and smiled, before opening his phone and saying in a very business like tone, “Frank Iero!”

That was all Gerard heard before he walked back up to the counter and ordered two more of what they had before, except this time to go. He even asked for extra chocolate in Frank's, hoping to please him, though he knew he might be regretting giving him something that was surely to make him even more fidgety than now.

When Gerard got back to the table Frank's face had changed. He was no longer chirping happily into the phone like when Gerard had left him, instead he was blinking fast and his voice was clipped and stifled. He looked as if he were about to cry, his lower lip trembling dangerously. He was looking down, so Gerard couldn't be sure if he was crying or not, but he had a suspicion that if he wasn't, he soon would be. Frank wiped his nose on his sleeve. “But, but I don't understand! W-who told you this? I didn't even-I would never...you know I wouldn't do something like that sir!”

Gerard frowned, and sat down again. What could be happening that Frank was getting so upset? It had to be something big, since nobody he knew could go from hyper and happy, to nearly distraught in less than three minutes. He carefully slid into the booth, and placed Frank's drink and his on the table. When Frank looked up, Gerard's heart nearly broke. His eyes were nearly streaming with tears as he listened in on the other line, and he sniffled loudly and tried to wipe his tears away before Gerard could see, but he already had seen, so it didn't really matter anyways.

Frank closed his eyes and breathed out shakily. “An anonymous tip? Okay, b-but how do you know they're not lying? I would never-” apparently Frank got cut off again, since his eyes grew wide and more tears threatened to spill over. He gripped at the edge of the table, his tattooed knuckles turning white. Gerard turned concerned eyes towards Frank. He couldn't stand seeing people cry, but he could do nothing right now to help until Frank got off the phone, and told him what was going on.

“I'm...I-I'm what? How could that-Why can't I-.....yes.” Frank's shoulders slumped, and a couple more tears fell down his cheeks. He couldn't stop them, and he wasn't even trying to hide them from Gerard anymore, instead he just let them fall slowly, before he nodded and closed his eyes, defeated. “I understand. Yes, thank you. You too....I'll be fine.” Frank uttered, before shutting his phone and biting his lip. He didn't look over as Gerard, instead he took his drink and gulped it down, then wiped his mouth on a napkin.

Gerard felt hesitant. He couldn't help but feel like he needed to know what was wrong and somehow fix it himself, since he felt something ripping at his insides when he saw Frank put his head in his hands and start sobbing. He slowly brought his fingers across the table and touched Frank's hand gently. “Frankie? Hey, what's wrong? What happened?” he said, his voice soft and hopefully comforting.

Frank shook his head, not raising it for a second. He continued to let out choked noises, and his small shoulders were shaking as he cried. Gerard couldn't believe now how young Frank looked, and he felt a sudden protective sense kicking in. He slid around the booth to where Frank was hunched over, and tentatively wrapped his arms around Frank's quivering shoulders. He felt relieved when Frank didn't pull away from his embrace, and instead let himself be held, and leaned into Gerard's arms, placing his head on Gerard's shoulder.

People in the shop were looking at them curiously, some with frowns and others just trying to figure out why Frank looked like someone had just hit a puppy, but one death-like glare from Gerard had them turning around fast and resuming their business, clanking their plates a little louder than necessary to hide their embarrassment at being caught watching.

When Frank had calmed down a little more, what with Gerard running soothing fingers through his hair, and 'Shh'ing' him, Frank finally talked to Gerard. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-I'm so sorry. I-I got that all wet.” he said, voice cracking slightly. He pulled away from Gerard and blushed faintly. “Look who's the girl now.” He smiled weakly, and apologized once more for tear-staining Gerard's shirt.

Gerard shook his head, and grabbed Frank's wrist when he pulled away, bringing him back so they were sitting mere inches apart. “It's okay, obviously you were upset, you're aloud to cry.” he murmured, bringing up his thumb to wipe away the trail marks of wetness that hadn't yet dried on Frank's cheeks. When Frank nodded he smiled reassuringly at him. “Now, what happened Frankie?” Gerard continued, but kept his voice as gentle and calm as ever, since he didn't want Frank to start crying again.

Frank sighed, and his eyes strayed from Gerard's warm ones. “I was just fired.” he said miserably, and Gerard squeezed his hand as his eyes widened.

“Why?” Gerard asked, his tone shocked. So that's why Frank was so upset, but there had to be a reason. From what Gerard had seen, Frank was a really good attendant, so why would he be fired?

The next words that Gerard heard Frank say made him nearly freeze. “For sexually harassing a passenger. Apparently someone told my boss that I had said some unprofessional words towards another passenger on my last flight, and that I....I...” he couldn't continue, so he just shook his head. “I didn't do anything though! I wouldn't ever do that! Ever!” he sighed then, and Gerard finally unfroze, but his heart was beating at a frantic pace. Frank had just said that it was the last flight, but Gerard was the only one that Frank had actually talked to.

“D-did he say who the passenger was?” Gerard asked, already dreading the answer. He somehow knew this was going to be all his fault. If he had just kept his big mouth shut and not started flirting with the first hot guy he had seen, Frankie wouldn't have gotten fired, and he wouldn't be crying his eyes out either. Guilt was starting to run up Gerard's body, hot and heavy, and he felt like such an ass all of a sudden.

Frank nodded, and he was looking anywhere but Gerard, his eyes darting around the room. The next three words confirmed Gerard's thoughts, and he felt like someone just crushed his air supply. “It was you.”

It was all his fault.