Chapter Text
“I haven’t tied one of these things in probably twenty years, Frankie, I don’t know how much help I’m gonna be.” Frank Sr. eyes Frank’s bowtie like it might bite him if he gets too close.
Frank sighs, fucking up the knot again and whipping the whole thing from around his neck. “I know, but at least you have done it before; maybe muscle memory will kick in or something. I didn’t even know they still made these things.”
His dad makes a face as he takes the tie from Frank’s hand. “How old do you think I am?”
“Just left of prehistoric?” Frank grins.
His dad swats him upside the head and loops the tie back around Frank’s dress shirt and under his collar. “Okay, smart-ass, hold still.” His dad goes quiet as he focuses on tying Frank’s bowtie, movements slow and measured.
Frank studies his dad’s face, trying to pick out all of their similarities. They have the same smile, though Frank Sr.’s mouth tends to tick down at the edges more than Frank’s. Their faces are the same shape, and Frank can see now where he’s going to start wrinkling first. Most of all though, Frank has his dad’s eyes. It’s the most obvious similarity, plain to anyone who looks at them together.
Frank’s mother hated how much he looks like his dad, she always did. He doesn’t know how many times he had, “You’re just like your fucking father. Look just like him, too,” thrown at him during a fight.
One night when he was maybe fourteen or fifteen he’d come home late, trying to sneak in and down to his basement so he could avoid the screaming match, but his mother had been sitting up at the formica kitchen table in the dark and quiet.
She had been drinking, obviously, a near-empty bottle of gin on the table next to her that Frank was sure had been significantly fuller earlier, and Frank braced for impact. He expected her to start shouting at him, all about how he was ruining her fucking life and making it a living hell because he didn’t know how to fucking act right, how he was just like his no-good, deadbeat father and wouldn’t amount to anything, but instead she just looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before heaving herself up from her chair to stand in front of him.
Her eyes were bloodshot and rimmed a painful-looking purple, sunken in dark shadows, and her breath stank of alcohol as she’d looked over Frank’s face. She’d raised her hand slowly to his cheek, and he couldn’t help the flinch. She’d never hit him herself, not yet at that point, just threw things around, but he couldn’t help it.
Something had changed in her face for a moment, just a flash of something that Frank couldn’t quite figure out, but it had gone as quick as it came. She placed her hand gently on Frank’s cheek, an entirely foreign sensation to him, and quietly said, “You have your father’s eyes.”
She hadn’t said anything else, Frank had hardly dared to breathe, and she’d looked at him a beat longer before turning to grab her bottle of gin and shuffle up the stairs to her room without so much as glance back or a “go to bed” in the way she usually bit out.
Frank had stayed rooted to where he was, breathing heavily and reaching up to touch his own cheek for a moment, before shaking himself out of it and darting to the basement.
It was one of the only times he could remember his mom looking at him with anything other than contempt, and to this day he doesn’t have any idea what she’d thought about when the indecipherable look had crossed her face. He thinks it may have been thoughtful, or even regretful, but he was never going to find out.
Maybe she was just fucking wasted.
Frank shakes his head a little to himself and lifts his chin higher as his dad messes with the bowtie. Frank Sr. sticks his tongue out a little bit as he leans in and squints at the tie and Frank smiles, knowing he does the same thing.
“Careful, old man, don’t hurt yourself.”
“Ha-ha, very funny. Just you wait, one day you’ll need glasses too. Then we’ll see who’s laughin’.” Frank Sr. leans back and slides his hands around the back of Frank’s neck, smoothing his collar and then bringing his hands back to the front to straighten the tie. “There, that’s not half-bad.”
Frank turns to look at himself in the mirror and is surprised to see a perfect gentleman looking back at him. His tux fits him perfectly, snug in all the right places. The jacket is a deep, burgundy red with shiny, black satin lapels and a deep V showing off his crisp white dress shirt, and something about the color of the jacket suits Frank’s skin tone very well; Gerard knows what he’s doing and Frank knows he looks good.
“Sweet, it’s perfect. Thanks, Dad. What do we think of the final product?” Frank holds his hands out to his side, turning this way and that slightly.
Frank Sr. smacks his lips and holds a finger up to his chin, looking Frank over like he’s appraising a new car. “Hm, not too shabby. You clean up good, kid.”
Frank beams at his dad and his dad smiles softly back, and Frank can feel in the air that they’re about to have one of those completely sappy, capital-M Moments.
“You’re still… okay, right?” Frank Sr. asks, hesitant. “Y’know. With all of the need-to-know stuff?”
“I am, promise. Never better, even. Even in this monkey suit.”
Frank Sr. smiles again but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “I hope one day you can… I don’t know, I hope someday you feel like you can tell me. Whatever it is that changed, whatever happened to you.” He rubs his hand over his jaw, looking thoughtfully at Frank.
Frank sighs, tugging his sleeves down. “It’s not that I don’t want to, Dad. I think one day I can, I just… need to wait a little while longer.”
James had dedicated much of his free-time since Frank was taken in January to trying to figure out who the vampire who’d taken Frank was, and if there was going to be any ongoing threat to the Ways or Frank and his dad. James hadn’t found the vampire’s origin yet, but he’d said he felt like he was getting close, and that hopefully the whole thing would be behind them all soon. Maybe then Frank could start to tell his dad more of the truth, to let him into Frank’s new world.
“Need-to-know?” his dad asks.
“Need-to-know. You know everything that matters, and I’m doing just fine. And we’re okay, right?”
Frank Sr. cuffs Frank on the shoulder, finally giving him a real smile. “Of course we are. I’m real proud of you, Frankie, y’know that?”
Frank smiles wide and rocks back on his heels a little. “Thanks, Dad. I love you.”
“Love you too, kid. Now,” Frank Sr. clears his throat and squares his shoulders, swiping at lint on the shoulders of Frank’s tuxedo jacket. “Enough of the cheese. Your boy is gonna be here any minute and I need to find the camera and my shotgun.”
Frank rolls his eyes. “Dad, c’mon, you’ve known Gerard for months now. You like him, you even watch football together. He helped you put the new satellite dish up.”
“That may be so, but it’s my God-given right as your father to intimidate your prom date.”
Frank gives his dad his best deadpan, unimpressed look, and Frank Sr. cracks up as he walks down the stairs. “Okay, okay, fine. Just the camera.”
Frank starts to follow down the steps but his dad whirls back and holds a hand out. “Ah-ah, you stay up there. You wait for the grand entrance, I want that kid to cry when you walk downstairs.”
Frank rolls his eyes again but stays put, chuckling a little as his dad hunts for the camera. He hadn’t expected his dad to be such a soccer mom about prom, but he supposes maybe your long-estranged son getting kidnapped right when you start repairing your relationship might make you a little sappier than before.
Frank’s ears pick up the sound of Gerard’s car coming down the street from blocks away, and he could swear he’s got an entire swarm of butterflies in his stomach. Gerard is picking him up here first in his own car, just the two of them, before they meet everyone at the Ways’ to leave from there; Kayleigh’s parents want group photos and Gerard had suggested his house so they could use the deck overlooking the woods.
Frank feels a shiver of excitement run down his spine, just a little one, as he thinks about how handsome Gerard is going to look in his tux. Gerard had picked them both out, Frank just giving him his measurements and letting him go buck wild, and Frank knows they’re going to look incredible together and totally crush the others.
When Gerard’s car door shuts outside the house Frank has to grab the staircase railing to keep himself from darting down the stairs.
“Stay put!” his dad yells up the stairs, like he knows what Frank is thinking, and he opens the door at Gerard’s knock. “Hey, Gerard. Looking sharp.”
Frank ducks back into his bedroom doorway and catches just a glimpse of Gerard’s smile as he shuts the door behind him, shifting a container with Frank’s boutonniere in his hands. “Thank you, sir. I try to clean up nice once in a while.”
Frank Sr. claps Gerard on the back, leading him into the house. “Mission accomplished, I’d say. Frank!” he shouts up the stairs. “Are you ready?”
Frank giggles to himself at his dad’s dedication to making it seem like he didn’t orchestrate this and like Frank isn’t just waiting for his queue. “Be down in just a sec!” he shouts back, giving his dad a second to get the camera ready and grab the container with Gerard’s boutonniere. He counts to ten and walks down the stairs.
He feels a little silly at first, it’s not like he’s got some inordinately expensive dress to show off, but then he sees Gerard at the bottom of the stairs, beaming up at Frank with his big, beautiful eyes and so achingly handsome in his tux, and Frank would do 100 stupid grand entrances if it meant getting to see Gerard like that every day.
Frank hits the last step and stays there, smiling down at Gerard. “Hey, handsome.”
A camera shutter clicks and Frank has to use all of his willpower not to roll his eyes in his dad’s direction.
“You look wonderful, Frank,” Gerard says, grabbing Frank’s hand to press a kiss to his knuckles. The camera shutter clicks again.
“What, this? Just something I pulled out of my closet, y’know how it is.” Frank grins. “You look great, G. I told you you should be the one to pick the tuxes out.”
“You would have done just fine,” Gerard says, and Frank’s butterflies act up at the charming look on Gerard’s handsome face.
Gerard looks even better than Frank had imagined, his tux a mirror of Frank’s; jet black jacket with burgundy satin lapels and bowtie to match Frank’s jacket. His hair is swept back and styled the same way it had been on their first fancy dinner date, and Frank thinks he’s about to swoon.
Frank nods down at the container in Gerard’s hand, trying to get himself together. “Is that for me?”
Gerard smiles and opens the box, revealing a beautiful boutonniere made from a single dark rose, petals nearly black, framed by just a smattering of baby’s breath and various foliage in shades of burgundy and burnt orange and dusty, dark green. The one Frank has for Gerard is a twin to this one; Frank’s dad had thought they were, “A little goth and morbid; is Gerard allergic to bright colors?”, but Frank thinks they’re absolutely perfect.
Frank steps down off the last stair and takes Gerard’s boutonniere from his dad to pin it on.
“Okay now go slow, I need to get multiple angles,” Frank Sr. says, camera held up in front of his face.
Frank does finally roll his eyes a little, but he’s smiling as he does it, and Gerard giggles with a smile of his own. They take their time and take turns pinning the flowers to each other’s jackets, Gerard turning more than once to make sure he’s not blocking Frank Sr.’s camera’s view, and Frank snickers.
“Suck-up.”
“No no, he’s got the right idea. Move your big head, Frankie, jeez,” Frank Sr. waves Frank to the side, snapping another shot of Frank straightening out Gerard’s rose.
After approximately one billion photos in every possible angle and light source and orientation, Frank Sr. finally relents and waves them out the door, shouting, “Don’t do—”
“—Anything you wouldn’t do; got it, Dad!” Frank finishes for him, waving as he ducks into the car where Gerard is holding the door open for him. Frank Sr. laughs loud and it echoes lightly down the street as Gerard shuts Frank’s door and walks around to climb in himself.
When Gerard is buckled in and facing forward, he turns to look at Frank, placing a hand on Frank’s thigh. “You ready to go? Only about 1,000 more photos to go.”
Frank tosses his head back and groans long and loud, but he’s smiling when he sits back up. “Where do you think getting you to dip me back for a big ol’ kiss in a photo falls on the “being gentlemen in front of Christa” scale?”
Gerard hums for a second, making a face like he’s deep in thought. “Hm, I’m not sure. I say we find out anyways.” He flashes Frank a flirty little grin, squeezing Frank’s thigh.
—
They take somewhere around 100,000 more photos at the Ways’ house, letting Kayleigh and Christa’s moms shepherd them all around and art direct the process. They’re posed and primped and shuffled around, and by the time the moms relent and agree to release them all, they’re all starting to feel the effects of uncomfortable tuxedos and dresses and heels, and they’re quick to make their escape.
They pile into the limo one after another, waving at the various parents scattered around, and a collective sigh works its way through them all.
“Did anyone else know there was so many possible combinations for prom photos?” Ray says, looking harried.
“I literally didn’t think it could keep going, and then it just did,” Frank answers, scrubbing a hand over his face.
“I think my feet are going to fall off before we even get to prom,” Kayleigh groans, reaching down to tug at the strap of one of her heels.
“Ugh, same,” Christa says back, stretching her legs out in front of her as much as she can in the small space. “If I had known my mom wanted me to “go this way, no now this way, now come over here” so much I would have worn flats.”
“Amen, sister,” Kayleigh stretches her hand out for a fist bump from Christa.
They’d all just met Christa properly that night, and she immediately fit right into their group. Kayleigh had told Frank that Ray had been crushing on her big time since about middle school, and it was so obvious that he was totally gone for her.
The cute thing, though, was that Christa was clearly just as gone for Ray, and Frank had a feeling she was going to become a permanent addition to the friend group for the rest of the year; probably even for the rest of their lives, if Ray has a say in it.
“I’ll carry you around, don’t worry,” Ray says, smiling shyly at Christa. She beams back at him and presses a kiss to his cheek.
Frank hears Gerard let out a quiet, “Aww,” next to him and Frank laughs to himself; Gerard is such a sucker for romance and Frank thinks it’s so cute he kind of wants to strangle him.
“What about you, Mikeyway,” Kayleigh nudges at Mikey with her elbow. “You gonna carry me around if I have to cut my feet off?”
Mikey shrugs. “Fireman style, maybe.”
Everyone cracks up, and a self-satisfied grin slides onto Mikey’s face.
—
“Okay, gang, you ready?” Kayleigh claps her hands and scoots forward on the limo seat.
They’re about to arrive at the venue for the dance, and Frank is ready to get out of the limo.
Dinner had been excellent, less so for the food he couldn’t eat and more so because of the company and how good it felt to talk and laugh and act like a normal teenager, but he was ready to get out and not be sitting down, feeling cooped up and wound tight.
Plus, if he didn’t get to get his hands on Gerard soon, even just for a dance, he was probably going to die.
“Let’s show these dorks what real class looks like,” Frank grins at everyone as the limo pulls up outside the building.
They all pile out of the backseat, the girls gracefully as they check their dresses, the boys less so as they try to coordinate limbs and not tripping over one another.
Frank lets Gerard help him out of the backseat and smiles at him as he straightens out Frank’s jacket. “Thanks, stud. Appreciate it.”
Frank turns to take in the venue, the one local place fit to host prom that wasn’t the high school, and he actually gasps a little at the sight of it.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of string lights hung up in loops arching back and forth everywhere he looks. A long, white satin runner is rolled out as a pathway to the main entrance, lined with various plants and flowers.
The theme of prom is Enchanted Forest, and Frank had kind of been expecting something, like, Lord of the Rings dorky-chic, but he can tell from just the entrance that it’s going to be beautiful, like something out of another realm.
They shuffle in one couple at a time, stopping in front of a large, lit-up, flowered archway in front of a white tulle backdrop for even more photos, first as couples and then a few as a group, and then they finally get to go inside the main space.
“Wow,” Gerard breathes out from behind Frank.
The girls clap their hands and gesture widely, talking about how gorgeous everything looks all put together, and Ray whistles low in his throat while Mikey nods approvingly.
“I didn’t even know Forks High School knew how to do anything like this,” Ray says.
Kayleigh snorts at the comment, laughing a little. “Dude, right? I have to give it to them, though, this is really, really pretty.”
The space they’re in has been transformed from a no-doubt soulless event hall, to a slice of a truly enchanted forest.
Various types of ivy and and moss are draped over the walls and hanging from the ceiling, even winding up what looks like trees lining the walls and back of the dance floor, with white flowers twisted in everywhere they look. The same white satin runners are spread through the room, showing easy pathways winding between the round tables to the dance floor. Wisteria frames various photo spots, spiraling into archways and hanging from the refreshments tables, and there’s more fairy lights wrapped up in every available spot, a soft, warm glow emanating throughout the entire hall.
Frank doesn’t think he knows what even half of the plants around them are, but the effect is stunning, he has to admit. He was prepared for subpar Party City decorations and an underwhelming effort on the PTA’s part, but he wasn’t prepared to feel like he’d stepped through a fairy portal.
Once they’ve all picked their jaws up off the floor and said hello to everyone they need to say hello to, Frank notices Rhianna playing from the dance floor, and he drags them all out.
They dance and laugh and knock into each other, embracing every bit of the high school cheese fest.
Frank sings “Umbrella” at Gerard, giving him a completely dramatic rendition that makes Gerard blush and pretend to roll his eyes, Ray does a truly horrific dance to “Low” by Flo Rida that makes Christa laugh and flush a pretty pink and Frank can see her falling for Ray even more, bad dance moves and all, and then Gerard and Mikey get so into “Shake It” by Metro Station that the rest of them are left gaping and howling with laughter, doubling over on the dance floor.
Eventually Frank stumbles off the dance floor, dragging Gerard with him. They make for the back wall, just to get a moment of quiet to themselves.
“That was the funniest fucking thing I have ever seen in my entire life, since when do you guys even know Metro Station?” Frank says at Gerard, still chuckling a little.
“Do you think I spent the last seventy years listening to nothing but Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire? I have an iPod, Frank, you’ve seen it in my room. We were literally listening to Fall Out Boy the other day,” Gerard retorts, shaking his head at Frank.
“Okay, point, but Mikey busting it down to “Shake It” was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, I didn’t even know he could move like that. Or, like, emote that much.”
Gerard laughs out loud, reaching for Frank’s hands and pulling him in close. “We’ve never really done the prom thing. It was a pretty different experience back in our time, and neither of us have ever really gotten close enough to anyone to try going at any of the schools we’ve gone to. I think we’re just actually having real fun, for once.”
Frank smiles and leans his weight forward against Gerard, who has his back to the wall. “Good, then that means I’m doing my job right.” He darts in for a quick kiss, feeling Gerard smile against his lips.
“Y’know, a year ago I wouldn’t have been caught dead at prom,” Frank says, playing with his lip ring.
“Yeah, somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Tough, punk-ass guy like you? No way,” Gerard laughs.
“Exactly, and now look what you’ve done to me. I’m in a fuckin’ tuxedo, dude. Monkey suit.”
“Handsome monkey suit,” Gerard says against Frank’s mouth as he steals a kiss. “You should embrace it, Frankie. You know the younger we start somewhere the longer we get to stay there, that’s why Mikey and I have done the bullshit high school thing for so long, but now you and I can probably go wherever we want, one day. This could be your only shot at this.”
Frank hums, playing with Gerard’s hands where their fingers are linked. “Yeah, I think I mostly didn’t have any reason to want to embrace all of the cheese factor and ridiculousness of something like prom,” he looks out at the dance floor. Ray, Christa, Kayleigh, and Mikey are still dancing, some dance-y song he doesn’t recognize blasting over the sound system, and he smothers a dopey grin into Gerard’s chest. “I’m glad I have a reason to want it now.”
Gerard smiles down at him and kisses his forehead, and then the song changes to a slow one Frank vaguely recognizes; something about chasing cars and laying together that he thinks he heard in some medical tv show one day at Kayleigh’s house. He’d never admit that he likes it, but he doesn’t have to because Gerard leads him back to the dance floor by one hand.
Gerard pulls Frank back in and brings Frank’s arms up around his own shoulders, and settles his hands on Frank’s waist, scooting forward till they’re chest to chest.
“Wow, slow-dancing, too?” Frank says. “I really am getting the full experience. What a lucky boy.” He shifts one of his hands to the back of Gerard’s neck, playing lightly with the hair curling there.
“That’s right, baby; you wanted cheese so you’re getting extra sharp.”
Frank giggles and shakes his head fondly. “God, you’re such a dork.”
“Mmhm,” Gerard looks pleased with himself. “And you love me for it.”
In lieu of a response Frank closes the distance between them and presses his mouth to Gerard’s. Gerard’s lips are soft under Frank’s own and Frank hums softly into the kiss as Gerard rocks them back and forth, swaying softly to the music filtering around them.
They keep the brushes of their lips soft and sweet, unhurried and tender as they dance, and it feels like coming home to Frank. He would do this, exactly this, dancing softly and sharing sweet kisses after enjoying the company of their friends and families, every single day for the rest of his life with Gerard if it were at all possible.
He doesn’t know how he’s meant to ever want to do anything other than just this.
Frank tilts his head and presses into the kiss just a touch harder and lightly nips at Gerard’s lower lip. Gerard smiles into the kiss and suddenly tips Frank back, nearly sweeping him right off his feet. Frank yelps out a laugh and clings onto Gerard, tipping his head back into the dip.
Gerard swings Frank back up into another kiss, and Frank makes a soft, pleased noise into it. “Y’know,” he says against Gerard’s lips. “If you keep it up like this I might even put out at the end of the night, really drive the cliché home.”
A flush dusts across Gerard’s cheeks and Frank slides his hand from the back of Gerard’s neck to the side of it, rubbing his thumb at the hinge of Gerard’s jaw. When he looks into Gerard’s eyes they’re twinkling with want in the low light.
“What do you think the odds are we can sneak away at some point before the party is over later?” Frank twinkles back.
—
“Jesus, did Mikey invite the entire class?” Frank shouts over the pounding music. “Also, how are we late to our own party?”
Gerard shakes his head, throwing his hands up in an “I don’t know” gesture. “Dude, beats me. I think he’s been waiting to throw a party like this for decades though, I’m surprised there aren’t more people.”
“Mikey fuckin’ Way, dude,” Frank says, trying to figure out where Mikey and the others disappeared off to. They got to the house at the same time in the same car, it’s not like they could have gone far, but the house is already crowded, full to the brim and pulsating with music and people.
“Mikey fuckin’ Way,” Gerard repeats, shaking his head with a chuckle. “So, how long do you think we need to mingle before we can get away with sneaking off?”
Frank shoots a grin back at Gerard over his shoulder, already two steps ahead of him. “We need to track down all of the others that we came with, pretend to have a drink or two, and then we can dip outside under the guise of… I don’t know, but we’re going to get in your car and you’re going to drive us far away from here so I can make good on my promise. I don’t think any dancing is necessary since we just danced more than anybody is ever meant to dance, so I think we can be in and out here in no more than fifteen minutes, as long as we stay on task.”
Gerard laughs as Frank reaches back for his hand so they don’t get separated in the crowd. “Yes, sir, you’ve got it,” he says with a mock salute.
Frank winds them in and out of the throngs of people for what feels like forever before finding Mikey, Kayleigh, Ray, and Christa in the kitchen, the girls sat up on the island as they kick their heels off.
“There you guys fuckin’ are!” Frank shouts as he shoves his way over to them.
“There you guys fuckin’ are!” Ray yells back, gesturing at them. “You were right behind us when we got here, what the fuck happened?”
“Beats me, dude, we blinked and you guys had gone like the wind. Whatever, though, we gotta get our afterparty on!” Frank knocks into Ray’s shoulder.
“Way ahead of you, my man,” Ray passes Frank and Gerard each a beer.
Frank pretends to take a swig, leaning against Gerard. They stay gathered there, shouting over the music and bobbing their heads along, passing drinks around as they laugh and talk. They exchange fist bumps and back slaps with the guys who pass and gently shout compliments at the girls’ dresses, and then after a bit Christa leads Ray off to meet some of her friends, and Kayleigh wanders off to play beer pong with classmates.
When it’s just Frank, Gerard, and Mikey, Mikey turns around immediately and fixes them both with a look. “You’re about to sneak off, aren’t you.” It isn’t a question.
Gerard has the decency to look sheepish, but Frank just nods with a grin and says, “Cover for us?”
Mikey waves them off with a roll of his eyes, and Frank is dragging Gerard back through the house faster than either of them can blink. He pauses at the front door to turn around and reach in Gerard’s pockets for the keys to his Volvo, and Gerard snickers at him.
“Jeez, Frankie, don’t you wanna wait till we get outta here first?”
“Shut up,” Frank breathes, finally finding the keys and slapping them into Gerard’s hands. “Let’s go.”
They practically race each other to the car and don’t even bother buckling before Gerard is backing them out of the driveway, dodging the random cars from partygoers scattered around, and pulling onto a dirt side road. Frank doesn’t ask where Gerard is going, just tells him to drive far enough down the dark road ahead of them that no one will accidentally come across them, and he leans over the console to kiss at Gerard’s neck as he drives.
“Jesus, Frank, do you want me to crash?” Gerard gasps at the first touch of Frank’s lips to his neck. His leg twitches when Frank slides a hand up over his thigh and the car lurches forward as Gerard’s foot slams down harder on the gas with the movement.
“No, so you better hurry up.”
The engine revs as Gerard speeds up and Frank laughs low into his neck. He nips at the skin there and trails his fingers up the inseam of Gerard’s tux pants, squeezing his thigh every so often, and when he ghosts his fingers up over the slight bulge in Gerard’s pants Gerard swears and swerves them to the side of the road, slamming on the breaks.
“Fuck, that’s far enough, get into the back seat, right now,” Gerard pants out, practically leaping out of the car.
Frank laughs loudly and squirms into the back seat, and the second Gerard climbs in with him Frank is on him, climbing into his lap. He grabs Gerard’s face and holds him still so he can kiss the ever-loving fuck out of him, and he groans into Gerard’s mouth when Gerard grabs Frank’s ass and pulls him down onto his hard and getting harder by the second dick, grinding them together through their tux pants.
Gerard moans wantonly when Frank wriggles his hips back into it, the friction so good but not nearly enough.
Frank starts yanking at the button and zipper on his pants, trying to get them open without breaking the kiss, but he hits an impasse and makes a frustrated noise against Gerard’s lips. “Fuck, I need to get these stupid fucking pants off right now so you can fuck me or I am going to die.”
Gerard huffs out a laugh and bites his way down over Frank’s jaw, hands coming up to squeeze Frank’s hips.
Frank whimpers a little and his breath comes out in little huffs, but he swats at Gerard’s arms. “You’re not fuckin’ helping; help me, motherfucker.”
Gerard nips at Frank once, twice, three more times before pulling back with a soft moan. “Turn around, you gotta get— face the other way,” his voice is already rough around the edges.
Frank scrambles to spin around, bonking his head on the roof of the car and swearing, but a moan falls from his mouth when he gets his ass settled back against Gerard’s hard dick and he can’t help but rock back onto it through their clothes. “Oh, fuck, you’re so smart.”
Gerard laughs into the back of Frank’s neck. “Of course I am,” he mumbles into Frank’s skin. He brings his hands around Frank to start tugging at the button and zipper of the pants, and Frank can’t hold back his breathy groan when Gerard finally manages to get them open and pull them down with Frank’s briefs in one movement.
Frank lifts his hips up enough for Gerard to yank the whole situation down over his ass, and he has to reach up and stroke his hard, leaking dick just once, maybe twice, as Gerard fumbles with his own pants. Frank hears the snick of the lube cap and tightens his grip, hips twitching up.
“Fuck, G, you gotta— right now, I need you right fucking now, I don’t want your fingers first.”
Gerard groans low and gravelly in his throat from behind Frank and Frank can hear the filthy, wet sounds of Gerard stroking his own cock as he coats it with lube.
Frank wiggles in Gerard’s lap, lifting his hips up and back when Gerard gets a hand on his hip and guides him to do so. Frank braces himself by holding onto the front seats, folded up in the small space of the car and not giving one single fuck.
Gerard rubs the head of his cock over Frank’s hole and they both moan loud and breathless in the small space, air already growing thick and stuffy around them.
“Ready, Frankie?”
Frank doesn’t answer with words, just starts shoving his hips back to slide down over Gerard’s cock. They both moan again, Frank’s voice cracking a little and Gerard’s hands flying to dig into Frank’s hips, and Frank keeps moving until he’s fully settled in Gerard’s lap.
Frank stays there for a moment, hips rocking minutely in Gerard’s lap, savoring the feeling of him so deep and hard inside of him, and then Gerard leans forward and scrapes his teeth over the back of Frank’s neck above his shirt collar and that’s it.
Frank braces himself with a hand on the ceiling of the car and starts fucking himself on Gerard’s cock hard and fast, movements not quite a bounce but not quite a grind either; a mixture of both that leaves them both panting and moaning and completely breathless.
Gerard is shoving his hips up as best he can in his position to meet Frank’s movements, and the first time his cock hits Frank’s prostate dead-on, Frank shouts out a moan, eyes rolling back into his head.
Frank adjusts his angle to try and get Gerard to hit that spot every thrust, and when he finds it he babbles out, “Oh-h-h god, oh fuck, oh my go-od.”
“Yeah, baby, fuck, just like that,” Gerard grits out behind Frank, thrusting up so hard Frank is sure his teeth must rattle in his skull.
Frank starts moving harder in tight, focused movements that drive him up to the edge faster than he expected, his orgasm starting to pool hot and liquid low in his belly. He shoves his hand down to wrap around his cock, stroking himself off hard and fast. “Just like that— fuck— don’t stop, G, I’m gonna come.”
He feels Gerard nod his head behind him. “‘M’not gonna stop, oh fuck, ‘m’so fucking close.”
“Uh-huh, c’mon, yeah, yeah— oh-h-h,” Frank moans out, voice pitching higher and higher as he feels his orgasm barrel into him. He shouts as it rolls through him, back arching and eyes rolling back in his head so hard it almost hurts.
Gerard moans with him, voice trailing off into a needy, desperate whine as Frank’s motions falter and slow. “Frankie, fuck, please.”
Frank pants harshly and nods his head frantically before bracing himself again with one hand on the ceiling and the other using the driver’s seat for leverage, not caring that he’s smearing his come all over the leather. He rocks back and forth in Gerard’s lap hard and fast, throwing a swivel in every few thrusts.
“Come on, baby, come for me. I’ve got you, c’mon— ah-ah— come inside me, I want you to come inside me.”
Gerard is moaning on every breath and his thrusts up into Frank start to stutter as his orgasm crashes into him, and Frank lets out a long, breathy sound from deep in his chest as he rides Gerard through it.
Frank keeps twitching his hips, letting the aftershocks zing up and down his spine, and only quits when Gerard slumps forward against him, panting hotly into the back of his neck.
“Oh my fucking god,” Gerard mumbles, voice gravelly and slurred around the edges.
Frank hums a deep, satisfied sound, reaching back to grab at Gerard’s head. “Fuck, that was so fucking good.”
Gerard kisses over the back of Frank’s neck, and rubs his hands over Frank’s tummy and thighs, gently lifting him up and off his lap.
Frank makes a pouty, unhappy little noise at the sudden lack of Gerard’s dick inside of him and how empty he feels, but the sound shifts into a dirty, happy little noise when Gerard leans over to kiss him, mouth wide open, all tongue and wet and filthy.
They stay there kissing just like that, pants still open, tongues sliding against each other with wet noises filling the space, until Frank feels his spine twinge uncomfortably. “I’ve gotta get up or my bones are permanently going to fuse in this position.”
Gerard snorts a laugh against Frank’s mouth. “You’re so good at pillow-talk, baby.”
Frank presses one more kiss to Gerard’s mouth with a giggle before wriggling away to open the door and tumble out into the mild night air. He hikes his pants up and his back cracks satisfyingly when he stretches his arms over his head and leans back, and he grins when he sees Gerard checking him out, eyes raking hungrily over where Frank’s pants are still open and his still half-hard cock is visible through the V of the open zipper.
“Down, boy,” Frank says mischievously, pulling his zipper closed. Gerard pouts exaggeratedly and Frank laughs loud, the sound echoing through the trees. “You’ll be fine, we need to get back to the party soon. We can do round two later.”
“You’re so mean to me,” Gerard grumbles as he pulls himself out of the car and fixes his own pants.
Frank walks up to him, nodding solemnly and straightening out Gerard’s jacket and tie. “I know, baby. I think you’ll make it, though. Come lay on the hood with me?” he holds his hand out to Gerard.
Gerard eyes him a little warily, but takes his hand and follows him up onto the hood of the car.
Frank lays back against the windshield and waits for Gerard to follow before pointing up to the sky through the clearing above them. The stars are out in full force, twinkling and glimmering in the black velvet of the sky; even the Milky Way is faintly visible, a shimmery dash of color splashed against the dark backdrop.
Frank tangles his fingers more firmly with Gerard’s, wriggling until he can tip his head to lean against Gerard’s shoulder. Gerard tips his own head to rest against the top of Frank’s, pressing a kiss there, and Frank smiles to himself.
“I figured if we really wanted to round out the cliché, we should throw in some stargazing.”
“Mm, good call. This is really nice,” Gerard murmurs.
“I think all we’re missing is, like, the prom night baby out of wedlock. That’s something that happened back in your day, right? Prom, sex, bastard child, small-town controversy?”
Gerard snorts a laugh into Frank’s hair, smiling against the top of his head. “Absolutely not, there would 100 percent be wedlock. Back in my day if you were fucking someone on prom night, you were almost definitely marrying that person, baby or not.” He’s quiet for a moment, reaching up to play with Frank’s hair. “It honestly wasn’t so bad, the whole idea.”
Frank sits up and gapes at him a little. “A baby?”
Gerard rolls his eyes at himself and huffs a soft laugh. “Of course not, Jesus Christ, I just meant, like… the high school-sweetheart-type love of it all. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately actually. Being so sure about someone, being so completely gone for them, that you wanted to get married, even that young, even that quickly. Knowing that that’s what you wanted, no matter what anyone else thought of it.”
Frank is pretty sure his heart stops in his chest all over again. He goes absolutely still, not even daring to blink when Gerard sits up with him, placing a hand delicately on Frank’s cheek.
Gerard strokes his thumb over Frank’s cheekbone once, eyes shining in the moonlight, and Frank takes one, deep breath in.
“Marry me, Frank.”