Gerard:

How on earth am I supposed to take six people home in my car? I have a feeling this is Pete and Mikey made, just so they could see me squirm. Luckily, Ray is also a senior, so he takes Pete and Mikey home.

Or unluckily for me.

I'm sitting in my car, with a boy I only met today, and it's really awkward. I can see he feels it too. He's wearing these black, fingerless gloves that have a skeletal design on them, and they're actually pretty nice. He's picking at his fingers, around his chipped nails. His hands are pretty. That sounds weird, but they are. He looks like he plays guitars.

"Do you want some music on, Frank? Your choice." I say to him, in an effort to avoid any more awkwardness.

"Y-yeah. Okay. Sure. How's Black Flag for you?" He replies, and I pass him the aux cord, Mike Valley's voice playing through the speakers on my car, Good choice.

We spend the rest of the journey to my place in silence, listening to music. You could cut the tension with a knife. I keep seeing him stealing little glances at me, like he wants to ask me a question. Ray, Pete and Mikey are in the car behind us. We pull into my driveway, and get out of the car.

I'm taken aback when Frank lunges forwards, kissing me roughly. I gasp, but then settle into the rhythm. He's a good kisser. Well, I don't know if this is good. But it's nice. Scrap that, it's really nice. He's doing this nice up and down thing with his jaw. Okay, he's done this before, We pull away from each other, gasping for breath. He smiles at me, and I smile back. We're here before Ray and the others, thank god. It'd be mortifying if Petet and Mikey saw us kiss.

"Gerard," He starts, but I cut him off with another kiss. It's not as firework-fuelled and passionate as the first one, but it's still a kiss. It's sweeter and slower, and it feels totally different.

"Yes, Frank?" I reply, breathless and blushing.

"That was, that was really nice." He says softly, avoiding eye contact. He's also blushing, and he looks beautiful. I reach over to him, and brush his cheek with my index finger, making him giggle. God, his laugh.

I unlock the car, and we walk to the front door. It's already unlocked. I can hear Ray, Mikey and Pete playing Mario Kart in the main room. Mainly because Pete keeps yelling die bitch, die, but that's just what Pete does.

"I'm home, Mikey!" I yell into the lounge. No response. Pete's still yelling. They are the most competitive Mario Kart player I've ever met.

"What's your chemistry test on?" I ask Frank. We're sitting in my kitchen, drinking coffee and eating snacks.

"Oh, nothing much, chemical bonds and structure, how to break them, melting and boiling points," he replies. His chemistry teacher must be some sort of sadist to give his class a test to revise for so soon into the year.

"Your chemistry teacher sounds pretty mean to give you a test so early into the year." I say, getting myself another chip.

"Yeah, he's a massive dick. Mr Bryar. He goes out of his way to pick on students. He's homophobic as well. He forcibly split Pete and Mikey up in class, just because they were sitting together." Frank says, looking down at his hands. I had no idea that teachers could treat students like that. I get up from the kitchen stool, and go to check on Mikey and Pete.

Mikey, Pete and Ray finished their game of Mario Kart. Pete's grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and Mikey's pouting. Ray's reading a comic book.

"Hey, Mikes. Is everything okay?" I ask my younger brother. "Frank told me about what happened with you and Pete in chemistry."

"It's fine, Gee. People are assholes." He says, clearly upset about what happened. I guess this is a consequence of being out at Bellville. Dickhead chemistry teachers.

"If you need me to punch a guy, I will." I say to him. He cracks a smile at that point. Pete joins us on the floor, and they rest their head on their boyfriend's shoulder, "I'm happy for you guys, by the way. I know I don't say it enough, but I really am." I tell them. I mean it this time. Hearing what happened to Mikey and Pete put things into perspective. If whatever Frank and I have blossoms into something more, that could put him into danger.

"I'm going to go get my guitar from my car," Ray says suddenly, his comic book lying discarded on the armchair. Hellboy. Good taste. I picked the right loser to sit next to in homeroom.

Frank walks into the lounge and joins Mikey, Pete and I. He smiles at me, so I smile back. Pete and Mikey are basically dying. God above, looks like no one has had the conversation about not shipping your friends with them. I'll forgive them though. They've had a shitty first day. They deserve something to be happy about.

I pull Frank onto my lap. He tenses up at first, squeaking almost. But then he relaxes into me, and is calmer.

"Gerard! What are you doing!" He whispers to me. "Not that I have a problem with it or anything, just some warning would have been nice." He says, smirking. He's 5"6 worth of cocky, but I love it. He's also really small for a sophomore. He feels fragile. But my holding Frank had the desired effect on Pete and Mikey. They're collectively dying in a corner, making jokes about me getting laid. It's embarrassing. But kind of nice. Ray walks into the room, his guitar case in his hand.

"Oh hey, Ray." Mikey says, half smiling at him.

"Hey Mikey!" Ray answers, smiling. He seems totally unfazed by Frank and I. But then I see it. He has an ace flag, along with an aro flag sticker, on his guitar case. Huh.

"Ray, my guy. I did NOT know that you were ace-aro. That's great, congratulations, bro." Pete says, and it's the most genuine I've ever seen them, other than when they're talking to Mikey.

"Yeah, I came out this summer. Basically I'll call you cute as long as we can eat pizza and build a pillow fort as friends." Ray says, earning a laugh from Mikey.

We sit around on my living room floor for hours, talking and laughing, just getting to know each other better. Maybe senior year at Bellville will be my year.