
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/9801665.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      My_Chemical_Romance, Bandom, Panic!_at_the_Disco, The_Used, Twenty_One
      Pilots
  Relationship:
      Frank_Iero/Gerard_Way, Josh_Dun/Ryan_Ross, Bert_McCracken/Gerard_Way,
      Alicia_Simmons/Mikey_Way, Lindsey_Ballato/Jamia_Nestor
  Character:
      Gerard_Way, Frank_Iero, Ryan_Ross, Mikey_Way, Josh_Dun, Lindsey_Ballato,
      Bert_McCracken, Pete_Wentz, Jamia_Nestor
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, High_School, Self-Harm, Scars, Post-
      Traumatic_Stress_Disorder_-_PTSD, Dubious_Consent, Abusive_Relationship,
      Childhood_Abuse, Foster_home, Shakespeare, Overuse_of_Shakespeare,
      Consensual_Underage_Sex, Underage_Sex, Homophobic_Language
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-02-17 Chapters: 1/? Words: 6299
****** Fast Times at Belleville High ******
by bluemoongirl99
Summary
     When you turn a "bet" prompt on its head, paired with a high school
     au, lots of angst, and a horrible, awful, overuse of Shakespeare.
     (temporary summary, will probably change to something better
     eventually. probably. maybe?)
Notes
     Title taken from @giveemhellchild on twitter. I have a plan for this
     fic, I do I swear. Though, updates will be very sporadic, as my life
     is very sporadic at the moment. Thanks to Immi for betaing.
“Okay everyone,” Ms. Fisher’s bright voice echoed along the walls of the
classroom. She was new, and her eyes still shone with hope at the prospect of
changing her students’ lives. “I want you all to write an autobiography. A ten
sentence minimum. Extra credit will be given to the brave souls who volunteer
to read them in front of the class.”
She clapped her hands together, smiling awkwardly for a good measure, before
sitting back down at her desk. Gerard blinked through the greasy black hair,
blocking his vision. His notebook was overwhelmingly blank, and he couldn’t
think of anything he wanted to do less than blabber on about himself for ten
sentences - that Ms. Fisher probably wasn’t even going to read.
Gerard rubbed his eyes in frustration, before glaring at the black smudges left
on his hands. Dammit, he thought, scolding himself. He always forgot he had
eyeliner on, and now probably looked like a demented raccoon. Not that a chubby
teenager in a baggy trench coat, frequent makeup user, with a girlish upturned
nose wasn’t already demented-looking enough.
He managed to scribble out a few meaningless sentences that barely made sense
to him - nevermind Ms. Fisher - before she called time on the “ice breaker”
activity, as she kept reminding them it was. After throwing his pencil down, he
snuck a glance at Ryan who seemed to be equally as bored. Gerard gestured
vaguely with his hands, and Ryan seemed to understand the weird Way language,
wiggling his fingers in response, like some sort of odd jazz hands maneuver.
“Who wants to go first?” Ms. Fisher positively chirped, looking at her pupils
expectantly.
Gerard fought the urge to roll his eyes. Ryan, seemingly having enough with the
exercise, reached his long lanky limbs around Gerard, and dug into his pencil
case, pulling out a bright red sharpie. Uncapping it, he began drawing swirly,
intricate patterns around his eyes, blending it onto his dainty cheeks. Gerard
would be in awe at the fact Ryan could practically draw them perfectly without
using a mirror if he hadn’t witnessed it countless times.
Gerard’s attention was brought away from Ryan by a student standing up near the
back. He furrowed his brows, staring at the guy. He had never seen him around
school - was he new? Gerard didn’t remember if there had been a new student
introduction at the beginning of class. But, to be fair, he was still kind of
brain dead, so who knows what could’ve happened in the twenty minutes at the
beginning of class.
The first thing Gerard noticed about him was the very large, very visible
scorpion tattoo on his neck. Jesus, who the fuck was this guy? He had dark
brown, nearly black, shaggy hair that fell into his eyes. His nose, and lip
were pierced. He was wearing a Metallica shirt that looked as if the last time
it had a good day was in ‘87, not even taking in account his absolutely
shredded jeans. He looked cool. He looked like the kind of kid who sneaks
cigarettes behind the bleachers, and tells teachers to fuck off when they
attempt to reprimand them.
“So uh,” the kid began, holding his notebook up haphazardly. “My name is Frank,
I just moved here, with my brother Josh. I move around a lot. You name a
school, and I probably went there. I figured I’d get the extra credit because
I’m probably going to need it. I like long walks on the beach, and Mountain
Dew,” he finished with a bright grin. “That’s basically fucking it.”
Gerard raised his eyebrows at the guy, who slumped back into his seat, throwing
his notebook back into his bag. Gerard gaped, turning to glance at Ryan, who
looked equally as impressed, even going so far as to cap his sharpie. Gerard
noticed two girls in the back, whispering and giggling, all eyes on the new
kid, or rather, Frank.
“Well that was certainly - interesting,” Ms. Fisher choked out, clearly
regretting the assignment. She looked around the classroom at the other
students desperately. “Anyone else?”
She was cut short by the bell ringing shrilly, echoing throughout the room.
Gerard grabbed all his shit, and threw it into his backpack, making sure to
sneak the red sharpie into Ryan’s pocket without his knowledge. Thankfully, his
next period was lunch. Ryan slung his messenger bag over his shoulder, and
nodded at Gerard. They made their way out of the classroom and into the packed
hallway.
The cafeteria was loud, and somehow always way hotter than any other room in
the building, not counting the gym. Gerard sat down at the usual table, pulling
Ryan along with him. Mikey joined them shortly, walking calmly over to the
table, and sat down without a word. Gerard was about two seconds away from
putting his head down, and promptly passing out, when Lindsey came crashing to
the table.
She sat down with a huff, her bright red lips twisted up into a sour
expression, and her pigtails bouncing. “You’ll never guess who I just caught
sucking face.”
Ryan and Gerard glanced towards Lindsey, while Mikey only appeared bored.
Lindsey’s nose wrinkled before she spat out, “Brendon and Spencer,” like a
curse falling from her lips.
Ryan stared at Lindsey, before turning his eyes to the table. “Already?” he
asked, voice coming out bland, even though Gerard’s chest still twinged in
sympathy.
“Fuck him,” Gerard growled, to which Lindsey nodded enthusiastically. She
rubbed Ryan’s back soothingly.
“That’s it,” Lindsey spoke up strongly, “makeup, and nail polish shopping
tonight. No excuses. Brendon doesn’t get to just be an asshole, then make out
with whoever the fuck he wants. “ She kissed Ryan on the cheek, “you’re a gem.”
Ryan sniffled, stuffing his face into Lindsey’s neck. Gerard could understand,
she was soft, motherly, and seemed to always smell ungodly wonderful. Although,
compared to Gerard, that wasn’t exactly a difficult feat. Lindsey carded her
fingers through his hair, “say it baby,” she murmured.
Ryan sniffled once again, wiping his nose. “I’m a gem,” he mumbled.
“Damn straight,” Gerard agreed, nudging Mikey, who was typing away on his
sidekick. No doubt texting Alicia who had a different lunch shift than them
this semester.
He nudged Mikey a little more violently until Mikey looked up, blinking through
his glasses and straightened to death hair. “You’re a gem,” he deadpanned, eyes
skewing to Gerard, who beamed at him, satisfied.
“You’re a gem too,” Lindsey said, pointing menacingly at Gerard.
Gerard only glanced back at her, his eyes wide. He shrugged, but couldn’t help
thinking back to the way Bert had grabbed onto his hips and pulled his hair so
hard it felt like it was going to fall out, when he fucked him against the wall
as soon as he walked through the door.
“Can we just go back to class?” Ryan pleaded, breaking Gerard out of his
trance. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
Gerard grabbed the half-eaten sandwich from the table, while Lindsey collected
his lunchbox. “Of course babe, let’s go.” She wrapped her arms comfortingly
around his shoulder.
Gerard glanced at Mikey, in offer for him to come with them. “I told ‘Lic I’d
walk her to fifth period,” he answered to Gerard’s eyebrows.
The three of them began walking up the hallway. There were a few kids milling
around, or hustling, depending on what their lunch shift was. They still had a
good ten minutes until they had to be in class, so they made their way to the
art hallway. It was where they frequently met up considering that’s where
majority of all their classes were; but, they all enjoyed viewing and
critiquing the showcases.
Lindsey pointed to a new piece that a girl in her class had done that she was
impressed with, tugging Gerard along so he could judge the coloring, and line
placement. Gerard was about to reach around and pull Ryan with him, when he
heard a loud thump, followed by a thunderous crash.
When him and Lindsey flipped around they saw Ryan on the ground, his books
sprawled everywhere. A decently buff guy with bright pink hair was kneeled down
next to him, his presumed books, sprawled against the tiled floors also. The
pink-haired guy started hurriedly picking up Ryan’s books, ignoring his own.
“I’m sorry, God, I’m so sorry, I’m such a klutz,” he chuckled self-
deprecatingly, glancing at Ryan.
Ryan seemed stunned, still awkwardly on the floor. “Uh-” he stuttered.
Gerard lurched forward going to help Ryan stand up, and collect his belongings,
but was stopped by Lindsey pulling him back, harshly gripping his giant coat.
Gerard looked at her in confusion, but her face was blank, before she whispered
out of the corner of her mouth, “just, let this happen.”
Gerard watched as the guy held out his hand, helping Ryan stand up. He was
still smiling gently. He handed Ryan his books, before then bending down to
pick up his own. “Uh, thanks for uh...picking up my books.”
The guy’s smile brightened. “It was no problem. It was my fault, again I’m
really sorry I ran into you. I forget to look where I’m going. I’m not used to
this school yet, I guess.”
Ryan raised his eyebrow, clutching his books close to his chest. “Are you new
here?”
The guy nodded. “Yeah, my name’s Josh. It’s nice to meet you. I just moved here
with my brother.”
Josh stood up then, swinging his backpack easily over his shoulder. “Well, it’s
nice to meet you Josh,” Ryan blushed. “My name is Ryan.”
Josh’s smile got impossibly bigger. “See you around.”
He hurried off in the opposite direction, and Gerard looked between Lindsey and
Ryan desperately, not understanding why it was so important for that
interaction to happen. Ryan whipped around. “Oh my god,” he mouthed
incredulously.
Lindsey cackled, bumping hips with Gerard. “A fucking dreamboat amiright.”
“Who? Josh?” Gerard asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Lindsey patted his shoulder, “You love personalities, not looks, we get it.”
She turned her attention back to Ryan, “But Jesus, I’m not normally a licker
but I would lick every inch of that gorgeous specimen.”
Ryan giggled along with her, while Gerard rolled his eyes. Lindsey glanced down
at the clunky watch on her wrist. “Fuck,” she swore loudly. “Gotta go, Jam gets
out in a few minutes. We only have five minutes between classes, have to make
the most of it.”
Gerard and Ryan snickered. “Five minutes,” they both mocked.
Lindsey hustled down the hallway, turning around briefly to smirk, “three in
five is our record. You need to step it up boys.” With that she continued
around the corner, impossibly short plaid skirt swishing along with the
movement of her hips.
///
“So, I’ve decided for our first project this year, we’re going to partner off,
and study different plays by Shakespeare.” Ms. Fisher told the class
delightedly as she passed out a rubric, and requirements sheet. “You can pick
which play to study of course, but I don’t want everyone doing the same one! I
really want to see some great analyses of A Winter’s Tale, Titus Andronicus,
Much Ado About Nothing, or even Antony and Cleopatra.”
A kid in the back of the class raised their hand. “Can we pick our partners?”
Ms. Fisher smiled tightly. “Actually, I assigned partners for everyone. I think
you’ll all be more productive that way.”
A few people in the class groaned, and Gerard gave Ryan a sad look, removing
his hand from where it had grabbed onto him when there was a mention of
partners.
Ms. Fisher picked up a clipboard from off her desk, but before she could read
off the names of the partners she was cut off by a person entering the
classroom. A few sluggish heads turned to look at the kid - with bright pink
hair. Gerard immediately recognized him as Josh, the guy that Ryan had run into
earlier.
“May I help you?” Ms. Fisher asked, brushing a stray piece of her blonde hair
behind her ear.
Josh gave her a polite smile. “I’m Josh, I was just moved into this class?”
“Oh well,” Ms. Fisher spoke, clearly caught off guard. “You’re just in time
then. I was about to assign partners for our Shakespeare project. Let me just
add you to the list.”
She scribbled a few things down onto her clipboard, before glancing back up at
Josh, who was standing in front of the class awkwardly. She pointed to an empty
seat at the back of the room, to which Josh practically bolted into. Clearing
her throat, Ms. Fisher began reading off the list of partners. Gerard only
zoned back in when he heard Ryan’s name, followed by Ms. Fisher pointing to
Josh, the new kid. Josh barreled over with no preamble, plopping down into the
empty seat in front of Ryan and Gerard. Gerard could kind of see where Lindsey
had been coming from earlier, he was definitely well-built. His shirt was
stretched tightly over his bulging biceps, and Gerard couldn’t exactly tell
through the shirt, but he was pretty confident that Josh had to have a six-
pack.
Josh grinned brightly at Ryan. “Hi partner!” He greeted excitedly.
Ryan seemed baffled by him, but smiled nervously. He pulled out his pink
sparkly folder, setting it down carefully. “We’re doing Much Ado About Nothing
because Benedick and Beatrice are both bitches, and I want to rip them to
shreds.” He declared, already pulling out the book of Shakespeare’s most well-
known play summaries from his bookbag. He thrusted it in Josh’s direction.
Gerard’s attention from them was broken by the other new kid - Frank - sitting
aggressively down into the seat in front of Gerard, next to Josh. Gerard
blinked, putting the pieces in his head together. “Wait, you’re brothers?” he
blurted out.
Frank shrugged, glaring slightly at Gerard. “Yeah, so what.”
Gerard opened and closed his mouth, thankfully Ryan jumped in with, “But you
don’t look alike at all!”
Josh looked like he was going to say something, but Frank abruptly cut him off.
“Can we get to work on the fucking project?”
Gerard was confused, until he realized that Ms. Fisher was back at her desk,
finished with reading off all the names. “You’re my partner?” He asked Frank
dumbly.
Frank rolled his eyes, causing Gerard to shrink into his jacket. So far, he
didn’t really like this guy, and he made him nervous. Gerard flipped his
notebook to a blank page, avoiding eye contact with Frank. “If we have to do a
Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet is the one I prefer,” he spoke quietly.
Gerard dared to look up at Frank for a second. He looked mildly pissed off.
“Romeo and Juliet? Really? Romeo is a lovesick idiot, and Juliet is so
desperate for attention she’ll fuck anyone, and they both off themselves at the
end because everyone in the story is stupid.”
Gerard’s jaw dropped. His hands were trembling, not from nerves, but from rage.
Who did this kid think he was? Coming over to Gerard’s table, and insulting
Shakespeare right in front of him. He looked over at Ryan, who seemed to be met
with equal anger.
“As President of Shakespeare club, I say, fuck you,” Ryan all about growled.
Gerard nodded enthusiastically. “As Vice President of Shakespeare club I second
that.”
Josh was looking between the three of them anxiously, while Frank only sneered.
“What’s next? You gonna stick the Gay-Straight Alliance on me or something,
fag?”
Even Josh seemed surprised by that statement. Gerard stood up, grabbing Ryan’s
wrist. He dragged him to the front of the class, spit out some half-hearted
excuse about them going to the library for research to Ms. Fisher, before
getting the fuck out of the classroom. They were halfway to the library before
Ryan forced Gerard to stop. That was when he realized how erratic his breathing
was, and that he could hear his blood pumping in his ears.
“Gee, hey,” Ryan said, grabbing onto Gerard’s shoulders sharply to ground him.
“You’re fine. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”
Gerard knew he probably looked crazed. His chest was jolting violently up and
down, his eyes were wide open, while his pupils danced around, trying to focus.
It was almost like he was drowning. His head didn’t come above the water until
Ryan’s entire tiny frame was swallowing Gerard’s body. Ryan whispered into his
ear, “he can’t hurt you anymore,” over and over again. Gerard’s hand wrapped
subconsciously around the scar along his ribcage.
When he could breathe again, he noticed that he and Ryan were tangled together,
now sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Tears were streaming
down Gerard’s face, and he knew he was pathetic. He knew was a burden, but all
he wanted was to go home. “Home,” he choked out, burying his face into Ryan’s
neck. Ryan rubbed his back soothingly.
“Let’s get you home,” Ryan agreed, nodding. He pulled out his phone, thumbing
out a few messages quickly, while not taking his arm from around Gerard’s
frame. He helped Gerard stand up, and stumble down the hallway so they could
get to the back doors. If anyone asked, they could say that they were taking
Gerard to the nurse, he looked sick enough.
When they finally reached the back doors leading out to the student parking
lot, Gerard thought for a minute he was going to hurl. Ryan hurriedly pushed
Gerard out the doors so he could fall to his knees on the concrete outside of
the school. He dry-heaved, spitting up onto the ground. After a few moments the
door opened. Gerard glanced up in fear, only to see Lindsey, and Mikey, both
carrying Ryan and his’ belongings from class. That must have been who he
texted.
The sadness in Mikey’s eyes made Gerard’s stomach twist again. He didn’t want
to be this way anymore. Even though Mikey wasn’t that strong, he had gotten
used to scooping Gerard up off the pavement before. He grabbed his hand,
pulling him up with ease. Gerard nuzzled into his brother, comforted by the
familiar smell of his body odor, and the smell that only comes with home.
Lindsey grabbed onto his other side, and ran her fingers through his hair.
Through all of their collective effort, they got Gerard into Lindsey’s car.
They decided to get Gerard’s car the next time they all came back to school.
As Mikey settled him into the backseat, Gerard choked out apologies. But his
brother just brushed his hair gently away from his forehead. “It’s okay, Gee,”
he murmured.
When Lindsey started the engine, Gerard curled up into a ball, and tried to
make himself as small as possible.
///
The next day, the last thing Gerard wanted to do was go to school. He hid under
his covers, refusing to reply to Mikey when he tried to get him up. He was
embarrassed and couldn’t bare dealing with his English class. Mikey, because
he’s Mikey, immediately understood what was going on, and crawled into the bed
with him.
They laid in bed the entire day, only getting up briefly to brew their
respective mugs of coffee, which they couldn’t live without. When they crawled
back into Gerard’s bed, Mikey scrunched his eyebrows, and quirked his mouth.
Gerard pressed his lips together, waving his hands, then shook his head. Mikey
understood without words and wrapped his arms around Gerard. Even though he was
bony, and his elbows could kill a man - Mikey was Gerard’s favorite person to
cuddle with.
Around one, another figure stumbled into the bedroom, and dropped down onto the
bed. Gerard moved his head from its position against Mikey’s throat, only to
get a mouthful of curly brown hair. Gerard sputtered, while Ryan kicked off his
shoes, and took off his jacket. He dived into the bed, and snuggled up to the
other side of Gerard. Even though the bed was definitely too small for all
three of them, they didn’t pay much mind to it, and only inched closer to one
another.
“Touch Whore,” Mikey teased Gerard sleepily, affection clear though in his
tone.
Gerard hummed happily, enjoying the warmth surrounding him. “You act like
that’s an insult,” he responded, equally as sleepily.
“Asshole,” Ryan finally joined the conversation. “I would’ve skipped the whole
day and not just last period.”
Gerard reached back, and patted the top of Ryan’s head clumsily in apology.
“Love you.”
Ryan grumbled a little bit more, before putting his head against Gerard’s
shoulder. “Love you too.” There was a comfortable silence before Ryan broke it.
“Josh apologized to me in the hallway today, and in class today.”
Gerard bit his lip. “What did he say?”
Ryan ran his fingers over Gerard’s bare arm, tracing random shapes. “He said
that what Frank said yesterday was out of line, and that he was sorry. He
really wanted to get to work on the project. Then basically elbowed Frank until
he apologized too.”
“I don’t like him,” Gerard said after a little bit.
“Josh?” Ryan asked after sucking in a breath.
“No, he-” Gerard hesitated, “he seems okay.” He gnawed on his lip. “Frank. I
don’t like Frank. I don’t know why, he just really rubs me the wrong way.”
Mikey hummed in acknowledgment. “Well, it’s only one project.”
Gerard sighed. “Yeah.”
///
The next morning, much to Gerard’s dismay, he was dragged forcefully from his
bed. Mikey wouldn’t leave his room until he was dressed, and at least halfway
decent. He had to down three cups of coffee until he was coherent person, and
even then, he still stared at his car keys for a moment too long to be normal,
before shoving them into the ignition.
He drove to school, Bowie blaring through his shitty speakers, while Mikey
typed away on his sidekick. Gerard sighed when he pulled into the parking lot,
and watched the throng of other students hanging out front, and walking inside
the building. Gerard let out another dramatic sigh, to which Mikey only rolled
his eyes, before he got out of his car, slinging his ripped-and-shredded-to-
all-hell messenger bag over his shoulder.
His only saving grace was that art was his first period class. He stopped by
his locker, shoved his messenger back in, and carefully pulled out his
sketchbook, and giant pencil case. Technically, the were supposed to use the
school sanctioned art supplies only, but Gerard, and his art teacher didn’t
really give a fuck.
Although, he was startled out of skin when he slammed his locker door shut,
only to see Frank leaning casually behind it. He let out a high-pitched squeak,
and promptly dropped everything he was holding. His heart thumped wildly as he
dropped to his knees, hastily picking up all of his supplies. He saw through a
few greasy strands of his hair Frank kneeling down too. But when he reached to
pick up a few stray colored-pencils that had sprung loose from Gerard’s pencil
case, Gerard slapped his hands away.
“I got it.” Gerard said quietly, glaring. He picked up the colored pencils,
markers, and few copics, and shoved them back into his pencil case. He clutched
his sketchbook to his chest, as he stood up. He eyed the clock hanging from the
wall wearily, and almost groaned when he realized that because art was on the
other side of the building, and he wasn’t even near the stairs, he was most
definitely going to be late. “What do you want?” he settled on saying bitterly,
accepting his fate.
Frank chewed on his thumb, and for the first time, seemed to lose his confident
demeanor. “I wanted to apologize for the other day.” He shifted on his feet
uncomfortably. Gerard narrowed his eyes. Apparently catching onto his
suspicion. Frank ran his fingers through his hair, seemingly like the
conversation was killing him. “Look, we don’t have to be best fucking friends
or anything. But we’re partners for this stupid project so we have to at least
not be at each other’s throats. What I said was out of line, and I’m sorry.
Okay?” Frank crossed his arms when he was done. Everything about his stance was
hostile, even though he was apologizing.
The late bell rang shrilly, cutting through the thick tension between Gerard
and Frank. Gerard stared at the floor, and not Frank. “I have to get to class.”
With that, he turned around, walking briskly over to the stairs so that he
wouldn’t be too late to his art class. Maybe he could convince Mr. Lauderdale
that he had car troubles that morning.
///
Gerard spent majority of his first and second period anxiously waiting for
English. He didn’t know what to expect. Not knowing what was in the cards made
his stomach roll with worry, and he had practically bitten off all his nails.
Although, walking into class, he never would’ve expected to see Josh sitting
atop a desk animatedly retelling a story, hands flailing, while Ryan sat in the
desk in front of him. His cheeks were pink, and he was biting into the sleeve
of his jacket in great effort of not laughing.
Gerard felt betrayed, even though he had no reason to. He slumped into his
seat, crankily slamming down his messenger bag, and his notebook. He took one
of the pencils from behind his ear and aggressively began sketching someone
drowning in a lake. He was brought out of his trance by someone leaning over
his drawing, taking a not so subtle peek at it. “Woah,” the person said.
“Morbid.”
Gerard looked up to see Frank sitting on the desk in front of him. “Yeah well,”
Gerard mumbled, yanking his notebook closed. “I’m a pretty morbid person.”
Frank seemed to take that into consideration, with an exaggerate thinking face.
“How does that fit in with your Shakespeare boner?”
Ryan sucked in a breath next to him. Josh sent Frank a warning glance, to which
Frank only met with challenge. Gerard couldn’t help but feel like this was a
test. Gerard’s hands were shaking, but he hid them by sliding them inside his
desk. “Maybe if you picked up a book every once in a while you would realize
how much death is in Shakespeare’s works.”
Frank grinned, sharp, and blindingly bright.
“So,” Josh broke their moment off, by smiling at Ryan. “We have to work on this
project outside of school, your place or mine?” Ryan’s eyes went wide and he
stuttered. “We can do it at mine if you want,” Josh replied, catching onto
Ryan’s hesitation. “We have plenty of room, and it’s seriously fine.”
Ryan let his hair fall into his face, and smiled shyly. “Okay.”
Gerard glanced at Frank expectantly. Frank shrugged. “I mean, you can come over
to ours too, I guess.”
“Wow,” Gerard said sarcastically. “How generous.”
He wasn’t normally this bitchy. But something about Frank got under his skin.
He made him feel hot, and itchy, and he hated whenever his eyes raked over him.
There was also the fact that Frank was clearly an asshole. He seemed to take
pleasure in annoying the fuck out of Gerard, or better yet, pissing him off.
“What can I say,” Frank smirked, leaning back in his seat and spreading his
legs. “I’m very giving.”
///
Gerard’s heart stopped when he heard his phone ringing from the other side of
the bed. It wouldn’t be out of ordinary, if he didn’t know who was on the other
end of that ring tone. He wanted to refrain from answering, but his fingers hit
the answer key, before he could even process what he was doing.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey baby,” he heard Bert’s voice coo from the tinny speakers of the phone.
“Been thinking about you.”
Gerard’s breath hitched. “Yeah?” His voice cracked, knowing that he was
pathetic.
“Fuck yeah. Been thinking about your tight ass, and your lips wrapped around my
cock. How good bruises look on your skin, fuck, you gonna come over and make it
worth my while?”
Gerard’s voice was caught in his throat. He heard music coming from Mikey’s
room, and prayed that he wouldn’t come check on him that night. “Yeah I’ll,” he
stuttered, guilt and shame tumbling over him in waves. “I’m coming right now.”
“Door’s unlocked.”
///
Gerard was crying now. Heavy thick tears rolled down his cheeks as Bert slammed
into him, pulling his hair. It burned, and it hurt. He could feel wetness, and
he was pretty sure it was blood, but Bert never seemed to care.
“So good,” Bert slurred, groaning. He slammed in extra hard at an angle that
made Gerard sob, and grab onto the sheets, not in pleasure, although that’s
what Bert took it as. “Fuck, I gotta fuck your mouth,” he demanded, rather than
asked, pulling out of Gerard. Gerard’s ass ached from the assault, and he was
positive that he was going to have hand shaped bruises all over his hips, arms,
and a few dark ones around his neck sometime tomorrow.
He kept coming back to Bert though. He made him feel wanted, and frequently
reminded Gerard how he was the only one who would put up with his whining, and
fucked up past. Even though everything hurt, he couldn’t help but smile
blearily when Bert told him he was pretty, and thought all of his bruises were
hot. He knew it was beyond fucked up. But all he wanted was to feel pretty.
Tears coated his cheeks, but he still batted his eyelashes, before Bert
manhandled him, and folded him so he face was hovering over Bert’s dick. It was
flushed a dark red, and had a few flecks of Gerard’s blood on it. Gerard felt a
little nauseas in realizing that Bert had made him bleed, with alarm bells
ringing in the back of his head screeching about how that was very wrong.
Bert grabbed onto his long black hair, shoving his mouth onto his dick. Gerard
choked at first, but quickly started breathing through his nose, adjusting to
the intrusion. He bobbed his head up and down, spit dripping from his mouth
onto his chin, as Bert thrusted up into him, mercilessly. Bert groaned loudly,
before forcing Gerard down, and keeping him there. Gerard’s hand scrambled on
the sheets. He was trapped and couldn't breathe -
But then he felt Bert’s bitter, hot cum, hit the back of his throat, forcefully
sliding down. Gerard finally was able to pull off once Bert released his grasp
on his hair. Gerard gasped, and coughed, resting his head against the sheets as
he tried to get air back into his lungs. But before he even got his breath
back, Bert grabbed onto his jaw tightly. His fingers dug into the bone and
flesh as he forced Gerard’s flushed and tear-soaked face to look at him.
He trailed his fingers over the cuts on Gerard’s thighs. Some old, some fresh.
Gerard winced, only causing Bert to grip tighter. “I thought I said no more of
this.”
“I'm sorry I-” Gerard begged, his voice breathy and clogged with mucus from
crying.
Bert tsked. “Don't apologize. Do better. I'm the only one who gets to hurt you,
and make you bleed.” His face turned into a twisted grin. “Got it?”
Gerard nodded desperately, before Bert finally released his aching jaw. He got
up casually from the bed, and tugged on a pair of sweatpants. He lit a
cigarette from the pack on the nightstand. He blew out a breath of smoke. “I'm
going to Utah for a couple weeks.”
Gerard didn't say anything, and he continued. “I'm gonna be visiting Jepha, and
Quinn. So don't call me at 3am begging me to fuck you. Kay?”
Gerard whined softly. Bert took a few more drags before turning to face him.
“The fuck you still doing here?”
Gerard winced, getting up from his position in the bed. There was a small blood
stain, confirming his fears, and his body protested every movement. He managed
to get his clothes back on with shaky hands, shivering in the coldness of the
bedroom.
Before he made his way over to the door, he turned. “When are you leaving?” He
asked, hating how small his voice sounded.
Bert blew out an air of smoke. “In a few days.”
In a moment of daring, Gerard managed to give him a small peck on the lips,
smiling shyly through his hair. “I’ll miss you.”
Bert rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, now get the fuck out of my apartment.”
///
The next morning. Gerard felt like death had warmed over. His entire body
ached, and was covered in deep purple blotches from the night before, and he
could barely walk without suppressing grimaces. He covered up all of the skin
he could with a bunch of layer. A practice that he was used to now after nights
with Bert.
He wrapped a scarf around his neck, even though it wasn’t that cold out. He
figured that because it was October, he could get away with it. Or maybe he
could lie about feeling as if he was coming down with something. The last thing
was his face. He had fingerprint marks along the pale skin of his jaw, where
Bert had grabbed onto it, shaming his for his self-harm. Gerard opened the
medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and pulled out a tube of concealer that he
stole from his Mother ages ago for times like these.
He slathered it onto the bruise, hoping that it blended into his skin, and
wouldn’t raise too many alarm bells. He sighed, closing his eyes, and taking a
few deep breaths. He was in a lot of pain, but, Bert loved him. Even if he was
never willing to say it, Gerard knew that he was. All Gerard wanted to feel was
loved.
Mikey knew something was off, and kept giving Gerard side-long looks on the
drive to school. Gerard kept his mouth shut, and didn’t say a word. He could
tell that Mikey wanted to ask, but didn’t know how to phrase it. When they
pulled into the school parking lot, Gerard turned off his clunker of a car, and
got out.
His mouth turned up sharply as he stood up, and threw his messenger bag over
his shoulder. Mikey had been watching him, and he could see his eyes widen
minutely in realization. Before he had time to say anything, Gerard bolted. He
sped-walk through the parking lot to get to the door. Every step made his ass
twinge, and his bruises hips and arms screamed in protest.
Luckily, he didn’t have any surprise visits at his locker, and was able to get
to art on time. He didn’t have many friends in the class, so he managed to get
through the period unscathed. English though, English was another thing
entirely.
He pointedly didn’t make any eye contact with Ryan when he came out, opting to
slink into his seat instead. The class was unbearably warm, causing beads of
sweat on his hairline, and in various other weird spots, thanks to his several
layers of unnecessary clothing. After the bell rung, Ryan grabbed onto his arm
lightly, probably to get his attention, but Gerard flinched violently at the
touch. Ryan pulled back like he had been burned.
Gerard looked up sharply, and wanted to apologize for putting the look of hurt
on Ryan’s face. He never wanted to be the cause of it. Although, his train of
thought was broken by Frank talking loudly in front of him. “So what the fuck
are we doing for this project?”
Gerard, because he was coward, took great pleasure in the change of subject. He
gave Frank a weak smile. “Well, I thought that it would be best if we reenacted
a scene. We could do a summary of the play, and then pick a pivotal scene to
act out. Then we could talk about the importance of the scene. I figured, you
would probably like the scene where Romeo kills Tybalt the best. It’s also one
of the most important scenes in the play, because it’s when the divide between
the two houses reaches its head. It’s the reason that Romeo leaves town, and
causes the miscommunication that ends with both of them ending their lives.”
When Gerard was done with his rambling, he bit his lip, blushing a little.
Frank seemed a bit taken aback. “Oh. Okay.” He clearly hadn’t expected Gerard
to have a plan. Frank sighed. “Do you just wanna do a PowerPoint explaining why
the scene is important, or…?”
Gerard wiped a bit of sweat away from his brow. He pulled out his notebook,
trying to remember the notes that he had taken last year on the show for their
end of the year Shakespeare Club project. “I mean I guess, but I don’t think we
have to? What’s the time requirement for the project.”
Frank made a grumbling sound, bending down to dig through his backpack,
probably to find the requirement sheet. Gerard wiped sweat from his brow again,
and took off his scarf distractedly. He had completely forgotten about the
marks on his neck until he noticed that Ryan and Josh’s conversation next to
him had abruptly stopped.
Ryan was staring at him, his eyes wide and sad. “Gee,” he whispered. “You
didn’t.”
Gerard stiffened. “What’s the time requirement?” He asked again, looking at
Frank instead of Ryan. “Six to ten minutes,” Frank said easily, though his eyes
were focused on Gerard’s neck, his face blank. Gerard wrapped his scarf hastily
back around his neck, not caring about the heat. He scolded himself for taking
it off in the first place.
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!
