Young and Doomed | Frerard

Epilogue

are u rEADY for this fic to be OVER

There weren't a lot of places Frank had expected to be in August.

Maybe he'd still be at the hospital. Or maybe he'd be repeating his junior year. He had not, however, expected to be in a CVS with the two people he liked most. Well, not including Kayleigh. She'd been pretty cool, and in the months since Frank left the hospital they'd stayed in touch, texting each other every few days. Gerard however, made sure he and Frank never missed a FaceTime call since the night Frank got home from the hospital.

It was frustrating though, because Gerard had no fucking clue how to use a phone. Even Mikey was better than him at this point. Frank had to put up with being randomly hung up on, spontaneously called, and being shouted "What?" at until Gerard realized his volume was off.

Gerard had been on immunosuppressants since after the surgery to prevent his body from attacking the liver, and he'd made sure to bitch and moan to Frank about every aspect of the treatment. The only thing he didn't complain to Frank about was the exercise he was forced to engage in. It was supposed to keep his liver healthy, and Frank was sure it did, but Gerard knew how annoying it was since Frank was barely allowed to go for walks on his own.

"Who the fuck needs a soap dish?" Lindsey asked for the hundredth time, and Gerard swatted at her. "Uh, me," He said. "They're a necessity."

"A necessity for what?" She snapped, and Frank shrugged. "It's just hygienic, Lindsey." This was Frank's fourth time visiting Gerard down in New Jersey. The first had been in February, about a month after he'd been officially discharged and moved down to PHP. Frank's mom had come down to Jersey with him, and the two of them had stayed in a hotel. The second and third time had been just Frank staying at Gerard's house, in April and July. Frank had just finished IOP the week prior, and decided to start his first free week in outpatient helping Gerard pack.

"Is this some gay thing I don't know about?" Lindsey asked, looking between the two of them. "Because it seems pretty ridiculous otherwise."

"Not everything is a 'gay thing,' Lindsey." Frank shot back, and Gerard put his arm around Frank in a friendly fashion. "Be chill, Frankie," He laughed, and Frank shoved him away. "Whatever."

"You mad at me now?" Gerard asked, half-jokingly, but Frank didn't reply.

"You're just nervous." Lindsey realized, her eyes widening. "You think Gerard's going to meet someone at college."

"No!" Frank replied way too quickly. "That's not it! I honestly couldn't care less about the people Gerard meets at whatever 'hippy-dippy' art school he's going to – "

"Ooo, you love me!" Gerard cried, picking Frank up in a hug from behind and spinning him in a circle. "You love me sooo much!"

"Fucking hell, put me down!" Frank squirmed, and Gerard put in back on the ground, pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek. "You are so cute."

"Burn in a fire." Frank replied, and Gerard grinned happily at Lindsey. "That's Frank's way of saying he loves me, too." He explained.

"I found your soap dish," Frank grabbed the plastic case off the shelf and shoved it to Gerard's chest. Gerard nodded, taking it graciously. "Why, thank you, Frankie."

✰✰✰

"So, tell me about your life." Gerard asked, flopping back on his bed. It was the middle of the night, and Frank and Gerard were in the basement, as usual. Mikey had been convinced that they were fucking down there, but his accusations came to an abrupt stop when Gerard walked in on Mikey and his boyfriend.

They had only been kissing, but that was enough to shut Mikey up, at least for a little while. (And begin the endless tirade of Gerard's comments). Mikey had broken up with his girlfriend a while back, and to be honest, Frank liked Pete a lot more that whatever chick he was dating before.

"What is there to tell?" Frank asked, sitting on the floor cross-legged. It was an ability he'd recently gained with weight restoration: floor-sitting. "We FaceTime every fucking day, Gerard. You know everything about me."

"Oh, but Frank, this is so exciting!" Gerard said, patting the spot next to him on the bed. "I can hug you! We can't do that over FaceTime!"

"You try," Frank said, and Gerard threw a pillow at him. "Come over here!"

Begrudgingly, Frank stood up, plopping down on the bed. Gerard picked up his hand, holding it close. "What am I going to do when I go to college?" He asked, and Frank snorted. "Text me every second of the day, like you do now. You might be busy, but you always seem to find a way."

"And you love it!" Gerard grinned, and Frank flicked his nose up with one finger. "You could leave me alone, you know." Frank said. "I think I could manage to survive without you being obsessively clingy."

"Nope," Gerard said. "Absolutely not. Good try, though."

"You're the worst."

"I love you." Gerard smiled, before pausing. "You know I'm not going to leave you when I go to college, right? Like, when we were shopping and you were worried – "

"I don't know why you're not breaking up with me." Frank said exasperatedly. "Going into college with a boyfriend at home is so fucking dumb."

"Because I love you!" Gerard cried, pulling Frank down into a laying position with him. Their faces were inches apart, and Gerard grabbed Frank's other hand, holding them together between them. "I love you, I love you, I love you! When are you going to understand that?"

"I understand it." Frank said, but Gerard moved closer, looking him the eyes. "Do you, though?"

"I do." Frank replied, and Gerard gave his hands a squeeze. "It's going to be so crazy. By the time I finish college, you'll still have two years of it left."

"You still plan to date me then?" Frank asked, and Gerard blinked at him. "Well, yeah. Unless something changes then and you don't want to be with me."

"I don't think anything could ever make me not want to be with you." Frank said quietly, and Gerard kissed his forehead. "Good," He laughed. "Because you'd have a Hell of a hard time getting rid of me."

AND TA-DA

IT'S DONE FOR REAL NOW