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Description
I woke up with a smile on my face.  No dreams.  No nightmares.  No sweat.  It seemed Gerard had really been the medicine I needed.  Opening my eyes, all I saw was white fabric; Gerard's shirt.  I thought he was wearing an old band shirt, but I must've been wrong.  My smile was replaced by a slight frown; it was kind of creepy, assuming I knew what Gerard was wearing.  Guys weren't supposed to notice those types of things, especially on other guys.  However,

it just seemed…natural to me, to notice things about Gerard.
I pushed away the thought and instead listened to my body's wants, which was more warmth.  I closed my eyes and snuggled up closer to Gerard, burying my face into his clothed chest.  My body soon began to fill with heat again as I felt his slack arm around me tighten; somehow, it hadn't been removed in the night.

"Cold?" his sleep-filled voice whispered, instantly making me feel guilty and caught.  He wasn't supposed to have woken up to that, how was I to respond?

"mmmhhhmmmm." It seemed like the best response.  Non-committal, no real way for him to tell that there were other reasons behind it.  I didn't even know all the reasons, to be honest.  He was warm, he smelled good, really good, he was like my protector.  Despite not knowing him for nearly as long as I had known Mikey, I felt closer to Gerard.  Mikey was like my older brother, my best friend.  Gerard…I didn't know what he was to me, but it was somehow more than a brother or friend.

"You're full of shit, Frank Iero."  I reopened my eyes and lifted my head up to see a grinning, sleepy-eyed Gerard looking down at me.  "I know that you just want an excuse to be closer."  I let a smile slip onto my face.  Apparently my plan hadn't worked too well.

Gerard lowered his head and kissed my hair-covered forehead.  Before our escape, I had kept my hair extremely short, at a buzz-cut.  I hadn't been able to get a haircut since then, however, so I was learning the miseries of having longer hair.  I don't see how Gerard managed to deal with it.    "That's okay.  There's no punishment for lying to me…this time."  A smirk crossed his face, causing me to grin even more.  Somehow, I didn't feel embarrassed about being caught.  He didn't seem bothered by it; in fact he seemed to rather enjoy it.

"That's just because you're too lazy to come up with a punishment."  I murmured into his chest, closing my eyes again.  Having a taste of a dream-free sleep made me want even more.  Perhaps in Gerard's arms that would happen again.
Right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a loud vibrating noise that caused both mine and Gerard's bodies to jump.

"What the fuck?" Gerard muttered before unwrapping his arm from around me and reaching into his back pocket.  I don't even know why he kept his phone in there: nobody had called or texted since we left and it must've been uncomfortable to sleep with.  He glanced at the screen before flipping open the phone, an uncertain expression on his face.  "Hello?"

Slowly, I sat up, shivers running down my body as I left the body heat Gerard was putting out.  Despite it being the late morning, or so I guessed, it was still extremely cold.  I pulled my legs up against my chest and wrapped my arms around them, leaning against a side of our make-shift room.

As I watched him talk on the phone, it slowly dawned me that nobody had attempted to contact us.  My mother hadn't, Mikey hadn't, no kids from school.  Nobody.  It was as if we never existed.  A dead feeling entered my chest as I continued to think.  Somebody should have contacted us long ago.  Left messages, voicemails or something.  We hadn't given any notice that we were going to run.  We just did.  My mother should've sent the whole fucking nation to find us.  But nobody has.  Was it really just Gerard and I now?  There had to be others like us.  This wasn't like some Stephen King book; those were just fiction.  This was real life.  Those things didn't happen in real life, yet they were somehow happening now.

"Wanna guess who that was?"  Gerard asked as he closed his phone.  I couldn't read his expression; that had definitely been one trait he hadn't lost.  I wondered if he just made himself appear as mysterious or if he really was holding back, keeping things to himself.  He seemed like that type of person.

"Who?" my heart was beating faster in anticipation.  It couldn't have been Mikey; Gerard hadn't sounded like a concerned brother during his conversation.

"Ray.  He's still alive." He whispered as I sucked in my breath.  I had forgotten about that guy.  I had forgotten he was one of the main reasons we were even out here.  Gerard didn't mention him too often and I didn't know him.  Gerard didn't usually mention people other than family.  I assumed that he just didn't really have friends.  "Wanna guess where we're going?"

"Where?"  I sounded like a dumb-ass, asking one worded questions, but that was all my mind could process.  We now had a plan.  We weren't just going to uselessly wander about the state, attempting to find any signs of Ray.  I still don't see how I had forgotten about him.

"New York City.  Ray's been hiding up there with some distant relatives.  Apparently there are still areas up there that haven't been hit.  He didn't call before because he wanted to make sure there was somewhere stable for us to go, me and Mikey, except now it's you and me."  Gerard's hazel eyes glittered excitedly at the thought.  He had always had a sort of fondness for the city.  I personally hadn't seen what was so great about it.

"Are we leaving now then?"  I asked, my brain's speed starting to pick up again.  From the little information Gerard had given me about Ray, Ray would have a plan all figured out.  He would figure out how to reverse this brain-washing so that way we could save Mikey.

Gerard nodded before climbing out from underneath the covers and opening up the back of the truck, letting in a blast of cold.  I shivered in my t-shirt and thin pajama bottoms, wondering why I hadn't brought warmer clothes.  How stupid I was.
-----------------------
Gerard slammed his hands against the steering wheel in frustration as he let out multiple curses.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking about.  We were still in a forest, pulled off to the side of the road.

"We fucking ran out of fucking gas." Gerard growled, hitting the steering wheel again.

"Oh." I let out cautiously.  I knew we didn't have any money for gas.  Gerard had given up his cigarettes a couple of days ago to buy gas; we got about a quarter of tank from that.  Not enough to get us to NYC.

"Oh." Gerard mimicked me in a high pitched voice before rolling his eyes.  "'Oh' isn't going to fucking get us anywhere."

I bit my lip, attempting to not say anything.  It was just the nicotine cravings talking.  It was just his frustration.

"'Oh' isn't going to get us fucking gas or fucking food.  Especially fucking food.  You eat too damn much.  You eat enough to feed an entire army, god damn."
Just the cravings, he didn't mean any of it.  I closed my eyes, mentally trying to block out his rant about how much I ate.

"I don't see how you don't weigh a fucking ton.  I should have just fucking left you behind so that way I would at least get some damn food.  Let the fucking brainwashing zombies get you.  Maybe they'd eat you.  There would be enough for a fucking feast, eating you."

"Shut the fuck up Gerard!" my eyes flew open as I glared at him before quickly getting out of the cabin of the truck.  As I walked away, I heard him yelling something, but what exactly, I didn't know.  I just walked into the forest, not bothering to look back.

Eventually, I came across a small creek and I sat down on a somewhat flat, grey rock.  I needed to calm down some.  I picked up a rock and threw it into the creek, anger surging through my throw.  There was really no reason why I should have gotten so upset.  We had been on edge ever since Ray had called us a couple of days ago.  We had caused tension between us, which was the last thing that we needed.  It didn't help that Gerard was battling his absence of cigarettes.  I sprawled out on the rock, soaking in the warm sunlight.  It was soothing, to bask.  I could see why reptilians did it.

"Frank?  Frankie?"  I opened my eyes, not realizing I had even closed them in the first place.  The sun wasn't in the same area as it had been when I had last glanced at it; how long had I been out there?  I shifted my head slightly to see Gerard hovering a few inches away from me.  "Oh God!  I thought you had died or something." A sheepish smile had spread across his face, causing my own to crack.

"Something like that."  I slowly sat up, looking around at the scenery.  It was honestly pretty amazing that Gerard had even been able to find me out here.  How long had he been looking?

"Right after you left, I had felt terrible about what I had said to you and so I went looking for you.  And obviously I found you," he paused, sitting down next to me somewhat awkwardly.  "And while I was looking for you, I was thinking.  How do you see me?"

I raised an eyebrow at his question.  That was the sort of thing a girl asked a boy if she liked him.  Honestly, it caused butterflies in my stomach.  Which was strange.  Extremely strange.  "I…uh…" I couldn't think of how to explain it to him because I couldn't explain it to myself.

Apparently my confusion had been enough of an answer for him, because he suddenly leaned him and melted his soft lips with my own.  His lips felt better than any girl's lips, which came as a pleasant surprise.  He pulled away hesitantly, only a couple of inches however.  "Would you do anything for me, even if it may be illegal?" he murmured.

At that moment, I would.  And I told him so, causing a tiny smile to form on his perfect lips.  Lips I wanted to kiss and caress and generally never not touch again.

"Will you rob a gas station with me?"

Description
I woke up with a smile on my face.  No dreams.  No nightmares.  No sweat.  It seemed Gerard had really been the medicine I needed.  Opening my eyes, all I saw was white fabric; Gerard's shirt.  I thought he was wearing an old band shirt, but I must've been wrong.  My smile was replaced by a slight frown; it was kind of creepy, assuming I knew what Gerard was wearing.  Guys weren't supposed to notice those types of things, especially on other guys.  However,

it just seemed…natural to me, to notice things about Gerard.
I pushed away the thought and instead listened to my body's wants, which was more warmth.  I closed my eyes and snuggled up closer to Gerard, burying my face into his clothed chest.  My body soon began to fill with heat again as I felt his slack arm around me tighten; somehow, it hadn't been removed in the night.

"Cold?" his sleep-filled voice whispered, instantly making me feel guilty and caught.  He wasn't supposed to have woken up to that, how was I to respond?

"mmmhhhmmmm." It seemed like the best response.  Non-committal, no real way for him to tell that there were other reasons behind it.  I didn't even know all the reasons, to be honest.  He was warm, he smelled good, really good, he was like my protector.  Despite not knowing him for nearly as long as I had known Mikey, I felt closer to Gerard.  Mikey was like my older brother, my best friend.  Gerard…I didn't know what he was to me, but it was somehow more than a brother or friend.

"You're full of shit, Frank Iero."  I reopened my eyes and lifted my head up to see a grinning, sleepy-eyed Gerard looking down at me.  "I know that you just want an excuse to be closer."  I let a smile slip onto my face.  Apparently my plan hadn't worked too well.

Gerard lowered his head and kissed my hair-covered forehead.  Before our escape, I had kept my hair extremely short, at a buzz-cut.  I hadn't been able to get a haircut since then, however, so I was learning the miseries of having longer hair.  I don't see how Gerard managed to deal with it.    "That's okay.  There's no punishment for lying to me…this time."  A smirk crossed his face, causing me to grin even more.  Somehow, I didn't feel embarrassed about being caught.  He didn't seem bothered by it; in fact he seemed to rather enjoy it.

"That's just because you're too lazy to come up with a punishment."  I murmured into his chest, closing my eyes again.  Having a taste of a dream-free sleep made me want even more.  Perhaps in Gerard's arms that would happen again.
Right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a loud vibrating noise that caused both mine and Gerard's bodies to jump.

"What the fuck?" Gerard muttered before unwrapping his arm from around me and reaching into his back pocket.  I don't even know why he kept his phone in there: nobody had called or texted since we left and it must've been uncomfortable to sleep with.  He glanced at the screen before flipping open the phone, an uncertain expression on his face.  "Hello?"

Slowly, I sat up, shivers running down my body as I left the body heat Gerard was putting out.  Despite it being the late morning, or so I guessed, it was still extremely cold.  I pulled my legs up against my chest and wrapped my arms around them, leaning against a side of our make-shift room.

As I watched him talk on the phone, it slowly dawned me that nobody had attempted to contact us.  My mother hadn't, Mikey hadn't, no kids from school.  Nobody.  It was as if we never existed.  A dead feeling entered my chest as I continued to think.  Somebody should have contacted us long ago.  Left messages, voicemails or something.  We hadn't given any notice that we were going to run.  We just did.  My mother should've sent the whole fucking nation to find us.  But nobody has.  Was it really just Gerard and I now?  There had to be others like us.  This wasn't like some Stephen King book; those were just fiction.  This was real life.  Those things didn't happen in real life, yet they were somehow happening now.

"Wanna guess who that was?"  Gerard asked as he closed his phone.  I couldn't read his expression; that had definitely been one trait he hadn't lost.  I wondered if he just made himself appear as mysterious or if he really was holding back, keeping things to himself.  He seemed like that type of person.

"Who?" my heart was beating faster in anticipation.  It couldn't have been Mikey; Gerard hadn't sounded like a concerned brother during his conversation.

"Ray.  He's still alive." He whispered as I sucked in my breath.  I had forgotten about that guy.  I had forgotten he was one of the main reasons we were even out here.  Gerard didn't mention him too often and I didn't know him.  Gerard didn't usually mention people other than family.  I assumed that he just didn't really have friends.  "Wanna guess where we're going?"

"Where?"  I sounded like a dumb-ass, asking one worded questions, but that was all my mind could process.  We now had a plan.  We weren't just going to uselessly wander about the state, attempting to find any signs of Ray.  I still don't see how I had forgotten about him.

"New York City.  Ray's been hiding up there with some distant relatives.  Apparently there are still areas up there that haven't been hit.  He didn't call before because he wanted to make sure there was somewhere stable for us to go, me and Mikey, except now it's you and me."  Gerard's hazel eyes glittered excitedly at the thought.  He had always had a sort of fondness for the city.  I personally hadn't seen what was so great about it.

"Are we leaving now then?"  I asked, my brain's speed starting to pick up again.  From the little information Gerard had given me about Ray, Ray would have a plan all figured out.  He would figure out how to reverse this brain-washing so that way we could save Mikey.

Gerard nodded before climbing out from underneath the covers and opening up the back of the truck, letting in a blast of cold.  I shivered in my t-shirt and thin pajama bottoms, wondering why I hadn't brought warmer clothes.  How stupid I was.
-----------------------
Gerard slammed his hands against the steering wheel in frustration as he let out multiple curses.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking about.  We were still in a forest, pulled off to the side of the road.

"We fucking ran out of fucking gas." Gerard growled, hitting the steering wheel again.

"Oh." I let out cautiously.  I knew we didn't have any money for gas.  Gerard had given up his cigarettes a couple of days ago to buy gas; we got about a quarter of tank from that.  Not enough to get us to NYC.

"Oh." Gerard mimicked me in a high pitched voice before rolling his eyes.  "'Oh' isn't going to fucking get us anywhere."

I bit my lip, attempting to not say anything.  It was just the nicotine cravings talking.  It was just his frustration.

"'Oh' isn't going to get us fucking gas or fucking food.  Especially fucking food.  You eat too damn much.  You eat enough to feed an entire army, god damn."
Just the cravings, he didn't mean any of it.  I closed my eyes, mentally trying to block out his rant about how much I ate.

"I don't see how you don't weigh a fucking ton.  I should have just fucking left you behind so that way I would at least get some damn food.  Let the fucking brainwashing zombies get you.  Maybe they'd eat you.  There would be enough for a fucking feast, eating you."

"Shut the fuck up Gerard!" my eyes flew open as I glared at him before quickly getting out of the cabin of the truck.  As I walked away, I heard him yelling something, but what exactly, I didn't know.  I just walked into the forest, not bothering to look back.

Eventually, I came across a small creek and I sat down on a somewhat flat, grey rock.  I needed to calm down some.  I picked up a rock and threw it into the creek, anger surging through my throw.  There was really no reason why I should have gotten so upset.  We had been on edge ever since Ray had called us a couple of days ago.  We had caused tension between us, which was the last thing that we needed.  It didn't help that Gerard was battling his absence of cigarettes.  I sprawled out on the rock, soaking in the warm sunlight.  It was soothing, to bask.  I could see why reptilians did it.

"Frank?  Frankie?"  I opened my eyes, not realizing I had even closed them in the first place.  The sun wasn't in the same area as it had been when I had last glanced at it; how long had I been out there?  I shifted my head slightly to see Gerard hovering a few inches away from me.  "Oh God!  I thought you had died or something." A sheepish smile had spread across his face, causing my own to crack.

"Something like that."  I slowly sat up, looking around at the scenery.  It was honestly pretty amazing that Gerard had even been able to find me out here.  How long had he been looking?

"Right after you left, I had felt terrible about what I had said to you and so I went looking for you.  And obviously I found you," he paused, sitting down next to me somewhat awkwardly.  "And while I was looking for you, I was thinking.  How do you see me?"

I raised an eyebrow at his question.  That was the sort of thing a girl asked a boy if she liked him.  Honestly, it caused butterflies in my stomach.  Which was strange.  Extremely strange.  "I…uh…" I couldn't think of how to explain it to him because I couldn't explain it to myself.

Apparently my confusion had been enough of an answer for him, because he suddenly leaned him and melted his soft lips with my own.  His lips felt better than any girl's lips, which came as a pleasant surprise.  He pulled away hesitantly, only a couple of inches however.  "Would you do anything for me, even if it may be illegal?" he murmured.

At that moment, I would.  And I told him so, causing a tiny smile to form on his perfect lips.  Lips I wanted to kiss and caress and generally never not touch again.

"Will you rob a gas station with me?"