Please, Try Again - 14

Title: Please, Try Again - Chapter 14
Author: vitalspark
Pairing: Frank/Gerard . Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Adam Lazzara, and Brendon Urie all end up making appearances.
Rating: NC-17 as a whole.
Summary: AU -- "This, was real..." 23 year-old Gerard Way shot to fame after portraying a tortured high school student who turns on his high school in the indie film of the year, immediately generating Oscar Buzz. Thrust suddenly into the spotlight, he's torn between his new hetero 'Hollywood 'It Boy'' status and lifestyle, and the small town homosexual man that he was -- engaged to his 17 year-old lover, Frank Iero.
POV: Third-person.
Authors Note: Gerard is 23, Frank is 17, but this is not a pedophile fic. Their ages are an important note to the story, but it is not all that the story is about. This story is set AU.
Dedications: Thank you to everyone who has commented!
Disclaimer: Fake, fake, fake.


All chapters, etcetera, can be found at vitalspark.

Thank you so much for the comments everyone, they're much appreciated!


Happy Holidays!

Thank you to everyone who's been reading this story, past and present! It means a lot to me all the comments that have been left and I do take time to read every one that's written, even if I don't always respond. I try to respond to at least all the comments that have posted in vitalspark, so thank you! By the way, I find it very amusing that though it's Christmas, it's just Thanksgiving in the story.

<3 VS


"You're not allergic to cheese," Patrick said, rolling his eyes.

"I am if you're cooking it," Frank said seriously.

Shaking his head at Frank’s remarks, Patrick continued to cook them lunch. Grilled cheese wasn't that hard to cook, after all.

Once finished, Patrick put the sandwiches on plates and handed one to Frank. "If it's bad, I'll pay for your headstone and funeral, okay?"

"I want a marble one," Frank mumbled, though a smile crossed over his face.

Rolling his eyes again - they were going to stick like that eventually with all of Franks remarks; he motioned for Frank to follow him after he picked up his plate. Leading him to the balcony of his apartment he stepped out and sat down on a chair, looking up at the night sky.

Frank sat next to him, his eyes trained up on the sky. "Whoa, awesome view. I haven't seen a sight like this in LA since I got here." Taking a bite of his sandwich, he shrugged. "It's usually too smoggy to see anything."

Nodding, Patrick smiled. "Definitely the reason why I took this place," he said. "I like to just sit out here and stare at it sometimes."

Both boys kept quiet for a few moments as they finished their sandwiches, Frank using the back of his sleeve to wipe is mouth instead of the napkin on his lap. Patrick shook his head a little, groaning. "You're so gross."

Laughing, Frank put his plate on the ground. Tilting his face back up, he searched for the constellations that he knew.

"Have you ever heard of 11:11?" Patrick asked suddenly.

Shaking his head, Frank looked over at him. "Besides the time? No."

"Well, yeah, the time. It's like, you make a wish at 11:11, and it's supposed to come true because all of the numbers on the clock are exactly the same without any blank spots or zeros."

Furrowing his eyebrows a little, Frank thought about it. "I see," he said. "So kind of like, wish on a shooting star to make it come true, only with time?"

Patrick nodded. Checking his watch, he pointed back to the sky. "In four minutes, make a wish."

They were silent for the next four minutes, and Frank lifted up his wrist to look at the time. When it hit 11:11, he looked up at the sky and closed his eyes as he made his wish.

"Dear 11:11 wish thingy," he said silently in his head.

"I wish for the Gerard Way I fell in love with."

* * *

By the time Gerard and Skylar returned back to the hotel, Frank still wasn't back yet. However, Gerard no longer noticed.

After hitting up a few of the trendy stores that he hadn't had the opportunity to see yet, and having a relatively paparazzi-free day aside from lunch at The Ivy, he had finally made one of his first "big" purchases for himself - a few pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage.

Absolutely enamored with it, he set down one of the pieces on the bed and started to touch the different zippers and pockets that it had, fully examining it. Skylar sat down on a chair appropriately far enough away from him, watching him in amusement.

"Once you go Vuitton," she teased, "you never go back."

Breaking his gaze away from the pieces, he laughed. "I'm starting to think you're right. I can't believe you convinced me to buy this."

"Well you wanted it!" she exclaimed, her eyes laughing. "Don't try and blame this on me. You had this longing look on your face and I felt like I was dragging away a little child from the doggy in the window!"

A blush tinted his cheeks. "Well," he said sheepishly. "It's not like I've ever really the type to go out and spend what I did on something like luggage. I mean, shit, the price this was could give me a few months rent back in Jersey. That's crazy shit!"

The door opened and Frank stepped in with a bit of hesitation, stopping when he saw Skylar in the chair, and his eyes moving up to Gerard, who briefly stopped and looked over his shoulder at him, giving him a slight nod. "Hey Frank," he said, before his eyes immediately moved back to the luggage.

Well, this wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. They needed more of this, really. As often as possible.

Frank stood in the doorway of the room for a moment, just staring at Skylar. Gerard had never formally introduced the two, and Frank had really just seen her around the set, and of course, from the tabloids. He pressed his lips together, tugging at the pockets of his jeans. Was it too late to go back and catch the cab that had dropped him off?

A warm smile crossing her lips, Skylar stood and walked to him, extending her hand. "I'm Skylar," she said, "I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting yet." While Gerard wasn't very much taller than Frank, Skylar was about the same height as him, which made her a few inches taller than Frank.

"I'm Frank," he said quietly. How much did she know about him? Did she know that he was Gerard's fiancé? Or his personal assistant?

Skylar answered the question before Frank could stutter out another remark. "Don't worry," she said reassuringly. "He told me."

"He did?" Frank asked slowly, a little unsure still. It wasn't like she had said what he had told her, after all. He wasn't sure how much of a secret he had to keep it in front of his co-stars.

Looking over her shoulder, she could see Gerard still messing with the luggage and she rolled her eyes, looking back at him. "He told me a lot about how you guys grew up together and stuff, and how you're engaged now. I think it's really cute."

Though he originally had more then a bit of animosity towards her for the tabloids and seeing her on set, he tried to calm himself. Skylar didn't seem so bad. "Th- Thanks," he said slowly.

He knew he wasn't acting very welcoming, and probably more of a jerk than anything else, but the situation with Gerard was consuming his thoughts.

"Excuse me," he said, stepping past her and making his way to Gerard. "Gee," he said softly. "Can we talk about last night?"

"What about it?" Gerard asked, his face remaining towards the luggage. "About the pictures? It's no big deal, just to keep the image to the public you know, remind them that I'm still out there."

"Yeah..." Frank trailed off. Was this how Gerard was going to act? As if it never happened?

Skylar looked between the two and pressed her lips together. "I'm going to go," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow Gerard. Frank, it was nice finally meeting you."

He faked a smile and nodded at her, watching her leave. Gerard looked up in time and waved, his attention returning right back to the luggage.

Frank watched Gerard for a few more moments before deciding to get ready for bed. Taking off the clothes he had been wearing for two days, he put them in the dirty laundry pile and pulled out new, fresh clothes to sleep in.

Gerard didn't say a single thing as Frank got ready for washed up, but he did move the luggage to the table before Frank came out of the bathroom.

As Frank was pulling down the blanket to climb in, Gerard suddenly looked at him.

"Oh yeah," he said. "By the way, tomorrow night I'll be gone so you should make plans to do something instead of just hanging out around here."

"What's tomorrow?" Frank asked, his hand still curved around the blanket.

Gerard rubbed the brow of his head, scratching his cheek before his hand went back to his luggage. "The studio is having a special press only screening of my film, and they're going to have it as its premiere."

His heart fell straight into his stomach as he heard him. Premiere? Why hadn't he been invited? "Your premiere?" Frank asked slowly. "Why didn't you ask me to go with you? I've always gone to stuff like this..."

Looking over his shoulder at him, Gerard lifted an eyebrow, shaking some hair out of his face. "Oh, I didn't know you wanted to go," he said, "I already invited Skylar."

"I'm your boyfriend, Gerard," Frank said, a frown on his face. "In case you forgot. Of course I would have wanted to go. It's your big day... you didn't even ask."

Waving him away, Gerard shrugged. "Oh, well, it's better anyway, so nobody suspects anything."

Frank just stared at him after that, and didn't say another word. Shaking his head slowly, he pulled the blankets the rest of the way down. This wasn't right at all.

"Fine," he said after a few moments. "I'll call up Patrick or something."

"You know you sure hang out with him a lot," Gerard teased lightly. "You cheating on me or something?"

Frank's head snapped up and he looked at him, glaring at his backside. He might as well have been, considering Gerard seemed to be cheating on him with his career.

His glare immediately disappeared when Gerard turned around and looked at him, giving him a bright smile. Walking over, he placed a hand on Frank's waist and pulled his body into his, pressing a deep kiss to his lips.

Frank's body immediately relaxed into Gerard's, though it felt as if in a way, he was betraying his frustration at the man. After a few seconds of Gerard's kiss though he slowly gave in, his hands pressing to Gerard's arms.

Gerard moved his face and pressed a few kisses down the side of Frank's face and neck, nipping at his skin lightly. Lifting his mouth back up to Frank's, he pressed another few kisses against him before hovering just above him and opening his eyes, smiling. "I love you," he whispered into his lips.

Opening up his eyes, Frank's breath caught in his throat and he nodded a little. "I love you too," he repeated.

Smiling, Gerard kissed him again before breaking away and returning to the luggage. "Thanks for being so understanding about tomorrow," he said, "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with Patrick, he's a cool kid."

"Yeah, he is," Frank said softly, getting into the bed and stretching out with a sigh.

Reaching over, he turned off the light that darkened his side of the room, Gerard's still brightly lit.

* * *

"So we're going to this why?" Patrick asked, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket.

The pair were walking down the street the night of the premiere in Hollywood, and Patrick was making a big fit about how cold it was. He donned a large jacket that gave him more than a bit of extra padding, while Frank walked with just a sweater over his frame.

"Because I want to know if he's cheating on me with Skylar," Frank said. "I've told you this four times, the reason we're going hasn't changed."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "And each time you've told me I can't believe you're actually doing this for that reason. I'm sorry, but, newsflash Frank! Gerard is a homosexual man. He likes penis. Penis likes him. No vagina allowed."

"Well that's what I thought too before he started spending all his time with Skylar," Frank mumbled, shooting his friend a short glare. "I mean, come on! He doesn't even try and acknowledge my existence half the time. You know when I came home last night? Nothing. Not any acknowledgement to the tabloids, just told me to get over it. He didn't ask where I had been, or what I had done, or how I was. Nothing."

"So this makes him suddenly straight..." Patrick said, trailing off as he stared at Frank. "Ever think he's just picked up the phrases egotistical, self-absorbed, selfish bastard? I like that myself."

His words were lost on Frank as he caught sight of the premiere. "Come on," he said, quickening his step as he walked closer to the crowd.

The people lined up along the carpet were a bit thick in numbers, so it was hard for Frank to get a good look. Finally, after squeezing in through a few people, he managed to get at least half a good look at the red carpet, a large shoulder still in his view.

A few people he vaguely recognized from having seen once or twice walked by, and he craned his neck to try and see down further. Nothing. Looking back the other way, he bit his lip slowly. Had they missed Gerard?

He heard mumblings from the people around him about waiting to see who Gerard showed up with, and he knew that he had in fact not missed him. A few more minutes passed, and Frank finally caught sight of him.

Walking down the carpet in full-view, stopping and talking to the press, the cameras just inches away from Frank, were Gerard Way & Skylar Payne. Hand-in-hand.

A frown immediately set on his face and his eyes darkened, staring at the pair that were talking to the press. He could vaguely hear the questions.

"So, are you two now officially a couple?" came a few repeated questions, microphones thrust in their face.

Gerard laughed. "No, no," he said, looking over at Skylar before looking back up at the camera. "Skylar and I are just really good friends. We met for the first time on set for our new film together and she's a really, really incredible woman."

A blush tinted Skylar's face as she looked at him, and she looked back at the cameras. "We're really just friends," she said, "Gerard's such a gifted actor and it's really nice being able to get to know him better."

Rolling his eyes more than he should, Frank started to feel sick to his stomach and he turned away from the carpet, pushing back through the crowd.

Meeting Patrick on the actual sidewalk, he growled and started walking back towards the apartment. "What?" Patrick asked in surprise, running to catch up with him. "What's going on?"

"Gerard Way better have one hell of an explanation for his behavior."