Please, Try Again - 2

I just wanted to clear something up. This isn't intending to be a pedophile fic. Their ages do play a factor in their relationship, but it is not the focus or the center of it, and if anything, most of the time the boys forget the difference.

Title: Please, Try Again - Chapter 2
Author: vitalspark
Pairing: Frank/Gerard . Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Adam Lazzara all end up making appearances.
Rating: NC-17 as a whole.
Summary: AU -- "This, was real..." 23 year-old Gerard 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: None yet, maybe soon?
Disclaimer: Fake, fake, fake.


All chapters, etcetera, can be found at vitalspark.




A celebrity. Gerard was still getting used to the fact that he could technically be called one, and it blew his mind. He didn't quite understand the concept of being famous, and he definitely didn't understand all of the attention people were suddenly paying him, but he did know that he loved what he was doing, and he wanted to continue it.

He fell into acting, really. One night he had been called by one of his best friends from his college years, Pete Wentz. Pete lived in New York City just a short drive from where Gerard lived in New Jersey, and had grown successful promoting up&coming bands, taking a step in starting tour managing, and then managing a band as a whole. He had gotten a brand new job at a prominent label, and was now officially in charge of development of two major new bands that had a lot of buzz around them. Being able to afford a nice apartment in the city now, Pete invited him up to hang out and 'rub elbows' at an industry event, and then gush over the new apartment that for once, allowed you to sleep in peace, and not hearing every single sound your neighbors made.

The industry party was a blast, Gerard and Pete talked it up with Pete's co-workers, some of the musicians of the bands he was working with, celebrities that had attended the event. He was a bit intimidated by it all, but he kept the butterflies down and remained sociable and bright, attracting the eye of an agent who was standing in the corner.

Steven Daschalls was by no means a man who would go quietly into the night. When he saw something that had the possibility of money signs, he immediately had to have it. And Gerard Way, had promise. A partner in a prominent agency in Los Angeles catering to the A-list of Hollywood, he could spot talent. And Gerard's social attitude, while still maintaining a quiet and calm demeanor, would turn to gold.

It wasn't long before Steven introduced himself and hands were shook, a proposition made, and suddenly, a new outlook on where Gerard's life could lead. He had studied acting in school for years, going up for the lead roles, starting to successfully nail them after his sophmore year of high school. Many times he had dreamed about going to Hollywood and becoming an actor, but not wanting to leave New Jersey, he had thought about simply going to Broadway instead.

By the end of the week, Gerard found himself in LA, auditioning for role after role. Frank stayed behind in New Jersey, and the two called each other frequently, telling the stories of what had happened that day, gossiping about how it was going in LA, when Gerard was going to get a big fat paycheck so they could buy a house and have a big splashy wedding so Frank could wear a white tux with a train attached to it. Gerard put his foot down on the outfit choice.

He managed to get a part in an indie movie playing a tortured high school student who feels he can't take it anymore, and opens fire at his school. Few studios wanted to pick it up, after recent school shootings executives were afraid to take a movie with such a bold statement, not wanting to have to do the damage control. But, then the reviews started rolling in. It was quickly titled 'the indie film of the year', and sent tongues talking and journalists claiming an Oscar-worthy performance by the newcomer, Gerard Way. The industry started to talk to this movie that was sure to shock audiences, and soon, a major film studio in the city picked up the film, and released it to theatres.

His life had changed dramatically since then. The moment the film was released, studios called Steven begging to have Gerard in thier films, and by the end of the spring, Gerard had completed two more films. Another independant film, and his first feature length debut. Frank joined him as much as he could with the traveling to promote the films and the filming, but he understood Gerard was busy, and he didn't fuss or complain about how suddenly, he saw him less and less.

The fourth-of-July weekend came, and Gerard snuck home for a quiet weekend alone with his family. During a few quiet moments alone, he brought Frank to the bench-swing on the porch, sitting next to him and sharing his love, his devotion, and how with how much everything in his life was changing at that moment, he wanted Frank to be the one constant thing that was always there.

"Will you spend your life with me?" he had asked quietly, a hush to his voice as he produced the small box with a soft golden band inside.

Frank looked up at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, it no longer matter that at that moment in time what Frank's age was, or what his own was. All he knew, was that this was the rest of his life.


"Yes," Frank had whispered.

* * *

This, this was a day off. Guaranteed by Gerard to Frank that he was going to be around for the day and they could sit back and relax. Sitting out on the patio Frank had come up with the idea that Gerard was far too pale, and to accurately be a Hollywood celebrity, he needed to have a 'tall dark and handsome look'. And since he didn't have the tall thing going for him, he needed to be dark and handsome. Refusing to let him do any spray-ons, there they lay, side by side down on towels on the concrete next to the pool, sunglasses over Frank's eyes.

Gerard turned his head, watching Frank relax. Moving onto his side, he scooted to him a little and wrapped his arm around his waist, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Gerard!" Frank whined, slapping at his arm. "You're going to make my tan un-even and I'm going to have a stripe across my stomach then!"

"Are you picking tanning over kissing me?" Gerard asked, an amused tone to his voice as he opened his eyes and gazed down at him. "You know, if you keep those sunglasses on your face, the sun's going to tan that imprint out on them, and you're going to look like a damned fool."

Frank immediately took off the sunglasses. "Punk," he mumbled, though he looked up at him and smiled. Lifting up a hand, he brought Gerard's face closer to his, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I love you, spray-on boy."

"Shut up!" Gerard exclaimed, laughing. "It was your idea to tan in the first place, I'd rather be inside watching, I don't know... watching some tv show. Instead I'm baking like a lobster."

"And that's why we're out tanning, so we're not sitting on the couch like bumps on a log getting fat over candy," Frank said, poking at his chest.,

Gerard lifted an eyebrow at him, looking up at his cellphone as it rang and picking it up. "That's why we're just laying out here, like bumps on the sidewalk, getting fat over not moving so all of our fat settles. I love you too," he said, kissing him again before answering the phone, laying back on his towel. The sun really was hot out there, especially for it being the end of October.

After he had answered the phone, Frank looked up at him and sat up, moving his towel closer to Gerard's body and laying down next to him, pressing his chest to Gerard's side. Listening to his conversation with the person on the phone, he figured it was his manager, and kept quiet as he listened to Gerard discuss a script that Steven had had sent to Gerard's place. Making a face, he imitated a few of the things he could hear from the phone, earning a light smack from Gerard. Once Gerard was off the phone he sighed and looked over at Frank, and Frank knew immediately what had happened. "Where do you have to go now?" he asked quietly, disappointed that their day together was ruined.

"New York," Gerard said, sitting up. "Steven's on his way over here to pick me up. There's a photoshoot with a really good photographer he was able to set up last minute so, that's why this is all really sudden."

Frank sat up with him, sighing and moving to his feet, picking up his towel. "Okay," he said, "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow or something?" he asked, keeping his eyes on his folding of the fabric.

"What, why?" Gerard asked, picking up his towel and folding it as well. Once he was done, he placed a hand on Frank's arm. "I want you to come too, okay?"

"Okay," Frank agreed, a soft smile crossing his lips as he looked up at him. He moved to press a kiss to his mouth, but the patio door opened and Steven walked out, Gerard's hand immediately dropping from Frank's and taking a step backwards.

"Hey Steven," he said, placing his towel on a table and greeting the man. "Give me a few moments to get a bag together, and I'll be all ready to go. Frank's going to come too."

Steven looked over at Frank standing there, towel in hand, sunglasses perched on the top of his head half-naked and looked back at Gerard. "It's better if you do this alone Gerard, you don't need an entourage so soon, and when you do, it's better to have adults. Why do you keep bringing the kid along?"

Frank's lips pressed together in a flat line, looking away as he tried to figure out what to do with himself. Jump over backgate and walk in front door? Push through Gerard and Steven rudely? Stand there and hear himself being talked about? Gerard looked over at Frank and caught his unsure look, bringing his gaze back to Steven.

"Frank," he said, emphasizing his name, "is coming with us. Mind your own business, he's not in the way." Lifting up his eyebrows as if he expected Steven to challenge him, he turned and walked into the house, motioning towards Frank. "Come on Frank," he said, "we gotta pack really quick."

* * *

It was different, watching Gerard in a photoshoot. He had seen it many times in the past few months, but each time it still amazed him, still intrigued him. Photography had always been something he was in love with, and in the past few months after Gerard had bought him a professional camera with his first paycheck from the indie movie, he had frequented local shows of bands in New Jersey and started to take live-show photos. Making friends with the musicians he had moved into doing photoshoots with bands, but it was far different than this was.

Gerard stood in a living room set, a suit on, his face and hair groomed to perfection. Frank stood just behind the photographer, watching the way everything ran, a happy grin crossing over his lips. Gerard caught his eye, and a small shy smile crossed over his lips at Frank, the photographer exclaiming he loved the 'shy allure' of it and asking him to do it again.

Biting back a laugh, Frank stepped away from the shoot and walked over to the table with a few bowls of snacks for people in the room, picking up a pretzel and biting into it. A sharp voice caused him to jump. "Move out of the fucking way kid!" a man snapped, moving a large light right next to him, one of the legs running over Frank's foot. He made a face but kept silent, clearing his throat and shaking it off.

Finishing the pretzel he walked around the room, leaving it and walking down into the hallway. Once he turned the corner, he stopped when he saw two men talking to each other in hushed voices, cellphone ear pieces attached to their ear, pouring over papers in a black folder. One look up and spotted him. "What are you doing here kid?" he asked, "this is a private hallway."

"I uh... I'm just with the photoshoot... in E-24...," Frank stammered, pressing his lips together. Fuck, Gerard didn't like it when Frank ended up where he wasn't supposed to be, and this looked to be one of those spots.

"Well then get back to E-24, if you get caught in this hallway again we'll tell your boss you're snooping around where you're not supposed to, now get," he said, turning back to the papers and returning to the conversation.

Sighing, Frank turned around and walked back into the hallway the room was off of, his head down to the ground, biting the inside of his lip as he tried to figure out what to do. He figured he could go back and watch, it just got kind of boring after a few minutes, standing there like a log.

The door to the room opened and Gerard glanced out, pausing when he saw Frank. Leaving the room he took Frank's arm and pulled him down the hall in the opposite direction of which Frank had just come from, shoving open the door to the Men's room and locking it behind them. Checking to make sure nobody else was in the room, Gerard gazed down at Frank and grinned, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling his body firm against his.

"Mine," he said softly, having learned just as easily all those years ago to make the claim just as Frank had. Leaning down, Frank didn't have time to respond as he felt the firm lips against his, the deep kiss. His body relaxed against his, curving to fit his chest, his arms moving around his waist, holding his body to his. Every time they broke to take a quick breath he joined their lips right back together in a fused duality, sucking on his bottom lip, his hands lifting up to cup Gerard's neck, moaning into his mouth.

Frank was breathless, but he still choked out a few words. "Yours," he confirmed, his eyes lifting to meet his between kisses, before pressing another one to his lips. "I love you."

Smiling, Gerard lifted a hand and brushed some hair out of Frank's eyes, tilting his face up and pressing a tender kiss to his forehead. "I love you too Frank," he said softly, before his face slid down, lightly brushing his lips back against his tenderly.