Gerard was laying on his bed, listening to the soft sounds of a cassette tape that Frank had chosen to play. His eyes were closed and he was trying to drown out the sounds of his parents’ bickering. He was also trying to make the space as comfortable as possible while he and Frank healed from their wounds. Especially Frank, who had been on and off sobbing all afternoon while his broken arm fused back together. Frank stirred from his nap, turning onto his stomach to look at Gerard with those big hazel eyes. The Alpha turned from his comic book to gaze down at the omega on his chest, "How’s it hangin’, daddy-o?"

"How are you?"

"Me?" Gerard frowned, "You're the one who got hurt."

"So were you." Frank sat up on his elbow, "You got beat to shit, Gerard Arthur."

Gerard shrugged and looked back up at the ceiling through his broken glasses; he and Frank had returned to the bridge an hour later to retrieve their belongings, grateful that everything had still been left where it had been previously disregarded. Bert had given Gerard his glasses back but Frank's fanny pack had been strewn across the road in a feral haste. Gerard had rescued the belted satchel for his omega, who had then sat and sewed it once they were in the safety of the Alpha’s house. Frank sat up, looking anxious as Gerard turned to him with another lazy-armed shrug, "I said, I'm fine."

"Just because our bruises and bones heal fast and the physical scars are gone, doesn't mean that we aren't still hurt inside." Frank stated simply, his voice softer than usual as he lay a hand on Gerard’s arm, "My arm is already healed from this afternoon, but does that mean that I'm over what happened? Fuck no."

Gerard looked away from Frank's earnest gaze, his heart picking up in pace. His eyes stung with tears that betrayed his usual cool exterior. "Gerard…" Frank shuffled closer on his knees as Gerard sat himself up, "It's okay to not be okay. Just because you're an Alpha, it doesn't mean you always have to be strong."

Gerard looked down at his lap, the omega's words resonating in his head and bouncing off his skull like a paddle-ball. His hot and salty tears rolled down his cheeks as he exhaled shakily and threw his glasses onto the bed. The omega let out a soft, sympathetic whimper and came in, wrapping his arms around his vulnerable Alpha - The touch only made Gerard cry harder and latch onto his best friend.

"It's okay." Frank whispered as he ran his hands through Gerard's greasy locks to soothe him, "You're okay."

Gerard let out a small sob, his eyes scrunching closed as more tears fell down his cheeks. He exhaled shakily and held Frank close, taking in the honey scent that began clouding his head and comforting him down to his core. Frank continued his quietened cooing, his soft voice whispering gentle thoughts into Gerard's ear. All Frank could do was sit there and hold him, he could do nothing but hope that his Alpha would be okay. Gerard's brain wouldn't switch off as per usual, his mind flashing with brutal images of everything that had happened; and even more terrifying, what could have been the outcome, what could have occurred, and what could have befallen them both. He had never felt so guilty and broken in his entire life.

"Please be okay." Frank's voice sounded shaky as though he, too, was on the verge of tears. And he was, his soft omega emotions were tipping over at the sight of his strong alpha being so vulnerable.

It took ages for Gerard to stop crying, his tears stopped falling despite his body still hiccupping with every painful breath he took.

"It's okay, Gerard." Frank sat back and took Gerard's head in his hands, wiping his tears. Gerard's cheeks flooded with a red tinge that was akin to shame for him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry. I was just- I got emotional thinking about the last time I had sex with your mom." Gerard wiped his tears on the back of his hand when Frank let out a snort.

"Good God, Gerard. Now? Really?"

"Yes, really." Gerard nodded, "It was filthy and-"

"Shuddup, Gee." Frank whispered as a small smile floated across his lips, a relieved smile that was indicative of just how much his Alpha affected his emotions. He leaned in to give Gerard's forehead a soft kiss as Gerard fiddled with Frank's fingers in a delicate fashion, "I have to go soon."

"Mrs. Iero coming to pick you up?" Gerard asked as Frank got up and began collecting his belongings, "I'm surprised you haven't been collected yet. She hasn't seen you in over a week."

"She's probably on her way already." Frank rolled his eyes as he started putting on his shoes, sitting on the edge of the unmade bed.

"No doubt."

He heard the phone ring in the kitchen and his father answered it, there was a pause before he then heard the unexpected call up the stairs, "Gerard!"

"Yeah, Pop?"

"Tyler's on the phone for ya, boy!"

"Coming!" Gerard yelled back at his father and looked at Frank, "I'll be right back."

Frank smiled and waved Gerard off as he sat back on Gerard's bed. Gerard smiled back before he walked out of his bedroom and across the landing before he descended the stairs. He walked into the kitchen and took the receiver from his dad, putting it to his ear, "Hey, Roberto. What's up?"

"Gerard…" Tyler barely croaked over the receiver, his voice seemed higher in pitch and strained with anxiety.

"What happened?"

"Thuh-They saw us." Tyler spoke suddenly, "Juh-Josh and I were ow-out at the puh-park for his buh-buh-birds and he leaned in to kuh-kiss me and suh-suh-someone saw us, Gee. Suh-Someone from his kuh-congregation or something, suh-someone who nuh-nuh-knew his duh-dad."

"Oh, fuck." Gerard put a hand to his forehead, his stomach lurching, "How's Josh?"

"He's fuh-fuh-fucking luh-losing it. He's been pah-panicking all duh-day. So huh-have I, Gee. I kuh-kuh-can't lose him." Tyler's voice cracked, "I duh-don't know wuh-wuh-what to do."

"Dude…" Gerard breathed out, an awkward bubble in his chest because he had no idea what to say at this moment, especially over the phone.

"Uh-Uh-Are you buh-busy?"

"Right now?" Gerard asked when he heard the loud rumble of a station wagon pull up outside. The car was definitely Linda's old yellow car and from the streetlight outside, Gerard could see the large woman behind the wheel.

"Frank, dear!" Donna called up the stairs, "Your mother is here!"

"Coming, Mrs. Way!" Frank called back and Gerard smiled, turning back to the phone.

"I can meet you somewhere if you wanna get out the house." Gerard shrugged as he heard Frank coming down the stairs.

"Muh-Muh-Meet at the puh-park?" Tyler asked, "In about tuh-tuh-ten minutes."

"Got it." Gerard hung up and looked at Frank in the doorway.

"You okay?" Frank asked as he adjusted his backpack.

"Yeah, I'm meeting Tyler at the park in ten. He's had a bad day." Gerard stated as he pulled Frank into a hug, "I'll see you tomorrow, or something?"

"Of course." Frank promised and turned to kiss Gerard swiftly on the cheek when they were sure that no one was looking, "Gotta go."

"Please do before Linda has a fucking embolism." Gerard laughed when he heard the car horn beeping irritably outside. Frank ran out of the house and down the drive. He climbed into the car and Gerard watched them drive away from the kitchen window.

Gerard grabbed his coat from the hook on the kitchen wall and slid it on before he looked into the living room at his mother, "Gonna go and see Tyler for a few minutes, he's had a bad day." Gerard shrugged, "That okay, ma?"

"Don't be out too late." Donna warned, "Alpha or not, you're still my boy."

"Yes, mom." Gerard grinned and walked out of the front door. He shrugged his jacket on even further up on his neck and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked down Witcham Street towards the town center.

Gerard adjusted his broken glasses on his nose as the wind blew his hair in a gentle but crisp breeze. He looked at Tyler's house as he passed it, looking at the lights that were on, all except Tyler's bedroom at the top right. He pushed onward as he got to the end of the street a few moments later where he turned left onto Bianca and continued his tracks. He turned right onto Main street and then through an alley onto Lower Center street. He looked across the empty road at the park that was dimly lit. He jogged across the road and walked across the grass to where Tyler was sitting at one of the picnic tables.

"We live in the same street, we could have walked together," Gerard announced as he plopped down across from Tyler.

"I wuh-wasn't home." Tyler whispered, still not looking up as he toyed with a paperclip in between his shaky finger, "I wuh-wuh-was with Josh."

"So, what did I miss?"

"We were huh-huh-here today and he was buh-busy looking for some buh-buh-bird in his buh-buh-book and I was writing duh-dumb shuh-shit in my juh-journal." Tyler began, "And there was no one uh-around in the puh-park so he kuh-kuh-kissed me and we huh-heard a kuh-car stuh-start and we looked up and I saw Mr. Buh-Buh-Burman from Mr. D-Dun's tuh-temple. He was luh-luh-looking straight at us, Gee. He luh-luh-looked muh-me in the eye. He looked duh-duh-disgusted."

"What then?"

"We ruh-an off after thuh-that and muh-muh-met up in the Spuh-Springs a while later, and Josh was fuh-freaking out. His dad was at the tuh-temple all duh-day and he pruh-pruh-probably knows and I duh-don't want to guh-guh-go home and fuh-face my fuh-folks just in kuh-case they were tuh-tuh-told."

"Remind me again…" Gerard frowned, "Why is it so bad that you're together?"

"Well, buh-buh-besides the oh-oh-obvious fact thuh-that we're buh-both men." Tyler scoffed, "He's Juh-Juh-Jewish and I'm Kuh-Catholic. He's a buh-beta and I'm an uh-Alpha. We're guh-guh-gay. We're yuh-young. We're muh-mated already."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, that definitely won't fly in Clinton." Gerard pursed his lips, "I can't believe you're mated with Josh. That's like being married but with DNA not with papers."

"I know," Tyler replied and pulled out a small bottle of whiskey that he had clearly stolen from somewhere. He unscrewed the top and took a large sip. His face scrunched up at the taste, but he took another large gulp before he offered the bottle to Gerard.

"What the hell," Gerard whispered as he took the small hip bottle and took a sip, the amber liquid was fiery and intense and it made his throat burn. He swallowed hard, letting out a panted breath, "Fucking hell."

"I duh-don't know wuh-what to do." Tyler took another sip, grunting at the burn in his throat, "I luh-luh-love him with eh-eh-every fiber I have in my buh-buh-body. Even muh-more nuh-now that we're muh-mated. We're kuh-kuh-connected and I duh-don't want to chuh-change that. He's huh-who I want, even if it's not suh-suh-supposed to be that wuh-way."

"Well, just lay low until…" Gerard took a third swig of whiskey, "Until it blows over. See each other in secret like Frankie and I. Until you can fuck off out of this place."

"It's nuh-not that ee-easy." Tyler snorted, "I don't thuh-thuh-think we'll eh-ever get to luh-leave this puh-place. And Josh… His duh-dad is juh-juh-just... His duh-dad is a reh-reh-reputable muh-man in the kuh-kuh-community and his suh-son is some muh-muh-mated beta fuh-fag."

Gerard winced at the harsh venom in Tyler's voice and looked around them at the dark park. He saw someone walking towards them from the alley that connected Falcon street, and he squinted through the crack in his glasses, "Who is that?"

Tyler turned and looked in the direction and back at Gerard, "It's Fuh-Frank."

Gerard jumped up, "What?!" He clambered out of the picnic bench and looked up as Frank crossed the street and walked onto the grass. Gerard looked at Tyler and then ran to the omega, pulling him into their small huddle with haste, "Frank, what the hell?"

"I-I had to find you." Frank whispered, "I had a fight with my mom and-..."

"Why the fuck are you walking out here at night?" Gerard lectured sternly as he checked Frank for fresh wounds, "You could have been hurt, asshole!"

"Shut up. I can take care of myself." Frank pulled his arm from Gerard's grasp and sat down at the bench, "Hey, Big Ty."

"Huh-Huh-Hey, Fuh-Frank." Tyler greeted sullenly, "You…" He looked up, "Wuh-What happened to you?"

Gerard's head shot up as he looked at Tyler who was scrutinizing Frank, "What? Why?"

"His suh-suh-scent… It's muh-mixed with muh-muh-metal." Tyler narrowed his eyes, "So is Juh-Juh-Gerard's smell. What huh-happened to you two?"

"What does ‘metal smell’ mean?" Frank frowned and looked between the two alphas.

"It muh-means that yuh-your buh-buh-bodies have ruh-recently had to heal." Tyler explained, "What wuh-was it?"

Gerard let out a growl as Frank flinched, "Bert."

Tyler let out a small and impatient snarl, "The buh-buh-bullshit he guh-gets away with is fuh-fuh-fucking amazing."

"It's because we heal that he doesn't get hit with any repercussions." Frank scowled, "If it helps, Gerard stabbed Jeph today."

Tyler smiled slightly, "I huh-hope it huh-hurt."

"Not as much as it should have after what he did to Frank. I swear to motherfuck-" Gerard seethed when Frank cut him off by putting a hand on his.

"Don't. It's over now. And it didn't go any further. I'm fine." Frank reassured and saw Tyler's questioning gaze, "They… They tried to take advantage of me."

Tyler remained silent as he took another heavy gulp of whiskey, his body trembling with a pure rage that seemed to be physically exuding from his skin in waves. It seemed to affect Gerard as well, the secondary alpha seemed to be growling under his breath, his mind flashed with the fresh memories of Frank's crying screams. Gerard bristled heatedly as he took a sip of the whiskey, "I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"Don't start this." Frank whispered calmly, giving Gerard's shaking hand a squeeze, "Please. Not now."

"Fuh-Frank," Tyler interrupted as the omega looked at him, "He huh-hurt you."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care. They're not worth it. We all have bigger problems in our life to deal with than high school bullies who can't move on."

"Tuh-True." Tyler looked down glumly, "Don't nuh-nuh-need to tuh-tell me twice."

"What happened to you?" Frank frowned as he obviously noticed the disheveled appearance of their pack Alpha. Gerard lit up a cigarette and took a long drag that was sorely needed, his lungs burning almost as much as his throat thanks to the kick from the alcohol.

"Juh-Josh and I were kuh-caught out." Tyler shrugged, "We're buh-buh-both juh-just on eh-edge."

"Oh…" Frank frowned, "Of course. Your stutter seems a lot worse than it has been in a long time."

"Isn't your mom looking for you?" Gerard glanced at Frank as he changed the subject when Tyler outwardly grimaced, "What did you argue about?"

"She found out what happened today and wanted to take me to the hospital." Frank scoffed, "I told her I was fine but she almost tried to wrestle me into the car."

"It's a miracle you got away."