"It's this one right - 249?" Gerard asked as he approached one of the many identical looking doors in Frank's apartment complex, praying that he hadn't gotten turned around and ended up on the wrong floor, because this place was much larger than it had seemed from the outside, and Frank instructions hadn't been very descriptive.

Frank had demanded that Gerard put him down once they had entered the building, but he was still leaning heavily against Gerard's side, and he hadn't spoken a word except when he handed Gerard his keys and mumbled his apartment number weakly, leaving Gerard to fend for himself and hope that room number 249 was indeed on the second floor.

"Yeah..." Frank rasped out, and Gerard nervously put the key in the lock. For some reason, he was terrified that he was going to enter the wrong apartment, and even though he knew that the door wouldn't open if that were the case, he still felt like he needed to double check before he busted in on some poor soul trying to sleep, or fuck, or whatever.

But the key turned easily, and no one attacked Gerard, or aimed a shot gun at him, so he assumed that he had gotten the right building, and he felt like giving himself a pat on the back for successfully getting Frank home safely, but his hands were sort of busy supporting Frank's small frame right now, so he was saved from making the embarrassing gesture.

Gerard helped Frank inside, hanging his keys on the hook that looked like it was made for that specific purpose before turning to Frank warily. Now that Gerard was inside his home, he didn't know how to act, and even though his first instinct was to bolt, he couldn't leave until he made sure that Frank was taken care of.

"So uh...do you live alone or -" Gerard was cut off by Frank clasping a hand over his mouth and all but sprinting down a hallway which Gerard could only guess led to the bathroom, leaving Gerard to stare after him with his jaw still hanging open slightly.

When Gerard heard the sounds of retching coming from the room Frank had disappeared into, his feet began moving without any conscious decision on his end, and he followed the noises until he spied Frank on his knees in front of the toilet, gagging weakly as his body was wracked with small tremors.

"Oh Frank..." Gerard whispered, sinking down beside him carefully.

"It's okay - I'll be okay, you can go home if you need to."

"I'm not leaving until you have someone here with you. Is there someone I should call - family maybe...or a boyfriend?" Gerard asked, and even though this wasn't the time to be thinking about Frank's love life, Gerard couldn't keep the distasteful tone out of his voice, but Frank didn't seem to notice - thank fuck.

"No - no family, no boyfriend. I live here alone...but I'm used to this. I get sick a lot, especially in the winter. I'll be fine," Frank protested again, but Gerard's mind was already made up, and there was no fucking way he was leaving Frank in this state.

"Well I have nowhere to be, so I can hang around for a bit. At least let me get your coat off," Gerard offered, because a light sheen of sweat was breaking out on Frank's brow, and he had to be uncomfortable wearing all of those layers inside.

"You are so sweet - are you even real?" Frank asked groggily as he peered up at Gerard with bleary eyes.

"Yeah - I'm real," Gerard chuckled as he unzipped Frank's heavy parka, removing the jacket from his slim shoulders before moving on to the scarf and hat.

"Thank you," Frank sighed out, leaning his head against the toilet bowl when Gerard was finished.

"I'm gonna go get you some water okay?"

Gerard didn't wait for a reply before heading into Frank's kitchen, grabbing the first glass he saw and filling it with tap water. When Gerard returned to the bathroom, he found Frank in the same position he had left him in, but he lifted his head and graced Gerard with a weak smile when he saw him.

"You are a lifesaver." Frank held out his shaking hands for the cup, but Gerard was nervous that he would drop it, so he kept his fingers cupped over Frank's as he raised the glass to his lips, tightening his hold as Frank sipped from it eagerly.

"Go slow...I don't want you getting sick again," Gerard cautioned Frank, receiving a raised eyebrow from the shorter man in response.

"Okay mom," Frank teased, causing Gerard's cheeks to flame an alarming shade of red, and not in a good way this time.

Frank's statement had embarrassed Gerard, even though he knew that probably hadn't been Frank's intention, but he was right. Gerard was acting like a flustered mother over Frank, a stranger he didn't even know, which was pretty fucking weird, even for someone like Gerard, and he was overcome with a sudden bout of self-consciousness.

"I - I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help...I used to throw up a lot when I first started drinking, and I would be so thirsty that I would chug a ton of water and then get sick all over again..." Gerard stammered out, setting down the glass of water so he could wring his hands together anxiously.

"Oh honey, I wasn't being serious. You don't know how happy I am that you are here...I hate going through this alone, and the fact that you actually want to take care of me means a hell of a lot." Frank clasped Gerard's hands in his own, stopping his nervous motion entirely, and Gerard pretty much swooned on the spot, because fuck - Frank was holding his hand...sort of.

"It's no big deal, my friend always come over when I'm sick to do this sort of stuff for me, and I want to do it for you," Gerard chuckled softly, trying his best to suppress a small shiver when Frank squeezed his hands lightly.

"There needs to be more people like you in the world - seriously, you are an angel." Frank smiled up at Gerard before pulling himself to his feet, and even though he swayed slightly for a moment, he looked steadier than he had on the walk home, and his color wasn't nearly as green as it had been.

"Careful," Gerard gasped when Frank tried to take a step and stumbled alarmingly, causing Gerard to leap upward so he could catch Frank if he fell.

"I'm okay, but - um...could you help me into my room? I want to change out of these clothes, I got vomit on my pants earlier." Frank grimaced in distaste as he spoke.

"Yeah sure." Gerard hooked his arm under Frank's, and together they made it into Frank's bedroom without incident.

Gerard took a second to gaze at his surroundings while Frank rummaged around in his closet, and Gerard was pleasantly surprised by what he saw, even though he had no idea what he had been expecting. The walls were covered with photographs, most of them seemed to be in black and white, but there were numerous colored ones as well, and various band posters appeared at random intervals.

"Did you take these?" Gerard asked, running his hands over one of the photos in an attempt to distract himself from the fact that Frank was changing behind him, because Gerard was not going to sneak a peek out of the corner of his eye - the thought hadn't even crossed his mind, or that was what Gerard was trying to convince himself of at least.

"Yeah I did. I went to school for photography, but now I just do it for fun mostly." Frank's voice came out muffled at the end, probably because he was pulling on a shirt, and it took all the self-control Gerard possessed not to turn around and see if Frank had any more ink besides the work on his arms, but he resisted somehow.

"They are beautiful..." Gerard whispered, and he almost jumped out of his skin when Frank walked up behind him.

"Thanks, I'm glad someone likes them."

"You are so interesting..." Gerard mumbled quietly, and even though he was speaking to himself, Frank heard him.

"Yeah - you think so?" Frank smiled broadly, and Gerard felt his heart swell in his chest when he realized he had been the one to put that expression on Frank's face.

"Of course I do, I mean - you sing, you dance, you look hot as fuck in woman's clothing, you are an amazing photographer, and I'm sure there is one hundred other fascinating things about you that I don't know yet," Gerard rambled, his cheeks heating up as Frank stared intently at him as he spoke.

"Nah - that's pretty much it, and I am sure you are plenty interesting too," Frank brushed Gerard off, but unless Gerard was imagining it, Frank was blushing slightly, or that could just be the fever he was probably running, but Gerard liked to think he had something to do with the red tint on Frank's face.

"I - I'm not - I'm pretty lame actually." Gerard winced at his words, but luckily for him, Frank was hit with a coughing fit at that exact moment, which successfully distracted him from Gerard for the time being.

"Fuck - 's okay...I'm fine," Frank waved Gerard off feebly, but that didn't stop Gerard from dragging him into bed and forcing him to lie down.

"So...uh - are you hungry? I can make you something small, like toast, or...uh," Gerard trailed off, not quite sure what else he could do for Frank to make him more comfortable, and honestly, he probably just needed to sleep.

"Nah, I'm not ready to stomach food yet. I think I'm just gonna rest my eyes for a bit," Frank mumbled quietly.

"Okay, well uh - I guess I should go. I hope you feel better," Gerard's heart twisted at the thought of leaving Frank, but there was no way he was going to hang around and watch him sleep, he wasn't some sparkly vampire.

"You don't have to..." Frank whispered, but his eyelids were already drooping shut, and Gerard knew it was time to leave.

But Gerard didn't even make it halfway down the hallway before he heard the patter of feet rushing past him, followed by familiar retching noises which meant that Frank was getting sick again.

"Shit..." Gerard sighed out as he backtracked a few steps until he was standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

Frank was in the same position he had been in the first time, hunched over the toilet seat weakly as his body shook each time he threw up. Not really thinking about what he was doing, Gerard began to rub Frank's back gently, pressing small circles into the tense muscles until he felt the knots slowly coming undone.

"I feel like shit," Frank whined when his body had finally decided to stop purging, for the time being anyway.

"I know...you need to sleep this off."

"Can't lay down...makes my stomach hurt," Frank rasped out as he curled in on himself feebly.

Gerard hated seeing Frank like this, so sick, and weak, and in pain, and Gerard wanted to take away everything that was troubling him, even if he had to absorb all of Frank's symptoms into his own body, but that was impossible of course, so Gerard would just have to do the next best thing and be there for him so he wouldn't have to suffer alone.

And even though it physically hurt Gerard to hear Frank whimper softly as another wave of sickness hit him, in a way, being with Frank right now, or more importantly - still wanting to stay with Frank - proved to Gerard that he wasn't just infatuated with the Frankie persona he had seen on stage - no, he truly liked the real Frank, the sick, exhausted, puking person in front of him was still making Gerard's heart race in his chest, and that had to mean something - right?

"Well come on then, let's go sit on the couch, maybe you can get some rest that way." Frank made no move to get up off the floor, so Gerard scooped him up again just like he had in the alley, and Frank instantly wrapped his arms around Gerard's neck.

"I like when you carry me," Frank giggled softly.

"Well good, because I like carrying you too," Gerard grinned down at Frank, and fuck - this was too good to be real, but this was happening, Gerard was flirting with Frank, and he hadn't bitten his own tongue, or fallen flat on his face, or anything idiotic like he would have expected from himself.

Once they entered Frank's living room, Gerard placed Frank on the couch carefully before heading back into the kitchen to get Frank more water, making a detour into the bedroom to snag a blanket as well. Frank's face literally lit up when Gerard returned to his side, and Gerard decided then and there that he would do whatever it took to see Frank smile like that again.

"Here - I thought you might be getting cold," Gerard wrapped Frank up securely in the blanket before discarding his coat and scarf, which he had never had the chance to take off. Once he was free of the heavy article of clothing, Gerard sat beside Frank gingerly, trying to give him some space, even though his body ached to move closer to the shivering man.

"I'm tired...but I don't want to lie down," Frank grumbled irritably, and fuck - Frank looked way too cute when he was sick and pissed off, it shouldn't even be legal for a person too be that adorable.

"Just lean on my side, that way you are still upright, and maybe it won't upset your stomach." Gerard opened his arms wide, and Frank instantly took his invitation, snuggling up against his chest with a content sigh.

"You are warm..." Frank mumbled, burying his face in Gerard's shirt happily.

And even though Gerard knew Frank was just sick, and looking for comfort, Gerard was sort of having a mini heart attack as Frank wrapped his own limbs around Gerard, because this was Frank, and Gerard was cuddling with him. This was the highest point of Gerard's entire existence, and it would take a hell of a lot to trump this.

Gerard opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say in response to Frank's statement, but he couldn't think with Frank pressed up against him, and Frank seemed half asleep already anyway, so Gerard decided to just shut up and enjoy this moment for as long as it lasted.

Omg look at me updating in a timely fashion, I am so proud of myself haha.

This story is just so much fun to write, I love it so much. It's probably the cutest, fluffiest thing I have ever written, and it just makes me happy haha.

Okay, I'm really fucking tired, and I think I'm getting sick, but I am in major denial, so I will see how that works out for me.

((((healthy vibes))))

<3 starr