════════════════

For: @EdgyHaven

Request: I really loved the plot you've done for that one, imagine "Time" where it was between Gerard, The reader and Frankie! I was wondering if you could do a similar one to that except one of them turns out to be a cheater that's been cheating on the Reader for 3 months or so. So she/he/they turn to the other (Either Frank or Gee).

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED.

*

Note: So I'm not a big fan of writing about cheating, because I feel as if all cheating fics have essentially the same plot line. That being said, I hope that this is not complete trash and that you like it at least a little bit.

It's also important to note that this is post MCR, meaning that Frank and Gerard are no longer bandmates in this story. It was just better for the plot to do it that way. x

════════════════

Distant. That's the only word you could use to describe Gerard these days. Your dinner for two's had become dinner for you, his food always going to the elderly gentleman across the street. Your phone was not missing a phone call of his because he didn't call you, nor did he return your calls or text messages. His side of the bed was permanently cold, and as the days rolled by you found yourself getting used to the absence of warmth.

Tonight he was home.

He sat on the couch, watching reruns of one or other of his favourite shows. But you knew him, and you could tell that his mind was anywhere but with the TV.

Biting your lip, you sat yourself down on the other end of the couch in silence, your heart beating rapidly.

"Do you want us to break up? Is that why you've been so distant lately?" you asked in a broken voice, trying to swallow the lump in your throat to stop yourself from crying.

You looked at him, staring as he clenched his jaw and drew in a sharp breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was stutters. His fingers started fidgeting with the cord bracelet on his wrist and his face was blotched with red; you knew he was about to cry before it even happened.

You instantly moved to his side, bringing his head to your chest as you hushed him gently. "Talk to me, Gee. What happened? What's been bothering you this much?"

"I cheated."

Your heart dropped to your stomach and your mouth fell open as his words hit you like a freight train; your mind was racing as you tried to fathom it.

He backed away, looking at you uneasily before cupping your face with his hands. "I swear if I could take it back, I would!" he insisted, sniffling and frowning at you as your tears started to fall, "She-she means nothing to be and-"

"Means?" you gasped out, glaring at him in shock. "How long has this been happening?"

Gerard dropped his gaze to his lap. "Couple months," he mumbled.

Ignoring the pang in your chest, you replied calmly. "When was the last time you saw her?" You waited for a few seconds for his reply as he looked everywhere but you. Feeling your anger rise, you took his face in your hand and sharply turned his head, forcing him to look at you. "Answer me!"

"Last night."

Nodding, you stood up before chuckling bitterly to yourself. "And to think that I was here like some fucking loser, waiting for you every night, wondering what on earth I did wrong – while you were out fucking some other woman? You played this one well, Gerard, I give you that," you spat before walking upstairs to gather your suitcase and unzip it, putting it on the bed as you began unconsciously tossing items of clothing into it.

Gerard followed you and watched wide-eyed as you packed, before approaching you and trying to grab hold of your wrists to prevent you from grabbing any more clothes.

"Oh, fuck off!" you yelled, pushing him away before standing still, then dropping to the floor as you started sobbing. "I gave you everything! Everything! Every bit of me! I gave up everything back home – my family, my friends, my whole life – for you!" you cried out.

With tears running down his cheeks, he sat on the floor in front of you, putting his hands on your knees. "We can-we can work it out, alright? Hell, we can even see a counsellor or-or anything you want just – please, please don't leave me."

"You're so selfish, do you know that?" you scoffed, shoving his hands away from you. "I'll come back to get my things when you aren't here. I can't stand looking at you."

With that, you stood up and rushed downstairs, grabbing your purse, jacket and keys and you left.

~

Once again, you were at your best friend's apartment. Frank was working; apparently he was meeting with a producer for his upcoming album. He had asked you to go with him but you weren't at all up to it. How could you be? You had gotten your heart ripped out of your chest less than twenty-four hours ago.

You had literally given everything for him, for that son of a bitch, Gerard. You had left your life back in your home state – your family and friends, your job, your home – and you had come to New Jersey to live with him.

Fortunately, you had been able to find your feet there, finding a new job, making new friends and most importantly – finding Frank. He was your best friend almost right from the moment you had first met at one of My Chemical Romance's promo parties.

Even though the band wasn't together anymore, you never lost contact with the guitarist, even if the relationship between himself and Gerard had faltered; you two remained as close as ever. It was only natural that you turned to him after the events of last night.

So there you were, on Frank's couch, killing time by binging movies while you waited for him to return. You had nowhere else to go, essentially alone in that city. All the friends you had, with the exceptions of the ones you met through Frank, were friends with Gerard as well, so you didn't want to see any of them; they probably knew all about his infidelity.

"Here I am," Frank announced as he entered the house carrying what was no doubt hot chocolate.

He set your beverage on the coffee table in front of you and then sat down. He took the blanket that was always draped over the armrest of the sofa and wrapped it around you before hugging you tight and kissing your head.

"You're okay," he whispered in your ear as he rubbed your back.

"I'm such an idiot, Frank," you mumbled, looking at your friend. With a sigh, he wiped away your tears. "I gave everything for that relationship, for him, and he just..." You looked down at your hands.

"You're not an idiot. You were just too in love to see what was in front of you," he sighed, "He was a complete dick and one day it'll catch up to him. You're incredible; don't let anyone make you think otherwise."

As much as he was trying to help you, there was nothing he could do at that moment. You were completely broken and wanted nothing more than to just cry all of your feelings out. But you didn't want to do it in front of Frank – you needed to be alone.

"Can I stay here for another night? Just one. I'll check into a hotel tomorrow."

"Don't even think about hotels, okay? You stay here as long as you want," he argued, planting another kiss on your head.

You wish you knew what you had done to deserve such an amazing person in your life.

~

It had been two weeks since you had left Gerard. All that time, Frank had stopped you a thousand times from going to a hotel. He kept on saying you could stay there as long as you needed to. He had ample room for the both of you. And he needed someone to help him with lyrics.

But the truth was that he didn't want you to be alone. He could see the sadness, the pain in your eyes and he wanted to make you forget. He just couldn't see you like that. It was too painful for him to see the girl he had loved for the last two years suffering like that. He wanted to make you laugh, to make you forget him. He also knew it wasn't going to be easy. You really had given everything for a relationship that had gone to hell too fast to even process it.

"I made pasta!" he exclaimed one day when you walked in the apartment after work.

"Nice," you said quietly as you went to get some water.

"How was work?" he asked smiling at you.

"Fine, I guess," you sighed putting the glass in the sink before you started gathering the plates to set the table. "People keep on sending me those pity glares every time I leave my office. It's horrible," you whispered. "And Gee came by today."

"How was it?" Frank asked carefully. You didn't talk about him much, but when you did, you would end up being a crying mess in the guest room. So he was always very careful when it came to that topic.

"Painful," you mumbled. "He came to my office. Apologizing all over again," you explained, trying to hold back your tears. "I can't believe he still dares to say he loves me, Frank. You don't do what he did to someone you love."

"Hey..." He walked towards you and hugged you tight against him, stroking your hair slowly and kissing your forehead. He didn't want to see you cry; it was also painful for him, but he didn't know how to help you.

"Some people just don't know how to love," he whispered.

"Are you justifying what he did?" you asked, looking up at him.

"No. There's no possible justification," he sighed. "All I'm saying is that I don't want you to believe that he didn't love you. He did."

"How do you know?"

How did he know? Because he had been there throughout the entirety of your relationship. He had seen the way Gerard looked at you, and it was the same look on Frank's face when you walked in the room. But it wasn't the moment to say that. So he just shrugged and smiled a little.

"Because it's impossible not to love you," he smiled a little.

You sighed and looked away. He had told you that a million times and after what you were going through, you found it hard to believe. But you didn't want to upset him, since he was doing his best to cheer you up, so you just nodded and pulled away from his hug to go to the kitchen and the get the bowl of pasta.

~

You just couldn't take it anymore. Going to work was a living hell. People just kept on gossiping about Gerard and you; he was still coming to your office day after day, begging you to come back to him. A part of you wanted that more than anything else, but you couldn't. No one had ever hurt you the way he had done, and you couldn't forgive that.

"I'm quitting," you blurted out one day while you were helping Frank with his lyrics.

"That's a terrible line," he laughed, looking at you. When he saw your face, he understood what you were talking about. "What? Your job?"

"Yeah. I can't move on if I stay there," you said taking a seat on the couch.

"I understand," he said, sitting next to you. "If you think that's the best...I'm with you."

You looked at him and bit your lip. This man amazed you. It didn't matter what you said, or what you did. He always had your back.

"Thank you, Frank," you mumbled. "For always being there, for having my back and...staying with me through everything."

"And I will be here until the end, okay? Until you get better and I hear your real laugh again," he stroked your hand softly.

"Why are you doing this? You could just...tell me to go to hell and keep on going with your life," you said shaking your head.

"Because I miss you," he shrugged. "I miss your happy-self, I miss you being carefree, I miss you laughing... I miss your smile," he took a deep breath and looked down before chuckling, "I'm talking too much."

"No. Not at all..." you whispered.

He looked at you and nervously chewed on the inside of his cheek before taking your hand in his, feeling how his heart rate sped up. He had to say it and it was the moment. He just couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"I'm doing all of this because I'm desperately in love with you," he said, not breaking eye contact. "And all I want is for you to be happy, and I would love to be the one to make you happy again. I don't care if I do it as a friend or as something more, if I can get to make you smile again...it won't matter."

You looked at him, downright wordless. How could you have been so blind? Of course he loved you. It had always been there. In every day you spent together, in every laugh and every situation. He had been the one who had really been there for you no matter what, and you had been too blind to see it.

"I don't know what to say," you murmured.

"It's okay," he smiled at you. "I know it's too soon, you're healing and I'm going to help you. All I can. I'm here, and I'm not going to force you into anything. All I ask is for you to let me know it if someday your feelings toward me...change."

You nodded as he said that, still in shock by his declaration. He kissed your forehead softly and took the lyric sheet from the table before getting up and walking to his room, leaving you dealing with the mess you had in your head at that moment.

Frank and you didn't talk about his feelings during the next few days, but a part of you had started to look at him differently. You blushed when he complimented you, you bit your lip when he kissed your head or your forehead, and found yourself wishing those kisses would land on your lips instead. You also found yourself laughing at his silly jokes more than usual, smiling for no reason and after a few weeks, you couldn't find that pain in your chest anymore. It was surprising, it was amazing, and you knew it was all thanks to Frank.

"Frank?" you called out, knocking on his door.

"Come in!"

You opened the door to find him on his bed, reading through some sheets. You walked in and closed the door silently before going to sit next to him.

"Something wrong?" he asked with a concerned frown, putting the sheets down next to him.

"No. I... I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Well, go ahead," he shrugged, sitting up properly.

"I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me during these weeks, Frank. You have been my rock, I don't know what I would have done if it weren't for you," you said.

"You know you don't have to thank me. I...well, I already told you. I'm here," he reminded.

"I know. And you also told me to talk to you if my feelings...ever change," you said with slight hesitance. He perked up when you said that. "And...these last two weeks since you told me how you felt, I... I think I have started to...develop those feelings towards you, too. But... I'm scared."

"I'm not going to hurt you. Ever," he promised, moving closer to you. "Let me...please, let me heal you. Let me take care of those scars and let me prove to you how much I really love you," he pleaded, lifting your chin up.

"What if this goes wrong? What about our friendship? It's...all I've got," you whispered.

"I guess we will have to take that risk," he shrugged.

"Are you sure?" you asked in uncertainty.

"I've been sure since the moment you fell off the couch while head banging to AC/DC," he beamed, making you laugh. "I love you," he whispered.

Before you had the chance to say anything else, he placed a hand on your neck and pulled you closer. Then, he kissed you, making you feel more at home than Gerard ever did.

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x