Work Text:
Of all the stops on his route, Frank's favorite is the office where Gerard works - they bonded pretty much the first day that Frank stopped by with a package. Frank's tastes lean more towards punk than Gerard's (although Gerard tells Frank he loves his Mohawk) but every time Frank stops by with a package they have a chat about music and comics. Frank loves that Gerard never just puts his name when he has to sign for a package - instead he’ll leave a little picture as well. So some days he’ll be having a really bad day but it helps to look at the his dispatch list and see Gerard’s name with a little stick figure vampire and zombie duelling it out, or (after he learned Frank’s name) various versions of a Frankenstein monster.
At first Gerard was surprised, as usually people get irritated as hell when he tries to put any individuality at all into his signature (they’re on a tight schedule apparently), but Frank seems to actually like his drawings. Days when Frank calls in are his favourites and after Frank gushes about his drawings for the hundredth time Gee (some-what reluctantly) brings in some of his proper artwork to show him. Frank’s praise is the final push that Gerard needs to finally do what he’s always wanted to - go to art school. (Frank already has Mikey’s undying gratitude for getting Gee to do something he’s been umming and arring about since he was a teenager).
On Gerard’s last day Frank is torn between being super excited for him that he is finally leaving a job that sucked the soul out of him and devastated that he won’t get to see him anymore. He drags out his last visit for as long as possible and contents himself with the idea that at least they have some mutual friends so it’s possible that they may bump into each other in the future (he doesn’t dare ask Gee if he wants to go for a coffee sometime because Gee is hot and artistic and sweet and funny and why would he be interested in some punk kid who drives a UPS van for a living?)
When Frank goes back to his van he checks to see what Gee’s drawn for his last signature and see…nothing. Just a simple ‘G.Way’ Frank is unreasonably disappointed and scowls his way through the rest of his shift. At the end of the day he goes back to the yard, hands in his paperwork and his van keys and decides that he’s going to stop off to buy a six-pack on the way home. He’s almost at his car when one of the office workers comes running out calling his name. She waves a sheet of paper at him and says ‘Frank, you left this in with your dispatch sheets – it looked important.’ She’s smiling at him in a weird way as she passes him the paper and goes back inside.
He looks at it. It’s a page from a comic book. It’s not his, and Frank could do without being reminded of comics at the moment. It’s only because the shock of red hair on one of the characters grabs his attention that he actually stops to read it. He recognises Gee and himself as characters and he feels his face get warm as his heart starts to beat faster. The comic strip covers a single page of A4 and shows Gerard’s version of their conversations. He’s drawn his office in drab, muted tones and it’s only when Frank’s in the room with him that everything is in full-colour. At the end of the page comic-Gee contemplates all the ways he could ask comic-Frank out and he’s drawn different outcomes ranging from Frank punching him the face to all the office staff crowding around Gee pointing and laughing with Frank stood at the front of the crowd his face a mixture of scorn and pity. In the third from last box a skinny guy in glasses (Mikey, Frank guesses) convinces Gee that he has to give it a shot and the penultimate box is Gee feverishly working on the comic strip and handing it to Frank, heart-in-mouth. The very last box on the comic strip is empty other than a big black question mark. The signature at the bottom of the page is the same one Frank has seen on a weekly basis for the last four months but this time there’s a phone number next to it.
Before he can second-guess himself Frank is in his car and driving that familiar route back to Gee’s work. He pulls up and makes a half-hearted attempt to park his car before dashing out and towards the reception. Through the glass he sees Gee packing up his stuff looking dejected. Frank pushes the door open and Gerard looks up, a smile darting across his face before being replaced by a look of nervousness, as he glances around as if he expects one of the scenarios from his comic to come true. Frank smiles and says:
‘Gerard, I’m disappointed - I thought you had a good imagination.’
Gerard stays silent as Frank crosses the room and leaps over the reception desk (it’s a bit showy and there are hundreds of ways it could have gone embarrassingly wrong but Frank is feeling so hopped up on adrenalin that he can’t be blamed for not thinking sensibly right now). He says:
‘How could you not have imagined this ending?’
He kisses Gerard, in full view of his office and amid wolf-whistles and he adds a little backwards dip as Gee laughs against his mouth.
‘I did imagine it.’ Gee says when Frank pulls away, ‘But I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get it down right on paper. I was right.’
Frank grins as Gee blushes.
‘Sap’.
Gee slaps his shoulder and Frank laughs again, giddy with happiness.
‘Gerard Way…come for coffee with me?’
‘Coffee?’ Gee says smiling.
Frank shrugs. ‘Coffee? A drink? Lunch? Dinner? All of the above...for as long as you can stand it?’
Gee smiles again, leaning in to kiss Frank.
‘Where do I sign?’