Chapter Text
Now it’s important to note that when Gerard first moved into No 72 of the Wild Estates apartment block, he wasn’t intending to develop a minor (ok, maybe major) crush on the buildings’ resident handyman, a man in his mid-late twenties with more tattoos than you could count, known to Gerard as Frank. Since moving in, Gerard has had approximately 4 conversations with Frank, 3 of which took place while Gerard was holding the door open for Frank and his many toolboxes (because he’s a gentleman thank you very much). However despite the lack of non-door related interactions, Gerard still vividly daydreamed about kissing and snuggling and dropping to their knees for him.
The people Gerard confided to about this chapter of his life were his younger brother Mikey, and best friend Ray. “I just don’t know what to do! I don’t even know if he likes men,” Gerard complained to the pair in a crowded Chinese restaurant on a Friday night, celebrating Mikey’s engagement to his long-term boyfriend, Pete.
Picking up a spring roll, Mikey began to question his clueless brother on his predicament, “Have you actually spoken to him properly or do you want him to read your mind?”.
Gerard showed him the whites of his eyes and huffed “OK so maybe I haven’t made it exactly obvious that I think he’s hot as fuck but not all of us can meet our soulmate in a fucking Walmart!”. It was at this point Ray put a mouthful of his noodle stir fry in his mouth and, slightly garbled, suggested “Why don’t you try talking to him and then casually mention Mikey and Pete getting engaged or something?”.
“Oh yeah! That way you can gauge his reaction and see if he’s homophobic or not” Mikey added, seemingly ignoring his brother’s slight dig and eyeing his shiny silver band catch the dim lighting and glint.
“I mean, I guess that could work” Gerard replied hesitantly. And so, the three men sat around eating carb-loaded plates and planned exactly how to help the chronically awkward man drop hints into brief conversations.
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On the following Monday morning, Gerard ran into Frank in the hallway while locking his door. Frank, in his usual uniform of oil streaked white trousers and a plain white t-shirt that smelled faintly of cigarette smoke, smiled at him and instantly Gerard felt his cheeks heat up. He fumbled with his keys and started to ask how his weekend was when the younger man began to say something. The two men laughed and motioned for the other to speak. “I was just gonna ask you how your weekend was” Gerard eventually said while adjusting his bag on his shoulder and studying a smear of oil on Frank’s cheekbone so as to avoid drowning in his honey-hued eyes.
Frank looked surprised for a fleeting moment before regaining his usual cocky manner and leant against the wall with his toolbox held loosely in his right hand and replied “Oh it was alright, I didn’t really do anything that exciting I guess? Just the usual takeout and Netflix. How about you?”. Gerard shifted his weight to mimic Frank’s positioning and tucked a stray strand of dyed inky hair behind his ear, “It was really good actually. My brother got engaged to his boyfriend so we went out with a friend to celebrate,”. Gerard looked straight into the younger man’s face to catch any change in his expression that would suggest disapproval but was interrupted as Frank’s phone began to ring. Visibly annoyed, Frank placed his box of tools on the ground and patted his many pockets before locating his work phone. After a series of affirmative noises, Frank seemed to wrap up the call with an “I’ll be right over”. Looking over at Gerard with a small smirk playing on his lips, Frank winked and picked up his toolbox before saying in a low voice “Sorry about that but I don’t really don’t need anymore Karen’s complaining to my boss. I hope we can carry this on later Gerard,” and turned away to tend to whoever needed his assistance. Gerard still slightly blushing from the interaction turned an even redder shade, if that was at all possible, at the obvious flirtation that occurred mere seconds ago. After watching him walk away (and definitely NOT watching his hips swing), Gerard stood against the wall for longer than strictly necessary, raked a hand through his hair and started the journey to the nearest bus stop for an overdue grocery shop.
For the duration of the 20 or so minute long bus ride to the local supermarket, Gerard replayed his and Frank’s conversation and mentally kicked himself for not being more forward and blushing like a sun-dried tomato at the smallest bit of flirting. Even while picking out the best-looking vegetables, and finding the milk with the longest-lasting date, and lining up to check out with the gum-chewing teenage girl, all Gerard could do was fantasise of a parallel universe in which he has the balls to flirt shamelessly with the hot handyman and steal kisses in between inhalations of a shared cigarette in the fading daylight.
Sitting at the empty bus stop with two full shopping bags, Gerard contemplated phoning Mikey for advice before thinking better of it and lighting up a cigarette in one hand while mindlessly scrolling through his Facebook in the other. Seeing family and friends congratulate his brother just added salt into the wound that was his attraction to Frank. Don’t get him wrong, he was immensely happy for the couple and isn’t ashamed to admit he cried tears of joy when he was told the news, it’s just hard seeing everyone around him fall in love and live happily ever after when he can’t even make basic conversation with a possible partner without either embarrassing himself or turning as red as the bell pepper poking out of the Star Wars shopping bag. At 31, most people would be getting married or having kids, but no, Destiny decided to curse Gerard with the worst love life known to man. Stubbing out the cigarette with the toe of his boot, Gerard stood just as the #247 pulled up and stepped onto it, heading towards the back.
Arriving back at the apartment complex just over 2 hours after he’d left that morning, Gerard found himself with his groceries in one hand, his keys in the other and balancing on the top step in the pouring rain (which was NOT forecasted on that morning’s breakfast news) when he saw a familiar face. Trying to not stare at Frank for too long and open the door at the same time, Gerard managed to somehow trip over his own feet and fall backwards, cracking his elbow on the bottom step and sending his shopping flying. Sending out a string of curse words at whoever was overlooking Gerard’s shitty day, he sat up and started to stand when the handyman noticed frozen pizzas and bags of pasta lying on the asphalt and opened the front door. Walking down the steps two at a time, Frank reached Gerard just as he got to his feet. Unmistakably concerned, Frank took a hold of Gerard, steadying him with a gentle hand on his elbow. The movement caused Gerard to hiss, leading Frank to ask in a tender tone “Are you ok?”. Noticing a decent-sized scrape on his arm, the younger man pulled his arm up to eye level to survey the damage and sighed “That’s gonna be a bitch to clean man, come on I’ll help,”. Trying his best not to blush (and failing), Gerard simply nodded and cleared his throat “Could you help me pick my stuff up?”. Kneeling down and glancing up into the momentarily taller man’s face to begin cleaning up the mess, he could clearly see a look of desire cross his hazel eyes. An obscene thought made itself known at the back of Gerard’s brain and he licked his slightly parted lips and deliberately swallowed at a snail’s pace, his masochistic tendencies sparking a fire in the pit of his stomach. You could practically cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife and it was only broken when the pair heard a car horn. Remembering that they were in a very public place, Frank blinked 3 or 4 times and started to pick up the dropped groceries, placing them into the shopping bags while all Gerard could do was focus on the sting in his arm and the electricity that still faintly fizzed in the air, serving as proof that his crush may not be as unrequited as previously thought.
Quicker than anticipated, Frank was again standing over Gerard as he held out a calloused hand to help the older man to his feet and take the shopping bag on the floor. Holding the front door open for him, Frank led the way to Gerard’s apartment and leant against the wall while waiting for the other man to unlock the door. Before he opened it fully, Gerard turned to look at Frank “Sorry about the mess, I don’t normally have people visit that don’t already know I’m a bit of a slob,” he said while raking a hand through his hair.
“Dude it’s fine! You should see my workshop in the basement, I swear you haven’t been able to see the floor in about 2 years,” Frank responded while chuckling and pushing past him to set the bags down on the kitchen counter. Frank waited for Gerard to close the door behind him and to toss the keys in the bowl beside it before asking him “Do you have a first aid kit or something? We should really clean your arm up and cover it up before it gets infected."
Gerard nodded, motioned for him to follow and showed Frank the way to the small bathroom. “OK so this might hurt a bit but it’ll only take a minute,” Frank reassured Gerard, who was now sitting on the closed toilet lid with a towel to dry off his hair, while rooting through the small first aid box for cleaning supplies.
Finding what he was looking for, he squatted in front of the toilet and took hold of Gerard’s arm as gently as he could and started to wipe the dried blood from around the wound, before focusing on the scrape itself. Gerard tried to regulate his breathing but was quickly failing (sometimes getting off on pain was really fucking inconvenient), the feather-light touches of Frank’s fingers contrasted with the burning of the antiseptic wipe was proving to be too much and he let out a gasp so quiet he hoped it was inaudible, but luck was not on their side today and Frank snapped his head up, “Are you OK, I-” he started to apologise before noticing the other man’s red face and, seemingly understanding exactly what Gerard was feeling, took hold of his arm a bit firmer, allowing the callouses on his fingers to brush his skin, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Frank casually remarked with a mischievous glint in his eyes while disposing of the soiled wipe and opening another.
Carrying on with the task at hand, Frank turned his attention back to the cleaner-looking scrape rather than the now beet-red man in front of him. Clearly comfortable with overt flirting, Gerard decided to take a leaf out of the shorter man’s book and struck up the courage to say “Y’know I read the other day that wounds that are kissed better heal up 3x quicker."
Frank snorted and looking up, questioned Gerard “Oh is that right is it? It just so happens that I’m at the perfect height to do such a thing. I won’t have any angry boyfriends come after me will I?”.
Gerard, playing along, sighed dramatically “Even though I doubt that’d stop you, no, I am incredibly single right now luckily for you." Taking notice of the hopeful twinkle that seemed to appear in Frank’s copper eyes, he seized the opportunity to drive his point home and softly fiddled with his lower lip.
Tearing his gaze away and finishing off the cleaning, the make-do medic carefully placed a self-sticking dressing on his arm and, glancing up to Gerard’s face for permission, delicately kissed the area twice, justifying the extra with “One for luck."
After clearing up and disposing of the packaging, the pair left the enclosed space. With Frank needing to get back to work, he declined Gerard’s offer of a cup of coffee. The taller man followed the other to the door and tried to thank him before he was interrupted. “Hey it’s fine! I wanted to help you. Plus it would’ve been a dickish move to see all your stuff on the floor and you bleeding and then just NOT done anything. You can repay me by going for a drink one night? Only if you’re ok with that though?”
Gerard tried to play it cool but miserably failed as he stumbled over his next words “Oh my god of course I’d like to, are you free tomorrow night?”.
Frank grinned and rubbing a hand over his short hair answered with “Uh yeah I get off work at 6 so I could meet you at Paco’s at like 8?”.
“It’s a date then,” Gerard laughed, sticking out his hand for the other to shake.
Frank grasped it and pulled Gerard in close “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your little, uh, reaction earlier, Let’s hope I can use it to its full potential huh,” excitement tingeing his gravelly voice.
And with that, he turned and left, leaving Gerard with a sore arm and a belly full of butterflies for the next night.