Work Text:
Ryan/Dan
Dan was so glad to be back in LA. While he loved Texas with all his heart (it was where he’d grown up after all), he really missed Ryan. This trip had really solidified just how much he cared about that skinny little shit. He hadn’t been able to get his mind off of Ryan the entire time they were recording.
Ryan was okay, though. He had Z and Alex and Vin to watch out for him. They probably went to the club where Jeremy DJ’d to hang out with all of the “cool kids”. He didn’t have to worry. He only missed the fuck out of them… him. Yeah, only him.
What made everything worse was that today was Valentine’s Day and he’d scheduled to get home much earlier in the day. But February had other plans for him. There’d been an ice storm that had delayed his flight and now it was after 10pm. He and the rest of the bedraggled passengers on the plane were just ready to get home.
It kind of hurt Dan to see all of the loved ones meeting their significant others as they exited the plane. People were hugging each other all over the airport. He sighed, shoulders slumping, and headed to baggage claim. It was his fault Ryan wasn’t there. He’d told Ryan that he didn’t have to come get him. His plane had been due to get there at noon and Dan knew that the traffic would be shit and all Ryan would have done was complain the entire drive back.
That was all well before his flight got delayed. He’d called Ryan to let him know and the younger man had sounded so small, so disappointed that he wasn’t going to be home earlier. Dan had told him he’d get there as quickly as he could, but Mother Nature was being a total bitch. Ryan had actually chuckled at that, which made him feel a little better. Eventually he’d promised that he’d take him to a Kings game after he got back. Ryan had actually gasped at that, knowing hockey wasn’t Dan’s favorite sport.
Grabbing his bag as it came around the conveyor, Dan clutched it and his guitar as he headed towards the long term parking lot. He tossed his luggage into the trunk and put his guitar in the back seat. Once in the car, he took a deep breath. He pulled out his phone to check the time, contemplating calling Ryan. Ugh, it was too late. Ryan was probably already in bed asleep. Fuck, why couldn’t he have gotten in earlier? He’d planned on taking Ryan out to dinner and maybe to a club or something.
He cranked the car and tossed his phone into the passenger seat. Pulling out of the parking lot, he turned onto the highway and headed towards the hills. It would take him almost an hour to get to Ryan’s and his place. He rolled down the window and cranked the radio up to keep himself awake.
The house looked dark when he pulled into the driveway, not that he expected any lights to be on. It wasn’t like they actually used the rooms in the front of the house at night anyway. The front porch light was at least lit so he wouldn’t kill himself trying to get in the house. He got out of the car and grabbed his guitar and bag and walked up to the door.
When he stepped into the house, he could see light flickering from the den. Ryan must have left the TV on. Dropping his bags, he headed towards the light. Captain Knots had been sleeping on the back of the couch, but was sitting up now since he’d heard Dan enter. Dan walked over to scratch the cat’s head. The news was playing softly on the television, showing the Lakers losing to Atlanta and the Kings winning in a shootout against Anaheim. That must have been what Ryan had been watching.
Knots pushed against his hand and Dan smiled. A dark mass on the couch caught his attention and he looked down. Ryan was lying in what looked like an uncomfortable position with a gigantic bear in his arms. Well fuck. Ryan had gotten him a present. That was… unusual, really. Ryan didn’t normally like holidays. Moving the cat out of the way, he leaned over the back of the couch to press his lips gently to the young man’s cheek.
Ryan stirred, making those cute little noises Dan loved. He wiped his fist over his eyes and blinked them open. “You’re home,” he said with a scratchy, sleep laden voice. He attempted to sit up, only to realize he had his arm still around the bear. He looked a bit horrified before grabbing the bear with both hands and holding it out to Dan. “This… this is for you.”
The bear, almost as big as Ryan, was holding a purple heart shaped pillow that had “I <3 U” stitched on it. Dan took it from him and hugged it to himself. “Thanks. I missed you.”
Ryan was running his hand through his hair now, having wiped the sleep from his eyes. “I missed you, too. What time is it?”
Dan glanced at the television to see the news just going off. “About 11:30.”
A mischievous smile plastered itself on Ryan’s face and he moved to sit on his knees facing the back of the couch and Dan. “Then I can still say this.” He grabbed the front of the tall man’s shirt and pulled him down so they were face to face. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Dan.” He kissed him softly and fully on the lips.
Dan dropped the bear and wrapped his arms around Ryan, pulling him closer. This was exactly what he needed right now, exactly what he wanted. When they finally parted, he leaned his forehead against Ryan’s. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ry.” Dan was now home and with the one person who meant the world to him. All was right again.
Patrick/Gerard
Patrick walked in the front door and went to put his jacket and hat on the rack. He stopped because on the spot he usually hung his hat was a piece of paper. On the paper was a sketch, much like the cover of a comic book. It featured a person wearing a fedora pulled down over half of his face, hand up as if removing it. Across the top in powerful looking letters was the title: The Percussionist.
Patrick pulled it off and smiled. This was one of Gerard’s comics that he drew just for them. Patrick was the inspiration of the Percussionist and Gee was the hero’s significant other who tended to get into trouble like every significant other in every comic book ever. Patrick loved them so much.
He finished hanging his jacket and hat and started moving to the living room. “Hey, babe. This is amazing. When did…” He stopped mid-sentence and looked around the room. Gerard wasn’t here, but there was another page on the couch.
This one depicted the hero walking down a street of the city, a mostly dark and grimy place that was atypical of comic books. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans with his hat pulled low over his head. His shoulders were hunched and he had his hands in his pockets. It always amazed Patrick at how real Gerard’s characters looked. He imagined the hero was huddling against a hard breeze perhaps.
The panel underneath that one showed the hero walking past an alley. A cry of help came from the darkness. The hero stopped and turned towards the sound. Patrick was hooked now. Where would the next page be? Perhaps the kitchen? That would be the next place he would look for Gee.
Patrick walked into the kitchen to find no one there. However, there was a fresh pot of coffee with his mug sitting right beside it. Taped on the cabinet above was the next page. The first panel was the Percussionist’s arch nemesis. His face was blurry, because Gee just never cared to give him a real face. The nemesis had an arm wrapped tightly around Gee’s waist with a knife against his neck. The one facial feature that Gerard had drawn for the nemesis was his maniacal grin, which was visible in the second panel, as were Gee’s wide eyes because it was a close up of the two.
Underneath was a long panel the width of the page showing the distance between the two men. Word bubbles ran across the distance. “How nice of you to take time out of your busy day,” the nemesis said. The hero responded with, “What are you doing here?” “What does it look like?” “Wishing for your death.”
The next panel had the evil man pushing the knife into Gee’s skin enough to draw a drop of blood. Gee screamed. “Let her go,” the hero said. He had a more defensive stance and his hands by his side. But that was the end of that page.
Patrick finished stirring his coffee that he’d made while taking in the details of the page. He took a sip and sighed happily at the caffeinated goodness. Gathering the pages together, he headed back towards Gerard’s office. There was a page sitting on his drawing board.
This page showed the standoff again, The Percussionist on one side, his nemesis on the other. It really looked like an old west duel yet with modern buildings in the background. The hero spoke, this time to Gee. “When I say run, you run.” Gee nodded and prepared to bolt.
There was really just one room left that Gerard could possibly be in. Patrick headed to their bedroom and found the door closed, another comic page taped up right at his eye level. This showed the hero yelling run while pulling something out of his jacket. Gee was pushing away from the villain and stumbling away with the nemesis looking confused. The next panel was a pair of sharpened drum sticks flying through the air. They hit their target and the villain looked surprised. The last panel showed the nemesis on the ground with the sticks poking out of his chest and the hero with his arms wrapped around his significant other.
Pulling the page off the door, Patrick opened it to look inside. Gerard was lying on the bed completely naked except for the last page lying on his stomach. “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby,” Gerard said with a huge grin. “You have two presents left.”
Patrick couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his own face. “Two?” he asked as he walked over to the bed.
“This,” he said pointing to the last page, “and me, of course.”
Patrick put down his coffee, picked up the page with one hand and ran his other over Gee’s bare leg. On the page was a drawing of the hero and his significant other locked in a kiss. The border of the couple was a heart. Patrick loved it so much. He looked down and smiled softly. “I think I’d like to recreate this,” he said, motioning with the paper.
“So would I,” Gee replied, grabbing Patrick’s arm and pulling him onto the bed. The pages of the comic fluttered to the floor as they wrapped themselves around each other.
Ryan/Gerard
Gerard felt like he’d been on tour for, like, ever. He couldn’t even remember the last time he held Ryan in his arms and fell asleep with him. They Skyped every day, but it wasn’t the same. Gerard always wanted to touch his boyfriend. He was a calming presence that kept him on track.
He’d arrived in Japan earlier that day. He had a concert scheduled in two days in Osaka and then two concerts in Tokyo. One of the local radio stations had asked if he would be kind enough to perform a secret concert tonight for some of their faithful listeners. He didn’t mind, really. He’d rested his voice for almost a week now and spent a little time in a recording studio after they’d finally gotten out of snowy Russia.
The concert was at a karaoke bar with the kids crowded up against the small stage. Gerard loved this kind of concert. He got to interact even more with the crowd. They told him he only had to play a few songs, so he did pretty much half his normal set.
He was almost at the end of Action Cat when something to the side of the stage caught his eye. He had to do a double take and nearly messed up the song when he realized what he was seeing. A gigantic smiled covered his face as he finished the song.
Immediately he left the stage after saying a quick “Hang on a second” to the crowd. He threw his arms around Ryan’s neck as he reached him. “What are you doing here, motherfucker?”
Ryan was smiling just as brightly. “Your mom decided that we really shouldn’t be apart for Valentine’s Day. She helped me get a flight here and stuff.”
Gerard chuckled. His mother was pretty sentimental sometimes. Looking into those honey brown eyes he loved, he realized that Valentine’s Day was almost over for him. “Well, you barely made it.”
Ryan shrugged. “That’s okay. I’m going to Australia with you, too.”
Gerard threw his head back and laughed. He was going to get to keep his boyfriend for a while. That was awesome. Turning back towards the stage, he made a grabby hand towards his microphone. “Gimme,” he said to Ian. The guitarist rolled his eyes, but was smiling as he reached over and gave the mic to him. “You guys won’t fucking believe this,” Gerard said into the mic, “but I just got the best Valentine ever.”
Gerard dragged Ryan onto the stage with him and the kids went wild. “You guys know my boyfriend, Ryan, right?” He was grinning from ear to ear. “He came to surprise me. And it was a fucking fantastic surprise.”
Ryan buried his head into Gerard’s shoulder in embarrassment. His boyfriend’s arm was wrapped tightly around his waist. He wasn’t about to go anywhere, except maybe to Gerard’s hotel room to take a nap. He looked up when Gerard nudged him with his shoulder.
“You wanna play Millions with us?” he whispered in Ryan’s ear.
Ryan’s eyebrows raised and he looked at Ian, who just shrugged and started pulling his guitar strap over his shoulder. “Seriously?”
Gerard nodded and Ian bumped Ryan with the guitar. The crowd was chanting Ryan’s name and when he reached out for the guitar, they screamed. Ian grabbed Gerard’s guitar and started the song off. Jarrod then joined in with the beat and Ryan began the lead guitar part.
Gerard bounced around the stage as he sang, keeping his eyes on Ryan the whole time. He was glad that Ryan had worked with them on this song. It was one of his favorites. He could tell Ryan was enjoying himself, too. As the last note sounded and was fading away, Gerard was wrapping his arms around his boyfriend again.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Gee,” Ryan said.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Ry.”
Ray/Frank
Frank Iero hated winter. No matter how much vitamin C he took, or orange juice he drank, he always ended up sick. Good thing the month was only twenty-eight days long. He usually ended up sick for at least twenty of them.
Frank reached his hand out of the covers under which he was hiding to grab his glass of orange juice. He had a hard time with the stupid straw. It kept getting away from his tongue. Finally, he grabbed it with his fingers and held it so he could suck up some of the healing liquid. Unfortunately he was at the end of what he had poured, and even that was the end of the carton.
Pouting, he picked up his phone and sent a text to his best friend and the love of his life. A moment later, his phone beeped and he looked at the reply.
You sick? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Be right there.
A smile spread his dry, cracked lips. Ray was awesome. He’d taken the younger man under his wing the moment he stepped on campus. Frank loved the poufy haired music major so much. He’d been quite a help to him ever since he arrived.
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on his door and it opened. “Frankie?” Ray called out. He noticed the humidifier was working overtime and the trash can was overflowing. There was a huge Frankie-sized lump under the covers of the twin-sized bed. Dorms weren’t really the best place to be sick. Moving over, he sat down and peeked under the blankets. “Hey, how are you?”
Frank shrugged and held out his empty glass. “’m out of OJ and probably gonna be out of Kleenex here soon.”
Ray took the glass and felt how cold Frank’s fingers were. He reached out with his other hand to feel the younger man’s forehead.
Frank tried to escape Ray’s paw. “Hey, I don’t wanna give you this crud,” he protested with a pout.
Ray just sighed. “I’m not going to get whatever it is you have from just checking to see if you have a temperature.” His hand rested against the smaller man’s head. He was burning up. What was that old saying? Feed a fever, starve a cold. “Are you hungry?”
Frank whimpered a little. “Yeah. But I just can’t keep anything down. It hurts to eat.”
Ray frowned. Poor Frankie. “I’ll get you some soup and orange juice. Will you be okay for a little while so I can go to the store?” The other man nodded and he patted him on the arm. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back soon.”
Frank snuggled down in the covers as Ray got up from the bed. He was asleep before his boyfriend got out the door.
Frank was awoken by a gentle hand on his arm. He struggled to open his eyes, but the sleep buildup had them pretty well shut. Rubbing his hand over his face, he finally was able to see his boyfriend standing over him. “Hey. How long have I been out?”
Ray looked over at the bedside clock. “About an hour and a half.”
“And you waited here for me? Is my soup cold?” He struggled with the sheets, trying to get up into a seated position.
“Your soup is sitting in the microwave, and yes I waited.” Ray helped him get into a seated position, pushing his pillows up behind him. “You looked so peaceful, even if you were cutting down a forest with your snoring.”
“I do not snore,” Frank scoffed.
“Right, tell that to your neighbors.” Ryan moved over to the arm chair on the other side of the room, the one Frank liked to cuddle up with him in, and picked something up. “I’m sure you don’t even know what day it is, but I thought I could remind you.” He held out a red bag towards him.
Frank’s brow furrowed. He was right. He had no freaking clue what day it was. Taking the bag, he examined it. It was just a plain, red bag. He put his hand in to find something soft and bear shaped. Pulling it out, he found a teddy bear. It was wearing skeleton pajamas. On the chest, behind the painted ribs, was a big red heart. On the heart in white was the word MINE.
It was truly the most adorable bear he’d ever seen, however he still didn’t get it.
“Do you remember what month it is?” Ray asked, giving him a hint.
“Yeah, it’s Febru… oh. Oh fuck.” Frank frowned. Today had to be February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day. And he’d totally forgotten. “I’m sorry, Ray.”
“It’s okay,” the tall man replied with a smile. He’d taken the soup out of the microwave and poured some into a bowl. “Taking care of you is better than anything we could have done. It’s the best way to show you that I love you.”
Frank would have said “aw” had it been anyone else. As it was, he just said, “I love you, too, Ray.”
Ray moved over to the bed and placed a tray on Frank’s lap with the soup and some crackers. He also had a large glass of orange juice with a curly straw stuck in it. He knew how to get his boyfriend well. Lots of love, liquids and crazy straws.
Jon/Spencer
The Smith kitchen looked like a flour bomb had gone off. In the middle of the mess, Spencer stood looking around frantically. His parents and sisters had gone to his grandparents for the weekend. He was an adult now, so he could stay home by himself. However if he didn’t have the kitchen cleaned by when they got home tomorrow, there would be hell to pay.
Currently he was trying to decide what to do. He’d gotten the last batch of cookies in the oven, but he had heard the front doorbell, which meant Jon had arrived. Jon had arrived and it was Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t their first Valentine’s, but it was the first that Spencer had tried to do something special for Jon. The doorbell buzzed again and he yelled out, “Coming!” Wincing because he knew that word meant endless teasing for the rest of the night from his boyfriend, he set the timer and dashed from the kitchen, closing the door behind him.
He got to the front door and realized he still had his mom’s apron on. He quickly pulled it off and balled it up, throwing it in the hall closet. Running his hand through his hair quickly, he opened the door.
Jon was just about to check to see if the door was unlocked when it opened. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans with his signature flip flops. It was hot as hell in Vegas compared to Chicago at this time of the year. His parents were buried under a foot of snow. He smiled at the sight before him and leaned forward to peck Spencer’s lips. “Hey. I was beginning to wonder if you got lost or something.”
Spencer laughed nervously. “Nah, I was just in the back of the house. Come on in.” He stepped aside to let Jon into the house.
Jon stepped through the threshold and immediately backed Spencer up against the wall to kiss him fully. He felt his boyfriend stiffen, but only for a moment. Soon there were two very strong arms wrapped around him pulling him closer.
Spencer had no clue how long he’d been standing there kissing Jon, but he caught a whiff of something that smelled like it was burning. It took a moment for his sex addled brain to catch up. “Fuck!” he cried and ran to the kitchen. He threw open the oven and grabbed a towel to pull out the now burned cookies. He tossed them into the sink and frowned.
“Babe?”
He looked up to see Jon standing in the doorway and his frown deepened. “You weren’t supposed to see this,” he said. “Those were the last batch, so… yeah. I need to clean up.”
Jon crossed the kitchen to wrap his arms around Spencer. “You made me cookies?”
Spencer nodded, keeping his head down.
“You didn’t have to,” Jon explained. “You’re getting laid regardless.”
The corners of his mouth twitched up slightly. “Yeah, but this was your Valentine.”
“Baby, you even attempting to make cookies is the best thing I could ever get.” He reached to take Spencer’s chin in his fingers, lifting it so he’d look at him. “I’m going to turn you into a baker yet.”
Spencer smirked and leaned to kiss Jon softly. “I did get some made, including the most important one.”
“Oh, then show me,” Jon said, letting go and sweeping his arm out for Spencer to lead the way.
Spencer grabbed his hand and led him into the dining room. There were candles on the table and in the middle was a huge homemade chocolate chip cookie. Spencer had decorated it, albeit sloppily, with little hearts around a bigger heart. Inside the big heart was “SS + JW 5EVA”.
Jon smiled broadly. “That’s perfect.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Spencer said.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Spence,” Jon replied. “Now let’s go clean up the kitchen.