In and out, it was supposed to be as easy as that. But now it seemed just as difficult as finding an Asian kid who's not better than you at everything.

If there was one thing Gerard was certain of, it was that he was probably, very possibly, going to jail. It was kind of his fault in the first place, but he couldn't help but blame Mikey a bit as well considering he did this for him. But it was mostly his own fault for pulling through with this stupid, idiotic idea that only a dumbass would think of. That was Gerard. Gerard was that dumbass.

It would probably be easier to explain what happened from the very beginning of this mess and what started it all.

"Um, Gerard? I'm kinda in deep shit right now."

Those were the words Mikey had spoken to him over the phone one week prior to the disastrous event that could potentially ruin Gerard's life. They weren't words that Gerard liked hearing, though he does like knowing what kind of stupid shit Mikey got himself into this time.

"What is it?" Gerard replied into the phone, having been watching a movie on his crappy little television. Edward Scissorhands never failed to entertain. "Did you insult Pete's taste in pizza and now he hates you?"

"Um, no, it's–it has nothing to do with Pete. I'm just–Fuck," Mikey sighed on the other line. Gerard could hear slight shuffling on the other line. Mikey was pacing, he could tell. That meant this was actually serious. "Can you just, come over? I can't really talk about this over the phone."

"Okay, yeah. I'll be there in ten."

"Alright." Then he hung up. He was never one to say goodbye after phonecalls.

Gerard grabbed his wallet and keys and was out the door in less than a minute. With the speed he was walking at and the denim jacket he had over his t-shirt plus his dyed-black hair that was due for a trim, he could easily be mistaken for a mom who accidentally left her kid at Walmart and was rushing to get them because their kid could get kidnapped by someone who lured them with candy. Though both Gerard's situation and that mom's situation was actually pretty similar. The truth of the matter is that they were both wanting to save their kid's skin, or in Gerard's case, his brother's skin.

The second he got in his car, he got another call. He checked the caller ID to check if it was Mikey again, but his face blanched when he saw that his employer was calling him. That didn't seem good. Getting a call from work was never good. You only get calls from your job if there's a very important surprise business meeting if you're in that kind of job, if they wanted you to come in during your vacation, or if you were being laid off. The problem with this was that Gerard wasn't on vacation and he worked as a waiter for some local restaurant he absolutely loathed.

He answered the call, fairly certain he knew that he was getting laid off. And he was right. According to them, it was because they were overstaffed and didn't have enough profit to continue to pay Gerard. According to Gerard, it was because of that one time he spit into a customer's drink because they were being an absolute dickhead plus said customer was his ex so he thought it was justified at the time. If he knew that his ex would realize what Gerard did, then he would've pissed in his ex's drink instead. Not that his ex would notice. Both root beer and piss taste the same anyway.

What did Gerard's ex do to deserve this? A lot of things actually. But most specifically when his ex cheated on him with literally three other guys. Not even one at a time, it was all at once. And of course Gerard was the one to discover this by accidentally walking in on them while the three dude's had their dicks shoved in the only three holes you can bang on a female body. It was pretty impressive the position they were doing it in, but obviously Gerard didn't care about what the hell kind of position they were in. He was furious, filled with blindingly red anger, and he yelled at everyone to get the fuck out, not caring about whether or not they left with their clothes off. They should be embarrassed as hell for fucking someone who was already in a serious relationship.

It was pretty obvious that Gerard broke it off with her after that incident. Truthfully, he should've broken up with her as soon as Mikey admitted his mild yet not so mild hatred of her because if Mikey disapproved of someone, that usually meant that the person he disapproved of wasn't that much of a good person. He's seen it a bunch of times when Mikey says he dislikes someone. They either end up being a shit person or end up being extremely fuckin' weird and creepy. It was like he had this sixth sense where he could just sniff out people's bad traits. And the one time he hoped Mikey was wrong, Mikey was right. He usually always was.

But let's go back to Gerard losing his job.

His job as a waiter was the only job he had, and as low paying as it was, it still helped him get by. Now that he no longer had a job, he would have to find another one if he didn't want to lose his apartment. He just hoped that whatever problem Mikey had wasn't money related, because he barely had enough money as it was.

Of course it had to be a money problem.

"Mikey, what the fuck," Gerard sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head in disbelief. "So you're telling me that you scammed someone out of their money, someone who's known to "make people quiet", and now you owe them one grand?"

"Um, yeah, that's basically it."

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"Why the hell did you even scam him anyway?!"

"'Cause I was low on weed and one grand was way too much money to pass up. So I just like, made a weed substitute. Also known as regular lawn grass. I just made it look and smell like weed."

"And what happened to the thousand the guy gave you?"

"Spent it."

This caused another sigh to come out of Gerard's mouth. He couldn't believe he was related to Mikey. In fact, he was convinced that Mikey was dropped on his head as a baby multiple times. Actually, he knew he was. Gerard was the one who dropped him.

"Can't you ask Pete to help you out?" asked Gerard, trying to give Mikey another option. He literally just got fired from his job, he couldn't afford to pay anything other than his rent right now.

"Well, you see–"

"Don't tell me Pete owes someone money too."

"You said it, not me."

"So now you want me to pay off his debt too?"

"Oh dearest brother, that I love and cherish deeply, would you help us out from the kindness of your ever beating heart?" Mikey pleaded with his worst excuse of a British accent.

"First of all, never say that again. Especially not with that accent. Second of all, I've barely got any money to support myself, plus I literally just lost my job. What's your deadline for giving the guy the money anyway?"

"Next week," Mikey grimaced.

Gerard's eyes widened with disbelief. His brother was truly the stupidest human in existence. At least at the moment. "You really are in deep shit."

Mikey looked at him with begging eyes. Usually this trick wouldn't work on Gerard, but since there was a possibility of Mikey being kidnapped, tied up and thrown into the back of a van, and then tied to a concrete block and tossed into a deep lake, it was really convincing. Mikey was fairly smart, but he made the dumbest life decisions.

Gerard sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "I'll see what I can scrounge up."

"Have I told you how absolutely wonderful you are?"

"Not enough times for this shit."

And that's how Gerard ended up where he was now, parked in front of a random house twenty minutes away from his apartment. He felt tacky in his all black attire, the shades of black not even matching, but what could he do? It would be harder to spot a guy wearing all black in the middle of the night rather than a burglar who has a part-time job as a circus clown. Who was he kidding, Gerard was the clown for robbing a nice looking house. No, he wasn't just the clown. He was the full circus.

Gerard sat in his car, hyping himself up for this robbery because he sure as hell was terrified that he was going to get caught. He was tempted to just abandon this whole task and quit to find another way to make the money, but it's almost been a full week since his conversation since Mikey and they've only managed to scrounge up four hundred dollars. They needed six hundred more so Mikey wouldn't end up in a coffin while Toxic by Britney Spears played at his funeral. Don't ask Gerard why it's Britney Spears, it's what Mikey wanted.

Alright, it was go time. He got out of his car, making sure his gun was with him. Where did he get a gun, you may ask? His deceased grandfather of course. It actually was his. His parents gave it to him as soon as he moved out because, as they said, "Jersey's a terrifying place." They weren't wrong, but they literally just handed a nineteen year old a gun without a license. That was just irresponsible of them. Well, Gerard guessed he should be thanking them. They're helping Gerard get away with a robbery.

Before going in, he slipped on his ski mask, just in case whoever lived in the house had security cameras. He also grabbed his satchel in which he was hoping to put money or something expensive in. Gerard looked around the perimeter of the house, trying to find the best way in. Maybe it would've been better if he at least had a little bit of help. He should've called up Ray to see if he wanted to partake in any crimes, as if Ray would actually accept. He was too much of a goody two shoes, clean track record and all. Also, he wasn't an idiot.

Gerard checked all the windows, noting that one of them was unlocked. This was going to be easier than Gerard thought. He checked the inside, in which the curtains we're pulled aside so he could see the interior. It was a bedroom, but there wasn't anybody inside from what he could see. It was probably an unused guest room. Gerard gently slid the window open, trying to make the least noise possible. He sure hoped there wasn't a dog inside the house because that would make robbing the place all the more difficult. He might have to find a different house if that was the case.

Gerard carefully put one leg through the now open window, and then another, trying not to slip. Once both his feet were securely on the floor inside, he begun to check around the room her was currently in. If he were lucky, there would be six hundred dollars lying around with a sign that said "Take me please" pointing to them. But this was real life, so there was nothing like that in the room. The cabinets were all empty and the closet was bare. There was nothing in the room, so he'd have to check somewhere else.

He slowly made his way to the door, turning the knob gently so it didn't make any sounds. Fuck, being this quiet was harder than Gerard thought it would be. He felt like a kid trying to get a sneak peak at the Christmas presents under a tree at midnight. Except there would be actual legal consequences of what he was doing. He didn't want to eat prison food.

It was fairly dark in the hallway, but Gerard didn't want to risk turning on a flashlight in fear that someone that was in another room might see it. It was already risky enough breaking and entering, but he'd have to use a flashlight of he wanted to see, though he put it on the weakest setting. He left the door to the guest room open though, just so when he went back he didn't have to make much noise turning the door knob.

The first thing Gerard wanted to do was to look for the living room. He didn't think he could sneak out a whole TV, but maybe he could snatch a gaming console if there was one, maybe a DVD player, or even better, a vinyl player. He could sell those at a pawn shop or something, maybe on eBay if the shop didn't take it. At least it would be worth something.

Gerard found the living room pretty easily, though it wasn't as decorated with things as he hoped they'd be, at least, not with expensive things. There were a few knickknacks lying around, but they didn't look worth any money. There was definitely a TV, but Gerard wasn't going to take that because it was too big and he was bound to make a lot of noise if he took that. Sadly, there were no gaming consoles. There was, however, a DVD player, a newer looking one at that. That might be worth a few bucks. So, Gerard started getting to work, trying to noiselessly unplug every wire. After a few minutes, he succeeded in detaching it and slid it into his satchel. Thank fuck the player was small enough to fit in it or else Gerard would have to make a double trip.

Gerard continued his investigation of the living room, not finding anything of interest. He'd have to check a few rooms next. This was the most nerve-wracking part. He didn't know if there was someone behind one of the doors, and that's what he wanted to avoid: confrontation.

The layout of the house was pretty simple, but pretty spacious. It was only a one story house, so Gerard didn't have to worry about going up creaking steps. There seemed to be a few rooms and some narrower doors he assumed to be closets. He didn't bother checking inside of those since people didn't normally keep valuables in closets. Instead, he decided to check the first room he spotted. He slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door, hoping it wouldn't creak, and to his luck, it didn't. It was a bathroom, so Gerard was safe for the time being. Did people usually hide valuables in bathrooms? Probably not.

Gerard was about to back out an leave when he heard the slightest sound. Something that sounded like a light switch going off. He saw a glow coming out from the crack under the door, and he instantly knew he was fucked. His breath caught in his throat as he scrambled to get inside the bathroom without making a sound, closing the door quietly as he did so. He made his way to the bathtub and stepped in, hiding behind the dark blue shower curtain and turning off his flashlight.

He stood there, waiting in baited breath as his heart pounded. He strained his ears to hear something, anything. He heard a door creak open and footsteps. He desperately wished that whoever it was was just going to the kitchen to get water and not notice that their DVD player was missing. He could've sworn that he was just going to breakdown when the door to the bathroom opened and the lights flickered on. He stood deathly still, trying not to even breathe because he thought that would be too loud. He attempted to calm his racing heart, but it didn't work. He just wanted this guy to leave.

Of course the guy came in here to take a piss. It was the middle of the night. Gerard was hiding behind the shower curtain and the guy he was robbing was taking a piss. This was hands down one of the most awkward situations he's been in since he went to the bathroom in highschool to cry in a stall and heard some random dude screwing a girl against the stall door. Honestly, he was just terrified of getting caught and being sent to jail. First of all, guys like him don't do well in prison. Second of all, his brother would be disappointed in him for his method of making money. Third of all, Mikey would be dead. Even then, he'd still be disappointed from beyond the grave. He'd probably haunt him for all he knew, leaving notes that say "You're a dumb fuck" everywhere.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the guy finally finished, flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and left, turning off the lights as he did so. Gerard let himself relax a little, though he still didn't move just in case the person wandered back in. After training his ears for a few more minutes, probably around twenty or so because he was feeling a bit more from how tense he was, he figured that it was safe enough to come out.

Gerard carefully stepped out of the tub, not wanting to slip and fall. That was definitely one way to get caught, and he didn't want that. He didn't see any lights coming from underneath the door, so he risked it and opened the door slowly. He didn't see anyone, so he assumed it was safe and stepped out.

Boy, was he wrong.

The lights came on and Gerard saw a man standing right across from him in the hallway. Shit. The man had a phone in his hand. Double shit. So, due to his current circumstances, Gerard did a dumb thing though it was probably the only thing he could do in that situation. He whipped put his gun and pointed it towards the man, turning the safety off. "Put your hands in the air or I'll shoot," Gerard commanded in the most demanding voice he could muster.

The man immediately did just that, him accidentally dropping their phone in the hurry. Thank fuck for that, but hopefully he hadn't dialed the number before hand. Gerard was incredibly nervous, though he tried not to let it show in his body language. He didn't know how to hold someone up. He's technically had first hand experience in this, and it honestly made him too nervous to speak because he's been the one in front of the gun before. So the guy spoke for him. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Gerard ignored the first question and replied, "What I want is for you to give me all you've got. I want your money, not your life." It didn't occur to him that he literally just made a reference to Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant, word for word.

The man seemed to look at him oddly before responding nervously. "I-I don't really have anything though. The most I have is just–is just thirty bucks in my wallet. I'm a musician, not a millionaire."

"A musician, huh? You got any expensive instruments lying around?" Gerard questioned. If it was something like a grand piano, he obviously wouldn't be able to take it with him, but if it were a guitar, then Gerard might just be in luck. He just hoped the guitar would be an expensive one.

The man seemed to curse underneath his breath, but muttered out a hesitant "No."

"Don't lie to me. I'm the one with the gun," Gerard threatened, finger on the trigger. Of course he wasn't going to shoot, but it's called a fear tactic. If the guy he was robbing thought he might shoot, then the man might be more cooperative.

The man glanced around for a quick second, but sighed in defeat. "I've. . . I've got a guitar, a Les Paul, in my room. I-I can, uh, go and, uh, get it," the man spoke nervously, almost as if just speaking would get him shot. Gerard wasn't going to shoot. He didn't have the guts to. Plus the bullet chamber was empty because he didn't have money to buy bullets for obvious reasons.

"Show me," Gerard demanded, not wanting the man to pull anything funny. He didn't know if this man had a gun in his room, or if he had another phone there. He had to play it safe or else he'd get arrested or shot and Mikey would be as good as dead.

It seemed to take the man a solid second before he started moving, Gerard moving closer to him and following him into his room, the gun still aimed at his head. The light had already been previously on, so it allowed Gerard to take in the environment of the room around him. Honestly, it just felt like he walked into a teenage boy's room. The walls were littered with posters of random bands, most that Gerard actually recognized and loved. There was one bookshelf in the room which was just packed with books, some being comics which Gerard definitely was a fan of. An open book was lying face down on the bed. Gerard could only catch a glimpse of it, the book being Catcher In The Rye. It wasn't a bad book at all. It was the only book out of the many assigned in Gerard's English class in highschool that he actually enjoyed. And, to top it all off in all its glory, a white Epiphone Les Paul was sitting on its own stand, and next to it was a Fender amp. So the man hadn't been lying. That was all the better for Gerard.

The man hesitated before picking up his prized possession. Gerard kind of felt guilty, but it was shadowed by the fact that Mikey could possibly die if he didn't do this.

"I know you're the one robbing me and all, but," the man began, holding his guitar close to his chest. "Why? Why're you doing this?"

"Ballsy move to ask questions in your position. You got a death wish or somethin'?" Gerard taunted, the gun even more obvious in his hands.

"Maybe I do," the man answered before swinging the guitar to hit Gerard on the side, unluckily for Gerard, not on the side with the satchel where the DVD player could've protected him.

To be honest, Gerard wasn't expecting that at all. He went tumbling down like a guy riding a mechanical bull after too many drinks. His grip loosened on the gun as he fell, it slipping away from his grasp.

As he attempted to recover from the blow, the man scrambled for the gun, leaving Gerard in a daze as he tried to get up. He had an immense pain in his side now, and it hurt to even move. If he didn't know any better, than he would've thought he had broken a rib. When he finally got his bearings straight, he looked up to see that the barrel of the gun was now aimed at his own head.

Now was not a good time for flashbacks, but memories of when he was fifteen began resurfacing anyways. Flashes of images in a comic book store went through his head, the attempted robbery that had occurred managing to leave a lasting imprint in Gerard's mind. He knew he should have never gone through with this plan. Of course it was going to end badly. Things always did for him.

"Take off the mask," spoke the man in a way more confident voice than Gerard was expecting, though he should've considering it was pretty much game over for him. Gerard must have been more stunned than he realized because the man repeated himself. "I said, take off the damn mask."

Gerard did as he was told, though he didn't know why. He could easily overpower that man considering there weren't any actual bullets in the gun. But he needed to actually not feel like his organs were screaming all at once first. And honestly, it was nice to be free from that mask. It got pretty hot really fast.

A glimmer of recognition and shock passed through the man's eyes as Gerard unveiled himself. He seemed to hesitate slightly before speaking. "Gerard? Gerard Way?"

Okay, now Gerard was the one confused. How did this person know him? He narrowed his eyes at him, though partially due to the pain. "Who's askin'?"

"It's me, Frank. You know, Frank Iero? Used to be friends with Mikey? I used to come over a lot years ago when we were still in highschool. I'm disappointed. And now you're robbing my house?" he genuinely sounded upset at this fact, though it was obvious why. It wasn't everyday where someone you used to know robbed your house.

"Oh shit," Gerard muttered, his eyes widening. Why, out of every house in New Jersey, did Gerard have the bad luck of robbing Frank's house? He couldn't remember much about the times Frank used to come over to Gerard's old house where he and Mikey lived with their parents, mostly because he was a social recluse and spent most of his time in his room. But he did remember those rare occasions where he'd hang out with Frank and Mikey wen he was bored.

"So I'm asking you again, why'd you wanna rob me?"

"Well, first of all, I didn't know this was your house," Gerard responded nonchalantly as if there were some joke he was missing out on. He didn't know if he should actually say why, but since this night couldn't get any worse, he might as well spill. "Second of all, Mikey's an idiot and scammed the wrong guy, and now he owes like, a thousand dollars to some gang or mafia or something. And he's broke plus I don't have a job and the deadline to get those guys the money is tomorrow night. If I didn't do something, then Mikey would've died or gotten tortured or something."

"So you decided to rob my house."

"I didn't know you lived here!"

"So you decided to rob a random house, like that makes it any better."

"How else was I supposed to scrounge up six hundred dollars? Just walk into the bank and ask "Oh hey, can I withdraw six hundred dollars from my empty bank account?" as if they'd give me any?"

"You know, I don't like that tone you're giving me."

"Oh boohoo, what're you gonna do? Shoot me? There's no bullets in the gun anyway."

Frank paused for a moment before actually checking the chamber, finding that the gun was indeed lacking bullets. He tossed it aside knowing that it wouldn't do any good to have it anymore, though he still had his guitar in hand. "Why'd you bring a gun if there weren't any bullets in it?"

"Fear tactic. Worked on you, didn't it?" Gerard replied. It was odd how they were having an almost normal conversation when Gerard literally just robbed Frank.

"I mean, yeah," Frank shrugged. "You know, I really should call the cops on you."

Gerard's heart stammered nervously at that. He didn't want to be arrested. He didn't even know if he could survive in prison. Prison food sucked, he knew that as a fact. Plus, there were a lot of things that went on in prisons that Gerard would rather not know about nor live through.

"But I won't," Frank, thankfully, continued.

Gerard let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Just because I know you and because Mikey sounds like he's in deep shit," Frank added on. "Plus I'll even help you out with the money situation."

Now Gerard couldn't help but stare at Frank wide-eyed. "Really?" It seemed to good to be true. Any person I their right mind, whether they knew who was robbing then or not, would call the police, not offer to pay off whatever debt the robber had.

"Yep. Call it a charitable donation to two idiots who have terrible ideas," Frank said as he put his guitar back on its stand, checking to make sure it didn't have any scratches.

"You know what? I'm not even gonna be angry at that," Gerard responded, beginning to stand up, yet gripping his side a bit considering it still ached.

"Oh, shit, yeah, sorry for hitting you," Frank said when he saw Gerard still in pain.

"Don't worry about it. I deserved it," Gerard grunted, stretching a bit to make sure nothing was actually broken. "Just be glad you didn't hit your DVD player."

"Wait what?"

"I stole your DVD player. Whoops?"

It had been a few weeks since the whole robbery fiasco had occurred. Mikey's debt had been paid off and he was safe and sound, no word from the mafia or gang he scammed to be seen. Gerard vowed to give Frank his money back, even after Frank said it was alright. Plus, Frank began to hang out with Gerard a lot more and even reconnected with Mikey. All in all, it had been a pretty eventful month.

At the moment, Gerard and Frank were watching the first Star Wars movie in Frank's house, both of them being in their most comfortable clothes, that being pajamas. Gerard was decked out in Star Wars pajama pants and a plain black T-shirt while Frank had on a Star Wars shirt with plaid pajama bottoms. Both were totally repping Star Wars.

During the middle of the movie, Frank apparently couldn't help but bring up a conversation topic.

"You know, if you got away with stealing my DVD player, I would've hated you with a burning passion," he said dramatically. "Like, my whole life revolves around Star Wars and horror movies. You would've taken my whole life away."

"Stop being overdramatic," Gerard chuckled, still watching the movie. Sure he's seen it a million times before, but it was a classic.

"It's not being overdramatic if it's true."

Gerard huffed a little at that, deciding to keep his focus on the screen for the time being.

The minutes seemed to tick on before Frank spoke again. "I used to have a crush on you."

Now that caught Gerard's attention. He looked over at Frank who seemed to nonchalant about it. "You what?"

"You heard me. Back when I basically always went over to your guys' house, I used to hope that I could hang out with you 'cause whenever I talked to you, you always sounded so cool to me. It was probably 'cause you were older than me or something, but there was something about you that I just loved. I never told you though 'cause I thought you might think I was weird or something, or you'd find the age gap weird, or you might not even be into guys or something," Frank rambled, the words falling from his mouth like a waterfall. He paused, looking at Gerard before speaking again but slightly quieter. "I think I still have a crush on you actually."

"Oh." Gerard was definitely blushing. Like most things, he definitely didn't expect this. So by what Frank was saying, he's had a crush on Gerard since highschool, and still has a crush on Gerard, even when Gerard tried to rob his house. What even was Gerard's life anymore?

"Sorry if you find that weird or–" Frank wasn't even able to finish his sentence before Gerard interrupted him.

"It's not weird. I-It's not weird at all," Gerard responded, cursing his slight stuttering.

"Well, then I'll just say it outright," Frank began, sounding just a bit nervous. "I like you. A lot."

Gerard's attention by now had completely diverted from the movie and just to Frank. He really didn't know what to say. His heart was definitely beating in ways he didn't expect it to, going faster and faster. He could feel the blush on his face grow, feeling it climb all the way to the tips of his ears. He definitely felt something. "I think I like you too," Gerard responded.

Frank's face broke out into a smile, one that Gerard was sure made his heart skip a beat. And suddenly, Frank's lips were on his. It took a second for Gerard to react, but when he did, he pulled Frank closer and kissed him back, closing his eyes as he did so. His lips were so soft against Gerard's. It made him wonder what kind of chapstick he used, if any at all. And as for first kisses go, having one while watching Star Wars was the best.

Due to oxygen related reasons, Frank pulled away from the kiss first. His face was illuminated by the TV screen, the faded light making Frank look absolutely beautiful to Gerard. Frank spoke softly, as if saying anything above a whisper would break the atmosphere. "I'm glad you tried from rob my house."

"So am I."