Catch Me If You Can - Part Thirteen
Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven / Part Twelve
-----Day 22-----
Bert woke up the next morning, curled up next to Gerard with his head on the older man’s chest. Gerard’s arm was wrapped around him. He pushed up gently, sleepily looking around the room. Gerard’s arm slipped off his shoulders, bouncing slightly on the soft mattress. Bert shifted his legs so he could sit up a little better, thanking god that the over-starched sheets had loosened up overnight.
He squinted in the direction of the window.
“Why are the curtains open?” Bert mumbled sleepily.
“Because neither of us shut them last night,” Gerard replied, sounding equally as tired and a little bit snippy.
Bert looked over at Gerard. He was laying perfectly still, still on his back with an arm across his eyes. He watched him for a moment, confused.
“You actually awake?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Yeah...”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Since you sat up.”
“Oh... so why are you still laying there?”
“You want one reason, or all of them?”
“What?”
“Okay, 1- I’m still half-asleep. 2- The sun is bright through my arm, so I can’t imagine how bright actually is and I don’t really wanna find out with the headache I’ve still got and 3- you’re still laying on me.”
“Oh... Do you want me to move?”
“Please.”
Bert quickly shifted over and off of Gerard. After a second, Gerard moved his arm, scrunching his face up at the brightness of the light. He then sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood.
“Where are you going?” Bert asked. Gerard didn’t reply, only started walking around the bed and towards the door. “Gerard?” Gerard disappeared from the room. “Gee?!” Bert jumped up, slipping off the bed and running down the hall after the older vocalist. He ran down the hall and into the lounge room, stopping when he spotted him out on the balcony, leaning on the railing, smoking. “Gee?”
Gerard twitched, turning slightly. “Go away,” he said. He turned back to look out over the sprawling city below.
“Are you sad?”
Gerard didn’t move.
“You are sad. Why? Why are you sad, Gee?”
“Don’t. Don’t... Bert, just... don’t. Please, leave me alone.”
Bert drew back slightly, then stepped forward. “No. No, Gerard. I’m not going.” He paused. “Have you been taking your pills?”
“I’m not stupid, Bert.”
“Then please just tell me why you’re sad.”
Gerard’s shoulders started shaking. Soft chuckles reached Bert’s ears. He frowned. They were hollow.
“Why? Why are we doing this, Bert? What’s the purpose of this whole fucking thing when you know the longer we’re gone, the more trouble we’re gonna be in? What’s the point?....Why?”
Bert’s shoulders dropped. How could he answer a question he didn’t really know the answer to? He sighed. “Fuck....” he whispered. There was an answer, but...
Gerard’s mirthless chuckles stopped. He slumped further forward onto the rail.
Bert bit his lip, worrying it as he stared at the floor, thinking... thinking...
He shook his head and looked up, towards Gerard, resolutely. He had to do this, and he had to do it now. He could see what was happening to Gerard. He couldn’t let him slip away.
He strode forward, his bare feet making almost no noise as he walked across the tile. He stepped over the threshold and reached out, putting his hand on Gerard’s shoulder. He spun the slightly taller man around, leaned in and pressed his lips against Gerard’s firmly. He felt him seize up. A few seconds later, he was shoved away.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Gerard screamed.
“Well, until you shoved me away, I was kissing you!” Bert screamed back.
“Don’t!”
Bert blinked. Was... he crying...?
“Don’t fucking play with me like that! I’m sick of it...”
Bert stopped. “I- I wasn’t...” Gerard froze. “I wasn’t playing with you, Gerard.”
Gerard looked up through watery, green eyes and stared at the young man before him - the young man who was childish more often than not, or at best, immature...the young man who people often mistook for a 16 or 17 year old kid.... the young man who was always playing around and fucking with people’s heads....
The young man who was stood before him now looking every bit his 24 years and far more serious than Gerard had seen him in a long time.
“Bert, I...” He shook his head.
“Gerard...” Bert took a step forward. He paused and thought for a moment before looking up and catching Gerard’s eye. “Do you love me?”
Gerard’s mouth moved soundlessly for a few moments. Then he ducked his head, letting his long hair form a curtain around his face. He was so sick of fighting. “.....yes.”
Bert’s mouth slowly curled up into a tiny upturn of the lips, then a wider grin and then a huge, toothy, bright smile. He all but ran over and pushed Gerard’s hair from his face, tipping it up to look at him. “Really?” he asked excitedly, wrapping himself around the older man. “How long?”
Gerard blinked in shock for a few moments, the scarlet in his cheeks draining away. His face lit up. “You love me?”
“Yes!” Bert giggled. “But you didn’t answer my question!”
Gerard laughed nervously. “How long have you... y’know?”
“Loved you?” Gerard giggled again. “C’mon... Say it,” Bert prodded.
“How long have you... loved... me?”
Bert ducked his head and tucked his face into Gerard’s neck.
“I thought so...” Gerard laughed.
Bert nuzzled his neck, smiling widely. He then pulled back and leaned in, pressing his lips against Gerard’s again.
This time he didn’t get shoved away.
----
The plan had only been to stay in the hotel for one night, so at 9:55am they gathered up the few things they’d brought up with them and checked out. They ended up driving north to Denver. It took them almost an hour and a half to get up to the capitol city of the state they were currently in. Once there, they drove around until they found a street mall. They parked, made a note of exactly where they parked and headed off, into the throng of people.
“So,” Gerard said as they walked along the mall “I’m thinking, if we’re... together now... then, maybe we should go get... breakfast?”
Bert turned to the older man, eyes wide in excitement. He smiled widely. “Really?” Gerard nodded. “Yeah! Definitely!”
----
Gerard was sitting on the bed, trying to watch ‘Family Guy’ and ignore the looks Bert was shooting his way. He shifted nervously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bert’s mouth tighten, saw him wind up and then...!
He couldn’t get out of the way quick enough.
Bert pounced.
Gerard squealed in shock at the collision.
They both toppled off the bed.
----
A little while later found them laying on the bed, watching re-runs of ‘Third Rock from the Sun’. Bert had his head on Gerard’s chest as Gerard carded his fingers through the younger man’s long, brown hair. Bert twitched and curled his fingers tighter around the soft fabric of Gerard’s t-shirt.
“Bert? I gotta ask. Why did you tackle me a few minutes ago?”
Bert rolled slightly, scooted down and propped himself up on Gerard’s belly. “Well, the answer is really quite obvious.”
Gerard stared at him for a minute, waiting for a real answer. When it became obvious that none was forthcoming, he said “To you maybe. Now what is it?”
“I felt like it!” Bert chirped.
Gerard rolled his eyes.
“What?” Bert asked, still smiling.
“Nothing. It’s just that that’s such a you answer.”
“Well, I should hope so. I am me after all.... at least, last time I checked... I dunno about now though.” He leaned back and pulled his shirt out, looking down it. Gerard laughed. “What?!” Bert’s head snapped back up. His shirt caught on his nose. He stared down at it, cross-eyed.
Gerard only laughed harder. “You...! You...! Sound so serious! When...! You say... that!”
Bert pulled his shirt off his nose and sat up. “Yeah!” he yelled, trying his best not to laugh himself “Well! Maybe I am serious!” Gerard kept laughing. “Oh, shut up!” Bert punched him, smiling widely.
Gerard let out an ‘oof’ and curled in on his stomach, all the while, still laughing his head off.
“Stop laughing!” Bert said, punching Gerard again.
“You don’t really help... your case... when you’re laughing yourself.... Bert!” Gerard replied between bouts of raucous laughter.
Bert gave a mock-pout before sitting up and swinging a leg over Gerard’s hips, just as he rolled over onto his back.
“Bert, don’t sit on me!”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because... because...” Gerard tried to answer, staring up at Bert’s not-so-innocent face. “Oh, just c’mere.” He reached up and put a hand on the back of the younger vocalist’s neck before pulling him down, into a kiss.
Bert squeaked in shock before allowing himself to be pulled deeper down into it.
Their mouths moulded together, moving in unison. Hands started to roam, rubbing up and down sides, through hair and generally, everywhere they could reach. Eventually, one of Gerard’s hands wandered up under Bert’s shirt and rested on the small of his back. At the same time, Bert slipped his hand up under the front of Gerard’s top. He rubbed circles on his hip for a while before letting it trail higher, causing the fabric of the shirt to follow, slowly beginning to ride up.
Gerard broke the kiss to pull his shirt back down, pushing Bert’s arm away. Bert sighed.
“Gee-eee...” Bert groaned, dropping his head onto Gerard’s chest while still keeping himself perched above him.
“I’m sorry, Bert... I just...” His cheeks flushed.
“I know.” Bert looked up at his face, staring at his still slightly swollen and reddened lips. “It’s fine.” He smiled before leaning down and pecking him on the lips. He then sat up, pushed himself off of the older man and laid down next to him, cuddling back into his side to watch more ‘Third Rock from the Sun’.
-----Day 23-----
“Dude, we should totally go to Vegas and get married.”
“We are not going to Vegas to get married.”
“Aww, but it’d be fun!”
“We’ve only been together, like, 2 days!”
“So?”
“So, we don’t know how this is gonna work out.”
“Gee Way! Don’t you say that! We’re gonna be together forever!”
----
Unfortunately for Gerard, he fell asleep in the car on the way to get breakfast. When he woke up almost an hour later, he noticed that they were on a motorway. He sighed.
“Bert, where are we going?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Vegas.”
“Knew it....” Gerard shook his head.
“Then why’d ya ask?”
“I have this masochistic tendency to need to confirm the facts when one of my worst fears is coming true.”
Bert looked at him confused. “‘Worst fears?’”
“Being kidnapped by a fan girl or boy to be forced into marriage.”
Bert rolled his eyes.
----
They arrived in Vegas just after 8:30 that night. Gerard ended up losing Bert after a few minutes inside the first hotel they went in to. He looked around for a several moments before finally giving up and going out to the car. He figured Bert would eventually think to come check there. Sure enough, he did. All he said was ‘no vacancy’ before he pushed Gerard back into the car and jumped in himself.
Bert pulled the car over into a chapel and tried to drag Gerard inside. Luckily, Gerard managed to talk Bert out of his plans to get them married. Instead they spent a glamorous night running around a casino.
Part Fourteen
-----Day 22-----
Bert woke up the next morning, curled up next to Gerard with his head on the older man’s chest. Gerard’s arm was wrapped around him. He pushed up gently, sleepily looking around the room. Gerard’s arm slipped off his shoulders, bouncing slightly on the soft mattress. Bert shifted his legs so he could sit up a little better, thanking god that the over-starched sheets had loosened up overnight.
He squinted in the direction of the window.
“Why are the curtains open?” Bert mumbled sleepily.
“Because neither of us shut them last night,” Gerard replied, sounding equally as tired and a little bit snippy.
Bert looked over at Gerard. He was laying perfectly still, still on his back with an arm across his eyes. He watched him for a moment, confused.
“You actually awake?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Yeah...”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Since you sat up.”
“Oh... so why are you still laying there?”
“You want one reason, or all of them?”
“What?”
“Okay, 1- I’m still half-asleep. 2- The sun is bright through my arm, so I can’t imagine how bright actually is and I don’t really wanna find out with the headache I’ve still got and 3- you’re still laying on me.”
“Oh... Do you want me to move?”
“Please.”
Bert quickly shifted over and off of Gerard. After a second, Gerard moved his arm, scrunching his face up at the brightness of the light. He then sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood.
“Where are you going?” Bert asked. Gerard didn’t reply, only started walking around the bed and towards the door. “Gerard?” Gerard disappeared from the room. “Gee?!” Bert jumped up, slipping off the bed and running down the hall after the older vocalist. He ran down the hall and into the lounge room, stopping when he spotted him out on the balcony, leaning on the railing, smoking. “Gee?”
Gerard twitched, turning slightly. “Go away,” he said. He turned back to look out over the sprawling city below.
“Are you sad?”
Gerard didn’t move.
“You are sad. Why? Why are you sad, Gee?”
“Don’t. Don’t... Bert, just... don’t. Please, leave me alone.”
Bert drew back slightly, then stepped forward. “No. No, Gerard. I’m not going.” He paused. “Have you been taking your pills?”
“I’m not stupid, Bert.”
“Then please just tell me why you’re sad.”
Gerard’s shoulders started shaking. Soft chuckles reached Bert’s ears. He frowned. They were hollow.
“Why? Why are we doing this, Bert? What’s the purpose of this whole fucking thing when you know the longer we’re gone, the more trouble we’re gonna be in? What’s the point?....Why?”
Bert’s shoulders dropped. How could he answer a question he didn’t really know the answer to? He sighed. “Fuck....” he whispered. There was an answer, but...
Gerard’s mirthless chuckles stopped. He slumped further forward onto the rail.
Bert bit his lip, worrying it as he stared at the floor, thinking... thinking...
He shook his head and looked up, towards Gerard, resolutely. He had to do this, and he had to do it now. He could see what was happening to Gerard. He couldn’t let him slip away.
He strode forward, his bare feet making almost no noise as he walked across the tile. He stepped over the threshold and reached out, putting his hand on Gerard’s shoulder. He spun the slightly taller man around, leaned in and pressed his lips against Gerard’s firmly. He felt him seize up. A few seconds later, he was shoved away.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Gerard screamed.
“Well, until you shoved me away, I was kissing you!” Bert screamed back.
“Don’t!”
Bert blinked. Was... he crying...?
“Don’t fucking play with me like that! I’m sick of it...”
Bert stopped. “I- I wasn’t...” Gerard froze. “I wasn’t playing with you, Gerard.”
Gerard looked up through watery, green eyes and stared at the young man before him - the young man who was childish more often than not, or at best, immature...the young man who people often mistook for a 16 or 17 year old kid.... the young man who was always playing around and fucking with people’s heads....
The young man who was stood before him now looking every bit his 24 years and far more serious than Gerard had seen him in a long time.
“Bert, I...” He shook his head.
“Gerard...” Bert took a step forward. He paused and thought for a moment before looking up and catching Gerard’s eye. “Do you love me?”
Gerard’s mouth moved soundlessly for a few moments. Then he ducked his head, letting his long hair form a curtain around his face. He was so sick of fighting. “.....yes.”
Bert’s mouth slowly curled up into a tiny upturn of the lips, then a wider grin and then a huge, toothy, bright smile. He all but ran over and pushed Gerard’s hair from his face, tipping it up to look at him. “Really?” he asked excitedly, wrapping himself around the older man. “How long?”
Gerard blinked in shock for a few moments, the scarlet in his cheeks draining away. His face lit up. “You love me?”
“Yes!” Bert giggled. “But you didn’t answer my question!”
Gerard laughed nervously. “How long have you... y’know?”
“Loved you?” Gerard giggled again. “C’mon... Say it,” Bert prodded.
“How long have you... loved... me?”
Bert ducked his head and tucked his face into Gerard’s neck.
“I thought so...” Gerard laughed.
Bert nuzzled his neck, smiling widely. He then pulled back and leaned in, pressing his lips against Gerard’s again.
This time he didn’t get shoved away.
----
The plan had only been to stay in the hotel for one night, so at 9:55am they gathered up the few things they’d brought up with them and checked out. They ended up driving north to Denver. It took them almost an hour and a half to get up to the capitol city of the state they were currently in. Once there, they drove around until they found a street mall. They parked, made a note of exactly where they parked and headed off, into the throng of people.
“So,” Gerard said as they walked along the mall “I’m thinking, if we’re... together now... then, maybe we should go get... breakfast?”
Bert turned to the older man, eyes wide in excitement. He smiled widely. “Really?” Gerard nodded. “Yeah! Definitely!”
----
Gerard was sitting on the bed, trying to watch ‘Family Guy’ and ignore the looks Bert was shooting his way. He shifted nervously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bert’s mouth tighten, saw him wind up and then...!
He couldn’t get out of the way quick enough.
Bert pounced.
Gerard squealed in shock at the collision.
They both toppled off the bed.
----
A little while later found them laying on the bed, watching re-runs of ‘Third Rock from the Sun’. Bert had his head on Gerard’s chest as Gerard carded his fingers through the younger man’s long, brown hair. Bert twitched and curled his fingers tighter around the soft fabric of Gerard’s t-shirt.
“Bert? I gotta ask. Why did you tackle me a few minutes ago?”
Bert rolled slightly, scooted down and propped himself up on Gerard’s belly. “Well, the answer is really quite obvious.”
Gerard stared at him for a minute, waiting for a real answer. When it became obvious that none was forthcoming, he said “To you maybe. Now what is it?”
“I felt like it!” Bert chirped.
Gerard rolled his eyes.
“What?” Bert asked, still smiling.
“Nothing. It’s just that that’s such a you answer.”
“Well, I should hope so. I am me after all.... at least, last time I checked... I dunno about now though.” He leaned back and pulled his shirt out, looking down it. Gerard laughed. “What?!” Bert’s head snapped back up. His shirt caught on his nose. He stared down at it, cross-eyed.
Gerard only laughed harder. “You...! You...! Sound so serious! When...! You say... that!”
Bert pulled his shirt off his nose and sat up. “Yeah!” he yelled, trying his best not to laugh himself “Well! Maybe I am serious!” Gerard kept laughing. “Oh, shut up!” Bert punched him, smiling widely.
Gerard let out an ‘oof’ and curled in on his stomach, all the while, still laughing his head off.
“Stop laughing!” Bert said, punching Gerard again.
“You don’t really help... your case... when you’re laughing yourself.... Bert!” Gerard replied between bouts of raucous laughter.
Bert gave a mock-pout before sitting up and swinging a leg over Gerard’s hips, just as he rolled over onto his back.
“Bert, don’t sit on me!”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because... because...” Gerard tried to answer, staring up at Bert’s not-so-innocent face. “Oh, just c’mere.” He reached up and put a hand on the back of the younger vocalist’s neck before pulling him down, into a kiss.
Bert squeaked in shock before allowing himself to be pulled deeper down into it.
Their mouths moulded together, moving in unison. Hands started to roam, rubbing up and down sides, through hair and generally, everywhere they could reach. Eventually, one of Gerard’s hands wandered up under Bert’s shirt and rested on the small of his back. At the same time, Bert slipped his hand up under the front of Gerard’s top. He rubbed circles on his hip for a while before letting it trail higher, causing the fabric of the shirt to follow, slowly beginning to ride up.
Gerard broke the kiss to pull his shirt back down, pushing Bert’s arm away. Bert sighed.
“Gee-eee...” Bert groaned, dropping his head onto Gerard’s chest while still keeping himself perched above him.
“I’m sorry, Bert... I just...” His cheeks flushed.
“I know.” Bert looked up at his face, staring at his still slightly swollen and reddened lips. “It’s fine.” He smiled before leaning down and pecking him on the lips. He then sat up, pushed himself off of the older man and laid down next to him, cuddling back into his side to watch more ‘Third Rock from the Sun’.
-----Day 23-----
“Dude, we should totally go to Vegas and get married.”
“We are not going to Vegas to get married.”
“Aww, but it’d be fun!”
“We’ve only been together, like, 2 days!”
“So?”
“So, we don’t know how this is gonna work out.”
“Gee Way! Don’t you say that! We’re gonna be together forever!”
----
Unfortunately for Gerard, he fell asleep in the car on the way to get breakfast. When he woke up almost an hour later, he noticed that they were on a motorway. He sighed.
“Bert, where are we going?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Vegas.”
“Knew it....” Gerard shook his head.
“Then why’d ya ask?”
“I have this masochistic tendency to need to confirm the facts when one of my worst fears is coming true.”
Bert looked at him confused. “‘Worst fears?’”
“Being kidnapped by a fan girl or boy to be forced into marriage.”
Bert rolled his eyes.
----
They arrived in Vegas just after 8:30 that night. Gerard ended up losing Bert after a few minutes inside the first hotel they went in to. He looked around for a several moments before finally giving up and going out to the car. He figured Bert would eventually think to come check there. Sure enough, he did. All he said was ‘no vacancy’ before he pushed Gerard back into the car and jumped in himself.
Bert pulled the car over into a chapel and tried to drag Gerard inside. Luckily, Gerard managed to talk Bert out of his plans to get them married. Instead they spent a glamorous night running around a casino.
Part Fourteen