Gerard lounged on his bed, the biggest smile splayed across his face, as he replayed everything that had just taken place. He had never had a sincere reason to smile about his paintings. Even when his brother or grandmother would compliment him, he never genuinely smiled. He may have given the impression of a smile, but if you looked into his eyes, it didn’t reach; this smile did. You could see the glimmer and shine of true happiness there, a dazzling rarity.

He was experiencing an unfamiliar feeling, the feeling of acceptance. It had always been one of those elusive emotions that Gerard had never had the pleasure of experiencing. It made him smile wider. Gerard Way had been accepted, even if it was by just one person. It was someone new. It wasn’t the same person, who, regardless of what he did, always thought it was amazing. This person was an expert, a professional, and a true art aficionado, and he liked-- no he loved Gerard’s work. The thought alone could make any man happy, but it made Gerard feel like he was on cloud nine.

Everything around him seemed almost rejuvenated. Even though the leaves were changing colors, and dying, Gerard saw them in a new light. They weren’t dying, they were being reborn, reincarnated. They were falling to be arisen again. The reds, oranges, and yellows of the leaves on the trees seemed so much more vibrant. The ones on the ground, the brown, wrinkled ones were him, or so he had always thought. They were the leaves people stepped on just to hear them crunch. Gerard had always been that dead leaf, letting people step on him, but now he saw it differently. He was the green leaf on the evergreen tree that refused to change color and fall. Never had he given up; he had come close many times over, but never had he just thrown everything away.

He had been hoping and praying for this day to come since he realized he had a talent for drawing. His grandmother had pushed him to follow his dreams. She bought sketchbook after sketchbook, charcoal pencil after charcoal pencil, and never once complained. She encouraged him the whole way through. It was the reason why Gerard never gave up art. She had always told him to work hard, and someone would appreciate it someday; she had been right.

Frank had waltzed right in and thrown caution to the wind. He could lose his job because of Gerard, but it didn’t matter. All he cared about was letting the world know who Gerard Way was, and what kind of an artist he was, because Frank believed Gerard was good enough. He believed Gerard was an artist when others hadn’t.

After the feeling of euphoria had started to fade, Gerard rolled off the bed and walked towards his closet, pulling out three blank canvases along with four other finished pieces. He had to present ten by the end of the month. He didn’t know what he was going to do with the three blank canvases, especially since one of them had to be a grand finale type piece. Frank had said that, “that painting has to be by far your biggest priority”.

He had an inkling of what two of the blank canvases could be, but the final piece was a mystery to him. Not one idea for a painting was coming to mind. He had three weeks to think of something, but since it had to be something phenomenal, he didn’t know how he was going to pull it off. Gerard didn’t want to disappoint Frank. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

Frank was putting his career on the line for Gerard, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be responsible for the other man losing his job. If he disappointed Frank, it would kill him. With everything he was doing for him, Gerard felt like he owed everything he owned to Frank. He had to make sure that this final piece was not only going to wow the critics and sponsors, but that it was going to wow Frank. It had to wow Frank, because otherwise everything would have been in vain. What good would it be if the critics liked his work if Frank didn’t? Frank was his main priority.

And that’s when the idea hit him, like a ton of bricks. He knew what the final piece would be. He pulled out a sketchbook and furiously began to sketch an outline for the painting. It was going to be massive. It was going to be real. It was going to be extraordinary. It was going to be beautiful.

It was going to be Frank.

---X---

Notes: So, sorry for the delay, but school is my first priority. (Yes, I’m a nerd!) So, this was a bit of a filler. The next one will be where the story really starts to take off.

Just a heads up, I know that three weeks is a short time for an artist to create a painting, but this will change later on in the story, so take that in stride for now. ^_^

Thank you all for reading and commenting. It truly means so much to me.

As always, comments and constructive criticism are always welcomed and appreciated.

-J