Gerard waits in the field even after everyone else has given up. Even Mikey went back home, leaving Gerard alone with the pumpkins. Gerard doesn't blame Mikey, who's only four; he didn't actually expect his little brother to last until midnight anyway. He'll tell him the Great Pumpkin says hi.

He falls asleep at exactly 9:53.

At midnight a small, shadowy figure approaches him and pulls his blanket up to his chin before pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek and whispering, "See you next year."

Gerard starts to stir, but the newcomer just pets his hair. In the morning he'll assume that part of the night was a dream, but his conviction will be doubled for next year.

***

He doesn't actually manage to stay up until he's old enough that going to the pumpkin patch every Halloween is only tradition. Plus, he's too old to go trick-or-treating and his mom would kill him if he got drunk. Gerard doesn't actually realize that it's midnight until he sees someone else walking through the pumpkin patch. It looks like another kid his age, but Gerard doesn't recognize him - he's probably from the next town over. Gerard hopes he isn't going to do anything stupid like smash the Schecter's pumpkins.

The guy smiles when he sees Gerard, the pure glee in the gesture belies the over all punk look. Gerard wonders if he's on something. "Hey, you're up!"

Gerard squints at him, "Uh, yeah."

"I've always liked you best."

He raises an eyebrow, "Huh? Dude, we've never met, I've never even seen you before."

The other guy let out a high pitched giggle, "Yeah, I know, but I've seen you plenty. Ten years is a long time, Gerard."

"No, seriously, what the fuck?" Gerard asks, backing away from the nutjob.

"Your pumpkin patch has always been the most sincere," he explains, seeming to ignore how freaked out Gerard is. "Well, you're kind of phoning it in this year, but I've been waiting for you, too."

Gerard's eyes widen. "Great Pumpkin?" he asks in a small voice.

He grins and rocks back and forth on his heels. "You can call me Frank."

Gerard has a lot of things to say at that moment, but the words that come out first are "I thought you'd be taller."

Frank shrugs, "Most of the people who see me are about four feet tall."

"But why now?" Gerard asks as he reaches out to poke The Great Pump-Frank's nose.

Frank grabs Gerard's hand and pulls it down out of face, but doesn't let go. "You have to be able to stay up until midnight. There are seven year olds in Iowa that can do that better than you."

"I tried!" Gerard insists, because he had, really he had. The Great Pumpkin has really nice hands - not that he's noticing or anything.

"I know, and that's why you're my favorite. You're probably not going to be coming back next year, though."

"I will! I so totally will." Especially now that he knows how hot The Great Pumpkin is.

"You're seventeen, Gerard, I was surprised to find you here this year," Frank says with a wistful sort of smile. "Halloween is going to start meaning something a lot less pure."

Gerard doesn't bother telling him it already has. Fuck. "But, I-"

"It's called growing up, Gerard. Peter Pan is just a story," Frank manages not to sound patronizing even as he squeezes Gerard's hand.

Gerard should be feeling vindicated: he told those mother fuckers that The Great Pumpkin existed and he was right! But now he thinks maybe being wrong would have been better. "Frank, I-"

Then he decides to give it a shot - it's not like he'll ever see him again, Frank said so himself. Frank also said he liked Gerard even though he's a high school senior who hangs out in pumpkin patches on Halloween. And he's really hot. So Gerard tugs on Frank's hand, pulling him close.

Frank comes easily. "Yes?"

Gerard has got to be telegraphing what's about to happen in every move he makes, but Frank is just smiling up at him. His eyes fall shut when Gerard places his hand on Frank's cheek, and that's as good as an invitation for Gerard to press their lips together in a soft kiss.

(No one will ever believe him when he says his first kiss was with The Great Pumpkin, but he doesn't care.)

Frank opens his mouth slightly and rests his hand on Gerard's hip, but just as Gerard is about to try something a little less chaste, he feels something vibrating against his thigh and Frank pulls away.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone. Gerard will puzzle over that later. "Fuck, I have to go. It's almost midnight in Chicago."

Gerard's face falls. "Oh. I guess this is goodbye, then."

"I'll call you tomorrow," Frank says, kissing him again.

Gerard grabs his arm, "What? How?"

"I'm only The Great Pumpkin one night a year," Frank says, tactfully leaving off the 'duh'. "I have the rest of the year off." The phone buzzes again. "Gotta go, but I'll call you tomorrow, I promise."

"How do you know my number?" Gerard calls as Frank starts to disappear back into the shadows of the pumpkin patch.

"Dude. Great Pumpkin," Frank yells back, before fading into the night.