This wouldn't ever be about feelings or investment for Adam. Gerard was his friend. It was that simple. They were friends, Gerard had something that Adam wanted, and whether he got it or not, they'd still, hopefully, be friends in the end. Adam didn't have spare feelings for anyone, not anymore, and Gerard's assessment that hearts would get broken, and that it was probably Gerard's that would be the casualty, was correct. Adam's wouldn't, because his feelings didn't run that way, and he couldn't foresee himself changing to the point they would.
Adam just shrugged. "If you want. But truthfully I don't think avoiding each other is going to make it any easier in the end," he said, sucking down the last of the cigarette and getting rid of the butt. He pulled out another to light it up, instinctively holding the pack out to Gerard. "We just have to accept that this?" He gestured between them. "Is not happening. It's not going to impede our lives, exactly. It is not that serious." He laughed a little. "I promise I'll stop being stupid and just go back to being a part-time sexual deviant instead of a full-time one" He laid his free hand over his chest, like he was really swearing.
"But you have to swear not to pull my hair again," Adam added, pointing at Gerard. "I'm pretty sure that I told Mikey I'd climb you like a tree. As a matter of fact, he's traumatized. Threatening to stab his eardrums out." He snickered a little, and smiled, looking up at Gerard. "I told him that would not actually make the mental images go away."