Frank
I walked along the sidewalk glancing up every now and then at the overcast sky. The trees all looked dead without leaves and I found myself wishing that winter would pass by quickly and make way for summer. This winter was just too damn long. I hated the cold, especially considering I got sick in the blink of an eye, which I was right now anyway, as if things didn’t suck enough already. The sad part was that winter was only getting started. We haven’t even had our first snow yet which meant that it was going to get a hell of a lot colder soon. I pulled a face at this thought.
I finally reached my destination and turned right, making my way up the small garden path until I reached the front door and rang the bell. The front door opened and a middle aged woman with sharp features and cold eyes greeted me with an eyebrow raised in question. If I wasn’t so desperate to get inside the house, I would’ve spun around and hauled ass out of there. She was freaking scary.
“Yes?” she asked curtly, making me jump.
“Uhm, hi, Mrs. Doherty. Is Kasey home?”
The woman eyed me up and down, clearly not impressed by what she saw. I couldn’t fathom what was so bad about what she saw. Most of my tattoos were covered and my hair was still pretty short. The only thing I could think of was my piercings. She was going to slam the door in my face, I was sure of it. I put on my biggest, brightest smile hoping to persuade her to let me in. After what felt like forever, she stepped back and nodded.
“She’s in her bedroom. Knock before you go in and leave the door open.”
My eyes widened infinitesimally. Poor Kasey. Her mom sure had a vice grip on her life. I nodded and stepped inside the house, grateful to be out of the cold.
“Thanks,” I muttered, scurrying away.
I had no idea which room was Kasey’s, but tried to listen for any sounds indicating life until I stopped outside a closed door. Loud music could be heard from inside. I knocked once and received no reply. I knocked again and there still wasn’t any response. I shrugged, turning the doorknob and going inside without an invitation, but instantly regretted it when I witnessed the scene playing out in front of me.
“Fuck,” I spun around, covering my eyes.
“Frank?? What the hell are you doing here?” a female voice hissed.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude. I knocked, but you didn’t respond…”
“So you decided to just let yourself in?” Kasey demanded annoyed.
I chuckled in embarrassment. “Is it safe to turn around yet?”
“Yeah, you can look,” a different voice informed me and I turned around to face the couple just in time to see Jill straighten her shirt.
“Don’t worry. I know you’re not into guys and I have enough lady problems to last me a lifetime, so I’m really not interested,” I rambled.
“Frank, what are you doing here?” Kasey wanted to know again, sitting down on the bed.
“I need advice?” It came out like a question even though I didn’t intend it to be one.
A perfectly shaped eyebrow disappeared behind her fringe which preceded a very messy hairdo, but I guessed that was all thanks to the other girl sitting behind her on the bed. I was unable to suppress a giggle, but immediately stopped when Kasey impatiently cleared her throat.
“Okay, okay, jeez,” I muttered. “I’m sure your best friend informed you of everything that happened last night.”
Her features softened and she nodded slowly. I noticed that Jill nodded at this as well. Great, it seemed that everyone knew about it.
“I was hoping that you could tell me how she feels.”
“You cheated on her, Frank. How do you think she feels?”
“I didn’t cheat on her!” I shot back defensively. “I’ve never cheated on her. Amy kissed me.”
“And what did you do to stop her? Besides, you admitted to Brittany that you love Amy. What the hell were you thinking?” she asked me and I could tell that she didn’t think too much of my intelligence level. Even her companion shook her head in sympathy, but her sympathy was aimed at the wrong things. I needed sympathy over the fact that my girlfriend pretty much dumped my ass not because I lacked a functional brain.
“She asked me…”
“You should’ve lied,” Kasey said without hesitation. “This is Brittany we’re talking about. You don’t tell her shit like that even if she has a gun to your head. It’s suicide man.”
“I don’t get why you’re with Brittany anyway if you’re supposedly in love with this other girl,” Jill gave her opinion.
I stared at her for a moment before turning my attention back to Kasey. I didn’t come here to get a lecture. I needed help.
“All I need to know is where her head’s at.”
“I have to say that you don’t seem too upset by what happened,” Kasey pointed out, a small crease in her brow.
“Of course I’m upset, but I know that what happened was my fault so there’s no point in beating myself up over it.”
Both girls looked at me confused.
“Just… I didn’t do anything wrong!” I exclaimed. “Not directly anyway. She can’t be mad at me for something that is completely out of my control.”
“Wanna bet?”
I sighed, “Would she listen to me or not?”
“No.”
“But…”
“I’m sorry, Frank. I can’t help you. Even if I wanted to, what makes you think that she would listen to me? She never listens to anyone.”
“She listens to Gerard, but the stupid ass refuses to get involved,” I grumbled irritably.
“Do you blame him? I wouldn’t want to get between the two of you either.”
“Just talk to her. Make her listen.”
I looked over at Jill in surprise.
“If she gives a shit about you she won’t be able to stay mad at you forever. At most you’ll need to give her time to get over it.”
It was quiet for a while, both Kasey and I staring at her girlfriend.
“I like you,” I finally said completely serious. “Kasey, you’ve got a winner. Hold on to her.”
The two girls burst out laughing at my statement.
“Thanks, Frank. I’ll do that.”
“Well, thanks for nothing, Kasey. I’m going to leave now. You girls can go back to what you were doing.”
The pair blushed deeply at the same time earnings a broad grin from me. I paused in the doorway, because something occurred to me.
“Why does your mom let you close the door with her here, but it has to stay open when I’m here?”
“She probably doesn’t trust you which is completely understandable.”
I scowled, “Fine. See you around.”
I ducked out of the house as quick as possible, not exactly feeling welcome and started back in the direction of my own house. On my way, I pulled out my phone and dialed Amy’s number.
“You know, you really fucked things up between me and Brittany,” I informed her the second she answered the phone.
“Frank?”
“Yes, Frank. Things were finally going great between us and then you had to kiss me in front of her and now she won’t talk to me.”
“That’s not my fault. Brittany doesn’t need me as a reason not to talk to you. She’ll find one on her own.”
“That’s not the point!” I growled. “She’s upset that I’m in love with you!”
“You told her?” Amy gasped on the other end.
I breathed in deeply, “I did.”
There was a short pause. “Why would you do that?”
“I don’t know…”
“What do you know, Frank? Because lately it seems like you don’t know anything.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted feebly. “My life is completely upside down right now.”
She sighed deeply. “I know.”
“I didn’t mean to blame you.”
“I know. But, Frank?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to hang up now.” And she did.
I stuffed the phone back into my pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it. At least it was one thing in this life that still made me feel better. Suddenly I missed being in the studio. Wow, my life really was upside down. Maybe it was time to grow up. Tomorrow, though, I thought, walking inside my house.

*

Brittany
“Gerard,” I walked into my brother’s room and froze when I found him and Melania a mess of tangled limbs on his bed. I don’t think they heard me come in because they just kept gazing at each other, exchanging sweet kisses every now and then and my brother made several content sounds in the back of his throat much to his girlfriend’s delight, who giggled quietly.
“Can you two be any cheesier?”
The couple parted slightly and looked over at me.
“Hey, Brit,” Gerard smiled lazily at me.
“I’m bored,” I announced, sitting down at the end of his bed. “I can see that the two of you are busy, but I need some company before I go out of my mind.”
“Where’s Mikey?”
“Off to kiss Syd’s ass I’m guessing.”
Gerard sighed, unwillingly disentangling himself from his girlfriend. The two of them pushed themselves up into sitting positions, Gerard leaning back against the bed’s headboard.
“What can we do for you?” Mel wanted to know.
“Nothing… How do you guys do it?”
My brother’s eyebrows shot up and he slightly pursed his lips together.
“We don’t choose to fight about everything. It’s that simple.”
“Frank and I don’t fight about everything,” I retorted indignantly. “We’ve been doing so well, until last night when he confessed his love for your stupid band rep. I mean what makes her so special?”
“She’s been Frank’s main support since you two started dating?”
“Please don’t even start with that. That’s exactly what his excuse was and you know what? It’s bull. You don’t fall in love with someone simply because they listen to you. Love doesn’t work that way. You have to be attracted to the person and you have to have something in common. You should be able to talk about stuff, you know, trust each other.”
The couple gaped at me and for some reason this irritated me.
“You guys are no help. I’m going back to my room.”
I got up and did exactly that, closing my bedroom door behind me and falling down on the bed with a loud sigh. This sucked. I missed Frank already. Stupid little, pint-sized guitarist. Why the hell did he have to go and get under my skin the way he did. The little shit crawled into your heart without you even realizing it. I rolled over onto my back with an over-exaggerated groan. I could picture his stupid face with his stupidly adorable grin and I could hear his ridiculous giggling. He was such a pain in my ass even when he wasn’t around.
Something loudly hit my window, nearly scaring me out of my skin. I sat up with a jolt and stared at the closed curtain. There was another loud clatter against the glass and by now my skin was crawling with nerves. What the hell?
I slowly got off the bed and snuck towards the window, not that I even knew. It’s not like whatever was on the other side could see me. This was ridiculous, I finally decided, regaining my composure and pulling the curtains wide open to be met by a wide-eyed Frank.
“Fucker,” I growled, opening the window. “What are you doing here?” I hissed venomously. “Didn’t you get the message that I didn’t want to talk to you from the several rejected calls?”
“Brittany,” he grinned goofily at me, stumbling over to the window. “You’re talking to me.”
I frowned deeply. He was drunk.
“Frank, are you drunk?”
The guitarist pinched his thumb and forefinger together, squinting in the light of my bedroom and then suddenly shook his head which consequently threw him completely off balance.
“Nope,” he said, making a popping sound with his lips and somehow staying on his feet.
I let out a string of profanities under my breath before beckoning him over to the window. He instantly complied, stumbling over and nearly crashing through my window.
“Careful,” I hissed, attempting to help the drunken idiot through the window without him losing a limb in the process. It was damn near mission impossible. Finally his feet claimed ground inside my room, but he stumbled and would’ve crashed to the ground if I didn’t catch and steady him in time. I quickly shut the window, drawing the curtains shut and checking that my bedroom door was locked before turning my attention back to the intoxicated male.
“Frank, why are you drunk?” I asked sternly.
“It was a spur of the moment idea. I didn’t plan it.” He stopped talking for a few seconds, clearly having to concentrate in order to properly formulate his sentences. “I met Matt at the bar and now I’m here.”
“So the damned drummer got you drunk,” I growled unimpressed. “Well, I guess he and I will have to talk.”
Frank giggled, “You’re angry.”
“Of course I’m angry!” I snapped in response. “You show up outside my window in practically the middle of the night drunk off your ass and that after what happened last night. Are you even thinking, because if this is your plan to soften me up, it’s definitely not working?”
His shoulders slumped and he sauntered over to my bed, sitting down clumsily, his shoulders pathetically slumped.
“I’m sorry,” he slurred, lifting his head up and giving me his most innocent look. I tried my best to ignore it, but it was impossible. He looked so sincere, like a child not sure of what he was being scolded for.
“Ugh, the room won’t stop spinning,” he groaned, dropping his head into his hands.
Sighing in aggravation, I stomped over to him and bent down to remove his shoes.
“Are you feeling sick?”
He shook his head in response, staring down at me with large eyes.
“Good.”
I walked around to the side of the bed, pulling the covers open before walking back to him and hooking my arms under his in order to pull him up the bed. The guitarist giggled loudly, fortunately helping the process by pushing upwards with his feet.
“Shhh!”
He covered his mouth with one of his hands, still shaking with laughter. I rolled my eyes, turning off the lights and walking around to the other side of the bed, getting in next to him. He was quiet now and I lay down, pulling the covers up and over us both. A thin sliver of moonlight shone through an open slit in the curtains, allowing me to just make out a part of his face. It was strange how the clouds seemed to have disappeared with his sudden appearance. The bed moved as he shifted and turned on his side to face me.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“What are you doing here, Frank?”
“I didn’t mean to show up outside your window in a drunken stupor. I went out and on my way home I found myself outside your house. It just happened.”
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” I said quietly and he giggled.
“I know.”
One of his hands came up and started playing with my hair.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”
I breathed in deeply.
“Brittany?”
“It’s okay,” I sighed.
“No, it’s not, but I’m sorry.”
He was so calm when he was drunk. Maybe the next time we got in a fight all I had to do was get him drunk. He was so much more amenable.
“I don’t feel well,” he whined in a small voice.
“Just go to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. Yep, a real saint when intoxicated. Were we ever going to just be boyfriend and girlfriend, without the added complications and all the fighting? And how was I going to get over him loving Amy?
That was a hard blow. I don’t think I’ve ever had to get over something this big. It was serious. This man lying next to me was in love with another woman and he had no idea how he felt about me. Where did that leave me? And how did I feel about him?
His slow and even breathing was the only sound in the room and this was probably the most peaceful I’ve ever seen him. My drunken fool of a boyfriend. He was so impulsive sometimes and that was one of his biggest flaws and yet at the same time, he wouldn’t be him without it.
“What am I going to do with you?” I asked quietly, shifting and kissing his forehead. “Sweet dreams, Frank.”
I knew he was going to wake up in the morning with a monster of a hangover, but that would be his punishment for getting drunk in the first place. I wrapped my arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest. He smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. He definitely needed to take a shower in the morning. He also had to do a lot of explaining in the morning. Until then, though, things were peaceful and I liked that.

Notes