Meet Me On Thames Street

“Nngh...”

The muffled noise that emitted from Frank Iero was barely human. He ran a tired hand over his sleep-ridden eyes, rubbing them in a foolish attempt to try to wake himself up. He blinked a few times before sitting up in bed, and automatically regretted doing so. His head ached as if he had been out drinking the night before, though as he tries to piece the events together that led to him to this moment where he feels like complete and utter shit, he can’t for the life of him remember what he had done to make him feel this way.

Shrugging aside the empty thoughts inside of his head, he willed himself out of bed, and headed into the kitchen to begin brewing himself his usual pot of coffee. While he awaited the sweet caffeine-fueled liquid to brew, he reached into the cupboard to retrieve two little pills from within the bottle of aspirin, and downed it with what was left in a half-drunk water bottle on the kitchen counter.

As the pills made their way down his throat, mid-drink, he realized that the bottle of water had the label missing off of it. He cocked an eyebrow at the bottle, gazing questioningly at it. He doesn’t remember picking the label off himself... who did this bottle belong to and who had he just drank after?

After several moments of trying to figure this out, he realized that whatever was in the bottle hadn’t killed him, so he shrugged the thoughts of the label-less bottle of water aside, filled his favorite Batman mug up with his favorite beverage, and headed outside onto his patio for his morning smoke.

He lit up his cigarette and inhaled deeply, sucking the toxic fumes out of his nostrils as he peered out over the balcony onto the busy street below him. He breathed the congested city air into his lungs, sighing as he realized that he had to be at work soon. Despite his current activity, Frank simply felt like he couldn’t breathe. His job as an accountant in the city was literally strangling him, and the thought of having to go in today, on a Sunday, no less, to sit behind a desk all day dealing with paperwork and uptight upper management was really beginning to fucking bother him.

He finished his cigarette far too quickly and headed back inside, took one glance inside of his closet, and as he hovered an ink-covered hand over one of his crisp, clean, white button-up shirts that would go so well with his matching business suit, he realized that going to work was something that he simply couldn’t be bothered with today.

He took the world’s fastest shower, mindlessly brushed his teeth and ran a a brush through his wet hair, opting to leave it as is to dry on its own, and headed toward the closet in his bedroom. He pulled on his favorite pair of Beavis and Butthead boxers, before reaching into his closet to the nearest black t-shirt that he could find. He snatched it off of the hanger and put it on, as a pair of faded denim jeans that had a black and white studded belt through its loops made its way up his thighs to complete his ensemble for the day.

Frank mindlessly grabbed his messenger bag from its spot on the floor next to his bed and shrugged on his favorite Jawbreaker hoodie, shoving his cigarettes, his phone, and his wallet in various pockets, before departing his empty apartment and heading for the train station.

Frank has absolutely no clue as to what it was that was drawing him there, he just knew that the congested city air was fucking with his head and causing him to think irrationally. So, he irrationally called his boss, and gave a very elaborate and convincing tall tale about him feeling under the weather, and securing the day off.

It was early; barely past 8:30 in the morning on a Sunday, and he now had the whole day to dick around and do as he pleased. As he advanced toward the ticket booth at the train station, he glanced up at the window of times for the various trains that were departing from Staten Island, he noticed that the next available train was departing to a small town called Fire Island in just fifteen minutes.

He advanced toward the ticket counter, where a girl sat behind the booth looking boredly at her cuticles.

“Hi, I need a ticket to Fire Island, please,” he said to the girl, who shot him an annoyed glare.

“That’ll be twelve dollars, sir,” she murmured, as she typed away at her computer.

Frank took his wallet out of his back pants pocket, and gazed confusedly as he realized that his debit card was missing from its normal spot next to his maxed out credit card, and sighed deeply. He looked in every compartment that his wallet had, muttering ‘Fuck’ when it was absolutely nowhere to be found.

He pulled out the only cash that he had, which was a hundred dollar bill from within his wallet, and handed it over to the uninterested girl.

She gave him a stupid look, and pointed at the sign on the window. “Sorry sir, we don’t accept any bills larger than a $50.”

Frank gave a frustrated groan, as he felt something tap his shoulder lightly. He glanced behind him to see who it was that was trying to get his attention, and instantly locked eyes with a rather... attractive gentleman with fire red hair and porcelain, milky skin who in turn gave a rather alluring smile at him. He watched as the gentleman stepped up to the counter, and pulled out some cash from his back pocket.

“I’ll have a ticket to Fire Island, and as long as he isn’t going anywhere out of the state, I’ll pay for his fare,” the gentleman spoke, to which Frank’s mouth nearly fell to the floor.

“No- I can’t let you do that-”

“Enjoy your trip, sirs,” the girl interrupted Frank’s protests, as she handed the man with the blazing red hair two tickets, coincidentally and unbeknownst to either Frank or the generous stranger, to the same destination.

“Why did you do that?” Frank asked the man, still dumbfounded as to why someone he didn’t even know had done something so nice for him. “I mean- not that I’m not grateful... I’m just wondering.”

The stranger merely shrugged, and handed Frank his ticket. “I had a little extra cash on me, it’s no big deal,” the man said, flashing Frank that absolutely charming smile of his. “Besides, you were holding up the line, and the people behind me were getting aggravated. This way, we all win.”

“Oh...” Frank replied flatly, for some reason unable to formulate anything intelligent or witty to say. “Thanks so much for saving my ass back there.”

The kind stranger merely shrugged, before flashing yet another gorgeous smile. “Don’t mention it,” he replied. “See ya ’round.”

With that, the man turned on his heel, and began walking over to the platform that would take him to his destination. Frank stood there, gawping at the kind stranger, holding his train ticket out in front of him.

“Last call to Fire Island, all passangers please make your way to Platform B. The train will be departing soon,” resounded over the loudspeaker then, breaking Frank out of his trance-like state.

“Get a fucking grip, Frank,” he murmured to himself, before re-adjusting the messenger bag on his shoulder, and advancing toward Platform B like the voice on the loudspeaker had suggested he do. When he made it to his destination, he looked around at the small crowd that was waiting to board the train. His heart literally skipped a beat as he realized that the red-headed stranger was in line just a few people before him, and was now boarding the very same train that he would be journeying on.

A rather weird feeling had settled into his gut, something resembling butterflies as he took in his appearance. The stranger wore magnificently tight black skinny jeans, and a red leather jacket that cradled his frame extraordinarily well. Frank stared at him until he had boarded the train, and disappeared out of sight.

“Next!”

Frank only realized that he was staring off at that empty spot that the red-headed stranger no longer occupied when an older man behind him gave him a nudge, muttering obscenities about ‘that damn punk scum is holding up the line again’ and quickly snapped to, as he handed the woman who was collecting tickets his ticket; the gift that the kind, red-headed stranger had bought for him earlier, and boarded the train.

Unknowing as to why, Frank looked around for him, spotting him instantly thanks to his hair. But, for fear of seeming creepy and somewhat like a stalker, Frank opted for taking an empty seat several rows in front of him. Frank couldn’t come up with any reason as to what it was that had possessed that man to buy him a ticket, to the very same destination that he was currently going to.

But, for fear of thinking too much into the situation, he quickly shook all thoughts of the kind gesture off, and thought about what he was going to do with the rest of his day off.

+++

About an hour later, Frank found himself bored, hungry, and in desperate need of a cigarette. Since it was a non-smoking train, he slumped further into his seat, and crossed his arms tightly across his chest. Even the sweet sounds of The Used, which was blaring through the little speakers of the earbuds that he was wearing, did nothing to suffice the current bored state that he was in. He turned his music off and shoved his iPod back into his bag, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

As he stared mindlessly out of the window, his mind then flashed back to the kind, red-headed stranger, and he couldn’t help the smile that had formed on his face. Frank dared to sneak a peek back at him, inching slightly up from his seat and glanced back toward him, to find the gorgeous stranger peering out of the window.

In a flash, hazel eyes then met with his, and he slumped back down in his seat, embarrassed as all hell. A bright red kissed either of his cheeks, as he heard a slight giggle come from a few rows behind him. Frank couldn’t help but reply with a giggle of his own, before daring once more to sneak another glance at the stranger, who was now only two rows behind him.

Frank quickly dropped back down in his seat, wondering if he was only imagining that the stranger was now closer to him. But as Frank heard that unmistakable giggle once again, he knew that the stranger was obviously playing with him, and replied with yet another giggle of his own.

“Ya know, you have a really cute giggle.”

The voice was so close, that it startled Frank, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. He tilted his head up, only to be met with the one and only red-headed stranger. He was leaning over the seat directly next to Frank, staring down at him with an amused smirk on his face. “I see we meet again,” he said, his voice taking on a rather playful tone.

“It would appear so,” Frank replied, leaning up from his seat so he and the red-headed stranger were now eye to eye. Either man wore a look of playful curiosity as they made eye contact; green eyes boring deeply within hazel ones as the train slowly pulled to a stop.

Neither man seemed to care that the passengers around them were now beginning to empty the train, all they could do was simply stare at one another, taking in every feature of the other’s face as curiosity danced merrily within either of their stares.

“Sirs, you’ve reached your destination,” came a voice from an attendant over to the side of them, though neither man seemed to care. “Please gather your belongings and exit the car.”

The red headed stranger gave a deep sigh. “Well, I guess this is it,” he said, his voice no longer playful and, if Frank didn’t know any better, kind of sad.

“Yeah, I guess,” Frank mimicked in reply, watching as the stranger got up from his seat and began to make his way down the aisle toward the exit. Frank felt a giant knot begin to form in his throat as he watched the stranger disappear off of the train, and before he even had time to think about what he was doing, Frank grabbed his messenger bag, and literally flew off of the train off in the direction that the red-headed wonder had just gone in.

“Do you wanna maybe get some lunch with me?” Frank asked as he caught up to him, slightly breathless as his heart skipped a beat with the way that the stranger looked at him at his request. “I mean, you did buy me a ticket here... the least I could do is buy you lunch to make up for it.”

The red-headed stranger thought about Frank’s request for a moment, before giving him a saddened smile. “I have somewhere that I have to be,” he murmured, his soft spoken words stinging Frank like a swarm of bees.

“Oh, right. Of course,” Frank replied, giving an embarrassed smile as he ruffled up his hair. He always did this when he felt awkward or uncomfortable, or, in this case, shot down.

“It um, it shouldn’t take me very long,” the stranger suddenly added, as his gorgeous eyes flickered up to meet with Frank’s once again. “It’s my brother’s birthday, I have to go visit with him for a little while,” he explained, to which Frank’s smile grew genuine, and he simply nodded.

“That’s really sweet of you,” Frank replied, as the stranger smiled at him.

The stranger then leaned in a bit closer to Frank then, cupping the side of his face as gently as he could. Frank’s heart skipped several beats as he felt the stranger lean in to whisper in his ear, “Meet me on Thames St.”

Frank stood there, absolutely frozen to his spot on the slightly crowded sidewalk as the stranger held him closely like that. He wanted to touch him, hold him; kiss him, but before he could reply or even react, the stranger was already gone, walking away from Frank and down the boardwalk.

“Hey- what’s your name?” Frank called out, suddenly finding his voice and wanting more than anything to know everything about this absolutely charming stranger that he had the pleasure of meeting on his little journey of fucking around all day.

Though he was now a few feet away from him, the stranger heard Frank’s request, and turned around to acknowledge that he had heard him. “Call me Gee!” The stranger shouted back, with that oh-so-alluring grin on his gorgeous face. He then slid a pair of aviator sunglasses over his eyes, and turned back around to wherever it was that he was going.

“Gee...”

Frank rather enjoyed the way that his name slid off of his tongue, and couldn’t stop the wide, almost idiotic grin from spreading from ear to ear across his face.

“I can’t wait,” he murmured to himself, as he began to walk off in the opposite direction to begin the next part of his well deserved day off.

Notes

:D what do you think!?