Come, Angels of Unknown

Two weeks passed and everything seemed perfect. Another two weeks – a little bit too perfect, honestly, if you asked me, but I’d decided that I wouldn't be a paranoid idiot and that I’d simply enjoy the time with Frank destiny had treated me with.
Honestly, ignoring that hunch inside of me seemed as if it were a really bad idea at first, but as more days passed I started thinking of my instincts as merely foolish. It wasn’t something I could control, really, but something felt… wrong. I couldn’t place my finger on it because it didn’t feel like it was there but at the back of my mind, lurking behind all the barriers I put there and trying to warn me something was to come. I ignored it, of course I did, who wouldn’t? Everything was great. There was no reason to worry about anything. It was only my mind trying to make it worse from me, as it usually did. I wasn’t letting myself listen to it and it was driving me insane, but I couldn’t ruin my happiness with Frank. There was too much at stake.

So I let the days pass and drag on, August first coming into view and Katie’s wedding drawing closer as Frank and I were spending our days watching lame horror movies, drinking coffee and feeding doves with bread crumbs on the main square with Amber. Since Mikey was on vacation with his girlfriend and I had the place to myself, they both practically moved in. I didn’t mind, they were constantly bringing something like pizza, ice cream or just flowers from their garden, and my days became relatively entertaining.
They were real siblings, fighting over stupidities and discussing mundane things like they were the most important things in existence, and just generally acting like they were the worst enemies who would die for each other at the same time. They reminded me of Mikey and me when we used to be kids, and I loved having them around because they made me feel like I was fully accepted in the crowd. They asked for my opinion on everything and they both really appreciated it, and I believe that’s what made me like the both of them in the first place. Just the safety of their words, Amber’s simple and quirky personality evening out with Frank’s slightly more complex, jokester one and generally making me feel like I belonged somewhere that wasn’t the cramped space between four white walls in my room.

I’d considered asking Frank to be my date for the upcoming wedding multiple times, and even though our relationship wasn’t defined, I knew we had some silent agreement amongst ourselves. I didn’t call him my boyfriend and he didn’t call me his, but we somehow subconsciously decided that we wouldn’t date anyone else. It was him for me and it was me for him, at least currently. I refused to let pessimistic theories reach my brain because that would throw me into a pit of despair and make me wail over pointless ‘what if’s that all included dumb scenarios like Frank telling me he wouldn’t kiss me or hug me anymore because he found someone whose mindset fitted his own better and he suddenly wanted to point all his affection and attention to them. It was moronic and I simply couldn’t let myself be like that when I didn’t have to.

One afternoon, exactly five days before the wedding, me and Frank were sitting in the living room, watching reruns of Buffy and chatting pointlessly. My head was leaning onto his shoulder and his hand was on my thigh, caressing my skin through the thin material of my sweatpants. I was feeling slightly bummed because I started work tomorrow, but that wasn’t the main reason my nerves were working up. I knew I had to ask him eventually because soon it would be too late, but no moment seemed as if it were the right one.
At one point, the conversation between us evaporated and our attention was fully pointed at the TV, but there was a pretty dull scene playing and I knew this was probably my best chance I’d have.

“Frank,” I mumbled before I could persuade myself it was a bad idea. It came out as really quiet, but I knew he would hear me.

He unglued his eyes from the TV screen and looked down at me, “Hm?”

“I was wondering…” I started, but I got a sudden rush of fright inside me and I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question so I chickened out and added; “Never mind.”

He frowned and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “No, continue.”

I sucked in a breath, but gathered the guts, and blurted out, “Katie, my boss, is getting married on the first. Would you like to, uh, maybe, come with me?”

At first his brow had been furrowed, but it transitioned into a smile as I was talking. Relief splashed over me when he leaned in and kissed my lips chastely, mumbling an ‘of course’ against my mouth.
I grinned into the kiss and closed my eyes, mumbling a ‘thank you’ while his lips were still against mine.

*

I completely forgot about telling Katie I was bringing someone along to her wedding, and we spent the whole morning talking about how we’d spent our holidays. She told me how Sean took her to the shore for one weekend, to get their minds off of planning the big day. She was right in the middle of telling me how some woman kept on giving her shit because of her hair, when the bell signaling that someone walked into the store rang and I leaped to the front to see what they needed.

The boy stood with his back turned to me, his eyes on the CD-s displayed on the counter; but judging by his clothes definitely not made for weather like this, petite frame and tousled black hair, I already knew who he was. Instead of greeting him like I would a normal customer, I looked at Katie and put my finger over my mouth, signaling her to not speak and walked over to him. Before he could even feel there was a presence beside him, I enveloped my arms around his waist and placed my head into the crook of his neck, making him jump in surprise. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Fucking hell, Gerard! You scared the shit out of me,” he shrieked and I laughed, my arms still around his waist.

“You could’ve yelled, y’know?” I smiled deviously while he was sighing in annoyance.

“Oh, just shut your pie hole and kiss me already.” He rolled his eyes and I did as he said, giving him a sweet kiss on the lips before moving away and grabbing his hand with the intention of introducing him to Katie, who was still at the back. I pulled him there, Katie giving me a questioning look before laying her eyes on Frank. Then, her features brightened up, probably realizing who he was by remembering my many stories of his clothing habits and pretty face, and she smiled kindly.

“Hey, I’m Katie, you must be Frank.” She shook his hand and he nodded. “Gerard has told me a lot about you.”

“Only the bad things, I suppose.” He grinned and looked at me, and I just grimaced, leaving Katie in giggles.

“Au contraire, actually.” She looked at me with a smirk. “He’s told me a lot of great things about you.” Then she turned back to Frank, and stage whispered ‘I think he really likes you’, finishing it off with a wink.

I rolled my eyes, but felt Frank’s grip on my hand tighten as he let out a high-pitched snicker. He bit his lip and whispered ‘I really like him, too, but don’t tell him that’ in the same manner. I couldn’t suppress a grin at that, shaking my head in amusement as they were fucking around like that.

“So,” I said after a short while filled with small talk and jokes, “why did you come here, Frank?”

He smiled, amused, “I was in the neighborhood. Well, I live in the neighborhood, but I was bored so I came over to visit you. Am I allowed to do that, once in a while?”

I bit my lip, rolling my eyes at his dumb question. “Of course you are. Even though, if we had more customers, you wouldn’t do much good by distracting me from my work.”

“I’m not that pretty,” he giggled, but held my hand tighter anyway, “I should probably get going now, though, Janet’s going to bug me. Wanna’ hang out tonight?”

“What kind of idiotic question is that?” I smiled, pulling him up, so I could walk him out. “Of course I do.” He grinned cheekily as we were approaching the door, and was about to leave the store when I grabbed his wrist and prevented him from grabbing the door knob.
“You think you can get out of here without a kiss goodbye? Really?”

He sighed exasperatedly, but grinned anyway and hung his arms around my neck. “Who am I to deny you that, really?” And then he pulled me down and kissed me with much more passion than usual, his fingers curling into the hair at the back of my neck. My hands found his sides, my thumbs rubbing small circles into the slight curve of his waist. At one point I squeezed, lightly but firmly and he winced, pulling away and making me remove my hands from his body on reflex. “Shit, it’s not your fault,” he smiled apologetically, his pupils blown from the intensity of the kiss, “I knocked myself into the kitchen table. I have a bruise here.” He pointed at one spot on his left side and I grimaced.

“Sorry.” I bit my lip.

He brought his arms to their previous position and stroked the back of my neck gently with his fingertips. “Don’t worry about it.”
He kissed me again, softer, but this time it was interrupted by a cough from the other side of the room. We pulled apart awkwardly to see Katie grinning at us.

“You two are cute as fuck, but I’d like to close this thing up.”

“Wait, what?” I shot her a confused look. “It’s not even noon yet.”

“Haven’t I told you? Ah, shit, I forgot. Anyway, I have to go to the florist’s, and I don’t trust you with this place alone. You’ll burn it to the ground with your coffee making skills.” She rolled her eyes, and Frank giggled. “You’re free to go, actually. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Huh, okay.” I smiled and checked if my phone was in my pocket, but remembered something as Frank was holding the door for me. “By the way, Frank is coming with me to your wedding.”

“I figured,” she smiled, then turned to Frank. “You better take care of him, okay?”

She winked playfully, and Frank smirked at me before he smiled at her. “I’ll do my best.”

*

“You don’t have to go further than this,” Frank looked over at his house which was located around fifty meters down the street. The faint cream of the walls reminded me a bit of my own birth house, the white picket fence and the pristine molding creating an illusion of something that could be easily backed up by the American Dream. The house looked nice, but I couldn’t help but to be disgusted by the artificial perfection it represented. “I don’t want Janet to see you and talk shit about you. I can’t stand talking to her usually, let alone when she’s talking trash about someone important to me.”

I sighed, slightly flattered by the compliment, but also bummed by the fact he had to go back there again. “Okay.”

“Cheer up. I’ll call you later, okay?” He smiled and I couldn’t help but to smile back, weakly. I was about to turn around but he pulled me closer by the collar of my shirt and kissed me before I could say anything else. My hands reached up to cup his cheeks, and he enveloped my wrists in his hands. “No leaving without a goodbye kiss, remember?” He smiled when he pulled away.

I smiled widely, blushing. I couldn’t help it. “Yeah.”

“See you later?” He pecked my lips once more and let go of my wrists, seemingly reluctant.

“See you,” I smiled.

*

“I, Katelyn Crawford, take you, Sean Moore, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” Katie breathed out, her voice slightly shaky. She was probably really nervous, since her the skin of her neck and forehead had a sweaty shine to it.

She was beautiful. Both Frank and I agreed as soon as we’d seen her.
She was wearing a grey dress that barely reached her knees, accompanied by black ballerina shoes and a minimal amount of jewelry. Her acid green locks were curled elegantly, let loose to fall smoothly on her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing a lot of makeup, just some soft brownish lipstick and burgundy eye shadow that complimented her big, chocolate brown eyes in the best way possible.

“I, Sean Moore, take you, Katelyn Crawford, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live,” Sean’s deep voice said softly, his eyes looking intently into Katie like she was everything he could see.

He was the complete opposite from her- she was short and curvy while he was tall and thin, the plain black tuxedo he was wearing making him look even fitter than he actually was. His long, brown hair was tied into a ponytail at the lowest point of the back of his scalp. The only thing out of the ordinary wedding getup was his combat boots, which Katie said he never took off.

“With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands,” Katie gulped and slid the ring onto Sean’s finger with shaky hands and a smile.

“With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands,” Sean repeated and did the same, his eyes smiling even though his lips weren’t.

"By the power vested in me by the State of New Jersey, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said, “You may now kiss each other.”

Instead of Sean making the first move like you’d see in the movies, Katie threw her bouquet somewhere to her side and grabbed her new-found husband by the shoulders and kissed him firmly on the lips. Frank giggled and I smiled, knowing that was something she would definitely do. Everyone started applauding, including us, even though there weren’t many people- it was a relatively small church. Katie once mentioned not being in a good relationship with her family, while Sean was an only child. Only his parents, some of his friends, a few of Katie’s friends, me and Frank were invited. There was no party or anything afterwards, since they were going off to their short, two-day honeymoon, which was cleverly put over a weekend so she wouldn’t have to leave the store to me. I didn’t mind, because yes, she was right- I would probably burn it to the ground.

Before I could turn around to leave the church, I was jumped on, and I found my face inside soft, green locks of hair. “Thanks for coming, you two, you’re the best.” Katie smiled and kissed my cheek, going over to Frank to hug him as well. Sean shook my hand and grinned widely, thanking me before someone called him over.
Soon we were left alone and I looked at him with an unspoken question. He nodded, understanding, and he followed me outside. It was a relatively cool night, since it was raining the day before and the clouds covering the deep blue of the sky in a dark, thick layer. I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt, allowing myself to breathe easier and Frank did the same. At first, we just walked around the church in silence but soon enough we found a small stone wall to sit on and admire the calmness around us.

“It was really nice,” he noticed, leaning his head onto my shoulder and reaching downwards to take my hand.

“I usually hate social gatherings. The only thing making it easier was the fact there weren’t as many people as I expected, and you were there,” I admitted quietly.

He said nothing, just kissed my neck softly and exhaled sharply. “I was wondering…”

“What?”

“Where are we going with this, Gerard?” He said, uncertain. “Do you think we are rushing things? Do you think we know each other well enough?”

I furrowed my brow, but kept my calm because those were the same questions I asked myself frequently. “I don’t know where we’re going with this. But I’m sure it’s not anywhere bad.”

He sighed, leaning closer into me. “You remember back then when we met? When I told you I’d talk to you about why I cried?” I nodded, unsure of where this was going. “I think I can’t keep that away from you anymore. It’s a part of me… a part of me I’ve never shown to anyone. And I’ve been afraid, for all this time we’ve been seeing each other, how long has it been, a month? I’ve been afraid that, when you found out, you’d throw me away.”

“Why would you think such a thing?” I said quietly, afraid of what he was talking about.

“I don’t know. I’m scared. I’ve been scared for a very long time,” he confessed.

“I’m scared, too.”

“You are?” He met my eyes for the first time since we’d started talking about this subject. I nodded, trying to make him proceed. “Okay. Well, for one, the doctor told me I need therapy.”

“He told me that, too,” I admitted, rubbing my eye with the back of my palm and chuckling dryly. “What an awesome coincidence.”

Frank inhaled through his nose, sharply, “He told me I need therapy because I’m trying to ‘complete my stepfather’s mission’,” he air-quoted.

I stared at him, dumbfounded. I understood nothing. “What was his mission, Frank?”

“To destroy me.”

Notes

I'm questioning the quality of this chapter, but eh. Cheers.