You Can Cry All You Want To, I Don't Care

The next few days pass agonisingly slow and the only time I smile is when I'm skyping with Frank at night. I have only said maybe ten words to my dad all week and he's threatened to not let Frank stay this weekend. It's Thursday night and after my dad says that I run upstairs and into my room, slamming the door shut behind me and I grab my cell, calling Frank and when he answers I can't speak through my sobs. "Baby, Shh baby calm down. Whatever it is it'll be ok." He says soothingly and I manage to calm down enough to choke out what just happened and when I'm done I hear him breathe in sharply before saying "Baby it's alright, I promise we'll see each other, no matter what happens." "I don't....I hate it here Frankie, I hate it so much." "I know baby" he says softly and I start to sniffle as my tears come to a stop. "Run away with me Frankie" I plead and he says "What?" "Run away with me. I can't stay here anymore, I want out." "Babe we can't just...." "Don't you want to be with me?" "Baby I do, you know I do but running away.....where would we go? What would we do?" "I.....I don't know" I admit as I start to cry again. "Babe you need to think this through, we can't just run away together and..." But the rest of his words don't register in my mind, they just fade to unintelligible background noise as one sickening thought swirls through my mind, Frank doesn't want to be with me. If he's not willing to run away with me and get me out of here then clearly it doesn't mean as much to him. "Babe, are you there?" He asks, pulling me from my thoughts and I realise I have no idea how long he was talking and I wasn't listening to what he even said. "Yeah, Frankie I have to go" I rush out before hanging up on him and I throw my phone on the bed as I stand up and cross the room to the closet grabbing a bag and starting to fill it with clothes. I hear my phone buzz repeatedly on the bed but I ignore it, letting it stop before it starts again and as I turn back to the closet a wet drop falls on my arm and it's only then that I realise I'm crying again. I finish stuffing the bag with clothes before I wander around the room looking for anything else I might want to take with me and the phone keeps buzzing over and over again. The phone finally stops and doesn't start again and I sigh in relief as I open the window and drop my bag out, letting it fall to the lawn below before I close it again and make my way downstairs and out the back door like I'm going for a smoke but really, I'm leaving. I make it out to my bag and as I'm slinging it over my shoulder the back door opens and Mikey comes rushing out and looks around frantically for me and I try to run and hide until he leaves but he spots me and runs after me, tackling me to the ground and pinning me down as he says "Stop Gee, please." I remain silent and he says "You can't run away." I shove at him until he gets off me and I stand back up, grabbing my bag again and Mikey stands too and says "Gee you can't go." "Why the fuck not?" I snap. "It's not like there's anything for me here anyway. Frank doesn't care anymore, dad doesn't give a fuck and you're much better off without me. And mom, she's fucking gone. I have nothing Mikey and I don't want to be here anymore." "You can't go because Frank is coming to take you away this weekend." "No, he's not. He doesn't want to." "Gee that's why I'm out here, that's how I knew. He called me and he's terrified about your wellbeing right now, he told me you wanted to run away and the only reason he tried to talk you down is because...." He trails off and I snap again. "Because he isn't serious about this anymore, I know." "No it's because he got a full time job at the music store here and his mom helped him rent a small apartment like fifteen minutes from here and he's leaving school tomorrow. He was coming here this weekend to surprise you." "He......what?" "Gee he's coming here to take you away, I promise. You just won't be running away." I stare at Mikey in disbelief before choking out "How do you...?" "Because I helped him get the job." I feel my eyes well with tears again and I launch myself on Mikey and murmur "Thank you" into his shoulder over and over as I cling to him. "It's alright, you and Frank deserve to be happy."

After we go back inside Mikey helps me into my room and into bed, pulling my shoes off for me before pulling the blankets over me and he sits by the bed, talking softly to me until I fall asleep. The next day when I wake up I roll over and hit something warm and soft and when I open my eyes I come face to face with Frank. "Hey beautiful" he says softly and I just stare at him. His hand comes up to cup my cheek and he leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips. "How are you....?" "Last night I called mom and she came and got me early from school. When I got here it was really late and Mikey let me in and you looked so peaceful for a change and I didn't have the heart to wake you." We stare at each other for a minute before he breaks the silence and says "So Mikes told you?" I nod and feel myself smile and Frank smiles back and says "I told you I would figure it out babe. You wanna go see our new place?" I feel my smile grow wider as I nod and we share another kiss before we drag ourselves out of bed.

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