Brendan's POV

I had been waiting for Frankie for awhile because I'd managed to get here earlier than expected. I was actually pretty freaking pissed. I took off work send this weekend with her, which I don't mind when she needs it. When she called me she acted like it was an emergency. That I needed to come right away. Some emergency. Ray told me to get settled in my usual guest room. But it was the texts from Frankie that confused me the most. 'Need 2 straighten things w Ray's friend. Sry.' Punched him & feel bad. CU soon' how long does it take to apologize to someone? She couldn't be...? No...
I pop out of my room making sure to avoid Ray. I hear him playing video game with his other friend in another room. They're laughing and making so much noise that they don't see me sneak upstairs. This house was custom built so that the entire upstairs is actually a separate suite. You walk up a large flight of stairs and see to a large lounge area to your right and a small entryway to your left. Most people would have the lounge area as a small living room but not Frank, Frankie's dad. Grand piano sat in the middle the lounge with a small bookshelf of sheet music against a few walls. There was a barely noticeable closet on the wall closest to the master bedroom. It was a large walk-in closet that housed all of their guitars, amps, pedals, stands, etc. It was specifically put into Frank will that all of this go to Frankie when he died. He and his wife Linda knew he was dying cancer long before they told anyone else. He had been a very successful musician but he immediately stopped touring. Once they knew there was nothing the doctors could do, they focused on spending as much time together as possible. She was 9 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer and emphysema. 11 when hospice care moved in and told them he only had weeks to live. But he survived over a year longer. Then was the worst part. Watching her best friend die and slow and painful death. He had a long talk with her, when he could still talk, making her promise to never smoke anything. She promised with tears in her eyes. “People say, 'I don't care if it kills me' because they just think it will be this far off thing that happens when they're old. They aren't thinking that this death might be very slow or sooner than they think.” She cried on his chest for so long, then on mine. If she saw anyone smoking, she'd let them have it. Frank was the one cool dad you actually wanted to hang out with. Frankie and I were always listening to him play or playing with him. He's the one that taught me to sing and encouraged me to keep playing piano. Truth is I miss Frank a lot too, but I don't dare say it in front of Frankie. I don't want to cause her any more pain than she already has to deal with.
He wanted to make sure that she was taken care of and that nobody could take the cabin, the piano, or the guitars away from her. Her mom was fine with most of it or at least she said she was. But she seemed pretty upset about Frankie inheriting more of his entire estate than her, which is now hers at the age of 18. Frank even left some money to me. And and there have been a lot of people trying to get their hands on that fortune ever since. Boyfriends trying to ingratiate themselves, girls trying to become her best friend. It made me sick. Where were they when her dad was dying? When we had no idea that money was going to her? I don't know how much she got and I don't care. I'll protect that girl to the end.
Ok , so here's the plan. Not going to eavesdrop but going to get the lay of the land , then decide - knock or don't knock , right? Right. Deep breath. Ok, not quite ready yet. One more deep breath. I knew I shouldn't be doing this, but I put my ear to the door just for a second. I thought I heard moaning. Oh crap! Could just be my imagination? I held my hand up to knock and that's when I definitely heard a man's voice say,"Uh, Uh, Uh, Fraaankieee!"
I turned and ran down the stairs almost falling a few times, not stopping until I ran straight out the door ignoring Ray's confused shouts. At least I didn't get caught. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was some kind of pervert listening at the door.

I knew she's was never going to love me like I loved her. But this is just cruel. I can't take this.

Notes