Oh, Baby Let Me In

I banged my fists on the steering wheel before I started the engine and sped off home. I was furious! I popped the trunk and grabbed the groceries, closing the trunk with a slam. Mikey was sitting on the porch and looked at me worriedly.

"What's wrong Gerard? You're pissed off. I can tell."
I took a deep breath before speaking. I didn't wanna snap at my brother just for asking me a question. "Billie Joe."
"Oh fuck. What did he do?"
"I rant into that shithead in the parking lot at the store."
"Damn. Did he try anything?"
"No, he didn't. Just said he and I should catch up. I told him no."
"Figures. You date someone, and he comes sniffing around."
I sighed. "Yeah. Tell me about it. He better stay away from me.."
"Does Frank know about him?"
"Not yet. I just..I don't know. I better tell him. I'm scared of how he'll react though."
Mikey placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure he'll understand. As long as you're honest with him, he shouldn't hold anything against you. Afterall, he approached you."
I nodded my head in agreement. "I know. I was hoping to avoid something like this."
"I know, Gee. It'll be okay."

****
Later that day, I called Frank and told him to come over tomorrow after work. I had to tell him about Billie Joe. I didn't want to hide a thing from him.

I was smoking a cigarette out front on the porch, like usual when Frank rolled up in his car. He parked, shut the car off, and got out. He closed the car door with a slight slam and greeted me with a kiss.

"Where do you wanna talk at?"
I chewed on my thumbnail. "My room?"

He nodded and I put the rest of my cigarette out.

We walked in the house and quickly went to the basement.

We both sat on the bed, my nerves skyrocketing through the roof.

"Look, Frank. There's something you should know."
"Yeah?"
"I ran into my ex at the store yesterday. Well, he approached me and I told him that I am seeing someone. He left me alone.
"So nothing happened?"
"No no. Nothing happened."
"Good. So, what's your point then? I don't understand what you're trying to say."
"It's just that he was the one who broke my heart and made me not trust. I just have this gut feeling that I know he's not going to back off. He seemed hurt when I said hanging out with him was a bad idea."

Frank and I talked more. I convinced him not to worry about Billie Joe. I won't ever throw away what he and I started to build together. Running into my ex boyfriend made me feel incredibly lucky to have Frank.

Noone will ever replace him, even if I tried.

I don't care about my asshole ex one bit. I wanted to tell Frank about him in case he would appear out of nowhere. I worry over every little thing.

Frank told me it wasn't a big deal. I felt bad even if all I did was say a few words to Billie.

****
I fell onto my bed, exhausted. My cell phone buzzed.

I picked it up and it was a number I didn't recognize that sent me a text:
Hey G. It's Beej. I really wanna see you.

I could feel my skin crawl. I thought I had him blocked..but then it hit me, he must have a new number.

What the hell does he want from me?

I deleted the text right away and blocked his number yet again.

****
I went into work drowsy the next day. I bought myself multiple cups of coffee throughout the day.

It always feels like whenever something good happens to me, something always has to mess the whole thing up.

I'm pretty sure Billie Joe won't try to contact me again. I hope to God and all things holy that I never see him out in public again. Especially if I'm alone.

****
4 days went by and no sign of Billie Joe. I was glad to see that I was correct about him leaving me alone.

Frank and I had sex again for the second time. It was even better than our first time. I was doing great at work. I am used to the routine of waking up early. I haven't missed a day in a while either.

I was truly happy for once in my pathetic little life. Now if I could get the debts from college paid off, I'd be thrilled.

****
Frank, Mikey, and I were watching the movie Titanic. I really didn't want to watch it, but Frank insisted it would be romantic. Mikey dozed off less than half way through the movie. I kept throwing Skittles at him while Frank complained.

"Stooooop. You're wasting perfectly good Skittles!"
"How old are you again? They're just candy, relax babe."
He scoffed. "Psh. Only the best candy ever made!"

I swear he is like a child trapped in a short man's body.

I strode to the kitchen and got myself the bag of Cheetos from the counter and sat back next to Frank on the couch in the living room.

Mikey was still asleep and Frank was of course, eating his Skittles. I opened up the Cheetos bag and began eating their cheesy goodness.

When Titanic was over. I ejected the DVD and put it back in its case. I turned off the DVD player and shut the television with the remote.

I yawned at kissed Frank tenderly and snuggled against him. We both fell asleep without bothering to wake up my brother. The couch was surprisingly comfortable right now.

An hour later, Mikey woke us up and told us to go to my room and sleep. I grumbled at him and fell back to sleep again.

I have no idea why I'm so tired.

I was glad tomorrow is Saturday so we can sleep as much as I want to sleep.

Eventually, Frank woke me up at 3:00 A.M. and said sleeping in a bed would be more efficient so he lead me down into my room. We collapsed onto my bed. I fell into a deep, sound sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Notes