Frank POV

“Here we are!” Gee chirps, leaping out of their seat and pulling me up with them. I stagger down the bus as it slows. I hate this but despite the whole ‘hypomania’ thing they do a good job of steadying me. I hear the door open and carefully step off the bus, into the cold air, Gee holding me tightly. It’s noisier round here and I think we’re on the high street, the actual mall is just a short walk but there are shops all along here anyway.
“It’s our little spot” they state, happily.
“Our?” I question, coming across colder than I intended.
“Yeah, just over there’s where I trod on your foot and then we sat chatting”
“Cool” I giggle.
“Come and sit” they suggest, pulling me forward. I hear them sit down and I feel the bench behind me and sit down too. I listen to the cars going by and a group of mothers chatting. I find myself scooting closer to Gee- for warmth right? This kid does stuff to me, I want to spend the rest of my life sat here next to them. I can hear their fingers tapping and them fidgeting restlessly. I can smell them and it makes my heart flutter. Okay that sounds creepy. I mean they don’t stink in a bad way and I’m not just sat here sniffing them, I can smell maybe tea tree from their hair. I wonder if it’s the shampoo or the hair dye because it smells similar to a dye my mum used once when hers wasn’t in stock. It’s smells really fucking sexy on Gee, combined with their musky natural scent, a left over fruity smell from some kinda spray and the unmistakable smell of coffee.
“This is gonna sound creepy as fuck, but seeing as I can’t compliment your appearance can I just say you smell nice” I tell them, taking a risk. They laugh and I feel myself blush.
“Thanks! What do I smell like?” they giggle.
“Uh coffee-”
“Of course, anything else?”
“Tea tree, like your hair, your hair smells nice” I gabble feeling awkward.
“Thanks! It’s damaged as fuck but that’s probably the dye you can smell because I re-dyed it like 5 days ago but I have to top up every time I wash my hair cause obviously the bleach is permanent but the red is semi-permanent”
I nod, not sure what to say. I don’t know much about hair, I always wanted to have crazy styles and colours but I don’t care so much now. I just know it’s really dark brown and I can feel how long it is.
“But thanks, I’ve not noticed how you smell so I can’t really compliment that but even though I doubt it matters to you, you look on fleek” they add.
“Thanks” I blush “So what do I look like?”
“I don’t fucking know, nice?”
“You know better than me”
“Okay you have a cool coat, it’s like one of those khaki army print ones. That sounds gross but it’s really not. And you have a pretty smile”
A pretty smile. A pretty motherfucking smile. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone the colour of a tomato so I look downwards.
“Pretty? I wanna be punk!” I fake indignance.
“Yeah but I like pretty things”
I can’t think of what to reply. Was that flirtatious? Do I need to flirt back? No they weren’t even flirting. I don’t fucking know.
“Can we go somewhere” they ask suddenly.
“Okay where?”
“Starbucks?”
“Are you sure coffee is the best idea?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine”
“You’re already hyper as it is though. Arcade?”
“Okay Okay” they grumble, but seem excited again moments later and we start walking. There’s this place ‘shoppers amusements’, they’re not all 18+, there’s some 2p falls and stuff. I don’t really do much but it’s fun in there and I love all the sounds and music in there. I hold their hand, it almost pains me to do so, I mean I’m holding hands with my crush but it’s not the right kind of hand holding. It’s the same way I hold hands with my mum. It’s a short walk but they chat the whole time. I listen intently, the way the words flow so rapidly but steadily off their tongue, they don’t falter or stutter at all. I can hear the music long before we arrive there.
“Here” Gee says, turning me to the left and I take a few steps forward.
“Step”
I step inside, smiling as I hear all the beeps of the machines and the hum of people chatting. I have £20 and I can see most of it disappearing.
“Ooh a claw machine” they gasp excitedly, tugging at my arm “Wait we need to get ticket things first”
“Okay awesome”
They pull me carefully between the machines, I bump my leg here and there but that’s just normal for me.
“Hold on, I only have £2” They say, stopping abruptly. I knew this was coming.
“Well it’s lucky I have £20 in my pocket”
They squeal excitedly and I feel myself grin as I pull it out. I had it to them and suddenly without saying anything, they leave my side and I feel all stranded. I stay rooted to the spot, calm down Frank, they’re just exchanging for those ticket things. I pick apart the sounds I can hear, which suddenly seem much louder and almost suffocating. I catch Gee’s voice, I think they’re talking to someone. Moments later, I feel their hand in mine again, and I feel myself flinch without my permission.
“Don’t ever just walk away like that again” I cry, hoping to sound slightly menacing.
“Shit I am so sorry” They groan.
“It’s alright”
We head over what Gee tells me a thousand times is the claw machine. It’s adorable how determined they are to win something, even though I know these things are practically impossible, nothing more than a scam. I lean against the glass, feeling it vibrate as I assume the claw moves. Every so often Gee groans and I think puts another ticket in.
“Are you sure you wanna waste all the tickets on this one machine?” I ask.
“Yeah, there’s this one thing in there, these like skeleton gloves they look rad as fuck, I really wanna win them” they tell me. I hum in response. They churn through 19 tickets until they only have one left. They go really quiet, in concentration before squealing delightedly.
“Frankie! I fuck won them!” they cry.
I grin, their happiness infectious.
“That’s awesome! Well done, I thought those machines were like impossible”
“Well here you go” they chirp, pushing some material into my hand.
“No no, you won them, you keep them” I say giving them back.
“I know I did, I’ll pay you back for the tickets but think of these as a present, from me”
I smile.
“Thank you so much Gee I-I yeah thank you”
They don’t reply, for the first time all morning but I hear the sound of Velcro ripping. They take my hand and I almost melt to the floor. I feel their fingers slipping soft material onto each of mine and doing it up. They do the same with the other hand and we hover for a moment. I so nearly slam my lips onto them right there.
“Th-thanks” I stutter out.
“It’s nothing”
“So how do they look?”
“Punk”

Notes

i think i put the wrong chapter number, also i need to hurry up so no time to write notes, also this is shorter than the rest n not proofread