I'm standing in front of you
I'm standing in front of you
I'm trying to be so cool
Everything together trying to be so cool

When I wake up I have no idea where I am or what time it is. All I remember is being upset because Frank kissed me. There is an empty bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on my desk. Shit, I promised Mikey I wouldn’t drink anymore. I need to hide that before he comes down here. Rubbing my eyes I try to stretch out but my arms meet a body. I look around; Mikey and Amber are curled up at the end of my bed, their arms wrapped around each other. That’s new. I guess he probably already knows that I was drinking. My head begins to pound as my eyes land on a black heap on the floor. It looks like it’s breathing. As the heap rolls over I realize its Frank. Maybe we’d worked things out.

There is a little ray of light shining through the only window in my basement bedroom. I wonder how long I’d been out for. Suddenly, I have the urge to pee. Getting up gently, so as to not disturb my little brother and the redhead, I head down the hall towards the bathroom. My eyes meet my reflection in the mirror and I decide that a shower is probably a good idea. Once I’ve peed I strip out of my clothes.

The cold water helps wake me up more, the fog clearing from my head. A knock on the door causes me to turn my head, smacking it on the showerhead that has forever been too low. “Ow, Goddammit. What?!”

“Hey man, how are you feeling?” that’s Frank.

“I’m starting to feel better,” I answer, continuing to shower. He can’t see through the curtain, I’m fine.

“That’s good. I’m sorry about this whole thing. It’s kind of my fault,” Frank grumbles.

“Why’d you kiss me?”

For a few minutes Frank doesn’t say anything. Even though I’m done showering I continue to stand under the water, switching it over so that it’s warm. I don’t want to have to get out…not in front of Frank.

“You remind me so much of her and I thought that maybe I could fill the void but that obviously didn’t happen. I’m such a dumbass sometimes. I should have known better. We were both just there and it felt right….” Frank rambles.

I peak out at him from behind the shower curtain. The dark haired boy is perched on top of the sink, butt sinking into the bowl, head in his hands. “Who the hell are you talking about?”

Frank turns to look at me, tossing a towel my way before answering, “Fucking Amber.”

I can’t help but grin a little. I could tell Frank liked Amber from the first time I’d seen them together. I’d never gotten the actual truth out of him before now though. He always kind of shirted around the conversation, only getting upset when someone would suggest that they’d ask Amber out, or that she looked extra fuckable that day.

“You really like her huh?” I question as I switch off the water, wrapping the towel around my waist. I stay behind the curtain though. I don’t want Frank to see me. It feels weird. I guess that’s kind of stupid seems as we kissed.

“I’m in love with her Gerard and now she’s sucking face with your little brother and expecting me to just smile along and tell them that they’re cute as hell.”

Frank’s comment makes me lose my footing. I grab at the curtain trying to keep from falling. Instead I just manage to pull the whole curtain rod down on top of me, one of the rubber ends hitting me in the head. My friend gets up off the toilet, his eyes covered with his hand. His other hand is held in my direction. I grab hold of him and hoist myself out of the tub.

Sighing I sit down on the floor, pulling another towel off the rack to cover my top half. Frank retakes his seat on top of the sink. “I forgot you didn’t know about that one.”

“Yeah…so they’re like together?” I question. It isn’t that I don’t like Amber; I think she’s a great person…most of the time. I’m just not so sure that she’s right with my brother. He doesn’t need any extra problems added into his life. Amber’s middle name is problems. If it isn’t one thing it’s another with that girl. She’s indecisive and impulsive. I just don’t want my little brother to get hurt. Or do you want her to pick you? I wipe my face trying to get that little voice in my head to shut up. If Amber belongs with anyone it’s Frank or maybe even Ray. Those two have been around her the longest; they know how to handle her.

“Yeah, she just decided last night I guess. They fell asleep in each others arms –” Frank chokes back tears – “she slept through the whole night with no issues. She’s never done that with me.”

“Hey,” I stand up and place my hand on Frank’s shoulder. He’s really torn up about Amber being with my little brother. While I won’t do anything to split them apart, I want to be here for my friend. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now. “Just be there for her. We both know how Amber is. Besides, if she keeps treating you the way she does now, Mikey isn’t going to put up with it.”

Frank takes in a deep breath, “She’s the only girl I’ve ever felt this strongly about.”

“I know man. Everything will work out though. How about we grab a few movies from Mikey’s room?”

The dark haired boy nods, wiping a few tears away from his face. Together we trudge back into my room, Frank waiting by the door as I grab some clothes and hide myself inside the closet to change. I hear him laugh at something.

“What are you doing in there Gerard?” that’s Amber’s voice. It sounds like she’s right on the other side of the closet door.

“I’m fine,” I shoot back quickly.

“That isn’t the answer to the question I asked.”

“I’m just changing clothes, stay there!”

“I wasn’t going to come in, clam down,” Amber answers back and I hear her move away.

Once I’ve gotten my clothes on I open the closet door, tumbling out. I am met by three pairs of eyes staring right at me; it’s actually quite uncomfortable. Sighing, I run my fingers through my damp hair, noticing that Mikey and Amber have their arms thrown around each other again. My little brother beams down at the redhead. Frank looks like he’s in physical pain. Amber’s eyes are fixed on me, completely oblivious to the other boys.

“You guys wanna pick out a movie?”

“Sure thing,” Mikey says with a smile, before taking Amber’s hand and leading her towards the door. She looks back at Frank and I, the biggest smile across her face. Even though I’m still not sure how I feel about her being with my little brother I have to admit I’ve not seen either of them this happy before.

Frank and Amber argue over a movie, Frank jumping to pull it off the shelf and Amber quickly replacing it. The two giggle and push each other. Mikey stands in the back, holding his hand out to collect the various movies that the two put there. His eyes never leave Amber. Occasionally she’ll stop horsing around with Frank and pull my little brother into a side hug or stand on her tiptoes to kiss his nose. Mikey always blushes a little but returns her affection.

“Amber cut it out,” Frank whines as she returns Dawn of the Dead to the shelf for the hundredth time.

“You and I just watched that movie. I wanna watch something new.”

“But it’s a classic.”

“It is a really good movie,” Mikey steps in, backing Frank up. The dark haired boy turns to smile at my little brother. Amber sticks out her bottom lip in a pout.

“Fine,” the redhead grumbles, pulling the movie off the shelf and handing it to Mikey before we all head downstairs. "I texted Ray and invited him over. I hope that was okay."

"Sure thing," Mikey answers back.

Ray is in the kitchen talking to mom. He smiles when he sees us all. “So I heard we’re doing movies.”

“That’s the plan.”

Ray nods following the rest of us down to my bedroom. I really need to clean up down here. There is stuff everywhere. Frank is standing over by the TV, fiddling with the remote to switch it over so that we can watch our movie.

“Frank catch,” I say tossing a DVD case across the room to him.

Frank reacts too slowly, spinning around just in time for the case to make contact with his face.

Notes

Song: Screen by Twenty One Pilots