Where's your heart?

The next morning when I wake up I roll over and immediately regret the action, a dull throbbing pain shooting up my spine and I groan softly as I slump onto my back on the mattress and let my eyes slip closed again, taking a deep breath and I feel Franks warm hand slide across to rest on my stomach, rubbing back and forth gently. "How are you feeling babe?" He asks softly and I turn my head as I force my eyes open again and I half smile as I say "I'm ok." "Sore?" Frank asks and I groan softly and nod, Franks mouth pulling into a small pout as he says "I'm sorry babe, we should have gone easier for your first time." "No I loved it" I tell him, smiling wide as my cheeks go hot and Frank smiles wide too before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. When we finally manage to drag ourselves out of bed half an hour later I stumble my way across to the bathroom, a slight limp in my walk and just as I start the shower I hear Franks phone ring, stripping off as I listen to him make his way down the hallway towards the kitchen where he left it and a few minutes later he knocks softly on the door before coming into the bathroom and he tells me he has to leave in a few minutes, his band getting a gig the following night and they want to get a practice in beforehand. I finish washing myself before I turn off the water and step out, Frank handing me a towel and after I've wrapped it around my waist he steps closer again and leans in to press a soft kiss to my lips, telling me he'll be back soon and after he leaves the bathroom I dry myself off, wrapping the towel back around my waist and as I make my way out into the hall, heading back to the bedroom to dress Frank blows me a kiss as he slips out the front door.

The following night when I get home from work I take a quick shower before changing into jeans and a band tee and by the time I go back into the living room with Frank Nicole is there too, dressed similar to us and as I enter the room she stands and approaches me, holding her arms out and I glance over her shoulder at Frank, seeing him watching us with a big smile on his face and I nod slightly as I step in and give Nicole the hug she's coming for. "Hey how are you Gee? I love your house" she tells me when she pulls back and I smile and say "Thanks, I'm great. How are you?" "Can't complain" she tells me before turning back towards Frank and he stands and walks over to grab the guitar he has ready in its case, telling us we should be going and we all leave the house, getting into Nicole's car and she drives us towards the club Franks band is playing in. Twenty minutes later we are in the backstage area, Nicole and I sitting on a couch with the bands drummer while Frank paces back and forth across the room, making strange noises as he warms his voice up to sing and Nicole and I start giggling at them, the faces he's pulling not helping and he smirks as he playfully flips us off, another funny noise escaping his mouth and we break, leaning against each other as we laugh uncontrollably and a few seconds later he stops and comes over, pouting as he tells us to shut up, the look in his eyes making it clear he's just playing around and by the time we calm down fully my ribs hurt, Nicole's eyeliner smudging a little as her eyes water and she excuses herself to go to the bathroom just down the hall to fix her makeup and when she's gone Frank sits down next to me and wraps his arm around my waist, his other hand coming across to poke me in the ribs and I squirm as I start laughing again and Frank chuckles as he shakes his head and says "It's really not that funny." "Aww Frankie" I coo as I stop laughing, leaning over to nuzzle my face into the side of his neck and a few minutes later a goth looking girl comes into the room and tells us that they're going on in ten minutes and when Nicole comes back into the room right after the girl leaves I stand and go with her, kissing Frank before Nicole and I make our way out into the bar with the rest of the crowd.

The gig goes great, the crowd loving every second of it and by the second song I notice a lot of people singing along, the band clearly having quite a following and I smile wide, feeling proud of Frank and when they go offstage again Nicole grabs my arm and drags me towards the bar, ordering us drinks and as we step away from the bar again Nicole spots a friend of hers and she leads me over so she can say hello, introducing me and the guy asks if we're going to the party afterwards, Nicole glancing over at me and I shrug, not knowing anything about a party but she just smiles and says "Yeah we'll be there." "Awesome" the guy says and just as I go to take another sip of my beer a colourful hand reaches out and grabs the bottle from my hand, Frank taking the beer and bringing it to his mouth. "So what did you think babe?" He asks after he's swallowed his mouthful and I smile as I say "I think you guys were amazing." A few minutes later the rest of the band comes out and Frank says "So there's kinda a party we're going to and..." "Yeah I heard" I tell him, offering him a smile and he takes my hand, leading me towards the door and the rest of the band, along with Nicole and a few others from the crowd follow us and once we're on the street we start walking, heading a few blocks down to the party that's already in full swing and when we get there Frank disappears, telling me he'll be right back and I'm left alone, Nicole wandering off to talk to some people she knows and I take a seat on an empty couch, feeling awkward and out of place.

Fifteen minutes later Nicole wanders back into the living room of the house we're in, looking around and spotting me and as she makes her way over and sits beside me she says "Having fun? Where's Frank?" "Um I don't know, he said he'd be right back, I guess he's busy talking" I tell her, shrugging my shoulders and she frowns and says "Come on, let's go find him," standing and taking my hand to pull me up too and once I'm on my feet she leads me from the room, her hand still wrapped around my wrist and as we wander through the house Frank is no where to be seen, Nicole frowning more and more until she stops and asks someone if they've seen him and they tell her he's outside talking to someone named James. A strange look crosses Nicole's face and she shakes her head as she leads me towards the back door and just as we step outside Frank comes into view, leaning against the railing of the back porch, a beer in his hand and a huge smile on his face as he stands facing the guy I'm assuming is James, his back to us so I can't see what he looks like and just as I take a step towards them Frank starts laughing at something the guy said and he raises a hand and pushes Franks hair back off his forehead, leaning in a little closer and I feel my stomach clench, the action looking so comfortable and I notice Frank doesn't move away, allowing the touch to happen and suddenly Nicole takes off from beside me, making her way over and loudly saying "What's going on over here?" Both Frank and the other guy jumping back a little, their moment clearly broken by Nicole. Neither of them say a word and just as I'm about to turn and walk away, a bad feeling in my stomach about the whole situation Nicole turns to the guy and says "James have you met Franks new boyfriend Gerard?" Turning her head to look at me and Franks head snaps up, his eyes widening when he notices me standing in the middle of the porch, frozen to the spot and James turns his head to look over at me too, a strange look on his face and Nicole gestures for me to come over, my feet moving slowly until I'm standing between her and Frank and Franks hand slowly reaches across to slip into mine, his fingers tangling with mine and James' eyes flicker down to watch the action before they trail back up and I feel his gaze taking in every detail of me, the stare making me feel even more uncomfortable as we stand in awkward silence, no one knowing what to say.

Notes