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Where's your heart?

Chapter Five

For the next week any time I stop and give myself time to think Frank pops into my head, making my stomach twist painfully and my chest feel a little tighter. It's Saturday night and I am laying on my couch watching tv, trying to distract myself from thoughts of Frank when I hear a knock on the door and I push myself up, stumbling across the room to answer it. When I open the door I come face to face with Mikey and Pete and as I open my mouth to ask what they're doing here Mikey steps in and grabs my arm, dragging me down the hall towards my bedroom as Pete follows, the three of us ending up infront of my closet. "What are you doing?" I ask as Mikey opens the doors and starts picking through my clothes, holding things up against me and either humming in approval and handing them to Pete or shaking his head and throwing them on the bed. Once he's picked out an outfit he takes them back from Pete and pushes them into my chest, forcing me to take the clothes as he grabs Petes hand, heading for the door as he says "We'll be out here when you're dressed." I sigh to myself as I change my clothes, dressing in the outfit Mikey picked out and as I turn to take in my appearance in the mirror my eyes widen, the outfit different to what I would normally choose for myself, the shirt much tighter and form fitting and I can't even remember where I would have gotten it. Once I'm ready I wander into the living room where Mikey and Pete are waiting and they both smile wide when they see me, Mikey humming in approval as he stands and comes over to me, reaching out and fussing with my hair before he says "Perfect, now lets go."

We leave my house a few minutes later, getting in a cab and as we start driving I ask where we're going, Mikey smiling innocently and saying "You'll see. You need to get out of your funk Gee, let loose and have some fun." I sigh as I nod, the darkened streets rushing past the window until the cab slows and comes to a stop outside a familiar bar, my stomach clenching as I say "Mikey no," he and Pete having pried more information about Frank from me over the last week. "Yes, come on Gee" Mikey replies as he climbs out of the cab, reaching back in to grab my wrist and pull me out. Once we're on the street and the cab drives away Mikey smiles at me and says "Gee, if you really don't want to go in we won't, but I think you owe it to yourself to let yourself be happy for a change." I sigh softly, staring down at my shoes before I look back up into Mikey's eyes, nodding once before I step forward, making my way to the door and going inside, Mikey and Pete following. As we walk into the club the music is blaring, the lights dimmed and I see a blonde guy on stage, shaking his ass in just a pair of skimpy underwear and I turn to look back at Mikey and Pete, both of them smiling at me so I shake my head and keep walking, heading towards the bar where I see Nicole flocked with customers. I approach the bar and wait my turn and when Nicole sees me her eyes flicker with a dark expression, her forehead creased slightly as she says "What do you want Gerard?" "Is Frank here?" I ask, a look of disbelief on her face as she shakes her head and says "Why, so you can run out again?" "No, I just want to talk to him and...." "Well he's not here tonight, so if you don't want anything else..." She trails off, a look of judgement settling on her face and I take a deep breath before saying "Id really like to talk to him, could you maybe give him my number?" "What do I look like, a pimp?" She snaps and I drop my gaze to the bar as I say "Sorry, I'll go." I turn to leave, feeling my chest growing tighter and as I take the first step Nicole says "I'm sorry, I just don't like to see my best friend get hurt. He really wanted to get to know you the other night and you bailed." "I want to get to know him too and I just want the chance to apologise" I tell her as I turn back around and Nicole's face softens, a small smile pulling at her lips as she says "Here" pausing to grab a pen before reaching out and taking my hand, writing an address on it before letting go and saying "He'll be there tomorrow afternoon from two, don't run away this time." I nod, smiling softly and Nicole smiles back before I turn and walk away, rejoining Mikey and Pete and telling them we should go.

The whole next morning I spend a nervous wreck, excited to see Frank again but also scared about what might happen, wondering if he will be mad with me too. I change my outfit what feels like a million times, not wanting to look like I'm trying too hard and by the time the clock strikes two I'm only just leaving the house, calling for a cab and I give the driver the address that I've memorised since last night, hoping it won't take too long to get there. Fifteen minutes later we pull up at what looks like an abandoned factory but I can hear loud music coming from inside and I follow two girls in, walking down a hallway before we come into a large room, a large crowd scattered through out and I see a band down one end of the room, playing their hearts out as people in the crowd cheer them on. I start to wander further into the room, looking around for Frank when a warm hand grabs my arm and I turn to see Nicole standing there smiling at me. "I'm glad you came, come with me" she shouts, just barely audible over the music and her hand slides down into mine, leading me through the crowd to a group of guys and girls all sitting together and Nicole drops my hand before reaching out and tapping someone on the shoulder, the person turning their head in our direction and Franks eyes widen when he sees me. Nicole bends down and whispers something in his ear and Frank smiles and shakes his head before Nicole stands back up straight and steps away, walking around to the other side of the group and when she's gone Frank gestures to the empty spot next to him. I slowly take a seat, making myself comfortable on the ground before I look over and see Frank staring at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm sorry for bailing the other night" I shout as I lean in so he can hear me. "It's fine, don't worry" he tells me and I shake my head, frowning slightly as I say "No, it's really not. I'm usually not like that but I just had a lot going on." "Well, you're here now so you wanna take a walk?" "Sure" I agree, standing up and Frank stands too, heading for a side door nearby and once we're both outside he smiles and says "I figure it will be easier to hear each other out here."

I nod in agreement, following Frank to a nearby bench and we take seat, Frank turning his head to look over at me, his eyes dropping down before coming back up to meet my own. "You look nice today" he tells me, my cheeks growing hot as I smile and say "Thanks, so do you." Frank smiles wide before he asks what I'm doing here. "I came to see you last night, to apologise and you weren't working so Nicole told me you'd be here today. I really am sorry for last week, I didn't...." "Gerard it's fine really, whatever was going on, I hope it's worked out for you." I nod slowly before saying "I think it might be starting to," the butterflies in my stomach going crazy as Frank and I stare at each other, sitting so close our arms are almost touching.