Fic: Any Way You Want - Part Two
Part Two.
When Frank wakes up the next morning, it's to the smell of something flowery. He breathes in deep, content. His arms feel full of something warm, comforting, and he pulls it closer towards him, wanting to stay in this place forever. Lazily, he blinks his eyes open and sees a head of dark hair tucked into his chin, and remembers with a sudden jolt that he's in Gee's bed, with her cuddled into his side. His eyes open wide with the realisation, and his head starts to throb with a well-deserved hangover. Carefully, he extracts himself from Gee's embrace and slides back to sit on the side of the bed, elbows on his knees and head in his hand. He has the biggest fucking hangover of his life. With a cautious glance back behind him, he sees Gee smile softly in her sleep, strands of hair falling over her face. Unable to resist, Frank reaches over and brushes them away carefully, his fingers just barely touching the soft skin of her face. She really is fucking gorgeous, he thinks as he watches her, and he can't really believe that he ever ended up in this situation. And shit, he's in her bed.
It takes a moment, but through the throbbing pain in his temple he can remember. Maybe not as well as he'd like, but hot flashes of touch, of gasping breaths and stroking fingers, and he groans. He's pretty sure that they didn't have sex. Yes, he tells himself. That definitely did not happen. But he also knows that it was close, so close, and he lets out a shaky breath of relief. There's this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach like he's taken advantage of her or something, that she probably won't remember any of it in the morning and that even if she does, she'll probably hate him for it. He really doesn't want things to be awkward. Not just when they were starting to really get to know each other. If last night taught him anything, it's that Gee Way is certainly not someone he wants to let slip through his fingers easily, and he'll kill himself if he just fucked that all up.
Running a hand through his hair in frustration, Frank stands up. He's still wearing his jeans, must have fallen asleep in them. It's a simple matter of doing them back up and then hunting around Gee's floor for his shirt, which he pulls over his head before looking back down at the sleeping body on the bed. The sheets have fallen down just enough for him to see the white skin of her collarbone, the barest hint of the swell of her breast where she's missing her shirt. With a sigh, Frank reaches over and pulls the sheets back up to cover her properly, and plants a soft kiss on her forehead. And then it's time for him to get out of there before she wakes up and he does something he'll really regret, like blurt out everything that happened last night. He feels so fucking guilty, and there's no way that he can look her in the eye without wanting to sink into the floor, so he turns his back on the bed and slips out the door.
His bare feet make no sound on the wooden floor, his shoes clutched tightly in his right hand. He's almost to the door, so close, when he hears someone clear their throat behind him, and whips his head around. Mikey is leaning against the kitchen counter, mug of coffee in hand and eyebrows raised.
"Heading off so early, Frank?" he asks, and there's just the barest hint of a warning in his tone, something cold and levelled.
"I uh. Yeah, I guess so," Frank stammers out, because what the fuck else are you supposed to say when you're caught trying to sneak out of the house? Especially being caught by the brother of the girl he almost slept with - who Mikey probably thinks he had sex with.
"You better not fuck her around, Iero," Mikey says, and Frank understands the warning loud and clear this time.
Frank scratches the back of his head, looks around guiltily. "I'm not, really. I just. I have to get home?" It sounds pathetic even to his own ears, but he's not sure what else to say. "We didn't sleep together," he ends up blurting out, because he's an idiot who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
He's half expecting Mikey to come over and take a swing at him, but he just nods, and the danger is gone from his voice when he says, "Okay, good. Just don't be an ass, yeah? I like you; I don't want to have to kill you if you hurt her."
Frank smiles to let him know he appreciates it, and then when Mikey nods his head in acknowledgement, Frank waves and gets out the door as fast as he can.
-
Going to work and pretending like he's not totally terrified he'll run into Gee is harder than Frank originally thought it would be. He's never really bothered to invest in a car considering he walks everywhere for the most part anyway, and if he needs to go further out of the way there's always public transport. Plus, there used to be college fees to pay on a small, part-time job, so it was out of the question, really. Now, Frank is maybe beginning to regret that decision just the slighest bit. There's a very, very small chance that he'll run into her while he's walking to work, but he still finds himself checking over his shoulder every two minutes, and keeping a careful eye out anyway.
"Hey Frankie," Patrick greets him when he finally makes it inside, and Frank says hello back gratefully, sinking into his seat behind the register and thanking God that he's off the street and hidden indoors. Now all he has to do is hope that Gee doesn't decide that today would be an awesome day to buy a new record.
It's not that he doesn't want to see her. Well, it is, but it's not because he doesn't like her all of a sudden. It's just that he still sort of can't believe what happened last night. And if it took him a few moments to remember properly what happened (and he still doesn't, not entirely, but he remembers enough to send his head reeling and his stomach flipping), then there's always the chance that she won't remember it at all. He managed to leave that morning without waking her up, so when she does wake up in a bed void of Frank, what's there to say that she'll even have the faintest clue? Mikey could remind her, but Frank doesn't think he will, not with the uncomfortable conversation they shared this morning. Which means that yes, she probably won't remember. Frank is working himself into a confused frenzy just thinking about it.
There's no way he can confront her now. If she doesn't remember, and he just blurts it out because he's stupid and crazy and obviously has a death wish, then it will just make things even more awkward than they already are. And what if she does remember, but she regrets it? She was drunk, so drunk, and so was he, but he also knows that girls are probably more prone to regret things like this. What if she sobers up and remembers that she doesn't actually want to have sex with him at all? What if she wakes up and decides that she can't ever speak to him again because she's so angry that he took advantage of her like that? And he doesn't think he took advantage of her; she seemed pretty into it, but it's also not like he has any experience in taking advantage of drunk girls. It's all so far over his head, and it doesn't help things that he's really, really starting to develop this ridiculous crush on her.
And at first it was just a crush. She's a cool chick and Frank likes talking to her, likes her band and her music and the way she sings. And then she had to go and sing Journey to him in front of a live audience, and then proceed to invite him to her party at which he got to know her even more, and already he was too far in. The way she talked, and the way she's so fucking earnest about everything she ever says, the way she respects his opinions but isn't afraid to voice her own, and the way she seemed so happy just to be able to talk to him about the things they enjoy. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he had to go and almost sleep with her and oh fuck she's gorgeous, what is he thinking. He is so, so far in over his head.
He's startled out of his own head when a teenage guy with a nose ring and crazy fucking purple hair approaches the counter with a record in hand. Frank nods and says hey, and when the guy doesn't reply, Frank takes the hint and rings up the purchase without another word. He takes the money, passes over change, and when the guy leaves, Frank settles back in his chair and continues to berate himself silently. Patrick is putting out the new stock, and when he turns around to make sure Frank's not slacking off too much, Frank can't help himself.
"Patrick, I did something really bad," he says, running a hand through his hair.
Patrick looks up and pauses, a record still in his hand, halfway towards the shelf. "Frank, if you've killed someone, the less I know the better. Seriously. I am not going to prison because you're an ass who couldn't keep his mouth shut."
Frank takes a moment, blinks, and then says, "I really, really like a girl."
There's silence for a moment, and then slowly, Patrick puts down the record and raises an eyebrow. "This is a bad thing?"
"We were so drunk Patrick, and I saw her without a shirt on!" Frank groans, dropping his head into his hands.
Patrick just laughs, and Frank has the worst friends in the world. "No, seriously Frank. What is going on in your head right now? No, actually, I don't even want to know. You're an idiot, did you know that?"
Frank just flips him the bird without raising his head.
"Have you called her?" Patrick asks.
Finally looking up again, Frank shakes his head adamantly. "Are you crazy? She probably doesn't even remember, or she hates me for like, violating her or something."
Patrick sighs and abandons his box of stock, disappearing out the back of the store and returning shortly after with the shop phone in his hand. "Fucking call her, Frank."
He hesitates for just a second longer, until Patrick hits him with the stupid phone. Frank takes it reluctantly, punching her number in. It rings and rings, and Frank is getting ready to kill himself out of anxiety, but then it just rings out without an answer. He hangs up and hands the phone back to Patrick. It was a stupid idea anyway.
-
Three days later, Frank is lying on the couch, hand dangling down to pat Mama where she's asleep on the floor beside him. There's some old movie on the television, black and white, and the guy is busy staring into the girl's eyes and telling her how much he loves her and that he can't live without her. Frank can't help but think of Gee, and he wonders where she is, how she's feeling, whether or not she's missing him as much as he's missing her. He still hasn't seen her since the party, and while he still looks over his shoulder while he walks to work, he's beginning to hope that he accidentally runs into her. At least then he'd be forced to stand and make conversation instead of pussying out like he has been lately. He misses her, and he really just wants to listen to her talk again, but he's also really kind of terrified that the reason he hasn't heard from her is that she's mad at him for what happened.
It's not until the guy on the screen gets down on one knee, ring in hand and the girl's eyes light up that Frank figures fuck it. He coaxes his cell out of his pocket and flips through his contacts until he finds her name. And for the first time, when he presses ‘call’ he's not nervous at all. He's had enough of this, needs to talk to her and settle things.
She picks up this time with a tired, "Hey," followed by a yawn.
"Did I wake you?" Frank asks, biting the corner of his fingernail nervously, "Sorry."
There's a pause, and the sound of rumpling blankets, and he can practically see her struggling to sit up in bed, phone clutched to her ear and eyes sleepy. "Frank? No, I um. Yeah, actually, I was asleep, but it's fine. How are you?" She sounds kind of stuffy and groggy, and her voice is kind of off.
Frank frowns. "Are you feeling okay? You sound kind of sick."
"Yeah, just like. The flu, you know? I've been confined to my bedroom with chicken soup, you know how it is."
Frank does, he really does. He's had enough experience with being sick as a kid to last him a fucking lifetime, and he really doesn't envy her. But the idea of her lying in bed, sick and exhausted, makes Frank really want to get over there and hold her through it, feed her soup and kiss her forehead and tell her she's beautiful despite everything. "Do you um." He can't really believe he's even about to ask. "I could come over? I have the best recipe for vegetable soup seriously. Mom used to make it for me as a kid, and I promise you it is the best thing in the world."
She's interrupted from answering by what sounds like a pretty violent cough, but finally her voice comes through, sounding hoarse but pleased. "It sounds amazing Frank, but I don't want you to get sick."
He contemplates this for a moment. Knowing his shitty immune system, he probably will get sick if he goes over there, but once the idea has been planted in his head, he can't seem to get rid of it. He really wants to see her, and he knows that whenever he gets sick and is stuck in bed, the one thing he wants is company and somebody to tell him that it will all be over soon. In the end, his mind is made up, and no amount of germs are going to stop him.
"Don't worry about me. I'm on my way," he says, and the first thing he does after he hangs up the phone is hunt around for his mom's old recipe.
He's out the door within ten minutes and heads immediately to Greta's. As he walks in the door, she's already on the move, waving at him and setting about making him his usual coffee. "Could you make it two please, Greta?" he calls out, and she nods distractedly. Frank taps out a tune on the counter while he waits, drumming his fingers and glancing around at the other customers in the cafe before Greta slides two coffees across the counter. Frank thanks her and reaches for his wallet, but Greta waves him off dismissively. He argues with her for a minute before she rolls her eyes at him and practically pushes him out the door, refusing to take any of the money he offers. "Just go, Frank, don't worry about it!" she says, and Frank gives in and just goes with it, shouldering the door open and cradling the coffee carefully.
He sips at his while he walks, and by the time he gets to the Way's, he's almost finished. Mikey answers the door and doesn't look surprised to see him, so Frank assumes that Gee told him he was coming. He's half expecting things to be awkward, considering the last time they saw each other, Frank was sneaking out of his sister's bedroom, but Mikey just smiles and lets him inside. "She's up in her room," Mikey tells him, "Don't get too close or she'll turn you into a fucking zombie."
Frank laughs and deposits his empty coffee cup in the bin, setting Gee's down on the kitchen counter. "I brought my favourite soup recipe. You mind if I borrow your kitchen?"
Mikey shakes his head and sits on the bar stool in front of the counter. "So, hey, I was wondering, maybe you want to come to a band practice some time?" Mikey suggests while Frank rummages around for a pot and the ingredients he needs, setting everything up.
"That sounds awesome!" he exclaims, and he's honest to god excited about seeing them play up close and personal. "I'd love to, really."
"Next week?" Mikey asks, and Frank nods again.
They talk about the practice session and the band while Frank makes Gee's soup, and Frank is happy to see that it's not awkward at all. Mikey seems to have forgiven him, or else wasn't angry at him in the first place. Either way, Frank is relieved.
When Frank gets a little lost in the kitchen, Mikey digs around and unearths a bowl and spoon for him. Frank takes them gratefully and serves out Gee's soup, setting the bowl and spoon on a tray and preparing to take it to her. Mikey looks at him pointedly, and Frank shrugs and walks down the hall, deciding to ignore him for now. He knows that Mikey is probably just worried about his sister, considering what happened the last time Frank was in her bedroom, added to the fact that she's sick and tired.
Gee's door is closed when he reaches her bedroom, and he carefully juggles the tray in his left hand and raises his right to knock gently. She answers almost immediately with a "come in" and her voice sounds feeble and exhausted. He holds the tray properly again and shoulders the door open, kicking it shut with his foot. Gee struggles to sit up in bed when she sees him, offering a small smile which is quickly interrupted by a sneeze.
"I'm sorry, Frank, hi," she greets him, and he sets the tray down on her bedside table and perches on the edge of her bed.
"Hi," he returns, and then gestures to the tray, "I made you soup."
"You're sweet, Frank," she says, eyeing the soup gratefully. She can't reach it properly from where she's sitting, but Frank doesn't want to put a hot tray on her lap when she's got to be going through odd temperature flushes enough as it is. Instead, he opts for dipping the spoon in the bowl and then hesitating. "Is it okay if. Well, would you like to me spoon-feed you?" he asks with a grin. She laughs in response, but she nods anyway and then she moves over to give Frank more room on the bed. He ends up sitting cross-legged to the side of her, the tray settled on his knees. When he feeds her the first spoonful and waits for her to swallow, Gee groans in satisfaction and smiles lazily.
"That's perfect, Frank. Just what I need."
They sit in silence, and Frank continues to spoon-feed Gee the soup until the spoon is scraping the bottom of the bowl. Finally, she sits back and dips her head back onto her pillow, exposing her throat. Frank remembers how it felt to have his lips on that same stretch of skin, how it felt to have her shiver against him. He shifts a little uncomfortably on the bed, feeling incredibly awkward all of a sudden and not entirely sure what he's supposed to do next. He's never been all that great at small talk, and now the soup is gone and he has nothing to do with his hands to distract himself. He ends up picking at the threads of her blanket, avoiding her eyes until she says something or makes some kind of move to tell him where they're supposed to go from here.
"Frank?" He looks up finally at the sound of his name to see Gee smiling a little, biting her lip self-consciously. "Thank for coming over," she says, but she still looks a little unsettled, like there's something more she has to say. He's startled when he looks down and realises that her hand has crept over until it's resting gently on his knee. He can feel the warmth of her hand through the cover of his jeans, and he holds himself in check desperately. She's sick, she's tired, she probably doesn't remember anything about the other night, and he is not going to fuck this up by jumping her or something.
"Any time," he says, because that's the kind of thing you're supposed to say, but he really does mean it. There's another stretch of silence, and Frank attempts to break it with an awkward half-laugh. "So, Ray and Bob, huh?"
Gee grins, and the tension is gone, though Frank notices that her hand remains on his knee. "I think they're doing dinner next week. Who would've thought?"
Frank moves the tray back to the bedside table and nods. He's about to say something like 'all the best to them, then', but Gee cuts across him, her voice sounding urgent and kind of breathless, all in a rush. "Come to lunch with me," she says, and then takes a deep breath in. "Tomorrow?"
It takes a moment for Frank's brain to catch up, but then he looks at her face where her cheeks are flushed - this time nothing at all to do with the heat of the soup or her sickness - and he nods immediately. "I'd love to," he says for the second time that afternoon, and her eyes light up.
"Great! You could pick me up?" she suggests, and Frank nods again, and then he covers her hand on his knee with his own hand, and she smiles and looks like she's about to say something, but then she's cut off by a yawn.
"You should sleep," Frank says sternly. The more she lets her body rest, the quicker she'll get better, and Frank doesn't want her feeling like death tomorrow if he's going to take her out. There's no way he's risking taking her away from her bed if she's not at least somewhat better, but he also really, really wants to take her up on the offer.
"I think I might, sorry," she says apologetically, but Frank just waves off the apology dismissively and helps her lay down properly. He can't help but smooth her hair back off her face and bring the blankets back up around her to tuck her in. Her eyes are half-closed when she whispers a thank you to him, and he kisses her forehead as she closes them all the way. Frank pulls away and then hesitates, hovering over her face with an arm on either side of her small frame. Unable to resist, he leans down and presses his lips gently against her cheek before he lays down beside her and watches as her breathing evens out and she falls asleep.
-
The next day leaves Frank feeling like a total tool. He promised he would pick Gee up for their lunch date - is that what they're calling it? A date? Frank is so out of his league - but it has just occurred to him that he doesn't actually own a car. While he has absolutely nothing against walking to Gee's place, he has a feeling that it's not really the best way to go about making a girl feel special. Frank panics momentarily, fretting in his kitchen with his house keys digging imprints into the skin of his right hand before he figures fuck it, she's not exactly a princess. He's out his front door and on his way to Gee's before he can give himself any more time to think on it.
Once again it's Mikey who answers the door when Frank knocks, and he hopes to god that this time it's not because Gee's still sick in bed. "Hey Mikey," he says when Mikey invites him inside, and he steps over the threshold, eyes immediately searching for any sign of her.
"She's just getting ready," Mikey says in answer to Frank's nervous glances, and Frank breathes a small sigh of relief and tells himself to calm down.
As if on cue, there's a crashing sound from the hallway and Gee staggers into sight, favouring her right leg and frowning. Frank can't help but grin. "Sorry! Sorry!" she exclaims, and Frank is torn between laughing at whatever she's done and feeling like that might give off the wrong impression. In the end he can't help himself, but she just turns and grins back at him. "I tripped and fell into my easel, but shut up, okay."
Frank sees the way she lights up a little at this, and he remembers her telling him about her previous dreams to become an artist. He didn't know that she hadn't stopped entirely, and he's itching to have a look at some of her work. "You still do art?" he asks, because he doesn't remember whether she told him what kind of art she does.
She blushes then, white skin flushing with pink, and he really wants to kiss her. "I was... inspired," she says with this secret kind of smile, and then the moment is gone and she's back to her normal self. "Anyway, let's go, yeah?"
Frank is more than happy to oblige. She reaches out and he takes her hand after a startled moment - he guesses that this is a date then - and hopes beyond hope that Mikey doesn't slaughter him for touching his sister. Mikey just smiles at them, and waves as Gee leads Frank out the door, her fingers still interlaced with his.
"So I don't have a car," he admits sheepishly once they're out on the sidewalk.
Gee laughs, bright and happy. "Walking is good," she says, and begins to lead him away from the house.
It's kind of lame and he knows that he'll regret it as soon as he gets within eyesight of Greta, but Frank takes Gee to his usual little cafe. Whether it's because he wants to share a little piece of himself with Gee or because of the free coffee, he doesn't know, but he likes to think of it as the former. Gee doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she beams at him as he pushes the door open. "I love this place!" she says as she settles down into a booth.
Frank glances at the counter with a wry smile and sighs. "You won't in a second..." he mutters as Greta pops her head around the register and spots him.
"Frank!" she cries, and Frank hopes she doesn't come over and have lunch with them. He loves Greta, really he does, but it would really kind of kill the 'date' vibe, and so far, Frank is enjoying the time alone with Gee. Luckily, Greta spots the girl beside him almost immediately, and her smile becomes more subdued. "What'll it be?" she asks instead, smiling at Gee warmly.
They order their food and then they're left to themselves. Frank feels ridiculously nervous all of a sudden. He's alone with her, on an actual date (he still can't get his head around the fact) and suddenly he's at a loss for what to say. "What were you working on, before?" he settles on, because that's nice and safely directed on her, and he really is curious as to what kind of art she does, and why she decided to start up again.
Gee ducks her head to hide a smile and sips at her water. "I was painting," she says, and as soon as she says it Frank spots the stripe of green paint across the inside of her wrist. He feels a sudden surge of want that he can't entirely explain but in a way he doesn't really want to. It's the sight of vibrant green across soft, pale skin. It's in the flaw against the perfection, the way she probably doesn't even realise it's there. In the way she can get so passionate about something, so immersed in her craft that she doesn't care what it leaves her looking like. He wants her, plain and simple. Wants to unwrap her and get under her skin and lose himself in her, wants to paint stripes across her stomach and show her how amazing she is. He gets so lost in the colour that he forgets for a moment where he is, and that he's probably creeping her out. She looks down, noticing him staring and obviously wondering what's caught his eye, and when she sees the paint she laughs. She's not embarrassed in the slightest and Frank just feels his infatuation with her growing. "Sorry, I didn't even see it before," she says, and Frank shakes his head.
"I like it," he says, unable to stop himself before the words are out of his mouth. "It's you." It sounds so utterly ridiculous that he wants to take it back as soon as he says it, but he can't, it's out there, and his stupid, hopeless heart is out there for her to see.
She smiles, and it's softer than usual. Her usual face-cracking grin is gone and in its place is a small smile, not half-hearted nor timid but meaningful. Like she understands. "You're kind of amazing, aren't you, Frank?" she says, and Frank is glad when their food arrives because it stops him from saying something ridiculous in return.
They eat, talking in between mouthfuls and Frank finds that the more time he spends in her company, the easier conversation becomes. She's not hard to talk to by any means, and mostly he finds himself talking about anything and everything before he's even aware of it. There's no sense of awkwardness, nothing to hold him back, and so he just lets go and allows her to see him as he is and make of it what she will. It's the only way he knows how to react to her, the only way he can keep up with her honesty and her earnest eyes.
He wants to spend the entire day with her, but to his dismay she stops walking once they leave the cafe. "I promised Mikey that I'd hang out this afternoon," she says, "I'm really sorry, Frank." And she looks like she really is, her eyes apologetic and her hands holding his. He wishes he could spend the afternoon with her, but he's hardly going to tear her away from her brother.
"Do you maybe want to do this again some time?" he asks instead. He's determined not to fuck this up, determined not to let her walk away without showing her that he wants to take this further. He's going to overcome his nerves if it kills him.
Nodding happily, Gee says, "I really would, Frank," and Frank takes her hand and walks her home with his heart soaring.
When they land on her doorstep, Frank isn't really sure what the protocol is. It's still broad daylight, so it's not like in the movies when he's expected to kiss her goodnight and then walk away like a gentleman. Her brother is probably waiting on the other side of the door. And it's not like he even knows whether Gee wants him to kiss her, because they've only really had one proper date. "I'll see you next week then?" he says finally. "Band practice?"
"Yeah! Yeah, of course!" She smiles at him, and he takes a step away from the door so that she can open it. Her hand falls on the doorknob and she starts to go inside. Frank smiles at her one more time before he turns around and is about to leave when he feels her hand on his shoulder. "Frank, wait."
"Yeah?" he asks, turning around with a puzzled frown. She's looking at him like she's kind of nervous, biting at her lip, and her hand still hasn't left his shoulder.
"Frank, I really like you," she says, her eyes large and serious. "And I'm." She pauses for a moment and closes her eyes briefly like she's steadying herself before she opens them again and says, "And I'm going to kiss you now." And she does, leaning forward and curling her free hand around his neck as she brings their lips together softly. It's chaste, just the softest brush of her lips against his with her hands warm on his skin before she's pulling away. She hides a smile by biting her lip again, and tugs at her hair. Frank stands completely still. She's kissed him before, but only with sloppy lips and alcohol on her breath, and this is more, so much more, and he doesn't know exactly what to do.
"Gee-" he starts, but she cuts him off by kissing him again, harder this time, more insistent. He kisses back a little desperately, and his hands find hers, tracing his thumb over that stripe of paint on her skin and deepening the kiss. She rocks on the spot as he slides his hands around her waist and hers find his neck again, and before he knows what's happening she's steering him back towards the door and he falls against it, breathless. Gee draws away for only a moment to grin at him before their lips find each other again and Frank slides his hands under the hem of her shirt, running his fingers along the smooth skin of her stomach and then around to the small of her back. She shivers against him and then finally, finally they stop, and Frank opens his eyes to find her smiling that same smile again. He's kind of frozen, stuck between being a little overwhelmed and also really wanting to kiss her again.
"This is the part where you say something," she whispers against his lips.
"I like you too?" he offers up, still a little dumbstruck, and she laughs. Frank kisses her again, just to shut her up or maybe just because he can, and he can feel her smile against his mouth. "I really like you," he amends when they break apart, and she laughs again, a breathy kind of giggle and kisses his cheek.
"I'm glad, Frank," she says, and then he lets her slip inside and begins the walk home feeling considerably lighter.
-
The rest of the week flies by in a rush, and Frank's time and thoughts are filled with Gee. Mostly she spends nights at his place, because if there's anything Mikey has objected to with this relationship, it's sex in the bedroom next to his. They rent movies and Frank grabs at the opportunity to cuddle with Gee on his couch, his fingers toying with the hem of her shirt until he's distracted her sufficiently. It's harder than it sounds, really. Gee is kind of a movie enthusiast, and it takes a lot of effort on Frank's part to stop her talking about how great the movie is so that he can kiss her into silence. It's a week full of popcorn and salty kisses and stumbling down the hall to Frank's bedroom (if they make it that far) and Frank has never felt more alive. Afterwards, she'll lay in bed with him and talk about their dreams, and what could have been if Gee had followed art as a career instead of forming the band. Frank tells her about Pencey, about how much he misses it sometimes, misses the feeling of the solid weight of the guitar in his hands and the music flowing through his veins. Misses the feeling of being on a stage and having an entirely new identity come alive in front of an audience. He misses the crowd and the feeling of being able to express himself in a way that tells everybody exactly what he needs to say, what he feels.
She holds his hands while he talks, her thumb stroking softly over the skin. "Come to band practice this afternoon," she says one morning when they lay tangled in Frank's sheets. The white of the material slips down as she sits up, sliding off her shoulders and exposing more skin - the cream of her neck and the beginning swell of her breasts. Her hair is in disarray and her eyes are bright with passion, her skin smooth and bare beneath the thin sheet. Frank kisses her because he has to, and when he pulls away he nods, uttering an agreement against her lips.
"I'll be there," he promises.
Band practice is held in Ray's basement. Frank arrives with his hand in Gee's, and Mikey rolls his eyes. Ray smiles, and Matt slaps him hard on the back. He feels at home with these guys, this band, and he settles down onto the moth-eaten couch to watch them play. It takes a while before anything actually gets moving; there's a lot of time spent messing around and tuning instruments, setting up and discussing what to play. Gee takes her place at the front, dead center in front of Frank's feet, and she smiles at him, looking a little bit nervous. He's heard her sing in her car, in his bed, on a stage in front of an entire crowd of people, but here, in Ray's basement she seems unsettled, like she's afraid of what he'll think.
Frank keeps his eyes fixed firmly on her, but when the music starts up he can't help but get lost in it. Ray and Mikey work well together, but he can't help the feeling that they could be excellent with something more, with another guitar part to compliment Ray. He finds himself imagining his guitar in his hands, his hands moving unconsciously along invisible strings, testing out chords in his head. He hardly even realises that he's playing the fucking air guitar on Ray's couch until the music comes to a sudden halt, and he looks up to find the band all staring at him.
"Frank?" Ray questions, letting his guitar hang in front of him, slack. He's frowning with curiosity, and when he gestures at Frank's hands, Frank realises what he was doing. "You play guitar?"
He realises then that Gee obviously hasn't told them about Pencey. He smiles at her, and in some strange way he finds himself pleased that she reserved their conversations for just the two of them. It's not out of any desire for the others not to know, but he likes the idea that it's something they share, whispered secrets between kisses that she finds important enough to keep to herself.
"I used to be in a band," Frank says with a shrug, and Ray's eyes light up.
"Oh man! You guys, it's like fucking fate or something," he says to the others, and then he disappears up the stairs. Frank looks at Gee, bewildered and looking for some kind of explanation, but she just shrugs. After a moment or two Ray returns, and he's got an extra guitar in his hands. He hands it to Frank carefully, and Frank stares at him, a little lost for what he's supposed to be doing. He was just messing around in his head, really. He doesn't want to tell them that they could use an extra guitar, because they're awesome and he doesn't want to make them feel like they're any less at the moment. "Play what you were miming before," Ray instructs, and then steps back to watch.
A little self-consciously, Frank strums out the chords he had sketched out in his mind, and Ray just keeps grinning at him like Frank's made of fucking candy. "What?" Frank asks and stops playing. Ray looks around, shares a glance with Otter and Mikey and then finally looks at Gee, and some kind of non-verbal conversation seems to happen between the four of them and Frank feels totally out of the loop. Gee grins though, and when she comes and sits down next to Frank on the couch, she places her hand on the small of his back.
"Play it again," she says softly, her breath whispering across his neck. Frank shivers and nods, plays the part again and then stops.
"It's perfect," Mikey says, and then he picks up his bass and the others follow suit. The song starts again, and this time Frank adds in parts where he thinks it could work, nervous but encouraged by Gee's voice as she sings to him, her hand still on his back. They stop around three-quarters of the way through and Ray nods enthusiastically.
"It's just what I've been wanting to add," he announces.
"You wanna play on a stage again, Frank?" Gee asks, her voice lilting with a wry smile on her lips.
"You want me to play with you?" Frank asks, looking at each of them in turn and feeling his eyes widen, his jaw dropping. There's no question about it, not really. He misses playing, and these guys have what Pencey didn't. They've got so much passion and energy and a fiery determination to do something; Frank knows this can't go wrong. This is where he's meant to be - playing alongside his favourite band, sharing the stage with the girl he's falling in love with. He looks at her then, and she kisses him, and when she draws away she's looking at him expectantly.
"What'll it be, Frank?" she asks, biting her lip, as if she's nervous, as if she thinks there's a chance he might say no.
Frank just grins, stupid and wide and ridiculous. "There's nothing I'd like more."
-
It's the night of Frank's first live show with the band, and Frank thinks he's going to be sick. It's been a long time since he was playing on a stage with Pencey, and the nerves are alight in his stomach, twisting his insides into knots. He's excited though, so excited to get up there and let rip, to pour everything out in a rush of energy. And then finally they're walking onto the stage, and Frank fingers his guitar strap nervously, glancing back at Ray for reassurance. When he looks back to the front, Gee winks at him from behind her microphone. After a quick introduction, she launches them into it, and Frank lets the music take over.
By the end of the set he's drenched in sweat, his shirt sticking to his skin and his heart beating fast with adrenaline. Gee is insane, throwing herself around with this crazy grin on her face and her hair flying around wildly. Before he knows what's happening, she's next to him, belting out the last chorus of the night while she leans against his shoulder, and then she twists and kisses him on the mouth, dirty and wild before she's wheeling away from him again and thanking the audience. Frank barely has time to walk offstage before her hands are on his hips and she pulls him against her. She's in that post-show state again that Frank will never get used to - all burning eyes and sweaty hair and half-wild. She practically tears his guitar from him and pushes it towards Ray so that he can deposit it in the van before she grabs Frank's hand and runs, laughing, to the back of the venue.
The night air outside is cold and biting, but it's welcome on their hot, sweaty skin. In seconds Gee is pushing him up against the wall and stepping forward, sliding her right leg between his and pushing up close. "Gee," he breathes out before she kisses him and cuts off whatever else he was about to say. He kisses back and tries to keep up as best he can, but she's running on adrenaline and there's no stopping her. She grinds against him roughly and Frank groans out loud, kissing her harshly just to muffle the sounds.
It's so fucking dirty and Frank can hardly believe it's happening, but his hands are up in her shirt, fingernails scraping against the wire of her bra desperately and she's breathing hard against his neck. "Frank, Frank," she says, and her hands slip into his pants and his underwear, wrapping her fingers around his cock and moving up, down once. His knees buckle but she holds him up against the wall, her teeth scraping against his neck as she presses herself impossibly closer. Forcing his brain to regain control of the situation while Gee's hands begin running up and down his cock in earnest, Frank fights through the haze threatening to cloud his mind so that he can make use of his limbs. His hands run up her thighs, under her skirt and push her underwear aside so that he can slide two fingers in and feel her stutter out a shaky breath against his neck. He matches her pace, quick and desperate, covering her lips with his to stifle any sounds either of them might make, and it's not long before he can feel her clenching around his fingers. She tears her lips away from his and buries her face in his neck, crying out and biting into the skin, and Frank follows her.
Up against the wall, Frank struggles to get his breath back. Gee laughs and kisses him again, softer, sweeter, and then pulls away and pushes her hair back from her face where it's sticking to her skin. They clean up as best they can, straightening their clothes and laughing all the way, stealing kisses as they run around the side of the venue and out to the carpark. They find the rest of the band leaning against the van and looking pretty pissed, which just makes Gee start laughing again.
"Any time today would be great," Mikey drawls, rolling his eyes and climbing into the van. "You guys are gross."
"You love me," Gee says and sticks her tongue out at him childishly, grabbing Frank's hand and dragging him into the back of the van.
Frank holds tight to her hand as they pull away from the venue, and he leans in towards her, eyes suddenly serious despite the smile still on his lips. "I know I do," he says, and while it may not be the exact words, she understands the sentiment. It's still early, after all. She smiles at him and leans her head against his shoulder. They ride in silence for a while, until Frank hears her humming softly at first and then gradually a little bit louder until he can make out 'Open Arms'. He shakes his head and laughs. She beams at him and continues to sing quietly as Otter drives, until she falls asleep, curled into him with a smile on her face.
When Frank wakes up the next morning, it's to the smell of something flowery. He breathes in deep, content. His arms feel full of something warm, comforting, and he pulls it closer towards him, wanting to stay in this place forever. Lazily, he blinks his eyes open and sees a head of dark hair tucked into his chin, and remembers with a sudden jolt that he's in Gee's bed, with her cuddled into his side. His eyes open wide with the realisation, and his head starts to throb with a well-deserved hangover. Carefully, he extracts himself from Gee's embrace and slides back to sit on the side of the bed, elbows on his knees and head in his hand. He has the biggest fucking hangover of his life. With a cautious glance back behind him, he sees Gee smile softly in her sleep, strands of hair falling over her face. Unable to resist, Frank reaches over and brushes them away carefully, his fingers just barely touching the soft skin of her face. She really is fucking gorgeous, he thinks as he watches her, and he can't really believe that he ever ended up in this situation. And shit, he's in her bed.
It takes a moment, but through the throbbing pain in his temple he can remember. Maybe not as well as he'd like, but hot flashes of touch, of gasping breaths and stroking fingers, and he groans. He's pretty sure that they didn't have sex. Yes, he tells himself. That definitely did not happen. But he also knows that it was close, so close, and he lets out a shaky breath of relief. There's this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach like he's taken advantage of her or something, that she probably won't remember any of it in the morning and that even if she does, she'll probably hate him for it. He really doesn't want things to be awkward. Not just when they were starting to really get to know each other. If last night taught him anything, it's that Gee Way is certainly not someone he wants to let slip through his fingers easily, and he'll kill himself if he just fucked that all up.
Running a hand through his hair in frustration, Frank stands up. He's still wearing his jeans, must have fallen asleep in them. It's a simple matter of doing them back up and then hunting around Gee's floor for his shirt, which he pulls over his head before looking back down at the sleeping body on the bed. The sheets have fallen down just enough for him to see the white skin of her collarbone, the barest hint of the swell of her breast where she's missing her shirt. With a sigh, Frank reaches over and pulls the sheets back up to cover her properly, and plants a soft kiss on her forehead. And then it's time for him to get out of there before she wakes up and he does something he'll really regret, like blurt out everything that happened last night. He feels so fucking guilty, and there's no way that he can look her in the eye without wanting to sink into the floor, so he turns his back on the bed and slips out the door.
His bare feet make no sound on the wooden floor, his shoes clutched tightly in his right hand. He's almost to the door, so close, when he hears someone clear their throat behind him, and whips his head around. Mikey is leaning against the kitchen counter, mug of coffee in hand and eyebrows raised.
"Heading off so early, Frank?" he asks, and there's just the barest hint of a warning in his tone, something cold and levelled.
"I uh. Yeah, I guess so," Frank stammers out, because what the fuck else are you supposed to say when you're caught trying to sneak out of the house? Especially being caught by the brother of the girl he almost slept with - who Mikey probably thinks he had sex with.
"You better not fuck her around, Iero," Mikey says, and Frank understands the warning loud and clear this time.
Frank scratches the back of his head, looks around guiltily. "I'm not, really. I just. I have to get home?" It sounds pathetic even to his own ears, but he's not sure what else to say. "We didn't sleep together," he ends up blurting out, because he's an idiot who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
He's half expecting Mikey to come over and take a swing at him, but he just nods, and the danger is gone from his voice when he says, "Okay, good. Just don't be an ass, yeah? I like you; I don't want to have to kill you if you hurt her."
Frank smiles to let him know he appreciates it, and then when Mikey nods his head in acknowledgement, Frank waves and gets out the door as fast as he can.
-
Going to work and pretending like he's not totally terrified he'll run into Gee is harder than Frank originally thought it would be. He's never really bothered to invest in a car considering he walks everywhere for the most part anyway, and if he needs to go further out of the way there's always public transport. Plus, there used to be college fees to pay on a small, part-time job, so it was out of the question, really. Now, Frank is maybe beginning to regret that decision just the slighest bit. There's a very, very small chance that he'll run into her while he's walking to work, but he still finds himself checking over his shoulder every two minutes, and keeping a careful eye out anyway.
"Hey Frankie," Patrick greets him when he finally makes it inside, and Frank says hello back gratefully, sinking into his seat behind the register and thanking God that he's off the street and hidden indoors. Now all he has to do is hope that Gee doesn't decide that today would be an awesome day to buy a new record.
It's not that he doesn't want to see her. Well, it is, but it's not because he doesn't like her all of a sudden. It's just that he still sort of can't believe what happened last night. And if it took him a few moments to remember properly what happened (and he still doesn't, not entirely, but he remembers enough to send his head reeling and his stomach flipping), then there's always the chance that she won't remember it at all. He managed to leave that morning without waking her up, so when she does wake up in a bed void of Frank, what's there to say that she'll even have the faintest clue? Mikey could remind her, but Frank doesn't think he will, not with the uncomfortable conversation they shared this morning. Which means that yes, she probably won't remember. Frank is working himself into a confused frenzy just thinking about it.
There's no way he can confront her now. If she doesn't remember, and he just blurts it out because he's stupid and crazy and obviously has a death wish, then it will just make things even more awkward than they already are. And what if she does remember, but she regrets it? She was drunk, so drunk, and so was he, but he also knows that girls are probably more prone to regret things like this. What if she sobers up and remembers that she doesn't actually want to have sex with him at all? What if she wakes up and decides that she can't ever speak to him again because she's so angry that he took advantage of her like that? And he doesn't think he took advantage of her; she seemed pretty into it, but it's also not like he has any experience in taking advantage of drunk girls. It's all so far over his head, and it doesn't help things that he's really, really starting to develop this ridiculous crush on her.
And at first it was just a crush. She's a cool chick and Frank likes talking to her, likes her band and her music and the way she sings. And then she had to go and sing Journey to him in front of a live audience, and then proceed to invite him to her party at which he got to know her even more, and already he was too far in. The way she talked, and the way she's so fucking earnest about everything she ever says, the way she respects his opinions but isn't afraid to voice her own, and the way she seemed so happy just to be able to talk to him about the things they enjoy. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he had to go and almost sleep with her and oh fuck she's gorgeous, what is he thinking. He is so, so far in over his head.
He's startled out of his own head when a teenage guy with a nose ring and crazy fucking purple hair approaches the counter with a record in hand. Frank nods and says hey, and when the guy doesn't reply, Frank takes the hint and rings up the purchase without another word. He takes the money, passes over change, and when the guy leaves, Frank settles back in his chair and continues to berate himself silently. Patrick is putting out the new stock, and when he turns around to make sure Frank's not slacking off too much, Frank can't help himself.
"Patrick, I did something really bad," he says, running a hand through his hair.
Patrick looks up and pauses, a record still in his hand, halfway towards the shelf. "Frank, if you've killed someone, the less I know the better. Seriously. I am not going to prison because you're an ass who couldn't keep his mouth shut."
Frank takes a moment, blinks, and then says, "I really, really like a girl."
There's silence for a moment, and then slowly, Patrick puts down the record and raises an eyebrow. "This is a bad thing?"
"We were so drunk Patrick, and I saw her without a shirt on!" Frank groans, dropping his head into his hands.
Patrick just laughs, and Frank has the worst friends in the world. "No, seriously Frank. What is going on in your head right now? No, actually, I don't even want to know. You're an idiot, did you know that?"
Frank just flips him the bird without raising his head.
"Have you called her?" Patrick asks.
Finally looking up again, Frank shakes his head adamantly. "Are you crazy? She probably doesn't even remember, or she hates me for like, violating her or something."
Patrick sighs and abandons his box of stock, disappearing out the back of the store and returning shortly after with the shop phone in his hand. "Fucking call her, Frank."
He hesitates for just a second longer, until Patrick hits him with the stupid phone. Frank takes it reluctantly, punching her number in. It rings and rings, and Frank is getting ready to kill himself out of anxiety, but then it just rings out without an answer. He hangs up and hands the phone back to Patrick. It was a stupid idea anyway.
-
Three days later, Frank is lying on the couch, hand dangling down to pat Mama where she's asleep on the floor beside him. There's some old movie on the television, black and white, and the guy is busy staring into the girl's eyes and telling her how much he loves her and that he can't live without her. Frank can't help but think of Gee, and he wonders where she is, how she's feeling, whether or not she's missing him as much as he's missing her. He still hasn't seen her since the party, and while he still looks over his shoulder while he walks to work, he's beginning to hope that he accidentally runs into her. At least then he'd be forced to stand and make conversation instead of pussying out like he has been lately. He misses her, and he really just wants to listen to her talk again, but he's also really kind of terrified that the reason he hasn't heard from her is that she's mad at him for what happened.
It's not until the guy on the screen gets down on one knee, ring in hand and the girl's eyes light up that Frank figures fuck it. He coaxes his cell out of his pocket and flips through his contacts until he finds her name. And for the first time, when he presses ‘call’ he's not nervous at all. He's had enough of this, needs to talk to her and settle things.
She picks up this time with a tired, "Hey," followed by a yawn.
"Did I wake you?" Frank asks, biting the corner of his fingernail nervously, "Sorry."
There's a pause, and the sound of rumpling blankets, and he can practically see her struggling to sit up in bed, phone clutched to her ear and eyes sleepy. "Frank? No, I um. Yeah, actually, I was asleep, but it's fine. How are you?" She sounds kind of stuffy and groggy, and her voice is kind of off.
Frank frowns. "Are you feeling okay? You sound kind of sick."
"Yeah, just like. The flu, you know? I've been confined to my bedroom with chicken soup, you know how it is."
Frank does, he really does. He's had enough experience with being sick as a kid to last him a fucking lifetime, and he really doesn't envy her. But the idea of her lying in bed, sick and exhausted, makes Frank really want to get over there and hold her through it, feed her soup and kiss her forehead and tell her she's beautiful despite everything. "Do you um." He can't really believe he's even about to ask. "I could come over? I have the best recipe for vegetable soup seriously. Mom used to make it for me as a kid, and I promise you it is the best thing in the world."
She's interrupted from answering by what sounds like a pretty violent cough, but finally her voice comes through, sounding hoarse but pleased. "It sounds amazing Frank, but I don't want you to get sick."
He contemplates this for a moment. Knowing his shitty immune system, he probably will get sick if he goes over there, but once the idea has been planted in his head, he can't seem to get rid of it. He really wants to see her, and he knows that whenever he gets sick and is stuck in bed, the one thing he wants is company and somebody to tell him that it will all be over soon. In the end, his mind is made up, and no amount of germs are going to stop him.
"Don't worry about me. I'm on my way," he says, and the first thing he does after he hangs up the phone is hunt around for his mom's old recipe.
He's out the door within ten minutes and heads immediately to Greta's. As he walks in the door, she's already on the move, waving at him and setting about making him his usual coffee. "Could you make it two please, Greta?" he calls out, and she nods distractedly. Frank taps out a tune on the counter while he waits, drumming his fingers and glancing around at the other customers in the cafe before Greta slides two coffees across the counter. Frank thanks her and reaches for his wallet, but Greta waves him off dismissively. He argues with her for a minute before she rolls her eyes at him and practically pushes him out the door, refusing to take any of the money he offers. "Just go, Frank, don't worry about it!" she says, and Frank gives in and just goes with it, shouldering the door open and cradling the coffee carefully.
He sips at his while he walks, and by the time he gets to the Way's, he's almost finished. Mikey answers the door and doesn't look surprised to see him, so Frank assumes that Gee told him he was coming. He's half expecting things to be awkward, considering the last time they saw each other, Frank was sneaking out of his sister's bedroom, but Mikey just smiles and lets him inside. "She's up in her room," Mikey tells him, "Don't get too close or she'll turn you into a fucking zombie."
Frank laughs and deposits his empty coffee cup in the bin, setting Gee's down on the kitchen counter. "I brought my favourite soup recipe. You mind if I borrow your kitchen?"
Mikey shakes his head and sits on the bar stool in front of the counter. "So, hey, I was wondering, maybe you want to come to a band practice some time?" Mikey suggests while Frank rummages around for a pot and the ingredients he needs, setting everything up.
"That sounds awesome!" he exclaims, and he's honest to god excited about seeing them play up close and personal. "I'd love to, really."
"Next week?" Mikey asks, and Frank nods again.
They talk about the practice session and the band while Frank makes Gee's soup, and Frank is happy to see that it's not awkward at all. Mikey seems to have forgiven him, or else wasn't angry at him in the first place. Either way, Frank is relieved.
When Frank gets a little lost in the kitchen, Mikey digs around and unearths a bowl and spoon for him. Frank takes them gratefully and serves out Gee's soup, setting the bowl and spoon on a tray and preparing to take it to her. Mikey looks at him pointedly, and Frank shrugs and walks down the hall, deciding to ignore him for now. He knows that Mikey is probably just worried about his sister, considering what happened the last time Frank was in her bedroom, added to the fact that she's sick and tired.
Gee's door is closed when he reaches her bedroom, and he carefully juggles the tray in his left hand and raises his right to knock gently. She answers almost immediately with a "come in" and her voice sounds feeble and exhausted. He holds the tray properly again and shoulders the door open, kicking it shut with his foot. Gee struggles to sit up in bed when she sees him, offering a small smile which is quickly interrupted by a sneeze.
"I'm sorry, Frank, hi," she greets him, and he sets the tray down on her bedside table and perches on the edge of her bed.
"Hi," he returns, and then gestures to the tray, "I made you soup."
"You're sweet, Frank," she says, eyeing the soup gratefully. She can't reach it properly from where she's sitting, but Frank doesn't want to put a hot tray on her lap when she's got to be going through odd temperature flushes enough as it is. Instead, he opts for dipping the spoon in the bowl and then hesitating. "Is it okay if. Well, would you like to me spoon-feed you?" he asks with a grin. She laughs in response, but she nods anyway and then she moves over to give Frank more room on the bed. He ends up sitting cross-legged to the side of her, the tray settled on his knees. When he feeds her the first spoonful and waits for her to swallow, Gee groans in satisfaction and smiles lazily.
"That's perfect, Frank. Just what I need."
They sit in silence, and Frank continues to spoon-feed Gee the soup until the spoon is scraping the bottom of the bowl. Finally, she sits back and dips her head back onto her pillow, exposing her throat. Frank remembers how it felt to have his lips on that same stretch of skin, how it felt to have her shiver against him. He shifts a little uncomfortably on the bed, feeling incredibly awkward all of a sudden and not entirely sure what he's supposed to do next. He's never been all that great at small talk, and now the soup is gone and he has nothing to do with his hands to distract himself. He ends up picking at the threads of her blanket, avoiding her eyes until she says something or makes some kind of move to tell him where they're supposed to go from here.
"Frank?" He looks up finally at the sound of his name to see Gee smiling a little, biting her lip self-consciously. "Thank for coming over," she says, but she still looks a little unsettled, like there's something more she has to say. He's startled when he looks down and realises that her hand has crept over until it's resting gently on his knee. He can feel the warmth of her hand through the cover of his jeans, and he holds himself in check desperately. She's sick, she's tired, she probably doesn't remember anything about the other night, and he is not going to fuck this up by jumping her or something.
"Any time," he says, because that's the kind of thing you're supposed to say, but he really does mean it. There's another stretch of silence, and Frank attempts to break it with an awkward half-laugh. "So, Ray and Bob, huh?"
Gee grins, and the tension is gone, though Frank notices that her hand remains on his knee. "I think they're doing dinner next week. Who would've thought?"
Frank moves the tray back to the bedside table and nods. He's about to say something like 'all the best to them, then', but Gee cuts across him, her voice sounding urgent and kind of breathless, all in a rush. "Come to lunch with me," she says, and then takes a deep breath in. "Tomorrow?"
It takes a moment for Frank's brain to catch up, but then he looks at her face where her cheeks are flushed - this time nothing at all to do with the heat of the soup or her sickness - and he nods immediately. "I'd love to," he says for the second time that afternoon, and her eyes light up.
"Great! You could pick me up?" she suggests, and Frank nods again, and then he covers her hand on his knee with his own hand, and she smiles and looks like she's about to say something, but then she's cut off by a yawn.
"You should sleep," Frank says sternly. The more she lets her body rest, the quicker she'll get better, and Frank doesn't want her feeling like death tomorrow if he's going to take her out. There's no way he's risking taking her away from her bed if she's not at least somewhat better, but he also really, really wants to take her up on the offer.
"I think I might, sorry," she says apologetically, but Frank just waves off the apology dismissively and helps her lay down properly. He can't help but smooth her hair back off her face and bring the blankets back up around her to tuck her in. Her eyes are half-closed when she whispers a thank you to him, and he kisses her forehead as she closes them all the way. Frank pulls away and then hesitates, hovering over her face with an arm on either side of her small frame. Unable to resist, he leans down and presses his lips gently against her cheek before he lays down beside her and watches as her breathing evens out and she falls asleep.
-
The next day leaves Frank feeling like a total tool. He promised he would pick Gee up for their lunch date - is that what they're calling it? A date? Frank is so out of his league - but it has just occurred to him that he doesn't actually own a car. While he has absolutely nothing against walking to Gee's place, he has a feeling that it's not really the best way to go about making a girl feel special. Frank panics momentarily, fretting in his kitchen with his house keys digging imprints into the skin of his right hand before he figures fuck it, she's not exactly a princess. He's out his front door and on his way to Gee's before he can give himself any more time to think on it.
Once again it's Mikey who answers the door when Frank knocks, and he hopes to god that this time it's not because Gee's still sick in bed. "Hey Mikey," he says when Mikey invites him inside, and he steps over the threshold, eyes immediately searching for any sign of her.
"She's just getting ready," Mikey says in answer to Frank's nervous glances, and Frank breathes a small sigh of relief and tells himself to calm down.
As if on cue, there's a crashing sound from the hallway and Gee staggers into sight, favouring her right leg and frowning. Frank can't help but grin. "Sorry! Sorry!" she exclaims, and Frank is torn between laughing at whatever she's done and feeling like that might give off the wrong impression. In the end he can't help himself, but she just turns and grins back at him. "I tripped and fell into my easel, but shut up, okay."
Frank sees the way she lights up a little at this, and he remembers her telling him about her previous dreams to become an artist. He didn't know that she hadn't stopped entirely, and he's itching to have a look at some of her work. "You still do art?" he asks, because he doesn't remember whether she told him what kind of art she does.
She blushes then, white skin flushing with pink, and he really wants to kiss her. "I was... inspired," she says with this secret kind of smile, and then the moment is gone and she's back to her normal self. "Anyway, let's go, yeah?"
Frank is more than happy to oblige. She reaches out and he takes her hand after a startled moment - he guesses that this is a date then - and hopes beyond hope that Mikey doesn't slaughter him for touching his sister. Mikey just smiles at them, and waves as Gee leads Frank out the door, her fingers still interlaced with his.
"So I don't have a car," he admits sheepishly once they're out on the sidewalk.
Gee laughs, bright and happy. "Walking is good," she says, and begins to lead him away from the house.
It's kind of lame and he knows that he'll regret it as soon as he gets within eyesight of Greta, but Frank takes Gee to his usual little cafe. Whether it's because he wants to share a little piece of himself with Gee or because of the free coffee, he doesn't know, but he likes to think of it as the former. Gee doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she beams at him as he pushes the door open. "I love this place!" she says as she settles down into a booth.
Frank glances at the counter with a wry smile and sighs. "You won't in a second..." he mutters as Greta pops her head around the register and spots him.
"Frank!" she cries, and Frank hopes she doesn't come over and have lunch with them. He loves Greta, really he does, but it would really kind of kill the 'date' vibe, and so far, Frank is enjoying the time alone with Gee. Luckily, Greta spots the girl beside him almost immediately, and her smile becomes more subdued. "What'll it be?" she asks instead, smiling at Gee warmly.
They order their food and then they're left to themselves. Frank feels ridiculously nervous all of a sudden. He's alone with her, on an actual date (he still can't get his head around the fact) and suddenly he's at a loss for what to say. "What were you working on, before?" he settles on, because that's nice and safely directed on her, and he really is curious as to what kind of art she does, and why she decided to start up again.
Gee ducks her head to hide a smile and sips at her water. "I was painting," she says, and as soon as she says it Frank spots the stripe of green paint across the inside of her wrist. He feels a sudden surge of want that he can't entirely explain but in a way he doesn't really want to. It's the sight of vibrant green across soft, pale skin. It's in the flaw against the perfection, the way she probably doesn't even realise it's there. In the way she can get so passionate about something, so immersed in her craft that she doesn't care what it leaves her looking like. He wants her, plain and simple. Wants to unwrap her and get under her skin and lose himself in her, wants to paint stripes across her stomach and show her how amazing she is. He gets so lost in the colour that he forgets for a moment where he is, and that he's probably creeping her out. She looks down, noticing him staring and obviously wondering what's caught his eye, and when she sees the paint she laughs. She's not embarrassed in the slightest and Frank just feels his infatuation with her growing. "Sorry, I didn't even see it before," she says, and Frank shakes his head.
"I like it," he says, unable to stop himself before the words are out of his mouth. "It's you." It sounds so utterly ridiculous that he wants to take it back as soon as he says it, but he can't, it's out there, and his stupid, hopeless heart is out there for her to see.
She smiles, and it's softer than usual. Her usual face-cracking grin is gone and in its place is a small smile, not half-hearted nor timid but meaningful. Like she understands. "You're kind of amazing, aren't you, Frank?" she says, and Frank is glad when their food arrives because it stops him from saying something ridiculous in return.
They eat, talking in between mouthfuls and Frank finds that the more time he spends in her company, the easier conversation becomes. She's not hard to talk to by any means, and mostly he finds himself talking about anything and everything before he's even aware of it. There's no sense of awkwardness, nothing to hold him back, and so he just lets go and allows her to see him as he is and make of it what she will. It's the only way he knows how to react to her, the only way he can keep up with her honesty and her earnest eyes.
He wants to spend the entire day with her, but to his dismay she stops walking once they leave the cafe. "I promised Mikey that I'd hang out this afternoon," she says, "I'm really sorry, Frank." And she looks like she really is, her eyes apologetic and her hands holding his. He wishes he could spend the afternoon with her, but he's hardly going to tear her away from her brother.
"Do you maybe want to do this again some time?" he asks instead. He's determined not to fuck this up, determined not to let her walk away without showing her that he wants to take this further. He's going to overcome his nerves if it kills him.
Nodding happily, Gee says, "I really would, Frank," and Frank takes her hand and walks her home with his heart soaring.
When they land on her doorstep, Frank isn't really sure what the protocol is. It's still broad daylight, so it's not like in the movies when he's expected to kiss her goodnight and then walk away like a gentleman. Her brother is probably waiting on the other side of the door. And it's not like he even knows whether Gee wants him to kiss her, because they've only really had one proper date. "I'll see you next week then?" he says finally. "Band practice?"
"Yeah! Yeah, of course!" She smiles at him, and he takes a step away from the door so that she can open it. Her hand falls on the doorknob and she starts to go inside. Frank smiles at her one more time before he turns around and is about to leave when he feels her hand on his shoulder. "Frank, wait."
"Yeah?" he asks, turning around with a puzzled frown. She's looking at him like she's kind of nervous, biting at her lip, and her hand still hasn't left his shoulder.
"Frank, I really like you," she says, her eyes large and serious. "And I'm." She pauses for a moment and closes her eyes briefly like she's steadying herself before she opens them again and says, "And I'm going to kiss you now." And she does, leaning forward and curling her free hand around his neck as she brings their lips together softly. It's chaste, just the softest brush of her lips against his with her hands warm on his skin before she's pulling away. She hides a smile by biting her lip again, and tugs at her hair. Frank stands completely still. She's kissed him before, but only with sloppy lips and alcohol on her breath, and this is more, so much more, and he doesn't know exactly what to do.
"Gee-" he starts, but she cuts him off by kissing him again, harder this time, more insistent. He kisses back a little desperately, and his hands find hers, tracing his thumb over that stripe of paint on her skin and deepening the kiss. She rocks on the spot as he slides his hands around her waist and hers find his neck again, and before he knows what's happening she's steering him back towards the door and he falls against it, breathless. Gee draws away for only a moment to grin at him before their lips find each other again and Frank slides his hands under the hem of her shirt, running his fingers along the smooth skin of her stomach and then around to the small of her back. She shivers against him and then finally, finally they stop, and Frank opens his eyes to find her smiling that same smile again. He's kind of frozen, stuck between being a little overwhelmed and also really wanting to kiss her again.
"This is the part where you say something," she whispers against his lips.
"I like you too?" he offers up, still a little dumbstruck, and she laughs. Frank kisses her again, just to shut her up or maybe just because he can, and he can feel her smile against his mouth. "I really like you," he amends when they break apart, and she laughs again, a breathy kind of giggle and kisses his cheek.
"I'm glad, Frank," she says, and then he lets her slip inside and begins the walk home feeling considerably lighter.
-
The rest of the week flies by in a rush, and Frank's time and thoughts are filled with Gee. Mostly she spends nights at his place, because if there's anything Mikey has objected to with this relationship, it's sex in the bedroom next to his. They rent movies and Frank grabs at the opportunity to cuddle with Gee on his couch, his fingers toying with the hem of her shirt until he's distracted her sufficiently. It's harder than it sounds, really. Gee is kind of a movie enthusiast, and it takes a lot of effort on Frank's part to stop her talking about how great the movie is so that he can kiss her into silence. It's a week full of popcorn and salty kisses and stumbling down the hall to Frank's bedroom (if they make it that far) and Frank has never felt more alive. Afterwards, she'll lay in bed with him and talk about their dreams, and what could have been if Gee had followed art as a career instead of forming the band. Frank tells her about Pencey, about how much he misses it sometimes, misses the feeling of the solid weight of the guitar in his hands and the music flowing through his veins. Misses the feeling of being on a stage and having an entirely new identity come alive in front of an audience. He misses the crowd and the feeling of being able to express himself in a way that tells everybody exactly what he needs to say, what he feels.
She holds his hands while he talks, her thumb stroking softly over the skin. "Come to band practice this afternoon," she says one morning when they lay tangled in Frank's sheets. The white of the material slips down as she sits up, sliding off her shoulders and exposing more skin - the cream of her neck and the beginning swell of her breasts. Her hair is in disarray and her eyes are bright with passion, her skin smooth and bare beneath the thin sheet. Frank kisses her because he has to, and when he pulls away he nods, uttering an agreement against her lips.
"I'll be there," he promises.
Band practice is held in Ray's basement. Frank arrives with his hand in Gee's, and Mikey rolls his eyes. Ray smiles, and Matt slaps him hard on the back. He feels at home with these guys, this band, and he settles down onto the moth-eaten couch to watch them play. It takes a while before anything actually gets moving; there's a lot of time spent messing around and tuning instruments, setting up and discussing what to play. Gee takes her place at the front, dead center in front of Frank's feet, and she smiles at him, looking a little bit nervous. He's heard her sing in her car, in his bed, on a stage in front of an entire crowd of people, but here, in Ray's basement she seems unsettled, like she's afraid of what he'll think.
Frank keeps his eyes fixed firmly on her, but when the music starts up he can't help but get lost in it. Ray and Mikey work well together, but he can't help the feeling that they could be excellent with something more, with another guitar part to compliment Ray. He finds himself imagining his guitar in his hands, his hands moving unconsciously along invisible strings, testing out chords in his head. He hardly even realises that he's playing the fucking air guitar on Ray's couch until the music comes to a sudden halt, and he looks up to find the band all staring at him.
"Frank?" Ray questions, letting his guitar hang in front of him, slack. He's frowning with curiosity, and when he gestures at Frank's hands, Frank realises what he was doing. "You play guitar?"
He realises then that Gee obviously hasn't told them about Pencey. He smiles at her, and in some strange way he finds himself pleased that she reserved their conversations for just the two of them. It's not out of any desire for the others not to know, but he likes the idea that it's something they share, whispered secrets between kisses that she finds important enough to keep to herself.
"I used to be in a band," Frank says with a shrug, and Ray's eyes light up.
"Oh man! You guys, it's like fucking fate or something," he says to the others, and then he disappears up the stairs. Frank looks at Gee, bewildered and looking for some kind of explanation, but she just shrugs. After a moment or two Ray returns, and he's got an extra guitar in his hands. He hands it to Frank carefully, and Frank stares at him, a little lost for what he's supposed to be doing. He was just messing around in his head, really. He doesn't want to tell them that they could use an extra guitar, because they're awesome and he doesn't want to make them feel like they're any less at the moment. "Play what you were miming before," Ray instructs, and then steps back to watch.
A little self-consciously, Frank strums out the chords he had sketched out in his mind, and Ray just keeps grinning at him like Frank's made of fucking candy. "What?" Frank asks and stops playing. Ray looks around, shares a glance with Otter and Mikey and then finally looks at Gee, and some kind of non-verbal conversation seems to happen between the four of them and Frank feels totally out of the loop. Gee grins though, and when she comes and sits down next to Frank on the couch, she places her hand on the small of his back.
"Play it again," she says softly, her breath whispering across his neck. Frank shivers and nods, plays the part again and then stops.
"It's perfect," Mikey says, and then he picks up his bass and the others follow suit. The song starts again, and this time Frank adds in parts where he thinks it could work, nervous but encouraged by Gee's voice as she sings to him, her hand still on his back. They stop around three-quarters of the way through and Ray nods enthusiastically.
"It's just what I've been wanting to add," he announces.
"You wanna play on a stage again, Frank?" Gee asks, her voice lilting with a wry smile on her lips.
"You want me to play with you?" Frank asks, looking at each of them in turn and feeling his eyes widen, his jaw dropping. There's no question about it, not really. He misses playing, and these guys have what Pencey didn't. They've got so much passion and energy and a fiery determination to do something; Frank knows this can't go wrong. This is where he's meant to be - playing alongside his favourite band, sharing the stage with the girl he's falling in love with. He looks at her then, and she kisses him, and when she draws away she's looking at him expectantly.
"What'll it be, Frank?" she asks, biting her lip, as if she's nervous, as if she thinks there's a chance he might say no.
Frank just grins, stupid and wide and ridiculous. "There's nothing I'd like more."
-
It's the night of Frank's first live show with the band, and Frank thinks he's going to be sick. It's been a long time since he was playing on a stage with Pencey, and the nerves are alight in his stomach, twisting his insides into knots. He's excited though, so excited to get up there and let rip, to pour everything out in a rush of energy. And then finally they're walking onto the stage, and Frank fingers his guitar strap nervously, glancing back at Ray for reassurance. When he looks back to the front, Gee winks at him from behind her microphone. After a quick introduction, she launches them into it, and Frank lets the music take over.
By the end of the set he's drenched in sweat, his shirt sticking to his skin and his heart beating fast with adrenaline. Gee is insane, throwing herself around with this crazy grin on her face and her hair flying around wildly. Before he knows what's happening, she's next to him, belting out the last chorus of the night while she leans against his shoulder, and then she twists and kisses him on the mouth, dirty and wild before she's wheeling away from him again and thanking the audience. Frank barely has time to walk offstage before her hands are on his hips and she pulls him against her. She's in that post-show state again that Frank will never get used to - all burning eyes and sweaty hair and half-wild. She practically tears his guitar from him and pushes it towards Ray so that he can deposit it in the van before she grabs Frank's hand and runs, laughing, to the back of the venue.
The night air outside is cold and biting, but it's welcome on their hot, sweaty skin. In seconds Gee is pushing him up against the wall and stepping forward, sliding her right leg between his and pushing up close. "Gee," he breathes out before she kisses him and cuts off whatever else he was about to say. He kisses back and tries to keep up as best he can, but she's running on adrenaline and there's no stopping her. She grinds against him roughly and Frank groans out loud, kissing her harshly just to muffle the sounds.
It's so fucking dirty and Frank can hardly believe it's happening, but his hands are up in her shirt, fingernails scraping against the wire of her bra desperately and she's breathing hard against his neck. "Frank, Frank," she says, and her hands slip into his pants and his underwear, wrapping her fingers around his cock and moving up, down once. His knees buckle but she holds him up against the wall, her teeth scraping against his neck as she presses herself impossibly closer. Forcing his brain to regain control of the situation while Gee's hands begin running up and down his cock in earnest, Frank fights through the haze threatening to cloud his mind so that he can make use of his limbs. His hands run up her thighs, under her skirt and push her underwear aside so that he can slide two fingers in and feel her stutter out a shaky breath against his neck. He matches her pace, quick and desperate, covering her lips with his to stifle any sounds either of them might make, and it's not long before he can feel her clenching around his fingers. She tears her lips away from his and buries her face in his neck, crying out and biting into the skin, and Frank follows her.
Up against the wall, Frank struggles to get his breath back. Gee laughs and kisses him again, softer, sweeter, and then pulls away and pushes her hair back from her face where it's sticking to her skin. They clean up as best they can, straightening their clothes and laughing all the way, stealing kisses as they run around the side of the venue and out to the carpark. They find the rest of the band leaning against the van and looking pretty pissed, which just makes Gee start laughing again.
"Any time today would be great," Mikey drawls, rolling his eyes and climbing into the van. "You guys are gross."
"You love me," Gee says and sticks her tongue out at him childishly, grabbing Frank's hand and dragging him into the back of the van.
Frank holds tight to her hand as they pull away from the venue, and he leans in towards her, eyes suddenly serious despite the smile still on his lips. "I know I do," he says, and while it may not be the exact words, she understands the sentiment. It's still early, after all. She smiles at him and leans her head against his shoulder. They ride in silence for a while, until Frank hears her humming softly at first and then gradually a little bit louder until he can make out 'Open Arms'. He shakes his head and laughs. She beams at him and continues to sing quietly as Otter drives, until she falls asleep, curled into him with a smile on her face.