Sunsets and Car Crashes

Francesca

The van was packed and ready to go. Nick and Jess had already set off, with Angel and Jake hitching a ride with them. Will had offered to take the van, and I had chose to go with him. He didn’t seem to particularly mind that.

When we were both in and belted up, Will started the van. It roared into life, sounding rather like an old, hoarse lion. I sat in my usual, cross-legged post, staring out of the window. All I kept thinking about was what had happened last night...and what I knew would be in wait for me if they found out. The venue was about twenty minutes away – I just had to wait for Will to start questioning me.

“So,” he started, half-shouting over the noise of the van, “are ya gonna tell me what’s happened to ya?”

Wow. He lasted a grand total of thirty six seconds. I pretended not to hear him, carrying on looking outside. Will nudged my arm, which send shooting pains up my arm and made me flinch.

“Don’t do that!” I snapped, turning to glare at him. “It hurts!”

“I only nudged you...”

“Well, don’t!” My voice was sharp, but I was unable to hide the hint of terror that was woven into it. Will looked at my unzipped hoodie and, before I could stop him, tugged the sleeve nearest to him down. What he saw made him cry out in shock.

My arm. It was a brutal shade of purple, blotchy...almost not human anymore. It had got worse as the day had gone on. I screamed and hid it quickly.

“Who that fuck did that to you?!” Will demanded. “Fucking hell, Fran!”

I didn’t answer him; I didn’t even look at him. I just turned towards the window and cried so much that I felt like I was going to be sick. Will kept a tight grip on the steering wheel. I knew what he was seeing – he was seeing me, damaged, and he wanted to know who had done it to me.

After five minutes, I finally managed to speak. “One of them saw me with you yesterday. When you dropped me off at home, he was waiting for me...he said he had to remind me what my job is. So he...he...he raped me.” I started sobbing again. Will put his hand on my hair and tried to comfort me.

“I’m so sorry, Fran...”

I shook my head. “Don’t be. I’ve been lucky that this hasn’t happened before. They like any excuse to hurt women. If you had any reason to be sorry, I wouldn’t have come to see you today.” I looked up at him, and saw the worried tears in his eyes and instantly felt guilty. I couldn’t believe that I’d told him. Why had I not made up some kind of cover story? I could have said that I’d fallen down the stairs or something! But as I gazed into Will’s eyes, I knew why. I couldn’t lie to him. There was something about him – underneath the tattoos and the permanent cigarette in between his lips and his makeup – that made me want to bear my soul to him. It puzzled me...frightened me.

We didn’t talk for the rest of the journey. The silence wasn’t particularly awkward but I wanted to fill it. I kept quiet though, to give Will time to accept what I had revealed to him.

We pulled up at the back of the venue. Jess waved at me. I grinned at her and climbed out of the van. Will did the same, but went off to help the guys empty the van.

“Man, he looks serious,” Jess joked. I laughed – more of a reflex than because her comment amused me. “You wanna come meet some of the fans?”

“They’ll be here awready?”

I was answered with a nod. “Yeah. Some of them’ll have been here for hours.”

“But why would they wanna meet me?”

Jess winked at me. “Don’t pretend you don’t see how Will looks at you. And how you look at him.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. Jesus – I didn’t think it was really that obvious! Then again, it shouldn’t have really surprised. Every time I saw him looking at me, I could feel my heart somersault in my chest, and every time our skin came into contact, I thought I would literally grow wings and fly. Until now I had never even thought that I would fall in love – especially not so quickly – because love is for the strong and the lucky. I was neither.

Jess giggled, bringing me back to reality. “You’re so cute. C’mon, let’s go find these crazy kids.”

She linked my arm and half-dragged me to the front of the venue. As promised, there were about forty kids, already stood there, queuing. As soon as they saw Jess, they screamed and started shouting her name. She grinned and walked straight forward.

“Hey Jess!” said the first girl that we approached. She was tiny – the same height as Jess herself – with back-combed, black hair. Her make-up was perfectly drawn, with heavy eyeliner and eyeshadow, contrasted perfectly against her pale face. She looked up at me with big, blue eyes. “Hi...Jess’ friend?”

Jess giggled. “Sorry. This is Fran – she’s Will’s lady.”

I blushed bright red once again. Not only was it not true, but suddenly everyone in the queue was looking at me. The girl we were talking to gawped at me. Jesus Christ.

“Could you two like...both sign my book?” Her eyes didn’t move from my face as she spoke. I smiled at her, doing my best to conceal my uneasiness.

“Sure.” I held out my hand and she pressed a tiny notebook into my palm. I scrawled my name on a blank piece of paper inside it and handed it to Jess, who did exactly the same.

We moved down the line as the pair of us had screaming kids shout after us and thrust pieces of paper and tickets into our face.

***

William

The show went brilliantly. I’ve always loved playing home shows – the kids seem to connect with us all more. Every few minutes I’d glance over to the side of the stage. My eyes would meet Francesca’s and the pair of us would share an affectionate smile. My heart never failed to be entranced by it.

We’d just finished packing everything away. Nick disappeared into the dressing room to find Jess, and Jake and Angel went out to meet any fans that were milling around outside. Francesca was waiting for me. I walked over to her and hugged her tightly.

“You guys are awesome live,” she murmured into my top. “Really.”

I blushed. “Thanks. I’m really glad you came. The kids all seemed to like ya. Reason I didn’t disturb ya when they were chattin’ wit’cha.”

“Oh yeah.” She pulled away from slightly, whilst I kept my arms around her wait. “Jess told some of the kids that I’m ‘your lady’. Is that what you’ve been telling people?”

I bit my lip. She didn’t seem anxious or embarrassed about asking me, but when did I know about girls? They were strange creatures to me, all with changing pitches when they talked and giggles and confusing signals. Francesca hadn’t yet seemed to be that kind of person, but that could all change for all I knew. I turned her around and we walked out, my arm still around her waist.

“Look,” I said bluntly, “I ain’t gonna lie. I like you – in thatway – a lot. I know it’s very quick, and trust me, I don’t understand it either. The others know how I feel – I haven’t been saying that you’re my lady or anythin’...but I would likeyou to be...”

We walked out into the chilly night air. A few kids ran up to us and fanned their tickets in my face. Taking the marker out of my pocket, I began to sign them. When I looked up, Francesca had walked away, choosing to hide in the shadows between the van and Nick’s car. My heart sank – I knew I shouldn’t have told her. Why had I ever thought that, maybe, she might like me too?

Francesca

He likedme! Will actually likedme! He hadn’t made any kind of sexual move on me – he’d just spent two days getting to know me and he actually wantedme as more than just a way of getting an orgasm when his hand was tired. I wiped under my eyes as happy tears threatened my make-up. I was so overwhelmed – I had never had any kind of serious relationship in my life. I had always been promised to Ermanno because I was the eldest of my parents’ children. My two younger brothers – Raul and Marco – lived in ignorance of what had become of me. When I lived back in England with the, they thought I just liked sex. But, in truth, the guys that I took home were just people my parents had recommended for me to ‘practice’ with, so in the future I’d know what I was doing. Whore from the age of sixteen – booyah.

As I thought about my past, I suddenly felt...liberated. If Will wanted me, then he saw past what the mafia had turned me into. He must see me, not the whore who received her money the morning after. I had had enough. I wasn’t going to sell my body anymore because now it had someone that it belonged to.

The amber street light was cut off. I looked up at the person who had cast the shadow. I grinned broadly when I saw who it was – it was Will. He looked worried. He came forward tentatively, keeping his eyes to the ground and his hands in his pockets. His shoulders were hunched forwards in a shy, embarrassed stance.

“Sorry,” he said quietly. I frowned, confused.

“What for?”

“For upsettin’ ya...I wouldn’t have told ya, but you asked, so...”

“Hey, hey!” I interrupted him, putting a hand on his arm. “You think that upset me?”

He looked up at me. The gleam in his rich, hazel eyes resembled...hope. “But...why’d you run off then?”

“Well, those kids wanted to talk to you, and I’d only have got in the way. I’m not used to all this attention, so I figured I’d let them chat with you instead of me standing there and looking like a lemon.” I rubbed my thumb on his sleeve to try and prove that I was being completely honest. Will’s eyes were tear-filled. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and held me tightly.

“Besides,” I whispered, as my head rested on his shoulder, “I like you too.”

William

I froze for a second. Had she just said...? I pulled backwards and looked at her. Her eyes were wide and truthful. I didn’t say anything; words, I knew, would only ruin the atmosphere. I could feel her breath on the skin of my lips. My heart was racing, drowning out almost all noise as my face inched closer to hers slowly. There was only the rhythmic thump of blood in my ears. Francesca kept glancing down at my lips then back up to my eyes, over and over again.

After both forever and no time at all, our lips were pressed against each other. Hers were soft, shy, completely unsure of themselves. Her breath mix with mine, giving a smoky sweetness to the kiss. Her hands worked their way up to my face, planting themselves on my cheeks.

The kiss was short – not more than a few seconds long – but as our lips parted again, we were both breathless, induced, I think, by our exhilaration. No words were exchanged again, but we were suddenly kissing again, so much more passionately this time. Her hands were gripping the hair at the back of my head; my own were anchored tightly around her waist. I pushed her up against the side of the van that we had driven earlier. I began to kiss her neck roughly, taking in the sweet perfume of her skin, whilst her head lolled back and rested against the metal behind us. She sighed happily, which made me grin – she wanted this. When I nipped at her skin with my teeth, she groaned quietly. Our bodies were pressed together so tightly that I was sure we were one person.

Our moment was short-lived. A tiny giggle interrupted us. We both looked over quickly, to find Jess and Angel staring at us, grinning from ear to ear. Francesca squealed in surprise and hid herself in the material of my top, making the other two and me giggle helplessly.

“Welcome to the gang,” I whispered, kissing her head.