You're My Favourite Sound

It was such a pleasant night that Frank and October decided to just walk down the street to a diner that she had visited on several occasions after shows. She'd informed him that she didn't have much money on her so they couldn't go anywhere fancy, but he insisted this would be his treat, giving her the excuse she had done so well in their show a few weeks ago.

There were only two other people in the diner, both sitting at the counter, when they entered. They sat down at a booth and the waitress, an older woman about fifty or so with a warm smile, came over and handed them the menus, smiling at the two of them and then excused herself for a moment.

October studied the menu. She knew everything that was on it, but tried her best to find the cheapest thing possible because she didn't want to make him think that she just wanted to spend his money. Frank looked up at her over his menu and saw her disgruntled expression.

"Get whatever you want," he said finally.

She looked up at him as he gently smiled at her. She smiled back at him as the waitress rejoined them.

"What can I get you two kids to drink?" she asked with a big, tired smile.

"I’ll take a regular Coke and she'll have a Red Bull, right?" he said, directing his question at October. She nodded.

"Are you two ready to order now, or do you need a few more minutes?" the waitress asked them, clicking on her pen.

"Uh, I’m ready, are you?" Frank asked October.

"Yeah, sure, um, I’ll have the classic cheeseburger with cheddar cheese and regular fries," she said, looking only at the waitress who quickly wrote it down.

"I’ll have the same, only a veggie burger," Frank added.

The waitress gave them both another smile, took their menus and walked back into the kitchen of the diner. October looked out the window onto the empty streets of Los Angeles.

"I have a confession to make, Frank," she said finally, breaking her visual fixation on the window and looking back at him.

"Oh yeah?" Frank said nervously, "What’s that?"

"I’m not a pretty eater. I know some girls look really pretty when they eat... yeah, I don’t. I just thought I’d warn you."

Frank just laughed and stared in amazement at October. Her apparent use of humour to break awkward situations was endearing.

"Well then," he said, still laughing, "I’ve been warned."

The two of them continued to talk about small things through their meals: music, movies, the weather. They both made each other laugh and the more they talked, the more comfortable they found they became.

As the waitress cleared away their plates, October stole a glance at her phone to see that it was already almost 1 in the morning but, surprisingly, she wasn't tired yet. She peeked up to catch Frank's big hazel orbs staring at her, he wasn't tired either. She smiled at him as she put both her elbows up on the table and rested her chin on the backs of her hands.

"So where are you living now anyways?" Frank asked.

"Ethan and I bought an apartment down Hill Drive," October replied.

"Ah, I was gonna get an apartment down there, it's that fancy street, right? They all seemed so elaborte, not my type of thing," he said, and added with a questionning smirk, "I didn't think it'd be your thing either..."

"They're not that bad," October defended her apartment building.

"Oh please, they have pools and balconies, and big closets for your Prada," he joked.

She gave him an unamused look. "You know I don't wear that shit."

"Still," he said after a snigger, "They are pretty fancy."

"Well ours isn't. It's more home-like and... snug."

"I'll believe it when I see it," he retorted, and October stayed silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Alright, let's go," she said, getting up from the table.

"Go where?" Frank quizzed. She stared at him like he was stupid.

"My apartment, come on," she motioned to the glass door of the diner.

"October, I was kidding," he told her.

"Whatever," she retorted, "Move your ass." Frank grabbed his coat and the two walked out of the diner and into the early morning streets of the city.

"You don't like being wrong, do you?" he stated.

"Do you?" October shot back. He shrugged.

"That's why I'm coming, right? To prove my point."

"I will prove you wrong, Iero."

Frank smiled. It was so like them to bicker over the stupidest things, like how fancy an apartment is for example. He really had missed her.

They strolled down the road in a tranquil silence for the rest of the way to Audio Grind's parking lot, taking in the sounds of the city and each others footsteps.

October approached her car slowly, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched, she didn't know why. She'd let her eyes wander as they got nearer to the parking lot, and saw no one out of the ordinary, no one really at all. This feeling faded when she turned around and faced Frank, who had followed closely behind her. He whistled, scanning her BMW with his impressed eyes.

"Nice," he nodded. October gave him a lop-sided grin.

"And what are you driving around the City of Angels?" she questionned.

"SUV, baby," he winked, causing her to laugh.

"Okay, well you drive your SUV behind me, and stay close, you don't want to get lost, do you?" she told him playfully.

"I'll be sure to," he replied with a smirk, then asked, "Are you sure your fiance will be okay with me snooping around his home?"

"He won't be back for a couple hours yet," October informed him, "He's too busy checking out men." One of Frank's eyebrows shot up and she smirked. "Men and their bands."

Once the two had made it to apartment number 37, October showed Frank around her average sized house that held average things, with a small balcony and average sized closet filled with ordinary clothes.

"So you see," she annouced when they got to the living room, "Nothing fancy."

"Alright, alright, don't rub it in," Frank mumbled.

"Now make a mental note that I was right and you were wrong," October said smugly.

"Is she always this demanding, Aidan?" he asked the ball of fluff sitting comfortably in his hands, purring away. He'd found it expectant that the younger girl would name her pet after her best friend who was murdered when she was sixteen.

October hit him on the arm playfully and Frank just giggled. She turned around and pulled out her pay cheque, not realising that the napkin in there with it had fallen out as she headed to the kitchen. However, Frank did notice it and bent down to put the cat back on his feet as he picked the napkin up. His face grew confused as he read it and then turned to October.

"Who's Derek?" he asked.

"Wha-? Oh," October said, looking up to see Frank holding the napkin. "He's an ex that showed up at the club."

"When did he give you this?"

"Tonight," October continued blankly.

"And you kept it?" Frank inquired, a weird feeling creeping up in the pit of his stomach.

"I didn’t think about it really," she said casually, "I just kind of shoved it in my pocket and moved on."

"Why didn’t you just throw it away?" he pushed. October looked up at him, frowning, then took the napkin from him.

"I forgot about it, but I will now." She chucked it into the trash and questionned, "Why are you making a big deal out of this?"

Frank's eyes widened slightly and he opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. "Well, I just... I was just thinking that Ethan wouldn't be very happy with you if he saw it..."

October snorted. "I'm not gonna ditch my fiance for some scumbag I dated back in high school."

Frank lowered his head and let out a whispery laugh. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business anyway." Although that was true, he couldn't help his stomach giving him that weird feeling of jealousy.