Frankie

Francesca wondered what she had done to deserve the situation she found herself in. She looked back at her life and thought she was a good girl. She went to Church every Sunday, even now, she never smoked, never had premarital sex nor has she ever caused great pain – physically or emotionally – to her parents, so she wondered why she ended up sitting in between both Staal brothers.

She bit her lip as the awkward silence engulfed the table. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Frankie blamed Gwen for putting her in this situation, and childishly glared at Gwen, who sat across from her, happily chatting away with Max.

"Doesn't Frankie look gorgeous, Marc?" Gwen asked and gave Jordan a smirk, challenging him.

Marc nodded, and placed his arm around Frankie's chair. "She looks beautiful," he responded.

When Gwen called him out of the blue, he was surprised. When Gwen told him that she needed his help to 'discipline' Jordan, he was even more surprised. She explained that, Jordan was playing with Frankie and she needed his help. Francesca was a great girl that Marc was rather fond of and he was more than willing to help Gwen out, especially after the way Jordan had treated her when he introduced her as his girlfriend.

Frankie blushed and nervously played with the hem of her dress. What the hell had she done to deserve this kind of cruel treatment? She knew that Gwen was just getting back at Jordan, for reasons unknown to her, but Gwen didn't realize that it was also affecting her.

Marc leaned towards Francesca and whispered in her ear. "Are you okay?"

Shaking her head, Frankie continued to nervously fiddle with her dress. "Not really, I kind of wish that Gwen would stop rubbing whatever it is she's rubbing in Jordan's face. Plus, I'm not really used to any of this," she whispered back.

Understanding how Frankie was feeling, he gave her arm a comforting squeeze and smiled at her. "It's just Gwen's way of protecting you and if you're still feeling uncomfortable here, we can leave," he offered her.

Francesca smiled gratefully back at him. "Thank you."

Jordan clenched his hand tighter, catching the looks Marc and Francesca were giving each other. It made his stomach turn to see his brother and the girl that he was head of heels for getting comfortable with each other romantically.

"Do you want to dance?" he heard his brother politely ask Francesca, who in turn blushed.

"I can't dance."

Marc chuckled. "Neither can I, so we both can make a fool of ourselves," he joked.

Francesca took his hand and smiled. Marc was a grate person, he was extremely sweet and he was one of the people that could easily pull her out of her shell and make her comfortable, no matter where they were.

Narrowing his eyes, Jordan watched as Marc pulled Francesca closer to him. He didn't notice that the rest of the table started leaving to join the two in the dance floor.

"Are you going to ask me to dance?" Laura asked her arms crossed against her chest, slumping on the chair.

"No," he replied moodily.

Laura sighed annoyed and got up to find someone else willing to dance with her, as she was bored out of her mind. This was not what she signed up for. At first she was extremely excited and happy that Jordan wanted to take her out somewhere other than his or her bedroom, but then she realized that she was just being used.

*

Francesca and Marc were the first people to leave after Francesca explained that she still had classes in the morning and Marc was happy to oblige. They left with wide smiles on their faces, which ticked Jordan off even more.

Once they left, a few minutes later, Jordan left as well and completely forgetting all about Laura. He decided to go to Francesca's dorm to apologize to her and to admit the wrongs he had done to her.

The whole ride, Jordan started formulating a speech that he was going to say, trying to cover every single excuse Frankie could make and to explain that he went to Annapolis to apologize. He also wanted to explain that he had feelings for her, and wanted to be more than friends.

Francesca giggled when Marc told her a story that included him and his brothers and the ice rink they had back home. Opening the door to her dorm room, she turned to say her goodbye and goodnight to Marc but was surprised when he trapped her between the door and his body. Marc placed both hands on each side of her head.

Eyes widening, Frankie started to stutter. "W-what a-are you doing?"

He leaned in, his mouth close to her ear. "Jordan's watching," he informed her, her eyes widening even more. "Just follow my lead," he instructed her and lightly pushed her inside the room, closing it tightly.

Anger filled Jordan's veins as he watched his brother make a move on the one girl he ever really showed emotions other than lust to. It took every part of him to stop from breaking down the door and beating the shit out of his brother.

Even thought Marc wasn't a womanizer or player like he was, Jordan saw the looks he was giving Francesca. Jordan knew that Marc was interested in Francesca, he knew because it was the same looks he would give her.

"W-what was that about?" Francesca wondered. Her chest was beating fast, for as second she thought that Marc was going to try something on her. She scolded herself for allowing such bad thoughts cross her when Marc had been nothing but nice.

"Just making Jordan realize he's being an idiot. Gwen told me everything," he told her, making Frankie blush with embarrassment. "She told me that Jordan asked you to pose as his girlfriend to get mom off his back about being a womanizer."

"I-I'm so sorry about lying to you," she said shamefully. "I wish I never did what he asked."

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly. "It's alright. I should probably go," he said and kissed her forehead. "You're a great girl, Frankie. You really are. I wish I met you first. Jordan doesn't deserve you," he said mysteriously and walked out of the door.

Jordan paced back and forth in front of his silver BMW, determined to wait it out until his brother left Frankie's room. He checked his watch, to him Marc had been in her room for hours, but in reality, he was only there for about ten minutes. He stopped pacing when he saw Marc walk out of the door, a smirk played out on his lips.

"Hey little brother. You know, it's getting a little pathetic that you're watching us," he rasped at his brother.

Jordan walked up to his brother angrily. "What were you doing with her?" he seethed.

Marc's smirk grew bigger. "Curious? What's it to you?"

"I mean it, Marc. What did you do with her?" he asked, his voice growing low, his hand clenched until his knuckles grew white.

"Nothing, bitch was a tease," Marc swore, walking past Jordan, his shoulders bumping purposely into Jordan's.

Shaking violently, Jordan struggled to keep his temper in check. Insulting Frankie was the last straw. Marc had taunted and dangled Frankie in front of Jordan all night, that he could take, but insulting her was something he couldn't take.

"Marc you asshole!" he yelled angrily and just as Marc turned to face him, his fist connected with Marc's cheek. "If I find out you hurt her, I'll kill you," he threatened angrily and punched Marc again.

Just was the two got into a fight and hit the ground, they were pulled apart. Tyler and Sid held on to Jordan tightly and Max and Kris held on to Marc. Both boys were sporting a bloody nose, and Marc had a nice bruise already forming on the side of his cheek.

"What the fuck is going on?" Gwen asked standing in between them. She looked at both of them, her hands on her hips, waiting for one of them to answer her.

Jordan shrugged Tyler and Sid off of him and pointed at Marc. "If you hurt her, I swear Marc, I'll hurt you. She's a good girl and I really like her!"

Despite, being hit by Jordan, Marc cracked a smile and began to laugh. Everyone stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"What are you laughing about?" Jordan asked.

"Took you long enough to admit that you like her. God, I swear I thought I'd have to torture you or something," Marc explained, the air seemed to relax and Kris and Max released Marc.

Jordan narrowed his eyes at his brother, he was embarrassed. He had pretty much confessed his feelings to some of his team mates and his brother. "You're an asshole."

"I'm your brother," Marc retaliated and slung his arm around his brother's shoulders. "But seriously, if this is what it takes for you to admit things again, I want no part of it," Marc said and lightly slapped Jordan on the cheek where Marc was able to hit him.

Gwen's scrunched her face. "Boys," she whispered under her breath. "I hate you all. If your idea of bonding is violence, you're all retarded," she said and just walked away, Sid, Max, Tyler and Kris in tow.

Marc and Jordan just laughed as they watched them go into Frankie's dorm, most likely to check up on her.

"Well, now you've got a lot of grovelling to do, when you see Frankie again." Marc and Jordan walked towards Marc's rented car.

Jordan groaned. "I know."

"I'll see you later," Marc said and entered the car. "Oh, and don't make me come back here to knock some sense in you."

Smiling gratefully, Jordan nodded. "Thanks, though. For that," he thanked his brother and watched as Marc left.