Frankie

The car ride was silent. Frankie kept her eyes on the rode and Jordan would so often sneak glances at his girlfriend to make sure that she was alright. He knew about Drew's drinking problem, but only from Gwen. Frankie never liked to talk about it and he never pressed her on for it.

Gwen mentioned that Drew had a full ride to Notre Dame for football and had a promising career in the NFL, until he got into an accident and busted his knee. For some reason, Jordan had a feeling that there was more to the story than Gwen knew.

"It's going to be okay," he reassured her and held on to her hand that was resting on the arm rest. He turned right to a street that would lead them straight to the restaurant.

Francesca tore her eyes from the window and looked at Jordan. She gave him a small smile and nodded her head. "I'm just scared for Gwen."

"You guys are close, huh?"

"Yeah, Gwen and I were in the same class but we met when she was getting her car fixed by Drew and she was flirting with him. It was actually rather funny, because she started bugging me and asking me if I was dating Drew and we just became friends after that," she explained and smiled fondly at the memory that popped into her head. "There she is!" Frankie exclaimed and pointed out the window.

Jordan stopped the car and Francesca was out of the car before he could even fully turn off the engine. "Frankie!" he called after her.

Francesca ran as fast as she could when she saw Gwen crouched on the street, her back on the building, her face stained with tears. "Gwen!" she called out for her and wrapped her in a hug. "What happened?" she asked worriedly and rubbed her arms. "God, you're freezing," she commented, taking her jacket off and putting it over Gwen's bare shoulders.

"Frankie!" Gwen wailed and buried her head on Francesca's shoulder. "H-He just got drunk. We were having a nice dinner and then he started ordering drinks after another, then he told me that he only agreed on a date with me because I was getting annoying."

Hugging her tighter, Francesca started to get mad at her brother. She looked up to Jordan, who had recently joined her, and gave him a sad look. "Shhh, its okay."

"Th-Then he started going off about how he screwed up his life and how he put you in the hospital," she continued. "Th-the waiter came t-to tell him that he was being loud and that if he didn't relax they w-were going to have to make him l-leave, so D-Drew punched him," she sobbed.

"I'll go find Drew," Jordan announced and left Frankie to console Gwen. His brows furrowed as he made his way into the restaurant.

What did Gwen mean by Drew saying that he put Frankie in the hospital? Frankie had never said anything about being in the hospital and they had been rather honest with each other ever since they started dating.

"Excuse me," he said, stopping a waiter. "But have you seen a drunk man here? He was with a blonde girl earlier."

The waiter gave Jordan an annoyed look and scoffed. "You mean the man that caused a lot of trouble and damage? Yeah, the cops took him, thank God."

Jordan nodded and thanked the waiter even though the waiter was rude to him. He made his way back to Frankie, who finally had Gwen up and was walking towards him.

"Where's Drew?" she asked him as Gwen continued her fits of sobbing quietly.

"Waiter said that the cops took him. Probably kept him in a cell for him to sober up."

"Can you take Gwen back to her parents? I'm going to go and get Drew."

"But, you don't have a car," he protested.

"Drew's car is probably out back. I have his spare keys, don't worry about me, besides it's late and you have an early practice tomorrow. No sense in pulling you into my embarrassing family drama," she explained and handed Gwen over to Jordan. She was about to leave when Jordan took her arm.

"Hey, your problems are my problems too. I'm your boyfriend, I'm supposed to help you through this," he said firmly.

The ends of Frankie's lips began to tug upwards, a smile was creeping in. "Thank you," she said and kissed him on the lips.

*

Francesca sighed, gathering up the courage to enter the police station. Once she did, she was greeted by a rather quiet building with only a few cops around. She went straight for the front office. She timidly walked up to the grumpy looking woman and smiled at her.

"I'm here for Andrew Ryan."

The woman didn't even bother to make any sign of acknowledgment and just looked at the computer screen. "He's in cell 3, you need to post bail otherwise he won't be able to leave."

Frankie nodded obediently and was told that she had to wait until someone fetch her and bring her to Drew's cell. She didn't wait long as she soon saw a police officer approach her; standing up, she smiled meekly at the officer and followed him to the cell Drew was in.

Drew was sitting on one of the benches, his shoulders slouched and eyes cast on the ground. His clothes were dishevelled; lip bleeding, most likely split, and nose also bleeding. He must have taken a really bad beating.

The officer grunted, catching Drew's attention. His eyes scanned the officer and then moved to the person beside him. The young man's eyes widened when he saw his little sister looking at him, disappointment evident in her face.

"I'll leave you to alone. Just call me when you need me," the officer said, sensing that the two siblings needed a serious talk.

The officer was long gone, yet Frankie hadn't said anything. Drew refused to look at his sister in embarrassment and shame for how he had acted. Gwen was her best friend, they were practically sister, and he had treated her so badly.

Finally looking up at her, Frankie's gaze was unnerving; it was enough to give someone nightmares. "Don't look at me like that," he said in a whisper.

Francesca sighed and shook her head. "Didn't you have enough?" she asked miserably. "When is this going to stop? It's killing me to see you like this. And don't get me started with the way you treated Gwen."

"I'm sorry." Drew looked up at his sister, sincerity evident in his eyes and tears collecting at the corners. "I didn't mean to hurt her, I do like her. But my life, Frankie. My life is fucked up, I'm never going get it back," he complained.

Francesca's blood began to boil. "Are you kidding me? Your life? Your life is screwed? Drew you weren't the one that spent six months in rehab relearning to fucking walk again! But I never complained because I knew you regretted it, I knew that you blamed yourself enough," she yelled at him, her fists clenched. "You know what, you can bail yourself out. Maybe staying overnight will do you some good."

Drew recoiled. He'd never seen Francesca so mad, but he couldn't blame her. He knew that he was being selfish for wallowing in self-pity when Frankie was the one that was seriously affected by his idiotic choice. "Frankie," he started.

"I'll leave your car in the parking lot. I'm going to walk home," she interrupted him.

Shaking her head, she just walked away and headed straight for the doors, not once looking back at her brother. Once outside, Frankie gave a heavy sigh and wiped away the tears that were in her eyes.

Just as she was about to make her way to the side walk, she stopped mid-step when she saw Jordan's car in front of the building. A small, relieved, smile appeared on her face when Jordan was inside. He had an understanding smile on his face as he got out of the car and approached her.

He wrapped her tightly into a hug, soothing her back; very soon Francesca was reduced to tears.