Frankie

"So it's a date?" Gwen asked for what seemed like the tenth time as she tried to make sense of what Francesca had just told her.

Francesca glared at Gwen, who was lying down on her bed and sighed. "It's not a date," she said uneasily. "And why is it so hard to grasp that I'm going on a date?" she challenged Gwen.

Gwen rolled her eyes and pushed back her blonde hair as she continued to text her friends. "Whatever, I just didn't think you'd go for Jordan that's all. I always thought it'd be Sid," she said, mumbling the last part and looked up to see Francesca doing a once over with her outfit. "You look fine."

"It's really not a date, he's just… actually I don't know what he's doing. I suppose he's helping me with Ryan," she said slowly and looked down on the floor ashamed.

Jaws dropping to the floor, Gwen gave Francesca all her attention. "Are you serious? Frankie, come on. Its been three years, as much as I hate to say it, Ryan's always going to see you as a little sister," she said comfortingly and gave her a hug.

"I know… but I can still hope, right?" Francesca whispered when the two broke the hug.

Gwen looked at Francesca sadly. Francesca hardly showed any interest in anyone mainly because she was madly in love with her brother best friend and because she was insanely shy. Gwen often had to drag her to parties, and when she did, she would see Francesca in a corner or she would find out that she left early.

Francesca shook her head. "Anyways, I should probably go. Jordan said he'd pick me up at twelve," she stated looking at her cell phone's clock. "Don't forget to lock the door."

Gwen nodded and watched as Francesca left her dorm. She quickly text Sidney and Max informing them that Francesca just left and to get to CMU as soon as they could. She reminded them to bring a disguise so that people wouldn't recognize them and garner attention.

Waiting around for Jordan's familiar silver BMW, Francesca grew increasingly nervous for today. She was worried that she would make a fool of herself in front or not only Ryan, but also Jordan. She wondered why Jordan even bothered to help her back at the bar.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jordan drove up in front of her and honked loudly. She glared at him, but got in none the less. Playing with her gold necklace, she sighed and looked over to Jordan.

"You ready for our date?" he smirked and gave her a once over and started the car.

Francesca suddenly felt shy sitting beside a famous and gorgeous hockey player knowing that he was checking her out and judging her. "It's not a date," she instantly retaliated. "Why are you even helping me with my Ryan problem? What's it to you?"

"You just looked like you really needed help back there. Besides I've never been to the zoo," he answered her and just shrugged.

Francesca smiled genuinely and looked at him. "Thank you for helping me," she said.

"We're bonding!" Jordan said excitedly.

Giving him a blank stare, she turned her head and just watched the scenery through the window.

*

"No! You're not supposed to do that!" Francesca scolded Jordan like a child and swatted his hand away as he tried to feed the monkeys.

Jordan pouted at her. "Aw, but he looks hungry. Come on Frankie, please?" he begged her.

It had been about six hours they'd spent at the zoo and Francesca had surprisingly been having the time of her life. Sure she would get annoyed whenever she saw Ryan and Rebecca acting like a couple, but Jordan had been a good distraction. He made sure that she didn't see most of the things the two were doing and would entertain her.

Francesca huffed and folded her arms against her chest. "It says specifically 'Do not feed the animals'. I swear you took to many hits to the head," she argued with him.

Rebecca and Ryan walked closer to the bickering two and Rebecca giggled catching Jordan and Francesca's attention. "You guys are so cute! Ry, aren't they such a cute couple?" she asked and poked him on the side.

Francesca and Jordan both looked at each other and then turned away, both blushing at the thought of them being a couple. Jordan coughed uncomfortably and looked up at the sky.

Ryan grumbled something incoherent. "Whatever," he said moodily. He did not like the idea of Frankie, who was like his little sister, with such a man whore as Jordan.

"Frankie! Frankie! Look they have more monkeys over there! Let's go to the zoo again and we should bring Tanger and Max!" Jordan exclaimed, taking her hand and dragged her to another area.

Francesca blushed at the thought of doing this again with Jordan. Running beside him, the brunette struggled to keep up with him. "Will you please slow down? Not everyone's gifted with really long legs." Stopping so suddenly, Francesca bumped into Jordan's back knocking her glass to the side. "Ow, warn me when you stop," she mumbled and fixed her glasses.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Look! There's going to be fireworks soon!" he pointed excitedly at the small billboard in front of them. "Let's go get something to eat and then watch the fire works."

Nodding, Francesca followed Jordan to one of the nearby restaurants. They got into line and ordered their food. As she was about to pay Jordan stopped her and told her that he was paying.

"I can pay," she said.

"No, besides, you're my date," he whispered in her ear, knowing that Ryan was watching them closely.

Francesca blushed and looked away. "Stop calling this a date!" she warned him, her voice sharp but the blush on her face showed her embarrassment.

They picked a booth farthest from the door beside a window. Not long after, Rebecca and Ryan join them with their own tray of food. Francesca noticed that Rebecca had a smile on her face while a scowl graced Ryan's handsome one. She wondered what put him in such a sour mood; ever since she and Jordan arrived he had been acting like a downer.

"Is something wrong, Ryan?" she asked him, pushing her glasses higher up her face.

"Nothing," he mumbled and took a bite of his burger.

Francesca turned and gave Jordan a questioning look as if he would know because he was a guy. Jordan just shrugged and took a bite of his own burger. He knew. He knew what was bothering Ryan and he was enjoying it. He knew him and Francesca 'dating' bugged Ryan more than he let on. Ryan was probably thinking of ways to kill Jordan right now or thinking of how to tell Drew that he and Francesca were together.

It was funny to Jordan to watch a grown man act so jealous, but it was his fault for not taking any notice of Francesca until she was with someone else, even if their relationship was all pretend. He could see why Gwen enjoyed being with Francesca, she was so easy to tease, she would get so flustered so quickly, it was cute. Not to mention she was easy on the eyes. Francesca wasn't the hottest person he'd ever seen, but she had her own beauty.

The silence in the table was broken when they heard a loud boom. Francesca jumped, her elbows bumping Jordan's. She looked out the window, her eyes widening when anther boom followed by lights appeared. "The fireworks! Its started already, come on Jordan!" she said excitedly and pulled him out of the booth an restaurant.

The two made their way to where the crowed stood watching in awe of the pretty colors appearing in the sky. Her eyes danced as more lights appeared, she was completely amazed by all of it. "Look at that one!" she pointed at the firework that exploded and changing into tree different colors before changing.

Jordan laughed at her child like innocence. Francesca never acted like someone else just to impress him, she never dressed provocatively for him, and she never threw herself at him and he liked it. Hell she probably never even tried to impress her in anyway, if anything, she was annoyed with him sometimes. He liked that he could be with a girl without worrying that she was using him or that she was going to jump him at any moment.

"Francesca," Jordan whispered loud enough for only her to hear.

Slowly, she turned her head towards him but her eyes never left the fireworks until her whole head was facing him. She noticed that the while atmosphere changed, it seemed more intimate. The way Jordan said her name, it sounded different from all the other times he said her name. He would also call her Frankie, not Francesca. It felt more like he was addressing his girlfriend, not his friend.

"Yeah?" she responded in a quiet and timid voice. Francesca chewed on the bottom of her lip nervously, her eyes looking at everything but him.

Jordan's eyes landed on her pink lips as she chewed on them. One thought and one thought only crossed his mind at that moment, and that was to kiss them. He sighed; this was his one and only chance to follow through with his thoughts.

The brunette wasn't aware of their close proximity until Jordan moved closer to her, chests touching, breathing slow and heavy. His surprisingly warm hands grazed her cheek and found its way to the bottom of her chin, pushing it up to face him.

Their faces grew close and closer, the world seemed to quiet down. The fireworks were nothing more than tiny specs, neither paying any mind to the awing scene as they were in a world of their own.

Francesca's eyes instantly closed when she felt his warm lips on his. All protests and warnings were silenced as soon as she felt Jordan cup her face. Breathing hitched, she lost herself. It was a perfect movie moment.

Almost as soon as it started, it ended. Jordan broke the kiss; a genuine smile appeared on his handsome and chiselled face. He watched as the adorable girl in front of him chew on her bottom lip, eyes still closed.

A few more seconds passed and Francesca's eyes finally fluttered open. The first thing she was Jordan's amazing blue eyes, her cheeks tinted a nice shade of red once she realized what happened between them. Her heart pounded all protests and warnings that were previously silenced where now speaking louder than ever before.

She stood stiffly when he leaned forward, but this time his target was her ear. "You're cute when you blush," he whispered and turned to face the fireworks as if nothing happened, but a smile still played out on his lips.

Francesca's mouth opened and closed a few times before she too followed suit and faced the fireworks. Her head looked down, everything replayed in her mind, the feeling of Jordan's hands on her face, his breath, his lips. God his lips. Her small finger lightly touched her lips where his were on moments ago. She smiled.