The Past is Only the Future with the Lights On

---Halloween; 4:36 p.m.---

As I made my way out of my bedroom, I grabbed Frank's wrapped present from my desk before trotting down the stairs to the living room.

"Well don't you look nice," grandma's voice came from the kitchen, startling me slightly as I turned around to face her, seeing a knowing smile on her thing, pale lips.

I looked down at my outfit, smiling at how even I thought I looked decent tonight.

My lower half was covered by my trusty, green Converse low-tops and a pair of dark blue jeans. Then I had on a black Fender shirt, which was covered by a certain dark blue denim jacket with various pins attached to it.

"Thanks," I told my grandma, grinning like a little kid who'd just been given a lollipop; most likely because of the jacket but I wasn't quite sure. . .

"So what are the plans for tonight, kiddo?" she asked, her smile not faltering one bit. Sometimes I wondered if her wrinkles were actually from smiling so much, and not because of her age.

Seemed logical to me. . .
I explained to my grandma that the guys (Frank, Mikey, his brother, Ray, and Bob), Dahlia and I were going to walk to the Halloween carnival that was being held near Exotic Java, and that afterwards, we were all going to crash at Frank's.

She seemed okay with the plan, so I continued on my way out the door with Frank's gift, hoping he would be in a better mood than how I'd left him last night.

Apparently, his parents were divorced, so he had been spending this morning and afternoon with his father and was going to meet us at his house so we could all walk to the carnival together. So I hadn't seen or talked to him since our last encounter yesterday, and I have to admit, I was slightly worried.

"Hey, whore," his melodic voice met my ears, pulling me from my thoughts.

I took my stare from the uninteresting pavement beneath my feet and to the direction the voice came from, seeing all of my friends stepping out of the Iero house.

"Hey, dumbass," I said to the smirking guy as I approached them.

"They already have pet names?" I heard Ray ask, an amused smile forming on my lips.

Frank suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into a warm hug. Slowly, I returned the hug ad wrapped my arms around his middle, having slight difficulty at first because of the gift in my hand.

"Happy birthday," I smiled into his shoulder, relieved that he wasn't moody or ignoring me because of. . ."recent events," shall we call it?

"I'm sorry for yesterday," he whispered in my ear so only I could hear, goosebumps forming all over my skin as his warm breath met my neck.

He pulled away, leaving me feeling incomplete and lost for some odd reason, and then kissed my cheek, no doubt causing them to flush.

"Is this for me?" his excited voice asked me, bringing me back down to earth as he grabbed the present wrapped in metallic blue wrapping paper from my hand.

"No, she bought me a present for your birthday," Bob's sarcastic remark caused everyone to laugh and Frank to flip him off as he tore away at the wrapping paper.

"Where are your guys' gifts?" I asked Dahlia who now stood beside me, noticing no one was holding any.

"That freaktard already opened them. He's so childish when it comes to gifts," she laughed, pointing to Frank, who had just accomplished tearing the box free of paper and was now working on the box itself.
Once he had managed that, he opened it up and took out it's contents.

"Holy shit, Kel. Is this really for me?!" he asked in awe, his eyes wide in excitement.

I laughed and nodded my head. "I figured you'd need a new one cuz, well, let's just say I'm really diggin' this jacket," I grinned as Frank pulled the black Black Flag hoodie over his head before practically jumping on me in another hug.

Actually, it was just a coincidence that he lent me his denim jacket and I decided to keep it. But I had also gotten him some patches and more pins to 'personalize' his new hoodie.

"Thank you so much. I love it. I can't wait to get home and put the patches on, though," he smiled toothily, my insides going warm at how I'd managed to make such a perfect being happy, as corny as it sounded.

"Are you two done making out yet? I wanna go to the carnival!" Mikey whined, causing Frank and I to laugh as we stood up and the seven of us made our way down the street.