Goody, Like Two Shoes

"Rawr?"

Mikey and I tried - and flat out failed - to stifle our laughing.

"Are we not a monstrous, frightening creature that you're absolutely scared shitless of, then?" Gerard asked, his voice muffled until he pulled his side of the head-part of his and Frank's costume off.

"Gerard," I grinned, wiping the tears from my eyes, "You and Frank as a two headed dragon is definitely not threatening and scary; it's more adorable, to be honest."

Frank started to mumble, "Fuck, I told you this was a bad idea, Gerard. We probably look like that gay thing from "Dragon Tales" that's a bloody guy and and a girl: Zak and Wheezie."

"And you know their names because...?" Mikey cackled, wiping his glasses on his sleeve.

"I watched it once," Frank groaned, "When I was babysitting my cousin. Here, anyway, someone unzip me; I can't reach."

He waved his small, stubby, green arms around wildly, emphasizing the point, and he looked at me, hopeful, when Mikey started laughing again.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you stuck in there." I smiled, walking around him and unzipping the costume.

For some reason, Frank had decided that today was the day we'd go looking for costumes for Halloween, at a store in Newark that only opened on the first of October and closed on the second of November.

I got an eyeful of his bare back and stripy white and blue boxers, once I'd pulled the zipper all the way to the bottom, making the breath catch in my throat a little, and I let out a quiet gasp.

"'What are you doing back there?" Frank asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

"Waiting for you to get out of the costume so I can let Gerard out." I lied.

"Hold my hand, I might fall over... This thing is fucking crushing my legs.' Frank replied, pulling his arms out of the costume and holding one hand out to me.

"God, Frankie, you're such a retard. If you want the sympathy vote from Sash, do something a bit more adventurous and break your back." Mikey butted in, getting up to help Gerard who was beginning to whine about the lack of blood circulation in his waist.

"You can have my sympathy vote, any time you like." I smiled at the tiny dinosaur-boy, and was pulled into a hug once he was out of the costume, "Are your legs okay?"

I tried not to focus on the fact that he was hugging me tightly, dressed in only a pair of boxers.

He looked down, smirking, "Uhm, they're itchy but -- do you wanna kiss them better?"

I slapped his knee hard, laughing, "Go get dressed, Frank!"

"Oh ooooh yes! Dominatrix - I like." Frank grinned, winking at me and hobbling back to the changing rooms, scratching his legs as he went.

After Gerard had gone back to get dressed, Mikey and I wandered off in our own directions; me going to the women's section and Mikey heading for the "Freakishly Scary, Underwater Beings" section.

I looked through the countless costumes: mermaids, witches, rabbits, anything you could think of, and had just picked up a black dress with barely any back at all, just a few flimsy, red strings keeping it together, when Gerard sidled up to me, smiling.

"Having fun?" he asked, picking up the packet for the dress, "Ooh, Dracula's Bride; good choice."

"Oh, yeah, a lot of fun. What do you mean by "good choice"?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Frankie's trying on a Dracula costume. He'll be the smallest Dracula you'll ever see - well, except for the tiny six year olds, and they can't even pull off the scary look."

I just smiled in reply.

"Yeah," Gerard said, taking the dress from my hands and holding it up to my front, "That's just right."

We looked through the rest of the costumes anyway, and Gerard was being my little advisor, saying "Yes, that's nice. But the Dracula's Bride one is so much better".

I had to agree with him, too.

"So," Gerard began, picking up a squirrel costume, "How's things at home?"

I looked at him oddly, "Everything's fine?"

"Is that a question or an answer? I mean, like, no more bets or anything?"

"Hey, how did you know about that?!" I asked. I was going to kill Frank for telling Gerard.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I haven't told anyone. Whatever Frank tells me, I keep to myself.
He tells me practically everything, and I've never told a single soul. Don't worry, I won't blab; not even to Mikey."

I sighed, "And has Frank said anything else about me?"
I wondered if Frank had told him about the time I'd cried myself to sleep after we'd heard my mom talking about me, or whether Frank had let slip that I still slept with a nightlight on unless he was with me.

"He said that you are a great friend. That he appreciates you a lot for the help you give him with schoolwork. He says that you give the greatest hugs. That you have the cutest expression when you just wake up. And that he tried to touch your chest before, when he had a momentary lapse of "Ohmigawd, there's a girl in my bathtub", but then he realised you are more than just a girl; you're his best friend. The list goes on and on and on and on... Basically, he talks about you a lot."

I smiled shyly, and Frank shouting from the changing rooms broke the tension.

"It seems that Frankie-boy is ready."

When we got to the changing rooms, Frank was strutting around in a white dress shirt, a pair of plain, black trousers, a little bowtie, and a cloak.

"What do you think?" he asked, flashing a grin, "I like it."

"Come here," Gerard laughed, "Your collar's all wonky."

Frank scuffled along the carpet in his socks, over to Gerard, informing us that he'd need a set of vampire teeth and fake blood to go with the costume. And, maybe, a pot of hair gel if he wanted to look decent enough.

"What do you think?" Frank asked again, tucking the shirt into his trousers.

"Smallest Dracula I've ever seen."' Gerard chuckled.

Frank hit him around the head, "Keep the "you're so small" jokes to yourself, thanks. And, anyway, I wasn't asking you - I was asking my date"

Gerard faked a tear, "Oh, well, I'll just go and find a costume then..."

"So," Frank began, looking at me, "Do I look decent enough for you?"

"You do. You look fabulous."

Frank did a playful, little twirl, swinging his hips from side to side, "Yes, yes, everyone will faint when they see me."

The way his hips moved was kind of hypnotic, and I couldn't help but stare.

What the hell? Was I going through puberty all over again?

Right now, I wanted to take Frank home with me, bake him a thousand cakes and feed him. Was that the equivalent of liking someone?
But I'd never really liked anyone before, so this was a new feeling for me.

"So, what are you going as?" Frank asked, pulling his bowtie off, "An atom?"

"Shut up. Never you mind what I'm going as. You'll just have to wait and see."

So, when Frank had disappeared back into the cubicle to get changed, I sneakily went and bought the Dracula's Bride costume.

Hopefully, Frank would be as pleased of how I looked.

We all got our outfits ... in the end.
Frank got the Dracula outfit.
Mikey got a devil outfit.
Gerard decided he get the werewolf one.
And I got the Dracula's Bride costume.

I think we were all happy with what we'd chosen.

When Gerard dropped Mikey, Frank and I off at Frank's place, we instantly headed for the kitchen.

Frank busied himself with getting three mugs from the cupboard and filling them with red lemonade, and then we followed him upstairs, bringing Buster with us, too.

We all sat on his bed and Frank rummaged in his bedside table, whipping out his emergency stash of cookies and putting them in the middle of us.

"I had fun today." he said, pulling a cookie from the packet and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Me, too." I replied, taking a cookie.

"And me."' Mikey nodded, stroking Buster and sharing his cookie with the puppy.

"You know what'd be a good way to finish off the day, and to educate Sasha, Mikey?" Frank smirked, putting a pillow behind his back.

"I think I know what you're talking about..." Mikey grinned back.

"Horror movie fest!" Frank declared, pouncing off the bed and pulling a video from the pile beside his TV.

"Awsh, Fra-ank!" I whined, "I hate horror movies."

Frank chuckled, shooing Mikey and I off the bed so we could all get under the duvet, and then he grabbed the TV remote, flicking the film on.

I grabbed a pillow immediately, at the ready to hide.

"Oh, come here," Frank smiled, lifting his arm up and letting me snuggle against his side before wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "I'll keep you safe. Promise."

I had a feeling he meant that he'd keep me safe from everything, not just from the scary parts in the movie.

I was 100% sure that he'd keep his promise, too.