Paint It Black

Sunny's POV

The past week and a half, I went to 'work' and hung out with Gabe. I was keeping my distance from people, mainly Butcher and Jack. I was feeling more of a burden when I was around, like I had said before, and being gone made it easier to forget that I was the burden.

Gabe and I went mostly to old movies, did some shopping and ate out. He was slowly replacing Butcher, as mean as that sounds, I don't mean it that harshly. Gabe was helping me escape.

My birthday came in slowly, and everyone was nice enough to call and send nice messages. I thought it was wonderful, I thanked them, and waited anxiously for a call from Frank. Pathetically, and stupidly, I waited, even when I shouldn't have. I just wanted a shred of some kind of knowledgement from him.

"Happy birthday!" Butcher yelped as I crept down to the kitchen, early in the morning.

I jumped, nearly hitting the wall, "What the hell?" I groaned, "You scared me!"

He smiled at me, "I wanted to be the first to say it in person!"

I rolled my eyes, "Congrats," I whipped at him.

"What's up? You seem all sad? It's your big 2-1!"

I grimaced, "I can't drink alcohol or smoke," I complained, "I look weird naked and this kid keeps on kicking me."

"It'll all be over soon." he patted my shoulder.

"I'm going to be leaving this place soon," I mumbled, heading to the fridge.

"What?" he asked, sitting on the counter.

"I'm going to get my own place," I told him.

He was silent as I reached into the fridge and grabbed an orange.

"Why?"

I turned back, trying to peel the orange, "I've been going through a lot and I know that you're probably tired of me."

Butcher raised his brow, "What? Who said that?"

I sighed, "I heard you and Jack, a couple weeks ago...you said you wanted me to go stay with my mom."

He tapped his forehead, "Sunny, I didn't mean it like that," he grabbed my orange and began to peel it for me, "I meant maybe you should get away. I don't want you to leave, kid. I just wanted you to relax, to stop stressing over these guys."

I looked down at my fuzzy slippers capped on my feet, "Oh..."

He gave me the naked orange, "I'm sorry if you felt like I wanted to get rid of you...I never want that."

I sighed, pulling the slices apart, "I'm not bothering you with all this bullshit?"

He shook his head, "We've been through worse, and I've been right here by your side. You really think that I want to get rid of you now?"

I smiled, "Thank you, Butcher."

He groaned, "Enough with the thank you's!"

I put my orange on the counter, beside him, and wrapped my arms around him. I buried my face in the crook of his neck, and nuzzled, and squeezed my arms around him. He pulled his arms around me, rolling his hands up and down my back.

"I love you so much, Butcher." I muttered.

"I love you, too, Sunny."
-

I had promised Butcher he could throw me a bash the next day, since I would be doing a shoot tonight. He was going to get me a cake, and invite all our friends. Yippee, right? I had put on a smile for him, and went to set my equipment up.

After all that nonsense, I decided to go out for a walk. The rain had stopped, and the streets had a slick glow to it. That beautiful magic to the city that I loved so much.

I stepped outside, digging my hands into the thick pullover with my old college's name across it, and headed down the three stone steps. I took in the fall air, and looked at the orange leaves; it smelled of Halloween, that scent burned into my brain, knowledging that it was fall.

I started down the path to the sidewalk, and stopped when I noticed someone walking across the street. I turned my head, I knew the figure. My breath caught in my throat as I saw Frank.

It felt as if my feet were concrete, and I was seeped into it. I couldn't move my feet, I was yelling, in my head, to hurry and move. I must've looked like an idiot, just standing there.

"Sunny," Frank jogged over to me, "can we talk?"

He stood in front of me, I felt my jaw slack, "What...what are you doing in Chicago?" I muttered.

He huffed softly, "To apologize for being an asshole. I shouldn't have listened to him, Sunny."

I shook my head, "I honestly don't care anymore," I lied rather convincingly, "I don't care."

"I want to be there for you, Sunny. For you and the baby, and I want to make it all up to you." he was pleading now, stepping closer to me, "I don't want to be pushed away from you, I don't want us to be estranged again, it was so frustrating without you."

Emotions were getting the best of me, and the tears started almost instantly. I couldn't help it, I just started to cry. I pulled the sleeve from my pullover up to my face and wiped the tears.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, taking my hand.

"I don't know," I mumbled, "it's the hormones."

He tweaked his lips, my eyes began to blur as the tears came again. I exasperated, trying to fight the inevitable hiccuping that would accompany them. Frank didn't hesitate, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. His head nuzzled into my shoulder, and he placed a kiss there.

"Don't do this to me," I told him, "stop hurting me."

He looked up at me, "I'm not going to hurt you anymore, Sunny. I promise."
-

I honestly didn't know what to do with all this emotion. I was so over the edge, so in love and so mad at the same time, it was sickening. I had to watch myself, relax, so I wouldn't harm the baby. That's really the only factor I was living now: my child.

Frank and I promised to talk later on, the next day, and settle this all with Butcher and my mom; who was on my side, surprisingly about the paternity of my baby. I wanted this all be clear that Frank and I were working on our relationship, solely for our child. I didn't want to be in a relationship with anyone until my life was all together.

So, as planned, I went to the show with Gabe. I stood in front of the barricade, getting good shots of Billie Joe, Tre and Mike. I had gotten a couple Jason, too. We got to hang out backstage, meet the band, and got a few photos with them as well, it was all pretty nice. Then, it was all over, simple.

Gabe drove me home, and was oddly quiet. I looked at him sideways, just like I had done to Frank, "What's up, Gabe? Why are you so quiet?"

"I didn't get drunk," he said with a chuckle.

I raised my brows, surprised, "Wow. I forgot what it's like to be around you, at night, when you're sober."

He nodded, "Fuck, me too."

We continued driving quietly, the car only filled with soft music. I placed one hand on my belly, rubbing lightly as I felt a soft kick from the Kid. I smiled to myself, still in a locked daze that this child would make everything better.

"What do you plan on naming your kid?" Gabe asked as we entered my street.

I shrugged, "I dunno...if it's a boy, I'm going to name him after my dad. If it's a girl, I'm going to name her after one of the days of the week."

Gabe gave me a weird look, raising one brow and twitching his lip, "What? What day?"

"I always love Friday...or Saturday." I told him nonchalantly.

Gabe shook his head, "You are so...weird, Sunny."

"Thank You, Gabey."