The Only Hope for Me Is You

I was sitting next to Frank on the couch, watching BL/ind’s stupid little cartoon again, and Gerard and Ray were in the kitchen, playing Texas Hold’em, using credits as money to bid with. I lied my head on Frank’s shoulder, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, his other hand petting my head. I felt so relieved I finally had that weight lifted off my chest; Lauren was right, it had to stop. And I’m glad it did. Frank was perfect for me, and I was perfect for him, I thought. I smiled, realizing I was truly happy with someone I loved. And honestly, I was surprised Gerard took it so well.

“Hey, Cy…” Frank stroked my hair before lifting my head up. “Are you tired?”

“Not really…” I replied, narrowing my eyes. He grinned.

“Me neither.” He said, smirking. I chuckled.

“Frank…”

“But you said earlier that we would. Remember?” I rolled my eyes.

“Damn it, you’re right, babe.” He grinned, and lifted me off of his chest, standing up, taking my hand. I gladly took it in mine, and we walked hand in hand to his room. I stopped outside of Mikey’s room, and heard the bed squeaking slightly, and I bit my lower lip.

“Guess I’m not the only one getting lucky tonight…” Frank grinned, and dragged me into his room, closing the door behind him. He took off his vest and unholstered his gun, unclipping the holster from his side and putting it on his table. I sat on his bed, taking off my mask from the top of my head, as well as my vest and holster, setting them on the nightstand of the bed. He stretched, his shirt riding up as he did so, and I stared at his stomach, seeing the tattoos there, and bit my lower lip. He let out a loud breath of air and walked over to sit next to me on the bed. He put up his hand to put my hair behind my ears, then proceeded to kiss me lightly on the lips, pushing me down onto my back and lying on top of me. It progressed slowly, until eventually we had taken off our boots and clothes, and lied naked together in bed, just cuddling after another night of amazing sex.

“I love you Cy.”

“You too, Frank.” He lightly kissed me again, and I snuggled up close to him, resting my head on his chest and eventually falling asleep in his arms.
_____________________________________________________________________

I woke up the next morning to a loud and rapid knocking on the door. Groggily, I got out of bed, taking a blanket and wrapping it around me before walking over and opening the door. Mikey was standing outside of it, shirtless, looking frantic.

“Cy, Lauren’s gone!” He said, wide eyes. I rubbed my eyes, still half asleep. I turned around to see Frank had woken up as well, and he was on his side, looking at the two of us, wrapped up like a burrito in the sheets. You could really only see his face, the blanket wrapped so tight around his head and body, and I tried so hard not to laugh at his appearance right now. He was grinning that smile of his, showing all his teeth.

"She probably went out for a walk, man,” he said casually. “I mean, after you two last night…whoa!”

“Frank, stop, this is serious.” I said, stifling a laugh and turning back to Mikey, who looked terrified.

“I don’t know…she just…last night she said something about her brother, trying to find him, and—“

“Mikes, CALM. DOWN.” I said, touching his shoulder. He slid his hands down his face, taking a deep breath, and blinked before talking again.

“I don’t know, Cy, I’m just…I’m worried about her...”

“Mikey, don’t be scared…she’s strong. She can hold her own--”

“I know, Cy, but it’s the fact she didn’t say where she was going that scares me,” he said, looking into the living room. “She could be anywhere…” I patted his shoulder again.

“Hey…let me get dressed, then we can go out looking for her. Okay?” He nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting and his eyes looking sweetly sincere.

“Cy, thank you so much…” he said, and I just nodded in response.

“Mikey, just go get dressed, have your brother make us all coffee and breakfast, and we can go, okay?” He nodded, giving me a small hug and walked back into his room. I closed our door, sighing, and turned to Frank, who had managed to unwrap himself, but not without making a mess of the sheets. They were all over the floor now, trailing behind him as he got up out of bed. He was just about half dressed and was putting on his shirt as I spoke to him.

“Lauren’s gone again,” I said, dropping the blanket and putting my underwear on. He sighed.

“That girl’s like a puppy,” he said. “So curious and adventurous…we have to keep a better watch on her...”

“You would resort to a dog-themed analogy, wouldn’t you?” I joked, sliding my pants up and strapping my belt.

“Shut up,” he chuckled, throwing an old guitar pick at me from his table. “You love dogs just as much as I do. Don't deny it.”

“I know, I know…” I said, finishing getting dressed and strapping my holster back on my waist. I threw him his, and he put it on before walking over to me, grabbing my hand lightly.

“How many did you used to have?” I asked, and he thought about it, counting with his fingers, his face in full concentration. He looked up at the ceiling, thinking, before he spoke again.

“Uhm…seven or eight...? I lost count…” I laughed.

“How do you not know how many dogs you have?!” I punched his shoulder jokingly, and he tickled my side, knowing my weakness. I recoiled as he dug his fingers into my side, tickling me.

“AH!” I giggled, slapping at him. “No, stop! Mikey needs us, Frank!” He stopped tickling me, and we walked down the hall to be greeted by the smell of roasting coffee and burnt bacon. I looked at Ray, who was holding a piece of blackened bacon up, looking at it in disgust.

“Shit,” I said. “Gerard’s cooking this morning?” He nodded, and Frank and I sat down on the other side of the table. I looked at the plate of bacon, then at Frank, who was laughing, pointing at it.

“Gerard, this is why I am vegetarian.” He called to him, picking a blackened, crispy piece up and staring at it. Gerard turned around from the oven.

“Shut up, man, the package said 30 minutes.”

“Uh, no,” I said, looking at the plastic. “It says 3, Gerard…”

“What?” He said, dropping the spatula immediately and walking over, taking the packaging from me. He hung his head after reading it, frowning.

“Aw, man…” He said sadly, slumping back to the oven to make more. I looked at the plate in disgust.

“Frank?” I said, still staring at it, not blinking.

“Yeah, babe?”

“I am declaring myself vegetarian right now.” He laughed, and kissed my cheek.

“Nah, you don’t have to…”

“Just look at it…” I said, still disgusted. “Ew.”

“IM SORRY, OKAY?!” I heard Gerard yell from by the oven.

“No, Gerard, I didn’t mean it like that!” I said. “Just pay attention next time…” Ray laughed at all of this, and we all watched as Mikey walked into the kitchen, sitting next to Ray, still looking worried. I watched his eyes gaze slowly fell from the window to the plate of bacon, and his eyebrows raised.

“Um, what the fuck is this?” He asked, picking a shriveled piece up and sniffing it.

“GOD DAMN IT, ONE MISTAKE AND EVERYONE IS UP MY ASS FOR IT.” Gerard yelled again. He then walked over to the table, snatching the bacon from his brother’s hands, and the plate as well, looking pissed off.

"Gerard, What...?" Mikey said quietly.

“You don’t want my cooking? Fuck, I won’t make anything for you guys anymore.” He walked over to the door and threw the plate outside, and I heard a loud clatter not too long after. He walked back to the kitchen, taking the new plate of bacon and set it down on the table.

“Fucking better?” He asked, putting his weight on one leg, standing sassily and running a hand through his bright hair, eyebrows raised expectantly. No one moved.

“Whoa, who got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, sassy pants?” Frank joked. Gerard rolled his eyes, and squeezed himself on the seat next to Mikey. No one said anything, but Ray, Mikey and Gerard feasted on halfway decent bacon while Frank and I watched in disgust. I felt my stomach growl, and not too long after started salivating. I groaned, looking at Frank.

“Fuck me, this is going to be haaaaard…” I said, holding my stomach. He pulled me closer to him, kissing my forehead.

“Told you you don’t have to do it,” he said, but I shook my head.

“No, Frank, I don’t want you going at it alone.” I replied, meaning what I said in more ways than one. I looked across the table again to see Mikey looking out the window to the door anxiously, fidgeting with his coffee mug. He really looked worried, and I didn’t blame him; If Frank went out to Battery City all alone, I don’t know what I would do…

“Well, are you ready to go?” I asked Mikey, standing up, with Frank following me. Mikey snapped his head towards me, and nodded, pushing his brother out of the seat with both hands just as he was about to take a bite of bacon, his mouth wide open.

“Ah…HEY!” Gerard yelled, falling on the ground, his arm sliding across the table, causing the entire plate of bacon to slide off the table with him, and happened to land no where else but on his face. Everyone but him laughed, and I casually took a step over his body, making a scene to get dust in his face. I turned around, bent down, and slapped his face lightly a few times on the cheek, smiling as he sputtered.

“Lighten up, okay?” I said, and he rolled his eyes before standing up, dusting bacon and dirt off of him and fixing his hair again.

“Where are you guys off to?” He asked, seeing Mikey put on his sunglasses and walk outside into the blaring heat and sunlight. He really was in a hurry to find Lauren…

“Lauren said something about trying to find her brother and left in the middle of the night without telling any of us,” I explained. “The three of us are going to go look for her.” Gerard looked anxious hearing this, but sighed.

“All right, fine. Take the car. Frank, you get to drive, and don’t let Mikey guilt trip you.” He took the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Frank, who caught them, grinning, and winked.

“All, right, baby,” He said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “We shouldn’t be gone too long, but I will radio if something comes up okay?” Gerard nodded.

“Channel 25?” He said, and Frank nodded back.

“Gotcha,” He said, and patted Gerard on the back before leading me outside. I thought I heard Ray say “well I’m not cleaning it up…” as I walked outside and laughed at what had happened to Gerard in such a short time this morning. He was almost as accident prone as Mikey, but Mikey was still the champ of that.

I remember Gerard telling me one time Mikey tried sticking a fork in a toaster, and he had to yell at him to not do it, running over and taking the fork from his hand right before he stuck it in the toaster. Frank told me one time Mikey tried to take a heater into the shower because it 'wasn't warm enough'.

“Oh, Mikey…” I said quietly, remembering these stories.

“What?” He asked, apparently hearing me. I chuckled.

“Oh, nothing...” I said, getting into the passengers seat. “Let’s get Lauren, okay?” He nodded, and groaned when he saw Frank with the keys.

“Why do YOU get to drive…?” He moaned. Frank grinned.

“Because big bro told me I could. And nothing’s gonna change that, Mikes.”

“…okay…” he said, getting into the back seat. Frank turned on the car, and gunned it down into the vast desert, on our mission to look for Lauren once again.

“Where could she be…?” Mikey asked out loud, staring out the window, lost in thought.

“Did she mention anything about some places to check out?” Frank asked. Mikey was silent for a minute, his chin in his hand, but he suddenly lifted his head up, turning to face the front of the car.

“WAIT!” he said loudly, and I jumped. “She DID mention something about a small village…on the outskirts of Zone Two…but she wouldn’t…”

“Why? Why wouldn’t she?” I asked impatiently.

“Because there is nothing but BL/ind residents there. It’s basically a ghost town, minus a few hideouts for spies and workers of BL/ind…” he trailed off, and I looked at him, realizing how scared and worried he actually was.

“It’s either that, or she went back to BL/ind herself to get the rest of those boxes,” He said. “Maybe the rest of them are in this village? I don’t know…” I reached back to grab Mikey’s arm and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Mikey…we WILL find her. I promise.” I said, smiling, and he looked up at me, with no hint of hope on his face whatsoever.