You Give Love a Bad Name

Frank whipped his head to look at the intruder, and our lips touched in the process. It was nothing big, just a millisecond brush of skin against skin, but I jumped away from him like I got burned, my heart beating like I just ran a mile in the Olympics. Frank didn't appear to notice what happened, because he was looking at the door with concentration.

The door opened further, enabling more light to seep through, and Josh stepped in, humming softly to himself. He stopped when he saw us, his face turning from totally serene to completely confused. "What...what are you two doing here? It's employees only."

"Sorry, we got locked in." Not bothering to waste anymore precious escape time, I bolted out of the closet, leaving Frank in the dust.

Looking at the clock above the some boxes of merchandise, I realized that we had about thirty minutes until Mikey and Ray were supposed to unlock and pick us up. I guess the joke was going to be on them when they would come back to find me and Frank long gone.

"Frank, come out of the closet already," I heard Josh chuckling at his own joke behind me.

"Shut up, moron," Frank replied absent-mindedly, "I'm looking for my lighter. I lost it somewhere in here."

I turned around to see Josh rolling his eyes heaven-wise, sliding his hands in his jeans' pockets. "Well if you would stay where you belong, a.k.a. out of employee closets, you wouldn't lose your shit."

"Well, if your employees wouldn't push costumers into the closets, I wouldn't have this problem," Frank retorted, coming out with a lighter in his right hand. "Jeezus, don't you guys do criminal check on your staff or something?"

Josh stared at him open-mouthed. "Huh?"

Frank shook his head, walking past him and towards me. "Don't worry about it. Lena, ready to go?"

"Yeah," I nodded my head, turning towards the exit, "let's go."

"I can't believe that Mikey stole my cellphone," I sighed, walking past another warm-looking restaurant that was illuminated from within, inviting any pedestrian to stop and have a bite to eat. "That sneaky little son-of-a-gun."

"Why do you need your phone right now?" Frank asked me, the streetlight making his face practically glow in the dark. It was only half past seven, but since it was November, the days were at their peak of shortness. "Do you need to call someone?"

"I wanted to see if Gerard could pick me up. He's usually home around this time," I said, trying to block the icy cold that was creeping up my body. "Mikey and I walked."

It was about one hour after Frank and I escaped from Guitar Planet and relocated to a small shopping plaza about ten minutes away. For the past thirty minutes we have been walking aimlessly past the shops and restaurants which were already decorated in Thanksgiving-themed trinkets.

"Want to use mine?" Frank zipped open his jacket and got out his small, silver phone, extending it to me.

"Now you tell me?" I took the phone and flipped it open, looking for Gerard's number. "It would have been more helpful to know when my psycho brother and your mental friend locked us in that closet."

"Hey, he's your friend too!" Frank defended, grinning from ear to ear. "And it wouldn't have mattered - I had no signal. Don't you think I would have called someone to let us out?"

"Who knows with you male population," I grumbled, waiting for Gerard to pick up, Frank's phone against my ear.

"Hey, Frank."

"Nah, it's your favorite sibling, GerBear," I smirked into the phone.

"Lena?" Gerard's voice was puzzled. "Why do you have Frank's phone?"

"Because Mikey stole mine," I explained, the image of the dark closet coming back to me. "Which reminds me, if you see Mikey, do kick him in the balls for me."

Frank laughed beside me, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him light a cigarette.

"Wait, what? Why would I do that?"

"Because he and the Master Fro locked me and Frank in the closet and Guitar Planet."

Pause. "What did you guys do?"

"What do you mean? What did we do in the closet?"

"Yeah." There was amusement in Gerard's voice. "And when did you guys come out?"

"Oh shut up, fairy," I rolled my eyes. "I'm not calling you to discuss my sexuality. I need a favor, fruitcake."

"Keep it up with the wittle, rainbow nicknames, and you'll get shit." In the background I could her my Mom's voice call out a warning, followed by a sigh and an apology from Gerard.

"Mom's busting your balls again?" I chuckled with triumph.

"What do you want, twerp?"

"Give me -"

"- and me," Frank interrupted quickly.

"- and Frank a ride home."

Another pause. "Why should I? You just called me a fruitcake and a fairy."

"Because I don't feel like getting ass-raped in a dark alley today?"

"Fuck, it's freezing," Frank mumbled, rubbing his arm with his free hand.

"Plus Frank is 'freezing'," I added with an afterthought. "You don't want your boy-toy to catch another cold."

"Hey!" Frank shot me a glare.

"Even though you're a little fucker who likes to make gay jokes about her handsome and manly older brother -"

"- I seriously doubt you're either one of those, Geetard. Especially not the last one - "

"- I'm going to give you and Closet Boy a ride. Where are you?"

I gave Gerard directions and he promised to pick me and Frank up in ten to fifteen minutes, hanging up the phone afterwards, so he could find his jacket and grab the car keys.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?" Frank asked me ten minutes later, as we sat on a bench, waiting for Gerard.

"Chilling with Logan. My last peaceful weekend for the rest of the month," I sighed.

Frank finished his cigarette and threw it into the trash can near us. "How come?"

"Family reunion," I groaned. "Thanksgiving. I found out today. Mikey's not to thrilled about it either."

"What are you talking about? Your family is amazing!" Frank exclaimed, looking at me like I was insane. "They're so...interesting."

"If that's what you call people, like Uncle Todd, who get drunk and start telling their stories of roaming the jungle in Vietnam War," I laughed, remembering my mother's brother. "That'll probably be Gerard in a few years, you watch. Just minus Vietnam."

"Speak of the devil," Frank nodded towards a car pulling into the parking lot. "Here he is. We should go."

"Yeah," I nodded. "We should."