Say It One More Time

Frank took me to this tiny independent Italian restaurant in town. It was amazing, dim lighting and just a proper Italian atmosphere.
“Ahh if it isn’t our little Frank!” A strong Italian voice boomed across the room. I looked over to see a slightly plump, ageing man with a huge smile on his face.
“Ciao Francesco!” Frank called back smiling equally as big.
“And who is this lovely little lady eh?” he asked about me as he walked over. It was fair to say that I was a bit confused…
“Francesco, this is Lorena, Lorena, this is Francesco, a dear family friend of ours” he introduced us both.
“You have chosen well Lorena, Frank here is a true gentleman” I vaguely saw Frank blush in the candlelight making me smile.
“What can get you then?” Francesco then asked, looking at me, then Frank.
“Ermm… I’ll have a margarita pizza with roasted peppers please”
“I’ll have the carbonara per favore” I was slightly confused by this, I’m sure Frank’s a veggie…
“senza carne, suppongo?”
“naturalmente” they both laughed as Francesco took the menus from us and disappeared into the kitchen.
“I thought you were a vegetarian Frank?” I asked him, having no idea what they had been saying.
“I know, he always makes me veggie versions of the meals, I guess you don't speak any Italian then?”
“Not a word…”
“I’ll have to teach you, I’m not brilliant, but my granddad’s from Italy, so I know enough,” he explained.
“You’re a man of many talents Frankie, what else don’t I know about you?” I laughed.
“Hmm… Well I play guitar, but you know that… I can kinda play drums… My dad and granddad both play, so they taught me, they got me into music really… Oh! I can sing! Kinda…” I laughed at him as he tried to list his talents.
“I can’t really imagine you singing” I said to him, as I spoke he pulled an over exaggerated shocked expression.
“I have the voice of an angel thank you very much” he said huffing.
“You’re such an idiot Frankie,” I laughed reaching my hand to his. He looked up as our hands met, and gave me a small smile.
“What about you? Any hidden talents?” he asked.
“Hmm… Well I guess I can kinda sing… I suppose my fighting might be classed as a hidden talent as not many people know about it…”
“Oh yeah, remind me never to make you angry… I’d quite like to keep my balls intact…” he laughed, I joined in, sending him a warning wink.
It wasn’t long before Francesco returned with our food, setting them down for us.
“Un momento,” he signalled for us to wait a few minutes. I could figure that one out, go me!
When he returned again, he presented us with a bottle of red wine, half filling our glasses.
“Non dirlo a tua madre, lei mi ucciderà” he winked at Frank before leaving us to eat.
“So… Was that him telling you to get me drunk then have your way with me?” I asked jokingly.
Frank’s mouth dropped open in complete shock.
“No! He just said don’t tell my mom, she’ll kill him” he translated.
“Ohh… That makes sense… I think I’ll take you up on the offer of Italian lessons if we’re gonna come here again”
He again looked at me slightly surprised.
“You want to come here with me again?” he asked in disbelief.
“Well, you’ve not done anything to scare me off yet, and it’s been fun so far” I smiled at him before taking a bite of pizza, “Oh my god, this pizza is so good!” Frankie was grinning the biggest grin I’ve ever seen.
We soon finished our food, it was just so delicious, and were on our way to the cinema.
It was obvious that Frankie was nervous, he walked awkwardly next to me…
I allowed my arms to hang loosely by my side as I walked, and casually brushed his hand with mine. I hoped he’d get the hint.
I could see him looking at me, I think he was trying to work out if I was hinting or not, so I did it again, and sent him a small smile.
Slowly he brought his hand to clasp mine, entwining our fingers. I looked over at him and smiled, my heart was beating so fast. I had never felt like this before, it was amazing.
“Do you mind me asking… What happened with your parents?” I asked him, wanting to know more about his family and life.
“I guess not… It was pretty much the same as with yours… I was about 11, and had been sent home from school for fighting, but cos mom and dad were both at work, I’d had to walk home…” he began, I could see where it was going, and that it still hurt him to talk about. “So, I unlocked the door and walked in, it was weird, like I could tell there was someone in so I freaked out a bit. I crept up to my room to find my old baseball bat… Cliché I know…” he chuckled at himself, “Just as I was leaving my room, I heard something coming from mom and dad’s room, so I quietly crept over to their door and opened it, expecting to find some mad axe murderer… In some ways I wish that was what I found… Instead I saw dad in a very awkward position with someone who wasn’t mom…” he let out a sigh. I squeezed his hand in support, knowing exactly how hard it is.
“So needless to say, he tried to buy my silence, not that it would work… And for a few years I hated him… It was mom who talked me round insisting that I’d regret not talking to him in the future”
“Well… I think we can safely say that you had it worse… At least I found my dad in public, where he was unable to do any more than kiss…”
“Since that day I vowed that I would never treat a woman like that, I just can’t stand cheaters… Or anyone who treats women badly…”
“I guessed that much… What with your reaction to what happened to me…”
“Yeah… Don’t even get me started on that bastard…” I could see his jaw clenching just at the thought of Cayne… I thought it was sweet to see that there’s still hope for mankind, not all of them are jerks.
We arrived at the cinema pretty quickly and saw that thankfully there wasn’t much of a queue. Frank walked straight up to the desk and paid for our tickets, then took me over to the food stand.
“Want anything?” he asked politely, whilst reading the board.
“Not really, I just ate a huge pizza” I reminded him. He stuck his tongue out at me and ordered a bag of popcorn anyway.
We walked into the cinema screen, just in time for the trailers and adverts, where Frankie led me to the back row; wink wink.
There was hardly anyone else in the screen, I think just a couple of other teenagers down near the front.
“I like it when cinemas are empty…” I commented.
“Oh really now?” Frank asked, wiggling his eyebrows and winking at me.
“You’re a tit Frankie!” I giggled throwing some popcorn at his head, “I like it cos there’s no one to annoy me!”
“Hey! There’s no need to waste my precious popcorn!” he replied, grabbing the bag and holding it protectively to his chest. I laughed at his childish behaviour, but was soon cut off by the surround sound kicking in, making me jump. It was now Frank’s turn to laugh at me as I tried to regain my composure.
I stuck my tongue out and got settled in my chair, ready to face the film ahead.

-~- Half an hour later -~-

Fuck! He just had to choose a gory film… Don’t get me wrong, I love horror films… But I prefer the ones that mess with your mind, me and blood just don’t get on…
“Are you alright?” Frank leaned over and whispered to me, “You look a bit pale…”
“Oh, yeah… Just not a fan of blood…” I whispered back, smiling at him.
“Sorry, I didn’t realise…” he apologised to me, probably thinking that it was ruining the date for me.
“I might feel better if I can hide…” I said, hinting for him to move a bit closer. He took up the hint immediately and repositioned himself so he could wrap his arm around my shoulder, allowing me to bury my head into his chest when I needed to; which turned out to be a lot.

It’s fair to say that I was glad when the credits began to roll, I was just disappointed that I’d have to move. Frank has an extremely comfortable chest… And he smells amazing…
“You alright Rennie?” Frankie asked me, smiling slightly.
“I’ll live” I replied, making him chuckle.
“I really didn’t think it looked that bad…”
“It probably wasn’t, but I get squeamish over cartoon gore so…” I laughed at myself, I’m such a dick.
“Really..? Cartoon gore..?” he asked me in disbelief.
“Yep, I used to be fine, then I had a stay in hospital to have my appendix out and ever since I can’t stand anything to do with blood, or breaking bones or anything” I explained to him.
“Awww, I’ll just have to look after you then” he smiled genuinely at me.
“I think you will Frankie” I smiled as we stood up from our chairs and made our way to the cinema foyer.
“I like it when you call me Frankie…” he hummed, “It sounds cute”
I smiled, and blushed once again.
“Well I guess I’ll just have to call you Frankie more often then”
I noticed Frankie pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialling a number. I looked at him confused.
“Getting a taxi” he mouthed before speaking to the person on the other end.
“I wouldn’t risk walking home at this time of night, I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you…” he explained when he had hung up.
“You’re so sweet Frankie,” I complimented him, he gave me a small, cute smile and seemed to blush a bit, “I think you’re actually restoring my hope in the human race” I laughed.
“Well… What can I say? I’m just amazing” he winked at me, causing us both to laugh.
We were interrupted by the taxi arriving, Frank walked over to check that it was ours. When he was satisfied he help open the door for me, like a proper gentleman, and followed in after me.
He told the driver my address and we were soon on our way to the end of an amazing night.
It didn’t take long to reach my house, and Frankie was soon paying the fare.
We both climbed out and thanked the driver before walking up to my front door.
“I’ve had a really great night tonight Frankie” I smiled, “Like… I was kinda scared and worried earlier, but then when I saw you it all went away…” I admitted, probably sounded seriously cheesy… But it’s true, I was terrified.
“Really? Why were you scared?”
“Well let’s face it, I don’t have a great track record with life… And I’ve never been on a date before…”
“You know… I’ve never been on a proper date like this before either, I’m not a highly sought after guy believe it or not, everyone just thinks I'm a freak” he confessed, and honestly I was surprised.
“Wow, well they’ve been missing out, this was by far one of the best nights I’ve ever had” I smiled. We’d reached the awkward stage of the goodbye… Do you hug, or kiss… I’ll probably have to lead it…
“Well… We can do it again sometime if you want? Maybe go bowling or something?” he suggested nervously, I honestly have no idea why he was nervous, I mean what girl in their right mind would say no to him?!
“That sounds good” I grinned.
“Well… Goodnight then Rennie,” he said kinda awkwardly, not sure where to put himself.
I pulled him into a tight hug, not really wanting to let him go. When we pulled apart, he was grinning from ear to ear, so I decided to make him even happier. I was nervous as hell, but I pushed the fear to the back of my mind.
We were looking in each other’s eyes, so I slowly inched forwards and planted a small kiss on his lips. It wasn’t much, but it was my first time…
Just as I thought, he looked about ten times happier.
He quickly leaned back in and kissed me again, I suppose he didn’t really have time to register what was happening first time round…
“I like that…” he smiled at me, making me giggle.
“It’s a good job I like it too then I guess”
“You know we’re not gonna hear the end of this at school..?”
“I know… But I honestly don’t care” I smiled before we said goodbye once again.
I’ve honestly never felt happier than right now.