Just You and I, Your Starless Eyes Remain

Part 10:

the damage you've inflicted, temporary wounds

“Oh.” I, too, swallowed rather hardly. Is this girl, Allison, the reason why Frank regretted kissing me? Or is it that he just doesn’t and never will like me like that. Oh god, what if he still likes this girl?

“Um, so how long were you guys, uh-“

“Dating?” Frank cut me off. “Two and a half years. I had to-well, we had to-break it off before my move.”

“Oh, wow. That’s a long time,” I responded.

Maybe he even loved this girl I thought.

At that precise moment, perfectly on cue, Allison returned to the table.

“Oh, Frank, guess what? Derek-you remember him-well, he let me have a ten minute break. So what’s new? Fill me in. Oh excuse me,” she pushed me over a little bit to squeeze in between me and Frank. I forced a polite smile out, but laced it with a glare.

“Well nothing really. I haven’t been gone too long. I’ve met Alice though. She’s one of my best friends.” Frank smiled toward me.

“Oh, I see,” Allison raised an eyebrow, “Just Friends?”

“Yep, nothing more,” Frank finished. I secretly cringed. I knew he didn’t mean to hurt me though.

“Oh, okay,” she nodded, seeming content. “So where are you two staying?”

“We’re staying at Gerard’s.” She smiled at this.

“Of course you are, I almost forgot about the party.”

“What party,” Frank asked. Confusion and curiosity covered his face.

“Oops, I, um, there’s no party,” a poor attempt by her to cover her slip. “Well, I get off at five. I’ll see you at Gerard’s at seven. By, love.” And with that she got up quickly, pecked Frank on the cheek, and left.

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After we got the check and paid, we got back into Frank’s car.

“Where to now?” I asked him, looking over at him as he started his car.

“To Gerard’s house!” He beamed with happiness after saying that. I smiled back at him.

We drove for five minutes. The only thing that interrupted the silence of our voices was the blasting music. We shortly arrived at a small, but nice house.

“Don’t worry, they are amazing people; you’ll love them!” He reassured me, sensing my fear, as he turned the key out of the ignition. We walked up to the front door, Frank leading the way, and knocked on the door.

It only took a second for our knock to be answered. The door opened, and I was faced with a handsome boy. He looked to be around 19 years of age; I couldn’t be sure, though. Black hair messily framed his face; it was a little long, just like Frank’s. Black eyeliner was smudged around his eyes. Let’s face it, he was maybe the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen; only second to Frank. It took every ounce of me to make sure I didn’t blush.

“Frank!” The boy yelled and ran over to Frank, embracing him.

“Gerard,” Frank laughed.

”Oh, so this was the Gerard I’ve heard so much about,” I mused to myself.

“And this must be Alice,” Gerard smiled “God, Frank never stops talking about you!”

“Haha, thanks,” I laughed nervously as I blushed.

“Yep, this is her,” Frank stated proudly, taking my hand.

“Well, are we gonna stand out here all day? Let’s get inside,” Gerard said. We all laughed. I liked him already.

“Hey, Alice, this is Mikey; my younger brother,” Gerard spoke as soon as we walked in.

A slightly shorter boy, maybe around three years younger, walked over to us and smiled. He had pin-straight brown hair, no doubt straightened, and black thick-rimmed glasses framed his face. He looked very kind, but sort of shy.

“Hello, Mikey,” I let out a small giggle. I had just realized Frank didn’t let go of my hand yet.

“Hey…Alice?” He guessed. It was apparent now that Frank really did talk about me quite a lot.

“Yep,” I nodded.

“Nice to meet you!” He smiled back. “Frank!” He hugged Frank, but it seemed as if, disregarding size, Frank would be likely to tackle Mikey to the ground with his hug.

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“Hey, Gee, would you mind if I took a quick shower?” Frank asked after we all were talking for a while and our stuff was unpacked upstairs. We were situated on the couch in the living room drinking coffee that Mikey prepared for us.

“Sure, no problem. You know where it is,” Gerard answered.

After Frank had left, Gerard turned to me on the couch.

“So, Alice, how do you like it here so far?” He asked me.

“I really love it, actually! You and Mikey are so nice.” I smiled broadly.

“You’ll love the other guys, too. We can’t wait for you to meet them.” Mikey said as he got up to get food. “You guys want anything?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” I replied.

“Me too,” Gerard said.

“Shit,” Mikey said, frustrated. “We have no food; I’m going out to get some. I’ll be back in a bit.” And with that, Mikey left. It was just me and Gerard now.

“You know, he never stops talking about you,” Gerard looked at me.

“What,” I began to question him.

“Frank; he never stops. I think he really likes you.” Gerard stated.

“Nah, we’re--“ I began.

“Just friends,” We said in unison. I sighed.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Gerard began to elaborate as I questionably looked at him. He opened his mouth to explain when Frank walked down the stairs.

“Am I interrupting something?” Frank smirked, sitting down next to me, practically on top of me. I breathed in taking his intoxicating scent. I smelled his hair, newly washed and his breathe blew on my neck. He could not possibly know what he was doing to me; but Gerard did.

“Well, I was just,” Gerard started. “Telling Alice about,” I shot him a look and he taunted me with a smile. “How we are having a party!” He covered up his thought.

Frank shot up smiling, “When?”

“One more hour,” Gerard beamed.