From Sunsets to Monroeville

Frank clutched Allison's hand as she sniffled softly and the park came into view. After Frank went inside to tell his mom he was going to the park with Allison, they went to the park and the young girl had yet to say a word. She just continued to sniff every couple seconds and keep a firm grip on Frank's hand when they crossed the street.

A rusty gate and then a couple trees and they were inside the park, entering through the memorial section instead of going over to the benches in front of the lake itself. Allison led Frank over to one lonely bench in front of the lake and smacked down onto it, Frank following suit.

"You gonna tell me what's up now?" Frank asked quietly, scrubbing the front of his sneaker against the concrete.

If there’s anything that's awkward, it's walking quietly with someone and holding their hand while they basically cry. And not only that, it's not on a quiet street either but on a rather busy one, with cars, children, and other various things.

Allison sniffed one more time before wiping her face and turned to Frank, "Just my parents..."

"Well they can't possibly be worse than mine," he chuckled, trying to joke but Allison shot him a dirty look and he wiped the smile off his face. "Sorry."

"It's just...my mother's a piss off," she began. "And daddy...daddy is no fucking help. Like I just can't deal with them sometimes and I just need to get away."

"Well that's what I'm here for," Frank mewed, draping his arm around her. "I'm the boyfriend, I'm supposed to be there when you're upset."

Allison smiled weakly at him before looking back at the murky, infested water that was the lake; "I just don't know what they expect from me sometimes..."

"That's just how parents are, y'know?" Frank replied, beginning to play with the zipper on his sweatshirt. "They expect so much from you and then when you don't do exactly that, they get upset. So it's like what the fuck do you want from me?"

"I said that to her," Allison sighed. "I asked her what did she want from me and she...kicked me out. But she'll be calling in a couple hours for me to get home so I can eat dinner."

"Bitch..." Frank muttered. "Is that how she thinks she can fix things? Through food?"

"Sometimes it works," Allison admitted. "But other times it's like 'No bitch, I don't want ya’ fuckin' food'. "

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "My mom doesn't do anything to apologize for the shit she does. She only does it when she's drunk."

"I'm sorry," Allison said quietly. "She shouldn't drink around you, it's almost like encouraging you to."

"Well I kinda already do so I don't really see the point...she's not that good of an influence anyway."

"My point exactly."

Frank sighed, "Anyway..."

He reached into his pocket with his opposite hand until he could pull out whatever it was and put it up to his face, inhaling it's scent.

"Frank please," Allison said, snatching the small blunt away from his lips as he dug for his lighter. "Not now."

"Why not?" He exclaimed in response, his eyes snapping to her face.

"Please, now is not the time," she tried to reason. "And plus, it's fucking broad daylight."

"I really don't give a fuck and you should know that," Frank muttered, grabbing the blunt back and went back for his lighter. He wasn't going to listen to her, he needed to chill out and relax. Although Allison hated watching him smoke, watching him throw his life away in the way that he was, he needed this and plus, Gerard had given it to him.

"Stop!" Allison yelled, grabbing his hand to stop him from lighting it. "Do that shit later!"

"No, I wanna do it now," Frank whined, flickering the lighter on and off a couple times as the blunt dangled from his lips, the aroma of the weed entering his mouth. He ignored her dirty looks and grunts as he happily lit the blunt and exhaled, the light smoke blowing away from his face as it danced in Allison's direction. She swatted the puffs away as she smacked Frank on the arm.

"Frank, you're in a fucking park!" She hissed. "You can't do that shit in public and you know Freeport and Baldwin cops drive up and down here all the time. If they see some minor smoking up a blunt outta nowhere in the middle of a park they are going to..."

"I don't fucking care!" Frank snapped. "If I wanna fucking light up Gerard's farewell blunt. I'll fucking do it. No Baldwin cops are gonna stop me."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Allison questioned as her eyes began to glaze over. "Why can't you just listen to me this once?"

"It's really not that big of a deal, babe," he muttered as he took two more hits and exhaled the smoke again.

"That shit ain't even good for you, in no way, shape, or form. And fuck Gerard for giving it to you!"

"Shut up!" Frank hissed. "You're ruining a perfectly good blunt! How am I supposed to enjoy this with you nagging in my fucking ear?"

"You know what Frank?" Allison snapped, standing up. "Fuck you, all right? I'm trying to help you because for some strange reason, I care about you. But you don't even care!"

Frank could feel the high overtaking his body as he blew out smoke once more, shifting his head back and forth to create a cloud. But it came up as more of a really messed up one, with no real base at all and he erupted in a fit of giggles.

"God damnit," Allison said, mainly to herself. "If you ain't gonna listen to me then I'm just gonna leave..."

"Go ahead!" Frank yelled, snickering in between hits. The smoke exited through his nose as he spread his legs and leaned back onto the bench.

Allison let out a loud sob as she glanced at Frank one more time before turning around and walking down the path in the opposite direction that they came. Frank watched her walk towards the real lake itself until she crossed over the bridge and he called out her name.

But she didn't turn around. She just continued to stomp on down the path, past the clearing, over the opposite bridge, and off towards the houses. Frank called her name again as he took one last hit but he dropped the blunt and as he stood up to get it, he actually smothered it out and tumbled backwards onto the bench again, his butt smacking hard against it. He palmed himself on the forehead as he let out a frustrated groan.

What had he done?

[Time Elapse]

When Frank woke up again, his face was lying on something soft and comfortable.

Where was he?

His eyes snapped open and the room began to spin before he focused and realized he was in his own room. And he was on his own bed, in nothing but his boxer briefs and socks. He groaned out loud before realizing it wasn't the alarm clock that woke him up, it was actually the bad dream he was having. But now that he was awake, he couldn't remember any of it.

The clock read 5:55 and that's when Frank realized that it was still dark out. And he was awake? How did he even get home? And then it hit him.

Allison. At the park. The fight. The weed.

Frank groaned out loud. He was such an idiot! He knew Allison hated that he smoke weed, but she only allowed it when Gerard and the guys came to Long Island. But for him to just pull it out at the park, in broad daylight nonetheless, and just light it up was out of control. And the things he said to her, after she just fought with both of her parents, were not the things she needed to hear. Frank also had let her walk off; he didn't follow her because he was too high off of his ass.

Frank groaned before looking back at the clock again as it read exactly 6:00. Now what was he supposed to do for an hour? He usually didn't wake up until 7:00. And no one trusted him with cooking of any kind. He sighed and stumbled out of the bed, his feet dragging along the floor as he approached the closet.

This was how it was going to go: He was going to spend an hour getting dressed for school and eating. He'd show Allison that the guy she saw yesterday wasn't who he was at all, that he was better than that and that he could be the good guy she deserved.

The young boy pulled out a blue and black striped polo with a white collar, something he would never wear and he didn't even know he owned it, and some tight black jeans. He settled on a studded belt and grabbed a new pair of boxer briefs and threw open his door and entered the hallway.

It was still dark in his house so he quietly crept into the bathroom, barely able to maneuver into the room as he slipped the door closed, his feet smacking against the cold linoleum. He flicked on the light and put his clothes down on the counter and stripped of his shorts and socks, throwing them in the hamper and turned on the tap for the shower, the steaming water pouring from the shower head.

Frank entered the shower and dug his head underneath the water, feeling it slide down his back and eased any stress and pain he was feeling. Showers were probably the most relaxing part of the day for Frank, besides sleeping and obviously, smoking and hanging out with Gerard and the guys. Allison even meditated in the shower standing up, claiming it calmed her nerves.

As Frank thought about his girlfriend once more, he realized something: where did she go last night? Frank was so busy wallowing away in his own self-misery and his stupid high, he didn't even check to see where she went, how she got home. He just let her walk off like that, like she wasn't his girlfriend or anything. Frank grunted angrily and stared daggers into the walls of the shower. He was so mad at himself, what the hell was wrong with him?

Time passed and Frank eventually washed his hair, lathered and rinsed and repeated a couple times before he finally got out and dried his body. After slipping on his clothes, he stood in front of the mirror and gazed at himself.

Eyes? Check. Nose? Still there. Lips? Plump and intact. Ears? Yes, got two of them. And then there's the hair....

Frank dug inside the drawer next to the sink for a brush and a comb. He found a matching black and silver set and closed it before slowly combing through his brown locks. He hated his hair, it was always in his face and thin yet thick at the same time. At times, he felt like it was too long and he didn't appreciate how it tickled his ears. After brushing it he tried to style it in the best way possible, to make himself look more presentable then he usually did.

He had a girl to win back.

Frank stared at his face once he was finished. His eyes were this really funky color. They were like, green mixed with this dull brown. His mothers changed colors and unfortunately for Frank, his did too. This particular morning they were green but later, they would probably be brown and then both. Above his eyes were his eyebrows. Frank hated his eyebrows too. They had this womanly shape to them, almost like he got them professionally done but he really hadn't done a thing to them. And his lips. His lips were red, a very define brick looking red and thin.

Why did Allison even date him? He wasn't cute; his nose had that refined Italian shape so that was probably the least weird thing on his entire face. How could she even stand to look at him? Why was she even going out with him? He did drugs, he drank, he was short, he wasn't all that attractive and sometimes, he really treated her like crap and he also got her involved with his shitty life.

Why did she put up with him?

Frank sighed and grabbed for his toothbrush.

----

When Frank got outside, it was now bright and cheery, with birds chirping and the usual outside noise going on. But inside Frank, he was a mess.

He was so nervous for Allison to see him. Would she even show up? Would she still get in the car? Would they talk? Was she still mad? Frank wasn't sure what to do and now he was unsure about his outfit. Maybe it was too much, or maybe he didn't try hard enough.

As he approached the car, his mother finally stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her. She had come downstairs late, again, so this was her first time looking at her son.

She gave him a once over and then looked at the car again, muttering, "You look nice."

Frank shrugged and gave her a simple 'thanks', filing into the back of the car as he put his messenger bag on the floor of the vehicle and looked towards Allison's house. From the outside, it looked like no one was even home. The curtains weren't even open; the door wasn't open like it usually was. It was almost like a ghost house.

Mrs. Iero turned the car on and fiddled through the radio to find a station before turning around in her seat and stared directly at Frank, "Where's Allison?"

Franks heart dropped. He didn't know, and he was supposed to know. What if something happened to her? What if she didn't make it home last night? What if her parents kicked her out, or worse - what if her parents did what his dad did to him?

"I don't know," he replied simply.

Mrs. Iero took that answer and turned around, adding, "She's going to make us late."

Frank scoffed at his mother. Allison was going to make them late? What about when she came down the stairs five seconds ago from waking up a minute ago? Exactly. Frank exhaled air and looked back at Allison's house, as it remained motionless. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and hid it behind the seat, opening up a new text message to send to her.

"Finally," Mrs. Iero grumbled and she put the car into drive as the door to the right of Frank opened and Allison came inside.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized sadly, looking at Mrs. Iero directly, which caused Frank to frown. "I overslept."

"It's okay dear," Mrs. Iero said kindly and Frank rolled his eyes.

Hypocrite.

As they sped off, Frank watched out of the corner of his eye as Allison plugged in her headphones and selected a song, then taking out her cell phone. Great, so she wasn't talking to him. She was still mad. And she didn't even look at him, didn't even notice his change in clothes.

Franks phone buzzed suddenly from his lap and he looked at the screen.

Whats with the getup?

He looked over at Allison but she was looking out the window.

It's for you, he sent back.

I c. Did i say to dress up 2day?, Allison sent in reply.

No it was my own idea. Look I'm sorry about yesterday.

It's fine, she sent back.

No I really am. I shouldn't have said those things to you or started smoking and I should've followed you so we could talk.

It's fine frank. Can we just forget about it?

Where'd u go after?

Peters. I needed someone 2 talk 2.

I see.

Frank snapped the phone shut as he watched Allison reach for her phone and he grabbed her hand. He laced his fingers in between hers and squeezed it tight, looking down at the floor of the car. He could feel Allison smile at him and the muscles in his lips twitched before he looked up and returned it.