Smiles Echo In My Memory

I opened up Frank’s bedroom door, to see him sitting up in bed, smoking a cigarette.
“Sazzy?” he asked out loud, craning his neck to see the door.
“Yeah, it’s me Frankie,” I answered, smiling and shutting the door quietly behind me.
“What took you so long?”
I stayed quiet for a while, unsure what to say. I mean, I couldn’t just blurt out
“I-was-drinking-because-I-was-really-upset-and-then-Charley-found-me-and-then-he-tried-to-make-me-feel-better-but-then-he-kissed-me”, could I? I must’ve been thinking for ages, because Frank gave me a funny look.
“Sazzy? Are you okay…?”
“Huh? What… Oh, yeah,” I said, confused and a little apprehensive. He didn’t say anything for a while, just sat there and carried on smoking.
“…What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem to be nothing,” he stated, stubbing out his cigarette in his ashtray. He sighed. Everyone seems to be doing that a lot lately. He stretched out his arms, looking me in the eyes. I obediently made my way towards the bed where he was sat, feeling his arms wrap around me as my hands rested on the nape of his neck. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever. I was sitting in his lap (and probably squishing the life out of him), while he had his arms draped around my waist, his hands occasionally running themselves through my hair.
“Frank?”
“Hmm?”
“I want to sleep,” I whispered into his ear, and he chuckled softly.
“Go get dressed, then,” I got up off him, grabbing a pair of clean boxers and a random tee to sleep in, before walking out into the bathroom. I changed into the clothes, and I didn’t bother wiping off my make-up; it was all practically off because of my crying anyways. When I got back into Franks’ room, he was lying on one side of the bed, smoking another cigarette.
“Why are you smoking so many?” I asked, climbing under the covers and laying next to him.
“I don’t know,”
He finished his cigarette, leaning over me to put it out. Instead of lying back down next to me, he just hovered above me, a smirk playing on his face.
“…What?” I said, a smile playing on my lips. His grin just got bigger, before he leaned down, our noses touching. I leaned up slightly, our lips brushing together. I let my head drop back to the pillow, smirking. Frank’s eyes widened, a groan escaping his mouth.
“You fucking tease!”
I laughed, placing my hands on the nape of his neck again. I pulled him forward, crashing his lips against my own. I felt his warm hands against the skin of my stomach, stroking the sides of my body. They traveled up and down the sides of my body, finally resting just under my bra. I pulled away from him, my hands on his forearms.
“Frank…”
“Sorry… I guess I got carried away…” he mumbled sheepishly, removing his hands and cupping my face.

I felt kinda guilty, but I was always brought up in a really respectful manner. My mother taught me and my sisters that we shouldn’t be doing anything with the opposite sex that would lead to things that she would class as adultery. We were told while growing up that you shouldn’t have boyfriends – it caused hurt feelings and ‘stupid behavior’. Don’t get me wrong – we were brought up well, but some of our upbringing just didn’t make much sense, and was very old fashioned. For instance, our family didn’t believe that people should have sex before marriage, and that you should really marry someone of your parent’s choice. Of course, my mother would never really pressure me and my sisters into an arranged marriage – hers didn’t exactly turn out well. She divorced my father after 32 years of marriage. She was miserable for all those years. Although, having said that, my oldest sister Shine had an arranged marriage, and it wasn’t exactly better than my mother’s marriage with my father. But that’s a completely different story.

Frank knew all that, and respected my views on it. Obviously, I was a little rebellious, and did have boyfriends and stuff – but I did want to respect my body and not make any rash decisions. I’ve always said that I’d give away my virginity to someone I love. Frank and I weren’t really there yet – we’d only been together for around just under a month.

He pecked me on the lips, smiling slightly and laid down properly next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist
“Go to sleep now, sugar,” I heard Frank whisper into my ear, before kissing me on the forehead. My eyes almost immediately dropped shut, and I fell into a deep peaceful sleep.