Fireworks

Francesca stood in front of the brown door with her hair dripping wet. Cold gripped at her skin while she shivered, her mind not fully digesting the decision she was making. Slowly she brought her knuckles up to the wood and knocked twice. Twisting her hair off her shoulder she wrung out as much water as possible. Small and large drops fell to the carpeted flooring of the beige hallway. Her favorite leather jacket clung to her arms making her feel sticky.

“Frank?” The muffled voice jerked her attention back to the door. A newly woken Tyler Seguin pulled open the door, one eye squinting, the other taking in her appearance. “What the hell happened?”

“Are you going to let me come in or make me go back outside?” Her tone was sharp. Tyler stepped out of the way for her to enter the apartment doused in darkness. She kicked off her shoes and shed her jacket onto a chair in the kitchen. He watched her silhouette move around the furniture with ease, her body disappearing down the hall leading to his bedroom. Locking the door behind him, Tyler rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands.

“What’s going on?” He heard the drawers of his dresser getting slammed and leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed. The brunette was digging aimlessly through his clothes, small rivets of water trailing down her legs. “Frankie.”

“I’m using your shower.” Marshall, the brown lab snoozing at the end of the bed, perked up at the sound of her voice.

“That’s fine,” Tyler answered calmly. Using her hip to shut the drawer she slammed the master bathroom door. She hadn’t looked him in the eye since walking in, hadn’t pet Marshall who sat confused, and Tyler knew something bad had happened.

In the many years he had been around Francesca he learned two things. One, she always went out of her way to help other people. No matter what she was doing or how she was feeling, she always put other people first. In a way he took advantage of that, something he wasn’t necessarily proud of, but he loved her for it. She was the one person he could always count on to be there when everybody else had given up on him. And two, she rarely ever gets mad. She gets frustrated, aggravated, angry, but mad is a whole new level of emotion Tyler still couldn’t put a handle on. She never yells or screams at this stage, it’s a calm fire that makes your skin crawl, and he hated it. He hated seeing the hardness in her normally bright eyes and the way her forehead has this one vein that just pops up out of nowhere. Frankie being mad never ended in butterflies and ice cream.

Crawling back into his bed Tyler listened to the running water in the bathroom. Marshall pushed himself against his leg and Tyler smiled down at the dog. It had been Frankie’s idea to get him, the little lab licking her face endlessly, and Tyler was glad he did. He bent his arm so he could rest his head against it. He tapped his fingers of his free hand on the bare stomach he had worked very hard to keep. His entire body only had 3% body fat. His teammates envied him for it. Frankie always made jokes about it. But Tyler enjoyed being healthy and showing off his body to the world.

Once the water stopped his entire body tensed. He wasn’t sure who was going to come out of the bathroom. She was either still going to be mad or dialed down to angry. He was always uncertain how to talk to her when she got like this. The door opened and she appeared in one of his large t-shirts and a pair of shorts, both swallowing her figure easily. Her hair was tied away from her face and her eyes stared at the floor.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Frankie took a slow breath and shook her head. She left the bedroom with Marshall on her heels. Tyler gave her a few minutes to herself listening to the cupboards open and close, several pots bang together, before he too followed her. Milk, eggs, and bread sat on the island counter top of his now fully illuminated kitchen. She rifled through another cupboard and grabbed some cinnamon. “I didn’t even know I had this stuff.”

“I stocked it up a while back when you were away,” Frankie stated quietly. Marshall was spread out in front of the refrigerator with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. She cracked a few eggs into a bowl pouring a small amount of milk into the mixture. Opening the cinnamon she shook the container until she was satisfied. “Do you want any?”

Tyler was aware she still hadn’t looked him in the eye. “No thanks.”

Twenty minutes passed in silence. He watched her flip the toast in the pan and nibble on a piece already cooked. When she was finished she shut off the burner of the stove and moved the plate to the counter. She put the milk and eggs back into the fridge and dumped the dirty dishes into the sink. Using a fork she stabbed at the pieces of bread. Her eyes shut momentarily and her shoulders lifted, her lungs taking a deep breath.

“Am I unattractive?” Tyler lifted his gaze to the girl now staring at him. Confusion etched his features into a frown.

“No.”

“Am I repulsive?” She took a bite and chewed slowly watching his reactions carefully.

“Not in the slightest,” he answered firmly. She swallowed her food and set the fork down on the counter gently.

“Do I smell bad?”

“Why are you asking me these questions?” He sat up straight on the stool he was perched on with his hands flat on the cold marble countertop. Her body slouched leaning against the island.

“I’m just curious.” She picked the fork up again and pushed the bread around on the plate. “So, hypothetically, if I asked you to have sex, you wouldn’t turn me down?”

“Is this a trick question?” Tyler narrowed his eyes. Frankie chewed on the inside of her cheek looking to him through her lashes. “If this is a tric-“

“It’s not, okay?” The hardness was back in her eyes. “I just want to know if you would sleep with me if I asked you to. Not because I’m your friend but because you find me, attractive.”

“Did someone make you feel this way?” Anger began to roll through Tyler. Never before had Frankie been so insecure about herself. “Did someone hurt you?”

“I,” she rubbed the side of her face. “I went on my fifth date with this guy, Trent.”

“The blonde douche?” Tyler pursed his lips when she glared. “Sorry.”

“And you know my thing, I test the waters before I dive in thanks to Brady Mcfuck.” Tyler nodded so she would continue. “I thought things were going really great with this guy and we had fun together and I basically gave him the green light to do whatever.”

“Then what happened?” He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. Frankie, tired of pretending to eat, shoved the plate away from her and sighed.

“He basically told me thanks but no thanks. He moved me off of him and said he wasn’t interested in something like that.” She muffled a scream into her hands. “I was so mad, kicked out of his place and into the fucking storm. Your apartment was closer than mine and I just, my feet led me here. In the shower though I started thinking maybe it was me. Maybe I’m too pushy, too sexual, not good looking enough to appeal to him.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” She snapped up at his words. “You are going to let some prick asshat make you feel like you’re not appealing? That wanting to have sex with you is bad?” His large hands smacked the counter. “Francesca Nicole Gonzalez.”

“Don’t use my full name, you’re not my mother,” she scowled. Tyler got up from his seat and started back to his room. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to show you how wrong you are.” Marshall stayed on the tiled floor while the brunette stomped after her friend. She marched into the adjoining bathroom glaring daggers.

“You don’t know what it’s like to feel unwanted.” Her arms were crossed over her stomach. “Every girl you ever talk to swoons over your stupid doe eyes and dimpled cheeks.” Tyler stood in front of the mirror, his reflection a harsh contrast from hers. His skin was pale, arms covered by ink and words, while her tanned composition radiated in the lighting.

“It’s not as easy as you think,” Tyler replied softly. Reaching out he moved her body to be directly in front of his. He was almost a foot taller than her, his chin easily coming to rest on to crown of her head. “It would be nice to have a little chase now and then. To have to want something rather than have it handed to you.”

His hands ghosted down her arms before settling on her hips, her back flush to his front. Frankie made a face at him in the mirror. “What are you attempting to do here? Other than crushing my self esteem further down into the hole it’s dug for itself.” She gasped, body suddenly igniting with heat, at the feeling of his lips touching her neck. Their eyes met in the reflection and she could see the smolder he held.

“I’m going to show you why you’re the most beautiful,” his lips kissed her jaw, “sensual,” trailed up the side of her face, “sexual woman I have ever met.” His right hand pushed up the fabric of the shirt to touch the flushed skin underneath. “I want you to know how I see you.”

Frankie pulled her lip between her teeth and nodded slowly.