Sweethearts

Gerard sighed, cringing at the feeling of the nightstand corner digging into his side, and reluctantly rolled over. It had been two days since the horribly awkward, embarrassing date. E hadn’t even opened the shop yesterday, although he had heard noises downstairs that indicated that Frank had done it in his stead. Several times today he had tried to get up and accomplish things, but it would only take a few minutes for him to lose interest and go back to bed.

There was a knock on the door and Gerard rolled back over, glancing at the clock. 8:49. He exhaled slowly and called, “I’m not getting up.”

“Can I come in?”

“If you want.”

“I do.” The doorknob rattled for a minute, then Frank let himself in.

“When did you get a key to my door?” Gerard asked, staring stubbornly up at the ceiling. The lamp by the door clicked on and he turned his head toward the wall.

“I’ve always had one. You gave it to me in case of emergencies, remember?”

“Is this an emergency?”

“I think so. Kris told me what happened at the ice cream place.”

“Oh, God,” Gerard groaned, covering his face with his hands. “It was so embarrassing. Not only did he make me look like an idiot, but Kris agreed with him. Then I couldn’t think of anything else to say and it was just…awful. I just…I really thought it was going to be like…like a fairytale or something.”

“I understand.”

Gerard felt the mattress sink as Frank sat on the edge of the bed. He looked up, but Frank’s body was angled away and Gerard couldn’t see his face. He sat up slightly, finding Frank’s guarded posture strange, and said, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I’m always fine, remember? But…are you going to see her again?”

“I don’t know,” Gerard admitted, leaning back. “She’s just so pretty.”

“So? You said I was pretty.”

“Yeah, but…”

“So what else do you like about her?”

“What?”

Frank sucked in a breath, tilting his head back and repeating, “What else do you like about her?”

“Well…well, I like her hair. Especially when it’s messy. And I like her…her…” Frustrated, Gerard tugged his fingers through his hair, struggling for some concrete way to describe why he liked Kris. Nothing came to him, although he could feel somehow that the answer was obvious. He just couldn’t see what it was. “It’s definitely something. I just can’t figure it out.”

“Then figure this out,” Frank said calmly. “Does she love you like…like she should.”

“How am I supposed to know that? We only had that one bad date.”

“And she didn’t even stand up for you,” Frank concluded, his tone oddly clipped. Gerard looked down at Frank’s hand and found them clenched against his legs.

“Wait, are you upset about that? I mean, it’s not like I expected her to rise to my defense. I should be able to stand up for myself and—”

“But you can’t,” Frank snapped, finally turning to look at him. Gerard gasped – the left side of his face was swollen and dark, a raised spot on his cheek forcing his eye half-closed. He opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but Frank spoke over him, “You can’t defend yourself. You’re too shy, which she would know if she had ever paid any attention at all. You’re shy and you’re always afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings. You need someone to stand up for you when shit like that happens and I wasn’t there to do it.” He paused, pinching his mouth shut and breathing heavily through his nose. Then he added, “But I already took care of that.”

“What did you do?” Gerard asked, nervously wringing the blanket in his hands.

“I went over there and set that guy straight,” he said simply.

“But your face…”

Frank chuckled, his expression softening. “Hey, you should see the other guy.”

Gerard sat up, reaching out and gently brushing his fingers over Frank’s cheek. “You didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, I just…I overreacted.”

“Because it was a big deal to you,” said Frank, lifting his hand and covering Gerard’s. The position felt very intimate and a bit weird to Gerard, sitting there with his hand against Frank’s face. Weird, but not wrong.

“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shut down the past couple of days. I just need to talk to Kris and work everything out.”

“You still don’t know why you’re obsessed with her?” Frank asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“No. I mean…I know it’s something I’m just missing, but…”

“Right,” said Frank, standing up abruptly. “Well, let me know whenever you figure it out, okay?” Then he was across the apartment and out the door, leaving Gerard staring after him, absolutely baffled at his behavior. Whatever was going on with Frank, it obviously had to do with the whole Kris situation. Although the thought of talking to Kris filled him with dread, Gerard reached for the phone and dialed her number.

It rang for a few moments, then a man’s voice said, “Harris residence.”

“Hello, Mr. Harris. I was hoping to talk to Kris.”

“It’s awfully late to be calling, son.”

“I’m sorry. It’s really important.”

A grunt was his response and then there was silence. Gerard waited patiently for a couple of minutes, then some rustling sounds filled the line and Kris’ voice said, “Hello? Gerard?”

“Hi, Kris.”

“Why are you calling so late? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just…I wanted to apologize for the other day. I know it was pretty awkward.”

“I didn’t think so, but I did feel bad for what that guy said to you.”

“Yeah,” said Gerard, his throat constricting. His eyes kept straying to the door, replaying the image of Frank storming out. “Listen, I really need to know what’s going on.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Like…do you like me?”

“Of course I like you. You’re a great guy, Gerard.”

“No, I mean…do you like me?”

“Oh…oh. Um…Gerard, this is really awkward but…” She laughed suddenly and said, “I really thought you were gay.”

Gerard’s jaw went slack, his brain unable to function through the sheer shock of this statement. “I…you…what?”

“I’m sorry, I just thought…you’re always so...I mean, you own a candy store. You decorated it yourself. You never flirt with me. You don’t act like any straight man I know.”

“Then…then what did you think the other day was?”

“I just thought you wanted a friend to go with you. I’m really sorry if I made you think it was a date.”

“It’s okay. I’m just…I’m surprised that you thought that. I’ve really liked you for a long time.”

There was a long, definitely awkward silence and Kris finally said, “Well, I’m with Jason. And I love him. And I’ve never thought of you that way.”

“I understand,” said Gerard, although he didn’t. So what if he decorated his own shop? So what if he was quiet and spent more time with Frank than anyone else. Frank…was this because he thought Frank was pretty? Somehow he thought it was, although he couldn’t remember ever telling Kris about that.

“So then…I guess I should go.”

“Yeah.”

“Goodnight, Gerard.”

“Goodnight.” He heard Kris chuckle again and, against better judgement, asked, “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…maybe I was crazy, but I really always thought you were in love with Frank.” Gerard couldn’t think of anything to say to that and Kris, interpreting his silence as anger, said, “Again, sorry if I’m out of line. Goodnight.”

Click.