If You Were Here, I'd Never Have a Fear

Frank stood in front of his apartment building thinking of all the things being home from tour meant, seeing his family, friends, dog and other loved ones, living alone, in his own living space, with no Mikey picking the movie he watched, or Bob playing donkey kong all night, no him and Gerard having countless coffee outings, or sitting up late with Ray, discussing intricate guitar parts until 6am. His heart dropped for a moment as he realised all these things, his fingers cold from freezing November Jersey air.

He pulled his bags up the steps and to the familiar entrance to the building. He'd purchased himself an apartment a few months after his band started getting big, he'd decided it'd be a sensible option, not having to pay rent month after month on the road, or staying with his mother when he was home from tour, there was no real problem with him staying with his mother, he was more seriously considering his reputation, what kind of rock-star lives with his mother at 25?

Frank leant against the wall of the elevator as it creaked towards his floor, staring at himself deeply in one of the mirrored walls. He noted the fact he looked tired, red, bloodshot eyes, pale dry skin, he was in need of a good bath too, something he genuinely looked forward to about coming home. The elevator snapped him out of his train of thought with a loud buzz, signalling his floor.

He stepped out, taking in the familiar smell his floor always gave him and took the few steps to his door. For a moment he took note of the 23 in silver metal numbers pressed into his door, he glanced over his shoulder towards the 24 across the hall, should I knock? He contemplated, just let her knoa I got home safe? He shook the thoughts from his head, it was early, she hated early.

The door to his apartment opened with the simple turn of his keys and he slowly stepped inside taking a look around. Pretty much exactly the same. A few things had moved, cushions, a few socks on the floor, most probably a result of his dog, a pile of unopened letters on the countertop, he would get to them after he'd got a little more sleep.

His thick red parka coat was removed at the door, also removing a hoodie, both articles He hung on a rack behind his front door. He dropped his keys into the bowl on the counter and listened to the sound of four fat footsteps plodding their way into the room and cheered as his dog, sweetpea made her grand entrance.

They each rushed towards another, like a child absent of a parent for a long period of time. Frank lifted the dog into his arms and snuggled her for a few long moments, whispering tales of how much he'd missed his companion during his time away, taking in one of the main things he'd missed about home.
He placed himself down onto his sofa, resting the dog in his lap, slightly confused as to why she jumped down almost immediately and after a few moments of staring in wait at Frank, she plodded off back to his bedroom.
He sat slightly bewildered for a moment and began to untie the laces of his heavy winter Dr. Martin boots, leaving them in front of his spot on the sofa as he stood, sliding off his jeans too, he was home, he was ready to curl up and sleep for many many hours. He threw his jeans lazily onto the sofa and followed the dog into his bedroom.

He froze at the door, everything was the same as usual, relatively untidy, but also equally organized. A few framed posters on the walls, his guitar collection almost completely covering one wall. The dark blue curtains hanging slightly ajar, letting a small amount of winter sunlight spill into the room and across the bed, where a shape lay in the centre curled up under his duvet. He studied the body from a distance at first, slight apprehension running through his mind, unsure exactly what lay in front of him in his current state of exhaustion. Could this be a body dumped by some kind of mob-style gangster? No, he thought a moment later, the room smelled too life-scented for that. Was it some kind of ex-girlfriend who'd snuk into his bedroom and set up camp whilst he was away? He shook this thought from his head too, no way any ex-girlfriend of his could even consider how to pick a lock, let alone the two they'd need to crack to get into first, his building, then secondly his actual apartment itself.

He moved closer to the bed, placing himself down just next to the figure, slowly he lifted the covers back just enough to catch sigh of pink hair and he let out a sign of relief.

He watched as the girl breathed slowly, eyes shut tight. He knew from the years he'd known the beautiful girl fast asleep in his bed that she was always a fairly heavy sleeper, but often woke by the strangest things. Not Frank slamming his apartment door on entering, or the sounds on his greeting with the lazy dog curled up at the girls feet, nor the motion of Frank pulling the duvet off shakily, checking who lay beneath, no, Frank woke her simple by his presence as he grew closer to her, stroking her pink hair lightly.
It had been bright pink when he'd left four months prior, he'd heard through their irregular phone conversations whilst he'd been away that she'd been slowly changing to a light, more pastel pink, now as he ran his fingers through the stunning cotton-candy locks, he studied the colour intently.

She let out a long murmur from beneath him, he watched as she faught her urge to awaken and nuzled her head further into Frank's hand as she slept. A bright smile broke out across his face as he continued his motion of stoking her scalp until her eyes slowly fluttered open, just for a second, before tightly closing again,
"Ivy?" He spoke softly, running his fingers from her head to her cheek.

She continued motionless for a short while before fluttering her eyes open once more. She looked around the room for a moment, trying to take note of where exactly she was, before her eyes focused on Frank, their eyes connected in one long moment before he uttered an almost shy "hi" in her direction.

She smiled back to him in a comforting and warm kind of way, Frank watched in her eyes as she then realised what exactly was happening. She jumped up quickly, half pulling herself out of her sleeping position, briefly exposing to Frank the fact that she was dressed in only a large black flag shirt with pajama shorts underneath.

"Frank, I'm sorry to just kinda- you know- be asleep in your bed like this... " she spoke quickly, obviously unsure as to how to explain herself "I know this is probably a bit random, I hope I didn't scare you" she rubbed at her eyes still, untangling her hair with the tips of her fingers as she spoke.

"You did a little" Frank laughed running the back of his neck, "how did you end up here?"

She laughed a little at the mild awkwardness of the conversation, "well I took Sweetpea for her walk last nigh," she began, she'd been given the job of taking care of the dog whilst Frank was away, which she did with a strong abundance of care, "and when I got home I realised I hadn't refilled her water, so when I came back across the hall she seemed really sad, you know? Like, lonely?"
Frank laughed a little at this, taking his attention from the sleepy girl in front of him to the dog at the end of the bed, who he gave a few soft strokes before nodding, letting her continue her story, "So I wanted to stay with her for a little while, but I couldn't bring her back with me because of the cats, so I just kinda... Brought her in here, I assumed she missed you, and here smells most like you, we just curled up together and I accidentally fell asleeep, and now we're here"

She met Frank's eyes once more as she finished her story, he gave off a small nod, a smirk plastered across his face, "she missed me?" He questioned mentioning to the snoring dog

Ivy laughed and nodded enthusiastically, "she did! Every time I went to leave she'd let out all these little crying noises, I couldn't leave her like that!" As she spoke she mimicked the dogs cries, causing Frank's face to grow from a smirk, to a wide beaming smile

"So it wasn't at all that you missed me?"

" Ooohh fuck no! " Ivy sung as Frank stated at her curiosly, "why would I do a thing like that?"

"Because I'm the fucking best!" Frank exclaimed, smiling even bigger now, he started to settle himself in under his duvet next to ivy, who simply giggled back to him.

"I'm sorry frank, I should probably go" she began to climb out of his bed but he gently grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her back towards him

" Or you could stay? " His eyes poured into her 's as they sat across from each other, both unsure what to say next, a few moments past before Frank broke the silence "I missed you a lot, you know?"

Ivy moved herself around a little on the bed, reajusting herself with her legs back under the covers, she laughed lightly and raised an eyebrow to him "there's no chance you even had time to miss me"

"I did!" He protested , he stood for a moment and left the room, before returning a few moments later, both hands behind his back, "left or right?"

" Hmmmm, left" He let his tounge click against his teeth and slowly shook his head
"Wrong, right first" he spoke with a shit-eating grim, revealing his right hand from behind his back, within it he held a small wooden object, which he handed over to her with anticipation. She looked deep into his eyes as she took the object, examining it. It was a wooden box of some kind, with a small latch on the front and mechanical cog on the back. She undid the latch and slid open the lid. inside she saw a small balerina, dressed in a purple leotard, she hesitantly began to spin as musical notes played from inside. Ivy found herself captivated by the sound of of the box, automatically finding herself humbing a long to the familiar tune.

"Where did you get this?" where the few words she could muster, tears filled her eyes as the nostalgia washed over her, she tore her eyes from the box back to Frank , reconnecting their deep eye contact.

"West Virginia" He spoke back, within a moment she climbed over the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. He instantly returned the hug cradling her body close to his, before leaning down and whispering into her ear "I'm glad you like it"

She moved back and almost laughed "I never expected you to bring me anything, let alone something so perfect, this is my favourite song"

"I know, that's why I chose it" He stated this sentence sternly with an air of confidence, "you want the other one? "

"Fuck, Frankie" she smiled " You've really gone all out! I can't believe this" he could tell by her tone she spoke with sincerity, Ivy was the kind of person who never expected anything from anyone, she was kinda and caring, but was always sure to not take any shit, which is why Frank had felt the need to treater so kindly.

"Ivy, you deserve it more than anyone, i hope this shows how much you mean to me". With that he places a small velvet bag in her fingers, she slid open the stings and pulled out a small, but delicate singular Crystal necklace.

She ran the stone over her fingers a few times, holding it up to let it catch the light "it's my birth stone" she commented, causing Frank to nod in responce. Frank watched her as she analysed every inch of the necklace, first over the the front of the stone, then running her fingers over the silver chain, before turning the stone over, etched into the silver that held the stone in place were the words 'be mine, Ivy', she stared at Frank for a few moments, he took the piece of jewelrey from her hands and fastened in around her neck, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of her, as his hands fixed the clasp she ran her finger tips across the back of his, her staring at him intently as he concentrated on the clasp.

"I thought about you everyday" he spoke as their eyes met, his hand moved from the necklace to the side of her neck, one of hers resting ontop of his still, whilst the other found its way to rest gently on his cheek. He closed the gap between them, their lips meeting eagerly, they shared this long and passionate moment before diving once more, "I mean it Ivy, be mine?"

She did nothing but simply nod, leaning forward again to kiss him, this time as his.