Frankly, I Don't Love You.

What is the definition of a date? I couldn’t help but consult the dictionary in my mind which said that it was a romantic engagement with someone. Is that what I had with tonight with Frank and his not so successful picnic? Don’t get me wrong, the idea was wonderful, but just not exactly though out thoroughly.

All throughout the ride from the park to Frank’s house, I wondered if we would finally be together, or if we would just stay platonic, which was honestly what I did not want. Judging by what Frank did tonight, I assumed he didn’t want to stay how we were, or maybe he was just being nice and I was looking too much into the situation. I hoped to whoever was out there, some being above, that he was looking for something and not just sending mixed signals about being just friends again.

There were no lights on when we pulled into his driveway, which made sense since his mum usually worked at night. I looked outside and saw that there was a slight breeze again and realized I hadn’t brought anything very warm. For the second time in a month, Frank offered me his hoodie while he went outside to brace the cold. I took in the scent of his sweater and was automatically in heaven, somehow. I grabbed the Chinese food while frank got the heap of blankets out from the trunk. I felt at home as soon as we stepped into the house, with its immense warmth that contrasted the bitter cold outside. I walked towards the kitchen to heat up the food while Frank went to put some of the blankets away.

“There are some extra blankets in the living room just in case you’re not warm enough,” Frank said from behind me, which startled me, no matter how soothing his voice seemed at the moment. I turned around and saw the he was holding.

“Okay, there’s just one more little container left with the sweet and sour tofu to heat up,” I replied smiling at him as I opened the small container and set it in the microwave for it to warm up.

“Here, let me help you with all that,” he said referring to the little containers of food on the counter that were emitting small puffs of steam, still piping hot.

“Okay, go ahead and get those while I wait for this one to finish heating up,” I said, surprising myself at how calm I was. I waited for what seemed too long for the last little box with the red symbol on it to finish cooking up. Finally, I got the drinks, coke, out of the refrigerator and made my way to the living room.

I walked into the living room trying to carry a very hot little box of food and two cokes. I had both hot and cold in my hands, and needless to say, it did not feel nice. I saw Frank sitting on a small cushion near the coffee table with a pair of chopsticks in his hands and one of the containers open in front of him. He kept looking from the container to the chopsticks in utter bewilderment to how eating with them could be achieved.

“Having trouble there Frankenstein?” I asked as I plopped down next to him.

“Yes, these things are so confusing, I don’t get them!” he groaned in utter frustration, which I found simply adorable, and couldn’t help suppress a giggle, “What? Do you think my sheer frustration is amusing?”

“No, I find it cute, actually,” I replied, blushing as I looked at him. I looked away to hide my blush but not fast enough.

“Really? So is A.J. Watson finally admitting that she thinks Frank Iero is sexy?” he smirked

“And cue the cuteness lost,” I grinned. I reached over the table and got the other pair of chopsticks and a random little box of food. I didn’t care what it was as long it was food I actually could eat. I opened the box to find it was just fried rice. I shrugged at the food and began eating it while Frank continued to struggle with his beside me.

“How can you eat with chopsticks so easily?” he questioned.

“I’m not exactly sure, actually. I could try to show you though,” I offered and he nodded immediately, “The trick is to have a good grip on the bottom one, and keep that one still. Then you can get the food with the top one easily.”

I demonstrated as I took hold of his hand and placed the chopsticks in his hands and helped him grasp some of the tofu from the container he was eating out of. He now had the hang of it, so I let go of his hand to allow him to eat. Frank apparently didn’t want me to let him eat since he got my hand and held it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I could feel tingly feeling in my hand the second he took it and couldn’t help but smile at him. He sat there with his goofy grin eating his tofu. I don’t know if it was just the atmosphere around us, or the food that led me to raid Frank’s movie collection until I found what I was looking for, Mulan.

He didn’t seem to mind the movie, which was good considering it was my new favorite. The comfort of the cushions did not seem to last long which moved us both to the couch covered in blankets. Now with our food supply dwindled, there was nothing else that could stop him from holding both of my hands as we sat within close proximity of each other watching a movie. About halfway into the movie, I was getting a bit tired so I adjusted myself to fit closely on his chest, snuggled up to him. A couple of months ago I would have found this situation completely repulsive but now I liked it, a lot. Frank didn’t mind our current position either, which made me feel at ease. I just had to ask him though, in order to focus, I had to know.

“Frank?” I asked looking up at him.

“Yes?” he responded tearing his eyes away from the television to look down at me.

“Was tonight supposed to be a date?”

“I’d like to think it was, why?”

“Just wondering and because I think it was perfect, even the part where you forgot that picnics are usually for summer days and not winter nights,” I giggled up at him.

“I can now say that I have learned my lesson,” he laughed too, then paused to say, “Oh wait! I forgot our fortune cookies; they came all the way from China!” He helped me off of him and left the room only to come back less than a minute later with two cookies in his hand.

“Uh, Frank? Fortune cookies are manufactured here in the United States,” I replied rolling my eyes as he handed me one.

“I knew that! What does yours say?”

“It says, Love will find you in unexpected places. What does yours say?”

“Mine says Will you be my… Oh shoot, I mixed them up, damn it,” he sighed. Curious I took the small piece of paper from him and looked for myself. Will you be my girlfriend. Wait, he was actually asking me? I looked at him in astonishment.

“This fortune was for me?” I sputtered.

“Yeah, but I forgot which one was which so they ended mixing up,” he explained.

“It’s still very sweet though,” I said, giving him a hug.

“So you’re saying yes?”

“Of course I am, did you really think we could just stay friends after you did all of this? Besides, I like you too much.”

“Yes!” he grinned then tackled me with a hug.