Battle Scars

Chapter Five

~Francesca's POV~

"Happy fucking birthday" I said to myself in the mirror. My lack of sunlight has taken a toll on me the last couple of months. My skin has paled severely and my hair is hanging limply behind my ears. It has grown back some, but not very quickly and I am thinking that I will treat myself to a cute little spiky cut as a birthday gift.

I have been looking for cheap apartments for the last couple months and I have come up with nothing that is in my price range. So, until I am able to find something, I am stuck here. Unless I move in with my aunt that lives about a thousand miles away, but I hate the beach. When I was little, I would be picked on all the time for being the fat kid in the swimming suit, so I just stopped going. The doorbell rang and I heard Amelia yell that she had it. It was probably Casey coming to get her anyway.The bathroom door was open, so I could hear everything.

"Can I help you?" I heard Amelia ask the mystery person at the door.

"Yes, I am looking for Francesca, is she in?" Wait, I know that voice... but it couldn't be, could it? I stepped out into the hallway to listen a little better.

"What does someone like you, want with someone like her? I can take her place for whatever it is that you need her for, big boy." I could hear her voice getting deeper, trying to be seductive.

"You must be Amelia, I thought I would recognize you by your come on moves and so called sex appeal." I started laughing at him, no one ever talks to her like that, but she deserves it. "Frankie, are you home?" I heard him saying a little louder.

I walked around the corner to the top of the stairs and looked at him in shock. Even in jeans and a t-shirt, he was drop dead gorgeous.

"There you are beautiful, can I talk to you for a moment?" He smiled and I wanted to jump from the top step into his arms, but I decided against making an idiot of myself and decided to walk down the stairs.

I didn't say anything, I just walked past Amelia, whose jaw was on the ground and walked out to the front porch. "Hi" I said when the door was shut and we were face to face.

"Hi, and happy birthday." He said smugly.

"Wait, how did you know it was my birthday?"

He pulled a small purple clutch purse from his pocket and handed it to me. "We found it a while back and I figured that it would give me an excuse to come and see you."

"Are you for real, Bo? No men are like you; other guys would have taken the money that appears to still be here and left the purse on the floor of the woods."

He laughed and brushed a lose hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. "I assure you Frankie, I am very real, and I would be honored if you would let me take you out to lunch. It is your birthday after all."

I just stared up into his dark eyes. This had to be a dream, none of this could be happening right now. There is a god standing before me, asking me out to lunch and I am just standing here like an idiot, not answering his question.

"Well?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh... lunch... um, sure."

He smirked down at me. "You look beautiful the way you are, but I would not suggest pajamas for going to a restaurant."

I looked down at my green pajama bottoms with pink hearts on them and my pink tank top. "You may be correct Bo, let me go and change my clothes. I will only be about 10 minutes, is that okay?"

He leaned in and wrapped his arms around my waist. I was frozen to the spot and couldn't move, even if I wanted to. "I would wait forever for you, Francesca." Then he leaned in and kissed me passionately, it was even better than I remembered his kisses being.