Soap

Grabesstille II

For more information check chapter 4

I knew I had to face Frank again sooner or later.
Only I wished for it to be later rather than sooner.
But now that I was standing in front of his door, key in hand, there was no turning back again.

I had played through every possible outcome of this day in my head so this time there would be no surprises.

In the best case this would be over in a couple of minutes. I would tell him about the deleted evidence and thank him for everything before turning around and leaving him alone for good. He would just let me go and not say a word.
Worst case would be him yelling at me like there's no tomorrow.
Now that didn't seem like the end of the world but I knew how bad it would hurt considering I was still helplessly in love with him.

I took a few deep breaths and put the key into the lock. It took me three attempts because my fingers were shaking so hard.
I could have used the keypad but the sound the buttons made when you pressed them made me nervous. They were too loud.

I was afraid for no reason at all. He wouldn't kill me even though he probably could.
He wouldn't want to risk another lawsuit.
I had just always been the type of guy to avoid conflict instead of talking it out.

I opened the door and was met with the sound of a football game echoing through the hallway.
Frank was sitting in the living room, his back facing me as he watched a game on his TV.

I slowly approached him from behind and opened my mouth to greet him but the words were stuck in my throat.
I took another deep breath, thinking that he didn't know I was standing there but suddenly Frank turned his head a bit to the side and said:
"Are you here to get me arrested?"

His voice was cold like ice and sent a shiver down my spine.

"N-...", my voice broke while speaking so I cleared my throat and tried again.
"No, I am not"

"You wouldn't be able to drag me out of here all by yourself anyway.", he said, "I thought you were going to bring the cops"

"I wouldn't do that", I quickly answered.
Frank exhaled loudly, turned back to the TV and took the remote off the cushion next to him. He pointed it toward the screen and turned it off.
The screams of the football fans were cut off and silence filled the air between us.
Now he turned to the side again, one leg crossing onto the couch so he could fully face me this time

"Are you sure about that? Because as far as I remember you said-"

"Hayland called me", i burst out, interrupting him in the process.
Frank quickly closed his mouth but didn't seem surprised about what I had just told him.

"Oh, did he now?", he asked and raised one eyebrow while still looking at me with nothing in his eyes. I couldn't read him and this time it was worse than the times before.

"He did", I awkwardly said, "apparently somebody sent him pictures of the sketches I did for umbrella academy and he wants to publish my comic."

"Well then you should be very grateful for who ever sent him those pictures"

"I am. Thank you, Frank"

"I never said it was me."

"You're the only person to ever see my sketchbook. Nobody else could have done it."

"Then I suppose I should say 'you're welcome' now."

Again the room was filled with silence and I felt uncomfortable standing in the middle of the living room with Frank sitting there in this weird position.