The Cruise of Love

He's Blown Away By You

I give Joey the nod of appreciation for stepping in to defend me. I cringe when Danny tells about my taunting him of touching Frankie's breasts, yeah, bad call on my behalf, for sure. I say so, to them all. Jon steps in now and I can tell he's seething with Danny. I need to interject and try to reassure him that I'm okay which I am, mostly. Although I'm certain I'll have a bleeding headache later on. Me and Jon have always been able to understand each other's feelings and body language so he knows that I know I've messed up and I'm holding myself accountable, to a certain extent.

Anyway it's a few hours later and I'm at the Lido deck party. It's the tv show theme. I want to try to keep my word to Danny by keeping my distance from Frankie. Thankfully, I haven't seen her or her friend yet. I even stay away from Danny unless we have to do something fan related.
Oh oh, in my peripheral I see Frankie walking towards me. Her facial expression is of shock. "Jordan, what happened to your face?" Crap, what do I say?! "I pushed someone's buttons and he decked me. No biggie." I hear her friend, Lana, snigger in response. "Frankie, that guy has some serious issues. Maybe you should get to know Jordan instead?" My brow quirks up in surprise at hearing Lana say this to Frankie, right in front of me. To say I feel awkward is an understatement. "Erm ladies, I'm no angel, believe me. I deserved this. He's a good guy, really. I know that he really likes you." Anger crosses her face, I dare not look but I can only guess she's seen Danny. "Are you in pain, Jordan?" I wince as she softly touches the bruising. "Please don't stay mad at him, Frankie. I've been a dickhead and he just retaliated. At least talk to him?" She sighs. "There's never an excuse for violence. Well he was a dick to me. He didn't even ask what happened and he hurt my arm. He just runs off the deep end with everything and I don't know, really don't know. But you know him better than I do. I guess I can trust your judgment about him. Even though he's made a horrible mess of your face, you're still being really kind about him. I'm sorry that he did this to you, Jordan." - "Frankie, there's no need for you to say sorry. I appreciate your kindness towards me. These (pointing to my face) will heal, but I would hate for things to finish between you both before you even start anything because of me. If there's just one thing I need you to do is just hear him out. I trust that he is sorry to you. It's been a long time since he has liked anyone and I think he's just blown away by you. I should get going, okay but take care." I plead before I walk away. I don't want to give Danny any more ammunition against me.

Once I'm at a distance away from Frankie and Lana, I spin around on the spot, and I watch as Lana envelopes her into a hug. I'm guessing Frankie is upset. A part of me wants to show her some comfort but at least she's got her friend with her. I don't like to see a girl cry because of us guys, if it was my sister in the same boat, I'd want to comfort her too by giving her a hug and telling her everything will be alright. Instead, I run my hands through my hair and sigh. A fan comes over to me, perhaps a little tipsy. She goes to hug me so I just place my arm around her shoulder and let her take a selfie of the two of us. Several fans greet me and they help me take my mind off everything that has happened this afternoon and thankfully, a part from a few second glances at my face, I think I've managed to hide the injuries. It helps with it being sunny so I've been able to wear my sunglasses.

Walking closer to the stage area, I notice Danny, Frankie and Lana talking. "I'm only here because I've been told that he's been a dickhead and this one yapping in my ear to give you the chance to explain yourself." I hear Frankie saying to Danny, loudly and clearly so he can hear her. She looks towards me, hopeful that I'll intervene or something but I just nod, to let her know that I've acknowledged what she's said is true. Then I carry on walking onto the stage. I aim for the opposite side of the stage to be away from Danny and Frankie, they need the space to get through their issues. My facial injuries are starting to hurt properly now, and I can't wait to get something on it to ease the swelling and pain.

Later on that night, I'm in a room on the Lido deck tending to the injuries on my face as the others are slowly closing the party. I'd already said goodnight to the fans so it was okay for me to disappear inside, just out of view.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, J?" I don't respond straight away as I contemplate my thoughts. I spin round to face Danny. "Oh, now you want to talk to me?" I try to stifle myself from laughing. "I'm gonna be straight here Danny. Yes, I'm ashamed of pushing your buttons by saying the things that I said and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry about that. But. I'm not going to apologise for trying to get you to realise how much you like Frankie and that you need to do better. You hurt her arm and caused her to cry. When I heard that you didn't even ask her what happened, you just went straight hard on her. That's bang out of order, Danny. I can take you doing this (pointing to my face) to me but I can't let you not realise your mistakes too." He goes quiet. He runs his hand through his hair and curses to himself. "Did I really hurt her?" His eyes soften. "Yes. Her arm has marks from where you grabbed hold of her." He curses out loud. "I'm sorry, Jordan. Got a lot of making up to do. Don't even know where to begin." He mutters. "You've said the other day that she doesn't like being put on the spot so do something special that she'll appreciate." He nods. "Thanks, J. Again, I'm sorry." - "just make sure you start to listen and ask before you assume anything. But we all mess up as we both know. Let's just try and move on." I go to shake hands with him which he does.

I watch him as he goes back outside onto the deck. Before I head back to my cabin, I swallow some pills to help me with the pain and have a drink.