I am not afraid

7.

"Hey"

The noise stirs my brain into action and I grumble clutching tighter to my bed sheets and burying myself further under them. I hate waking up, it means I have to make it through another day.

"I know you're awake, I can tell Gee"

Frank? That nickname again too...well it's only right that he gets to give me one since I insisted on giving him one, isn't it?

"No, I'm not awake. I'll be awake later" I grumble in reply although my voice is too unnaturally high to pull off a grumble and it comes out as more of a childish whine.

"That may be so, but I've gotta get going. It's almost seven in the morning I'm sure your Ma will be in to wake you up soon, I can't be here when she does"

I groan and turn to look at him "soon, meaning not right now" I point out hoping it'll change his mind, I also change the subject hoping I'll distract him "you have a lot of tattoos"

He chuckles "well spotted"

"Why?"

He shrugs "it's one of the best ways to be expressive, all of these are mine and no one else's so it makes me different. You could pick me out in a crowd of people easily couldn't you?" He questions.

Come to think of it, yeah I could. There is no one else quite like him, he's definitely one of a kind.

I nod and poke his chest in almost the exact centre of his tattoo "doesn't it hurt?"

He shrugs "you gotta go through pain for the thing you love most".

Well, that's the simplest yet most profound answer I've ever heard from anyone. It's beautiful really how he's able to turn a stupid question into something so meaningful, he turns my awkwardness into something useful, into something that matters.

"I've gotta go alright? I mean, I have school today. You could pick me up later if you want and we can do something more extracurricular than me sneaking into your room?" He suggests getting out of bed and pulling on his grey tank that he threw on the floor last night. He puts the DVDs back in his bag and hitches it over his shoulder.

"You gonna give me a hug goodbye?" He asks raising his eyebrows.

I can't help but get out of bed as quick as my body will physically allow, almost stumbling over in the process but being steadied by Frank's strong arms. He almost instantly pulls me into a hug and when he lets me go he smiles a slight one sided smile.

"you gonna kiss my cheek? Thank me for a great evening?"

The cheeky little...

Still, I'm not going to turn it down. He turns his cheek to me and I lean in preparing to kiss the soft pale skin when he suddenly turns and catches my jaw with his hand, crushing his lips to mine.

It takes me a moment to kiss him back but as soon as my brain finally registers what's happening he pulls away with an amused grin. He gently traces my cheek with his finger and tilts his head looking me over.

"I'm sorry for scaring you" he tells me before turning around and hauling himself out of my window, disappearing out of sight.

I'm wondering at this point exactly what he means when all of a sudden, it clicks in my head. He didn't come to my house when he said and he made me worry, that's what he apologised for. It's sweet really, unnecessary and most likely a way of getting around the fact he just tricked me into kissing him, but sweet none the less.

He's cheeky, unpredictable. I've definitely got to have my wits about me when he's around.

Instead of dwelling on the fact his lips have touched mine for the second time in the short period I've known him, I get back into bed and snuggle down into my thick quilt. It smells a little like him, like his aftershave mostly but it's him still, it's comforting. Not as much as him being here physically but comforting enough to help me avoid being anxious, it keeps my heart rate at a stable, average pace.