Eternally Yours - Frerard -

12.

Frank's POV

I wake up in the morning and see that Gerard had already left for work, so I get my things together and head out.

I was opening the store this morning at 10, and Adam was scheduled to come in at 1 to get ready for Kellin's interview.

I was, however, starting to question if I made the right move. I mean, I was the one who told Gerard that we couldn't get too close to them, but yet I was the one who gave Kellin a job opportunity, meaning I would be surrounded by him pretty much all the time.

But then again, was I thinking into it too much?

I have no proof that Kellin and Vic are working for Bert. I have absolutely nothing. But there's just something about them that rubs me the wrong way. I just have a gut feeling that they're hiding something.

But, then again, maybe working with Kellin will give me some information about them that I don't already know. Maybe he'll slip up and reveal something personal.

I really hope he does. Because I'd be lying right to your face if I told you that I wasn't curious.

-

Once I arrived at the store, I used my key to get in, and then I started my opening routine.

I turned on all of the lights and started up our computer. I then walked around to make sure that there wasn't any trash in here that could've been left by somebody the night before.

I then went through the pile of vinyl's and CD's that were sold to us.

We were a resale shop, but we also got shipments of new records as well. So, I went through the CD's and vinyl's that people had sold to us recently, and recorded them into our computer. I then put a price tag on them, and then sorted them onto our shelves.

Once I was done with that, I checked the time and saw that it was close to 10.

I turned on our open sign and sat down behind the counter, pulling out my phone. We didn't really get customers before 3 PM, usually, so opening shifts were pretty boring.

-

At around one Adam showed up tp start getting ready for Kellin's interview, and I could tell that he was nervous about it.

"Dude, Adam, why're you so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous Frank." Adam states with a stone cold face, almost as if he's trying not to show any emotion at all.

"Hey Adam, you know that you're still human, right?" I ask him, and he looks at me with a confused glance.

"I know that you're the manager, and you're supposed to be professional, but that doesn't mean that you can't show emotion."

"You don't know what you're talking about Frank." Adam says, but I see right through it.

"If you're nervous about the interview, don't be. Kellin's not going to judge you, if that's a worry that you have. I know it's been a while since you last interviewed someone, but Kellin is not going to make fun of you. And no matter what you say to him, I guarantee you that he will still take the job." I reassure him.

Adam doesn't talk about it often, but he suffers from anxiety. He told me about it one time when someone that used to bully him in High School came into the shop. He had started hyperventilating and he practically ran to the back of the store.

It was that day when he told me that he was not a normal manager. He told me all about his anxiety, but he told me not to tell Ray.

I told him that his secret was safe with me, and to this day it still is.

So, whenever he starts to close himself off, I know what's happening. I know that in his mind, if he shows no emotion at all, his anxiety will go away too.

But, I know that it doesn't work. It only makes it worse, more times than not.

He looks at me, and for a little bit he doesn't speak.

A simple "Thank you" is what breaks the silence, but I didn't mind. I know that even saying that was hard for him.

As it got closer to 2, I reminded Adam once again that Kellin was not going to judge him, and was not going to hurt him. I could tell that he was still nervous, but at least he wasn't closing himself off.

Kellin strolled through the door at 1:50 and I greeted him with a smile.

"Hey Kell, this is Adam, the manager." I introduce him.

"Hey." Kellin says.

"Alright, so if you could follow me into the back room, I'm just gonna ask some basic interview questions." Adam says, and Kellin nods.

"Sure."

"Good luck you two." I say teasingly. Adam gives me a death glare whereas Kellin just laughs.

They both to the back room and I'm once again alone, simply pulling out my phone while I waited.

-

About 15 minutes later they both come back out to the front, and Kellin has a smile on his face.

"Well, Kellin, you're definitely hired. I'll put you on the next schedule and make sure to email it to you, so I'll see you then." Adam says, making sure that I could hear them.

"That's great! Thank you so much for hiring me, Adam, I can promise you that you won't regret it." Kellin thanks him.

"Of course Kellin, you're a good person. I can just tell." Adam says, and I frown.

He can 'just tell?' What does that mean?

He can 'just tell' that Kellin is a good person, but for some reason, my gut is telling me something different? Fuck, which one of us is right?

"Bye Kellin, see you on your first shift." Adam says.

"Bye." Kellin responds, and walks up to the counter while I'm sitting.

"Frank, dude. Thank you so much for this, honestly." He says.

"Oh, it's no problem. Anything for a friend." I say, but I cringe as the words leave my mouth.

Friend? Can I even call him that?

"Still, thanks man. I'll see you around, yeah?" He asks, and for a second I'm too busy thinking to respond.

"Yeah. See you around."

And that's the last thing that I say before he leaves.