Caraphernelia {Frerard}

c h a p t e r f o u r t e e n

Caraphernelia

f r a n k

Mikey and I did in fact leave exactly ten minutes after Mikey left me to get dressed for wherever we were off to. I had not even been finished with getting ready but I was forced out of the house with my shoes and socks in one hand and my sweater and jacket in the other. I had been rushed down the stairs, Mikey pushing me into the living room to say goodbye to all of the friends he lives with that had been able to put up with me for these months I had been sulking.

Hannah jumped up from the sofa and embraced me first, her friend sending me a smile from the sofa where she was sat crossed legged with Hannah's boyfriend's dog on her lap. Hannah goes onto her tiptoes to hug me, "Good luck, lovely. I'm gonna miss you." Just the words from Hannah seemed to make the smile on my face appear, making me feel as if all the time I had wasted lazing around in the same continuous cycle of sleeping, working and sulking around the house wasn't actually wasted and all that time wasn't as bad as it had seemed at the time.

"You've got my number, alright? Text me if you have to talk or if you're feeling down. Please, Frank. I know it seems like Mikey's throwing you out, but he's hurt, don't take it to heart." Hannah pats me on the back before stepping away and sitting down with her friend Grace again, Zheani soon taking Hannah's space, her arms wrapping around my neck and her cheek pressed to mine, "I'll see you around, I guess? Hopefully you're not gone too long, the house will feel empty without it's sixth member laying around on the sofa."

I feel my smile get wider at that, letting out a heavy breath as a form of laughter before we let go of each other, Constantine standing up from the floor to tackle me into a brotherly hug, a double pat to my back before he pulls away, holding me by my shoulders like any parent that was super proud of their child for graduating big school, "You be a good kid out there, y'hear? I know I've been quite an asshole towards you whilst you've been here- sorry about that again- but I do believe you're a big boy now. You can do this."

I laugh a little, looking between them all, "You sound as if Mikey's sending me off to join the army, it isn't that bad, guys." They all looked between themselves for a few seconds before Rio decides to jump up off of the floor and distract me with a huge hug, almost sending me off balance and onto my ass, "I'm gonna miss you Frankie! Text me! Don't call me because I won't answer! I love you lots, but now it is time for you to leave this place and have fun without us!" I smile at him as he pulls away, but I don't leave just yet, I go over to the sofa where my two cats were curled up, Kawaii on the arm of the sofa and Freddie wedged into the corner besides Kawaii.

I sit down with them, Freddie smelling my hand before climbing onto my lap, his little cat claws digging into my thighs through my jeans, "See you later, buddy." I smile as he puts two paws on my chest and comes up nose to nose with me, licking my cheek as a hello. Soon enough, Kawaii joins in the celebration with her brother and stalks over, rubbing her head up against my arm, "I'm gonna miss you two. I'm gonna miss you the most."

I gently push Freddie off of my lap to let myself stand up, Rio then pushes me out of the living room and continues pushing me along the hallway and out of their front door until we were at the car, Mikey sat in the drivers seat.

I smile at Rio one final time before sliding into the passenger seat, dropping all of the extras onto the floor so I could slide on the black socks I had before putting on my converse. Mikey started the car and pulled out of the space in the meantime, the silence settling over us as I continued getting myself dressed as he drives along.

"I kind of still like you." Mikey admits after a few minutes, I had finished with my shoes and socks, having pulled the sweater over my head and threw my jacket into the back seat. His words had actually surprised me, considering we hadn't actually spoke about the whole 'us' thing since we had actually called it quits because he seemed to think it was making me become quieter and he felt guilty he was fucking his brother's ex boyfriend. Maybe our little 'friends with benefits' relationship thing that we had going on between us wasn't exactly something for us. Maybe neither of us were the type of people to have the sort of friendship with someone where you could do any sort of thing with a 'no strings attached' feeling afterwards.

"That's not good. Especially when you seemed to have fallen in love with Kristin." Mikey didn't seem to like my reply because he stayed silent for a while, probably thinking that telling me that he still liked me wasn't such a great idea as he had first thought. What was it exactly that I was supposed to say to it in the first place? Was this his way of asking me to pick up all we used to be and for us to start fucking again, only this time it would be behind his girlfriend's back and no one else was allowed to know? I did indeed have low standards, but I wasn't low enough to condone cheating on anyone, it wasn't something I would ever really agree with.

"I know it's bad, I have Kristin but every single time I try to focus on her, you seem to need my attention a little more because you're dangerous by yourself." I wasn't going to deny it, I was a difficult person that needed twenty four hour attention seven days a week. I couldn't be left alone for two seconds without causing havoc by sitting in the same position and staring out of the window or at a wall for ages without break. It was like a riot started whenever I was left to my own devices. Mikey was just overreacting right now, I wasn't badly behaved when I was alone. I was just sad.

So I laugh, turning my head so I could look out of the window at the familiar surroundings, "So you're gonna give me up for adoption." Mikey didn't seem to like my joke because he didn't laugh, he didn't even crack a smile, he just focused on the road for a while. It took him about seven minutes before he spoke.

"I guess... It's something like that- adoption, I mean. But that's a harsh way of saying it."