Someone Out There Loves You (Adopted by Frank Iero)

71

FRANK

Sitting in the idle car parked in Vic's driveway, I sent Lexa a text saying I was here. Almost immediately she replied saying she was coming, so I turned my attention towards the front door as I nodded my head along to the sounds of Jawbreaker coming through my speakers.

With a smile playing at my lips, I watched as she skipped out the door, spinning around to hug Vic and say goodbye before coming my way. She had a massive smile on her face as she waved at me, one hand holding several large pieces of paper out behind her as they blew in the breeze in a comical way.

"Heya dad," she beamed, falling into the passenger seat.

She leaned across the seat to wrap her arms around my neck, making me giggle. I could smell weed on her, and when she pulled away and looked at me with bloodshot heart eyes, it only confirmed what I already knew. I suppose I should've expected it when she asked me to pick her up at midday - it was enough time for a quick hit in the morning.

"Hey darlin', did you have fun?" I asked, my mouth pulling into a smile.

She nodded, hugging my right arm. "I had SO much fun!"

"That's good," I chuckled. "I take it you had an early morning sesh."

"Mmm, yeah," she nodded, giggling away. "I'll be good, I'll be good. Please don't be mad. I just... I'll just... watch something later... or something. I'll be good."

My shook my head playfully. "You're fine, darling. It's a weekend and you were with your friend - it's cool. What are these though?" I asked curiously, reaching over to the papers stacked on her lap.

She looked down like she had forgotten all about them before a look of realisation crossed her face. "Oh! Look what I did!" she said proudly, holding up the stack of papers so I could see.

She began flipping through them and I had to suppress a laugh, not in a mean way, but what she had done was adorable. The first few pages were paintings of things similar to how she would draw but in colour, but then they took a turn in a far different direction. They became colourful outlines of rats and frogs which she had painted in different situations, often in pairs.

"So these ones are skater rats," she said, pointing at the page depicting two rats on skateboards before turning to the next one of two rats smoking. "And then these are stoner rats, I like the one wearing the beanie. These frogs are on the phone to each other. They're dating- long distance relationship," she explained, looking over to me with a serious expression.

I smiled widely as she talked me through each piece. She was taking her time with it but I didn't want to rush her. She was excited about them, the least I could do was listen. There was nothing fancy about what she had painted but they were adorable, a very innocent type thing for her to create compared to her usual nightmare inducing things inspired from her mind and her past. I liked the change. She must have been in a really positive mood to create things as sweet as this and I was glad about that.

"They are very cute," I said when she finished, making her giggle and nod. "Maybe we can hang them on the walls?"

She gasped and looked at me with wide eyes. "Really?"

Her voice was full of so much wonder, her face lit up and hopeful, and I couldn't help but wonder how anyone could have hurt her. She was so gentle. All she needed was a bit of love in return and some encouragement.

"Hell yeah," I grinned.

"That's so exciting," she whispered, relaxing back into the seat.

Suppressing a laugh, I finally backed the car of the driveway, beginning our trip home.