Forever is a Long Time . . . (A Frank Iero and My Chemical Romance Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Fourteen

Kiss Me Goodbye

Since it was Halloween, naturally, some shenanigans were bound to ensue. And they did.

When the dancing got old we all picked our costume-clad asses up and walked along the trail behind Ray’s house to the old, run down park we’d always gone to as kids. Frank and I still went there sometimes, though we did a lot less running around and a lot more sitting on the swings and talking, sometimes for hours. Those were some of my favorite times.

Gerard and Mikey’s cousin had managed to sneak us some beers for the night’s events, so we took one of the cases down to the lake and sat by the shore line. We popped open the tops and went around the circle saying a few words each. “To Frank,” I finished up, the last one to say anything. “You’ve made it eighteen years in one piece. I couldn’t’ve wished for a better best friend. Happy Birthday, Frank.” And with that we all held up our bottles and took a drink to commemorate this pivotal moment in Frank’s life.

Frank threw his arm over my shoulder after taking a sip of his beer. “Thanks, Paige. I’m so glad I have such an amazing best friend.” I could feel my face start to heat up and at this point I was sure that I was blushing; good thing it was dark out. “And the rest of you guys too,” Frank continued. “Thanks for spending my birthday with me; you guys are the best.”

We all sat around the park, finishing our beers and just talking for a little while longer. It was starting to get late and as much as I wanted to spend more time with Frank and my other friends, I was getting really tired and needed to get home soon.

We all picked ourselves up and made our way back to Ray’s house where we finished off the cases of beer and Frank opened his presents.

He saved mine for last since it was the biggest and I had forced him to leave it until the end. When he finally got to opening it, the look on his face was priceless. “Oh my god,” Frank said, staring at the guitar, awestruck. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Frank looked up and met my eyes. I stared back at him with a huge and slightly devious smile across my lips. I knew he’d love it.

“Paige, are you serious?” He asked, still recovering from the shock.

“Of course. Frank your old guitar sucks ass, you needed a new one.”

“So you bought me one?” I held my smile and nodded my head.

“Yup.”

“Paige, you’re the fucking best!” He pulled me in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders while I pulled him in by his waist. We stayed there, bodies flush against each other, my cheek against his neck and feeling his warm breath on my skin. It lasted a bit longer than a normal hug between us normally did, but I think that was just a sign of how much Frank truly loved the guitar; either way, I wasn’t complaining. He did pull away eventually though, but still kept his eyes locked with mine, the spark in them not fazing.

Presents aside, Frank’s birthday had to come to a close eventually. I stayed and helped Ray and the guys clean up for a while and when the house was back in order, I started to make my way home. I said goodnight to everyone and when I was sure I’d given my salutations to everybody there, I started walking home. Most everyone was too drunk to drive and I only lived about ten minutes away; I would have walked to the party if I didn’t have the guitar to bring.

I’d only made it about two houses away from Ray’s when I heard a door open and footsteps behind me. “What do you think you’re doing, Missy?” I turned to see Frank walking to catch up to me. He’d put on his jacket, but his Spiderman pants were still visible underneath making for a strange and sort of funny contrast.

“Going home?” I replied in a sarcastic and obvious tone.

“Alone?” he asked, giving me a ‘you-know-better’ look. “Have you not lived in Jersey your whole life? It’s dangerous.” I liked that Frank cared about me being safe, but I also hated how simply walking home had to be a life-threatening task, at least in Frank’s eyes.

“I think I’ll be fine,” I said, taking a few steps only to have Frank come up to me and link his arm in mine again. This wasn’t exactly uncommon, Frank and I walked with our arms linked together a lot, we even jokingly held hands every once in a while, but no matter what, it never failed to put butterflies in my stomach.

“Well considering we’re neighbors and I’m going home too, I might as well walk with you. You know, just in case.” Frank gave me a cute, little sideways smirk when he said this, looking at me like I was in dire need of protection, and honestly, I kind of liked be fussed over. Just a little.

“Oh, how chivalrous of you,” I joked to try and hide how truly charmed I was by Frank.“So did you have fun?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I did,” he replied looking down to me. He wasn’t much taller than me, but it was enough for a notable height difference. “You guys rock, you know, for doing all this.”

“Did you like your gift?” I asked, just to egg him on a bit.

“Like? Paige, I fucking love it. It’s the coolest guitar and best present in the world.” I smiled at this. Actually that was all I could do. I was so happy that Frank was so in love with his gift; now if only he could be in love with . . .

“I’m going to pick it up from Ray’s house tomorrow when everyone isn’t drunk.” My thoughts were interrupted by his words, and good thing too; I could have been in la-la land for hours.

“Cool, I’m glad you love it. I figured it was about time; you needed a new guitar.”

“Well it’s awesome, and it being from you, makes it even better.” I knew I blushed at this, I didn’t even need to see it. My cheeks warmed and I was, for the second time in one night, thankful for the cover of darkness.

We’d eventually gotten to the end of the street where mine and Frank’s houses were. We stood at the little patch of grass between the two properties for a minute before we each went inside our respective houses. Before heading inside, Frank turned to me and I said, “I’m glad you had fun tonight. We still hanging out tomorrow?”

“Definitely, and thanks again for an amazing birthday. Seriously, you’re the best, Paige.” I was beginning to wonder how many times he was planning on thanking me before the end of the night. I didn’t complain though, because along with thanks from Frank came hugs from Frank and I always accepted those happily. He pulled me in again and the butterflies came back.

We stayed there a while and I just savored the feeling of having his body close to mine. He pulled away, much to my dismay, but stayed just as close to me. He looked down and into my eyes as if pondering something. If he weren’t my best friend and I hadn’t already ruled out dating him, this would have been the perfect moment for a kiss. Too bad.

After a moment, he seemed to regain his composure a bit and stuttered out, “Uh, so, tomorrow. I’ll go pick up the guitar from Ray’s house then come over.”

“Okay,” I said, still in his arms looking up to him. “See you then. Good night Frank and happy birthday.” I didn’t want him to let go but I knew that he had to eventually. As soon as he did, I longed once more for the feeling of being in his arms that I had felt but moments ago.“Thanks. Good night, Paige.”

I was a little surprised and a lot confused by his next move. He leaned in slightly and gave me a kiss on the cheek, barely even long enough for me to register it before it was over and he was walking across his lawn and up his front porch steps. He opened his door and right before he entered, he looked back at me, smiled and waved. He disappeared into his house and I smiled to myself.

I wasn’t quite sure what that just meant, but I was done for the night. I was done thinking and worrying about Frank. I just wanted to go inside, get up to bed, and go to sleep. I’d had a long-ass night and tomorrow I’d be spending the day with Frank so I’d worry about him and anything pertaining to him in the morning.

Setting my thoughts aside, I turned around and walked up my front steps, opening the door and finally going inside.