Frankie's point of view:
"Tell me again how many of these people are family?"
I laugh at Jason's comment. Sitting in the tightly packed living room, I smile widely at his uncomfortable squirm as people banged against his shoulder or bumped into his back. Finally darting into the nearest corner with the wonky stools that were pulled from the back of Paul's garage, he sits as stiff as a board and refuses to move, to afraid of being sucked into the sea of my loud relatives.
I hum, glancing around the room. "Probably about sixty percent. My dad is one of eight, my mom was one of six. Each of those has the minimum of three kids, then some of their kids have kids. Paul is one of four but he only has two aunts which I'm sure he is very grateful for when it comes to get-together's like this." I explain to him. "Then the rest is friends of Flo and Paul's, or my dad's."
"Christmas must be expensive."
I laugh then suddenly gasp, my hands shooting out and grasping quickly onto Jason's shoulders whose hands instinctively clench around my waist to steady me. My wide eyes find his and for a second, I couldn't hear The Time Warp song from The Rocky Horror Show play behind us.
"Oops!" I hear the shriek. My back was wet and I scramble back to stand, my hips immediately feeling cold without Jason's touch. "I'm so sorry, Francesca!"
I grit my teeth, feeling the muscles clench within my chest. She has a hand over her heart, a pout on her bright red lips and her head tilted. She was dressed as the Queen of Hearts even though, she didn't have a heart of her own.
"It's Frankie." I growl lowly. I can feel Jason rise from the stool and stand behind me, the heat that radiated from his body sending signals of a sudden protection.
Cousin Jane and I never seen eye to eye. She was eight months older, and belonged to my dad's sister - Aunt May, who was just as catty as her overbearing daughter. From we were teenagers, Jane believed she was Queen B and acted like the world owed her something. In school, she was the stereotypical bitchy cheerleader and in college she became the hottest gossip after having an affair with our forty-one year old professor.
"Oh Frankie, where are your manners?" She gasped dramatically. She pushes me by the shoulder, sending me stumbling towards the side of the couch before I was grasped just in time. Jason's hand was warm and very strong, almost like he was trying to telepathically send me calming vibes through a simple touch. Jane's hand thrusts out in front of me, a beaming grin on her lips. "I'm Jane, Frankie's older and more experienced cousin. You are?"
"Jason." He answers, shaking her hand limply. I knew he was being polite just by his hand shake, and it almost made me smirk.
"I didn't know our little ol' Frankie here had a boyfriend! Especially not Mr Jason Hayes! Who knew you could bag a boyfriend never mind New York's most eligible bachelor. " She squeaks. Her smile was fake, but she held it.
I narrow my eyes at her, my nostrils flaring in annoyance but I can still feel Jason's close presence. "Not that it is any of your business, Jason isn-"
"Isn't willing to speak of our relationship, thank you." He interjects quickly and suddenly, he was pressed against me. My breath gets tangled in my throat, almost making me choke aloud. From the exposed bit of skin that was caused by the shrunk t-shirt, I can feel the velvet of his waistcoat. His chin knocks against the back of my head and without warning, his fingers curl around mine which hung by my side. "I'm a very private person. I hope you can respect that."
Her grin quickly curls into a scowl as she rolls her eyes down to our interlocked hands. She clears her throat, turning her lips back up to a fabricated smile. "Very well. Strange though, little Frankie here has never been a private person. In fact, her last and only relationship, was definitely not private."
Anger flares within me and I was like a moth to a flame at her taunting. Jason knew this and he clenches my hand tighter in hopes to keep me calm.
"People change." Jason replies to her with confidence. "Especially if they meet the right person. Now if you'll excuse us."
Jane steps aside, her fake smile pulled into a tighter line as Jason tugs me behind me and leading us away from the infuriating relative. Flo and Paul had decorated their back garden to, tangling fairy lights around the porch and stacking pumpkins on the steps that lead down into Vivian's play area of a swing set and playhouse.
The back garden was empty and I breath out a sigh of relief, lowering myself onto the double porch swing. Jason joins me using his heels to rock us gently as the crickets start to sing in the darkness. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't find the words. My heart was still hammering from the events that happened inside, and my tongue was still trying to form any type of sentence without stumbling.
"So Jane huh," He breaks the tension. "She's.. Something."
"To say the least." I grumble in response. We were silent again. "Thank you."
He turns his head. "For what?"
"What you did." I shrug. "What you said. You didn't need to do that. Jane was just being Jane, nosy and flirtatious."
"Wait, she was being flirtatious?" His eyes were wide in alarm. "And you said my chat-up lines were bad? God."
"Yours are bad." I giggle. "But yes, that was her attempt at flirting. She seen fresh meat and wanted to sink her teeth into you."
"But she knew I was with you?" He said with confusion lacing his words. My hairs stand on end at the innocence in his voice.
"Like Jane cared about that."
"Really?"
I sigh loudly, silence overcoming me and he doesn't question it. For whatever reason, he doesn't ask what the problem is or was I okay. Almost like he knew I wasn't. He pinches his eyes, removing the contact lenses and letting his hazel brown orbs refocus to the surroundings. And me.
Just like that, I was fine.
Our eyes met and in that moment, I didn't want to look away. His gaze was always intimidating and strong, dominate and full of authority but this time they were soft and warm, filling with understanding but curiosity. He wanted to ask questions but had the manners not too.
I sigh, leaning my head back. "Remember my ex-boyfriend at eighteen that I told you about? Matthew?"
He nods.
"He cheated on me." I say. "With Jane."
I didn't need to look at him to see his expression, I could tell by his body tensing and his fist clenching that he felt what I did but only I felt more. The pain was still fresh, even though it was over five years ago. The strain on my heart was still there, the emptiness in my chest was still there, the sinking in my stomach was still there. Everything was still there, and I'm not entirely sure when it would go away - if it ever did.
"I found out once we broke up. They ended up dated a week or two after." I tell him "It didn't happen just once either. I wasn't a party person, I didn't have any interest in alcohol so when parties came up that wasn't families, I stayed behind while he went with his friends. Every party they hooked up, then it became more than just a once-in-a-while thing."
He was silent - unsurprisingly.
"When she said about my previous relationship not being private, that was a jibe at what she done." I quietly admit, shamefully hanging my head low. Mine and Matthews' relationship wasn't private in the slightest, thanks to his loudmouth. "Everyone apparently knew about the cheating scandal except me. Everyone also knew about how he was my first everything - kiss, sex, boyfriend. You name it, the entire school knew of it because he couldn't keep his mouth shut."
"Did she ever apologise?"
I laugh lightly. "She didn't think she did anything wrong. Neither of them did."
He was staring straight ahead but his jaw was that tightly clenched I was afraid his teeth would break. Any time I mentioned anything involving Matthew, he seemed to get this solid look of anger in his hazel eyes to darken them dramatically. I nudge his shoulder, giving him a small smile as he moves his gaze down to me.
"If it makes you feel better, your chat-up lines were way more impressive than his."
It was lame. I was lame. But it made him laugh and I was grateful to have saved those precious pearly whites.
We sat in silence for a few more minutes, Jason continuing to rock us slightly by his heel. My mind drifted to Matthew and the pain he caused, while everyone called me foolish for thinking I was in love so young, I knew the ache after it convinced me there truly was real feelings. But now, sitting next to Jason and witnessing him protectively stand behind me when Jane appeared, when he took control to cover for me after she joked about me having a boyfriend, when his chest was against my back and his hand was in mine causing tingling to shoot through my veins. I was more confused than ever.
"Can I ask you something?"
He raises his brows and I wondered if he heard him, but he nods to let me proceed.
"Why did you basically pretend to Jane we were, uh - a couple?" I ask him slowly, my words trailing and spacing out more than normal. The cage of butterflies shook within my chest asking him and I wasn't exactly sure of how they would cope with his response.
"I got a bad vibe of her." He states. "Besides - she already knew who I was and still introduced herself as your more 'experienced' cousin, I immediately knew her type."
He drops his air quotations and I grin. "What's her type?"
He grins back. "A gold-digger."
I squealed, squirming my body in delight as he watches and laughs loudly. He knew it. He knew what Jane was, what her intentions was, and knew he it all by himself without me pointing out the obvious.
"I am so freaking proud of you right now." I yelp. "Almost a month and you've finally spotted your first gold-digger."
"Well, I have a good teacher." He smiles. His smile was warm and soft, and it made my insides melt to a tingling puddle. I blush, pushing some of my backcombed hair behind my ear. "Hey Frankie?"
I hum.
"Why did you put up with that douche bag for so long?"
I bite at my inner cheek, rubbing my upper arm in nervousness. "I suppose I just wanted normality. My home life was changing with mom being sick. My school life was changing as we all decided on different colleges to go too. I just wanted something normal, something that wasn't going to change. I knew when things were going wrong, but I didn't do anything about it because I didn't want another thing in my life to change - so I stuck it out."
He nods, but remains quiet. I could hear the giggles of off-tuned karaoke singers come from inside and it made me smile. No matter what changed, who came or who went, my family stayed the same.
"We should probably get back inside." I tell him softly. He nods, rising to his feet and reaching out for my hand. "Vivian will be wanting someone too sing Ghost busters with her soon so if you're wanting to save yourself, you're best hiding behind someone and out of sight."
"Ghost busters, are you kidding me?" He says, opening the door back to the party. He grins wide. "That's my jam."
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Happy Halloween guys, I hope you have/had a safe night whatever you're all up too. We're taking my daughter trick or treating then to watch some fireworks!
Hope you all liked, please leave a comment and vote xoxo