FicWad

I stood completely still in the hopes that they wouldn't see me, but the fact that I was standing right under a streetlight didn't help at all. I heard one of them whistle. Oh shit.
I thought about walking away, but they'd probably just follow me anyways. I could hear them laughing and making crude jokes. 'Fuck, Verity, what have you gotten yourself into now?' I thought. I started blowing on my hands to try to warm them up.
"Hey baby, you all right?" one of the guys yelled. He sounded pretty young.
"I'm fine," I yelled back. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but I was tired and cold and my brain wasn't working properly.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "You look a little cold." A few of his friends snickered.
"Oh, I'm just dandy," I said sarcastically. They were really starting to piss me off. "Never been better!"
"Aw come on baby, don't be like that! We just want to get to know you!" someone yelled. Fuck them--I'd had enough. I flipped them the finger and started to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" someone yelled. I kept on walking, but before long I heard someone running after me. I knew there was no way I could outrun anyone right then, so I just stood still and hoped that they'd leave me alone. No such luck--whoever it was was right behind me. I turned around warily.
"Hey," the guy panted. I could see that he had short black hair, but that was about all. He held out some kind of jumper. "Take this. You need it."
I just stared at him.
"Come on!" he said, shaking it at me. I finally took it from him.
"Thanks," I said.
"'S okay," he said. "Are you sure you're all right?" He was looking hard at my face, so I turned it away from him. Very bad move--the light from the streetlight was now on my face and he could see everything--my swollen lip, the cuts on my cheek that were probably turning to bruises, the blood in my hair--everything.
"Holy shit!" he said. "Sweetheart, what happened to you?"
"Nothing," I said, my eyes filling with tears. "I'm okay."
"The hell you are!" he blurted out. "Look...do you live around here?"
I hesitated. "I don't know where I am," I said. It was partly true.
"Fuck," he said softly, shaking his head. "What the fuck happened to you, girl?"
I just shook my head and tried not to cry. He sighed.
"Look," he began, "I know this is gonna sound totally freaky, but...you need a place to stay, right?"
I nodded cautiously. Where was this heading?
"Well, my house is like three blocks away from here. You can stay with me for the night...if you want."
I would have given anything to be inside a warm house, but I wasn't about to go into some stranger's house with him.
"No, I'll be fine. But thanks," I said coldly. He didn't get the hint.
"Come on, it's not like I'm gonna rape you!" he laughed. The he quickly stopped. "Fuck, I didn't mean to--"
"It's okay," I cut in. "But I'll be fine."
"No fucking way," he said. "I know these streets. You stay out here, and you'll probably never be seen again." He said it so matter-of-factly that it was downright creepy. "Come on," he said reassuringly, "my sister will be there. I won't try anything. I swear on the--on the Bible."
I smiled at that, and he took that as agreement. He put his arm around my shoulders protectively and led me back down the street towards the group of guys. I stopped walking and looked at him uncertainly.
"Don't worry, they're nice guys," he said. "Just a bit rude. Like me." He started walking again, and I didn't have much choice but to go with him. All they guys started laughing and wolf-whistling when they saw us coming together.
"Oi, shut the fuck up!" the guy said loudly. They shut the fuck up. "This is, uh...what's your name, babes?" he asked, turning to me.
"Verity," I said, looking at the ground. There was blood running down the side of my face.
"Yeah, this is Verity, and she's, uh...she's down on her luck, so she's gonna stay with us tonight." They all made sympathy noises and said things like "rough" and "damn." Christ--this guy (whose name I still didn't know) was making me sound like a fucking homeless person! And staying with "us"? He hadn't mentioned that.
"So just make her feel at home, yeah?"
"You know it, Frank," a guy with blonde hair said. We all started walking again, and I turned to Frank, who still had his arm around me.
"Thanks, Frank," I said, even though I still wasn't sure what I'd gotten myself into.
"Don't worry about it, girl. And oi--call me Frankie."
"Okay. So, uh, all these guys are staying with you too?" I asked hesitantly.
"Uh, yeah. I usually have them over when my rents are out for the night," he said. "But yeah, my sister will be there, so you won't, like...be the only girl or anything." He laughed softly.
Before long, we reached a big, old brick house.The house and garden looked like they had both seen better days, and there was an equally decrepit car in the driveway. Frankie and I were in the front, and he took a key out of his pocket and opened the door.
"Frankie?" a girl's voice yelled as we all piled into the hallway. "Is that you?" A girl who looked about my age walked into the hallway. She had dirty blonde hair and grey eyes, but the striking thing about her was her figure. She was at least a foot taller than Frankie and just as skinny, only with longer legs and soft curves.
"Hey guys," she waved to the boys behind us. Then she looked at me, and her eyes widened. "Um, hi." She looked questioningly at Frankie. I looked down.
"Oh, uh, this is Verity. She's gonna stay with us tonight," Frankie said, pulling me to him protectively.
"Sweet. It'll be nice to have another girl around for a change. I must say, you're the first Frankie's ever brought home." I smiled appreciatively. "Oh, and I'm Ester. Frankie, I see you forgot pizza. AGAIN."
"Oh shit! Um...look, I'll run out and get some now. Oi, Bob--come with?" The blonde guy nodded silently. Suddenly I felt Frankie stiffen beside me.
A girl had just walked into the room. She was very sort--even shorter than Frankie, which was saying something. She had shoulder-length black hair, pale skin and navy-blue eyes, and was wearing a tank top and an amazing pair of Misfits pajama pants. And Frankie was full-on staring at her. He quickly took his arm off my shoulder and stuffed his hands in his pockets. I smirked.
"Hey, Dee," he mumbled. "You sleeping over?" Bob elbowed him in the back, and Frankie hissed something threatening over his shoulder.
"Heck yeah," she nodded. "And I brought Smirnoff, so you all better start kissing ass!"
Frankie chuckled nervously. I raised my eyebrows at him in an 'is-that-the-best-you-can-do' expression. And then he gave me what was possibly the strangest look I've ever seen--like he was trapped and was desperate to get out. I was just a little freaked out.
"Uh, Bob!" Frankie snapped abruptly. "Let's go already!"
They shuffled out the door, and the three remaining guys (who I later learned were named Leon, Ben, and Andy) headed off to the living room.
"Um, Dee, this is Verity. She's staying the night," Ester explained. Then she turned to me. "You can sleep in our room, yeah?" I nodded.
"Sup, Verity. My name's actually Danielle, but no one calls me that, not even my parents," she grinned, not showing the slightest reaction to my appearance. "Oi, you wanna borrow some clothes?"
"Oh--uh, sure," I gulped. "Look, thanks you so much, you guys. I don't know...I mean, it's just that I..." Fuck--I was about to cry.
"Hey, it's okay," Dee broke in reassuringly. "Seriously, don't even mention it. Just act like you're sleeping over with friends--which you are."
I couldn't trust my voice just yet, so I only nodded, and hoped they'd understand.
Half an hour later I was wearing Dee's black t-shirt and Ester's Greenday PJ pants (where the hell did they get this shit?) My hair was clean and dry, and we were all lying around the living room drinking, talking, and watching MTV.
Ester was the only one really watching the telly, actually--Leon and Ben were huddled on the couch, silently reading through Kerrang!; Bob and I were doing shots of Wild Turkey; Dee was laughing it up with Andy; and Frankie, who had previously been the most talkative out of all of us, was staring at the floor and methodically drinking his way through a bottle of Absolut.
"So you're not from Jersey, are you?" Bob asked conversationally. While I was already giggling and shrieking at practically everything, Bob, only had a red face. He could obviously handle his alkie a lot better than I could.
"No!" I laughed. For some reason, the idea of me being a Jersey girl seemed hilarious right then. "I moved here from New York, but before that I lived in Australia. I was born there." Fuck--no one was supposed to know about that. I nervously downed another shot.
"No shit!" Bob exclaimed, eyebrows raised. "But you don't have an accent."
"Nah, the New Yorkers beat it out of me pretty fast. But I still say some Aussie words." I grabbed my 'Jersey Rocks' shot-glass and studied it closely, hoping to finish that topic of conversation. Not so.
"Like what?" Bob asked. He obviously thought this was funny. "Like crikey?"
"No," I scoffed. "I NEVER say crikey."
"Then what?" Bob insisted. "Come on, I'm curious about how you talk in Aussie-land!"
I sighed. "Yobbo, brekky, ciggy, maggot, sheila, ute, dosh, gamhead, barbie, ute, esky, alkie, stubby, telly--"
"What the fuck, girl!" Bob laughed. "Now in English!?"
"You mean American?" I smirked. "Sorry, no can do."
"Okay, then say something in an Aussie accent," Bob pleaded.
"No, Bob. I'm going to leave now," I laughed, leaving him begging. I walked into the kitchen, where Frankie was now sitting. He was doing something with sugar, it looked like. I went to get a glass of water.
"Hey," Frankie nodded. His eyes were red. "You want a line?"
"What?" I was confused for a second.
"A line," he repeated slowly. "You want one?"
"Um..." As stupid as it sounds, I still didn't realize what he was talking about. That is, until he took a razor out of his pocket and started cutting up the coke. "Nah, I'm okay."
I sat down next to him. I didn't want to admit that I'd never done coke before--fuck, I'd only ever smoked weed at a few parties; I could drink like a fish, but drugs weren't really my thing. But I WAS curious, so I watched as he snorted the fine white powder.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Within minutes, I could see the muscles in his neck relax. He smiled lazily, opening his eyes and looking straight at me.
"I'm sorry I laughed at you before," he said. Hmm. NOT what I'd been expecting.
"When did you laugh at me?"
"Before," he said. "On the road." I didn't remember him laughing at me, but before I could correct his mistake, he'd pressed his lips to mine. I humored him for a few seconds, but pulled away when I felt his tongue stroke my lip.
"Don't, Frankie," I said softly.
"Why not?" Even as he said it, I could tell he didn't really care.
"Because you don't mean it." Not to mention, he wasn't helping the pain in my lip. I stared listlessly at the baggie on the table, wondering what Gerard was doing.
"I wish she would talk to me," Frankie sighed, once again catching me off guard.
"Who?"
"Dee," he sighed.
"Dee?" I repeated, wondering if maybe I'd heard wrong. "But--but she just talked to you in the hallway!"
"No she didn't," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, she talked to me, but she didn't TALK to me. You know?"
I stared at him. That sounded like something a ditzy cheerleader trying to have a meaningful conversation would say. But I got where he was coming from, so I nodded.
"She hasn't really talked to me since that shit with Teresa-Ann, actually. But it wasn't MY fucking fault. I was fucking drunk, for Christ's sake!"
Whoa. It seemed like a whole lot of issues were coming out in Frank's coke-induced relaxation.
"What, uh...what did you and Teresa-Ann do?" I asked, attempting to sound causal. Truth be told, I was rabidly curious--Frankie and Dee would've made the hottest coupe I'd seen as yet, and if Frankie wanted me to be the one to give them a push in the right direction, so be it. But I was going to need details.
"Well, uh..." he scratched his head nervously. "We just...we fucked around."
"Did you sleep with her?" I pushed. I needed to know this.
"I...I don't remember," he admitted reluctantly. I raised my eyebrows. "I know, but like I said, I was really fucked up. I just know some people saw us making out at a party, and apparently we went upstairs, but I woke up at my mate's house. I know Dee saw me, though, because Mikey saw the whole thing. They said she left right after that, and she's kind of avoided me since then."
Hmm. This was complicated.
"Sounds like she likes you," I said nonchalantly.
"Really? You think so?" Man, he really perked up at that.
"How could she not, Frankie? You're just so...LIKABLE," I teased him. And he fucking blushed again! I had a feeling we were going to be very good friends.

[A/N: For those of you who don't speak Aussie, here's a translation :P

Yobbo-- a loud, rude person
Brekky-- breakfast
Ciggy-- cigarette
Maggot-- completely fucked up (as in drunk)
Sheila-- girl
Dosh-- dollars (as in "That bag costs twenty dosh.")
Ute-- stands for utility vehicle, kind of like a pickup.
Gamhead-- idiot, retard, spack...take your pick :P
Beaut-- stands for beautiful (duh) except you usually say this when you're talking about food :P
Golden-- really good (as in, "Thanks, mate! You're golden!")
Barbie-- stands for barbeque (yeah everyone probably knows that one :P)
Esky-- stands for eskimo cooler. Yep.
Alchy-- stands for alcohol
Stubby-- beer can