FicWad

I stayed seated as the rest of the class rushed out. The room cleared and I got up.
“Ah Ms. Davis, how can I help you?” My professor asked when he saw me.
“About that paper,” I started. I walked slowly towards his desk.
“You don’t have it, do you?” He asked. I shook my head.
“Well then I’m sure you’ll have it by the end of the day.” He smiled.
I liked my professor. He was about as old as my grandpa but he seemed like he had a lot of life left in him. I wanted to tell him it’d be in tomorrow, but then I’d be lying to him and he didn’t deserve to be lied to. I opened my mouth to tell him ‘no’. But nothing came out.
“Am I right?” He continued. I finally shook my head. “Ms. Davis, this is a big portion of your grade.”
“I know, I just have a lot going on.”
I figured if I made him feel bad, he’d give me a day or two. I looked at him helplessly. I needed two days at the least. This paper hasn’t crossed my mind once since everything started happening with Frank. My papers always done in the matter of hours, maybe because they all had to do with being happy and all that good stuff, but lately I haven’t been even close to happy.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t extend your deadline. It wouldn’t be fair.” He shuffled some papers on his desk and sat down. I turned around slowly and I was ready to go on my way.
“But I’ll give you until tomorrow.” He said from behind me.
“Thank you so much.” I said and rushed out the room before he changed his mind.
I had to get home, get this paper done and in tomorrow by noon. It was going to be hard but I was going to get it done. If my parents found out I could be failing this class over Frank, they’d kill me. They knew Frank’s past and they were not fond of him, at all. I had no choice but to get this paper done and make it good.

“Meow.” I looked down to see my kitten, running in and out of my legs. Her soft fur tickled my bare legs.
“Hungry?” I asked her. She replied with a quick ‘meow’ and strutted to the kitchen. “Me too.” I said to myself. I followed the hungry kitten into the kitchen. I opened the fridge, nothing, except a leftover veggie burger from god knows when. I pulled it out and smelled it. Then I remembered it was only from the other day at Spot, the day I met Madison. Just the thought of her made me angry. Baby meowed louder.
“I know, I know.” I put the burger in the microwave and tended to Baby. She purred happily as she ate. I took my burger out of the microwave and went to get my laptop. I sat on the couch and got to work.

My phone vibrated loudly off the coffee table, which caused me to wake up. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I picked my phone up from the floor and squinted to see the screen. It was Mikey.
“Yes?” I answered groggily.
My laptop sat safely on the floor. My screensaver flashed pictures of me and Frank. I leaned over and shut it.
“Were you sleeping?”
“I was.” I replied. I stretched my arms high above my head.
“Sorry, I’ll call back.” Mikey apologized.
“No, it’s ok. I have to finish my paper anyways.”
“Would some ice cream speed the process?” Mikey asked sweetly. I giggled and reached for my laptop.
“Maybe.” I replied. I opened it back up and clicked on my saved paper.
Ice cream would most definitely help finish this up. I was almost done. I glanced down at the small digital clock on the bottom of the screen, it read quarter to eleven. “It’s late though.” I yawned again.
“Can’t sleep.” He replied.
“Come over.” I said and hung up.
I stood up and stretched some more. I picked up the empty container my burger was in and headed to the kitchen. I tossed the container and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Baby!” I called out. I looked down and she sat obediently at my feet. I picked her up and held her up and looked into her beady green eyes. She wiggled frantically, trying to escape from me.
“What? I feed and shelter you and this is how you act?” I held her close to my chest and scratched her ears. She purred happily.
Someone knocked loudly on the door; I figured it was Mikey, so I yelled “Come in!” I heard the door creak open then shut quickly.
“That was quick.” I said walking to the door.
“Oh so you were expecting me.” I stopped dead in my tracks. Baby jumped from arms and ran. Chills ran up and down my body.
“Go home Frank.” I said when I got to the door. I looked at him closely, he seemed sober. I stepped closer to him.
“I’m sober.” He stated. He walked slowly towards me. I wanted to push him back through the door and forget he ever showed up.
“I’m sure.” I said, even though I believed him. I didn’t want to deal with him. If anything went wrong, I’d be to blame for letting him in, figuring it was Mikey.
“Peyton, sweetheart, I am.” He said.
At this point we were face to face. His breath didn’t smell of alcohol and he’s words weren’t slurred. He bent down to kiss me but I turned my face and he lightly kissed my cheek.
“Can I stay?” He asked. I looked up at his pleading face and felt bad. I’ve been pushing him away for the past two weeks when he needed me most. I had to let him stay, just for an hour or two. I nodded and he pulled me into a well missed kiss.

It was well past midnight at this point. Me and Frank laid close together on my bed, while Mikey sat on the floor playing with Baby. Two empty ice cream containers sat on my bedside table. Frank’s body tangled itself in mine. I've longed for a night like this. All I wanted was to be wrapped in his arms and feel his warmth. I was happy and didn’t want anything to change. Mikey didn’t seem to mind I let Frank in, but then again he probably just didn’t say anything. It stayed quiet for awhile, other then Frank's humming and Baby’s soft purring. I untangled myself from Frank and stood up.
“I have to finish my paper.” I informed them.
Mikey looked up at me from the floor and nodded. I looked over at Frank.
“I’ll uh go home.” He replied getting up.
“You don’t have to.”
“No it’s ok, I over stayed my welcome.”
I didn’t know what to say. Did he know I really didn’t want him here? I mean I did, but only because I felt bad. I opened my mouth but I had nothing to say, because he was partially right. I wasn’t ready to go back to the way things used to be. He had to earn that. I simply smiled and gave him a gentle hug. He kissed my cheek and waved goodbye to Mikey. Frank let himself out and it got awkward between me and Mikey.
“Why would you just let him in like that?” Mikey demanded.
I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room. I had to get this paper done and didn’t need to talk about this now. I sat on the couch, laptop ready to go.
“Peyton I asked you a question.” Mikey said when he got to the living room.
“I have a paper to finish.” I replied. I started typing quickly on my keyboard.
“Don’t come to me when things get bad, it’s your entire fault now.” Mikeyn said angrily.
I set the laptop down and glared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Mikey, you are my best friend, if I come to you, I hope to God you’ll be there for me.” I said close to tears.
“You brought this upon yourself.”
“What do you want me to do? I want Frank back in my life, I have to start somewhere.”
“You don’t just let him in and get all close and cuddly with him, after what he’s done.” Mikey replied. “He’s going to expect it now.”
“This is hard for me.” I said.
"I love you, I don't want you to get hurt again."
Tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. Mikey grabbed his jacket and headed to the door.
"Be careful." He warned and walked out
There was no emotion in his words or face. The words sounded effortless and meant nothing to him. No good bye hug, no sweet words to make the tears lessen, nothing. Just a simple warning and he was on his way. Mikey was mad at me. But he had no reason to be. He knows I need Frank in my life, Frank is my life. He can’t expect me to just push him away when he made an effort to stop by sober. I knew he wasn’t going to learn from that, but I had to start somewhere. I bet it took a lot for him to stay sober and come see me. I’ll give him that.
I picked my laptop up and got back to work.