нє τalks ℓíkє a gєnτℓєmaη.·.¸¸.·´

by Mooηy

{Chapter 6}

Fireworks.

"Nancy, oh, I saw everything, are you alright?" Bess ran up to her, thankfully alone, and took her arm.

"Yes, yea, I'm ok," Nancy nodded. Her eyes were red, but she had a smile on her face.

"I can't believe it! Nan, you did what you had to do, I'm so proud of you. You are so brave." Bess searched Nancy's face for regret, and when she didn't find it, smiled.

"Yeah, I know. It's hard, but, I had to do it. I wasn't exactly sure it was going to happen today, right now, but once the words started coming, I couldn't stop. I just got if all off my chest. Let's go find somewhere to sit and pretend for a while that this didn't just happen. I don't want to ruin everybody's day."

Bess smiled sadly at her and took her hand, leading her towards George, who was running up to be by them.

"Nance! Hey girl." George glanced between Bess and Nancy, Frank and Joe trailing behind her. Bess gave her head a slight shake, indicating to leave it alone, and George picked up on it immediately.

"Who wants some funnel cake? You missed out on the best food in the world, but the funnel guy is still here. I know Joe is up for some more," George spewed out in one long breath.

"Funnel cake? Did I hear the word cake?" Joe had caught up to them, Frank standing quietly beside him.

"Gosh, yeah, I didn't realize how hungry I was," Nancy added, smiling at George.

As they walked through the park eating their funnel cake, Nancy felt more at ease with her decision. She felt free, almost. She spied Ned at one point, when they were standing by the river, talking with his friends. He seemed quiet, but it seemed like he, too, was going to be ok.

"You alright?" She felt a breath by her ear, and knew it was Frank. She tilted her head and looked up at him, letting a smile break.

"I'm good. Really. It was going to happen eventually." She looked back down at the river and felt Frank squeeze her arm.

"I'm here if you want to talk," he breathed into her ear again. "Honestly, just one friend to another." She leaned into his side and smiled again.

"I'm ok. But thank you." And she really meant it. She turned, bright-eyed, towards him. "Wanna go for a walk? Just one friend to another."

Frank smiled and nodded. Nobody asked where they were going as they left their crowd, walking slowly along the bank.

"How long had you been planning that? I had no idea." He looked at his feet as he spoke.

"I'm not sure. Maybe a long time, and I just hadn't admitted it. It kind of just came to me. I couldn't lie to myself anymore."

Frank stopped walking. "What were you lying about?" He looked into her eyes with sincere interest, for once in her memory, treating her like a fragile piece of glass. She felt safe, there.

"Well, a lot of things. I couldn't picture myself living a normal, everyday kind of life. I didn't want to rob that from him. And my heart just wasn't there anymore. It became kind of like riding a bike. I just got so used to it, I didn't think about it. It just made sense, so I stuck with it."

"It never made sense to me." He didn't take his eyes off of her. "You are special, Nancy. You really are."

She looked back at him, now, unwavering. "Sometimes, you almost make me believe it."

He reached his hand up and let his fingers rest lightly on her jaw, taking her face in with his eyes. She could feel the fire under his fingertips pierce her skin.

"You are special. You really are."

Before she knew what she was doing, before she could even process what she was thinking, she reached up and gently pressed her lips against his. Her eyebrows knotted, her heart clenched in her chest, and she felt a sudden release from within her soul. She stood back and looked at him. Her best friend. She was, for the first time in a long time, more sure of anything than she had been before. She didn't even realize that the fireworks were playing off of the water's reflections as he pulled her close to him and kissed her again.

fin.