Franky sat on the edge of the rooftop, swearing to herself as she took a drag of her cigarette. Her shit head of a boyfriend had run away after the accident that put one of the only people who showed her kindness upon her arrival to Roundview. She had no one to blame but him. The guilt that swarmed her constantly clouded her mind, leaving her in a state of delusion. He was gone, and she was barely hanging on.
"Hey Franks," spoke a boy behind her. She jumped in surprise, turning quickly to match a face to the voice.
"Nick? What are you doing here?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "How did you find me?"
He shrugged, taking a seat next to her. "I'm good at finding people that have run away," he mumbled as she glanced over the edge. "Plus, I end up here sometimes, too."
Franky scoffed, flicking the remainder of her cigarette over the edge. "I doubt that you come to sit on the roof of the college on your average Saturday afternoon. Why don't you piss off, yeah?"
Nick clenched his jaw, snapping his attention to the girl. If there was one thing that he hated, it was someone questioning his honesty. It was rare that Nick was open with people. Someone doubting him when he was stung more than being knocked to the ground during a rugby match. He grabbed her wrist tightly, pulling her hand to the scar on his bicep. "See this? This is from that metal pole over there," he said as he nudged backwards with his head. "I scraped my arm against it when I was belligerently drunk. Pretty sure my blood's on it still."
She yanked her hand back, crossing her arms across her chest. "I still don't believe you, Nick. How did you find me?" The sense of urgency in her voice was full of desperation, causing him to respond before she had the chance to say anything else.
"I went somewhere that no one would look for you," he said with a slight shrug.
"Why would you look for me anyway?" Franky asked bitterly. "Why the fuck do you care?"
"Because I... love you?"
The blood in Franky's veins seemingly froze. There was nothing she could genuinely say in response that wouldn't make her look like a fool. Her thoughts were clouded with confusion. She reached down and pinched her thigh in hopes that she'd awake from such a delusional dream, but instead felt the searing pain of her nails digging into her skin. The intensity of her pinch caused a small hole to form in her tights, but her focus quickly shifted back to Nick's burning gaze.
"You don't love me. You're an alcoholic man whore with a fuck up for a brother. You only love yourself, Nick. You could never love anyone, and no one could love you."
She knew her words were biting, but she didn't care. All she could think about was Nick being as much of a mind fuck as his brother. He had no implications of love before. In fact, he barely spoke to her. Why did he suddenly love her? How could be suddenly love her?
Nick jumped to his feet, kicking her pack of stogs off the ledge.
"You know what? You're right. Me? Love anyone? How could I? You're a proper cunt, Franky. And you know what? I don't see what Matty saw in you. He won by running away. He doesn't have to deal with your fucked up sense of emotion anymore. You know what your problem is? You're always too self absorbed to realize that problems aren't because of other people. You're the reason for your own fucking problems. Stop being such an emo bitch for a minute and see what you're doing to everyone else. You feel guilty, so you're neglecting the people that really fucking need you right now. Do you know how much everyone's hurting right now? Rich? Mini? Liv?" He took a step back, taking a deep breath to regain his composure, his voice beginning to crack. "Me?"
Franky felt a tear threatening to fall, quickly wiping her eye to hide it. "Fuck you, Nick. Get the fuck away from me."
"No, Franky. You need someone right now. You need me." He grabbed her wrists, pulling her up to her feet. "Admit that you need me."
"I don't fucking need you," she screamed. "I don't need any of you. I could jump off his building right now and no one would fucking care. No one would care at all. You're all liars. No one loves me. Not you, not Matty, not Mini, or Liv. No one fucking loves me."
"Will you listen to yourself? Stop being so fucking selfish and look past yourself!" Nick shook her as she turned her head away from him in an attempt to get her to look at him again. "I fucking love you!"
Franky saw her arm reach up and her hand strike his cheek, but she didn't feel it. Her vision was blurred with tears, but everything about that moment seemed crystal clear. She quickly felt a wave of regret wash over her and dropped to her knees, shaking her head in apology. Before she could vocalize it, she felt Nick's lips crash onto hers. It was the first thing she's felt in weeks.
And she wanted to feel more.
"That was a mistake, Nick. That should've never happened," Franky murmured as she pulled her dress back over her head. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay?"
Nick slid his legs through his jeans, focusing on closing the fly as he spoke. "I don't want to keep this to myself. I want to be with you. I don't know what the fuck you're doing to me, Franky. But all I want is you. I want you to be my girlfriend."
She glared at him, stealing a cigarette from his pack that fell out of his pocket during their rough shuffle. "I'm no one's fucking girlfriend."
"Be mine," he practically pleaded. "I need you. We can make each other sane."
"No," she replied coldly as she stood. "I'll never be sane."
Nick called after her, but all she could focus on was mustering the strength to walk away. He was just as much of a mind fuck as his brother was. And for some reason, that realization only made Franky want him more.