Seth followed Roman inside his house and dumped down on the couch. Roman sat down in his favorite armchair and smirked at Seth in that particular way he always smirked when he had a secret or surprise.
"What is it?" Seth asked.
"What is what?" Roman asked innocently.
"You got zero pokerface, my dude. Spill it," Seth said.
"Maybe I wanna wait with the big reveal," Roman said.
"I'm not in the mood. Spill it or I'll leave again," Seth said.
Roman chuckled at Seth's attempt to appear serious. Seth wasn't going to leave but there was no reason Roman kept it a secret although it would be fun to see Seth's face when Frannie walked through the door.
"Frannie's coming over to hang with us," Roman said.
Seth got that look in his eyes that Roman had seen many times when he mentioned his two years younger cousin Frannie. It was no secret that Seth had been in love with Frannie for ages. It started with small hints that Roman caught up on. The way Seth would always look at her or how he would mention her long, black, curly hair or her beautiful, ocean blue eyes. Eventually Roman had straight up asked Seth about it, and Seth had come clean. When he brought it up with Frannie later, it turned out she was feeling the same way too. There was just one small problem standing in the way. She was living with her boyfriend.
"How is she?" Seth asked.
"She should be single when she arrives," Roman said.
Seth sat up straight and stared at Roman with wide eyes.
"I should have filmed your reaction," Roman laughed.
"Is it a joke, Roman?" Seth asked.
"No, she told me she's finally leaving Randy," Roman said.
"Is she safe?" Seth asked.
Roman's smiled dropped. Randy had connections with badges and guns. Dirty cops that would help Randy come up with things if it was needed. Sometimes the truth could be twisted a bit and stories could come out differently with the right words, witnesses and proof. Normally a threat to do so was enough to keep Frannie in her place but she had finally had enough.
"She's leaving with nothing but her clothes and personal items. She will film everything while packing so he can't claim she stole shit afterwards," Roman said.
"We should be there to help her," Seth said.
"Not you. Randy would catch on to your feelings right away. I offered to help but she said she had everything under control. Randy's going away for the weekend so I'm counting on her showing up with her car loaded so she can move in today," Roman said.
Roman leaned forward and patted Seth's knee.
"This is good news. You two can finally take the chance although maybe wait a little and keep it private for a while. Once Randy realizes she won't return, he'll find a new target and then you can be more public about it," Roman said.
They heard the front door open and Seth turned his head towards the door leading to the living room.
"Roman?" Frannie called.
"We're in the living room!" Roman called back.
They heard footsteps walking down the hall and then she appeared in the open door. She settled her eyes on Seth and gave him a little smile.
"You didn't tell me Seth would be here," Frannie said.
"Surprise!" Roman grinned. "I am done being the middle man here. You both already know I've spilled the beans about your feelings for each other. Now figure it out and make me the best man at the wedding."
"Roman!" Seth coughed.
"Yeah, about that," Frannie sighed.
Frannie walked over and sat down on the couch before looking at Roman again.
"I didn't leave him," Frannie said.
"Why the fuck not?" Roman asked.
Seth felt uncomfortable sitting between the two cousins. This was not a talk he was meant to be part of no matter how he felt about her.
"I'm pregnant," Frannie said.
It felt like the air got sucked out of the room. Both men stared at her with wide eyes. They couldn't believe what they had just heard.
"What the fuck did he do to make that happen?" Roman asked angrily.
"Thank you for knowing that's what happened," Frannie said.
"Did he poke holes in the condoms?" Roman asked.
"Ladies and gentlemen, he's right again. We have a winner," Frannie said.
"Don't fucking joke about it!" Roman hissed.
"That asshole!" Seth growled.
Frannie looked at Seth and couldn't help but crack a smile at his angry face.
"You're cute when you're angry on my behalf," Frannie said.
"Now is not the time to flirt," Roman said.
"I don't know about that. Like you said, it's no secret how we feel. I'm so fucking done with Randy. I just need to figure out what to do next," Frannie said.
"Do you want an abortion?" Seth asked.
"More than anything but since he forced me to pee on a stick in front of him and he watched it turn blue, I can't exactly get one and pretend I was never pregnant. This needs to come out of me naturally," Frannie said.
Frannie sighed and looked over at Roman again. With the jokes out of her system, she could no longer hide her fear and pain.
"I'm scared, Roman," Frannie said.
Seth wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. She started crying while letting the man of her dreams comfort her.
"We're here for you," Seth said.
"I don't fucking want this child. I've never wanted children. What the fuck do I do?" Frannie asked.
"I don't know," Seth answered.
"This is gonna sound so lame but how about I order pizza and we can try and come up with a plan?" Roman asked.
Frannie moved out of Seth's arms, dried her eyes, and nodded.
"I'd like that," Frannie said. "And I need alcohol."
Roman grabbed his phone to call the pizzeria and pointed towards his liquor cabinet.
"Knock yourself out," Roman said.
"Thanks," Frannie said.
Frannie walked over to the liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey.
"Do you want anything?" Frannie looked at Seth.
"I'll have whatever you're having," Seth said.
Frannie walked back to the couch, sat down, opened the bottle, and took a swig.
"That's the good stuff," Frannie said.
Frannie looked over at Roman who was walking out of the living room while talking to the pizzeria. She looked at Seth again and leaned in for a kiss. He devoured the strong taste of whiskey mixed with her natural sweetness from the kiss that only lasted 5 seconds and way too short for his liking. She broke the kiss and smiled at him.
"What was that for?" He asked.
"In case I get too drunk tonight, I wanted that one kiss. It was a good kiss," she said.
"It was," he smiled.
He leaned in for another kiss that got interrupted by Roman clearing his throat.
"As much as I love to see this, it's not a solution to the current problem," Roman said.
"Cockblocker," Frannie said.
"I'm happy to see my cheerful cousin is still in there somewhere," Roman joked.
"The parasite hasn't taken control of my mind," Frannie said.
Seth chuckled and took Frannie's hand.
"We'll figure it out somehow. I promise," Seth said.
"We have to. I refuse to live this way. Either it goes or I go," Frannie said.
"Don't talk like that," Roman said.
"If I stay with Randy, he'll kill me eventually," Frannie said. "He's already started..."
Frannie stopped talking and looked down at her feet.
"He's already started what?" Roman felt the anger inside him boil. "You better finish that fucking sentence or I'll drive to wherever the fuck he went this weekend and ask him myself."
"He's already started beating me, alright?" Frannie shouted.
"I warned you this would happen," Roman said.
"Really? You're gonna play the 'I told you so' game right now?" Frannie asked.
"Roman, quit it. I know you're angry but it's not her fault. Men like Randy are scary and not easy to leave," Seth said.
Roman ran a hand down his face and nodded.
"I'm sorry, Frannie," Roman said.
"Apology accepted," Frannie said.
Frannie took another swig of the whiskey bottle and smiled at Roman.
"I'm gonna empty this tonight," Frannie said.
"It's too much for you," Roman chuckled.
"Watch me," Frannie chuckled too. "I'm gonna be so fucking drunk tonight that I'll forget everything going on. We can face that demon tomorrow but tonight I wanna forget."
"In that case I'm gonna bring in a couple of mattresses for you two to sleep on while I sleep on the couch," Roman smiled. "Let's all get shit-faced tonight."