Closed Keep Yourself Warm

Francis Ruis

Friendly Neighborhood Ne'er-do-well
 
Messages
202
OOC First Name
Kris
Blood Status
Half Blood
Relationship Status
Single
Sexual Orientation
Bisexual
Age
05/2033 (25)
At some point, when Frankie hadn't been looking, things had changed. He'd been so used to sitting in his small little world day after day while he felt like everyone else got on with their lives, but now, he hesitantly thought maybe he could change with them. Getting the job at the Hog's Head was the first step, and now, Sapphire had finished school for good. No more disppearing for months at a time. Maybe the two of them could actually figure out something more than just hooking up over holidays and letters he could never bring himself to answer.

Catching a glimpse of Sapph from his kitchen window, Frankie slipped out the side door, making his way over to her yard where she'd stepped outside. "So, end of an era, huh," He said, propping an arm up against the wall of house as he smiled at her. It was a strange feeling, a heady mix of hope and fear. "Now what?" He reached over, twisting a strand of her hair around his finger, bolstered by the giddy bubble of excitement. Of potential. It wasn't something he'd ever really considered for himself before. He didn't know what Sapphire had planned, but as he'd seen, things were changing and he could hope.
 
Sapphire had been so unsure of her future. She had an idea of what she wanted to do, but for the first time, there was someone she wanted to do that with. It scared her, it really did, she hadn't trusted anyone since Mervyn had shattered her trust. Not even with Noelle had she ever dared to trust him; she had always known he was just looking for her to distract him. She had thought once that she knew what Frankie wanted of her, too. He just wanted something fun to pass the time, with anyone around that could provide it. She had never considered there would be more than that. But after her talk with an unexpected visitor the other day, Sapphire had... mostly bolstered up the courage to do what she needed to.

That being said, she was not prepared when he appeared out of nowhere. She felt the blush on her cheeks, and her breath caught in her throat. She hesitated, unsure of how to play this. "I..." She bit her lip, stepping forward a little and running her hands up his chest. "I'm not sure," She admitted softly, looking up at him. "What... what do you want, Frankie-boy?" She asked.
 
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Frankie felt a certain level of comfort when Sapphire admitted she didn't have any sure plans. It made him feel a bit more on solid ground, actually having something to offer her for once. "Well, I just got a job a the Hog's Head, so I say a drink at least is on the cards. Maybe we can go from there," He said, gently circling a hand around her wrist where it was resting against his chest. He'd be nervous about this conversation, if he was being honest. Things were changing so quickly and he'd been half convinced Sapphire would want nothing to do with him once she'd finished school and was free to do what she wanted. A shitty bartending job at the pub down the road wasn't much to brag about to someone who potentially had the world at their finger tips. Nothing was tethering her to Brightstone now that she didn't have to go back to school, so why would she want to hang around with him. But here she was, and maybe they could actually figure out something real here.
 
Sapphire's breath caught as she felt his fingers around her wrist. "I... I would really like that," She smiled up at him, a little surprised he had gotten a job. "You're working now?" She asked, unsure if it would be right of her to ask him now. Without really thinking, she kept talking. "That's really cool, Frankie. I didn't think of that," She mused, biting her lip a moment before smiling shyly up at him. "I suppose that means you wouldn't want to come with me," She went on, tilting her head a bit as she thought. "I was thinking of going this next week, but I can always come back in on the weekends to see you," She thought aloud, slowly forming a plan in her head. She might not be able to ask him outright to run away with her anymore, but they could still take some steps. Maybe. She reached up, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
 
There was a little bright seed of something not unlike pride burning somewhere under Frankie's collar bone and he just managed to resist the urge to tug Sapphire closer, stopping to let her finish what she was saying. Her choice of words made him pause though, a slow creeping chill at the odd phrasing. "Didn't think of what?" He asked her slowly, the cold seeping in deeper as she continued. "Wait wait, go with you? Go with you where, where are you going?" He asked her, brow furrowed as he grip tightened a fraction on her wrist. "I thought you said you didn't have any plans. Didn't you just say that like two seconds ago?" Frankie shook his hair from his eyes as Sapphire reached up to brush it away, not wanting to get distracted from whatever it was that Sapphire was talking about. He knew this whole thing had seemed too good to be true, and now he was about to pay for it with whatever came out of her mouth next, he was certain of it.
 
Sapphire paused a little as Frankie seemed to react badly to what she had said. "I... I don't. Nothing really certain." She studied his face, a bit more unsure of herself with the way he was reacting. "I had some ideas, I just needed to look into them a bit more, I..." She bit her lip. "I was thinking of traveling a bit, taking my camera and photographing magical creatures in their natural environments, I... don't really know what it would entail so I need to look into it, but I..." She tightened her grip a little, clutching at his shirt as she was suddenly very worried over what may happen next. "I was sort of thinking maybe... you would come with me, maybe... we could run away together, but... you said you have work here, and that's really good, I support you, I can come back at night, take weekends off, play around with things and still be here," She continued, heart thundering in her chest. "Frankie...?" She asked, very softly, scared he was going to do something she wasn't going to like.
 
"So you're leaving," Frankie said, voice clipped like a door closing. "Well, I mean, of course you're leaving, why wouldn't you," He said, dropping Sapphire's wrist and taking a step back so he could motion at the neighborhood with a sweep of his arm. "What's this place got to give anyway either, I don't blame you." Frankie could feel the smile on his face, but it felt sharp and unnatural, something hurt barreling around his chest at the realization of what Sapphire was saying. "No no no, don't come crawling back here on my account, you and I both know I'm not going anywhere." Frankie couldn't believe this. He couldn't do this thing again, waiting on Sapphire to come back every couple of weeks and hoping she wasn't sick of him. Knowing he was just some side attraction to her real life.

He'd always felt like he was stuck here, spinning his wheels, but the idea that she was going to offer him to go with her made him want to laugh. "Run away together?" He said quietly, shaking his head and looking back at her finally. "Do you even hear yourself? Run where? You don't even know, you just want to get away. Again, I don't blame you, if my brother got his head caved in and I had no parents to bother me I'd probably bounce to." Frankie knew what he was saying was cruel, but something sharp in his chest was hurting, this same scenario he always played round and round in his brain while Sapphire and everyone else was off living real lives while Frankie felt like he was stuck on glue and it felt like it was all getting thrown back in his face. "I'm sure you'll have way more fun without me."
 
Sapphire could feel her heart breaking in her chest, but she tried to hide it. "What? Frankie," she bit her lip, trying to figure out a way to fix this, make it better. "My uncle travels for work all the time, I just- its just a job, Frankie," she pleaded softly.

She tensed at what he said, hurt flashing through her. She crossed her arms protectively over her chest. "Frankie, stop it, what are you doing?" She looked up at him. "I'm still coming back, I still live here, its no different than if I were working at a shop in the harbour, I-" she bit her lip, stepping closer. "Frankie, I just thought- I don't know, my cousin and her boyfriend went abroad for a year, I thought- I don't know, maybe you'd like that? But I- I just want to be closer to you, Frankie, I- I really care about you, I know I- I'm a bit of a mess," she tried to string together, stepping a bit closer to him and looking up at him with pleading blue eyes. "Frankie, please? I... I'm a little scared, here, I don't know what I'm doing, but I... I want to be with you, I want to give this a chance, I... Help me out here,"
 
Frankie shook his head as Sapphire started making excuses. "Oh so now it's a job? You sure you haven't thought about all this, then?" He asked snidely. He wondered how long she'd been planning on leaving. How much of an idiot he probably looked waiting around for her all the time, and thinking that maybe they could actually spend time together now that she was done with school. This was probably always the plan for her, and he was once again just some distraction until she was able to move onto what she actually wanted.

"Don't patronize me. I'm not the thing you're going to come back here for, don't put that on me," Frankie said sharply, turning his face away from her. The thought of made him want to jump out of his own skin. Of sitting around here all day while she was off seeing the world. Or of being the thing she felt obligated to come back to. He refused to be some tether to Sapphire that she felt so beholden to to want to put her own life on hold for. He wasn't sure which sounded worse, honestly. "It sounds like to me you know what you want do, and whatever it is it doesn't involve hanging around here," He said, crossing his arms and taking another pointed step around here. "What are you even waiting on, cause it shouldn't be me." It was easier this way, he told himself. Everyone left eventually, he knew that. It would have been so much easier if he'd not let himself get so attached to Sapphire, but it was good that he remembered whatever it was between them was just some little game they got to play before Sapphire needed to move onto her real life. Without him.
 
Sapphire felt herself tense up as he continued to be a jerk, her jaw clenched, and for a brief moment, she thought she might hit him. She decided against it, however, though she did step right back into his path. "Excuse me?" She asked, sounding a bit indignant, putting a hand in his chest to stop him. "What got your panties in a twist? I have a job interview, that'll take an hour, maybe," she pushed a little. "Excuse me for being nervous, for wanting to take someone I- someone I care about with me, and thinking maybe while we're out we can look around. I still live right there," she jabbed her finger at her house. "I'm going to be here a good bit, if you're allowed to run off and get a job at a pub I'm allowed to look at a job my uncle recommended."

She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You know what I thought about, Frankie boy? I thought about spending more time with you, I agreed to talk to my uncle's friend because my uncle knows I was kicking around a few ideas. I thought- God, I'm such an idiot, I should've... Look, I know I always said I didn't care, but you have to know I was lying," She looked up at him, pleading with her shimmering sapphire eyes. "I've spent all this time convinced no one will ever want me. No one ever has- I spent my entire life fighting tooth and nail to find a place in this world and keep it, I... I actually thought... I thought we might... I don't know, have something, Frankie," She stepped back, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "I thought... you wanted to get drinks, having a job interview shouldn't change that,"
 
Frankie let out a wry laugh at Sapphire's indignation. "Could you get your story straight for a second, maybe" He said, pushing her hand away from his chest. "How am I supposed to believe you about anything, you say you don't have any plans and then drop this in my lap like I'm an afterthought." It hurt, to know Sapphire had been off at school, with her friends and family, planning her life. And why shouldn't she, really. It hurt even more than she acted like he could be so part of it, when they both knew he could only hold her back. "This isn't about me, this is about you. I'm not leaving," He said, throwing his arms wide. "I'm never going to get out of here, don't you get that." Angrily, Frankie scrubbed a hand through his hair, glancing away from Sapphire.

He let out a dry laugh when Sapphire said she'd been lying. About her feelings or their relationship or everything. But what did that even mean any more. What was Frankie supposed to believe. "Well, keep fighting, Sapphire," He finally said, crossing his arms again. "I don't want to be the one getting in your way, yeah? This was all just for fun, no one's running away with any one or anything. So just, go to your interview. Don't let me stop you. And don't act like you don't want it, at least be honest about that part," He said, voice thick with an air of finality. He'd known everything between the two had been temporary. Fake. Frankie wasn't going to be the one that asked Sapphire to stay based on something neither of them could fess up to, if anything real had ever been there in the first place.
 
Sapphire threw up her hands. "It isn't a plan, Frankie, its an option, I don't know anything for sure right now, I'm just looking," She scrubbed both hands through her hair. "You are not an afterthought, and you are not stuck here!" She yelled. "If you really don't want to go, fine, I won't make you, I just- I just thought maybe we could take a trip, it was a stupid idea, sue me!" She could feel her heart breaking in her chest, merlin, why had she expected this to go any better.

She scoffed when he told her to be honest. "You don't get to decide that!" She snapped, trying hard not to cry. "You want the truth? I don't think I'll get the offer, I think I'll show up and they'll shake my hand and be polite then kick me out, I just- I wanted to ask you to come along because my cousin took off for an entire year with her boyfriend and apparently it's this big romantic thing and I- I thought maybe instead of sitting around pining after you like an absolute idiot I should maybe try to make some kind of move and see if you wanted to go away for a minute or two, just us," She let out a strained laugh. "But excuse me for bruising your ego! You can run off and get a job and that's perfectly okay, we'll go get drinks! But if I even think of looking at anything, of just going to some stupid interview my uncle set up, and what, everythings off?" She asked, almost reaching for him again but stopping herself.
 
Frankie scoffed at Sapphire's continued excuses, shaking his head. He didn't want to hear it anymore. She was just looking sure. Started with just looking, then it was just for the weekend, then it was just for a few months, and then he'd never see her again. It was better for both of them if they was just honest about where this thing between them was always headed. "Yeah, it was stupid," He said coldly.

Sapphire was really really piling it on thick, and Frankie found it hard to have any sympathy for her, his own chest feeling hollow and cold, like something inside him was trying to close itself up in a panic with all the things she kept saying. Either she got the job and left, or she didn't get the job and resented him and everything Brightstone stood for. "Oh, you thought this was going to be romantic," He said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, cause we've always been real romantic. You sure you're not confusing me with one of your other boyfriends," He said sourly. "I'm not trying to run off and make big life decisions, okay!" Frankie had had enough. He wanted to storm off, lock himself in the garage and lick his wounds. This whole mess with Sapphire had uncovered something small and ugly that Frankie wanted to stuff back down and pretend he didn't know about it. Jealous, mean thoughts he felt sometimes when he caught his mother on a bad day, that distant look on her face he could only describe as regret. "Look, do whatever you want, just don't include me in your grand life plans or whatever," He finally said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Have a nice life, Sapphire."

[pretend this didn't take 2+ weeks to get to sorry!!]
 

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