Chapter Text
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “I’ll never stop, Karen.” Franks words came out ruder than intended, “You have to know that. I can’t stop.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Karen pushed a loose piece of her hair behind her ear, and put her hands on her hips. Frank could hear the slight change in Karen’s breathing, she was trying not to cry. Frank crossed the room and placed a gentle hand on Karen’s arm, only for her to pull herself back.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “You could stop, Frank. You could leave this... this life behind you.” Ah, there were the tears Karen had desperately been trying to keep at bay, “You could start a new life. You could stay... with me.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Karen...” Frank pilled the girl into a hug despite her protests, “You know I can’t do that.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Coming here had been a mistake, Frank could tell. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to show up at Karen’s house, but here he was. It was as though the universe had brought him here.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Can’t or won’t?”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Karen sounded so upset, and it broke Frank’s heart. Frank almost wished he had never Karen, almost wished Karen barely knew of his existence, almost wished that the gods weren’t so unfair as to drag Frank here just to see what he couldn’t have. But Frank was selfish, and he was glad to have Karen in his life. Even if she was barely there.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Can’t,” Frank took a step back from Karen and shook his head, “The second I stop, the second I try to live a simple life, it all restarts... this is just who I am.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “No. You’re not some insane killer, I know you. I refuse to believe otherwise.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “You’re wrong, Karen. Why can’t you just be happy with that Murdock guy? Have a normal life?”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Because I cant! Every time I come to terms with you really being gone, you come back. Just like this. So here you are, Frank. Reminding me why I can’t move on.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Oh that’s unfair,” but it was true, “I’ll just leave, then. And I won’t come back, so you can finally move on.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “That’s bullshit, Frank! Absolute bullshit! Just... stay here. With me. Stay with me. We can figure things out.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The desperate look in Karen’s eyes made Frank unable to say ‘no,’ so he just nodded his head.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Yeah... Yeah, okay. Let’s go to bed. We can talk more tomorrow.”
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Karen woke up to an empty bed. The only sign that Frank had even been there was the jacket he left hanging on her bed post.