Chapter Text
"What do you mean you can't make it?" Frank asks incredulously over the phone, "Dude, I'm already at the mall."
He walks around whilst on the phone, obviously frustrated as he holds it tightly to his ear. After a moment of listening, Frank mutters something under his breath, before slamming shut the phone. Somehow, he manages to slam it so hard that it makes him, himself flinch.
He can't believe his closest friend, Mikey McMillin, cancelled on him. To make matters worse, he can't go back to his apparent, because of his roommate having over his girlfriend, and Frank does NOT want to be a third wheel.
Illi, witnessing whatever is going on with Frank as it goes down, makes her way over to him. She's honestly glad to find someone she gets along with at the mall, even under the circumstances.
"Frankenstein!" She calls out to him with a gentle smile. "What's wrong?" Illi questions, her hand coming to settle on his shoulder.
Typically, Illi wouldn't consider herself a tactile person. But with Frank, she feels more comfortable, more inclined to reach out and feel the fabrics of whatever shirt he's wearing.
Today, Frank happens to be wearing a band shirt, The Smiths, in which he and Illi have talked about being inspired by, and a regular pair of jeans, paired with a belt, more for style than functionality. Illi herself is wearing a black skirt, ripped fishnets underneath, a Depeche Mode shirt, and her signature sweater, which looks like it's been through hell and back from how many times she's had to sew it back up.
Frank looks at Illi, a little confused, but with a formular gentleness in his eyes. "Oh, hey Illi." He greets quietly, "Sorry, that was Mikey on the phone. He's bailed on me, again."
He seems slightly annoyed by it, but Mikey backing on their plans barely happens, so Frank can't find himself to be too upset by it.
"Well," Illi starts, a mischievous smile creeping up on her lips, "That means you can hangout with me, instead of my weird brother."
It's clear that she doesn't mean any harm by calling her brother weird, with it being more or less just sibling rivalry. Mikey and Illi have been known to pick on eachother, sometimes even pulling the odd prank when either of them are bored.
"You wanna go get smoothies?" She asks, her hand slowly removing itself from Frank's shoulder. "I've been craving chocolate so bad, and they have the best fucking chocolate smoothies."
Frank smiles at the gesture, a tooth grin. "Sure, I'd love a smoothie." He agrees eagerly, "But, I'm paying this time."
Illi just laughs, already starting to lead him to the escalator, only looking behind her to make sure Frank is coming along.
When she checks behind her again, right before hopping onto the escalator, Frank seems to be standing there hesitantly.
"Frank, what's wrong?" Illi asks, slightly concerned, more confused. She starts to wonder if she had done something wrong.
Frank just looks at her with a furrowed brow, not saying anything for a moment. He just looks around, trying to spot any normal stairs, or possibly even an elevator, but comes up with nothing.
"I'm actually fucking terrified of escalators," he admits with a wry chuckle.
Illi copies Frank's same expression, her eyebrows furrowing as she thinks of any other way to get upstairs. "Well.. thats okay," she tries to reassure, "We could just walk around, maybe buy a chocolate bar."
Frank shakes his head, on a mission to get Illi the smoothie she wanted, even if it means facing his fear. "No, it's okay. Don't worry."
Suddenly, Frank grabs illi's hand, intertwining it tightly with his. He steps onto the escalator, pulling his friend on behind him. He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to forget he's on said escalator.
"Don't let go of me, please." He asks of her, internally freaking out. "At least not while we're on these stupid, fucking, moving stairs."
Illi seems a little surprised by it, but holds onto Frank's hand anyways, with no intentions of letting go anytime soon.
When they reach the top, Illi hops off first, making sure Frank safely gets off too. She doesn't let go of his hand, mostly forgetting she's holding onto him. Illi can see Frank physically start to ease out of the nervous tension he had, glad to see him finally calm.
"I'm impressed," Illi teases, hoping to calm any of the lingering tension, "You didn't break a sweat or anything."
Frank just laughs. He doesn't even notice how the two of them are still hand in hand as they walk, even though it's only been a little bit, it feels natural, like second nature to him now.
"Yeah, thought I was gonna break a sweat," he jokes back with a soft laugh, "Thanks for not making fun of me. Being a full-grown man and being scared of escalators is kinda embarrassing."
"I'm just impressed you admitted to being scared of escalators," Illi teases him, a smile playing at her lips once again. "Really, not many guys would be willing to say it. But don't worry, Frankenstein, your secret is safe with me."
She's just more or less glad to see Frank finally his more playfully laidback self. It's something Illi sees a lot from him, but it makes her happy each time it's brought out.
Illi points up at the hanging chalkboard with the menu written on it. "Anything look good to you?" She asks, wanting to know what he'd like.
He scans the menu, not really paying much attention, especially since most of his attention has been on Illi since she spoke to him.
"Hmm, definitely something with strawberry.. if it's bright pink, then I'll drink it." He shrugs, only half joking. "Want me to order for the both of us? I know you said you wanted chocolate.."
You want a pink, girly smoothie?" Illi asks incredulously, a surprised giggle coming out. "Thought you were supposed to be all tough and shit." She teases, reaching out and poking his chest playfully, her hand lingering on the fabric of his shirt.
Illi seems pleasantly surprised by the offer of him talking for her, maybe even a little bit hesitant. "Um.." She mumbles, "Sure, that'd be nice, I think."
It's not often that someone is willing to tell the cashier her order for her, especially not a guy. But, either way, she's thankful for it, as she considers herself more introverted than anything.
She follows beside Frank as they make way to the till, still hand in hand. It's clear Illi still doesn't realise, or possibly doesn't mind.
"Could I get a large chocolate smoothie, and a large strawberry smoothie?" He calls out the order politely, already pulling the cash for it from his wallet.
The cashier writes down the order, taking the money to count. She hands back the change, a friendly, customer service smile on her face as she does so.
The two then stand there, waiting awkwardly for their order. Frank is mostly just admiring Illi, trying not to make his staring too obvious.
He brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes, his hand lingering for a second before falling to his side. "Sorry, you had a hair in your eye." He chuckles.
"Oh.. um, thanks." She murmurs, looking away momentarily.
Illi looks back at Frank, having to look down because of their height difference. She looks like she might be about to say something, but is interrupted by their order being ready.
"Chocolate and strawberry smoothies," the worker calls out, labelling each drink. "You guys are a cute couple, by the way."
The compliment rings in Frank's head, with a blush creeping up on his face. He isn't sure if he's supposed to correct her, or what to say.
"Thank you!" Illi grins as she reaches for the drinks, handing Frank his and pulling him to a nearby table.
Frank silently wonders why Illi didn't correct the worker, but doesn't ask about it, wanting to live in the ruse of them dating for a little while longer.
Illi happily sips from her smoothie, kicking her feet as she sits down. "Oh my God, Frankie," She happily calls out, "You have got to try this!"
Frank smiles at Illi's excited giggle, giving in and taking a sip from her drink, "Oh, that's good." He admits, surprised by the flavour. "Here, have a sip of mine."
She takes a large sip, nodding as she slides the cup back. "God.. Thats tastes so fucking pink!" Illi giggles.
"How is something supposed to taste pink?" Frank asks incredulously with a chuckle, wanting to know the thoughts behind her words.
"Mm, I dunno," she hums, shrugging. "Some things just taste like colours.. and that definitely tastes pink."
Frank just laughs, taking a sip from his smoothie. He immediately realises that Illi is right, and his drink does taste pink, but he would never admit it, at least not to her.