Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Illi absolutely loves vampires. She always has, and she always will. For as long as she can remember vampires have been her favorite type of monster in comparison to things like mummies, witches, and creatures like that. Every Halloween she dresses as a vampire, whenever she draws she ends up sketching a vampire, whenever she writes one of the characters always ends up being a vampire. They’re her everything and she might be a tad bit obsessed with them. It’s nothing new, she’s always been like this. For her entire life she’s been "that vampire guy” and then as of now “the weird vampire chick.”

Mikey has been dealing with the whole vampire thing basically his entire life, but for Ray and Frank it’s only been a couple of years.

Frank arguably but more so secretly has the worst time when it comes to Illi’s whole vampire thing. Vampires versus werewolves, that’s been a debate for as long as the two have coexisted in story telling. Frank likes to act as if his choice lies with vampires, but in reality he likes werewolves much more, but you could say he has a bit of a bias though. It sounds stupid, and it is pretty stupid, but Frank happens to be a werewolf. Now, the thing is, being a werewolf isn’t how it’s shown in fictional media. Yeah, he has sharp canines and he turns into a wolf basically every full moon, but that’s really it. He isn’t feral, he doesn’t start transforming into a wolf whenever he wants, and he sure as hell won’t die if he touches some silver.

It’s not as crazy as it is in movies, it’s less of a superpower and more of a mild inconvenience you could say.

It’s also much easier to hide then it seems considering it’s really not all that big of a deal. Oddly sharp teeth? Weird genetics. Can’t seem to hang out past the sun set anytime there’s a full moon for some odd reason? His parents have some weird superstition about ghouls and goblins being on the prowl at night, not werewolves though, just little odd creatures. Sounds like absolute bullshit, but for some reason people believe him. It surprises him too.

Back to Illi, Frank obviously isn’t the biggest fan of her vampire obsession to say the least. It aggravates him knowing she prefers them over werewolves. Is it pretty damn petty? 100 percent, especially considering that she literally has no idea that he is one. He knows exactly why he cares so much about how Illi feels but that’s a discussion for another time that he prefers to avoid. He totally cares equally as much about Ray liking vampires more too, it’s just something he feels from all his vampire enjoying friends. Mikey does happen to like werewolves more, which is totally cool, but Frank would like it better if it was the other McMillin sibling that held that opinion.

All that out of the way, Frank is currently attending a sleepover at Mikey and Illi’s house. It’s not anything out of the ordinary, sleepovers are very common in their little friend group. Right now it’s just Frank and Illi talking in her room while Ray and Mikey get snacks. They were talking about school work before, but since it’s October obviously Halloween ended up being brought into the discussion.

“You know, since Halloween is on a Friday this year, we should do something super cool all together. Like a movie marathon!” Illi suggested.

Frank leaned back into Illi’s bed, ”Yeah, you gonna make us watch Dracula?”

“Maybe,” Illi chuckled as she spoke, “Dracula is a pretty good movie you know! Vampires and such aside, it has a great plot!”

“Suuure,” Frank rolled his eyes.

Illi gently punched his arm, “Hey! It totally is and you know that! You said you liked it last time!”

Frank grabbed Illi’s wrist and turned her arm away, pushing her back playfully, “Yeah but I was probably stoned!”

“Not true!” Illi pushed Frank back, getting close to him now, “You were far from stoned and you absolutely loved it, admit it!”

Frank knows where this is going. He held onto Illi’s wrists and pushed her back a little harder, “Not true!”

Illi shoved Frank far enough to where she was practically on top of him, “So true!”

“Not,” he threw a leg over Illi, “True!” He was now straddling Illi’s hips and holding her down by her shoulders.

She let out a grunt as her back hit the mattress. In retaliation she snuck her hands up to grab Frank’s thighs and toss him off. Unfortunately, Frank wasn’t really expecting that and Illi’s attempt to fight back worked.

“Not fair,” Frank scoffed.

They always fight like this, but for some reason his heart was racing faster than before this time. The way she grabbed his thighs switched something in his head. No, it’s probably nothing, why would he react like that to his friend just messing around like usual? No reason at all, so obviously it was just nerves or something of the sorts, totally.

Illi laughed, “It was so fair!”

“Got the snacks,” called Mikey who was finally back. Ray was standing behind him with some chips. Frank felt pretty relieved that they were back.

Frank jumped off the bed and scurried over to Ray, "Give me some.”

“At least say please,” Ray scoffed, but he still passed Frank the bowl. It was filled with Doritos, sick.

Frank found himself back to where he sat on Illi’s bed and started to stuff his mouth with the chips.

Ray and Mikey had both come over too. Ray sat on the floor while Mikey was able to fit on the small amount of space left on the bed. It’s not like it was huge so it would be hard to try and get all 4 of them on it, and since Ray is the tallest and bulkiest he’s given the floor.

“Sooo,” Illi started, “I was thinking, since Halloween is on a Friday and all, we should all hang and do a super sick movie marathon with tons of horror movies.”

“You’re gonna make us watch Dracula, aren’t you?” Ray asked though his question was slightly muffled since he had just bit into one of the sandwiches he and Mikey had brought.

Frank laughed, “That’s what I fucking said!”

Illi elbowed him, “Shut up!, she scoffed, “Is that a yes or a no?”

Mikey shrugged, he knew he’d be forced into it if he tried to disagree anyways. Older sister powers or something that make it to where he had to do what Illi says.

Ray finished chewing his food before he spoke, “Sure, sounds fun.”

Illi turned to Frank with a smile on her face, “What do you say, Frankie?”

Frank wasn't a fan of how it seemed like everyone was staring at him now, “Uh, sure?”

“SWEET!” Illi yelled out and jumped up slightly, causing the mattress to creak, “Oh this is gonna be so fun, man! No backing out now.”

Frank knows that Illi kept speaking after that, but he couldn’t really focus entirely on what she was saying. He was too focused on her face. For some reason it felt like his eyes were glued onto the way she was smiling. Frank has always thought that Illi has one of the cutest smiles he’s ever seen. He isn’t sure what makes him think so, but something about it is just so charming. Illi is charming, she always has been.

It’s always felt like he’s been drawn to her. As soon as they met he knew that he’d never be at peace unless the two of them became friends. Since then, that feeling has evolved. It’s become more of a “if I’m not looking at her I’m going to explode” feeling. Usually people don’t think that about their best friends, but Illi is different.

Frank hasn’t ever really met anyone like Illi. She’s special, nobody is exactly like her. Nobody has her stupid vampire obsession, her dorky interests, her stupid smile, or her constant smell of an autumn breeze. She’s the only one who draws Frank in and makes him act like this.

As just friends though, it’s like soulmates but instead they’re just friends. Obviously Frank hates that they’re labeled as “friends” but he’s not stupid, he knows he has no chance with Illi. She’s too cool, and also he’s not really a vampire last time he checked.

A hand on his wrist broke him out of thought. It was, of course, Illi.

“Cmon man! You seriously gotta stop zoning out like that, the park isn’t coming to us on its own.”

Park? They’re going to the park? When did they agree on that? Maybe he should start paying attention some more. It’s nearly 7pm so he didn’t expect going to the park to be suggested, especially since they had all already taken showers.

“The… park?”

“Yeah, the park.”

Frank groaned and leaned back into the mattress, “I’m too tireddd!”

Illi pulled Frank back up, “Oh come on! Don't be such a killjoy!”

God, if Frank was actually normal about Illi he would’ve just melted into the bed and told her to fuck off. That’s not him though, so he ended up rolling down grass hills until 10pm.

Chapter Text

Frank woke up that morning only to feel like he had just competed in the Olympics, all just from messing around and whatnot at the park last night. Maybe he did something else that made him feel so damn sore and he just happened to forget.

He sat up from where he had fallen asleep on Illi’s floor and looked around the room. Everyone else was still asleep, boring. There weren’t any clocks in the room, but based on how it looked like the sun was just beginning to rise from outside the window it was most likely around 6am, even more boring.

So it’s early as hell, his body feels like shit, and nobody’s awake. …Cool.

Frank stood up from where he was previously sleeping and walked into the kitchen. He’s been here enough times to where it’s practically a second home, so might as well make himself some breakfast. He opened a cabinet and pulled out the first box of cereal that his hand met; it ended up being some lame ass Cheerios.

Nothing against Cheerios, it’s just that he prefers sugary cereals that’ll probably give him diabetes. Anyways, he opened the fridge door as quietly as he could without making any noise. He wouldn’t want to wake up Mikey and Illi’s mom. The fridge was basically fully stocked but luckily for him the milk was still in plain sight.

By the time Frank has finished getting his cereal ready he could hear someone walking. He isn’t that sure how close the person was, but he stood as still as he could as he tried to listen closer.

“You’re up early, Frankie.”

Frank snapped around and a slight growl escaped his lips. It was immediately the most embarrassing thing to have ever happened to him and he really hoped that Illi didn’t hear it. In his defense, he was caught off guard and was still trying to find out who it was.

Illi walked up to Frank and looked at the bowl of cereal, "Since when do you like Cheerios?”

Frank shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I don’t dude.” He ate a spoonful and quickly was able to confirm that he in fact did not like Cheerios.

Illi laughed at the disgusted expression that decorated Frank’s face, “Hey, I’ll eat the rest, go eat like a banana or something.”

Frank pushed the bowl towards Illi and grabbed himself a banana just like she said. He doesn’t remember if he likes bananas either for gods sake but his body seemed to obey what Illi told him on its own. Well, at least the banana wasn't too ripe but also wasn't too old.

As he ate he glanced out the window. Not much time had passed obviously and it was still pretty early. He wonders why Illi had woken up at this time. Usually she’s a deep sleeper who stays knocked out until past 12. It’s probably not that big of a deal, but his mind won’t give up on the topic at hand.

“Uhm,” Frank started, “So, why’re you up so early?”

Illi looked up from the bowl to look up at Frank's face, “Eh, I don’t really know. I haven’t woken up this early in ages. It’s not like I had a dream or anything either! It’s like the universe just wanted me awake at this time for whatever reason. How about you? Why're you up this early?”

“I don’t know either. My body hurts from yesterday, probably from pain I guess.”

Illi walked over to Frank, already finished with the cereal now. Frank had barely eaten his banana still, clearly he needs to eat a little faster.

He expected Illi to say something, but she just stood there silently. It should have been awkward, but it felt peaceful for some reason. It’s never usually quiet like this for Frank. Usually he’s living life loudly and he never takes a moment to just calm down. The silence of the house and slight snoring in the distance provided a foreign feeling for Frank that he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. He wondered if Illi felt that way too.

…

7:30am, the next day

…

“Frankie.”

…

“Frank!”

…

“Frank, wake the hell up!”

Frank jolted up in his bed, unfortunately woken up from the deep slumber he had fallen in. The sunlight that came through his window immediately hit his eyes and reminded him that it’s morning now.

He turned to the voice who had screamed at him. It was Ray. Why is Ray in his house exactly?

“Hey, uh, why’re you here, man?”

Ray scoffed, “Come clean.”

Frank furrowed his brows, immediately becoming confused by whatever that was supposed to mean. It didn’t really answer why Ray was inside his home either.

“Come clean?”

“I know what you are, Frank. Just come clean.”

A silence was born between them. Frank was confused, more confused than he ever has been in probably his entire life.

He started to pay more attention to the man in front of him, and it made it even worse.

Something was obviously off about Ray. He looked different, it wasn’t anything major but he didn’t look right. His hair looked too curly, his shoulders were too wide, and it overall looked like someone pretending to be Ray.

“Come clean, Iero,” ‘Ray’ said, but his voice was noticeably deeper.

Frank pushed himself back on his bed to keep distance away from ‘Ray.’ Something was so clearly wrong, but he didn’t know what was even happening. He doesn’t understand why the hell ‘Ray’ is in his house, he doesn’t understand why the fuck he doesn’t seem like himself, and he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be coming clean about!

The entire time ‘Ray’ had a blank expression, but suddenly a smile bloomed on his face. It seemed a little random but relatively normal, until Frank noticed his teeth. They were sharp, as sharp as his teeth are. He’s seen ‘Ray’s’ teeth enough times to know they look nothing like that.

Suddenly everything became 10 times darker. It went from annoyingly bright out to nearly pitch dark. All he could see was ‘Ray’ now.

“What the fuck is happening?”

Frank felt himself get pushed hard against the wall. It emitted a loud thump sound and he let out a grunt from the impact.

“You need to get better at hiding secrets, Iero. Everyone knows what you are, werefreak.”

Bzzt bzzt.

Frank jolted awake and quickly slapped his hand down on the top of his alarm clock, which was odd considering he thought he had already been awake. When he woke up it was nearly 6:45 and there was no suspicious Ray screaming at him. Instead all he heard was his father yelling at him to start getting ready before he's late.

His heart was racing and he felt like his chest was going to explode. He rarely has nightmares or really dreams in general, but every time he does it seems to follow that same pattern. Every morning after the dream seems to haunt him throughout the day.

The entire time he was walking to school all he could think about was his dream.

Once he finally got there he could still only think about the dream.

As he walked to his locker all he could think about was the dream.

“Hey.”

Oh, someone's at his locker. It’s Illi.

“You look pretty tired, Frankie,” she noted, a slight tinge of concern evident in her voice.

Frank nodded in acknowledgment and rested his forehead against the cold metal of his locker. He isn’t even sure why he had decided to walk over here, he doesn’t need anything from his locker anyways.

Illi placed a hand on Frank’s shoulder, “You good?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “Just had a shitty dream.”

“What was it about?” she asked.

Frank glanced at Illi, his forehead still flush against the metal. What's he supposed to tell her?

He grimaced slightly, “Spiders. There were tons of spiders in my place and they were creepy and shit.”

Illi hummed, “Oh, alright.” She nodded slightly.

Frank nodded too, though he isn't really sure why he did. Seriously, his body has a mind of its own whenever Illi is around.

“So… Are you free after school?” Illi asked.

Frank finally readjusted himself to face Illi instead of the locker, “Yeah, I think so, why?”

A smile bloomed on her face, “Well, there’s a cool haunted house that’ll be open today. Would you be interested in going with me?”

“Are Mikey and Ray going too?”

Illi’s face flushed a barely noticeable pink, a pink that wasn’t noticeable to Frank, “No, just me and you if that’s okay.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “That’s okay.”

“Cool!” Her smile widened, “Come to my house at around 7, alright?”

“Alright,” he smiled back.

Illi pulled Frank into a hug before running away to whatever class she had. They’ve hugged tons of times, sure, but he still felt a fuzzy feeling manifest in his body. It’s embarrassing how quick a hug can change from just, well, a hug, to something that can immediately fix your mood like that. Speaking of which, Frank had already nearly completely forgotten about his dream now just from such a stupid interaction.

A smile found its way onto his face as he found his way to his geometry class.

Once he sat down at his desk he noticed that Ray was already here. His face was turned down and it seemed that he was doing work already.

Frank poked Rays back, “Hey, hey, Toro.”

He heard a groan leave Ray's mouth before he turned to face him, “What?”

“Me and Illi are going to a haunted house together later,” he said, smiling as he spoke.

Ray raised a brow at Frank, “Like a date?”

Frank’s face turned a bright red within seconds, “No! Not a date!”

“Suuure,” Ray chuckled, “Man, you’re so clueless.”

“Clueless? How am I clueless?” Frank asked, leaning forward in his desk to question Ray.

Ray didn’t respond to him, but he obviously was doing it on purpose. Frank leaned back in his chair, noises of frustration leaving him.

Not once during any of their classes together did Ray answer Frank’s question.

By the time it was lunch Frank had probably questioned Ray a million times. As they sat at their usual area for lunch and waited for Mikey and Illi it was all he would talk about.

“Ray, c’mon, just tell me what you meant,” he whined.

“No, dude. You’re just proving how clueless you are,” Ray chuckled slightly.

Frank felt a bag of chips hit the back of his head, “What is-“ He turned around hoping to see that it was Mikey messing around, but instead he saw a group of boys snickering among themselves and staring in his and Ray's direction.

Frank let out a low snarl as he stared back at the group. Nobody could hear it, and he probably just looked stupid. Though he would’ve looked even stupider if they could hear him.

“Hey, just ignore it.”

It was actually Mikey this time.

Him and Illi sat down on the steps with the other two. Illi had ink smudged on her clothes and Mikey had ink all over his hands. Clearly something happened, but nobody asked.

“Haunted house, huh?” Ray immediately asked.

Illi nodded, “Yeah… Sorry I didn’t invite you, did you want to come too?”

Ray shook his head, “No, I’m fine, just didn’t think you’d go with only Frank.”

Mikey shot Frank a look after hearing that information. It was kind of scary, and Frank had no damn idea why he deserved that creepy ass glare. It was seriously threatening.

“Oh, uh, we just haven’t done anything together in a while, that’s all,” Illi mumbled.

Is Frank missing something? Why is everyone acting like it’s so crazy that they’re going to a haunted house together?

“You think there’ll be any vampire things there?” Mikey questioned.

“I hope so!” Illi beamed, “Last year they had like no vampire stuff, only stupid werewolves.”

Owch, that kind of hurt.

“Werewolves are cool and all, it’s just that vampires are way better and totally deserve way more shit, you know?”

Mikey nodded, “Yeah, vampires are pretty sick.”

Frank had to use all of his energy not to defend himself, or, well, werewolves. Half of him wants the haunted house to be vampire themed so Illi has an amazing time while the other half of him hopes it’s all about werewolves and it shows her how sick they really are.

“Well, you’ll be finding out soon anyways,” Ray injected.

Illi nodded, “Yeah, it’s gonna be so cool I just know it. I haven't gone to a haunted house in forever, man.”

“Well, October barely started, of course you haven't," Frank snickered.

Illi rolled her eyes, “Well yeah, but that’s not my point!”

“Well, I hope you two have fun,” Ray smiled.

“You can come too if you want, seriously!” Illi insisted.

Ray shook his head and gave Frank a weird look, “No, you guys should just go, I don’t like haunted houses that much in all honesty. I’m sure you two will have a blast though.”

The look Ray had given Frank stuck with him throughout the entire day. Each period that passed after that, that glance plagued his thoughts. What was that look about? Does he know? Maybe his dream was inaccurate, sure, but Ray seems to clearly know about Frank's feelings for Illi.

As Frank knocked on Illi’s door at 6:56, he hoped that Ray didn’t know. He hoped that Ray had no idea, because if Ray had no idea, then nobody can tell Illi, and she won’t have any idea either. Ray wouldn’t snitch like that, but the idea was still a little unnerving.

Frank could hear someone running and then the front door swung open, it was of course Illi.

“You ready?” Frank asked.

Illi nodded, “Yeah, I'm ready.”

Chapter Text

Illi looked amazing. She had some dark eyeshadow on and seemed to be wearing some lip gloss too. Her outfit consisted of striped black and red tights, black shorts, a red tank top that hugged her body well, and a black sweater with fur on the hood.

“You look, uh, really pretty,” Frank stammered.

Illi smiled, “Thank you, Frankie! You look nice too.”

Frank hadn’t worn anything special. He just wore jeans that’re a little too tight, a worn out t-shirt, and a camo jacket. Compared to Illi he looks absolutely horrific.

“Sooo, let’s get going, yeah?”

Frank nodded, “Mhm, lead the way.”

Illi giggled before starting to walk down the sidewalk. It would probably be more convenient if they drove, but neither of them have their own car. Illi has her driver's license, but her mom doesn’t let her use her car. Frank thinks it’s stupid because Illi isn’t gonna crash the car, of course she isn’t, she’s not stupid.

As they walked the streets it was quiet, quieter than you’d expect but at the same time it was a few minutes past 7 on a Monday. The only sound that filled the streets was the slight buzz of crickets in the distance. It’s odd really, it doesn’t seem like there even are any crickets around yet once the sun sets you can sure as hell hear them.

Frank wished that maybe-

“We’re here!”

Oh? Frank stopped in his tracks and looked at the house in front of them. It sure looked haunted alright.

“We’re here? Already?”

Illi nodded, “Yep! I forgot to tell you how close it is. Pretty sick though, right?”

It was pretty damn sick. The building was absolutely littered with decorations to give off a creepy vibe. The walls looked like they would fall apart at any given moment and both cobwebs and plants covered most of the exterior.

It was odd how it was so quiet despite the fact that there’s a whole damn haunted house right there. Frank was put off by it, but he didn’t want to question Illi’s choice in horror frights.

She seemed really excited and also didn’t seem to find it suspicious, so maybe Frank’s just not an expert in these things.

“Well, are you ready to go in?” She asked.

Frank hesitated, “Uh- Yeah, yeah, let’s have some fun.”

Illi gave him a smile before starting to walk forward again. She grabbed onto Frank’s hand and pulled him along with her. Frank’s face probably turned pink within seconds.

He seriously hopes that his hands don’t start sweating. He’s already overreacting, but he doesn’t want Illi to notice it. If anything he can just blame it on nerves, yeah, it’s because of the haunted house.

As soon as they stepped inside the building the wood creaked beneath Frank’s feet. God, this place is probably as old as it looked. It was a shock that the ceiling didn't fall down right on them. As of now, the inside just looked like a boring and old home that's been abandoned for years. Is it creepy? Hell yeah, it’s horrifying. There just doesn’t seem to be anything that screams haunted house. There seemed to be more effort put into the outside.

Despite that, Illi looked ecstatic. She was smiling widely and looking at the walls eagerly, as if this was a museum. Frank sort of admired that. He admired how she saw things like this as an art form. He wishes he could see that instead of gross walls that are probably infested with little rodents and bugs.

Frank cleared his throat, “Uhm- So uh- How did you find out about this place?”

“I don’t really know,” she shrugged, “Can’t remember.”

…Okay, that was far from promising. Seriously, this is becoming creepier and creepier and not even in a Halloween type of way, more of a “a serial killer set this up” way. It feels like an actual ghost will jump out at the two of them at any given moment.

As Frank tried to look closer at the walls he realized more details that Illi had definitely noticed within seconds. There seemed to be faint scratch marks on the walls. It looked like something with sharp nails wanted to shred something but didn’t put enough effort into it. Frank scoffed to himself, even he could do better than that.

The two of them, mainly Illi because Frank was just following, walked towards a new hallway. It was nearly pitch dark.

“Uh, is this the right path?” Frank asked hesitantly.

Illi squeezed Frank's hand, “Don’t be a scaredy cat, it’s just a dark hallway, man.”

Frank rolled his eyes, though the lack of light made it to where Illi wouldn't be able to see anyways.

Despite that, they started to walk down the hall. It felt like a hazard and Frank was surprised he didn’t trip over a dead body. He couldn’t see a thing yet Illi was easily making her way around as if it wasn’t pitch black.

Suddenly he felt something touch his shoulder.

Frank let out a scream that could probably be heard from miles away. As soon as Frank screamed, Illi laughed so hard that she couldn’t breath. Frank was obviously still horrified out of his mind and the hysterical laughing from Illi didn’t really help that much.

“Dude! Something fucking touched me!” Frank exclaimed.

Illi tried to respond but kept getting cut off by her own laughter, “It- It was probably just a cobweb!”

Frank scoffed, “No! No fucking way, dude! It was a person! C’mon, let’s keep going before someone else tries dragging me to hell!”

She nodded in acknowledgement and continued to walk down the hall, trying her best to suppress anymore laughter. The rest of the hallway was pretty uneventful, until the very end when they reached what seemed like an exit door.

Frank placed his hand on the doorknob and as soon as he did he saw a paper white touch his fist. That was not Illi.

Frank once again let out another scream and somehow this one seemed to be louder. Illi didn’t laugh this time, even she screamed, though it was nowhere as loud as Franks was.

It seemed like whatever the fuck it was that touched Frank disappeared within seconds because as soon as he whipped his head around he was faced with nothing.

He threw the door open as quickly as he could and dragged him and Illi out of there.

“Well,” Illi started, “That was pretty short honestly, and a little boring…”

Frank scoffed, “What?! I felt my soul leave my body twice! That was insane!”

“It lasted like 3 minutes!” Illi whined.

Frank rolled his eyes once again, “Whatever, dude. Did you have fun at least?”

“I had fun watching you scream from just a cobweb,” she giggled.

“It was not a cobweb!” He exclaimed, “It was probably that creepy ass hand!”

“Whatever you wanna believe, Frankie.”

The two of them stood there outside the haunted house in silence now. The two of their hands were still intertwined, neither of them let go. It probably should have been awkward, but Frank felt at peace. Something about it was calming and just like he forgot about his dream earlier, he had completely forgotten how horrified he was only a minute ago.

Illi broke the silence, “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Frank nodded, “See you tomorrow, Ills.”

As soon as Frank got home he ran straight to his room to collapse on his bed. He wasn’t tired, he felt pretty damn energized actually. He wished that the haunted house was longer, then he could have held her hand longer, then she could’ve admired everything longer, then he could’ve looked at her face longer. He wished that any moment with Illi lasted even just a little longer.

God, he really needs to get over these feelings. The more time that passes, the more they grow. Simple gestures make him flustered and it’s extremely embarrassing. Maybe he should tell someone, maybe Ray. No, he can’t tell Ray.

He groaned into one of the pillows on his bed. He doesn’t know what to do with himself anymore. Everything is confusing.

He thought back to the dream too.

Should he come clean? Was the dream a sign?

No! Frank threw the pillow across the room. What the hell is he thinking? Confessing his feelings is already a horrible idea, but admitting that shit? Hell fucking no, that’s the worst idea he’s ever had, and he’s had a lot of really shitty ideas.

Maybe he just needs some sleep, maybe that’ll knock some sense into him. Yeah, that’ll do it.