You barely set foot out of the bar's restroom before your ears were met by the sound of thunderous laughter that you were certain belonged to your friends.

Making your way back to your booth in the corner of the cramped, dimly lit room, your suspicions were confirmed, as the laugher hadn't died down. Taking your seat next to Frank, you furrowed your eyebrows slightly in nominal confusedness as your company tried to calm down a bit.

"It's not funny," Patrick pouted, showing his clear lack of amusement at whatever it was that had everyone else in stitches.

"What's not funny?" you questioned.

"Don't," Patrick half pleaded-half demanded as Frank looked at you.

"Hey, (Y/N)," Frank said, leaning in closer to you while his hands clutched a beer bottle and his eyes remained focused on Patrick, a sly grin on his face. "Patrick still sleeps with a nightlight, 'cause-'cause-," Frank started giggling again before he could finish his sentence but managed to push through, "he's afraid of the dark."

As soon as those last five words slipped past Frank's lips, the entire table - besides Patrick - burst into laughter again, making you let out involuntary chuckles too.

"It's called nyctophobia, it's a real thing and it's more common than you think!" Patrick defended, cheeks turning an adorable baby pink as the laughter seemingly doubled, only making him more irritated. "Yeah, well... (Y/N), Frank's in love with you!"

"Yeah, you see, dude, if you're trying to embarrass me too, that's not gonna work 'cause she already knows that," Frank retorted with a cocky grin plastered on his face as he made an apologetic gesture at Patrick with his hands. You simply rolled your eyes in response while trying your best to ignore everyone's facial expressions, already knowing what they'd look like.

"I'm gonna go get us some more drinks," you stated, rising from your seat once again.

"I'll help," (Y/B/F) added and scooted out of the cramped booth.

You ordered another round of drinks from the visibly-overworked bartender and drummed your fingers against the countertop while waiting for him to prepare it. (Y/B/F) stood to your right, eyeing you intensely.

"The sooner you tell him, the better," she cheeked.

"Or I can just continue pretending I feel nothing for him and everyone can go on normally with their lives," you responded simply, face completely neutral.

(Y/B/F) stared at you, utterly dumbfounded. "You're missing out on the possibility of a fucking amazing relationship with a great guy who's clearly deeply in love with you all because you're too proud to admit that everyone's been right all along!"

"That's not true!" you defended, glancing over at your friends momentarily before looking back at (Y/B/F). "Well, not entirely..."

"Then why don't you just tell Frank what you told me the other day in the kitchen? That you've had feelings for him for a while now but you're scared to get into a relationship because your douchebag of an ex hurt you really, really badly and- OH MY GOD."

"What?" you questioned worriedly.

"Don't turn around," she said sternly, the colour slightly draining from her face. "Jake is here."

"Jake?" you asked shakily, a knot forming in your stomach as you did so. "As in-"

"Your aforementioned ex? Yes." (Y/B/F)'s eyes widened slightly and she made a motion to reach for your arm and drag you away. "Shit, he's walking over."

The two of you started to move quickly, hoping to dodge Jake, but you were unsuccessful since a rough, virile hand seized your shoulder. The feeling brought back nauseatingly awful memories, making your stomach churn.

"(Y/N) - I thought it was you. I'd recognize those legs anywhere," Jake's gravelly voice growled in your ear, the warmth of his breath causing the hair on your neck to stand on edge.

"What do you want, Jake?" you questioned sternly, trying your hardest to hide the anxiety you were feeling; knowing full well that it would only egg him on.

Your ex-boyfriend let out a scoff. "That's not a very nice way to speak to me, baby."

His hands started travelling down your body, and you immediately smacked them away. But due to the fact that he was obviously much stronger than you, it didn't do much help and in no time, his grubby paws were grabbing your hips.

"Ooh, I love it when you get feisty. Whaddya say, baby? Wanna get out of here?"

"Are you insane? I left your sorry ass for a reason. I'm not going anywhere with you," you spat, "Let go of me."

"C'mon, baby. For old times sake."

"I believe she told you to let go." You and Jake both turned in the direction where the voice came from and were met with a noticeably pissed-off-to the max looking Frank. "So let fucking go."

"Or what? You gonna make me?" Jake retorted, somewhat amused; his hands never wavering from their place on your body.

"If I have to."

Jake removed his hands from your hips and slowly advanced towards Frank, who wasn't showing the slightest bit of fear – even though Jake towered over him. In fact, you didn't even recognize the Frank standing a little way from you. His jaw was taught, teeth clenched; his shoulders stood painfully upright and his tattooed hands looked ready to wreak havoc.

"Let's go then, pretty boy."

"Frank, don't," you pleaded, rushing urgently to his side and raising two fingers to his face to turn it towards you; the fire that was previously swirling in his green orbs died down almost instantly as he looked at you. "He's not worth it."

Frank looked at Jake momentarily, having an internal struggle over whether he should beat the shit out of him or not. For your sake, he went with the latter.

"Let's get out of here," Frank said, gathering your hand in his and starting for the door.

"Yeah, you know what," Jake yelled after you two, "You can have her. She's just a stupid little whore anyways."

Frank stopped dead in his tracks and you could hear his breathing getting faster and heavier by the millisecond.

"That's it." Before you, Jake or anyone else could register his actions, Frank had pushed Jake to the ground and was kneeling over him, landing punch after punch.

Jake soon recovered from his initial shock, however, and now it was Frank who was receiving the punches. You were a total mess; tears uninvitingly streamed down your face as you yelled, terrified that Frank might actually die.

Frank somehow managed to get the upper hand again and was beating Jake mercilessly, just as the rest of the guys arrived to pull him off. He tried to shove them off, but they managed to convince him to stop.

"Dude, look at her," Mikey spoke calmly, nudging his head to where you stood, being comforted by Gerard and (Y/B/F), still crying.

The sight of you sobbing and begging for him to stop was enough to bring him back to reality again. He looked down at a bloody, bruised and utterly broken Jake.

"You're lucky I care about what she thinks of me."

~

Frank hissed loudly as you dabbed the anti-septic over his cuts quite harshly.

"Sorry," you muttered.

"No, you're not."

"You're right, I'm not. You're an idiot."

"That, I agree with. But you have to admit, I did pretty well for an idiot."

"Jake is, like, a million times bigger than you. You could've died Frank!" you said, exasperated.

"Yeah, but then I could've become a ghost that hides in the dark and scares Patrick," he grinned, tying to lighten the mood. Noticing your lack of amusement, he sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, (Y/N). I know how much you hate violence and shit but I couldn't just leave it like that."

"Yes, you could've. We could've just left."

"And then what? Have him harass you the next time?"

You just looked down and shook your head, your hands gathering some band-aids.

"I really am sorry, princess," he placed his bruised hands over yours, stopping their movements and bringing them to his lips before gazing adoringly at you. "I was gonna walk away, I swear. For your sake. But then he made that comment and I just...," he looked down ashamedly for a second, "I lost it. No one talks about you like that," his hands snaked around your face and cupped it, "No one."

You smiled genuinely at him. "It's okay, Frank. I understand. And thank you, for defending my honor," you giggled lightly, making him smile at the sound of your laughter before your voice got serious again. "Besides..." you trailed off, shrugging and wrapping your arms around his neck. "It was kinda hot."

Frank looked completely taken aback at your comment before chuckling. "Really? The whole bruised knuckles and spilt lip look is a turn-on, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. A major one," you teased and giggled again. "But honestly, you're my hero."

"Bitch, please. I'm your superhero."

You let out a laugh while Frank smiled. His heat rate increased as he stared at you; his gaze lingering over each unique feature on your face. He was in complete awe of how absolutely beautiful you were.

And just how much he was in love with you.

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Thank you for reading x