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Lucas was leaning against the wall in the maths corridor, waiting for Dillon to be let out of class when he saw Frankie. Her hair was covering most of her face, the rest of it red and puffy. She must have been crying. The bitter sting of her cruelty from six weeks before had faded to a dull ache below Lucas’s ribs.
“Frankie?” He stepped towards her, pushing through the crowd of other students streaming through the halls.
She snapped her head up, looking at him with red rimmed eyes. “Yes?”
Lucas met her eyes with a steady gaze. “Are you alright?”
Frankie let out a wet, sarcastic laugh. “Aren’t I supposed to be asking you that?”
“What do you mean?” he asked with a frown. He was fine. More than fine.
She rolled her eyes and Lucas could see a flash of the bright, sassy girl he had almost convinced himself he could have been interested in. “Weren’t you just in hospital?”
“Oh.” Lucas looked down at the floor, remembering the harsh pain of it all in the folly and the sterilised walls of the hospital as the nurses redressed his wounds. He swallows, pushing away the memories. “Right. But you look so… upset.” Lucas bit his lip. He never had been good at the whole talking about his feelings thing.
Frankie shrugged, pulling her school bag higher on her shoulder. “I’m fine.”
There was something she wasn’t saying, resting right beneath the surface. It was as if Lucas could see his own paper thin mask in the turn of her head and the way she spoke, using the same script he had used. She was hiding something.
Before he could think of something to say, the door behind Lucas opened and the loud chatter of sixth formers eager to see their friends spilled out. He turned his head, waiting for Dillon with a giddy lightness in his chest.
“I’m sorry,” Frankie muttered. Lucas could barely hear her over the wall of noise coming from the other students.
“What?” He asked, turning to see her looking away, arms crossed over her chest.
“I shouldn’t have said those things to you. Threatened you. I was… dealing with a lot.” Her eyelids fluttered, as if fighting off the memories or unwanted tears. He wanted to wrap his arms around her shoulders.
Lucas hummed. “I guess we all were.”
Dillon trailed out of the classroom behind his classmates, easy smile taking over his face when he saw Lucas. “Hey,” he greeted, crossing the corridor to wrap an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders, planting a soft kiss to his cheek.
It made Lucas’s heart stutter, his hand clutching Dillon’s waist, feeling the soft purple fabric beneath his fingers. He felt safe, pressed against Dillon’s side, breathing easier amongst the crowd. When Lucas turned back to Frankie she was looking up at them with curiosity. He wondered if it felt like another world to her, too, since they last spoke. He had been in a dark place, then. So had she.
“Hi, Frankie,” Dillon said with an easy smile. She gave a weak one in return, not quite reaching her eyes. She looked awkward, hunched against the wall as a rush of students passed them.
“Did you want to have lunch with us?” Lucas asked, watching as Frankie’s eyes went wide, relief colouring her features.
“Really?”
Dillon nodded. “You can help me convince Lucas that he doesn’t eat like a normal person,” he said with a grin.
“Hey!” Lucas poked Dillon in the ribs, causing him to drop his arm from Lucas’s shoulders.
“What? You know I’m right! No one wets their crisps, you’re just a weirdo.” Dillon made a grab for Lucas’s hands as Frankie let out a bright laugh, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“Whatever,” Lucas said, pout faltering as Dillon led them down the corridor and out to the back of the school, warm hand in his.
Crowded around one of the picnic tables they spent their lunchtime sharing crisps and complaining about revision. Lucas leant against Dillon as Frankie nodded along to Dillon’s ranting. Lucas bit into his sandwich, watching Frankie as her eyes darted across the playing field. Without getting drunk, he had forgotten how anxious she got.
There was a chorus of laughter as a gaggle of boys ran out from the dining hall. The three of them turned their heads at the sound of a football being kicked hard. Lucas watched it fly through the air before smacking hard against the brick wall of the school. JJ was laughing amongst the boys, with some of the boys Lucas recognised from the team.
When he turned back to the table Frankie was packing up her bag, her frown fixed back on her face. “I have to go.”
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah. See you later.” Frankie turned away and hurried back into the school building. Lucas watched her leave, worry creasing his face. Dillon took his hand, thumb brushing over his knuckles.
Lucas sighed. “Something’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Dillon asked.
“There’s something wrong with Frankie. Something she’s hiding.”
Dillon frowned. “Why do you think that?”
Lucas shrugged. “It’s just a feeling.”
“Did you want to tell Nancy or something?” Dillon looked around. Nancy was standing beside the door to the school, talking to Sally about something.
Lucas shrugged. “I don’t think people care if you don’t have any proof.”
“Right,” Dillon hummed.
Lucas frowned. “I wish I could do something for her.”
Dillon tilted his head. “Maybe she just needs a friend.”
“Right.”
Dillon pressed a kiss to the corner of Lucas’s mouth, breaking him out of his thoughts. “You’re cute when you’re concerned.”
Lucas shoved at Dillon’s leg. “I’m cute all of the time, actually.”
Dillon shoved him back, fingers pressing into Lucas’s ribs, finding the ticklish spots he had been so pleased to discover three days before. “Cute and annoying, maybe.”
“Stop!” Lucas yelped through giggles, trying to wriggle out of Dillon’s grasp.
“Never,” Dillon insisted, pressing a kiss to Lucas’s smiling mouth.