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It’s a whispered confession in the middle of the night one day that makes Mel realize she might be in love with Frank langdon.
Mel has never once considered the idea she might want something more with Frank Langdon. Really she hasn’t. Okay well that’s probably not fully true, maybe she did think about it for a brief moment when he told her he left his wife. But it was for a fleeting second and she shook it out of her system, locked it away. She should’ve thrown the key, but she kept it at a distance instead. It was still locked away. Until Frank decided to break open that lock one night and whisper a confession that probably will stick to Mel forever.
“You make me wanna be better,” Frank had softly said almost as if he wasn’t supposed to be saying this out loud. Mel turns towards him, they’re laying in her bed a mile of distance between them but still close enough to feel the warmth of the other person. It’s driving her insane. And she’s going more insane processing the confession that Frank spoke. They always say it’s easier to confess things within the confines of the nighttime.
“Not just as a doctor, but as a person.” He continues reaching his hand out to softly touch her face finger tips moving with so much care Mel was feeling dizzy. Maybe she’s dreaming right now and Frank Langdon isn’t telling her all these things. Surely she has to be. She blinks a couple times thinking she’ll wake up but of course it’s not a dream. Even in the dark his eyes are so blue. It knocks almost all the air out of her chest.
“You’ve got this effect on people, Melissa King. You remind me of the good things I have going for me right now.” Her heart is going to explode inside of her chest. She’s not sure if she’s hearing what he’s saying correctly, unable to comprehend anything with the way he’s caressing her cheek and looking at her with those damn eyes.
“Frank,” Mel gasps, swallowing her mouth dry . She's not sure how she’s able to speak right now.
Frank places a finger against her lips, shushing her, “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you. You’re really good to me, even when I don’t deserve it.”
“You’re deserving of it.” She replies, reaching up to touch his hand that was on her cheek. “All of it.”
“Get some sleep. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.” He draws back, the moment they shared over. Maybe she was dreaming after all. Just as quickly as it was happening it was over even faster. Frank lays back down on his side of the bed no longer touching Mel.
“Goodnight.” She whispered, closing her eyes. She hopes when she falls asleep she can continue this dream.
“Night, King.” He replies at the same level.
Mel falls asleep that night and dreams about him. She expects him to be gone by the time she wakes in the morning, but to her surprise he was still in her bed, arms haphazardly wrapped around her waist. She doesn’t want to leave his warm embrace, but if she didn’t anytime soon she would’ve done something really stupid that she’d maybe regret doing.
Of course their alarm for work breaks the moment, Frank’s eyes fluttering open with a groan. “Ugh, It’s too early. Can we just go back to sleep?” He questions tightening his grip on her waist. It makes her hot all over. She hopes he can’t feel how fast her heart is beating in her chest. “Five more minutes.” He grumbles sleepily, shutting his eyes.
Mel attempts to extract herself from his grip, but he just holds her tighter, groaning about needing five more minutes of beauty sleep. Mel can’t help but giggle throughout this whole ordeal.
“If we fall asleep we’re definitely going to be late. Robby would hate that.” She says feeling slightly guilty she was using the one kryptonite against him. Frank had made a promise to himself to not provoke the bear as he put it and get on Robby’s bad side even worse than he already is right now. He knows Robby was really sticking his neck out for him not having him fired and getting his medical license revoked permanently. So Frank did everything by the books and how Robby wanted them to be done.
“Oh you’re evil, King.” He opens one eye peeking at her, a lazy smile making its way onto his face. His words had no bite to them, just the teasing glint in his tone that she’d gotten better at identifying.
“Well come on, I’m showering first, you take too long.” She says making a run for it to her bathroom before Frank could even think about it. He yells at her while laughing that it’s untrue and not to use up all the hot water.
He’d stayed over at her apartment a lot to a point where she had some of his shower stuff in her bathroom, his toothbrush in her cabinet right next hers, he had a drawer full of clothes he’d left here by accident and in her fridge next to her own food there was stuff she knew Frank liked and buying it for him made her chest feel full. she’s sure if someone took a closer glance at whatever it is they’ve been doing they’d assume they’re living together. Which isn’t the case here. Frank has his own apartment, it’s just convenient for him to stay at Mel’s multiple days out of the week because she’s closer to PTMC. That’s just it. A lot of their coworkers carpool with each other. This is normal. Except most of them don’t live together and share a bed.
When she closes the bathroom door. She rests her forehead against it. Replaying last night over and over again in her head. It was real. Frank had told her within the darkness of the night she made him want to be better. The words play on a constant loop in her head in the shower. It plays on a constant loop as she’s getting ready, letting him know the bathroom was free. It’s still there loud as ever when he comes out of the bathroom with 20 minutes to spare. She wants to ask him why he said it. She can’t wrap her head around anything.
You remind me of the good things.
When they’re ready to leave Frank grabs her keys from off the hook next to the door. She’s still thinking about what he said as they get everything around they’d need for the day. They’re out of the door and getting into her car and she can’t get it out of her head. She knows she’s being quiet and Frank will question her about it eventually. But she’s scared that if she says anything she’ll ask him about it. Now really isn’t the time to be asking these types of questions on their way to work. Frank must know that as well because the entire twenty minute car ride he doesn’t ask why she’s so quiet. He just turns on the radio, knowing it helps calm her down when her thoughts are being really loud.
He parks the car in the parking garage, getting out of the car and waiting for Mel with his backpack slung over his shoulder and hers that he grabbed for her in his hand.
“Are we still on for tonight?” He questions handing Mel her bag. Frank already knows the answer to this question; their schedules are both practically memorized from the amount of normal time two co-workers off the clock spend together. She knows what weekends he has the kids, when he has mandatory NA meetings, therapy and Physical therapy for his back. And he knows her schedule. It works for them.
“Yeah I think I’m going to die from boredom without Becca.” She sighs. Her sister had been doing overnights at the facility this week because Mel works night shift this weekend. She’d picked up the extra hours because she needed them.
“Well good thing you have me to entertain you tonight.” He grins, opening the door for her. “What would you do without me?” He dramatically sighs. Mel laughs, rolling her eyes at him.
“I’d manage just fine.” No bite to her words, matching the teasing tone of his. “You on the other hand…”
“I’d miss you too much.”
Mel’s face, she’s sure was probably red, she could feel the warmth settling within her cheeks. She was on fire again like last night from his confession. God get a grip, Mel. She chastised herself, walking the rest of the way to the locker room to put her things in her locker. She doesn’t reply back to Frank, unlocking it and placing her backpack inside.
Frank copies Mel placing his own things into his locker, along with her car keys that he still had. They’d always take her car to work instead of his which was currently parked in the parking lot of her building in a spot he was paying for. Mel kept telling him she’d pay the parking fee but Frank, ever so persistent, told her it was the least he could do for her, letting him stay at her house multiple times a week free of charge.
“It’s 7am. How are you two so chipper this early?” Mel jumps slightly at the voice; Samira. Mel without even looking can tell she’s got a smirk plastered on her lips. She’s probably assuming they slept together, which she and Trinity have nagged her about before during a girls night sleepover. When she denied the accusations from her two friends that they're definitely having sex, they looked at her like she was crazy. Technically they were sleeping together, she was going to reply that but chose to keep that information to herself and told them he sleeps on her couch when he spends the night (a bold face lie. He hasn’t slept on the couch in several weeks. Mel opted for them sharing a bed when she noticed him massaging out an ache in his lower back from sleeping on her couch so many times. She easily could’ve just told him to go back to his place and sleep more comfortably in his own bed, but Melissa King instead dragged him off the couch and into her bedroom, and she’d sometimes dip her hand underneath his tee-shirt helping him rub out the tension in his back. They never speak about those moments. When she starts to notice him twisting uncomfortably she’d place pressure where he’d needed it. It was nice.)
“Why are you so grumpy?” Frank questions, grabbing Mel’s water bottle from her backpack’s side pocket and drinking it from it. Normally if this was any other person Mel would hate sharing with someone. But it's Frank so she doesn’t say anything about it, taking the bottle when he hands it back to her.
Samira watches their whole interaction with an eyebrow quirked at them, trying to ‘read their energy’ as Trinity would’ve put it. There was no energy to be read between them. Just two normal best friends.
“Are you still working this weekend?” Mel questions changing the topic.
“You know it!” She nudges Mel’s shoulder with her hand, then going back to grab the claw clip that was attached to the hem of her scrubs, she places it in her hair pulling it out of her face. “It’ll make the night shift more bearable with you there.” Samira smiles at her.
“I need to go take my mandatory piss break. See you in 15.” Frank touches Mel’s shoulder to get past her on the bench, she tries to not think about the fact he didn’t really need to do that there was enough space.
Robby since Frank had come back to work at the hospital drug tested him every morning and end of shift. Sometimes if he was feeling crazy he’d throw in a random one when Frank had some down time in between patients. Things between the pair were still rocky, but they were slowly starting to settle back to normal. Not the old normal, a newer one.
Samira looks at Mel, then back to where Frank had just left the room to find Robby. Mel knows that look in her eye, and continues to avoid her eye contact. She doesn’t want to talk about last night in her bedroom. Frank had acted like he didn’t just change everything for her last night by saying she makes him want to be better. It’s still buzzing around inside of her brain.
“Don’t. Stop giving me that look.” Mel warns walking out of the locker room.
“What look? I don’t have a look.” Samira faux innocence, still giving Mel the same look she’d been giving her. Mel groans rolling her eyes at her friend.
“I can practically hear your thoughts, no nothing happened.”
“I wasn’t going to ask!” Her voice higher than normal, she was obviously lying. She was going to ask Mel the second they had a few minutes alone. “What’re you doing tonight?” She already knows Mel had plans to spend the rest of the day with Frank. Mel doesn’t answer her, pushing open the door
“She’s going to be having passionate sex with Langdon duh.” Trinity chimes in, joining their conversation.
“I’m going to report you two to HR for sexual harassment.” Mel glares at them. “I’m not sleeping with Frank, we’ve been through this already. Just friends.” She tells them. But it’s unfortunately like she’s talking to a brick wall. Neither of them ever listen to her. Maybe Mel doesn’t even listen to herself either.
Work goes pretty smoothly, Samira and Trinity stop interrogating her about Frank at least for today. She works on a couple patients with Frank today too. It’s a normal day. They don’t really get a lot of those in the profession they picked. Today was a slow day. And that meant there was too much down time for Mel to be alone with her thoughts.
What’d you mean last night? She found the words sitting on the tip of her tongue, as she watched Frank type away on the computer screen. She keeps shaking the words out of her head. But every so often they come right back up. Her heart might just burst right out of her chest and onto his lap.
Today might be the day she has a heart attack. She thinks to herself, At least I picked the right place to do it.
Mel can’t quite tell if Frank is acting like normal because he didn’t mean what he said last night or if he meant it and he just wants to move on like they normally do. It’s hard for her to tell. Because he’ll do or say things that make her think differently.
They’d both taken a five minute break, Frank going outside to the ambulance bay to smoke (Mel had learned it was an old habit. Abby had made him quit smoking when Tanner was born, but in rehab he had started smoking again. It helped him do something with his hands. He’d told Mel one evening when she accompanied him on a smoke break and asked why he started again.)
It’s in the quiet moments with Frank too that the thoughts keep coming up. She really is itching to ask him what he meant last night. There’s only an hour left until their shift is over and they’d go back to her place together. She doesn’t know how she’d ask him. She’d been going over it in her head all morning and afternoon during their shift. Hey, Frank, did you really mean it last night when you said I make you wanna be better? It sounds dumb in her head. But she can’t really wrap around what exactly he meant by it.
Standing with her back pressed to the wall and Frank a considerable amount of distance from Mel to keep the cigarette smoke away from her. That’s when it hits her she’s in love with him. It nearly knocks all the air from her lungs when the thought occurs to her. The reason she was so affected last night by him was because she had feelings for him.
oh fuck.
Her second thought is how she wasn’t going to live this down if she was to ever tell Trinity and Samira. They’d been convinced for months she had feelings for him (But she didn’t at the time, or at least she thinks she didn’t. Frank the first few months of the friendship they struck up was still married to Abby so even if she did have any semblance of feelings towards him they weren’t allowed. But then he’d come over to her apartment one night and told her Abby finally filed for divorce. That was the first time she ever thought about it, but it fizzled out quickly.) And now here those same feelings are bursting out of her, a dam Frank had broken open with just a few simple words, words she’s still not certain if he meant them in a best friends telling each other things way or in the way she’s feeling right now way.
“Mel, you good?” Frank questions, flicking the last of his cigarette to the ground.
“Yeah I'm good.” Her voice was higher than normal as she gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up. As if she didn’t just realize she’s in love with her best friend, who just so happens to be the man standing in front of her as well.
“You sure?” He tries to meet her eyes with his own but she has to look anywhere else but in his direction.
“Mhm.” She nods, pushing herself off the wall. “We better get back inside.” She motions with her thumb pointing behind her to the emergency department doors. Just her stroke of luck too, the timer she sets so they never go over their five minutes rings in her pocket.
When she enters it’s Dana who sees her first, pointing to Trauma two, as she holds the phone to her ear standing at her desk.
“Just in time, they need you two in Trauma two.”
And just like that they’re back into Dr King and Dr. Langdon rolls. Their patient who had just been brought in, Mel was briefed he’d run directly into a tree on his electric bike.
“What do you want for dinner?” Frank questions her in the middle of setting the guy’s nose back into place. “Sushi?” she wrinkles her nose at the suggestion. Frank liked sushi, Mel hated it. He’d been trying for a while to get her to try it out but she doesn’t want to right now. Maybe one day though.
“Can you two table this conversation for later?” It’s Yolanda who says this, standing behind Mel, watching her place a crike into the guy's neck. She sorta gets this feeling of deja vu from the first day she was here and Frank told her she did a perfect job when she’d been so in her head, kicking herself for almost caving under the pressure. But Frank that entire day never let it happen. She still thinks about their conversation in the break room. This is a tough place for sensitive people. But we need them badly. She’d been used to people undermining her because of that quality of hers to have empathy for her patients, but Frank never did that, he told her it was a good thing. And she kept that memory locked in her brain forever.
“Yo-Yo you’re just jealous no pretty woman wants to have dinner with you.” He jokes, pulling Mel out of her thoughts as they finished up. He thinks I’m pretty. It makes her entire body warm up, face probably flushed red.
“I dunno how she puts up with you.” Yolanda chuckles, tying her gown behind her neck. “Mel, if you need a break from Ken just text me.” She says with a wink in Mel’s direction. The whole interaction between the two makes her feel dizzy because they’re talking about her as if she’s Frank’s girlfriend. Which she wasn't, they were just friends. It makes her wrinkle her nose, tying the last knot off to the stitches.
“You’re all class, Yolanda.” He rolls his eyes. “I think you’ve got it from here.” He looks at the clock Mel following his line of sight. They’d gone an hour over their shift.
Mel pulls off the gown discarding it along with Frank’s, following him out of the room. It’s not until they’re in the locker room by themselves Mel takes notice in how he rubs out a knot in his lower back, stretching to the side slightly which makes his scrub top reveal some of his skin. Mel schools her face turning away and punches in the code of her locker.
“Yours or mine?” Frank questions, yanking off his top the second Mel makes a mistake of looking in his direction finally. They rarely spend the night at Frank’s place mostly because it’s more convenient for them to stay at Mel’s being closer to work and Becca. Frank lived farther into the city, a closer distance to the kids and their old house. It was easier this way to at least keep them in the same area when Frank had them on his weekends.
“You pick.” She pulls at her braid, loosening the hair tie. It was starting to give her a slight headache at the base of her head. Thank god they’re the only two in the locker room, Frank leans forward, fingers softly massaging her scalp. She bites back the sigh of contempt that wants to fall from her lips.
“Yours.” His voice was close to her ear, the warmth of his breath hitting the nape of her neck. She shudders slightly, turning around to look at Frank. “Your bed’s more comfortable.” He smiles softly down at her, running his fingers through the knots in her hair for a moment then stepping back, out of her space. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss his touch already. Which was weird for her. She’d never been a fan of physical touch before but then Frank came along and it’s like he had a magnet attached to him and Mel craved it. She didn’t know why before but now she does. She loves him.
“Okay let’s get going before traffic gets bad.” She slams her locker shut, following him out of the door and into the parking garage.
When it finally hits her they’re going back to her place and it would just only be the two of them, she couldn’t shake the nausea that was bubbling in her stomach. Suddenly nervous to be alone with him which was never the case for them, but right now it’s different. Her ears feel like there’s been cotton shoved deep down inside of them, the only sound she’s able to make out was how loud her heart beats in her chest, she doesn’t know how to broach this conversation. She doesn’t know if what he meant last night was a confession or he’d just been thanking her for being his best friend. Mel was never good at knowing when someone liked her, especially Frank Langdon. He’s the most confusing of them all.
The car ride was similar to this morning, Mel lost in her head thinking about last night, Frank humming softly to the radio she’d turned on. Her brow wrinkled together as she watched him. He had the window cracked slightly for it being the middle of September it was still pretty warm outside. Frank must feel her staring at him, he glances over at her a silent What’s up? written on his face. Mel shakes her head. Later.
When they finally get to her apartment the tiredness starts to seep through her the second she’s over the threshold of her apartment. She tells Frank she’s going to change her clothes and hop in the shower real quick he just nods humming in agreement. She could tell he was also exhausted from work too.
She showers pretty quickly, wanting nothing more but to lay in her bed and nap for a few hours before they’d inevitably need to wake up and get dinner. She puts on one of Frank’s shirts he left at her place and a pair of sleep shorts.
Mel’s not shocked at all to see Frank in a change of clothes sprawled out on Mel’s bed(Which she was silently thankful for him changing out of his dirty scrubs instead of just collapsing in her clean bed with them on. Mel had a strict rule about outside clothes touching her furniture, Frank’s always been kind to follow it), snoring softly. Mel always took notice of how easily he could fall asleep anywhere. Giggling to herself, she nudges at his shin with her foot. “Frank, go shower. Now.” She leans down tugging at his hand to wake him up. “You’ll regret it if you don’t.” She doesn’t mean for it to sound like a threat, but he peeks an eye open looking at her.
“Oh and what are you going to do to me, King?” He smirks, pulling her down slightly. Mel stands firm, tugging at his hand again.
“Just go shower, you stink.” She scrunches up her nose in fake disgust. Frank finally relents, letting go of her hand and pulling himself up off the bed.
“I’ll be very quick.” He stresses the words, walking over to the closet and grabbing his towel from the shelf. Before he enters the bathroom he pauses, turning towards Mel. “You decided on dinner yet?”
Mel shakes her head. “No, we can figure it out later. I'm exhausted.” a yawn escapes her lips when she lays down on her side of the bed.
“Okay, okay. Take a nap, don’t miss me while I'm gone.” He slips into the bathroom, closing the door.
Mel nods, closing her eyes allowing the exhaustion to melt off her. She falls asleep pretty quickly; it's not until Frank’s taking off her glasses that she realizes she's fallen asleep out cold.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” He softly questions, Mel closes her eyes again, shaking her head leaning into him. She likes the way his shampoo smells, nuzzling closer to him just to smell it. If she’d been awake and oriented she wouldn’t be doing this but she’s so tired so it’s Awake Mel’s problem in the evening.
It’s not till a little after five thirty they both wake up, they’re still laying in Mel’s bed. Her tv playing reruns of some reality tv show she was paying no mind to. Frank keeps shifting his weight to different angles, which Mel knows is because his back is starting to hurt from the long day of work. His knuckles dig into the muscle but he still grimaces, unable to get any relief from the angles he’s working at.
“Lemme help.” Mel softly says, putting her hand overtop of Frank’s that was rubbing the tension out of his lower back as good as he could get. She instructs him to lay flat on his stomach, he goes without any complaints resting his head onto her pillows. Crawling on top of him straddling either side of his lower half she places shaky hands onto his back muscles. She’d helped him before but never like this, she’d keep her distance only allowing her hands to touch him from where she was sitting. It’s different this time.
She tries to not get flustered by the soft moans of content at the pressure she was applying to his back. She could feel the vibrations of them through his skin and it was going throughout her entire body. He was pliable underneath her touch, allowing her to do whatever it is she wanted to him.
“Can I take off my shirt?” He questions. Mel can’t find her voice to answer him, thankful he’s turned around towards her slightly; she nods, helping him peel off his shirt.
The room feels hundred degrees warmer, but she continues massaging his back. Trying to not focus on the fact she was wearing shorts and her inner thighs was touching his skin ever so slightly.
“Does it feel any better?” She finds her voice finally, hands pausing.
Frank nods. “You’re too good to me. I don’t deserve you.” He murmurs. There it is again.
“What did you mean last night?” She finds herself asking, closing her eyes as she slides off of him, tucking her legs underneath each other.
“You make me want to be better.” He plainly says, Mel tilts her head wanting him to elaborate more. Frank understands continuing to speak again. “I meant it, Mel. Being around you makes everything so much easier. I’ve never felt like this before.” He sits up, holding her gaze as he speaks. “I don’t think I even felt the way I do about you with Abby.” A breath gets caught in her throat, coming out in a gasp of air. she quickly looks up at him, cataloguing the look on his face into her memory. His blue eyes wide, a gentle smile on his lips. Lips she can’t stop staring at as he continues speaking.
“I’ve been too scared to tell you any of this because I didn’t want to ruin things. If you didn’t notice I’ve got a knack for fucking up the good things in my life.” He sardonically chuckles, reaching out and grabbing Mel’s hand that was resting against her knee, tapping repeatedly to remind herself this wasn’t a dream. “You’re too good for me, Mel. I can’t fuck this up.” He squeezes her hand, thumb tracing a pattern on the back of her palm.
“You won’t.” She insisted, shaking her head. “And even if there are challenges along the way, we’ll make it through because we have each other.” She softly smiles, pulling herself closer towards him.
“Too good for me.” He mumbles, resting his forehead against hers. “I really don’t deserve you, how’d I get so lucky to have a best friend like you?” He questions the pads of his thumb of his other hand on her face caressing her cheek bone. She leans into the touch, eyes never leaving his. “God I fucking love you.” He blurts out eyes dragging down to Mel’s mouth.
That’s all it takes for her to kiss him. Leaning forward and connecting their lips. It’s all clunky at first, teeth hitting against each other for a second, before their lips slot together. Mel wraps her arms around his shoulders, straddling his thighs like earlier, but this time it’s in an entirely different context plus he’s facing towards her now.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you today.” He groans into her mouth, it makes her press harder into him, the vibrations of his voice in her mouth making her dizzy. It’s a sensation she’s never experienced before.
“Just today?” She questions pulling away slightly, Frank doesn’t allow her to get far, trailing open mouthed kisses down her neck. When he gets to her collarbone he nibs at it slightly with his teeth, Mel rolls her hips throwing her head back as a shuttered gasp leaves her lips.
“Everyday.” He laps his tongue over the spot, then moves to the other side of her neck. “Can’t get you out of my head.” His hands engulf her back, fingers pressing into her back. “You’re wearing my shirt.” He says toying with the hem of her (his) tee shirt.
“Yeah.”
“I love when you wear my clothes.” He leans back up, connecting their lips. Mel still feels dizzy kissing him.
“Wait, I didn’t say it back.” She pulls away, but Frank chases after her lips, “Frank, let me say it back.” She laughs into the kiss.
“Fine, if you insist.” He dramatically says, leaving one last kiss onto her lips.
“I love you too. I didn’t know what you meant at first last night and it confused me a lot. I’ve never felt the way I do about you with anyone. I think I always knew I Loved you, but I was too scared to admit it to myself because you were still married and we were friends. It just wasn’t right. But our timing is right now. God, I've been thinking about what I was going to say to you all day, because I convinced myself you just said that stuff last night because we’re friends but clearly I misread it.” She laughs to herself, clasping her hands behind his neck. Frank looks at her like she was the only thing in the world he wanted to look at. Another look she catalogs into her memory. “I love you.” She grins, pulling him into a chaste kiss, lips parted and soft.
“Trying to one up me with love declarations?” He raises a brow, kissing her again.
“Did I succeed?” Mel chuckles, licking at her kiss bitten lips.
He doesn’t answer the question, connecting their lips again into a kiss. She can’t remember the last time she’d kissed someone for this long. She never wants to stop kissing him. She wants to fuse their bodies together until they’re just one entity. instead of Frank and Mel separately they’d be referred to as FrankandMel. Where the other ends, the other begins and so on. If they could stay like this forever that’s what Mel would choose. She’d choose forever if it meant she’d get to spend the rest of her life with Frank Langdon.
Of course Mel’s stomach grumbles very loudly interrupting her plans to continue kissing him for the rest of her life.
Frank pulls away, laughing. “We should get dinner.”
“We should continue making out.” Mel tries to pull him back down towards her, but he’s stronger, shaking his head.
“As tempting as that sounds, I'm starving and so are you.” He pecks her lips, extracting himself from her. “Stop pouting, you’re really tempting me.” He backs out of her bedroom, eyes closed as she continues to pout at him.
They eat dinner in the living room, Frank deciding to order from Mel’s favorite restaurant as per her request. She orders the usual a veggie burger with a side of fries she knows Frank will steal once he finishes off his. Mel doesn’t mind.
“You know Samira and Trinity think we’re sleeping together.” She says out of the blue catching Frank mid bite, which makes him choke slightly when he registers her words.
“Well we technically are.” He says, after he finally stops coughing.
“I didn’t tell them that part.” She blushes, finishing off the last of her burger. “They’re going to be so annoying about being right.” She rolls her eyes smiling.
“We don’t have to tell them right away. I’m pretty sure they have a betting pool going.” That was probably true, she wonders who else would’ve been in on the bet when she and Frank would get together finally.
“Oh you think?”
“Probably.”
When they finished eating dinner and after they brushed their teeth, Mel was on top of him again, legs thrown over either side of him, her lips pressed to his. She couldn’t get enough of him, it was driving her insane just to be able to kiss him.
“You’re really eager to kiss me aren’t you?” He cockily says biting at Mel’s bottom lip. She moans as he tugs farther back slightly, her bottom lip still between his teeth. He lets go, gingerly kissing her bottom lip.
“Shut up,” She mumbles against his lips, Frank obeys, deepening the kiss.
Mel’s the first to break their kiss, standing up from the couch, and dragging him back to her bedroom. She knows making out on the couch couldn’t have been good for his back from the angle they were sitting at. She pushes him down on the bed, watching him crawl backwards until he’s reached the headboard. She lays on top of him, pulling him down to her level so she can reconnect their lips.
Somehow in the mist of their makeout, her (his) shirt ends up coming off, thrown onto the floor where his shirt was from earlier. Frank pampers kisses at the top of her chest where her bra was slipping slightly. It drives Mel crazy, bringing her hips forward to connect with his. Mel sees white when he dips his finger into her bra exposing her breasts more. She reaches back blindly for the clasp, slipping it off.
Frank sizes her up, flipping their position so now he’s on top of her. “God you’re so beautiful.” He says above her, tracing his fingers down her skin. Mel preens at his words. She’s unable to get the words out of her mouth, too dazed from Frank's touch. She was like putty in his hands melting at every inch of skin he touched. She wanted him to touch her all over, she’d give him that and more.
When he rolls her nipple between his thumb and index finger she’s sure she sees stars. It gets even blurrier when he starts sucking a hickey right above her left breast. She grips the sheets, throwing her head backwards as a loud moan leaves her lips. It draws out a chuckle from Frank at the sound, which does nothing but drive her even crazier.
Hooking her legs around him, she pulls him down towards her, needing to feel the pressure of him on top of her. She can feel his hard on pressing into her thigh.
“I need you.” She proclaims, grinding upwards into him.
“God, you're driving me crazy.” He moans into her chest, leaving one last kiss there before he makes his way back up to her meeting her lips in a slow kiss.
“Stop talking and take your clothes off.” She demands, trying to sound stern but it comes out whiny and all needy. But it works, Frank hovering over her slightly as he pushes off his sweatpants, along with his boxers.
“Happy?” He questions sliding back down between her legs, hovering slightly above her. She doesn’t get the chance to answer him, their lips attached to each other.
“I fucking love you.” He moans into her mouth. “So much, it’s unbelievable.” He pulls back, lips kissing every inch of Mel’s face.
Mel can feel his hard cock against her leg; it's driving her crazy in ways she’s never been before. She needs him in more ways than one.
“I need you.” She says, a choked out moan leaves her lips.
“What do you need from me?” He questions, hovering over her, his blue eyes just two black saucers now, full with want for her.
“You.” She simply replies, dragging him down into a kiss, “Need you so bad.” She says again, into his mouth, licking at his bottom lip.
Frank kisses down her body, going as slow as possible and making sure to not miss an inch of the skin he can reach with his mouth. He gets down to her lower abdomen, just right above the top of her underwear, he looks up at her for approval and she just hurriedly nods, watching him hook his finger in the waistband and pull them off. She doesn’t realize how wet she is until his mouth is finally on her. There’s white spots in her vision as he eats her out. His hands rest against her thighs, rubbing patterns into them. She’s certain her entire body is quivering. His tongue drives her absolutely fucking insane.
“Frank.” She moans, tugging at his hair, the other hand gripping the pillow. She’s had sex before and was eaten out before, but nothing or anyone could compare to Frank Langdon. It’s like an entirely different sensation being touched and eaten by him. It’s something she’s never experienced before. Being loved in this way.
God she loves him, she’s pretty sure it might be written in her dna, to love Frank Langdon. And she’s positive now she’s written within his. She used to never believe in soulmates, but looking at Frank, that’s all she can see. When she thinks about the future, and sees herself in five years from now, Frank is included in that universe.
“So pretty.” He says when she’s throwing her head back, legs shaking. Before she’s able to finish, he’s on top of her, running his hand down the side of her face. She opens her eyes, staring up at him.
“Top drawer.” She instructs him, pointing to her nightstand. Frank nods, leaning over slightly, looking through her nightstand for the box of condoms she had in there. A gag birthday gift last month from Trinity which funnily enough was because she assumed she was sleeping with Frank. Oh the irony.
“Someone’s come prepared.” He smirks at the large box of condoms that still had the plastic wrap on them.
“They were a gift. Hurry up.” She impatiently says, which doesn’t help Frank now moving slower than before just to annoy her. “I need you.” she whines, nails digging into his back.
That makes him move faster, ripping the wrapper open, and sliding it down his cock. Mel watches the entire thing in a daze.
“I love you.” He smiles down at her, aligning himself, Mel hooks her ankles behind him, pulling him closer. “You’re so beautiful.” He hums softly into her neck, mouth lightly kissing her neck.
—
Mel wakes up earlier than Frank, looking at him asleep next her, his arms like normal, wrapped around her waist. His lips are swollen, and she’s pretty sure hers are too from the amount of making out and sex they had last night. God. Thinking about last night makes her warm from head to toe. She cataloged every single moment from last night into her brain, remembering every word he said to her. The one she remembers most of all was him telling her he loves her. That unleashes a tingling sensation throughout her entire body, stomach alive with butterflies.
“I can feel you staring at me.” He startles her, eyes peeking open to look at her. She pushes his shoulder, rolling her eyes and letting out a soft laugh.
“Shut up.” She tucks her hair behind her ears, attempting to roll away from him, but Frank tugs her back. “We need to get up.” She says, trying to move again but he pulls her back.
“Five more minutes, plus we don’t work today.” That was true. Both of them had the day off today(well technically Mel still had to go into work later today but that wasn’t until 8pm). Mel knows he’s supposed to pick up the kids today because it’s his weekend with them. But that’s not for another four hours.
“You’re so tempting.” She sighs dramatically, falling back into bed with him. “You’re lucky I love you.” She smiles widely, into his chest, lightly kissing the bare skin.
“Oh I know, I might as well be the luckiest man in the world.”
Their five minutes turn into an hour of extra sleep again. This time when Mel wakes from her nap she’s alone in her bed. There’s a soft humming coming from her kitchen and music playing. She grabs her shirt from the night before tugging it on.
In the kitchen, With his back turned away from Mel Frank’s dancing as he pours what she can only assume is pancake batter into the pan. She leans against the door frame, watching him navigate her kitchen. She still doesn’t make herself known watching him, her lips upturned into a smile. Her heart was so full, it reminded her of that same feeling she’d get when she’d go grocery shopping and buy his favorite foods she knew he liked.
Frank must be able to sense her presence, turning slightly to smile at her. “Morning, baby.” his smile gets wider, he places the bowl down on the counter top, making his way over towards Mel. “How’d you sleep?” He questions placing his hands around her waist crumpling up the shirt slightly.
Mel places her hands over his shoulder blades, rubbing soft circles into the bare skin and across some of the scratch marks on his shoulder from last night. It makes her slightly flush remembering last night was real.
“Like I just had the best sex of my life.” She grins, Frank’s hold on her waist tightens, pulling her closer towards him as far as she could get, fusing their bodies together.
“Wanna go for round two?” He questions, looking down at Mel with a teasing grin.
“Later.” She says, pressing her lips against his in a short kiss, pulling back she doesn’t get far he’s already meeting her lips in another kiss, attempting to deepen it. Mel laughs into the kiss, pulling away slightly. “Frank, you’re going to burn my kitchen down.” She giggles, gesturing towards the stove that was abandoned along with the pancake batter he was pouring.
Frank pouts at her, but obeys, going back towards the stove to finish up their breakfast or brunch considering when she checked the time it was already a little past noon. Frank had to leave in about two hours to make it to their pickup spot to get the kids for his weekend. Mel probably was going to spend the rest of her day with Becca before she had to go into work later tonight.
“Do you wanna spend the day with us before you need to go to work?” Frank questions when they’re finally sitting at her table, the breakfast he successfully made without burning it, in front of them. They’re sitting in front of each other, but they’re legs underneath the table are attached to each other.
Mel swallows down her bite of eggs, “I’ll have to ask Becca if it’s okay but I'm sure she’ll be okay. You get Percy this weekend too?” She questions. Along with getting Tanner and Millie their goldendoodle always tagged along. She remembers when Frank had invited her and Becca to the park with the kids he’d brought his dog and Becca fell in love with him.
“Percy is attached to Tanner so yeah.” He replies, finishing off the last bite of his breakfast. “Are you okay with meeting them now that we’re together?” he questions.
“I’ve met them before, It’s not going to be any different. But I think we should tell Abby just so she knows.” She says.
“Oh I already told her about you. She’s surprisingly cool with everything. I mean it’d be kinda hypocritical of her ya know? since she’s seeing someone else.” Frank casually says, grabbing her empty plate and cup of orange juice.
“You talked to your ex about me?” It slips out of her mouth before her brain has any time to process it. Frank gives her that look she’s catalogued into her brain as one of the looks he gives her when she’s being ridiculous. A silent, Of course I did.
“Yeah, I did. I dunno if you know this Mel, but you’ve got this effect on me that’s very noticeable to everyone. She just noticed how happy I’ve been and I told her about you.” He places the dishes in the sink, turning back towards Mel and smiling at her softly. “She asked if I was serious about you and if I trusted you to meet Tanner and Millie. And I’m one trillion percent certain you’re it for me Melissa King.” He walks towards her, placing a finger underneath her chin so she’s looking up at him. “You make me want to be better every single day I’m with you or thinking about you.” It’ll never get tiring hearing him tell her this. It makes her heart feel like it’s about to explode. She’s not sure how many times her heart can handle this. It's beating so hard against her ribs she’s certain it’s trying to escape her body and fall into his lap. She’d let it. She’d give him anything he wanted. And she knows now he’d do the same for her.
Frank bends down, capturing her lips with his own, softly kissing her. She could taste the hint of maple syrup that was still on his lips he hadn't wiped off yet. She pokes her tongue out of her mouth, dragging it along his bottom lip.
“We should shower.” Mel says in a soft whisper, changing the topic. Frank raises a brow at her. “Together, to save up on water. Ya know?” She grins wickedly at him, tugging him into another kiss.
“Yeah to save up on water, mhm, sure.” He mutters against her mouth, she can feel his lips turning upwards into a grin that matches hers.
“Maybe If you’re really fast, repay you for last night.” She smirks pulling away so she can see the look on his face. It’s priceless. Hunger fills up his pupils as he looks at her, he doesn’t even reply back to her. Instead he pulls her out of her chair and they make their way into Mel’s bathroom.
After their shower that took longer than normal because Frank couldn’t stop touching her and kissing all over upper body, they washed each other's bodies and hair, sighing contentedly at the contact. Frank has to bend down slightly at an angle so Mel’s able to reach the top of his hair. And the other reason it took longer was because Mel stayed true to her word giving him as he said it after they got dressed, The best blowjob ever. It makes her warm at the praise, Frank softly laughing and walking towards her to touch her cheek. She moved into the touch, gazing up at him as he placed her glasses on her face.
Mel calls Becca later to ask her if she’d be okay with hanging out with Frank and the kids. Of course, like Mel predicts, Becca asks about Percy tagging along and when Mel tells her yes she gives her an enthusiastic yes.
Frank leaves at around two in the afternoon, grabbing his car keys for a change off the table next to Mel’s front door. Before leaving he stops by the couch where Mel is laying down and bends down at an angle she knows hurts his back but he does it anyway. He kisses her softly, telling her where to meet him after he’d pick up the kids and Mel went to pick up Becca for the day.
“See you in like…” He pauses looking down at his phone. “An hour. Love you.” He plants one last kiss onto her lips, bending back upright. Notices the wince he tries to not let out.
“I love you too, and stop hurting your back.” She points up at him, he shakes his head, smiling at her.
“Will you rub it for me?” He questions teasingly. He already knows the answer to that question would be a yes.
“Get out of here.” She laughs, throwing one of the pillows in his direction. Frank ever so skillfully catches it, tossing it back onto the couch.
___
When Mel goes into work that night and spots Samira in the locker room she raises an eyebrow at her, looking at her with a question on her face.
“There’s a pep in your step tonight.” Samira smirks at her, pointing a finger of accusation in her face. “Please tell me you guys finally figured it out.” Mel doesn’t need to know what she’s talking about the gaps already filled in.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Samira.” She denies, pulling out her name tag from the zipper pocket of her bag and placing it onto her shirt.
“You guys spent the night together and he drove you here.” Samira replies. Which was true, after taking Becca back to her facility for the night(Becca wanting to go back because tonight they were playing a marathon of her favorite tv show), Mel spent most of her evening before her shift with Frank and the kids. Tanner and Millie insisted she stayed when she said she’d be heading home. And of course Mel couldn’t say no, staying a few more hours with them watching Tanner’s favorite movie (Cars 2). They also came with Frank to drop her off at work a little past their bedtime which they swore they wouldn’t tell Abby when she picks them up on Monday.
“We’ve literally been carpooling for months now, it’s easier and better for the environment.” Mel lies again. She’s kinda enjoying not telling them yet. It’s a little funny the look Samira keeps giving her. Like she’s got two heads on her body and she’s going crazy.
She’d almost been in the clear with her lie, until Samira finally looks at her, and her vision zeros in on Mel’s neck.
“You guys had sex!” She unintentionally yells, Mel quickly puts a hand over her mouth shushing her friend who’s grinning maniacally at her.
“No we didn’t. You’re obviously seeing things.” Mel lies, pulling her shirt up a little farther. Samira raises a brow at her, pointing down to her neck where the red mark was peeking slightly out, Mel zips up her jacket thankful it goes right up to her neck and hides it.
“You know about the bet don’t you? That’s why you won’t say anything.” Samira asks. Mel stores that into her memory to text Frank later their co-workers were indeed betting on when they’d actually get together. Mel wonders who's all in this betting. She doesn’t need to know who started it, Trinity.
“What bet?” She fauxes confusion, egging her on further.
Samira groans in annoyance, putting her stethoscope around her neck. “It’ll be our little secret. Scouts honor.” She holds up two fingers to her forehead in a salute.
Mel continues to pretend like she doesn’t know anything.
That lasts until the end of her shift when Frank comes to pick her up. He leans down to kiss her, Samira already hot on her trail to ask her if she’d be able to come over tonight for a girls night. Mel flushes bright red when she hears her voice behind them.
“I knew it!”
She wasn’t ever going to hear the last of it from Samira and Trinity, that's for sure.