Chapter Text
Summer
The day hadn't been that bad so far. Frank knew he was mentally jinxing it by thinking that, sure, but it was too late. He'd had enough interesting cases where he wasn't bored, but nothing so catastrophic that it threw him off.
He was standing at one of the workstations with Mel, red bull in one hand, charting with the other, when he heard a familiar voice.
"Daddy!"
His stomach dropped. It was Penny, what the fuck was she doing in the ED? Was she injured? He whirled around to see Abby with Penny and Tanner, all looking fit and well. His shoulders relaxed.
"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" He scooped Penny up and put her on his hip, kissing the top of her head.
"You forgot your lunch," Abby smiled, holding up a bag. "And somebody wanted to see where daddy works."
Tanner was staring around the place with his jaw hanging open. "This place is crazy!" He said, his voice lisping slightly over the gap where he'd lost a tooth recently.
"Yeah? It is, isn't it?" Frank laughed a little. "You miss me, princess?" He ruffled Penny's hair until she giggled back at him. God, he loved his family so much. Despite everything, that would never go away.
"Thanks for bringing it, you didn't have to come all the way here," he said to Abby.
She shook her head, waving him off. "We were nearby anyway. Besides, the kids were asking about you." She looked at him, something in her eyes. "You've been working so much lately."
"Yeah, well, residency. You know how it is," Frank shrugged, though the guilt swirled in his gut. "Just trying to stay on top of everything."
He happened to glance across the room then, and made eye contact with Robby. The chief was frozen in place, just staring. Frank had no idea what was going on in his head, but it didn't look good. They stared for a second, before Robby shook his head and marched off.
"Will you be home for dinner tonight?" Abby's voice brought him back to the present, while he rubbed his nose in Penny's hair. Scenting his pup.
"Uh, no," he said, mind racing. "Probably not. Working on a paper with Robby, might be late."
The lie was so easy now it felt worryingly natural.
"Alright," Abby nodded, taking Penny back from him. He wanted to cling tighter. "Let's go, kids. Leave daddy to work."
"Bye, daddy!" Tanner said, and Frank leaned down to give him a quick hug.
"Bye, buddy. Love you guys," he said, waving them off. He turned back to the workstation, bag in hand, to find Mel smiling at him.
"You have a really nice family," she said, in her mild-mannered beta way.
Frank nodded slowly, looking down at the lunch bag in his hand. "Yeah, I do. They're great." He barely even got a second to think, before a trauma was wheeling in and the bag was dumped and forgotten about until later.
He hardly saw Robby all day, but the day was full enough that Frank didn't really notice. He was the attending, of course he would be pulled off in every different direction. He showed up at Robby's door that evening, like always, ready for some stress relief in the form of some fucking good sex.
What he was greeted with was a stony-faced Robby, physically closed off to him with his arms crossed over his chest. This felt unfamiliar.
"We need to talk," Robby said. He was looking at Frank like he was some sort of mystery illness he was struggling to diagnose, a puzzle to solve.
"What's wrong?" Frank wasn't an idiot, he knew it had to be to do with seeing his family come in today.
"I saw you today, with your wife and kids." Bingo.
"Okay," Frank said, jaw tightening.
"Abby brought your kids in to see you today, you held them, you kissed them, and then you came here."
"I'm aware," Frank said, dropping his bag down by the door. They hadn't even moved out of the hall. "So what?"
"So what?" Robby raised his voice, rubbing a hand over his hair, shaking his head. "Frank, you have a family, a bond. Two kids who adore you."
"I know." Frank was getting frustrated now.
"Do you? Because you're here, in my house, with your wife thinking you're here to write a goddamn paper."
"That doesn't change anything between us!"
"Maybe it should." Robby's eyes were conflicted, pained. "Fuck, Frank, it should change everything. What are we doing?"
Frank opened his mouth to respond but Robby didn't even let him, speaking over him with a slightly alpha growl rumbling in the back of his throat.
"We're what, having an affair? Destroying your marriage? Wrecking your family? I'm helping you cheat on your bonded mate, the mother of your children."
"Robby, if you're trying to end this…" Frank's chest felt cold, this couldn't be happening.
"I have to. We can't keep doing this, you have too much to lose." Robby was shaking his head, he looked desperate.
"You're not in control here," Frank told him. "This is my decision to make."
"What about your kids?" Robby threw his hands up. "What happens when someone finds out?"
Frank ran a hand through his hair, clearly stressed. "You think I was happy in my marriage? You think it was perfect?"
"That's not the point I was trying to make."
"Then what is the point?" Frank said, louder now. His scent was spiking, and so was Robby's, both of them anxious and acidic. "Because from where I'm standing, you're looking for an excuse to push me away."
"I'm trying to do the right thing."
Saint Robby. Saint Robby who'd held him down and fucked him, bit at his skin and told him how good he was.
"Fuck the right thing." Frank got in his face then, voice barely above a hiss. "I'm here because I want to be. This is my choice. Absolve yourself of any guilt if that's what you need to do. I just want you, I don't care about anything else."
They both knew that wasn't true, Frank loved his kids more than anything. But he couldn't see beyond what was in front of him right now, and how much he felt for Robby.
Robby's resolve began to crumble at that, Frank could see it. Could see the moment he decided to surrender and give up the fight. He opened his mouth to speak, but Frank didn't let him. He pushed forward and kissed him, Robby making a broken sound against his mouth. He was still for a second before his hands came up to hold Frank's face. The kiss was deeper than usual, like Robby was trying to consume him, keep Frank all for himself. He tugged at Frank, up the stairs, and the two of them made it to the bedroom without serious injury which was some kind of miracle by the way they couldn't stop kissing.
It felt different tonight, rougher. Robby fucked him like he was either trying to prove something, or punish them both. Frank didn't care, he wanted it, he'd take anything. Just to feel the alpha inside him, to feel the physical proof that this was real, he craved more and more.
Afterwards, neither of them spoke. The sweat cooled on their skin, but Frank didn't pull away, he lay his head on Robby's chest. Took comfort in his scent, in the steady thump of his heart, the rise and fall of his lungs as he breathed. They didn't speak, they didn't move, Frank didn't leave.
Frank knew with a harrowing certainty that they weren't going to stop. They were going to keep doing this until he, or both of them, were wrung dry. And Frank had never had much of a self preservation instinct.
As the weather got hotter, Frank stopped pretending this was temporary.
They couldn't stay away from each other, Frank going to his house multiple nights a week. Abby stopped questioning things, believing him each time he said it was an extra shift or a research opportunity. He didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse that she seemed as checked out as he was.
They couldn't stop fucking. It was like some magnet pulling them together, at work it took Herculean effort not to touch each other constantly. Robby didn't always win that battle, his hand straying to Frank's shoulder or back as they worked. If they had a shift where they couldn't be near each other, couldn't touch as much, it was guaranteed they were going to have sex after. Robby's bed, every surface in his house, even in his car in the hospital parking lot at midnight after a particularly gruelling late shift. The risk made Frank feel simultaneously sick and alive, a rush he hadn't felt in years.
The sex was one thing, but it was everything else that made this feel more substantial. More dangerous. Their personal connection got deeper, and they spent hours just talking. Discussing new editions of medical journals, the latest podcast episode Frank had listened to, particularly difficult cases at work. Stories about their past, Robby enchanting Frank with tales from medical school when he first met Abbot. Frank telling him about his wild college days, when Robby was already firmly into his career. They watched documentaries and read books in bed together, real couple shit. Stuff Frank stopped doing with Abby years ago.
In late July, Frank told Abby he was going to a conference in Philly. Very important to his career development, good for networking about possibilities beyond his residency. She'd barely acknowledged it, just nodding and telling him to have a good time.
There was no conference, he spent the weekend at Robby's.
It was just the two of them, no sneaking around, no clock watching. They ordered takeout and ate it on the couch, watching movies and just hanging out. They fucked lazily whenever they wanted, downed almost an entire bottle of bourbon between them on Saturday night. They existed like a real couple, and Frank lived in the fantasy world that this was his actual life for 48 hours.
On Sunday evening, Frank was packing his bag ready to leave, and something heavy settled in his chest.
"You okay?" Robby eyed him from the doorway of the bedroom.
"Yeah," Frank lied. "Just dreading going back to reality, y'know."
Robby softened and walked over to him, wrapping Frank up in his arms and pressing a kiss to his lips. "This was nice."
"Yeah, it was," Frank agreed. It felt like a goodbye, even though it wasn't. The words were on his lips, despite the bond scar on his neck, the ring on his finger, but he swallowed them down. He felt it, but if he said those three little words out loud, Robby would run a goddamn mile.
At work, they were getting a little sloppy. Their eyes tracked each other across the ED, they found excuses to work on cases together, they cracked little inside jokes to get each other to smile.
Dana, ever perceptive, cornered him in the break room one afternoon. "You and Robby are looking real close these days."
Frank tensed. "Huh? Yeah, he's a good teacher."
"Mm." Dana gave him a look, she didn't buy it. "Just be careful, hon. That's all I'm saying."
Frank didn't ask what she meant, he really did not want to know. Just saluted her with his coffee cup and sped off.
But his feelings only grew, got more intense, and it came to a head one afternoon over Heather Collins of all people.
Frank was charting, as always, when he looked up and spotted them across the ED. They were huddled together, discussing something on the iPad she was holding, and Robby's hand was on Collins' shoulder. His attention was focused, body angled towards her. Looking at her in the same way he looked at Frank when they were alone.
He told himself it was nothing, even though the jealousy stewed and simmered in him all day. Robby was an attending, it was literally his job to teach and consult with his residents. Even the omega ones who smelled like honey like Collins did. It didn't mean anything.
Except it did, because Robby laughed at something Collins said, eyes impossibly warm. He squeezed her shoulder before he walked away.
The chart blurred in front of Frank's eyes. He was married, for fucks sake, what business did he have being jealous? He shouldn't be so possessive over someone who wasn't even his. Yet the feeling sat in his chest anyway, heavy and persistent. He couldn't stop watching them all day, every single interaction. Robby's hand on her back as he guided her into a room, the easy back and forth between them. Frank felt fucking insane.
By the time his shift ended, he was so wound up that he felt like he was going to snap. He went straight to Robby's, sitting on the porch steps and waiting for the alpha to get home. He must have hung back to talk to Abbot about something, and he looked surprised to see Frank waiting for him.
"Hey," he said, pulling out his ear buds. "Everything okay?"
"Fine." Frank saw Robby's eyebrows shoot up disbelievingly, but he didn't push it while he let them inside.
"You don't seem fine," he said as he set down his back and stretched his arms over his head, cracking his back.
"Drop it, can we just—?" He gestured towards the stairs.
Robby caught his wrist. "Frank, talk to me, come on." Not letting go of him, Robby pulled him into the kitchen, parking him at the table.
Frank sat back in the chair, scowling a little. He knew he looked petulant, he felt it. "It's stupid, it doesn't matter."
"Tell me anyway." Robby pottered around getting them some cold beers to cool off from the hot weather.
"Collins," Frank bit out. "You were all over her today."
Robby paused after he popped the cap off one of the bottles. His mouth twitched. "Are you jealous?"
"No."
"You are," Robby was grinning now, something dark and pleased flickering in his eyes. He approached Frank, kicking his legs apart so he could stand between them. Usually, Frank had the height advantage, but right now while he was sitting, Robby towered over him.
"Stop it, I'm not—"
Robby's hand gripped his chin, holding him still and quieting him. "You think I touch her like I touch you? You think I want anyone else? Say it, Langdon. Tell me you're jealous."
Frank's heart hammered behind his ribs, and he could feel that he was wet. Robby would be able to smell the arousal in his scent this close. "I was jealous," he relented. "I hate watching you touch other people."
"Good boy," Robby muttered, before he leaned down to kiss him hard.
They barely made it to the bedroom, stumbling up the stairs and pulling at each other's clothes to shed them as quickly as possible. Robby shoved him down on to the bed and was on top of him in a second, lips and teeth all over his torso. He left marks in his wake, but nothing dark enough that wouldn't fade before Abby saw.
"You're my omega, aren't you?" Robby murmured against his hipbone as he tugged off Frank's underwear. "Say it, you're mine." He was demanding tonight.
"I'm yours," Frank gasped out as Robby's fingers rubbed at his clit, probing his entrance. Frank could hear the slick, how turned on he was.
"No one else gets to have you like this," Robby murmured as he pulled his cock out. Was Frank the jealous one? Because it really sounded like Robby was struggling with it a little too. "No one else gets to see you fall apart."
Robby snapped his hips forward, pushing inside Frank in one easy thrust. Frank was overwhelmed by the intensity of it all, the pleasure coursing through him as Robby began to fuck him. He rested a large hand down on Frank's neck, not gripping, but just holding him there.
"Come on, baby, come for me, I know you can do it." Robby was sweating, breathless, not going to last long. He thumbed at Frank's clit again as he sank his teeth into his shoulder. Frank came, body arching up into him as he moaned and trembled through it. Robby knotted him seconds later, filling him and groaning right into his ear.
They just lay together until Robby's knot went down, the alpha eventually breaking the silence. "You good?" He murmured.
Frank nodded once, shifting as Robby softened and slipped out of him. "Yeah, I'm good."
"I don't want anyone else, just so you know."
"Yeah, me neither."
The irony of Frank saying that while he had a wedding ring on his finger and a bond bite on his neck did not go unnoticed.