Chapter Text
Mel couldn't help the giddiness inside her chest. It had been a few months since the shower debacle, where she had lost her head and masturbated (god, how embarrassing) after their outing to the renaissance festival while frank sat completely oblivious in the next room. After the water had run cold and she had made a mess of herself, she spent an additional 15 minutes in the bathroom, her cheeks the deepest shade of scarlet she had ever seen on herself while she tried to calm down before having to face him. To make matters worse, it was right as her orgasm had rocked through her on the tiled floor that the realization that she was in fact in LOVE with her best friend had smacked her over the head as well. No matter, she had still managed to splash cold water on her face and eventually join him on the couch, and they had awkwardly sat next to each other and watched two episodes of a netflix docu series before he had announced his leave. Luckily for her, a good night sleep seemed to shake off any left over awkwardness between them, and they gladly fell back into their usual routine together. For Mel, being Franks best friend was enough, even if she did sometimes secretly write in her journal about what it would be like to own a home together and fall asleep in each others arms and raise a family in another universe. Her heart ached a bit at the thought. She shook her head, trying to clear any lingering yearning away. Besides, she had to make sure she and Becca were packed for their upcoming beach weekend!
She checked the clock in her small kitchen as she skipped towards her bedroom, socked feet sliding against the hard wood of her apartment floor.
"Becca, Frank should be here in 30 minutes! Make sure you check the packing list I sent you! I think i've got everything but we need to be absolutely sure!" She heard a non committal noise of confirmation from Becca's room. To someone else it may seem like attitude, but Mel knew her sister, and that noise meant she understood. Mel nervously rung her hands together, thinking hard about her own special list.
Medications, check.
Her favorite Nalgene water bottle, check.
The special new facial sunscreen she had discovered that was extremely lightweight and 50spf, so she wouldn't run the risk of burning her nose or needing Frank to rub her down with cream again because she hated the feeling of sunscreen between her fingers? check. Her cheeks warmed at the memory.
She also meticulously packed her noise cancelling headphones, the charger for both her and Beccas noise cancelling headphones, an extra pair of prescription sunglasses (even though her lenses were in fact transitional, but you could never be too careful) and her little loop earplugs that she could throw on when the world seemed to get too loud, but she still wanted to be able to participate in conversation. She grabbed her bucket hat from the small basket of accessories in the corner of her room, and stuffed another baseball hat in her tote back for good measure. She and Becca had never been on a vacation with anyone besides each other, and she wanted to make sure everything would go as smoothly as possible. While she and Becca both LOVED Tanner and Penny, she knew kids could be extremely unpredictable, and as a rule of thumb she would always rather be safe than sorry.
She was standing at the open fridge, filling her Nalgene with fresh cold water from their Brita when she heard the knock at the door.
"I'LL GET IT," She heard herself yell even though she knew it wasn't necessary. Becca would never answer the door at Mels place, even if she knew who was waiting on the other side. It simply wasn't her job, as she had once put it.
Mel tried to remind herself to breath normally as she skimmed one hand over her braid and went to open the door. She tried not to fling it open with too much obvious excitement, because well, that would be embarrassing, but it had hardly been open for a second when four tiny arms came hurdling towards her.
"Doctor Mel Doctor Mel!!!" She couldn't hold back the grin, so big it almost made her cheeks hurt. They had been calling her that since Frank had scolded them gently once for calling her Ms Melissa, and he had proudly corrected them that actually, Mel was a doctor just like daddy, and should be called as such.
She wrapped her arms around the two little bodies tugging at her legs and squeezed hard. When she first met the kids, Tanner had been much more apprehensive about touch, which suited her just fine. Penny on the other hand, had been ready to crawl right into Mels lap. Frank had been horrified, knowing that Mel herself took a bit to warm up to touch, but something about the warmth of Pennys little hands and her chubby cheeks and little giggle wedged itself beneath her breast bone, and she realized she didn't mind having them close to her at all. She welcomed it, in fact.
As she began to shake the kids loose, trying to make sense of their overlapping chatter, she heard Beccas feet pad towards them from the guest bedroom, previously Beccas room, and really, well, still Beccas room. But she didn't like it to be called that anymore, and insisted if anyone stay over, they have a bed to sleep in.
It didn't affect Mel too much, but she would be lying if she said it didn't hurt the tiniest bit.
"How are the King sisters doing? Ready to get our Lake on?" Franks blue eyes shone with laughter as the kids cheered.
"Frank, you're such a dad." Beccas nose had scrunched up, but the subtle tilt of her smile insinuated playful ribbing. That had been weird for Mel at first. Those kind of social ques, jokes and sarcasm, had never come easy for her. It was a miracle really that Frank even took a liking to her, seeing as he always seemed to have to wait a beat for Mel to understand exactly what he meant by x y or z. So it was a bit shocking to see Becca and Frank fall into such easy teasing Banter after the first time they met, and she would never admit this to anyone, but at first it spurred on a spike of hot jealousy. Soon after she realized that was ridiculous, when Frank had pulled her aside at work one day after a group joke he had told went over her head. She was already frusturated and a little overstimulated at the end of the long shift, and not getting the joke really pissed her off. She had stomped off and muttered something under her breath after the group giggled and rolled their eyes at Frank, but she hadn't expected him to scamper away from them to catch up with her. She tried to shake him off, she recalls, but he wouldn't stop until he had her staring up at him through her lashes, brows furrowed as he promised her that "he couldn't give two shits if anyone else liked his jokes, they weren't for them anyways." and although she didn't know exactly what he meant by that, she knew it made a warm feeling bloom in her chest.
Franks voice snapped her back to the present.
"Alright ladies! what have we got to bring to the car?" Frank looked at the bags stacked in her entryway, and Mel felt herself blush. She knew they always came with a lot of baggage... literal and sometimes emotional. But so far, Frank had never complained.
"Tan, Penny, lets be good and use the bathroom before we go, and help Dr Mel and Ms Becca to the car with their stuff okay?" The kids nodded fervently, and Becca grabbed Pennys hand, leading them both towards the toilet. Her and Penny waited outside while Tanner went first, looking at something on Beccas phone, as Frank started rummaging through the bags at her feet.
"Be careful Frank, I don't want you to hurt your back!" Mel did her best to use her stern voice, nervously pushing her glasses up her nose and knowing that her warning held zero weight to him. He slung a duffle bag over his shoulder and shot her a toothy grin, one hand raking through his chocolate brown hair. God, he was beautiful.
"Now you don't worry about me hummingbird, i've been keeping up with my physio, and actually going to my PT appointments this month. You'd never believe how helpful it's been." He looked delighted with himself and shot her a quick wink, a surefire way to tell this was, in fact, a joke. Mel rolled her eyes and tried to tamp down her own smile, although she could feel it takeover half her face.
"You don't say." she rolled her eyes dramatically for show, secretly delighted to feel like this with him, always in on the Joke. But that was Frank for ya, always making room for her in his life, even if it could only ever be as just a friend.
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The wind was whipping around the whisps of hair coming out of Mels braid as she tilted her head towards the sun, window down slightly, fresh air flooding the car. She had finally put her noise cancelling headphones on. After all, they had been driving for an hour already, the sounds of five chatty voices filling the space with songs and cheerful shrieks and games of eye spy. He could see his children passed out in the back seat, Becca sandwiched between the two of their carseats, Penny in tanners hand me down one, Tanner strapped into his new big boy booster seat. Becca was in her own world, headphones on, staring intently at her nintendo switch game, with a completely contented look on her face. GOOD, he thought to himself. That meant he finally had more than a half a second to catch a glimpse of Mels beautiful profile, the midday sun lighting her up like a halo, the smooth skin of her neck exposed to him like an offering. He swallowed, doing his best not to be too obvious, his hands gripped tightly on the wheel.
They still had about two hours to go before they arrived at the Seven Points campsite along the Raystown Lake. Frank had been occasionally with his family growing up, and it was a beautiful little spot that had initially been an old school campsite along the lake. While Frank did love camping, he had had a feeling Becca might have been less enthused about it, so he did some research and discovered that the entire site had had a bit of a modern upgrade. Sevent Points Glampsite was now an addition to the space where you could put up your own tents or pull up your own RV's, complete with a few different options for "Glamping Yurts," which came equipped with AC and running hot water, a small wood burning stove, a full walk in shower and toilet, and a large deck space out front with a coal grill and fire pit. Not too shabby if you asked him. The five of them had rented two yurts for the weekend, one with a king bed for the King sisters, and one with two queens for him and the kids. He would have sprung for another with two beds but Mel insisted she and Becca would rather share one large bed in a new setting than each have their own. He didn't miss how Becca rolled her eyes over Mel's shoulder, but everyone knew he couldn't deny Mel King of anything, so a King sized Yurt the sisters got.
After about 45 minutes of uninterrupted silence, Mel went to remove her headphones and pulled her legs up criss cross applesauce before she turned to face him. The kids were still dozing and at this point, it looked like Becca had nodded off a bit as well. He looked at Mel with a grin, trying to keep his voice low.
"Bunch of sleeping beauties back there, eh?" She giggled behind her hand.
"Frank," Suddenly she was looking at him so sincerely, eyes wide open, temple pressed against the headrest of her seat. She chewed her lip lightly.
"What's up Mel?" He tried to tame whatever was going on in his stomach.
"Thank you... for thinking of us for this. Becca and I, we haven't really been on a vacation since... since before our mom died." He could see her try and swallow the lump forming in her throat. Automatically, he reached across the console and put his hand, gentle but firm, on her thigh. He could hear her let out a small sigh.
"Of course, Mel. Believe me when I tell you, there isn't anybody else we would rather be here with. And I mean me AND the kids. They love you and Becca so much. We uh... we all do." His eyes shot to Mel and back very quickly, catching a pink blush rising on her neck. Fuck, she was pretty. He cleared his throat as Mel turned away from his touch.
"Well, us too. I mean, with you guys." She tried to tack a casual smile onto that sentence that came off as more of a grimace, but Frank couldn't help but shake his head, a laugh rumbling in his chest at her attempt to make their conversation more 'normal.' Besides, its not like ANYTHING between them was normal. Well, not for him, anyway.
"Hey, we've been driving for a while, what do you say we hit a rest stop and fill up the tank, hit the bathrooms, maybe get some snacks?" There eyes met and he could tell by the warm crinkle of her smile that he had said something right.
"God yes I would LOVE that, I desperately need to stretch my legs," With that she kicked her long limbs out in front of her and wiggled her toes, arms raised above her head. He always loved that the first thing she did on long car rides was kick off her shoes, as though they personally offended her. It always made him want to grab one of her feet and place a delicate kiss on the arch, rub the long day from them with his thumbs, feel her turn to liquid in his palms. He cleared his throat, taking the next exit to hit the gas station. If he did not get his sorry ass together and stop yearning for her, It was about to be a long, long weekend.
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Mel tried to shut the car door gently on account of the whole backseat still being in and out of sleep, but she was so happy to be out of the car. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, shimmying a little on her exhale and shaking out her limbs. When she opened her eyes she caught Frank staring at her, mouth slightly agape.
"What, do I have something on me?" Mel quickly inspected her shirt as Frank immediately responded
"Nothing." and turned towards the gas pump.
"I'm gonna fill her up, do you wanna go inside and grab some snacks, maybe refill waters?" He went to look over his shoulder at her and she noticed his face twinge ever so slightly from pain. Probably stiff from the long drive.
"Okay, yes that sounds good. Is your back feeling okay?" She wrung her hands together, well aware how hard it was to get Frank to answer this question truthfully.
"Oh you know, nothing out of the ordinary." He shot her what she could only imagine was supposed to be an encouraging smile, but it really came off as more of a wince. God, men were so stubborn. She attempted not to get too in her head about it, or she knew it would make her cross, and she really didn't want to start the weekend out like that. She took a steadying breath before replying.
"Fine." She tried her best for it not to come out clipped, but as she turned suddenly on her heel to march into the 7/11, she knew she had failed. But, that's okay. Frank was always telling her it was okay to have emotions, and her therapist also encouraged her to "ride the waves" so to speak, so amongst the chip aisle, she let herself stew for a moment.
"God, he is such an idiot. Stupid stubborn man. If he would just let me take a freaking look at it, and of course we're about to spend a weekend in an unknown place with a bed that could be who KNOWS how stable. And then that could ruin the whole trip! What is wrong with him!!!" She was getting so fired up in the chip aisle that she almost didn't notice the cashier who had sidled up next to her while she was ranting, putting some new pringle cans on display. She smacked her gum and popped a bubble, drawing Mels attention to her mouth, decorated with snake bite piercings and pink lipstick.
"Damn girl, you sound real pissed off at your boyfriend. What'd he do?" Her eyes were big and curious, framed by her short and stylish bangs. Mel could never have bangs like that, or piercings for that matter. the aftercare woulnd't be a problem, obviously, but the sensory experience of having something in her face all the time? No thank you. But on the other hand, it might be nice during say, something like kissing. Hmm. She was so distracted in thinking that she was a full 30 seconds behind in processing the question, so by the time she guffawed at the girl and quickly brushed off THAT assumption, she was fully aware she probably seemed crazy.
"Oh, no no he's not my boyfriend. He's just my friend, my very obnoxious friend." She frowned again, remembering exactly how annoyed she had been. The cashier popped another bubble in her face.
"Well well, you're certainly pissed at him like hes your boyfriend." She smirked at Mel as she tucked some hair behind her ears, and her cheeks which had already started to pinken, grew hot beneath the cashiers blatant stare. Was she... was she checking mel out?
"Oh no, yeah no. He's my colleague actually and thats my sister there, and his two kids in the car as well. We're doing a lake weekend actually, which I know maybe sounds weird because I did use the word colleague, but hes also my Best friend! But nothing romantic, he actually just got divorced so, I think maybe that would be too soon --" She was rambling. She winced, the cashier smiling wickedly at her, eyebrow raised.
"Okay I hear ya, well, maybe on your way back from your 'purely platonic coworker weekend with your divorced dad colleague turned best friend,' you can pop back in and get my number. I don't work with you and don't have a bad back, and I'm definitely not looking for anything platonic, I can promise you that." She shot Mel a wink that did something weird to her insides. She tried to shoot the girl a friendly smile and "Mmhokayyeah!" as she brushed by her and walked hastily back towards the car. The humid air felt refreshing on her face, even if it was way hotter out here than it was inside the convenience store. Mel tried to shake off all of the nervous energy she had collected in there and to walk up to Frank with her shoulders back, as though nothing weird had just happened to her. Unfortunately for her, that man knew her better than she even knew herself sometimes.
"Woah, Mel you okay?" The obvious look of concern melted her a little bit, even if she hated to admit it. She gave him a lack luster smile and glanced over her shoulder, the cashier girl waving her fingers from behind the counter.
"Yeah yeah i'm okay, just... Kind of weird in there. I think that girl was, um... hitting on me? Actually, yeah, I know she was. She asked for my phone number." Now that the interaction was over, Mel almost felt a little... proud. She could feel herself smirking a little.
"Did you give it to her?" Something was a little off in franks tone. She met his eyes and was surprised to see an unusual lack of warmth. She studied his face for a moment, trying to piece together what exactly was different.
"Um... no, I didn't" She noticed his shoulders relax almost imperceptibly. Curious.
"Oh... okay." His smile had turned sheepish, brushing a hand through his hair.
"Oh shit, gotta pay still." He went to twist around to grab his wallet from his back pocket and immediately hissed out in pain instead.
"Oh my god, Frank! don't move! are you okay? What hurts?" Mels hands were already up cautiously guarding him, anxious for his next move.
"Holy fuck that hurt. Ah. I'm good, i'm good, I think I just tweaked my SI joints twisting like that." His face was scrunched up in pain.
"Well don't be stupid let me get it!" Before she could stop herself she was standing right in front of him, his right hand still on the gas pump, left hand holding his face as she looked up at him and began to reach her hand around his waist and into his back pocket.
ohmygodohmygodohmygod.
What the hell was she doing?
It was almost like time slowed, her skin slowly dragging along the back of Franks t shirt, meeting at where his pants touched his skin for a brief moment. Their eyes were connected, both wider than usual, with almost confused looks on both of their faces, as if their bodies weren't there own. Mels hand curled down and into his back pocket slowly, devastatingly aware of the feel of his firm gluteus maximus below her fingers. She held her breath, cataloguing every minute detail of Franks face. Like how he shut his eyes for just a moment, or how a tiny shudder rolled through his shoulders, or how gooseflesh popped up lightly around his neck when she exhaled so close that she knew he could feel it. Her fingers wrapped around the frail leather of his wallet and she inhaled deeply, unabashedly filling her lungs with his scent as she slowly withdrew her hand from his pants. Theres eyes met, his usual bright blue eclipsed by something darker and deeper than she had seen before, and for a second, she almost thought-
"What are you two doing" Beccas voice came from back seat, slightly scratchy from sleep and Mel practically shot up into the air, narrowly missing Franks chin.
"Sorry sorry sorry-"
"Nothing, we're doing nothing.-" They both spoke over each other as they scrambled to get their bearings, the situation completely defused from whatever had been happening between them.
"Okay. Can we go then? I want to swim today." Becca said matter of factly.
"Sure, yeah lets get going." Mel nodded and handed Frank the wallet, quickly flitting to her side of the car. She got a glimpse of the cashier giggling at her from the window, clearly having seen the whole show. It was then that she realized, she hadn't gotten any snacks, she hadn't refilled any water bottles, and she hadn't made it to the bathroom. But at this point, her heart was still beating too fast to care.