day twenty-two: connect, 491 words
@kingdonmicrofic
He doesn’t mean to, but she puts her hand on his thigh when she’s telling him goodbye from the passenger seat of his car, and he gasps, then laughs it off when Mel gives him a look, saying he hasn’t been touched like that in a while.
It takes him a few seconds to realize how inappropriate it is. He’s only known her for two months, he’s her senior resident, and he’s trying to be a friend.
He stutters through an apology, but she says it’s OK, that he can tell her anything.
So, Frank tells her, voice gravely, that he and Abby haven’t had sex in more than a year, omitting that Mel is all he thinks about when he gets himself off now.
“I mean, we haven’t even kissed in months, and I just miss the physical intimacy,” he says. “We don’t connect like that anymore, and we had problems before rehab, but at least when we were fucking there was something and —”
He shakes his head and says, “You know what I mean.”
“Not really,” she says quietly. “I’ve never had sex, never wanted to.”
His mouth opens, but he can’t get any words out, and her expression is unreadable.
“I would for you, though.”
It’s earth-shattering, and he drops his gaze to her lips, sees her tongue peeking out like she’s biting it.
She squeezes his thigh, the touch meant to put him at ease, but it makes him buzz as she tells him that she wants to do this for both of them if that's what he wants.
“I do, Mel, but you’ve never wanted to have sex, so I don’t understand,” he says, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “What’s different now?”
She shrugs and says, “It’s you.”
It knocks the breath out of him, two words and that look in her eyes. She wants him to be her first, and he’s overcome with the desire to be her only.
“Do you want to come inside?”
He lets out a strangled what, his face heating at the thought of doing that, and she motions to her building.
“Oh, I can’t, uh — she’s expecting me home soon. We’ll talk later, though?”
She smiles, caressing his thigh, then she opens the door and gets out of the car, waving as she walks away.
Later, when he’s in bed next to Abby, he unlocks his phone, going to the messages app instead of going to sleep.
He opens the chat with Mel, not knowing what to say now.
And like she knows he’s thinking about her, she sends him a list of the dates and times she has the apartment to herself, and a screenshot of a colour-coded spreadsheet detailing everything she wants to do with him.
[FL, 10:58 p.m.]
That’s... wow, Mel. Let’s do Thursday?
[MK, 10:59 p.m.]
Yay!!! Can’t wait
He squeezes his eyes shut, takes a deep breath, and holds the phone against his chest.
