@frattternity bc i saw that u thought neighbour aus are the best <3
so after the divorce (which had an amicable thing, theyre still very close, they just realized that the love they felt for each other now was more like that for a friend than for a spouse, so they decided it was more fair to them both to split up), frank moves into an apartment in the city, letting maria keep the house.
its really weird for frank to be in an apartment again. Hes so used to living in a big house with a big yard and friendly neighbours, with his best friend next to him in the big bed and the kids just down the hall. Now its just him in a tiny apartment and a loud city and neighbours that are kinda not that great, and maria and the kids are all the way out in the suburbs. Yeah, he can come visit any time he wants and he has the kids on the weekends, since their school is way out there and driving them from the city to school every morning just wouldnt be practical.
then one day hes coming home from work and theres a guy, matt, in front of the building talking loudly on a phone to someone called Foggy about forgetting his keys at the office and being unable to even get into the building, much less his own apartment. Being the good guy that he is, frank taps the guy on the shoulder and says he can let him in, he can even wait in franks apartment while Foggy brings those keys.
well, he would say that, but the guy tells his friend to hang on and he turns to frank and smiles, and frank is speechless because wow, this guy is so pretty. Frank is so happy the guy seems to be blind, going by the white cane, because franks face goes beet red, because holy shit, that guy is so pretty. He mumbles out a sorry then keeps on walking. He doesnt stop until hes block away from home. He is very embarrassed. He goes back but hangs around on the corner of the block, waiting until foggy comes by with the keys to let the guy in, so frank wonthave to interact with the guy. Frank is pretty sure hed just embarrass himself even worse if he tried to talk to him again.
cue several months of frank pining for matt, and maria taking every opportunity she can to try to talk frank into asking matt out, and the kids are in on it too. Frank almost physically has to restrain the little shits when they run into matt on the stairs one weekend. Matt is as polite as always, and frank is flustered, stuttering mess with cheeks redder than a tomato.
things come to a head when frank is the one who forgets his keys and has to wait outside on the steps, and matt is the one to come walking.