I love fics where Mel and Frank are friends that are actually dating and Mel doesn’t know it. The ones where he is like “I asked her out, we hang all the time, I’m taking it at her pace, we share a bed more than not, I love my girlfriend Mel. I want her to know how love and cherished she is so I will show her through my actions rather than creep her out with words.”
And she’s like “Frank is my best friend, we get platonic dinners after work and hang all the time, after I gave him a hug that one time I found out he gives the best hugs and he hugs me all the time, we platonically snuggle at night, I love my best friend Frank, gee I wish he’d see me romantically though because I would love to fuck him non-platonically”
Love love love it!
(For me it started with @avocado-moon s two-player (loooove it) but I’ve seen different variations and I eat every single one of them up every time!!!!)
However it’s always Frank thinking he’s dating Mel and her being oblivious. And I neeeed the reverse
I need Mel seeing Frank fresh out of rehab and divorce and thinking “I better let him set the pace, like a good girlfriend who respects her man’s feelings and supports him through the hard times” while he thinks “wow what a great friend Mel is, hope I don’t fuck up this friendship by letting her know I’m in love with her!”
Frank confessing he’s lonely w/o the kids and Mel stepping in and letting him have a family with her and becca while Abby has the kids.
Frank invites Mel over when he feels weak and might relapse and they end up sharing a bed and he whispers confessions abt how he thinks he might not be ready for a relationship with anyone, and if he was “I don’t think anyone would be patient enough to be with me.” He means this in a “I’m a bad partner, ask my ex wife, I have baggage and issues up the wazoo and I make a lot of mistakes” she takes this as a “I want to take it slow”
He goes on to confess how he’s ashamed he’s letting her see him like this. But she is the only one he’d wanted to call. And she shushes him and says she’s there for him and Frank is like “wow Mel is the best friend I could have ever asked for. I better not scare her off with my romantic feelings” and Mel is like “wow he wants to take it slow WITH ME.”
And she takes him literally and decides to be the most patient girlfriend Frank’s ever had and the next morning they go out to breakfast and she takes his hand and invites him to dinner after shift and he says yes and she’s so happy!
Forgot to tell y’all that I did it. I wrote the fic. :)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
And @oftennix did amazing artwork for it 🥰🥰🥰
It was an honor ☺️
