Mel ended every phone call the same way for the first three days of Frank’s trip.
“I love you!” she would say into the phone or camera. “Have fun! Wear sunscreen!”
The first two were understandable; she said some form of them to him daily since his divorce six months ago. (Well, really he told her that first one a few months before the paperwork was finalized, but he didn’t want to get caught up in the details.) It was always the last one that tripped him up.
It was his youngest brother’s bachelor party. A few days in Myrtle Beach with beers in the sand, mounds of fried seafood, and a night out to a club where the only thing Frank remembered the next morning was his brother running naked into the dark ocean.
He chugged Pedialyte and listened to Mel describe her lovely, relaxing morning of reading in their new window-nook, a trip to the farmer’s market, and then plans to see a movie with Becca later that evening. After he ended the call, he fell asleep on the beach, his hat pulled down low over his eyes to block out the hateful sun from his pounding head.
It’s when he wakes up that he realizes things are about to get much worse.
“You look like a fucking tomato, bro!” his brother yells, and Frank can’t even argue back. He’s bright red from the neck down. There’s a few awkward blobs from his towel and hands, and Frank knows that he’s not going to be able to be shirtless outside for weeks.
Mel covers her mouth with both hands when he FaceTimes her.
“I told you to wear sunscreen!” she gasps which makes Frank laugh. He was trying not to because even smiling makes his skin hurt.
“You did,” he admits.
“I said it so many times!” she continues. “I can’t believe you weren’t listening to me!”
“I was listening to you!” he argues playfully. “I heard you say that you love me, and that you’ll forgive me and put aloe on my shoulders when I get home tomorrow.”
On the camera, he sees Mel’s cheeks redden to match his own skin.
“Don’t be cute!” she fires back, but there’s no bite to her voice.
“So you’re saying you don’t love me?” He’s baiting her, just wanting to hear her say the words again. It’s all so pathetic and sappy and he adores it. It’s a new thing for him, yet another to add to the list for just how different his life was with Mel than with Abby.
Mel looks offended. “I love you very much which is why I kept saying to wear sunscreen!”
He smiles as his plan works, and his skin burns in response. Worth it.
The Pitt, Mel King/Frank Langdon, 500 words, Rated PG, High School AU, for @kingdonmicrofic
Robby would never admit it, but he looks forward to the annual Almost Back to School Staff BBQ, which always takes place after the first all-staff planning meeting in the summer (a necessity for dealing with Principal Underwood again).
It’s always at Jack’s house, a potluck with an abundance of good food and drink, and Robby would also never admit this, but his favorite part is gossip time. They discuss everything: what have their students been up to, predictions and gossip on who broke up with who, who got together with who, who’s moved away, even gossip on parents.
It’s harmless, all in good fun. No formal bets and no social media snooping is allowed (because they’re not, Heather Collins insists, on the Gossip Girl reboot) but anything they witness with their own eyes or hear through the grapevine is fair game. Prize for best gossip gets to take home the red velvet cheesecake brownies that Dana’s husband always bakes two batches of (one batch to consume at the BBQ, one batch just for the gossip winner). Robby usually spends his summers on long road trips, riding his motorcycle across the country back to his hometown, so he’s always out of the loop, a content observer.
The real people in the know are usually Perlah, Princess, and Dana, with Heather and Cassie chiming in. He and Jack stay silent, sipping their beers, ears perked.
So it’s a shock to everyone when Jack clears his throat and says, “I have something.”
Everyone quiets.
“All right,” Dana says, leaning back. “I’ll bite. What’s your gossip, Abbot?”
“I was at the mall the other day,” he says. Everyone knows he goes to the mall, once, right when back to school sales start, and buys his work clothes for the entire year. “And who did I see, but Frank Langdon with Trinity Santos and Yolanda Garcia?”
“Not a surprise,” Perlah says. “Those three are joined at the hip.”
“I could hear them. They were shopping for Langdon,” Abbot continues. “For a date.”
“Did he get back together with Abby Tanner?” Princess asks.
“No,” Cassie breathes, setting her beer bottle down with a thunk. “Jack. Jack. You’re shitting me. It’s happening?”
Robby looks on in confusion with everyone else as Jack smirks. “It’s happening.”
Cassie honest-to-god squeals. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Robby asks. “What did I miss?”
“McKay and I told all of you at the pub on the last day of school and no one believed us,” Jack says, smug. “But we believed.”
Dana catches on. “You’re kidding me,” she says, in disbelief.
Robby was at the pub, too, but can’t remember what they were talking about (though, he had drank a lot that night. It had been a tough year).
“We have our winner. Give that man the brownies!” Cassie crows. “You’ve heard it here first: Frank Langdon’s dreams are coming true. He won over Mel King.”
Chaos erupts to the point where at least no one notices that Robby’s spat out his beer.
@kingdonmicrofic - day 23: barbecue | rating: t | word count: 500
(now with a writer's cut (1000+ words) on ao3!)
“Excuse me, sorry, but are you two a couple?”
They halt mid-step, startled out of heated (for Frank, anyway) conversation about the overhype surrounding New York bagels. (“Eight dollars for a bagel with cream cheese? Fucking criminal.” “Well, I don’t think picking a premium bagel flavor helped.” “I have to know what all the hype over these rainbow bagels is about!”)
“Oh - um,” Mel glances at Frank, whose surprised gape is already shifting into an easy smirk, mischief glinting in his eyes. Oh, boy.
“Yeah, we are, actually,” he says, shifting the paper bag holding their polarizing bagels from the crook of one arm to the other. The freed arm smoothly snakes around her waist and pulls her close.
“Would you mind telling us the story of how you first met?"
Frank peeks down at her. "We first met at work, and right off the bat, I knew she was a kindred spirit.” He exhales something between a laugh and a sigh. “She also ended up being the only good thing that happened to me that day. And maybe since.”
Mel draws in a breath. “I don’t know how true that last part is,“ she ignores the stern look Frank shoots her, “but the first part - I felt the same way. He just understood - understands - me in a way no one else has before; we just seem to know what the other wants or needs." She shrugs, unsure if there's even a way to properly articulate how Frank makes her feel, this affinity for each other that just is. “I still felt it the next time I saw you, when you came back - like no time had passed, even though it’d been ten months since.”
"After that first day, I had to take leave - I won't bore you with the details,” Frank explains, unprompted. To Mel, “And that may have been when you saw me next, but I saw you a few weeks before that, at Abbott’s Memorial Day barbecue.”
Mel’s eyes dart to his. “What? I don’t remember you being there.”
Frank rocks on his heels, chin tucking. “I never actually went in. I drove there, got out of the car, walked all the way up to the gate to the backyard, saw you -” He clears his throat. “I just couldn’t do it. I thought maybe seeing everyone before I came back might help with the transition, but when I actually got there, I realized I couldn’t face you all without work acting as a buffer.”
“I wish you would’ve come in,” Mel says softly.
“I’ll be at the next one,” Frank says, voice just as soft. It sounds like a promise.
---
Comments
t3santos (2h) *oprah so what is the truth gif*
sammohan (2h) is fake-dating on kingdon bingo??? @therealprincessdc @perlahhhhh
therealprincessdc (2h) @sammohan no but we theres mistaken for bf/gf but thats been hit multiple times already??
m.robby (15m) @callmemel and @frangdon plz file appropriate paperwork with hr if dating irl
Idk about y'all, but I've been reading so much Kingdon fic that come January I'm going to have a moment of confusion when season 2 starts and Mel & Langdon aren't already besties and/or making out.
You’d known Jake since you were kids, bonding over the shared experience of being military brats overseas. You were the perfect pair - he was reckless, you followed the rules; he didn’t care what others thought, you were a people-pleaser. You both became the best of the best in your field - he through sheer talent and skill, you from demonstrated grit and determination.
For over two decades, everyone around you - parents, friends, even teachers - had assumed you’d both end up together, despite the fact that somehow, you never did. The Navy always had its way of keeping you two apart. Whatever possibilities there might have been, it was just never in the cards.
Until you got to Fallon.
Chapter 3 Summary: You scrambled to find the right words. For your whole lives, everyone had thought you would get together, that the both of you had happily ever after written into your intertwined fates. You’d never allowed yourself to believe it, and as far as you knew, Jake hadn’t, either.
Masterlist | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Pairing: Hangman (Top Gun Maverick) x Female Reader
Tag List: Comment or message if you want to be added!
Warnings: Lots of Pining, Lots of Angst, Explicit Language, Mild Sexual Commentary, Some Blood If You’re Squeamish
Word Count: 5800+
A/N: I am so excited to see how much you guys have been liking this story, it’s super motivating and I was definitely eager to get this chapter up ASAP. Any reblogs/comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated! I love hearing feedback from you all (what you like, what you didn’t like, what you’re looking forward to) and it really encourages me to keep writing so thank you!
You’d known Jake since you were kids, bonding over the shared experience of being military brats overseas. You were the perfect pair - he was reckless, you followed the rules; he didn’t care what others thought, you were a people-pleaser. You both became the best of the best in your field - he through sheer talent and skill, you from demonstrated grit and determination.
For over two decades, everyone around you - parents, friends, even teachers - had assumed you’d both end up together, despite the fact that somehow, you never did. The Navy always had its way of keeping you two apart. Whatever possibilities there might have been, it was just never in the cards.
Until you got to Fallon.
Chapter 2 Summary: As far as everyone could tell, you were his best friend. That much was clear. He respected the hell out of you. Loved you, probably. And Hangman wasn’t one to run from an admiral’s daughter - in fact, Rooster surmised, the challenge probably made him run towards it.
Masterlist | Chapter 1
Pairing: Hangman (Top Gun Maverick) x Female Reader
Tag List: Comment or message if you want to be added!
Warnings: Explicit Language, Pining, Angst, Mild Sexual Commentary
Word Count: 4600+
A/N: Wow, I was super blown away by how much love you guys showed on that first chapter! Hopefully you still enjoy the rest of the fic and as always, any reblogs/comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
SO GOOD!! I love this series so much and am completely invested. I love your Rooster and Hangman so much, their dynamic post mission is everything I hoped for.
You’d known Jake since you were kids, bonding over the shared experience of being military brats overseas. You were the perfect pair - he was reckless, you followed the rules; he didn’t care what others thought, you were a people-pleaser. You both became the best of the best in your field - he through sheer talent and skill, you from demonstrated grit and determination.
For over two decades, everyone around you - parents, friends, even teachers - had assumed you’d both end up together, despite the fact that somehow, you never did. The Navy always had its way of keeping you two apart. Whatever possibilities there might have been, it was just never in the cards.
Until you got to Fallon.
Chapter 1 Summary: If anything, it all seemed to click now - it was less that he had a type, and more that all those other girls seemed like knock-off versions of you.
Pairing: Hangman (Top Gun Maverick) x Female Reader
Tag List: Comment or message if you want to be added!
Warnings: Explicit Language, Mild Sexual Commentary
Word Count: 4600+
A/N: For those new to my blog or don’t know much about me, I grew up in a very Navy-heavy town (Newport, RI) and my sister, brother, and boyfriend are all in the Navy. I hope you all enjoy, and for anyone who read Sugar and Spice, I hope to try to keep the chapters a little shorter this time!
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the fic and any reblogs/ questions/suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!
Also, the COVID-19 pandemic does not exist in this world.
I cannot express how much I already adore this series . I am so excited to read more, this storyline is everything! Them being best friends for so long my heart can’t handle it.
gracieabrams
amandla
