Kingdon (very short) Oneshot - lots of confused coworkers
Langdonmel getting together a few years before working in the Pitt and being totally in love but not telling their coworkers since they just assumed everyone would figure it out on their own. They weren't exactly being subtle about it: small touches on the back, Frank fiddling with Mel's braid or Mel grabbing his bicep when something exciting happened. They were also always together.
Coming into work together, drinking coffee from the same coffee shop, sharing a lunch break and eating the same meal, as well as leaving at the exact same time in the same car. Somehow no one thought it was strange. The coming and leaving together seemed easy to be explained by carpooling, which was a common thing in the Pitt. Santos and Whitaker; Cassie and Mateo; as well as Mohan and Abott. (Even though the latter couple actually turned into a couple a few months after dancing around each other, both trying to repress their feelings). Eating the same meal would have seemed weird to most people if Mel and Langdon weren't always hiding in an abandoned staircase to get a few moments together without anyone seeing.
They weren't hiding but didn't want to throw their relationship into their coworkers' faces. They were professionals (most of the time, excluding when Frank almost hit a patient after he asked Mel to go out with him and she had multiple times denied it.)
However, when Abby visited Frank in the hospital a few weeks after he had started his residency there, everyone just assumed that they were together and that the kids she had brought with her were Franks.
In reality, Abby married to Frank's brother Bobby, and the children his, but Frank d a lot of babysitting since Bobby out of the state a lot. When Bobby is out of state for work again and Abby has a last-minute meeting at her company, she just brings the kids into the hospital, assuming they will be okay until Frank's shift ends. She didn't know, though, that Frank wasn't working that shift and runs into Mel when looking for her brother-in-law. Mel, obviously confused why Abby is here, starts panicking, thinking something is wrong, but then promises Abby to take care of the kids until her shift ends and she can take them home to Frank.
She doesn't want Frank's only break between two double shifts to be interrupted and thinks it won't be a problem as the kids are normally also fine to stay here. She didn't consider that it would look weird to everyone that now she was taking care of the kids who everyone considered to be Frank's. When Penny then calls her „Auntie Mel“, everyone starts wondering what is going on and a betting pool is opened.
„The logical conclusion would be that Mel and Langdon are related and are actually siblings." – Whitaker
"That's stupid. Obviously Mel is his mistress, and he just thinks it's hot to have his children call her Auntie so that when he divorces his wife, the children already see Mel as an adult they can trust and don't take it too hard. Ugh, men. “ - Santos
„What if Mel and Langdon are just really good friends and the kids just started to call her Auntie? “–Javadi
"What if the children are actually Mels, and she just told them to call her that here because she doesn't want anyone to find out that she and Langdon are dating?" -Mateo
Mel was meanwhile getting nervous under the stares and whispers of her coworkers. She didn't understand what was going on and was just waiting for her shift to end. Half an hour left on the clock, she got a call from Frank telling her that he didn't have to come into work, as he last-minute switched a shift with Cassie so she could attend Harrison's football game next week.
He also asked her if he should come pick her and the kids up, as he had just read the text from Abby explaining the situation. Of course, she declined but knew he would be there in half an hour waiting for her in the parking spot. In excitement to see Frank soon, she finished up all of her clients and got Tanner and Penny from the breakroom. On the way out she made sure to not run into any of her coworkers, as she knew they would ask questions that had been on their minds since the kids arrived here.
After they had gotten home and Tanner and Penny were asleep in their guestroom, which turned into more of a children's room now since they were the only ones who actually slept there, Mel tried to explain her weird day to Frank. Both of them were not able to make sense of their coworkers acting strangely, so they decided to ignore it.
The next time Frank was on shift, though, he happened to treat a mother who was making it very clear that she needed to go home to her three children, as she was worried about them being alone for a few hours. At some point she started accusing Frank of taking too long on purpose because he didn't trust mothers and probably didn't have children of his own, so he couldn't understand how she felt. Frank, trying to stay respectful, told her that he was just making sure that they were treating her correctly, and while he didn't have children of his own, he was going to make sure to get her home as soon as possible.
They discharged her thirty minutes later, and the woman apologised for being so cruel to him. Javadi, who was on this case with him, had listened to the conversation and immediately asked Frank about it in the hallway. If it weren't his own, whose kids was he always taking care of? Most of the staff was, of course, listening when he answered that the kids were his brothers and that Abby was just always bringing them here when he was out of town and she was busy. But how was Abby okay with always taking care of the children of someone else? And didn't the kids have a mother with how often they were here? Her questions were rude, but she asked what was on everyone's mind. It just confused Frank even more, though, because obviously the children had a mother. Their mother was Abby, his brother's wife. Javadis' eyes widened at that, and she tried to form a sentence but failed.
Santos now started joining the conversation, asking why he never explained that Abby and he weren't together, to which Frank just responded that he thought it was obvious since he and Mel were dating. This left everyone shocked except for Cassie since she was the only one who Frank had told that Mel and he had been together for a long time.
The next time Mel and Frank were on shift, all of their coworkers couldn't stop asking them questions about them dating, and they had to explain the situation multiple times to make sure everyone was now aware of what was going on. From that point on they were considered the ER couple and were constantly teased about their relationship, which made Mel uncomfortable at first, but after some time she got used to it. All in all, it turned out good for them since now Franks' and Santos' relationship started to get better, and they were now officially seen as inseparable, so no one even asked questions anymore when they were working on another case together.
