i love that we have no actual backstory for frank truman yet b/c i have a lot of Ideas for why he’s in twin peaks
i mean the one that i’m p sure is most fitting w/what we know of his backstory is to do w/his son’s death. that’s some Awful Shit, and like. i won’t get into the nitty-gritty of that b/c i don’t Want To and i’d go on about the different levels of guilt and grief w/that but
harry welcoming his brother and sister-in-law and letting them stay with him until they get things situated. being understanding and patient with doris’s angry outbursts, with frank’s sullenness
he gets norma and shelly to keep doris busy at the diner, every once in awhile. they talk with her (When she’s up for it--otherwise, they keep a conversation going between them and give her space to respond if she wants to) and sometimes they let her make dessert in the back
(doris makes a great butterscotch pie, and a lot of regulars are bummed that it’s only available sporadically. betty briggs, in particular, sighs theatrically when she shows up too late one evening and there’s none left)
and sometimes, doris and sarah palmer get together. those nights, harry generally has to drive to pick her up or she stumbles home early the next morning, hungover and with bags under her eyes but looking a little lighter.
frank--harry drags frank everywhere, basically.
because frank and doris aren’t doing too great when they’re around each other (putting blame in all the wrong places, they barely speak most days and when they do it’s more than a little harsh on both ends) and while doris has always been more social, has always been able to make friends and find support when she needs it since she can reach out for it, frank’s never been like that
frank’s always been stoic. he and harry aren’t the most verbose of people, but they’re /good/ people. they’re good at helping others, have always wanted to help others, and frank is decidedly Not Used To Needing Help
so harry drags him around and makes him feel useful, doesn’t let him be alone too long at all. he’s there and grasping frank’s shoulder firmly when things get overwhelming, is always conveniently available to work from home for the day when frank doesn’t want to get out of bed
(And the nights that are really bad, where frank is drinking and breaking things (never screaming, harry doesn’t think his brother’s ever raised his voice outside of his nephew’s funeral), harry just waits and listens and hugs him when he can get in close enough. in a tight hug, mimicking the one coop gave him all those years ago when josie was killed and he was spiraling--it’s a specific type of hug, where you engulf the person you’re comforting as fully as you can and try to block the world out for a few moments.
harry gets pretty good at it, in this phase of life. a few times, he tries to send a postcard to agent dale cooper to thank him for teaching him this skill. they never make it to him, but harry thinks coop knows anyway)
he’s /there/ for frank, which is more than frank can say for his wife, and it takes a few years before frank can look at where he’s at and really, really get it
he’s strangely, mysteriously back on twin peaks’ sheriff’s department’s payroll without him noticing, with somewhat of a social life back with the bookhouse boys, and apparently doris and harry had been looking at houses for them to move into so harry can have his place back
and he looks at harry (his little brother, his partner-in-crime for nearly two decades) sliding eggs onto his plate and has to take a minute to just. take it in.
“thank you, harry,” he says lowly, when they start to walk into the sheriff’s station. there’s more gray hair in harry’s mop than black, but he still has his signature mop. not like frank, who lost all of his hair in the first year of his grief. harry has more wrinkles around his eyes and the sides of his mouth than frank remembers--has it really been so long?
harry gives him a small smile and grabs his shoulder. “of course. just glad you’re back with us, brother.”
and of course there’s frank’s “big brother” instincts that attribute to him stepping up to cover for harry when he gets sick, that attribute to him calling him and checking in and backing off when it seems like he’ll add to harry’s stress, but. it’s also caring for his brother since he sorta dropped the ball on that for awhile
frank’s def visiting harry every few days, if not daily, and they must both be present enough in the community for lucy to expect everyone to know about the two sheriff trumans and to say which one they wanted to talk with
idk i love these brothers and i love harry taking a bit of a lesson from cooper, not on how to be a law enforcer but instead on how to be a better person. “give yourself a present every day” was a valuable lesson, but handling grief? cooper’s way of being kind to people? That was important too.
and i think harry says that to frank at some point, or talks about agent cooper and how harry still believes in him despite him disappearing, despite the strange rumors he’s heard about the man, and that might be what decides it for frank to help out when cooper comes a-knocking 25 years later.
