Work Text:
Five times Frank wished Gerard couldn't read his mind
1. There was this guy. And nothing happened. It was just attraction, and okay, yeah, Frank would have done him in a heartbeat if he'd been single, but he wasn't. It wasn't even that much of a temptation. He knows Gerard saw it in his head, but he’s never said anything, so Frank doesn't even have a reason to defend himself.
2. The time Frank had to lie to Gerard – under orders – about why they’d put Ryan on a high-profile case involving suspected child abuse, and Gerard had just turned around and walked out.
3. The day like so many others that something small had happened, Frank doesn’t even remember what it was now, and Frank had thought, “I wish he was normal,” and Gerard had gone as white as if Frank had just slapped him in the face. It hadn’t really been a surprise the next week when Gerard said, carefully neutral, “I don’t think this is good for us.”
4. The year Frank convinced Mikey they could pull off throwing a surprise party for Gerard, even though Mikey said it would never work. They’d gotten all the way up to the night before, and then Frank had slipped up and thought about it and Gerard’s face had gotten all excited and then guilty. Frank had sworn him to absolute secrecy, but Gerard is the worst actor in the world, so they’d all yelled “Surprise!” and Gerard had gasped and feigned shock and Mikey had just looked at Frank and sighed.
5. The day one of Gerard's kids ended up in the middle of a hostage situation and got shoved off the roof of a fourteen-storey building. Frank wouldn't let Gerard near the actual crime scene, but he'd looked into Frank's eyes and seen the whole thing, the shocked horror in Brent's eyes and the sick wet thud when he hit the pavement. Frank understood that Gerard wanted to know what had happened, but he would have given anything at that moment to keep him from seeing it.
five times he was really glad he could
1. The time Frank was browsing for Christmas presents online and nearly bought Gerard the $1200 store-credit-refundable-only virtual reality game system he’d been lusting after, and Gerard had said absently, “Mikey already bought it for me,” and promptly looked so horrified that Frank had to climb over the desk and kiss him.
2. The day they had a huge fight about work, and Frank said, “I wish you would stay out there long enough to get hurt, just once, so you know what it’s actually like for the rest of us,” and then been so shocked at himself that he’d nearly bitten his tongue off saying, “I didn’t mean that, I didn’t,” and Gerard had believed him.
3. Every single time Gerard goes down on him, because Jesus Christ.
4. The time after Spencer almost got shot and three other people did, when Frank took Gerard’s entire department out to get shitfaced, and the next morning they were all hungover as hell and slinking around looking guilty and wincing at loud noises. Frank hadn’t wanted to say anything, but Gerard had just sighed and said, “I’ll go easy on them.”
5. The night Frank stays over and can’t fall asleep, even with Gerard nestled sweaty and sticky against his side, because he’s trying to work up the nerve to say ‘I love you.’ The sun’s rising when Gerard stirs, and the words are still stuck in his throat, but Gerard just rests his hand on Frank’s chest, over his heart, and whispers sleepily, “I know.”