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The thing is, Frank has a shit ton of things to deal with.
Between rehab, coming back to work, Tanner and Penny struggling with losing their 24/7 access to their Daddy, NA meetings, Park coming back into his life, redoing his year, making friends with Mel, bills, therapy meetings, Abby and him slowly edging towards the last step of their long-time coming divorce, Ahmad and Crus becoming unexpected fixtures in his changing world…
That’s…
Well that’s a lot.
It would be a lot for anyone, but especially for someone like Frank, whose ADHD is firing on all cylinders and pulling him into dozens of directions all at once.
So yes, in all that mess, he and Duke miss one another that day, on the 4th of July.
Has he heard that some friend of Robby, a guy named Duke, was around the place? Yes, of course he has! But how many Duke is there in the goddamn state?
So they miss each other, and Robby leaves for his sabbatical and there is no reason for that Duke guy to come skulking around the ED. Then Robby comes back, still all sorts of fucked up, still an asshole to anyone showing a hint of failing his standards and Frank manages the rather impressive tightrope walking act of both learning not to give a lick of care about Robby’s comments and being aware enough to catch stumbling residents and med students before the idiot breaks someone (which is nothing to be proud of honestly, he is just in such a constant state of elevated stress even his body can’t process more!).
He floats through the days, half in a haze, half oversensitive (gotta love ADHD roller-coasters!), getting used to Robby’s eyes on him. Not certain he can interpret the feeling warring in them.
Then that Duke guy pays a second visit to his friend, arriving for handover, ready to take off with his old pal. Instead, he catches sight of Frank, and all hell breaks loose.
“Bite me” his flabbergasted voice resonates in the hub, not paying attention to Robby, whom he had just greeted, or Abbot, who is leaning onto the counter with the interest of someone who’s just sniffed a particularly succulent prey (truly, the man's instinct for #Drama is unparalleled!). “Am I dreaming? Is that Frankie Langdon?”
The emphasis on his name is what draws Frank’s attention toward the older man, eyes widening in recognition.
“Duke?”
He only has the time to put his tablet down before he is engulfed in a bear-hug, the like of which he has not experienced in a long time, knocking the wind out of him. Duke’s laugh booms in the ED as he swings him around.
“My God! Jailbait! It’s been so long! And look at you, a doctor! I knew you had it in you!”
Once his head has stopped spinning, and Duke has settled him back onto solid ground, a youthful laugh escapes the resident’s mouth, startling Robby and Dana. Abbot’s slight facial change is the only thing betraying how unexpected this is to him. For one moment, the Frank they thought they knew is replaced by a younger, more carefree version of himself. One they don't know what to make of.
Robby approaches the two men with measured steps, not completely able to believe the scene unfolding in front of him.
“You two know each other?”
His eyes dart from his friend to his student, his fallen star (the man who did what Robby could not) with the uncertainty of someone dreading what is going to come next. Duke disentangles himself from his resident to face him, still beaming.
“You bet! Gave that runaway quite a few rides, years ago. Kid turned hitchhiking away into a professional sport.”
Robby blinks, his world turning on its axis.
(He had never known Langdon had ran away from home.)
“You did a bit more than give me a few rides, Old Man” his resident quips, wagging his eyebrows suggestively and Duke’s mirth makes the attending sick!
“Yeah. You were quite the persistent little thing, Jailbait.”
Frank rolls his eyes, still smiling from ear to ear. Unaware, or uncaring, of Robby’s internal crisis and Dana’s shocked outrage. Of Abbot and Ellis’ nosy selves taking in everything they can, absolutely fascinated by that unpredictable turn of events. “I was legal by then. Don’t make it into something it wasn’t.”
The biker favors him with a terribly fond look. The kind that Robby had always stopped himself from ever showing.
A fire roars, deep and low in his guts at Duke’s hand, still resting on Frank’s hip as if it belongs there. As if he has the right to such casual proximity.
“That you were. And you certainly made me feel like I was 20 again, my beautiful mistake.”
Well fuck! Robby doesn’t think he has ever heard Duke speak like that to anyone in forever! So reverent in his love, so romantic in his care. Murmuring sweet nothings into Frank’s neck like he was still a besotted youngster.
The R4, on the other hand, isn’t fazed, despite the dusting of pink on his cheeks. He is quick to call the man out, trying - and failing - to keep his endearment to himself. “Your mid-life crisis, more like. You were already unmarried, and had the bike. What else were you left with if not taking a young thing to your bed?”
Robby chokes on his spit, turning purplier and purplier by the minute! This has to be the last way he would ever want to learn that one of his friends had a barely legal, still very much ethically borderline affair with his once best resident when said resident was - apparently - only just coming into adulthood!
Behind him Jack coughs, low in his throat like he is trying to clear it, making Ellis tap his back with enough concern for it to look genuine. A low, agonized sound comes out of Dana’s lungs, her knuckles turning white on the top of her station. And yet, the two exes don’t even realize the turmoil they’ve just caused, still too lost into each other to really pay attention to the rest of them.
Then Duke takes one of Frank’s hands in his, bringing rough knuckles to his lips in a kiss that has the resident smiling bashfully, very red in the face. “But I mean it, you know. You were the best mistake I ever made, Jailbait.”
And Frank looks at him with such love, such gratefulness and affection that Robby wonders why he ever thought keeping him at arms’ length was a good idea. Wonders if he could ever have been the recipient of that naked adoration, had he made himself available for it? A green-eyed monster hisses low in his throat, clawing its way to the top.
“And you were my knight in faded denim. I haven’t forgotten either, Old Man. All you did for me.”
Duke’s demeanor switches to a sadder one, knocking the wind out of the attending. Oy vey! What had transpired between them, for such feelings to still be there?! His old friend grasps the fingers still in his hold a little more tightly, his other palm coming to rest over them. He twitches, like he wants to reach out and do more. Cradle that jaw and caress the plush lips that seem to be asking for it.
“I only did what any decent person should have done, Frankie. The fact that you had never met any before is a fucking tragedy.”
There is an old hurt there. Something made of thorns and shattered edges.
A part of Frank Robby knows nothing about.
Then Shen comes crashing into the counter, too busy ogling the improbable couple standing in the middle of the place and the moment is broken!
Defenses slam back into place as Duke and Frank remember they are not on their own, the R4 hiding behind a wall of humour as he mocks the night shift attending who’s just splattered all his iced coffee on himself, getting a raised finger and curses in answer.
Duke is slower, still entranced by the vision he had not expected to be met with when he arrived that day. He comes back to Robby's side with a wistful sight, his gaze still riveted on a man he had clearly loved with everything he had. “Damn Mike! How could you hide him away from me?!” he teases his friend, unaware of the beast spitting and snarling within Robby's body, clawing under his ribs for a way out.
“Didn't know you like them this young.” He spits, vitriol coloring his words despite his best efforts to keep it in. Duke shoots him a stunned look.
“I like them smart and snarky. Something Frankie here has got in spades. And experimental, which he sure as hell was. Weren't you, Jailbait?!’ he calls out, dragging Frank's attention back to him once more, making Dana livid at the nickname. “I remember crop tops.”
Every available eye swivels to the resident, expecting a stuttering denial. Instead, Frank leans back onto the station counter, cocking one hip high enough to show just a sliver of belly and dipping his head to the side, dripping bravado and sex appeal.
“I remember you liking my crop tops” he simpers, not even trying to hide his flirting. “And my skirts.”
Somewhere in the hub, the beginning of a gagging sound is abruptly cut off, shock at the second information turning it into a strangled cough.
Shen looks about ready to have an aneurysm, whimpering repeatedly about “skirts”, his eyes glued to the R4’s exposed tummy like a parched man desperately wanting to drink from the spring of that happy trail. Ellis, on the other hand, is having way too much fun at the situation.
“Crop tops and skirts? Damn Langdon! I didn't know you had that kind of beast in you! Where were you when I needed a plus one in nightclubs?!”
Frank arches an eyebrow, replying with a deadpan expression. “Probably wrangling a two year old into respecting their bedtime. I don’t remember hearing something about you ever needing a plus one, anyway.”
“Yeah well I was clearly wrong. When’s your next free night? I want to see that in person!”
Frank just snorts, completely uninterested, moving to face her, the motion enough to let his top scrub settle downwards, covering his belly once more. Much to the chagrin of a night shifter or two. “No thanks, not my scene.”
A dramatic gasp answers him, the woman clearly intent on having her way. “How can you deprive me of such a view Langdon? Have you no heart?”
“Nope.” he agrees, lips popping at the emphasis on the last part of the word. “But I have socials. And I’m pretty sure I have a photo or two with me in skirts there. I am not depriving anyone of anything.”
Robby is a bit stunned Frank is mentioning his social medias. As far as he knows, the man has private accounts for friends and family, and if their coworkers are not already following him, there is very little chance he is going to accept their request now. The whole thing would look way too interested now. Too shallow. Some instinct tells him he is onto something with that train of thought. Something he should pay more attention to. But to be honest, Robby is too exposed, too raw, too close to exploding with jealousy and possessive entitlement to focus on that. All he wants is to get out, and get out now!
So he motions Dukes away, smothering the toxic resentment spreading through his veins at the way his old friend is still making moony eyes at Frank. Nevermind the desire to rip him away from his resident when the biker quickly scribbles his number on a piece of paper that he hands out to him, winking. “Call me, Jailbait. I’m not in my mid-life crisis era anymore.”
Frank looks him up and down in a move that has Ellis hooting and Jack looking like he wants to eat him, lips drawn into a smirk, irony written right up to the tilt of his head as he takes Duke’s appearance in. “Really?” sarcasm drips from his tongue like honey, making the man laugh once again while he walks backward to Robby.
“Hey! You know what? You ever feel like running away again, you know where to find me. I’ll show you some new stars.” And he waggles his eyebrows at Robby’s resident!
Frank only shakes his head downward in that sweet, boyish way of his, the one that has always been his best weapon against the older members of the ED. Even Perlah and Heather had not been immune to the child-like charm exuding from him every time he had done this. Robby would know! He’d heard them complain about this often enough.
Thankfully, Frank himself had never shown any hint he had recognized how much of a weapon of mass destruction this specific headshake was. Still, Robby decides to exit the place, taking Duke with him before he does anymore damage to them all. Dragging the man out as he salutes his R4 with way too much cheek and familiarity and exiting just in time to hear Dana exclaim “Dear God kid! I didn’t know you could flirt like that! You always said you were bad at it!”
He can perfectly picture Frank’s shrug, right up to the little meep he does with his mouth, supremely unbothered by what just happened. By what might just have turned everyone’s view of him on their axis. “I am. Bad at it, I mean. Duke’s easy. He is familiar. And I had time to learn what makes him go wild.”
And that’s the last thing Robby hears as he literally flees the place, pulling the biker away and doing his best to remember he does not, in fact, want to murder him.