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Langdon had finally asked Mel out on a date. He finally got the courage while walking her to one of her classes last week. Even though he almost choked the moment Mel's hazel eyes landed on him.
For the date, he planned to have something from a nice coffee shop near his dorm and go shopping at Walmart or a Target afterward. Then they would watch a romantic or nerdy movie that could, hopefully, end with them cuddling and/or kissing for the first time. He had everything planned out in his mind.
In his routine doomscrolling sessions, he kept coming across those fidget toy hauls. He found some enjoyment in them. It was entertaining and somewhat addicting. In one of them, he saw a girl showing a lava lamp squishy. God, that was just perfect for Mel. She’ll love it…he had to get it. But instead of just going and buying it for her as a surprise, why not try to make a date out of it?
Hard on try though, because he isn't sure if Mel really took it as a date date. With romantic intentions. More than friends. She tended to be unaware of his flirting, answering too literally or casually. But at the same time, he has all his friends teasing him about how they are so obliviously and stupidly in love with each other. How everyone knows it except for them. That’s the only thing that encourages Frank to keep trying.
Samira, a mutual friend of theirs, told him not to hint and to just do it. Mel doesn’t read between the lines (as if he didn’t already know that), so he needed to be direct. Which gave him some extra anxiety for today, just what he needed.
He really hopes to make a proper move today, or he's sure he'll die.
Mel was really excited for the date. She had been texting him about it all week. Asking what to wear and checking the time a million times. And when they meet, she almost hugs him (and he almost has a heart attack).
He was standing outside her porch when she came out, still saying her goodbyes to her mom. Once the door closes behind her, so Becca wouldn't try to spy on them, she looks at him with the biggest, brightest smile plastered on her face. Frank thought how he has never seen her glowing this much; she looked like a literal ray of sunshine. Matching with her yellow sweater. And her pastel yellow shoes with lilac shoelaces. Lilac like the hair tie at the end of her perfectly loose braid. Damn, she's so pretty.
"Hey, y-you look.." Langdon mumbles quietly, trying to not sound like a loser (what a challenge). Mel interrupts him by reaching for a hug, but ends up gripping his arm at the last second instead. Shaking it eagerly and squeezing his bicep. Frank's face goes completely pink as he looks down at her.
"I'm so excited for today, yayy!" She exclaims, bouncing in place, making him smile like a complete idiot. His free hand rests on her shoulder, near where her braid falls. Could he be deserving of calling this literal sunshine his girlfriend someday?
"I'm excited too. I- I planned a really nice day for us."
"Really? What did you plan? If— only if you want to tell me, of course. Even if I don't do well with surprises, I'm okay with you giving me a surprise. But I'll enjoy the day more if I know beforehand what we're gonna do."
"Ah, okay. Uhm… I thought about going to a coffee shop. Stay only if you want to…if not, we can take our drinks to my car. And then go hang out at Walmart or something like that." They walk over to Langdon's car, his 18th birthday gift from his parents, a dark blue Toyota Corolla. He opens the passenger door for her, sharing a shy smile that makes him feel like he’s doing pretty good already.
Then, he quickly climbs into the driver’s seat. "There's a few things I wanna check with you there. And I know you like to browse. Then maybe you can come to my place and watch a movie. If you want to. If it's not too late."
"It's perfect. I love it. But uhm, I don't really like coffee. But we can still go! I'll just-"
"No— yeah, I know. There's boba there too. I checked." The engine starts, and he drives them off from the Kings’ driveway.
Mel smiles adorably, tilting her head to one side while looking at him with that unique spark in her eyes, the one she gets only when she's delighted and amazed about something. Like that one time Langdon waited for her with creamy mac and cheese sitting on the small table of his dorm after she got out of a painful mid-term. Or how he remembered it wasn’t just her birthday, but also Becca’s. So he gave her sister flowers even though they just had one small, very uncomfortable conversation until that point.
He always knew how to get that smile to show. And to make her feel known. That feeling when someone knows you and cares about letting you know that they know. That they care. "How do you know I like boba?"
Langdon wets his lips and hesitates to say something, averting his gaze elsewhere. Mel notices his cheeks look redder than usual, but maybe it's a superficial sunburn. He never puts on sunscreen after all. "I overheard one time you… said it. You told someone and I uh- rememb— anyway! How are you? All good? How’s Becca?" He stops himself before confessing something embarrassing.
Like the fact that he remembers every food she loves, and the ones she hates. He knows how she likes her pasta, how she prefers to eat out of tupperware or bento boxes rather than plates, how she likes her main and sides to not touch each other on her plate. Her pickiness and habits. He remembers everything about her, not only food.
They get to the coffee shop, which is understandably busy since it has become a pretty popular spot for students to do some work, study, or have a break. All the tables are either taken or have used mugs and plates on top from the last customers. But most of the people there are ordering to go. There's a big, messy line, people pacing around to find their friends or looking for a place to sit. It's crowded, but not enough to leave.
Once they’re in line, someone nudges Langdon's shoulder as they walk by. He doesn't mind at all, but he knows Mel would. He knows the brushing touch, especially on her back, overwhelms her. So he makes sure no one touches her by keeping an arm around her without actually touching, acting as a protective barrier. He's very careful with her, making sure no one pushes or bumps into her. But not saying anything about it, so she doesn't feel bad.
Mel orders a honeydew milk tea, Langdon has no idea what that is, but he doesn't care since she's happy. He orders a white mocha and a few cake pops since he suspects Mel likes them. If not, he has no problem downing them all on his own. While they are waiting for their order, Mel steps closer and closer to Frank's side as she talks about the different flavors and kinds of boba. The ones she has tried, the ones she would like to try in the future. And in his mind, he takes note of it. While still keeping an arm ghosting her waist.
They get back to his car to have their drinks and eat some cake pops, which makes Mel squeal happily and squeeze his bicep in excitement once again when he lets her pick first. Frank mentally thanks his friends at the gym for making him do extra reps last arm day. He worked hard for those muscles, but he's more than happy for them to become Mel's personal stress ball.
A comfortable silence settles between them as they enjoy their respective drinks. Mel crosses her legs and sits facing towards the driver’s seat. He pretends his eyes don't drift to her from time to time, thinking how beautiful she looks at this moment. How he's really here, on a "first" date with his friend, who he has had the biggest crush on ever since they started talking.
Frank didn’t befriend Mel just because he liked her, and figured that by getting close, he would have a chance with her/show how cool he could be, and win her over. No, he wasn’t like that at all. He didn’t even realize he was into Mel until Garcia, his best friend, called him out on it. Teasing him about how he followed her around like a dog and gave her full princess treatment with no reason. And how he talked about her like she hung the goddamn moon. Bringing her up under any stupid circumstance. There, he realized he was in love. He had always been.
Ever since he first talked to her at a friend’s house party, or when he started noticing her in the library and bringing an extra coffee for her (that he later replaced with tea when he learned she can’t stand coffee and was too shy to tell him). Or probably when he let her nap between classes on his bed since his dorm was closer than her house, or how he drove her around so she doesn't have to take the bus or wait until her dad gets out of work to pick her up. Or how he stopped being interested in going out. And if he went, he paid no attention to other girls. Even if they were his type. He was already taken in his mind.
Or more like, his mind was already taken. By Mel.
"Do you wanna try it? It's soo good." Mel offers the green creamy drink to him. It takes Langdon by surprise since Mel isn't one to share food, even less utensils, even less a straw. Oh, is he supposed to drink from the same straw? Oh god.
"Yeah? I dunno. You sure?" He shifts his own cup between his hands, lowering it near his lap, trying to not seem too nervous about the idea of sharing a drink. But she nods casually, even slightly eager.
"It's okay if you don't like it, just don't spit it back. T-that wouldn't be cool." She fixes the straw as she leans over the car’s console, attempting to joke awkwardly. Then moves the cup closer, holding it up for him to drink.
"Heh, yeah. No promises," he jokes with a shier tone and hesitantly wraps his lips almost carefully on the tip of the straw, thinking how Mel's lips were just there. He tries to brush off his thoughts and presses his lips tighter, having a sip. And he starts to feel dizzy.
She will be drinking back from this same straw in a second. They're really sharing a drink.
This is better than any possible scenario he had dreamed of about this date. Frank was so absorbed in his thoughts about having a miserable sip from Mel's drink that he didn't even register the flavor.
"So?" The blonde asks expectantly, retrieving the cup slowly. Which makes him finally snap out of his thoughts and look at the drink a little dazed.
It's impossible to look her in the eyes now, after sharing a drink. And even more when he knows the exact adorable look she has on her face. Sparkling, curious eyes. Her lips parted, showing some of her frontal teeth.
One time, someone mentioned she looks like a bunny like that, and he almost giggled out loud at how accurate that is.
"Yeah, I uh… I didn't taste much. Maybe it's not for me."
"Have another sip, here." Mel hands him the boba this time instead of holding it herself. Which makes it easier for Langdon to not spiral like a schoolgirl. This time, he focuses on taking a proper sip of the drink. Like a normal person. He hums as the liquid goes down his throat. Sweet, creamy, citrusy. He nods and smiles at her.
"That's real’ nice. I might steal it."
That makes Mel let out a soft laugh and smile. Sharing interests or things she likes with someone important to her, makes her happier. He knows. The boba gets back to its original owner.
She leans back on the passenger seat, resting one of her knees against the console of the car to be closer. At the same time, he lets his arm rest on top of the console, making it brush against her thigh. He flinches away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but she doesn't seem to notice. Or if she did, it didn't seem like she was bothered by it.
"You can ask if you want more. I don't mind." Her shoulders shrug as she takes another sip. Scrolling through her phone connected to the car to play some music.
Langdon looks over at her leg and then his hand, twitching. His hand moves closer and closer until his little finger brushes her leg. It sends a trail of adrenaline through him.
The thought of placing his hand on her thigh nagging the back of his mind. How would it feel? Would she like it? She often places things on her lap, she likes the pressure there. She even looks for it by crossing her legs every time she sits down. So that could be a good first move. Smooth, cliché, sort of comforting.
But Mel doesn't deserve the usual treatment of a stupid romcom. She's special. She deserves so much more. He clears his voice, looking away to grab his own drink and mumbles quietly. "It's okay, Mellie. Thanks"
After parking, they walk up to the store at a slow pace. Their hands brushing or bumping against each other all the time. Making both of them blush or apologize shyly. Which turns into half shoves on each other’s arms. Sharing snickers and playful glances. But their bubble pops the moment they step inside.
There's someone arguing with an employee at the front of the store. Out of impulse, Frank shields her from it, stepping between the altercation and the blonde. As if he was the knight in shining armor of a princess in danger. He has no clue why, and a moment later he realizes how stupid he is. No one will come for them. But he still wants to protect her. He gestures for her to follow him, walking a few steps away from it, so at least the trouble isn’t at her sight.
They slow down as Langdon tries to figure out where the toy aisle is, so they can get there as soon as possible instead of just wandering around. Thinking that going straight to the fidget toys and plushies would make Mel forget this will put her in a better mood. He knows how upsetting people yelling is for her. A lot of sudden loud noises disturb her, but a discussion is always the worst.
Not even standing there for a second, he feels slender arms wrapping around his arm. Mel silently, and a little hesitantly, clings to him. Langdon looks down, trying to ignore his screaming heart having a breakdown inside of him. He notices her soft frown and how her expression flinches when there's a louder sound (someone throwing a basket to the floor, or something like that. He doesn't take his eyes off of Mel for even a second).
"Come here," Langdon whispers with that gentle tone he reserves for moments like this, and for her only. His wrist twists slowly to find Mel's hand and get a hold of it, then guides her into the store, away from the altercation.
Luckily, the rest of the store seemed pretty empty and peaceful. Langdon finds the toy and toy-related section and pulls her there. Mel stays quiet for a while, not letting go of his hand. He can't help but to overthink. Maybe she got too overwhelmed, or stressed. Or even overstimulated and she might be going mute for a while.
She isn't one to go non-verbal at all. Mel never lets herself reach that point of overstimulation or frustration. She learned when to step away, when to take a break, and how to stabilize herself. Except that one time Frank was there to experience it.
She had been focusing on finishing and perfecting an essay for two weeks straight. That means no eating, the messiest sleeping schedule, pulling all nighters, no fun, no breaks. Just attending obligatory lectures and going back to the library or her room to work on her essay.
When she presented it to her professor in an instance before grading, he made her fully re-do it. Saying she didn’t make any sense, sounded too robotic and cited her sources wrong (Even if she followed the instructions word for word). Langdon spent the whole day with her in her room in complete silence.
The silence was so tense and depressing. She didn't talk to him at all but reached to hold his hands from time to time. That was the only thing that kept him from spiraling and thinking he was making everything worse. But she seemed to have wanted him there.
Now, thanks to his mind being a mess, he barely appreciates how Mel keeps holding his hand, rubbing her thumb against his longer fingers. Frank just follows her to wherever she tugs his arm to and stands there debating if he should say something.
"You know, we can just go to my place instead. Or go back to your house. We don't have to be here. It's okay" He breaks the silence between them, nervous, wavering.
Mel looks up at him taken aback and somewhat disappointed that he suggested leaving so early. "I know. But I wanna be here with you."
That made the butterflies in his stomach make a big comeback. Along with a stupid grin he tries really hard to contain, and fails. "Yeah?" Langdon looks down at her, his heart melting at how she nods like that, and the way she starts to gradually bounce on her feet as she talks.
"Yeah. I wanna show you the new LPS series. Move." And she tugs his arm again to other aisle.
He smiles to ceiling like he just won the fucking lottery. Because, what better prize than to listen to Mel rant about one of her interests? God, he could hear her happy voice for hours.
Once they reach a shelf filled with the tiny toy animals with bobble heads and funky colors, Mel squeals in excitement. Her hands flapped in the air as she explained to Langdon how those used to be her favorite thing growing up. Her stimming like that is a rare occurrence, it made him chuckle, completely amazed.
Mel keeps on going about how her collection started and how she stopped a long time ago once the molds changed too much and the essence was lost. But now the old molds came back. Everything was much more colorful than her favorite generation (gen 2) but she still wanted to get some.
He just nods along and listens, feeling a little lost because, what the hell does she mean about mold? But when the blonde pulls out her phone and starts to show him pictures about the previous generations, even the ugly ones, he gets it.
Every time she rants about something, whether it’s how her research project is going, the last time she hung out with Becca, her current hyperfixation or really anything, he needs to get it. Initially most of the time, he logically doesn’t. He listens, asks and learns. He loves to learn from her. Even about how plastic bobble head dogs turned into ugly beasts. He loves learning her.
"Yeah, those are funny looking." That earns a giggle from Mel. Frank's sky blue eyes look down at her almost in awe. Completely smitten for that squeaky, awkward laugh she has. He steps closer, her shoulder brushing against his chest. So he presses his chest further against her body so that they fully touch. Remembering she doesn't like brushing against someone, steady contact is safe. He didn’t catch it but Mel leaned back too, humming quietly in comfort.
"This is straight up ugly as hell. Look at his little face!" He jokes pointing at her phone, showing a gen 4... thing. It doesn't even look like an animal.
A proper loud laugh comes out of her, bumping briefly her forehead against his chest. Which made Frank's lungs empty out for the brief instant of the contact. He can’t even hide it, he’s a sucker for her contact. Too busy smiling like an idiot he almost didn’t catch her question "Can you guess the animal?"
"That's an animal?!" He exclaims dramatically, gaining a shove on his chest but also more closeness. A win-win in his book.
"Supposedly, this is a pig"
"No wayy. A fugly one, that's for sure" A chuckle comes out as he grabs Mel's phone, but not from her. He keeps his hand on top of hers, letting their hands touch, pretending to have a closer look at the phone. Even if deeply inside him, he doesn’t give a single fuck about having a better look at that thing. Matter of fact, he would rather never see that for the rest of his life. But the touch, the closeness is electrifying. He feels so giddy and dizzy.
Langdon has to swallow thickly (luckily he didn’t make a sound), before he pulls away. The same hand moves to fix his hair, brushing it back with his fingers while looking away. He can feel a pang of anxiety and worry attack the fluttering in his chest. What if he's making her uncomfortable? What if she’s seeing this as another friendly hang out they always do?
"I uhm.. well these ones are much cuter for sure. You want some right?" He vaguely points at the shelves, needing to think about something else.
"Yeah! But the ones I want are in blind boxes and I have to check the code because if the code starts with certain letters, I have one guide. If it starts with numbers, I have another. Because people already cracked it all. I saved it along with the list of each series, circling the ones I want, color coding it by preference...”
Frank nods with wide eyes, impressed, confused and endeared by how prepared she is for these toys. He catches half of it. But remembers he has her phone in the back pocket of his jeans, because she has zero pockets in her sunshine of an outfit. So he stops her with a smile, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Mellie, Mel. Go grab a basket and we'll look for the ones you want. I'll keep an eye on them so they don't run away"
That seemed to convince her because she sprinted to the entrance to do exactly as she was told without questioning. A small, fond smile grows on his face, looking at her leave his side. Now he has some time for himself. To get his shit together, get back to the plan, be a gentleman to Mel and make this date a success. Because if he doesn't jump off a cliff after failure, probably all their friends in common would give him a hand on that.
Langdon sighs, kneeling on the ground and pulling Mel’s phone out. He feels guilty to go through it without her permission but.. she did tell him about a month ago to use it like it was his. She didn’t take that back yet so it was an open clause. He groans like an old man as he shifts his legs to fully sit down, leaving Mel’s purple iphone on his thigh. His right hand gently plays with the small acrylic boba charm hanging from her case as he scrolls through her phone.
"Okay, lets crack these bad boys up" He mumbles to himself in encouragement, pulling one of the boxes to start checking every single blindbox for the matching codes as quickly as he can.
Somehow, he gets enough time to grab all of the ones she circled on her list and color coded it as: “It’s a need”. And one from “love it!”. He feels like the Pittsburgh Penguins won a match. But it would surely feel even better when he gets to see the smile on her face.
There’s some messy steps coming down the hall. When Langdon looks up, he sees Mel there, holding a basket with two red bulls inside, his favorite drink that she cannot stand. While he gets up a little clumsily, almost dropping one of the LPS blind boxes he holds in his arms. Both of their faces light up at the realization of what the other picked up.
The wedding bells in Frank’s mind get interrupted by his beloved. "You started looking already?"
"No- well, yes. But I already got it all. All the ones you wanted, needed. The uh bunny, the wolf, the cow, the bird and a… horse- deer?." He enlists, stumbling over his words as he tries to remember what animal was inside the small blue boxes he picked up. Carefully dumping them in the basket one by one. He scratches his face trying to remember if he forgot something. "I got the other dogs in sight if you want them too. Haven't checked the series 3 or the bags ye-“
Suddenly Mel is hugging him. Fully hugging him. Her smaller frame pressed against his pounding chest, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, barely rocking them. He chokes on absolutely nothing, not even air because he feels he can’t breathe. His shoulders tense as he rests a hand on the small of her back, the only thing he can make his malfunctioning brain do.
"You're the best! You really didn't have to. I could’ve done it myself. Thanks" As she pulls away, Langdon steps closer, looking for her smaller arms pathetically, not wanting the hug to end. But when he comes to his senses, he steps away anyway, his cheeks completely flushed.
They keep walking around the toy section, checking out every little thing. They pick up a few more mystery boxes Frank insists to buy for her along with any fidget toy that catches their eye. She tried to argue, but he kept telling her she deserved it. Telling her she needs a reward for how hard she studies. He could swear he saw her cheeks get pinker, but he saved that thought for himself.
Mel got a hold of his hand while he was talking about the fidget toy hauls he watches. She slyly hooked her finger with one of his, then slowly got her hand closer. Until their fingers were intertwined. Langdon started stumbling on his words and giggling at nothing thanks to it. His mind repeats over and over “you’re holding her hand, you’re holding her hand, you’re holding her hand”.
They find a shelf filled with squishies. Most of them are recognized by Frank thanks to his squishy haul obsession. They pick up the bigger ones to try. He grabs a cheese, trying to squeeze it through the annoying plastic box while Mel picks up a large banana. Her eyebrows lifted over the frame of her glasses while testing the consistency and feeling of it.
And Frank has no idea what got to him but he jokes "I don't really like the shape of it. Hits too close to home"
He looks at her with a stupid smirk waiting for her to get the joke. But she just blinks at him with a blank expression. One of her eyebrows is curling up. "Referring to my… It's a joke, a dick joke- Oh god. Sorry." He regrets it the moment he says it out loud. Why did that sound funny in his head?! "I-I'm sorry. That was so inappropriate and stupid. I don't even make those jokes. I’m just trying to be cool. Clearly did the opposite"
"That was a really bad joke.” Mel admits bluntly, which makes him physically flinch, feeling miserable. But she keeps going.
“I didn’t realize you were joking and I thought you were just outing the look of your penis. I thought ookay, weird flex.” She jokes back with a flat tone, but her crooked smile says it all. “Couldn’t have picked a better place to describe my private parts to my date”
Her mocking tone and bold words makes Frank's face turn crimson. He laughs nervously despite his huge shame because she is funny. She's still funny when she's embarrassing him like this, in the middle of a store, on their first date. But that is pretty much their relationship all the time.
"Melissa! God!" He protests weakly, a bit whiny too. Throwing a banana at her while she breaks out laughing radiantly. Mel hits him with the banana squishy she already got in hand. Which actually hurt a little (Mel has far more strength than anyone could’ve guess). But he’s relieved and completely mesmerized by her.
After having some fun by hitting each other with big squishies and laughing like kids, they put everything back in place.
He takes the first banana Mel picked up in his hands the moment she puts it back. "I guess we can buy it if you like it that much." He squeezes it a little and throws it in the basket without a thought.
"We?" Mel blinks up at him, confused.
"Well I. I'll buy it for you," Langdon carefully takes the basket from her so she doesn’t have to carry it with the new added weight.
"But- you don't have to. I'll b-"
"I know, I want to." He interrupts her before Mel could protest any further. "Let's go check those"
The poor, oblivious Frank, too stuck in his own thoughts to notice his surroundings, didn’t notice how Mel looked at him like he was her charming prince when he confessed so casually he was buying all that for her. Her cheeks turn pink under her big glasses and she tugs her hands together to self regulate. Not from bad feelings this time, but too many good ones. She glances at his free hand, swaying so close to her side as they walk.
"Can we hold hands again?"
"Yes Mellie, of course. Don't ask, just grab"
“Hehe yay” She mumbles more to herself and grabs his hand. Wrapping her free arm around his which was oh, so necessary. Of course.
They end up buying some cheese strings, animal crackers (Mel’s favorite) and even more red bull for Langdon to stock his mini fridge. This time a few red ones and some pink ones. Which Mel promised to try a sip from even if that one time she tried a redbull, nothing could take the grimace out of her face and the gasoline taste off her tongue.
After checking out, they realized they spent more time shopping than they imagined. The sun was setting, casting long shadows over the asphalt of the parking lot while they made their way back to Langdon’s car. They felt notoriously more comfortable now. Holding hands, hitting each other with their plastic bags and anything made them smile.
Since it was late, and Langdon didn’t want to leave a bad impression on Mel’s parents by getting her back home so late, they ditched the idea of watching a movie and just stayed in his car, driving around.
The car blasted Megan Thee Stallion (Mel’s playlist, clearly) as they drove around town. And honestly, Frank found himself singing along from time to time. It felt thrilling, almost freeing. He doesn’t listen to anything outside his selection of old rock bands and a few pessimistic songs he has to match his mood and make it worse. So this high energy, unapologetic confident music was more than new to him. It was refreshing.
Watching Mel sing along, loud and playful, including him by constantly pointing at him, shaking his arm to empathize a lyric or encouraging to sing along… It was a show that warmed his already devoted heart and made his flushed cheeks blush to a deeper red. But also made him realize, he still has a lot to learn from Mel. Maybe instead of admiring her from afar and gushing over her like a puppy, he could be more like her. Try to tag along her interests and hobbies. Maybe she can teach him how to be as confident and cool.
As they sing and drive, joking around and having fun, Langdon asks for a cheese string. She’s about to hand it to him but peels it too without thinking twice. The night lights made his crooked smile shine.
“Are you going to feed me it too?” He teases with a chuckle, but she looks at him over the dark frame of her glasses with a growing smirk.
Mel is about to hand it to him but snatches her hand back with a laugh. Langdon bites his lower lip, trying to keep his eyes on the road even if he would kill to watch her right now. How she laughs each time she pretends to give the cheese string to him and then pulls away.
“Mel, you’re starving me. I’ll drive us off a cliff if you don’t feed me” He jokes dramatically. He hears her giggle and shift, crossing her legs on the seat for what his peripheral view catches. Then she actually feeds him the fucking cheese string, her thumb brushing against his dimpled chin. And he tries his best to keep the banter going even if a big part of his brain had died.
She still plays with him, making him give empty bites to the air. He pretends to get fed up and grabs Mel’s wrist so he can have a proper bite, making her laugh. His blue eyes glance at her and he could’ve crashed the car if he was just a little weaker. Because she was resting her temple against the backrest, looking at him with an amused grin and slightly pink cheeks. He wishes he had a photographic memory but maybe his brain will save the memory of this day in a safe space.
Langdon tugs her small hand closer and pretends to take a bite out of it, making her gasp and then snicker. He giggles along, pretending to take a few bites of her hand, acting like he can’t find the cheese. Mel squeals and squirms on her seat while laughing. Her free hand comes up to push Langdon’s head away playfully.
“Oof, don't attack your driver! You’ll see” He threatens, playing to be offended. Then he nibbles one of her fingers, he guesses it’s the index but he doesn’t even bother to check. She lets out a squeaky laugh, her face never got this pink before.
He takes the cheese string from Mel’s hand with his teeth to intertwine their fingers together, rubbing his big thumb against the soft back of her hand. The car falls into a comfortable silence, only interrupted by a female pop singer Frank has no idea of.
But not too long after, he tugs their hands to his face again. He has pulled the wrapper of the cheese string he devoured just now with his other hand. Then pressed a kiss on Mel’s knuckles, very faint and quick. Shy, testing. He doesn’t turn to look, but he can see how she melts into her seat with a quick, sweet smile. Mel gently tugs their hands to her lap, bringing her free hand to trap his.
And when Langdon feels her play with his fingers, he doesn’t try to contain or hide his smile anymore.
The car parks on the same street as the Kings’ house, but a few houses over to have some privacy. They decide to make a haul of everything they got before Mel goes back home. They picked the fidgets first, Mel looked so happy about it and kept thanking Frank over and over even if he told her it was fine.
Then they moved to the blind boxes they got. Starting with the one bigger box of supposedly a small plushie that got Mel so excited about.
“You know what?! We should record it. And we can do that where we say ‘I’m your mom, and I think you’re gonna be this one.’ I never got to do one. Looks fun.”
Langdon is captivated by her smile, and doesn't even get what she’s talking about. “Yeah, sure. Sounds great.” and doesn’t know what he’s agreeing to either.
He records Mel with her phone, grinning widely behind it, watching her expressions through the screen. He’ll definitely ask for this video later, would that be weird? Just to see how it turned out, not to stare at her smile and giggle in bed, god no…
“Okay, I’m your mom” King starts fixing her glasses as she stares down at the options on the side of the box. “and I think you’re going to be… this one, the pink bear”
“That’s good” Langdon hands her phone back and grabs another stringcheese from their bag. But she snaps it out of his hand and gives him the box, starting to record him. He raises his hands confused, glancing at the colorful box and at the blonde. “What? What do I do?”
“It’s your turn. Which one do you think it’s going to be?”
“Oh! uhmm..” He stares at the box for a moment then points and shows a green.. dinosaur? “This one”
“And who are you?” Mel asks hushedly behind the camera
“Uh… Frank?”
She can’t help but laugh and shake her head. “To the kid! Who are you?”
“Ah! The uh- uncle?” He laughs, trying to peek at how Mel’s eyes shine.
“Noo, come on! You’re the dad, you bought them”
Langdon blushes and nods. God this is so silly but he can’t help to get frustrated from the idea of having a kid, even a plush, with Mel. “Yeah, okay. I’m the dad.”
Then Langdon records Mel back as she opens the box, and it’s a dumb looking duck with tears under its eyes. Kind of cute though. She giggles and shows it to him, joking that “Our baby looks just like you.”
“Your baby. I’m just paying childcare” Frank stops recording to reach and touch the extremely soft plushie.
“Noo, we’re a happy family, come on”
That makes Langdon even more nervous. God, it’s just a game.
Mel insists on opening the LPS boxes together since he picked them. Langdon picks the bag and shakes it so everything is mixed up while joking "they're gonna be so dizzy. Please don't throw up!”, making Mel laugh
They grab one each and open them. Mel does first since she isn’t taken aback by the amount of tape.
“Oh, I got the owl!! I love her” She exclaims excitedly, showing the pet to him and then looking at it in detail while she bounces in place slowly, not being able to contain the excitement.
“It’s cute” He nods with a smile, struggling to break the box apart. He refrains himself from following his words with a “but you’re cuter”, making himself cringe at that.
“What did you got?” Mel shifts in her seat, looking over at his hands. He unwraps the white paper, revealing a bunny.
“Aww, I like it!” Frank says genuinely, looking over at Mel. Seeing her beautiful bunny smile, fidgeting with the small owl between her hands, looking at him so… deeply and filled with joy. “It kinda looks like you”
“What?” She mumbles taken aback.
“In the best way possible. Because you’re cute, and you like lilac, and the bunny is cute and lilac. It’s like you.” He tries to explain sheepishly, not mentioning her beautiful bunny smile. That’s going too far.
“Th-thanks.” Mel chuckles, ducking her head.
They open the rest of the boxes, she loves every single one of them. Mel pulls a wolf or dog, whatever. It’s cute though and she looks excited about it.
The blonde giggles nervously before looking at him and showing off the tiny wolf. “And this is totally you.”
“What why?” Langdon has a huge stupid grin on his face as he touches the small plastic toy, an excuse to brush her hand.
“Because he has blue eyes, brown fur and you kinda look like a husky. So this is your canonic lps variant”
How his heart sped up so much it started pounding against his chest by just hearing her compare him to a toy? He has no idea. But he makes his best effort to keep going, keep playing around and make her laugh. Hopefully she would keep failing to realize how nervous and giddy he has constantly been.
“Okay. Let’s make us hang out then” Frank picks the bunny lps from his lap and shows it to her.
They pretend to play with them. Langdon makes a high pitched voice when playing as the bunny, Mel laughs and keeps playing with him as the husky. Making fun of each other softly, making their lps wander around the car and interact.
Out of nowhere, Mel makes them kiss, bumping the two plastic snouts and making a tiny smooch sound. Staring up at Langdon with a tight smile.
His jaw falls slightly open, he tries to let out a weak chuckle that sounds almost strained into the deafening silence that fell on the car. He tries to convince himself that it must be a joke, part of the banter or-
“I’m flirting with you.” Mel interrupts his thoughts bluntly. Langdon coughs surprised and shifts on his seat.
“What- you what? Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Why would I make our lps variants kiss?” Mel says it like it’s obvious, fidgeting with the husky between her shaky fingers nervously.
“I dunno I thought you were being cute” He sighs with an awkward laugh, sliding down his seat.
“Am I not always cute?” She frowns looking at him, and Langdon takes it seriously.
He nods immediately “Yeah, yes. You're adorable, Mellie”. But after taking a closer look at her, he realizes she was just joking and looks away ashamed. “You were joking, heh. Sorry”
An uncomfortable silence fills the car, where even the slightest rustling of clothes or brush with the bag feels way too loud and almost obscene. Langdon feels like a loser. Why is he freezing up now that Mel gave him an opening? But he genuinely can’t- he doesn’t know how. Is he supposed to just kiss her because of that? Is that too much? Or is he supposed to flirt back?… But with what? Frank can’t flirt for the fucking life of him.
So he decides to just wait. For a signal, for a cue, for a divine intervention or for Mel to be the first one to make a move now. Or to at least break the silence.
And eventually, she does. “I mean… you were flirting with me, right? Earlier?” joined by a nervous laugh so her comment wasn't as awkward. Langdon frowns, thinking for a moment. All the times he wanted to take a step, make a move and didn't. He avoided touching her waist at the coffee shop, didn’t grab her leg at the car earlier, gave her space when he felt she needed it and avoided telling her how pretty she was, scared to make her uncomfortable. How did he flirt? He was… pathetically not flirting.
Then he realizes, after retracing his steps of what made Mel smile the most. He paid for her drink and snacks, held her hand when she was overwhelmed, went up to look for what she wanted to buy, and bought everything for her. All acts of service.
When he thought he needed to say how beautiful she was or wrap his arm around her shoulders, she might’ve just wanted this. A quieter kind of affection.
”Yeah, I guess I was.” Langdon sighs with a mix of relief and nervousness, because at least she knows his intentions. But what now?
He stays quiet for a while, pursing his lips and glancing at Mel’s hands, seeing how she runs her fingers through the lps still. After clearing his voice and taking a breath, he speaks again. “So…Th-that’s our first date then. How—How was it? Did you like it?”
Langdon finally dares to look at her face again, and he sees the most adorable smile breaking into her shyness. “I mean… we held hands, that was awesome”
“Yeah, it was cool. It was cute” He nods with a huge stupid smile, lowering his head to try and hide it
“It was… your hands are really nice to hold.” Mel confesses in a whisper. Her hazel eyes are almost black under the darkness of Frank's car. But he can still feel her staring at him expectantly. Like if she was giving him a hint. Waiting for something back.
After a minute of awkward silence, Langdon slowly moves his hand to rest the back of it over the console of his car and breaks the silence with a soft whisper “Do you wanna hold it again?”, like if he talked any louder this moment would be broken.
“Sure” Mel says thickly with a shy smile before taking his hand, immediately playing with his fingers.
After a while, it gets too late so Langdon walks her to her house. They walk very slowly, holding hands and talking about their date, what they’ll do during the week, and awkwardly flirting with each other.
“Do you… like to kiss on your first date? Like normally…” Langdon dares to ask out of nowhere. Daring to test the water about them kissing today— well, in the next few minutes really, because the date is almost over. They’re literally a miserable few steps away from her house.
“Not really” King answers too literally. Langdon’s shoulders shrinks and his head lowers. He looks like he was genuinely deflated just by her words, and she seems to understand his disappointment because proceeds to clarify. “But this is not our first date, is it? Maybe it is the first one we can agree that it was indeed a romantic date. But uhm… In my personal opinion I think we had some dates before uhm”
“Uh yeah, I agree..." He looks back at her with wide eyes. Completely taken aback. Now he has to rethink his plan for a third time, damn.
They stand in front of the Kings’ main door, facing each other. Trying to avoid eye contact but still not being able to spend two seconds before their eyes find the other. There’s a lot of nervous feelings and awkwardness sure, but also the anticipation of something happening. Something that both of them had been waiting a long time for.
Langdon takes a deep breath and looks at her deeply, speaking once he she looks back. “Mel, I really want to kiss you right now. I don’t know how to hint it or be smooth. I’m not entirely sure if you want to but— I-.” He stops himself to take a deep breath “I’m just gonna ask. Can I please kiss—?”
“Yes. Oh, sorry. Yes, please?" Mel says softly right away. He chuckles nervously and leans closer.
Their lips barely touch, sharing a chaste kiss that leaves them both smiling like idiots. He steps closer, cupping one of her puffy cheeks, grazing his thumb against the softness that is her rosy skin. Mel stands on her tiptoes to kiss him again, properly this time, and his mind goes blank.
Langdon captures her lips and leans onto her, making her back up and stand flat on her feet. He doesn’t care about leaning down and having a horrible posture, he wants her comfortable. It feels so sweet, even better than he had ever imagined or dreamed of. Her smaller lips are so soft they gave him butterflies. His free hand strokes Mel's arm gently, glad to finally be able to tough her, feel her, show all the affection he has been holding back, scared that they were really supposed to be just friends.
While Mel wraps her arms around his waist, bringing him closer with a big smile against his lips. Stumbling back without a care in the word, just happy that they’re finally kissing, and not wanting to waste any more time.
Frank laughs and wraps his big arms around her, preventing her from tripping or bumping into anything. Already feeling the wall from the entrance scratching his elbow. Damn, was Mel even more desperate than him? That’s making his heart almost pound so hard that his chest cavity might break in half.
“I won't go anywhere, calm down” Langdon whispers into her lips before crashing into them again. But the vibration of Mel’s laugh against his mouth makes him pull apart, feeling his cheeks heat up because that was the hottest thing he has ever felt.
“You kinda have to go though. You can't stay the night.” She runs her fingers through his dark hair. Which isn’t as soft as always today thanks to the million products he tried on to style it before their date.
“No, no, no. Mellie, whyyy?" His voice is whiny as his hands travel down Mel’s arms to take both of her hands. “We just kissed for the first time, do you really want to go home? Am I that bad of a kisser?” Frank teases with a pouty smile, stepping closer to the point Mel's back softly hits the wall.
“No, you're amazing” Mel wraps gently, pulls her hands away from his grip to hug his torso again to make him lean down, capturing his lips once again.
After a couple more kisses, not quite as intense as their previous ones but more innocent and chaste, Mel finally has to enter her house. They say goodbye with a quick peck before Langdon steps away from her porch, looking at her until she slowly closes the door.
God, that was worth the wait.