Work Text:
Frank steps up to the front of the gathering of chairs in the dank church basement. His sponsor hands him a small black keytag, claps him on the back, and gives him the floor.
“Uh, I’m not the greatest with words. Or feelings, honestly,” he starts. Mel almost laughs. It took him six months of friendship to admit he was in love with her, spent the entire half a year repressing it, convinced she could never love him, divorced addict and father of two. “But, um. I’m gonna try.
“Getting clean was really fucking hard. When I first got caught diverting I wouldn’t admit— I didn’t even think I was an addict. Told myself I could stop any time. Then I went to rehab and the detoxing was, like, the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I used to run marathons for fun, so.” He chokes out a wet laugh. She can hear the wobble in his voice from here. “So, yeah. It was bad. Every day I was in pain and sweating through all my clothes and spending half the day bent over the toilet.
“But through it all, there were my kids, waiting for me on the outside, deserving a dad who was clean. And, unbeknownst to the both of us, I was waiting for Mel.” Mel’s tears spill onto her cheeks, a mix of pride and pain for all that he’s gone through. “I only knew her for a day before I was sent to rehab, but I think we both felt something that day, and… I think it kept me going. That spark of something, even on the worst day of my life.
“So, um. Thank you, Mel. For staying by my side through all of this, for never treating me any differently. I know it hasn’t been easy for you either.” She can see the tears glistening in his eyes now, she desperately wants to kiss them away. She will, later.
“And thank you to my unofficial sponsor, Cassie, and my official sponsor, Greg,” he continues. “And, uh. She’s not here, but thank you to Dr. Santos. If you hadn’t reported me, I don’t know if I would’ve ever gotten out.” He sways on his feet a bit, unstable. “So, uh, yeah. Thank you.”
He finds his way back to Mel, then, while the group leader ends the meeting, while the other attendees make their way home.
“I’m so proud of you,” she tells him when he’s finally in earshot, pulling him into a hug, her tears leaving marks on his t-shirt. She pulls away to look at him, wants him to see the honesty in her eyes when she says what’s next. “And you should be too. You did the work to get better.”
“I love you so much.” His face is strained, holding back tears still. “Thank you.”
Mel just holds him until he feels stable again.