Chapter Text
Jack is the first to notice.
Of course Jack is the first to notice. Robby is out whoever-the-fuck knows where, Dana, for all her bluster about Langdon being her kid, is still pig-headedly only looking at the version she wants the man to become, rather than who he is right now, and the rest of the Pitt still doesn’t know him well enough to spot it.
So Jack notices first. Because that’s what Jack does.
That the sweatshirt Frank is wearing isn’t his.
There is no way that sweatshirt is his. Not with the way he is swimming in it.
Granted, Langdon has been yo-yoing with his weight once again but even at his “heaviest” he would have been swimming in it.
It happens once, and Jack says nothing. He notices, makes a mental note to himself and moves on.
But then… It happens again.
And again.
And again.
To the point others finally start seeing to. Until Donnie makes a comment about it. “Dude, do you need help shopping? ‘Cuz these don’t look like the best on you I’m gonna be honest.”
Langdon raises his head from his tablet, taking a look at the too big sleeves nearly swallowing his hands whole and the extra fabric bunching up onto his hips, smiling endearingly in a way that has Jack certain there is more to it than an oversized sweatshirt. Then Frank goes and confirms his fears, unaware of what he is doing.
“Nah. That’s not mine actually. I’m… err, kinda borrowing them? I like the feeling, you know. To be completely swallowed into a soft sweatshirt. Especially with the colder days arriving.”
Jesse sidles up to them at that exact moment, elbowing the physician gently, sly smirk in place. Something else Jack has noticed these past months. For some reason a good portion of the nursing staff had closed ranks around Frank after his return, hovering around him at the first opportunity and literally getting into his space. “Borrowing them, huh? From who, not the wife surely?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at Abby’s mention and between that and Donnie's weird, half-gagging sound, Jack feels like he is missing something .
Langdon lets out a snort, loud and rather unsexy, mirth dancing on his face as he retorts, letting himself be bossed around by the two men. “Did you take a look at Abby, recently? Also, you do know I’m still not straight, right?” Which has them all laughing good-naturedly.
Wait…
What?!
“Yeah, but don’t say that too loudly around Dana, the poor woman still hasn’t clocked that you’ve always been away with the fairies, and not, like, bisexual or something." Donnie jumps in, bringing the man in a short, sideway hug before going back to the patient in South 12, leaving with a “If that sweatshirt is boyfriend material, you better tell us Langdon!” that has the resident laughing under his breath. And Jack re-evaluating his entire internal view of who Frank Langdon is.
Which is the second time in less than a year already! And he profoundly dislikes the idea.
It makes him feel like he was away with the fairies, to miss something as big as an addiction (which, okay, Langdon was trying to cover it up) and a sexual orientation (that the man is definitely at ease with and not trying to hide in the slightest).
What else did he miss?
And who is the mysterious boyfriend material who could lend his sweatshirts so easily and not want to keep Langdon in a tower? With the way the heavy fabric falls from his shoulders, giving him the air of a waif needing to be taken care of and coddled.
“Bee in your bonnet boss?” Shen’s voice brings him out of his reverie, the second night attending following his gaze to land on Frank’s back, eyes gazing appreciatively at the man’s backside. For some reasons, this has Jack bristling.
“Did you know Langdon was gay?”
Shen swallows his iced coffee wrong, coughing as he turns to face him. “What?” He rasps. “Don’t tell me you didn’t?”
“He has a wife!” The veteran defends himself, feeling like an idiot in the face of his colleague’s reaction, not helped in the slightest when Shen starts laughing hysterically. “Oh. My. God. You know what? You and Robby really deserve each other. You're two idiots out of your depths.”
And with that the man takes his first case of the night, leaving Jack with his questions.
Xxxx
Robby doesn’t notice.
Thanks fuck Robby doesn’t notice!
His sabbatical did him some good, but the man still has to get his head out of his ass and Jack has no desire to find out what could happen if Robby realized what is going on with Langdon right now. He’s always though Robby wanted to fuck his resident a bit too much for his own taste, especially as the man is refusing to face the truth of what Langdon really meant to him.
So yes. Robby doesn’t notice and Jack breathes a sigh of relief. Until PTMC’s Benefactors Gala. One of the many gala PTMC hosts, but also one where Robby’s presence is usually required by Gloria despite his abject horror at the whole thing. Jack is only here as moral support, having taken advantage of the ‘plus one’ invitation to come to his brother’s help, eat free, ridiculously expensive canapes and even more expensive champagne.
None of them expect Frank Langdon to be here.
Jack hears him before he sees him, eyes widening and head turning sharply to Robby to share in his shock.
“Gods! I hate these things, I don’t know how I am supposed to walk or talk or even eat! Why would you take me here? There has to be better advertisement than the recovering addict.”
Both Jack’s and Robby’s eyes widen when they recognize Gloria’s voice answering him.
“Nonsense my dear. Besides, none of them know anything about you, and they’re not going to judge your table manners, they’re too busy ogling you for that. Which is exactly what I need tonight.”
Langdon’s lighthearted chuckle startles them. They both know how uneasy he is with the way people tend to look at him but here, on Gloria’s arm, he laughs about it.
“Well, they’d have a hard time not to, with the way you’ve dressed me. You know, you could have told me all you needed was an arm candy. I owe you and Shelby too much to say no.”
All the saints in heaven… Jack winces at the mention of Adamson’s sister, throwing a quick look at Robby to gauge his reaction but the man is silent beside him, closed off. By the time he returns his attention elsewhere Gloria has spotted them and is making her towards them, her unexpected date on her arm.
A part of Jack wants to die, right there and then in self-combustion. The other wants to swallow Langdon whole.
The man looks like a gift waiting to be unwrapped. Dressed in white high-waist pants (very high-waist, and very narrow on the waist, the veteran can’t help but notice) and a backless, black top that is cinched just above the crack of his ass in an artful bow, it is no wonder everyone has been ogling him!
Jack can’t help but take a look at his simple, three piece burgundy suit. It had already seemed like an eccentricity to him at the time. Something that would make him stand out more than he is used to, but he had liked the suit too much to pass it by. Now he feels nearly as conservative as the rest of the room.
On his right Robby makes a strangled sound.
“There you are!” Gloria’s voice cuts through the ambient noise as she and Langdon stop in front of them. “Dr Abbot” she acknowledges him “looking good tonight.”
Jack can only raise his glass to her and her partner. “Not as much as the jewel on your arm” he quips with a lopsided smile, enjoying how rapidly Langdon’s face turns bright red. At least he hasn’t lost his game!
Gloria good-naturedly agrees, radiating smugness. “Ah yes, he is doing all the heavy lifting tonight. I should have borrowed your ‘ER Ken’ long before now Dr Robby. Between the look and the charm, I understand better why patients’ scores go up when he is there.”
It is a joke. It is clearly a joke. And yet, Robby’s face goes dark and cloudy as he mutters a non-answer. Langdon’s shoulders, already wound tight, climb up to his ears and he cast his gaze left and right, looking as uncomfortable and miserable as they all feel right now.
Jesus!
Jack is going to throttle the big idiot.
“It certainly helps. Although I’d say his qualities as a physician are more a reason for those than any good look. It takes a lot of work to be attractive in those scrubs, I’m afraid. And Langdon has other priorities when he is down there with us.”
Langdon blinks at him, shoulder descending down a notch, a small, timid smile coming out. “Borrowed clothes again, buddy? These don’t look like your usual wear. But then again, you’ve been using lots of sweatshirts that are not yours from what I’ve gathered.”
This time the resident laughs. A full, belly deep laugh and Jack hasn’t felt as proud of himself in a long time. As discreetly as he can, he moves a little bit. Just enough to step on Robby’s foot and get the man out of his jealous daze. He’ll have to cuff him over the head later. Somewhere there won’t be as many people that doing so would cause a scene.
“Yeah, I guess they are.” The R4 admits, offering a look to Gloria who pats his hand and puff up proudly. “But I gotta be honest, I prefer the sweatshirts.”
The woman exhales in disbelief, raising her eyes to the sky. “Of course you do. You and that boy have no taste. Now, we do have to schmooze a little bit more before I can release you” she ignores his breathless giggle, turning to them. “Dr Abbot, Dr Robby. Have a good night.”
Jack watches them go until they disappear into the crowd, ignoring the snakes slithering in his belly at witnessing Langdon leaving on someone else’s arm. The man throwing one last, anxious look their way before decidedly turning around and following his lead for the night.
“You know rehab and the program means he has to see a therapist, right?” He finally says, eyes still riveted to the place the resident and Gloria were last visible.
His friend hums, nonchalantly looking at the bottom of his glass.
“You remember all those people we’ve had over the years, who woke up one day and found out their loved ones had gone no -contact because they wouldn’t make an effort to meet them halfway?” He suddenly goes, non-sequitur. Robby is eyeing him with trepidation now.
“Yeah?”
“Get a grip brother. Or that’s what’s waiting for you.”
Xxxx
It doesn’t take long after that for Jack to grow tired of the entire evening. Robby agrees with him and goes to get the car while the veteran retrieves their coat at the entrance. There, he crosses paths with Frank once more.
The man looks better, looser now that he has switched the fashion clothes for one of those too big sweatshirts he prefers. “Feeling better?”
Langdon looks at him with such relief it hits somewhere deep and low in Jack. “Yeah” he breathes out, seeming oh so very young in that moment, like a college kid drowning in his boyfriend’s clothes. “I’m not cut out for this shit, man. That was uncomfortable as hell. Maybe I should get myself a sunburn or something the next time Gloria asks me…”
The veteran can’t stop the snigger that comes out of his mouth. “Not sure that’ll be enough. She is a woman, she knows her way around makeup enough to cover that up. Gloria can’t be done already, though. Do you need a drive home?”
The resident paws at the hem of his sweatshirt, smiling into the wool as he types on his phone. “Naah. That nice of you Abbot, but I’d rather not anger Robby anymore tonight. Someone’s coming to get me.”
So Jack says his goodbye, climbing into Michael’s car with a glare that the chief attending isn’t reckless enough to ignore and has him politely bidding Frank goodnight too.
He doesn’t dwell on why he feels so bothered by the fact that the resident declined his proposition.