el

When Frank was about ten, he watched his brothers set fire to an old shed. 

It was way, way back in the woods behind their house, past the creek, on god knows whose property. Henry said it was full of wasps anyway, like that made it legal or safe. Frank stood at what Dan said was a safe distance and watched the whole rotten thing collapse.

It was a fucked up thing for them to do. He cried. He never told anyone that. It was just so fast and total, and there was no getting the shed back once it started. And yet: during that first rush of flame, the sparks lifted off the roof in glowing spirals, floating up above the trees, and it only lasted a second but it was the most intensely beautiful thing Frank had ever seen. 

Everyone assumed they knew what ended his marriage. He didn’t bother correcting the record, putting a finger up and um actually-ing about how he and Abby really were working through all the stuff with the stolen pills. It wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t come out looking any better for their knowing the truth anyway. 

champagne, rated t, 500 words

tags: unplanned pregnancy, discussion of abortion, frank langdon is down bad for melissa king

melpreg summer x @kingdonmicrofic crossover

“We have so many kids!” She cried, burying her face in his chest, “This is an irresponsible amount of kids! An embarrassing amount! People will think we’re in some kind of— um, religious cult!”

read on ao3!

or here:

tags: pregnancy, cheating, social media au, frank langdon's negative reddit karma score

melpreg summer x @kingdonmicrofic

Dr. King,

I hope this message finds you well.

As we finalize arrangements for next month's gala, the admin team has been reviewing how best to present PTMC to our donors, community partners, and other stakeholders.

After careful consideration, we have decided that it would be in everyone's best interests for you not to attend this year's event.

read on ao3!

or here:

@kingdonmicrofic day one: confetti - 382 words - slight references to addiction

New Year’s Eve is not a children’s holiday. It is, however, a lover’s holiday. Frank and Mel are not lovers. They’re two lonely people, watching the fireworks, with no lovers. They’re off shift. They’re together because Frank asked Mel to be here, at his apartment. They don’t talk about what this means. They don’t talk about Abby and who she might be with, or Becca celebrating alongside Adam. They don’t talk about why they both declined Jack’s New Year’s Eve party invitation.

“Do you think they’ll keep airing this?” Frank asks her as they watch this year’s Times Square Ball Drop hosts patter on with B-list celebrities in anticipation of the ball drop. “I mean, do you think anybody watches this anymore?”

 “We’re watching it,” Mel says, gesturing to the screen with the bottle of non-alcoholic cider she’s been drinking.             

“I don’t think our taste in entertainment aligns with most people’s.”

Mel smiles, thinking about renaissance fairs and historical reenactments, musical theater, long multipart documentaries, all the shared interests they’ve discovered over the course of a few years. “Yeah, that’s true.”

Frank wraps his arm round her and brings her into him. He’s warm and solid. She finds it hard to believe that he hurt his back while moving, even though she knows all the various way a person’s bones and muscles can twist and turn, even in a young, healthy man in his physical prime. His back still hurts him, sometimes, and when it does, she’ll help him apply heat patches and pain relief cream. They don’t talk about her hands on him, just like they’re not talking about her tucked into his chest at the moment.

When the ball drops they leap up. Mel, feeling antsy down to her toes, reaches into her pocket and throws the confetti she tucked there. This is more than just to celebrate the New Year—Mel knows, down to the minute, the anniversary of Frank’s sobriety. She burns with the urge to tell him, but she knows it’s not appropriate, and trusts him to understand the gesture.

Kingdon Week day 5: nature | oops, accidental pregnancy

"You don't see that every day."