“I love you!” He tells her. It comes out way too easy. Mel is charmed, and just smiles and gets on with getting caught up.

A cool rock, a novelty chocolate bar, a little keychain of something niche, a tiny brain teaser puzzle, a balloon in a funny shape, a hot sauce that shouldn’t be delicious by what’s in it but oddly works, just tiny little gifts, a never ending back and forth of little things that prove how well they get to know each other. It almost becomes the best part of going anywhere.

On their anniversary in August, Frank just can’t get it up. It’s kind of a last straw thing, but neither of them says it. It’s not like Abby was in the mood, so it’s a bit of an insult to injury thing on that end. He promises to get it checked out, but once at work he just can’t bring himself to see a stranger about it, or any of his male coworkers. Mel finds him with a list of doctors, crossing out names one by one and asks him what he’s doing. He tells her he’s looking for the least humiliating option for someone to see about a health issue. She looks down at the list and finds her name not crossed out yet.

“I could take a look at you?” She offers.

“I’m not sure you want the case, it’s a bit… uhm… intimate.”

“Totally up to you. But I’d be shocked if it’s something that shocks me. Think about it. Let me know.”

He does think about it, and in the end decides that he trusts her the most. They duck into a treatment room after their shift is over, Mel draws the curtain and puts a “knock please” sign up. And Frank tentatively starts his tale of last night’s failure to rise.

“Okay, that can happen for a ton of reasons, mind if I take a look?” And so Frank gets on the bed and pulls his scrub pants down and… “Shit oh my god I’m so sorry.” His cock is rock hard before Mel even touches it.

“No no, it’s okay. That’s good, that looks like a full erection. Was the issue in staying erect? Does it hurt to be erect?”

“I need you to stop saying erect for a minute.” Frank is beet red. “No the issue was getting hard, nothing hurts.”

Mel puts a towel over him so they can talk, not even missing a beat and not giving this any chance to feel too awkward. After checking that he wasn’t drinking, she suggests “Maybe it was an emotional issue. Did you feel connected to your partner? Close?”

It doesn’t hit quite as hard yet as it will in the future because as of S2 she was still almost a stranger, a new friend whose first day with him had a 10 month incubation period under uncertain conditions, and he was still in desperate need to approval and assurance from more senior people, but give them one fucking normal week and he’ll be hooked on Mel telling him a case went well and he’s a good doctor.

I can’t wait to see them in S3, at which point he’ll have seen many instances of Mel having a normal day (riding in on her unicorn, thriving, rocking it with her patients, being cool under pressure which she always was), and I can just picture him planning his future around wherever she goes as much as he can. Not even in a romantic way, but in an “I can’t imagine doing thirty years of this without you” way. When she tells him she’s planning on staying in Pittsburgh if she can, he’s so relieved and it makes him pursue that attending spot with all he’s got, not just for himself but to also have a voice in a potential hiring process for her a year later.

I can see them a few years down the line, so relieved when the other comes in early because shit hit the fan, sharing that palpable relief because life just got easier now that the other is here.