The first sprig appears at work. It's not hung up or anything, but Frank holds it over her head while she's making coffee. Laurel turned at his throat-clear and laughed as she caught a glimpse of it.
"Aren't you cute?" she said with a grin. Laurel lifted onto her toes and placed a gentle kiss on Frank's lips.
As she pulled back, Frank dropped his arm and let has hand sit on her waist, "What can I say, I was feelin' festive." His thumbs gently rubbed small arches across her stomach as they stood together. Sometimes being a part of the Keating 5 really paid off. No one else was getting to have moments alone with their significant others in the middle of the day.
Laurel moved a little closer and let her smile widen slightly, "It's a very nice gesture. But don't make it habit at work - I already have Connor on my case about us sleeping together. God knows how he'd react if he saw us acting like a cheesy couple."
"Fine," Frank began in response, "I'll make sure I keep it out of the office." As Laurel turned back to finish the coffee, Frank pressed against her back, "But just so ya know, I don't care if Hair Gel thinks we're cheesy. I want everyone in this office to know you're mine."
-x-
The next appears in his car. He's clearly tacked it to his rear-view mirror just to tease her as they head to the courthouse. When Frank sat down in the driver's seat, he was met with a playful scowl from Laurel as she buckled up.
"What? You said keep it out of the office," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. Dropping his arms to start the car, Frank looked over and smirked a little, "Since I can't have cookies anymore, I've gotta get my sugar somewhere."
Laurel wasn't one to blush, but her cheeks may have pinked up a little at his comment. Not many people could say they had a boyfriend willing to go to such lengths purely to tease them. She leant over and kissed him, making sure it seemed like she was doing so begrudgingly. "Only because I respect tradition," she told him as he pulled back and pulled out of the drive.
-x-
When the little bit of mistletoe appears over her head in the ladies room, Laurel immediately turned around to question Frank. She wanted to wipe the cocky grin off his face. "You're classy, you know that?" she said, her tone a little more judgemental than the other times he'd spontaneously appeared behind her looking for a quickie. Laurel took the mistletoe from him and placed it on the counter next to the sink, her eyes fixed on Frank the whole time.
"Hey, man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to get some action," he told her with a shrug.
Since the mistletoe has been discarded behind them, Frank has a free hand to run his fingers through her hair. She reciprocates by letting her hands slip from his hips to his lower back, just for a moment. Before she knew it, the mistletoe was a distant memory and he pulled her into a stall. Laurel never thought she'd be this girl, but then again, she never thought she'd find this guy.
-x-
At his apartment later that evening, there's mistletoe above his bedroom door. It doesn't matter - their lips are already pressed to each others.
-x-
The next morning, while she was showering, she noticed the mistletoe dangling over the steamy shower door. Laurel paused and opened the door, finding a totally naked Frank stood on the bathmat in front of her.
"Mistletoe isn't an invitation for sex," she quickly remarked, stepping back to let him join her in the shower.
Frank laughed a little and shut the door behind him, "Kissing's a little vanilla for us, don't you think?"
"Why is everything dirty with you?" she asked, letting the gap between them close. The shower wasn't huge, but clearly he was letting tension build; trying to tease her and get her all hot and bothered.
"It's not," he insisted. "Just the stuff with you. You drive me crazy, so I have to let the energy out." His hands found her waist, timed with a few kisses along her collar bone. Laurel didn't reciprocate - just waited for him. When his fingers finally dipped between her legs, she gave him what he wanted. That sweet moan that brought the smirk onto his face.
She hated his stupid mistletoe.
-x-
The mistletoe only backfired once. The door to Annalise's office opened, so Frank waited with the mistletoe out, thinking Laurel was back from the store with snacks. He kept his eyes shut, knowing she'd want any office kiss to be brief.
"I'm flattered, really, but I have a boyfriend who is pretty hell-bent on exclusivity," he heard coming around the corner. Frank's eyes snapped open and Connor was stood in front of him, laughter brimming from his sly grin.
"Not meant for you," Frank said, defeatedly putting the mistletoe onto Bonnie's desk.
Connor simply walked into the living room, sitting down next to his personal pile of case files, "Figured as much. Laurel not giving you enough?"
He hated Hair Gel. He really did. "You can't ask your superiors that."
Frank swore he heard Connor mutter something, but the door was opening again and he had bigger things to worry about than some stupid comment from a dumb law student.
-x-
Delfino family dinners had become somewhat of a regular thing for them. Laurel liked being around a family that could actually stand to talk to each other while Frank enjoyed showing her that not everything he did was shady or about sex.
The week before Christmas, they had a mid-week dinner. As soon as she walked through the door she knew where Frank got the stupid mistletoe idea from. It hung from every door frame and entranceway. As soon as she walked in, she was getting kissed by his brother. After putting away her coat and heading to the kitchen, his mother kissed both her cheeks, pointing up to the wood frame and telling her that 'those are the rules!'.
By the time the evening ends, she's certain she's kissed every Delfino in the Philadelphia area.
They said goodbye and she gave goodbye kisses to a fair few family members again ("Ya keep walkin' under it, so we've gotta kiss ya!" she gets told by Frank's father). When Frank started the car, Laurel placed her hand on the gear shift over his, "So, it's your parents I have to blame for being followed by mistletoe?"
Frank nodded with a smile, a genuine one with no hint of a smirk, "'Fraid so. And they told me I have to keep all their batty Christmas traditions goin' so I can't stop."
"It's sweet. Although I don't think your ma would be very pleased to hear how you used mistletoe to get a quickie at work," Laurel added, a teasing smile on her face.
"What she doesn't know can't hurt her," Frank interjected, turning out of his parents' road on the way back to his apartment. Laurel leant over and pecked his cheek while they waited for a break in traffic.
"I don't always need mistletoe to kiss you."
-x-
It was their last day of work. Even courthouses break for the holiday, so Annalise was making them prep for when they go back in January. Laurel was fed up of running through all the profiles she's responsible for, so she decided it was time to enact her plan.
Frank was sat looking at a burner, clearly waiting for someone to call in relation to the case. Or maybe just for some other reason. She went over quietly, hoping no one else in the office was paying attention. A small sprig of mistletoe was clutched in her hand, hidden behind her back. When she reached his desk, she held it between them and gently cleared her throat.
His eyes flicked up as hers did and he let out a quiet laugh. Laurel leant in and meet his eyes, "You have to follow tradition."
Before she got the chance to kiss him, Frank responded, "S'pose I do." He quickly moved in and caught her lips, ignoring Bonnie's obviously annoyed huff.