A/N: Nancy and Frank are one of those pairings that took a long time to grow on me. And by a long time, I truly mean years. But after Trail of the Twister and especially The Captive Curse, I was hooked and my love for them has been steady since. ;) This is just going to be a series of approximately drabble-length pieces on the pair. Cue angst and warmth and fluff (and perhaps some AU). :)
{You know the drill; I neither own Nancy Drew nor the Hardy Boys. ;)}
Foolhardy
She wasn't going to pick up.
He knew.
Of course he did.
He was Frank Hardy, after all. He knew when things didn't add up or when he was beat. Unlike his younger brother, he could admit to defeat. He could admit folly.
This was folly.
A lost cause before it had begun.
He didn't even know if he wanted it to have any other outcome.
It wasn't even anything.
Immature. Impossible. Utterly...
"Foolhardy," he grumbled to himself.
He could never be more than friends with Nancy Drew.
She had someone, he had someone. That's always how it had been.
That was fine - it always had been. It was right. It was correct.
It was what it was.
It is what it is, he emphasized to himself. What on earth was he doing, calling her? He...he wasn't going to tell her anything she hadn't heard before.
"Good job, Nan."
"I had a great time working with you."
"I miss - cases. I miss our CASES."
All the options were weak.
He almost disconnected, embarrassed, when she picked up.
And all he could manage was a soft, "Hi, Nancy."
Maybe that was all that needed to be said.