26

FRANK wasn't really sure what he was expecting as he gingerly helped Nancy to sit down on the cold park bench.

But for her to look out at the park by the hospital and the frozen over koi fishpond at the kids happily trying to poke holes in the ice (the fish had been moved into an indoor location when the weather grew colder) was not what he'd expected of his girlfriend.

He'd thought, considering the trauma of suffering a miscarriage, she'd not want to look at kids and be reminded of the ordeal.

"Talk to me," Nancy begged, in a voice that suggested her plea wasn't really a request at all.

Frank knew better than to deny his girlfriend this. He sat down beside her, leaning forward, and staring at the kids, all varying ages, from three to eight, to a twelve-year-old boy.

"Where…where do you want me to start?" he cringed as the question left his lips. It was best if she got all the answers that she was looking for first. "What do you want me to say, Nan?" Frank looked at Nancy out of the corners of his eyes.

"Would we have…" Nancy's voice cracked as her resolve faltered slightly.

She didn't look at him as she spoke, as her red hair tousled off her shoulders as a cold breeze wafted through the air. She shivered and shrugged into her coat as much as she could for warmth, playing with her pinkish-tipped fingers to keep them warm.

"Would we have kept it? The…baby…" Nancy sniffled once or twice, looking away.

Frank felt his breaths hitch in his throat. Out of all the questions he would have thought Nancy to ask, this was admittedly not one of them, nor was he prepared to give an honest answer. He himself wasn't sure.

They weren't married, not yet, and he knew that with both of their travel schedules and how often they were away from their little apartment on various cases, sometimes together, sometimes separate, that bringing a child into the fray would have upended that for them.

However, there was a part of him that had wanted that for them, to know what it was like.

"Yes. I think so. We'd have made it work, sweetheart, I know we would have," he whispered, hushed.

Instinctively, Frank reached for her hand and gave Nancy's hand a squeeze, ensuring that she was looking at the small promise he'd given her.

"I know that you're afraid, Nance. That you're scared of what your future holds, but there's one thing I want you to be sure of, it's that I'm right here where I'm sitting, baby. I'm not anywhere else, and I will always be by your side. I made you that promise a year ago, Nan, after Dwayne Powers had a gun to your head, and I aim to keep it. I—I don't know when, and I don't know how or why or the why's, but…I think that you and I would have…will…make great parents when our time comes. I'm sorry that we lost it, baby, I am, but…there's nothing that we can do to bring it back. It's…it's gone, Nan." His voice felt hollow at finally saying the words.

Frank looked away and swallowed a lump in his throat as it hallowed, constricting, and cutting off air to his passageways.

"I'm just…glad that you're safe, Nance." Hot, wretched tears stung and blurred at the edges of his vision, and he forcefully blinked them back. At his words, Nancy met his dark, glistening brown eyes and saw the salty liquid pour-over. "I…I thought…that I'd almost lost you. You're one of the few good things in my life these days that make it worth it. Not going away and doing undercover work for ATAC. Not sports or even finishing college, though I guess that's next on my list, I…I can't let you…get hurt anymore, Nance. Not you."

He swallowed down hard, looking away. Frank frowned, squeezing onto Nancy's hand a fraction tighter. She hissed, his firm grip almost freshly bruising her bandaged hand, but she dared not try to shrug out of it. His expression morphed into something recognizable, something that Nancy had feared. She immediately didn't like the look at all.

"Frank?" Nancy whispered in a hoarse voice, confused. Her heart dropped to the pit of her churning stomach, feeling as if she'd swallowed a rock as trepidation and fear twisted horribly in her chest.

Frank's hand still clutching onto hers had started to tremble and Frank's brown eyes began shimmering with unshed tears. His chest became undiluted with a vented sob he tried to fight against but couldn't.

Startled at seeing such a reaction from her boyfriend, who was usually so calm and stoic, Nancy struggled to try to reach him.

"Frank, what's wrong?" she asked. "Tell me what's the matter, sweetheart, I can help you! Just let me—"

But her words were silenced in her throat as something warm and coarse pressed itself against her lips. Nancy's eyes widened in shock. It took her a second to realize that Frank was kissing her and another three-point eight seconds for her to realize she was kissing him back.

His slightly chapped lips moved slowly across Nancy's, allowing him to drink her in. In truth, Frank thought Nancy was the only thing and the only person who could heal him at this point. No amount of court-mandated or state psychiatric help could cure him. Not quite like this.

Nancy, shocked at first, responded in kind, scooting closer on the park bench, and wrapping her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through Frank's messy dark hair. Nancy glided her tongue across Frank's bottom lip, begging for entrance, which he was only too happy to grant. His hands traveled down her back and then up again. He dared not go a step further.

That was something he could not do, not until she was healed all the way. He broke apart first, reluctantly, gasping for breath, their breaths making visible puffs of cold air in front of their mouths, still clinging to one another as though they were each other's lifeline.

Which, they were, of course, they were, and they knew the other one knew it.

"Nancy," Frank groaned in a husky voice, trying with all of his strength to restrain himself as he felt her fingers clutch onto fistfuls of his jacket, groping, reaching out for something indescribable.

She pulled away suddenly, afraid she had hurt Frank in some way.

Instantly, Frank missed the warmth Nancy gave off, wishing she'd not pulled away.

"Sorry. Did...did I hurt you?" she asked, biting her lip as a blush crept its way onto her face, that he knew had nothing to do with the cold.

She has no idea what she does to me, even after all this time, does she?

"No. It felt…good actually." He grinned wolfishly at her.

She smiled back, scooting closer, and so did her warmth, and nestled her head against his shoulder, content to watch the kids still poking at the frozen-over fishpond for a minute or two, before turning back to Frank.

Nancy snuggled into Frank, breathing in the man's warm, musky scent. A scent that, when Devin had separated her and Frank, she never thought she would smell again, or kiss him again. This was where she knew she belonged.

Right by Frank, because she could no longer go a day without thinking about him or worrying about him. She, Nancy Drew, was totally, flat out and no doubts at all in her mind, in love with Frank Hardy. She'd not have accepted the man's promise ring otherwise if she weren't.

Furrowing her brows, she lifted her left hand to study to little ring. Not flashy by any means, but classic and elegant. Perfect for her, really. He knew her well, knew her tastes and likes better than Ned ever had.

"I love you, Nancy," Frank murmured, leaning over to kiss her forehead, and then her temple, rubbing small circles over the small of her back.

She could feel his strong hand even through the thickness of her winter coat, and she thought it was one of the nicest feelings. His arms tightened around her as he drew himself as humanly close as possible, while still trying to be mindful of her hands and other injuries that were going to take time to heal up the right way.

Frank decided he wasn't going to let Nancy go, no matter what. If he was going to live, like truly live his life, then he wanted Nancy by his side, every step of the way.

"I love you too, Frank," Nancy whispered. "I…" She bit down on her lip, a pained expression flitting across her face as the mask of calm serenity she wore as a façade threatened to crumple for a minute. "I know I may not…be the greatest at showing it, but I do, Hardy."

She let out a tired sigh and raked her hands through his dark hair in the way she knew that Frank liked.

He smiled softly and shook his head.

"I know you do. Don't worry about it, none of that matters. It's enough for me to have you by my side. You don't need to…prove yourself. You already have when you said yes to this," Frank said quietly, bringing her left hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles, studying her ring for a moment before meeting her gaze again. "I love you, baby. I hope you know that, Nance, and never, ever forget it. With all my heart. Though I don't know if my heart is really enough for you anymore, you deserve way more than a guy like me could ever really offer…"

Nancy frowned at Frank's words. "Shut up," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "It's enough, Frank, it's always been enough. Besides, I don't want anyone else's heart, Frank. I love yours. I…trust yours. Only yours."

Shock flitted its way across Frank's face as what little color was left in it drained. He swallowed down hard past a lump in his throat.

"I…I'm so sorry, Nancy…" he pulled her close and whispered hoarsely into the shell of her ear, his body trembling, and not from the cold.

Her head tucked firmly under Frank's chin, Nancy shook it in disagreement. "Don't do this, Frank. There's nothing to apologize for. None of this was your fault." She jerked her thumb back towards the hospital. "It's his."

Tears glistened in her eyes, but she angrily wiped them away with a practiced flick of her finger and continued to shake her head.

"It's not yours, Frank. It will never be yours, so don't say that, please."

But Frank must have disagreed with his girlfriend's words because the next words out of his mouth sent a chill down her spine.

"But it is, Nancy. If…if I hadn't…been so stupid and not taken that damned drink at the wedding, then none of this would have happened to us. To you. I could have fought him off. Y—you wouldn't be hurt. You wouldn't have…we wouldn't have lost…a—a baby, because of me, Nancy."

"Stop it!" Nancy shouted, her temper swelling. Her voice came out much harsher and cutting than she had intended to. She flinched as the group of kids and their parents by the frozen-over pond turned to look at her. "S—sorry," she squeaked in a breathless apology, and then returned her attention back to her boyfriend.

Nancy pulled away, though she knew Frank needed to hold her, she wasn't about to let the man she loved talking about himself like this.

She looked up into his red, tear-stained face and the sight nearly had her reeling back in fresh tears of her own. Yet she fought them back. She had to be strong, for Frank's sake, right now.

"How could you think like that? How could you say that?" Nancy asked Frank quietly, sounding and looking utterly shocked and deeply hurt and offended. "It wasn't your fault. Even if you hadn't drunk whatever he gave you that night, Frank, he still would have found a way. You couldn't have known. Men like that aren't going to stop till they get what they want." Nancy swallowed and looked away. "Devin would have found a way, Frank, trust me, I know men like him," she spat bitterly, no semblance of warmth in her tone. She looked at Frank, her expression stern.

If her words had any effect, Frank didn't let it show. A fact that was kind of beginning to frighten her if Nancy was being honest with herself. She had no idea what to do.

"What happened to you was my fault, Nan. There's a small part of me that wishes that I'd have you never know me than to have you sitting here injured, because of me. Maybe if you'd…if I hadn't been there, he wouldn't have stabbed you, wouldn't have beat you."

He swallowed as his voice cracked and ducked his head, letting a lock of his bangs shield his face.

Nancy swore her heart stopped beating and the icy cold feeling that wound its tendrils around her throat returned, cutting off her air supply.

Suddenly, she felt light-headed. She gazed at Frank, wide-eyed in shock and horror. "Wh—what? What…what did you say?"

"Your life," Frank muttered as he gently removed his arms found Nancy's, clutching both her bandaged hands in his and resting them softly in her lap. He simply looked at them and refused to meet her eyes. "Means way more to me than anything else, Nancy. I wish there were a way to make you understand that. Knowing me has only caused you pain and hardship. How many times have you been around me enough times to put you in danger, baby? I swore to myself when I started dating you, that I'd be cautious around you, that I wasn't going to screw up like Ned always did and ruin your life, to let anybody hurt you." Frank paused painfully, tears welling up in his dark eyes again, and at this moment, at least, he raised his head and met Nancy's eyes. "B—but I—I wasn't able to. How? How are you still here?" he demanded.

Frank didn't exactly sound angry with her, but nor was he pleased, either.

Nancy gaped at Frank for several minutes at the self-loathing and venom that spurned in his narrowed eyes. She understood what his words meant but chose at this moment rather not to believe him. Then, maybe for the first time since they had entered into a relationship, Nancy Drew felt true anger towards Frank Hardy. For the first time, she was angry with him, and she let that anger show on her face. She attempted to find her voice, though all that came out at first were a bunch of strangled attempts at speech as she spluttered.

"How dare you," Nancy growled, her sky-blue eyes blazing. She clenched her fists so tightly that the skin around her still-cracked and bruised knuckles turned bone-white. "Don't you dare say that, Frank Hardy! This is the part where you apologize to me. After everything that's happened between the two of us, you still think you're the cause of what happened? I already told you, it's not! You saved my life as best as you could, Frank! If anything, I'm the one that put us in danger, I should have…gotten help at the lodge, I shouldn't have gone out alone when I saw him bring you out into the lobby like that. It's my fault for not thinking this through!"

Her voice was rising now in her growing anger, her eyes never reverting from Frank's hard gaze.

She was crying now, tears flowing down her cheeks, but Nancy sniffled and coughed to clear her throat as she ignored them. The grim expression fell off Frank's face like water over rocks in response to his girlfriend's anger. His eyes flew wide open in guilt, shock, and awe.

Frank had seen Nancy Drew angry and frustrated, but it was hardly ever directed at him, so to see the young woman he loved in a state practically heaving with fury was very, very new, and he had no idea how to react.

"Nan," he tried to placate in the hopes of supplicating her some, as he reached for one of Nancy's shaking hands. But Nancy yanked away from Frank, far too angry with him right now to be consoled. "Baby…?"

When Nancy finally found her voice, it was flat, listless.

"Let's just go home, Frank, I'm getting tired, and everything really hurts, Frank, I just want to sleep," she whispered, reaching for his hand, and giving it a little squeeze.

He nodded and helped Nancy to stand while she leaned heavily against her crutch for support, her other free hand clinging around Frank's arm to steady herself.

"I love you, Nan. Though I may not be enough. I promise, baby, I'm not…going anywhere, but…I'd rather spend whatever time we do have left with you if you'll still have me…" Frank's voice cracked and broke.

Nancy sighed softly, turning around to face him as best as she was able, burrowing her face in his chest, holding onto him with her one good arm just as tightly.

"I'm right here where I'm standing, Frank," she whispered. "I'm not anywhere else. I'm not going to leave you, I made you a promise," Nancy vowed.

As if to emphasize her point, she untangled her left arm from around Frank's waist and wriggled her ring finger at him, making sure that he saw the promise ring.

"I'm not going anywhere, Hardy. I'm not going to abandon you. Never," she said, quietly, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I think I like the idea of being with you, Frank, forever, so…keep me, like you mean to have me, like you want me to stay," she whispered, and pressed her lips against his, basking in the young man's warmth.

"Stay," he pleaded when she broke the kiss, hardly aware the plea had left his mouth, though the slight desperation in his tone sent Nancy smiling as she entwined her fingers with his.

Nancy almost leaned up on her tiptoes for another kiss, though before she could, she was halted in her progress by George poking her head out of Frank's car's driver side window in the front seat, hollering that Joe was hungry and wanted to get a cheeseburger on the way home.

Joe, Bess, Bess's boyfriend Nick, and George were all staying the night at Bess and Nick's apartment along with Nancy and Frank for the night, to keep their friends company, not wanting them to be alone.

Nancy let a slight chuckle escape her lips at seeing Frank roll his eyes. "I guess that's our cue to leave," she said, looking up to the sky as weeny snowflakes had started to fall from the sky, settling on Nancy's shoulders and in her auburn-red hair. "Ready to go home, Frank?"

"Yes, but…" Frank paused, as Nancy shifted her crutch underneath her armpit and made to hobble her way back towards the car, shooting the black boot she was forced to wear for a few weeks an admonishing look. "I just…want to be sure that this…me…is what you want. The last thing I want is to ever hurt you…"

Frank opened his mouth to say more, but Nancy didn't give her boyfriend a chance as she caught his head in her hands and kissed him. Awkward though it was, as she had to shift her crutch under her arm in such a way as to not drop it, she almost missed his mouth as her lips landed a little to the right as she kissed him, heat engulfing her body.

Frank stood there, shellshocked at Nancy's boldness, and unable to move a muscle at all. The entire sidewalk was spinning beneath his feet in a truly dizzying way as he tasted Nancy's sweet kiss, feeling her lips move in sync with his, the taste of her cherry-flavored Chapstick lingering.

He was surprised, yes, but her kiss was her granting him the one thing he knew he wanted most of all. Her. Just her.

And Frank was terrified that if he moved even a fraction of an inch or broke apart from the embrace, that she'd disappear.

And that was the last thing that Frank wanted now. He couldn't afford to take any risks right now, and he was terrified of making a wrong move against Nancy. Especially in her physically weakened and emotionally vulnerable state, he didn't want to chance it.

And he was afraid that Nancy would misinterpret. She did when Nancy realized Frank wasn't reacting to the gentle embrace of her lips pressed firmly against his. Shaken and shocked, Nancy pulled apart, her cheeks flushed pink, pale blue eyes searching his face for the truth.

Her hurt expression only further registered her confusion as she lowered her hands from her face and brought one of them up to cover her mouth as Nancy turned away. Horrified by the public display of affection she'd given her partner, feet away from Frank's car and in front of all of their friends, she could only gawk at Frank and try to gauge his reaction.

Nancy stood in the parking lot, numb with shame and embarrassment, rooted to her spot, before using the crutch to take a hobbling step backward, away from Frank in shame.

"I—I'm sorry, Frank. Forgive me," she begged desperately, face pink in her severe mortification. "I—I didn't mean to…if you didn't want…"

As Nancy let her voice trail off and she turned away, intending to slide in the backseat to scoot next to Bess and Nick, who'd met Bess here earlier, both of whom were wide-eyed and watching the pair of them with sheepish grins on their faces, Frank caught Nancy by her arm before she could move again.

Gingerly, he turned his girlfriend around to face hers.

"Nance. Stop. You didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart," Frank pleaded, desperate to make her see. "The only thing I've ever wanted since we met is you, baby. The last thing I want is to ever hurt you, Nancy."

His affection-filled dark eyes met Nancy's, gleaming with unshed moisture that wasn't exactly tears, per se, but love.

For a moment, Nancy was dumbstruck. Speechless. She could not think, much less form a coherent thought. She was unable to tear her gaze away from Frank's as they walked, holding hands, to the parking lot.

She swore she felt their friends' piercing stares burning holes in the front of their skulls, but for the moment, she paid them no mind, having eyes only for Frank Hardy.

Nancy was privately awestruck still by the lengths that Frank had gone to in order to care for her.

She realized that was why her boyfriend had not reciprocated her kiss in the way that she'd hoped, and Nancy loved Frank Hardy all the more for it. He had wanted her to be completely assured of them, and comfortable with continuing to have him in her life, despite the horrific trauma the two had just endured.

Nancy took a second to mirror Frank's emotions and brought her hands to his face, not giving a damn if their friends were watching from inside Frank's car. Let them watch, she thought, almost annoyed at them all.

"I've never been surer of anything in my life, Frank," Nancy declared in a reedy-sounding voice, as her throat was still sore from all the shouting and screaming she'd done over the last forty-eight hours.

Devin's trial was in three weeks. She could only hope her voice had recuperated enough by then to testify. Tears welled in her eyes at that thought, but Nancy shoved down her negative thoughts to the pit of her stomach and forced herself to blink back her tears.

Right now, the only thing she wanted to focus on was what was in front of her. The man she loved, and her friends. Her gaze briefly flitted towards Frank's car, where all of their friends were watching, wide-eyed and smiling, seemingly at a total loss for what to say now.

Frank furrowed his brows, his gaze following where Nancy's eyes had landed, and reached for her good hand, giving it a light little squeeze.

"You ready, babe?" he asked, speaking plainly of what he'd been wanting to do since Nancy got admitted into the hospital, and that was to go home and rest for a few days.

Nancy's dad would be presiding over the case, despite Nancy asking him if it would be a conflict of interest, was due to stop by in a few days and tell them the procedure of what was to come in the weeks following the trial preparation for her and Frank's testimony.

But for now, Frank knew he just wanted to get whatever fast food Joe wanted as a pit stop on the way home, curl up on the sofa with the young woman in his arms right now, and watch a movie with their friends until they all fell asleep, just like old times, and pretend that none of this had ever happened.

Nancy nodded, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she rested her head against the crook of Frank's shoulder.

When she spoke, as Frank opened up the backseat of the passenger side on the left to help Nancy in, she had lowered her voice low enough so that her next statement was meant for Frank and him alone.

"Together."

GEORGE stuck out her tongue at Joe's table manners and scrunched her nose in a look of pure disgust. She let out a sigh and shook her head to herself as she swiped a napkin out from underneath the brown paper sack that contained their food as Frank distributed everyone's order of double cheeseburgers and French Fries from Culver's.

"You dripped a spot of ketchup onto Bess's coffee table, Joe," she pointed out bluntly, shaking her head at Frank's younger brother's sometimes rude table manners.

Frank and Nancy on the drive home had decided they didn't want to return to their apartment just yet, so they were all staying over at Bess and Nick's place for the evening. Just for tonight.

She didn't know how the two were so different, yet alike in so many ways.

Not unlike Bess and me, I guess, she thought, glancing over at her cousin.

Bess was in the middle of showing Nancy a couple of different court-appropriate outfits that she was willing to let Nancy keep, saying she couldn't very well show up in jeans and a t-shirt, or she might be charged with contempt of court if she were to try it out.

"Sorry," Joe stammered through a mouthful of his double cheeseburger dripping in sauces and practically loaded with the works.

The girls were honestly amazed Frank's brother could even speak at all, as ravenous as Joe was in devouring his food.

George scrunched her nose.

Nancy shook her head to herself as Bess held up what looked like a form-fitting simple black dress that would pair well with a pair of black tights and one black boot.

"I can't wear that, Bess, it's way too…too…um, sexy, I think," Nancy hesitated as her voice trailed off in search of the right words.

She looked towards Bess's boyfriend, a mute, a handsome guy around Frank's age, a little older, in his early twenties, with a thick tuft of dark brown hair and steely grey irises.

Nick pursed his lips and shook his head. Don't bring me into it, his expression seemed to say, but he didn't bother writing out or texting what he wanted to say. By this point, they knew him well enough to be able to read his face that he almost didn't need his notepad and pen.

Nancy sighed and looked away, knowing she'd get no help from Bess's boyfriend.

"It's too revealing for court," she stammered, still trying to make Bess see it.

Nancy shuddered as Bess stuck out her bottom lip in a little pout and put the dress back up on its hanger and reached for a long-sleeved button-down gray and black striped non-iron blouse with a collar and a pair of black flared trouser pants.

"Better," she grumbled darkly. "That outfit should do just fine." She reached up a pointed hand and pointed to a small brown purse that Bess was holding up, ignoring the huge bright red one in her other hand. "That one. Neutral. The red might cause unwanted attention and be a distraction," Nancy pointed out matter-of-factly, cringing as her friend stomped her foot in ire.

The blonde bombshell rolled her eyes and shot Nancy a pointed look. "I really hate court!" she whined. "Why do they make you dress so…stuffy and boring?" Bess pouted.

Nancy exchanged a small smile with Frank and shrugged her shoulders as she turned back to Bess. She favored silence as the only apt response as she dunked a French fry into a cup of ketchup and shoved it into her mouth, along with a bite of her burger as Joe and Frank were arguing over which movie: Krampus or the 1970's version of Black Christmas, both dark, Christmas-themed horror flicks.

Though it wasn't even yet Friday and their weekly movie night, Nancy adamantly refused to let Devin destroy their psyches in this way and insisted their traditional scary movie watching experience remained unchanged by what happened to them both.

Bess exhaled in frustration while Joe and Frank argued over which movie to put on in the background and grabbed the hangers of clothes she'd brought out from Bess's closet in her and Nick's bedroom. She stalked her way to their room to put what she'd grabbed back and hang her court outfit on the door.

George settled back on her cousin's sofa, all of them except for Nancy and Frank sitting on the floor cross-legged in front of the coffee table Bess had bought second hand from Hannah, watching her cousin disappear into Nancy's room.

Bess was acting surprised that Nancy Drew wouldn't wear any of the outfits that she had picked out for her to wear to court, but George honestly couldn't see how any of this would be shocking to Bess by now.

Nancy had never really been into clothes and fashion as Bess had been, though even Nance could admit in needing a little help in coming up with something nice and appropriate enough to wear to testify at his trial.

With a soft exhale, Nancy leaned back on the sofa and rested her head on Frank's shoulder as he joined her.

He wound his arm around her and hugged her close, while balancing his plate of food on his knees, but didn't say anything.

She and Frank were seated on the sofa, with the ottoman in front of Nancy so she could prop up her foot, the one stuck in the black boot for a few weeks, while George, Joe, and Nick all sat on the floor. Frank was being pretty quiet as they settled in to watch the 70's version of Black Christmas.

Fitting, considering Christmas was about a week and a half off. He seemed occupied, not really able to enjoy his burger and fries all that much, pausing to pick his burger apart and give the extra pickle slices to Nancy.

Everyone else seemed content to pretend that everything was fine now.

Which, Nancy hoped it was. Or it would be, after the trial, and once Devin was behind bars where the creep rightfully belonged, only then did Nancy fully feel like she and Frank could try to put this incident behind them and really move on.

Beyond dwelling on things that neither of them in this room could change or have no control over, what else was there to do but for them to try to move past this?

"What about these?" Bess asked hopefully as she re-entered the room, handing Nancy a dress and cardigan. She must not have liked the black shirt and pants combination that Nancy had picked out at all.

Nancy grimaced. "They look expensive, Bess, where did you get those? The Banana Republic?" she snorted.

"No…" Bess scowled, looking down and speaking in a small voice. "Anthropologie…." She whispered quietly.

Nancy shook her head and frowned. She couldn't bring herself to wear any of the things that Bess offered. The two young ladies had drastically different tastes. Bess's preference tended to favor the more expensive stores, like Anthropologie and the Banana Republic, whereas Nancy considered it a treat to get most of her clothes—her good ones—from places like Target.

This wasn't surprising to Bess, but her friend did genuinely seem annoyed by Nancy's staunch refusal, as though she'd been hoping she would cave. Did she honestly expect Nancy to wear any of those when just the blouse that Bess was holding alone cost her more than she made at her full-time job at GAP? How were such fine-looking fabrics even legal, really?

Bess stood with her arms crossed over her chest, glowering at Nancy with narrowed blue eyes and pursed lips. Her friend continued to reject every single outfit that Bess had offered to loan her for court, save for the ensemble she'd pulled out of Nancy's own closet, the black shirt, and black pants.

Explaining this to George or to anyone else so late sounded so exhausting, but impressions were everything, especially in a court trial.

"I don't have anything you're going to like, Nancy," Bess frowned. "You make fun of me for my clothes literally every day, so I don't know what it is you want." She pouted.

Nancy shrugged. "The outfit I picked out, the black one, will do just fine. I can't wear anything too flashy or revealing, Bess," she sighed, growing slightly curt.

She swallowed as she fought to blink back tears at the thought of the upcoming trial she knew she didn't want to make an appearance at, but was going to have to do it.

"Just…let me wear something that won't cause my skin to spontaneously combust, I guess, Bess, thanks," she said in a small voice, unable to mask all of her emotions, as well as Nancy, would have liked to have.

Bess rolled her eyes at Nancy's attempt at a joke, though as she looked at Nancy, she was smiling softly.

"You're hopeless," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as though fighting off a splitting headache.

Nancy could only shrug, not sure what else to say.

"George, can she wear something of yours?" Bess asked, as she looked to her cousin, who rented out the other spare bedroom in Bess's apartment and split the cost of rent with her and Nick in order to save money.

Bess looked a little less annoyed than before. Maybe she'd caught on that Nancy was close to tears now.

"Sure," George shrugged, popping a fry into her mouth before brushing her hands on the seat of her pants and getting up to follow Bess to her room that was a spare that George stayed in whenever she came over.

"We'll make it into a contest," Bess chirped over her shoulder happily. "Find your top five shirt combinations and pants—yours or Nancy's. I'll do the same in my bedroom. Winner gets lunch tomorrow at that new diner that just opened up over on Cornwall."

"Deal!" George smirked and darted into her room. She was never one to turn down an offer of free food.

Nick gaped at his girlfriend and her cousin, shaking his head to himself as he looked towards Frank for help. He scribbled something on his notepad and shoved it into Frank's face so the man could read it.

But what Nancy had picked out was fine. Why all that? He asked, jerking his head towards the hallway.

Frank shrugged, pulling Nancy close as he shoveled another bite of burger into his mouth.

"Who knows, man." He looked towards Bess who was angrily stomping her way to George's room after hearing her cousin call to her thinking that she'd found a winner. "That will keep them busy for twenty minutes, at least."

Nick smiled slightly, probably feeling the same way that Nancy was right now, that their well-meaning friends were being at least a little bit too clingy to her.

Nancy didn't need a babysitter. She just needed to not have anyone hound her or Frank about what had happened for a while.

She just needed a place to exist, calmly, without any kind of questions or mollycoddling. She was betting right now Frank felt the same, as she peeked at him through a bite of French Fry and her burger while she slowly chewed her food.

She took her time swallowing her bite and chasing it with a swig of ice water before she finally found strength enough to speak to Frank about what was on her mind.

"You're my hero, Frank," Nancy whispered, turning slightly at the waist to look her boyfriend in the eyes, resting against his shoulder.

And he truly was. The situation they'd gotten themselves into couldn't be blamed on anyone but their attacker, they realized.

It was bad luck. Blaming anyone for it would be the same as blaming a car accident on leaving the house at the wrong time or being at the wrong place at the wrong time when it happened. Sometimes, bad things happened and there was nothing either one of them could do to prevent it from happening, especially in their line of work.

They couldn't have known Nancy would have had a stalker come into Bess's dad's shop and become fixated on her. But he was. He'd cornered them, poisoned Frank, kidnapped them, beat them up. They couldn't go back in time and choose not to be at that wedding, it wasn't anything they had done wrong. It was just something awful that had happened. They had been in the right place at the exact wrong time.

Frank being there had probably saved Nancy from so much worse. Devin had gotten a look in his eyes more than once that looked like he would have assaulted her. Maybe he would have killed her too, if he'd gotten the chance, despite his words of assurance he wouldn't.

It hadn't been perfect. Frank hadn't stopped Devin dead in his tracks immediately, but through the whole ordeal, Frank had done everything possible to keep Nancy calm. Her boyfriend really was her hero, in every sense of the word. And just tonight.

Frank Hardy had helped Nancy solve almost any problem she'd ever had, even back when she'd been dating Ned. It had been one of the reasons, among many, why Nancy and Ned Nickerson hadn't lasted.

Frank was simply one of few people in her life that Nancy could count on and trust unconditionally.

"I—I know I don't say it enough," Nancy spoke her, voice a hushed whisper. "Or ever…And I can't…I…" She trailed off, hoping Frank would understand how much she cared about him without her having to say it. She'd said it more than enough in the parking lot.

Nancy wasn't so great with emotions.

She loved and appreciated and cherished Frank so much, but right now, in the company of their friends at least, she was having trouble saying it to him as they sat on the sofa and watched the first of seven or so sorority sisters become the killer's next victim. Nancy leaned further against Frank, resting her head against her boyfriend's shoulder as the rest of what she was thinking, almost wanting to say, managed to get caught in her throat.

She couldn't get sappy. Not now. Not till later, when everyone else had gone to bed and they were alone.

"Love you too, Nance." His dark brown eyes twinkled as Frank put his arms around Nancy's shoulders and hugged her close, as Nancy smiled softly to herself.

She let herself relax and felt the tension in her shoulders and chest slowly melt away the longer they stayed like this. Frank Hardy was a wonderful boyfriend. And someday, he'd make an even better husband, when they were ready.

And even one day, a father to any children the two of them might have. Probably better than she could ever deserve.

And she hoped he knew it. If Frank didn't, Nancy silently vowed as the girls came back, George declaring herself the winner of Nancy's court outfit (much to Bess's chagrin!), to make sure that she spent the rest of her life with Frank until he knew that.

Forever with Frank Hardy by her side, in her mind wasn't nearly long enough.

But it was a decent enough start.

A/N: Fair warning, you guys, next chapter is purely Francy comfort/smut before all the delicious drama llama of the courtroom stuff, because damn it, my babies need it after the crap they've been through. I did do a bit of research and it does seem that lawyers can choose to represent their family members in certain instances, so Daddy Carson Drew to the rescue! Which I'm looking forward to, as I've always had a soft spot for Nancy's dad.

And yes, the slight passage of time does occur to let her flesh wound(s) heal up.

I like to think it's tasteful though, but if it's not your thing then you can feel free to skip. Just thought I'd warn you guys in case it's not your thing or whatever.