A/N: A purely Francy smut chapter to break up all the courtroom drama upcoming. Feel free to skip if it isn't your thing.
27
THE night before Devin's trial was to commence was a sleepless one for them both, but especially Nancy. It wasn't the chilled night air nor the sound of the howling wind as a fresh snowfall swept its way through River Heights that roused Nancy from her sleep.
Her heartbeat, now a throbbing mass of corded muscle, thundered relentlessly in her chest, as a flicker of rapid color and a wave of muted, water-filtered echoes reverberated through her as if Devin himself had plunged his knife straight into her chest. A half-formed, pitiful sob found its way to her lips, yet her tongue refused its release, sending the little noise away with a rough, painful swallow.
Nancy crumpled, twisting, and curling herself further in her bed, willing for the stench of blood to leave her nose.
Three weeks had come and gone and yet the screams and images had relinquished their iron hold on Nancy's mind. Sometimes, the events of that blood-soaked night would play out verbatim, each moment strictly accounted for, and Nancy could remember everything that Devin and the shopkeeper had said. However, what was even more terrifying, was when the memories of that night would change, becoming untrue and warped.
She would cry and beg for relief from the body as her body expelled what would have become her and Frank's beloved baby, had they kept it. Nancy liked to believe that she would and trusted Frank at his word when her boyfriend had said yes.
In the midst of her personal Hell, even in her nightmares, Nancy had a sort of a hallucination. A blinding white flare of light glared its way into her eyes, very nearly blinding her, and an image of a laughing child floated its way across Nancy's vision.
It was a little girl, with large blue eyes like her own, a head of black wavy curls just like her father, her chubby hands reaching up to Nancy, asking to be held and comforted, but before Nancy could reach for her and Frank's daughter, this beautiful image began to distort, the child beginning to turn before her eyes, like a shapeshifter, into a hideously malformed wretch.
It screeched and clawed at itself in utter malice, and then melted into a stain on the floor, a large, slimy slug the color of blood.
As a new mom, Nancy felt there would have been more to her than what was seen, a desire to be as good a mother as her mother, Kate had been, though Nancy couldn't really remember her all that well, just in fragments, really.
All the love and compassion Nancy would have been able to give this child would finally have an outlet alongside Frank.
But this was the child that would never be, the one who, in its early stages of life in her dreams, trickled out of Nancy's body and onto the hardwood store of the convenience store, leaving her screaming.
So, it was, her own screams woke her up.
Her loud gasp caused Frank to bolt up in bed alongside her. As he sat, concerned, beside Nan, Frank noticed how pale his girlfriend had become, and how deeply set in the dark circles underneath her eyes had grown. He was afraid she was getting sick.
"Nan? I'm here, baby, I'm here, I—I got you," Frank tried to reassure Nancy, resting his hands on his arms to calm her down.
She tried to smile at him through her weakness, but the terror of her nightmare at what she and Frank had lost still marked her pale features.
Nancy let out a shuddering breath and calmed at Frank's gentle touch. "My—my dreams won't let me sleep," she gasped hoarsely, not even aware she was clutching onto the little white teddy bear Frank had bought her from the hospital's gift shop like a lifeline.
She'd taken to sleeping with it lately as comfort and was grateful Frank didn't poke fun at her for it.
Nancy swallowed a lump in her throat, the vision of her boyfriend's handsome face and tousled dark hair lulled her back into a strange sense of serenity, although her mind wasn't about to soon forget the images of their lost baby that plagued at her mind.
"That's all they are, baby," Frank reminded Nancy patiently. "Just your imagination playing tricks on you," he tried to ease her mind, afraid it didn't work.
As he had feared, Nancy fell silent at Frank's description, pulling her knees up to her chest, careful to be mindful of the bandage at her thigh, though her flesh wound was steadily healing at a quick pace, thanks to Frank being dutiful about helping her change the bandages, and careful not to touch it otherwise except to apply the bandages and ointment.
"But they were…real, Frank," she whispered hoarsely, as Nancy looked at him with such pain and fear in her eyes at the memories she was recalling.
Frank sighed and rested his head against hers. "I know," he murmured softly. "I—I'm so sorry, babe."
She did her best to smile sweetly at him and nodded. She hadn't wanted to worry Frank more than he already was.
"Someday we're gonna get past this, Nance," Frank promised. "One day, it's going to be nothing more but a bad dream," he said as he kissed Nancy's forehead tenderly, while she held him like a lifeline.
She believed her boyfriend and looked forward to that day. Hopefully, it would come for her sooner rather than later.
Nancy nodded and leaned into Frank, and it was then that the man took hold of her, almost fiercely, pressing his lips against hers.
One of his arms wound gently around her waist, and his free hand clasped at the back of Nancy's hair, pressing her mouth tighter against his.
"Can you…?" he murmured, his voice heavy with desire for her as he reluctantly broke apart, peering down at her form through her oversize grey and purple t-shirt, seeming to weigh the pros and negatives of initiating what had been on their mind for the last three weeks or so.
Nancy nodded, her cheeks flushed high with color.
"It's just a flesh wound," she whispered. "Don't touch it, and I'll be fine," she tried to reassure the man.
Her confirmation was enough to make Frank moan. In seconds, he was hovering as gently as he could over her on her side of their king-size mattress he'd bought off their parents when his folks had upgraded theirs.
If Frank had better control over himself, he would have slowed down to make their first time together since this whole mess had started more romantic for her, but as it was, now Nancy had him pinned to the mattress as she was the one to switch positions, straddling his lap and clawing at his fleece pajama pants with such violence, like the fabric had personally offended Nancy somehow by existing as a barrier between their two affection-starved bodies.
Frank had no idea how he'd lost the upper hand in the few minutes it had taken for him to calm her down off of Nancy's emotional high from her dreams.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, Nan, please," Frank insisted, grabbing at Nancy's clawing hands and stopping her from literally ripping his t-shirt off him.
Her left eye gave a spasmodic twitch in irritation.
"Frank, please don't go back on me now—" she started to say, though she was shushed as Frank held a finger to her lips.
Her breaths caught in her throat as she waited, staring down her slender nose at him, both of her hands splayed out across Frank's broad chest.
"I—I'm not, baby I just…" he promised, but staring at the intense heat burning in Nancy's darkening blue eyes was unbelievably intimidating, especially when they reflected the fire in his own dark eyes. "I'm just…I—I want you to be sure. What I want from you is final, Nan, do you feel me? Do you get me, babe?" Frank told her, trying to be stern and at the same time hold back the vulnerable way he was feeling as Nancy paused to weigh her decision one last time.
They had talked about this at length. She was more than ready. Frank was glad that Nancy took her time and didn't rush her decision on what she wanted without at least giving it a moment or two of proper thought. But when Nancy took a second too long, he whimpered.
"Please. Be sure," he begged, biting down on his lip.
But instead of gracing him with a verbal confirmation for an answer, Nancy smiled softly at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest, gripping the hem of her oversize t-shirt, and lifting it above her head, tossing it haphazardly in the corner of the room. It could stay there in the shadows for all she really cared. Frank snorted, stroking a knuckle along the smooth surface of Nancy's bare stomach.
"Fair enough, Nan. You're unlike any woman I've ever met before. Please don't ever change," Frank begged her.
A wonderful and terrible ache ran through him as he gripped her tightly around the waist with one arm and helped her to switch positions while not touching her thigh, as promised, effectively pinning her beneath him against the floor.
"Don't tease," she begged, as she tangled her slender fingers in his hair and held him tightly against her. "Don't feel shy, Frank," she murmured, as she arched her hips upward. "I'm yours, remember?" she whispered into Frank's ear.
His. His Nancy, who was as loyal and loving as she was kind. His Nancy, who was waiting feverishly for him to take what she was offering, and desperate to accept what he was trying to give her. Luckily, Frank hadn't been planning on waiting long.
Not that he'd planned any of this really. But it had been way too long since he and Nancy had last had sex, and considering what she had just gone through, he was reluctant to do it again. And he was desperately trying not to embarrass himself in the process while doing it.
It was rushed, hot, panicked, and utterly desperate.
The moment he chucked his own t-shirt in the corner, landing not that far from where she had thrown hers, Nancy was winding her arms around his neck and kissing him with vigor and passion that wasn't like any of the other times they had spent a night together.
Frank kissed her back, his lips meeting hers with fervor as he slid his hand up and palmed at her breast. Nancy moaned against his lips, her hips bucking, eliciting a muffled groan from his throat.
She moved against him as he deepened the kiss. He took his time with his girlfriend, drinking all of Nancy in as though he thought he would never see her again, memorizing the taste of her sweet lips, her neck, the glorious swell of her breasts. His name fell from her lips, rising in pitch as he rocked his hips, pushing against her carefully but mindful to go no further.
When he caught Nancy eyeing him almost ruefully, he knew it was time. The slight nervousness in her smile didn't escape his notice.
She was a bit afraid.
"Will you be okay?" he asked her again, worried.
She nodded. "Yes. If I'm not, I'll tell you, Frank."
Reassured, Frank awkwardly shifted his weight and tried to ignore the way his heart slammed into his chest, his tongue suddenly feeling dry in his mouth. He pushed forward, gradual, and slow, hoping with all that he was that he wasn't hurting Nancy by giving into this.
Nancy gasped and closed her eyes, her mouth open and her arms tightening around his back. Unsure of how to vague his girlfriend's reaction, Frank immediately stopped, despite that deep and carnal urge that screamed within his chest to keep going.
"Are you hurt? What's wrong, Nan?" he murmured, cupping her cheek, as she looked up at him through her lashes, turning her face into his palm and planting a soft kiss there.
"Don't stop," she begged. "Keep going. I'm fine."
He could only oblige and do as Nancy had asked. She was soft and warm and felt like home.
Yet, Nancy still felt cold compared to the heat scorching off his body in waves and burning against her where the two of them touched, which was everywhere, as neither could seem to get close enough to the other to really be satisfied. Eventually, he managed to build up a semblance of rhythm that had Nancy curling her toes and arching her back, shallow, ragged gasps spurning him on. He leaned his head into her shoulder, losing himself in the warm feeling of her, the desperation was almost incendiary, almost unable to bear it.
Nancy threw her head back and moaned. But Frank was totally silent and overwhelmed—dumbfounded almost and wholly engulfed in a flood of sensations he had long since forgotten what this had felt like then. Nancy slowly rotated her hips the once, just the motion stealing away what little breath he still had left in his lungs. She moaned his name each and every time Frank filled her.
Her nails dug into his shoulders, his hands pressed carefully into her hips. She locked her ankles behind his back as his teeth grazed against her throat, her slender fingers threading shakily through his tousled dark hair.
"I'm so…I'm so…" She murmured incoherently, as her body tightened painfully around him. "Don't stop, Frank..." she whispered longingly.
He gripped her thighs, a little harder than he intended, but it couldn't be helped. Nan was driving up crazy. He tried to loosen his grip a little, though nothing could stop his fingers from badly shaking.
Nancy shifted her weight onto her knees and gripped Frank's calloused hands.
Slowly she pulled them up to her breasts. Desperate to feel her, he set a growl with each push and leaned down to kiss her. A whimper built in her throat as it pressed behind her lips. Frank held onto her, one hand buried in her hair, the other pressed deep into her lower back.
Feeling her, hearing her after thinking that he was never going to get to experience this again was too much for him to bear, and when he felt Nancy's entire body shudder with a startling passionate cry that he hoped didn't bleed through the walls and wake up their next-door neighbors, ecstasy shot through his veins, and for a moment, he saw nothing but white.
Frank wasn't sure how much time had passed after he'd opened his eyes again. Five seconds? Five minutes? An hour? None of that mattered anymore. When he felt ready, he returned to their bedroom and peered down at Nancy through the darkness.
She looked no more put together than he felt. Her red curly hair was tousled in a mess of red and gold, her cheeks flushed high and pink with color, and her eyes were lazy and heavily lidded as if she'd had too much wine with her painkillers, though Frank wasn't letting her have anything until she came of age, legally, at least.
Nancy offered the man a lopsided smile and ran her fingers through his bangs, pushing them away from his eyes and giggling to herself.
It was an hour later before either one of them could even summon up the strength on their throats to speak.
"Are you okay, Nan?" Frank asked softly, his voice hoarse as he studied her laying on her right side. He could feel it still, he could smell the sweat and arousal, and Nancy's lavender shampoo clung to her, and that scent drowned out all the other smells.
Nancy chuckled quietly in reply, running her fingers through her curls in the hopes of taming them back. "Can we…can we do that again?"
Frank could only let out a sigh of contentment as he leaned forward and kissed the space between her breasts where his head now comfortably nestled.
Barely able to move, Frank snuggled further against her and whispered, "Marry me, Nance?" he asked. "I...I thought I could wait, but...seeing you almost get away from me, made me realize that...I don't want wait to anymore," he whispered, listening to her heartbeats slow down.
"Absolutely," Nancy answered in a slightly teasing lilt without a moment of hesitation, running her fingers through his dark hair. Both her words and the action drew a growl of contentment from his chest. "Just warning you though, Hardy, I'm a really bad cook."
Frank smiled. Happy. "Don't worry, Nan. We're gonna make it, you, and me. We'll survive this, Nance. I promise."
For the first time since the two of them had been kidnapped, as the sound of her rhythmic breathing and the feel of her chest steadily rising and falling slowly lulled him to sleep, he honestly felt like they would.
And Frank couldn't wait to marry Nancy. Except for only one hurdle after Devin's trial was concluded laid in their way before he could make Nancy his wife, their young ages be damned, one that he absolutely dreaded more than anything else, since he wasn't sure how this person was going to react.
One that made his blood run cold and his heart almost ceased its rhythmic breathing in the confines of his chest.
Telling Carson...
A bit of a shorter chapter than the previous heavier ones, but hopefully still good.
I perfectly accept that I might get some crap for pairing Francy and having them marry at such a young age, but c'mon, they're soulmates, obviously, so what's the point in having them wait?
Besides, I like to think Kate and Carson married at a young-ish age, so it's sort of mirroring her parents' situation, albeit hopefully with a much happier outcome. In addition, I like to think it's a nice light-hearted moment in an otherwise dark and kind of gritty story. I actually have no idea if Kate/Carson married young, but for some reason, I just see it.
Like they met in college or something. I played Silent Spy a long time ago and could have sworn they had mentioned something, but I might be misremembering. Oh well. Not really relevant for this story, so on with the show!
Next up, courtroom drama and Carson has himself a moment! :D