AN: This is literally my first attempt at fanfiction so pls be gentle lol.
The Plane
A house party wasn't exactly Frank's idea of a good time, even if it was at Bess' house. Crowds of people, constant noise, the pressure to drink too much… He hated every part of it, but when Nancy had called to ask if he and Joe would come to River Heights for Bess' birthday, Frank couldn't find it in himself to say no. He would've had a hard time turning down an excuse to spend time with Nancy on a good day, but it was currently impossible given the delicate timing of her request. She and Ned had broken up a few weeks ago, and Frank knew that Nancy's sudden invitation was mostly due to her need for the comfort of friends.
Friends.
Frank reminded himself of that word on the plane several times. Nancy needed friends right now. Not him doing something insane like confessing that he'd been in love with her for the last several years. He was there to be her friend, to be a shoulder to cry on or to cheer her up, to help her get through this. No matter how tempting it was knowing that she was finally single, he wouldn't cross that line. He cared about her too much to make this time any more difficult than it must already be for her.
"Uh, earth to Frank?"
Joe's words pulled Frank out of his thoughts and back to the present moment, which was 30,000 feet in the air on a plane headed for Illinois.
"Sorry," Frank muttered, "Just thinking…"
"About Nancy? And how she's single?" Joe said, grinning.
"No!" It wasn't the first time Frank had lied to his brother when the subject of Nancy came up. "I was thinking about our last case. It was a close call and I'm glad we all made it out okay."
"So you were thinking about Nancy…" Joe was still grinning. As much as Frank wanted to smack him upside the head, it was a fair jab. They had partnered with Nancy on the last case, a jewel robbery in Belgium, so it wasn't exactly the best way to argue that she wasn't on his mind.
The case in Belgium had been nothing short of incredible. Frank had worked with Nancy plenty of times before, but something about the last case felt… different. They had been so in sync, practically reading each other's minds as they picked apart the clues that led them to bust the jewel ring. Not to mention the way they kept finding themselves having late night conversations about life at the hotel bar, long after Joe had called it a night and the case notes had been put away. If Frank didn't know better, he could've sworn Nancy had felt something too. He did, however, know better, which brought him back to reality for the second time that day.
"The whole thing just seems off," Joe continued, apparently oblivious to Frank's mental side note. "For Nancy and Ned to break up, there had to be a good reason. She keeps insisting that it 'just didn't work out'. You don't need detective skills to know that she's not telling the whole story."
"Whatever happened, it's Nancy's business, not ours. She's not a suspect, she's our friend," Frank said firmly.
Friend.
Frank would just keep repeating the word to himself as many times as it would take to stick.