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rsadelleSo remember when I said I was writing a snippety version of my gay!Frankie bunny? This is that. Thanks/curses go to lake-fic for encouragement and JoBros chatter.
When Frankie's five, he has no idea his family is different from other families. It's just his family. He doesn't know anything else.
***
When Frankie's eight, his family is the most amazing thing ever. He has three super-cool older brothers who hang out with him, and he gets to travel around on a tour bus and be on a TV show.
He just figures he's different because of the way they live, because they're famous.
***
When Frankie's thirteen, he hates their life. He never gets a chance to make friends. No one cares about him, just about his brothers. He just wants a normal life with a normal family.
***
When Frankie's sixteen, his family's life is the best thing to ever happen to him. Dani's pregnant again, Joe's unhappily married to an actress, and Nick's getting divorced. Pretty much no one cares where he is or what he's doing as long as he keeps his grades up. It's easy enough to sneak away and let everyone just assume he's with someone else.
No one ever thinks to ask him if he wants to wear a purity ring, and he never brings it up.
***
When Frankie's eighteen, he enrolls in UCLA, moves into the dorms, and joins a frat. He's smart, so school's not bad, and his roommate turns out to be pretty cool. The frat, though, the frat is awesome. It's like having a whole family full of brothers who are his own age.
He never comes out to anyone because it never occurs to him that he should. He just dates guys, and that's the way it is.
Every once in a while, snapshots of him coming out of a club with a date show up on TMZ. The comments are usually about his brothers or his clothing. If his parents notice, they'll call and remind him he's too young to drink.
***
When Frankie's twenty-two, he goes to work with his family and meets Aaron at Starbucks. There wasn't anything he really wanted to do after college, and he knows the ins and outs of the family business, which made working in it seem like a good thing to do. Sometimes, though, he has to get the hell away from them, which is why he's taking his coffee break away from work.
Aaron invites Frankie to share his table and they exchange numbers when Frankie has to get back to work.
They take things slow and date for three months before they have sex.
Two months after that, Frankie takes Aaron to his parents' house for dinner. The place is utter chaos, his nieces and nephews running around, Joe still unhappily married to the actress and tense about it, Nick getting divorced again. Everything quiets down while they say grace, but it picks up again almost immediately, and his family asks Aaron the bare minimum of getting to know you questions.
They do Thanksgiving lunch with Aaron's family and dinner with Frankie's. They tell both families that Aaron's moving in with Frankie.
Kevin pulls Frankie aside with a frown and asks, "Are you sure you want a roommate?"
"I don't want a roommate," Frankie says. "I want Aaron."
Kevin blinks at him, and Frankie catches him watching them off and on for the rest of the evening.
Joe finds him a couple of days later and hugs him tight. "I'm really happy for you," he says.
Frankie hugs back maybe a little tighter than is warranted, but it's been a while since his brothers have had much time for him.
A few days before Christmas, Frankie and Aaron watch a concert from sidestage. Halfway through, Nick looks over at them and says, "Tonight, we're dedicating this next song to Frankie and Aaron," and then they play the song Nick wrote for Kevin and Danielle's wedding.
When they say goodnight to everyone before they go home to their own place, Frankie's parents hug Aaron too.
When Frankie's five, he has no idea his family is different from other families. It's just his family. He doesn't know anything else.
***
When Frankie's eight, his family is the most amazing thing ever. He has three super-cool older brothers who hang out with him, and he gets to travel around on a tour bus and be on a TV show.
He just figures he's different because of the way they live, because they're famous.
***
When Frankie's thirteen, he hates their life. He never gets a chance to make friends. No one cares about him, just about his brothers. He just wants a normal life with a normal family.
***
When Frankie's sixteen, his family's life is the best thing to ever happen to him. Dani's pregnant again, Joe's unhappily married to an actress, and Nick's getting divorced. Pretty much no one cares where he is or what he's doing as long as he keeps his grades up. It's easy enough to sneak away and let everyone just assume he's with someone else.
No one ever thinks to ask him if he wants to wear a purity ring, and he never brings it up.
***
When Frankie's eighteen, he enrolls in UCLA, moves into the dorms, and joins a frat. He's smart, so school's not bad, and his roommate turns out to be pretty cool. The frat, though, the frat is awesome. It's like having a whole family full of brothers who are his own age.
He never comes out to anyone because it never occurs to him that he should. He just dates guys, and that's the way it is.
Every once in a while, snapshots of him coming out of a club with a date show up on TMZ. The comments are usually about his brothers or his clothing. If his parents notice, they'll call and remind him he's too young to drink.
***
When Frankie's twenty-two, he goes to work with his family and meets Aaron at Starbucks. There wasn't anything he really wanted to do after college, and he knows the ins and outs of the family business, which made working in it seem like a good thing to do. Sometimes, though, he has to get the hell away from them, which is why he's taking his coffee break away from work.
Aaron invites Frankie to share his table and they exchange numbers when Frankie has to get back to work.
They take things slow and date for three months before they have sex.
Two months after that, Frankie takes Aaron to his parents' house for dinner. The place is utter chaos, his nieces and nephews running around, Joe still unhappily married to the actress and tense about it, Nick getting divorced again. Everything quiets down while they say grace, but it picks up again almost immediately, and his family asks Aaron the bare minimum of getting to know you questions.
They do Thanksgiving lunch with Aaron's family and dinner with Frankie's. They tell both families that Aaron's moving in with Frankie.
Kevin pulls Frankie aside with a frown and asks, "Are you sure you want a roommate?"
"I don't want a roommate," Frankie says. "I want Aaron."
Kevin blinks at him, and Frankie catches him watching them off and on for the rest of the evening.
Joe finds him a couple of days later and hugs him tight. "I'm really happy for you," he says.
Frankie hugs back maybe a little tighter than is warranted, but it's been a while since his brothers have had much time for him.
A few days before Christmas, Frankie and Aaron watch a concert from sidestage. Halfway through, Nick looks over at them and says, "Tonight, we're dedicating this next song to Frankie and Aaron," and then they play the song Nick wrote for Kevin and Danielle's wedding.
When they say goodnight to everyone before they go home to their own place, Frankie's parents hug Aaron too.