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Mermaids Part Two

Frankie Morales x Fem! Reader

Part One

Summary: After your first meeting, Frankie brings Lili to the fall festival to see you. What he doesn't expect is some of his secrets to be exposed.

Rating: Explicit 18+ (Fluff for this chapter and pining but we aren't getting spicy until the next one)

Content: Pining, mermaids, over protective Frankie, girl dad! Frankie, drinking, mentions of drug use, Benny!!!, Pope!!!, swimming, these two idiots in like with each other stripping

A/N: We're baaaack! Thank you for the love I received on part one and thanks again to @heythere-mel for being my beta reader and hyping me up!!

“No food in the tank.” 

“What’s the matter with my son trying to feed the fish? Cotton candy dissolves anyway.” A dad let out a gravely chuckle at his own little fish food joke, even though you’re not a fish. You are a mermaid, a fake mermaid. 

You were leaning on top of the tank, rolling your eyes at the sad attempt at a joke as your tank handler tried to ward off pieces of spun sugar being thrown up to the performers. 

You expected nothing less from the fall festival; you had already been there for a few hours and had an alright shift; some families were friendly, some families were rude and then here was the family of the evening, a young boy and his son throwing candy into the tank trying to get you to eat soggy food. 

What a night. You were almost ready to get off and go home already. Almost, because you were waiting for two very special guests to show up and make your night much better. Frankie and his adorable daughter Liliana were supposed to come and see you and based on the texts Frankie had sent, it seemed like they were still coming at some point but where were they?

“Sweetheart, you like cotton candy don’t you?” You’re pulled from your thoughts when you hear the gravel voiced man make more jokes at your expense. Unfortunately, you’re still at work and not only can you not talk but you can’t give him a piece of your mind. So you give him your stiffest smile and shake your head in disagreement. 

“Please, you lay in a tank all day and do dolphin tricks the least you can do is let my kid have some fun.” 

“Sir, you cannot throw food into the tank and if we have to ask you and your child again, you’ll have to leave.” Your handler says. 

“Is there a problem here?” You hear a familiar voice and before you can even see him, you feel your insides light up. 

There was Frankie, hair mussed in his cap striding over in his worn out jeans with Lili on his hip. He looked over at you and gave you a wink as your stiff smile came unglued for him and Lili.

Lili called out your name and wriggled out of Frankie’s arms to run towards the tank. She tugged onto the sleeve of another man that was with them, a broad, tall blonde with movie star good looks and a black MMA shirt on that stressed his muscles in all the right places. 

“Uncle Benny, I told you my friend was a mermaid!!!” Lili beamed at you as you waved back to her. They were truly a sight for sore eyes. Benny eyed you from your fin to your face and it made you feel slightly exposed, but not in the same way that Frankie had made you feel. He gave you a cheeky wink and wave. 

“Benjamin Miller.” He grinned at you, you could’ve sworn you saw in your peripheral Frankie’s eyes roll back. “What seems to be the problem here?” 

“I think the both of you should mind your business here and let my kid feed your friend.” The dad interjected. 

“I wanna feed the mermaid cotton candy!” The kid whined. 

“Mermaids can’t eat cotton candy, silly. Besides it’s not nice to waste food!” Lili interjected. You tried to hide your grin. 

“Liliana, be nice.” Frankie said in a low, stern voice. He walked up towards the dad, “Come on, man. Show’s over. He asked you to stop.” 

“I’ll do what I damn well please and so can my kid. If he wants to put candy in the tank, he can put candy in the tank. Hell, if I wanna pay her to take her top off she better— “

“Seriously?!” You yelled out, unable to keep character any longer. 

Now Benny, Frankie and your handler all cornered this man. “I think you need to leave before you have problems with all three of us.” Frankie lowered his voice. The man stared at Frankie for a moment, eyeing him with an uncomfortable familiarity. 

“Aren’t you in my NA meetings?” He sneered. Benny went to grab Lili, picking her up and covering her ears at the perfect moment. “What’s the matter? Too much coke in your system?” 

“You need to leave before we call the police.” You interjected. The man took his son, chuckling to himself as he walked away. All of you stood there frozen for a moment. An uncomfortable, faraway look on Frankie’s face. Benny looked down at the ground while he still had Lili in his arms. You felt your pulse quicken — that man you had just dealt with was disgusting, but he also knew Frankie from Narcotics Anonymous? What was the story there? Was it even your right to know? 

If there was ever a moment that Frankie wished that the ground would swallow him whole, it was then. He was coming to see you, hoping to be in good spirits for you and Lili and out of nowhere you get ahold of his dirty laundry. Would you even want to associate with him still hearing cocaine thrown around? 

“Listen… I think you’ve clearly had enough for one night. If you wanna take the rest of the night off, you’ve earned it.” Your handler said. You thanked him, looking towards your three guests. 

“I’m so sorry about all of that.” 

“I’m just sorry we were late and we couldn’t help with him sooner.” Frankie said to you, his eyes not meeting yours. There’s another uncomfortable silence. 

“Listen… since I’m done for the night, how about we all do some games together? Lili, do you like funnel cake?” You asked. She animatedly wriggled in Benny’s arms, bounding at the idea of free sugar. You told them you’d meet them once you were done getting dressed as your mind kept replaying what had just happened. 

——————————————

When you had come out to meet Frankie, Benny and Lili, the atmosphere was less awkward has you had gone through the night. You got to learn more about Benny; he was an old army friend of Frankie’s and called him by a strange nickname - Fish or Catfish. Benny was especially friendly, walking next to you and taking it upon himself to hold your bags. He cracked a lot of jokes and loved talking about his career as an MMA fighter, occasionally breaking up the walking the group had done to show off some punches, he even won you a stuffed animal.

You weren't exactly gullible; you knew Benny's angle and how he was desperately trying to flirt. And he seemed like a great guy, but considering he had a wandering eye for anyone in a 5-mile radius you knew that he just wasn't your type. He was clearly too much of a playboy and you wanted someone more grounded, more serious, more reserved, more—

"Fish!!" You heard Benny call out. "I think this little one deserves a funnel cake already!" He nudged towards an ecstatic Lili.

When you ate your funnel cakes, the four of you took a moment to relax after walking through the festival. The boys set the stuffed animals down on a bench while you and Lili ate your funnel cakes and watch the Music Express go by. Frankie watched you gently handling Lili, making her giggle and matching her animated conversation. He looked over towards Benny and saw him looking at you like a predator stalking his prey. He felt his insides melt into a molten hot goo.

“Lili loves her, man. That’s impressive.” Benny said, organizing Lili’s new stuffed animals he won for her.

“She hasn’t stopped talking about her since we met her.” Frankie chuckled, he playfully rolled his eyes but in the back of his mind he thought about how he loved the way Lili talked about you, you were a much welcomed addition into their lives.

"Sounds like little Lili's got a great eye for her new Aunt, doesn't she?" Benny winked, the girls turned back to look at them as he gave you a wave and a wink. You saw Frankie's face still as a statue and you gave a small wave back.

“No way, man.” Frankie said. “She’s a grad student. She’s got this whole mermaid thing going on, she’s way too busy to fuck with a pendejo like you.” 

Benny looked at Frankie with an appraising look on his face. A sly smirk that rivaled the Cheshire Cat crept on his face as Frankie saw his shit-eating grin from the corner of his eye. 

“What?” He asked tersely. 

“Fish, if I knew you were into her I would’ve just backed off!” Benny chuckled. Frankie fully turned over to Benny. 

“Just because I’m looking out for her doesn’t mean I like her, I just don’t want her getting her heart broken since I have never seen you date the same girl past two weeks.”

Benny held up his hands in mock defense. “Alright, alright. But for the record, I think your girl can hold her own. Totally didn't sink to my bait."

"She's a woman, not a fish." Frankie rolled his eyes, Benny could be such a kid. You needed an actual man in your life.

“That’s right, you’re the fish.” He chuckled to himself. “I’m just saying, whenever I tried to lay it on her she clearly had her eyes on someone else." Benny gave Frankie a knowing look, Frankie's curiosity getting the better of him. He looked over at you and Lili, you being ever so patient at her steamroll of questions. You were so patient, so composed to any chaos going on around you. He didn't want to add any more chaos into your life.

"I mean, hell, I could be wrong." Benny started. "But that doesn't mean I still won't try to help my boy out. Hey!" He called out. "Who wants to play Lili the Leapfrog?"

Lili hopped up and down, nearly dropping her funnel cake. "Me!! Me!! Me!!"

Benny ran over to Lili, turning back to give him a wink as you headed over to sit next to him on the bench.

"Sorry if I overdid it on the sugar rush." You chuckled. "I got her the cake but I'm sure you're gonna be paying for it."

"Sugar rush now equals sleepy Lili later." He smiled back, you admired his side dimple.

"Thank you for earlier. Seriously, some of these people can be such assholes and it's just so much to deal with sometimes."

“I’m just glad he can’t bother you anymore.” Frankie said. There was a moment of silence as he hesitated. “Listen, about what that guy said— “

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Frankie. That guy was a dick.” You assured him. 

“Yeah, but I still think you have a right to know. I don’t want you to think you’re hanging out with a total slime ball.” Frankie inhaled deeply before letting it all out. 

“When I got out, I just had a hard time adjusting. Shit just felt so different and out my control and I didn’t know how to handle it. So I went to…” Frankie doesn’t say it, he can’t say it. It’s like he’s compartmentalized that part of his life to his meetings so he can move forward and not look back. 

“And then me and Benny and a few of our army buddies went on a mission that went south. Really fucking bad.” He had a faraway look in his eyes, mournful and dejected. 

“It was just hard to adjust to the changes that happened once I came back. Liliana had just been born, me and her mom weren’t on the best ground, anyway. So I turned to something I shouldn’t have. I wasn’t there for Lili like I could’ve been. I lost my license. What got me out of rock bottom is when Lili’s mom and I split and she said if I didn’t clean up my act, I couldn’t be a part of her life.“

Frankie turns to watch Lili and Benny still passionately in their game of leapfrog. He had such a stillness and such gravitas in that look. "That was it for me. There was no way I would not be a part of that little girl's life."

"Of course. She's a special girl." You agreed.

"Anyway, it didn't take me long to reach out to people around me for help. I started going to meetings, Benny and the rest of our buddies really held me accountable. Now I'm 3 years sober, flying again and I have that wild child over there.”

You put your hand on Frankie's shoulder, trying to ignore the electricity that surged through your fingers. "I'm so proud of you. You shouldn't be ashamed at all about what some random asshole said. Hell, he’s in recovery too so why should he try to knock you down?" 

“Honestly? Sometimes I just feel like a hypocrite or something. I try to teach Lili to be good and stop people like that but I’m still getting my shit together.” 

"Everyone is getting shit together. You’re talking to a girl who plays in swim tanks for a living. What you did to save your relationship with Lili is so admirable. I could tell from the moment we met that little girl adored you. You’re not a hypocrite for wanting to be better.” 

Frankie realized several things in that moment; that you were absolutely right, and he had nothing to be ashamed of, that he wanted to take your small hand and fit it in his, rubbing the softness of his palm until his pulse steadied, and that Benny Miller was too god damn right sometimes. Sure, he could be a little shit, but the man can read people like a book and Frankie’s pages were wide open on his feelings towards you. 

Frankie offered to drive you home after another hour at the fair, dropping Benny off first who stopped trying to give you his Casanova act. You wondered if Frankie had said something, not that you would be upset. But if he did say something, was he trying to protect you as a friend? You looked over at him from the passenger seat from his truck, who was this man? This stoic family man whose entire world revolved around his daughter and his friends. That’s the person you need in your life and you’re so glad he stumbled into yours. 

He pulled up to your house as you gathered your things. 

“Thanks for the ride, Fish.” You grinned at him. 

“Oh god.” He groaned. “You do not have to call me that.”  

“How’d you get that nickname, anyway?” You bit your lip, Frankie admiring how lush the bottom one was. 

“That’s another story for another day.” Frankie sighed, giving you a lopsided grin that made your stomach somersault. 

“Another day soon?” You asked. 

Frankie couldn’t hide his excitement even if he tried. “Of course. If you’re free this week a few of my buddies and I are going to Magic Dog Brewery. I promise, these won’t hit on you, too.”

“Ah, so I have a chance with Benny. I couldn’t tell, he was so shy and subtle.” You winked at him, feeling your excitement when he rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you then?"

Damn Benny for hitting on her, damn Benny for being so right about how he felt. “See you then.”

Frankie was a man of his word which was another thing that attracted him to you. For the next two weeks if you weren’t studying or working you were talking to Frankie or getting ready to see Frankie.

Your friendship developed fast and Lili loved having you around. They’d come visit you at the park and afterwards you’d spend time together on the rides as Lili asked about your day. Frankie would send you videos from his flight lessons, leaving you awestruck with the views he got to see almost every day. He let you pick his brain over flying questions and he asked about your studies. At night you’d meet at the bar and you got to know the boys that rounded out Benny and Frankie’s group. 

There was Will, Benny’s older brother who was called Ironhead. He was stoic and serious to Benny’s relaxed attitude. And then there was Santiago, nicknamed Pope. Frankie’s best friend and not bad on the eyes either. When you met Santi, you got to see Frankie at his absolute most authentic self, laughing and carrying on in Spanglish and telling old stories. They all welcomed you with open arms and Frankie loved how you got on with the guys, whenever you’d have a sharp retort to their jokes he’d grin at you in awe, meeting your eyes at the moment. 

That was happening a lot. The two of you stealing private glances, your eyes meeting and sharing a private smile or a laugh. Frankie made you feel so comfortable in such a short time, your conversations flowing easily and when there was silence in the truck on the drives home it felt comfortable and open. You didn't need to fill the silence, you just needed his company.

One night you had found yourself back at the bar with Frankie and Pope. Liliana was with her mom so it was a rare night that Frankie could go out and he was practically vibrating with excitement. Besides Lili, these were his two favorite people and he could have an adult night out. 

You’d had a not so great shift, a rude mom yelling at you and your co-workers for not being allowed to use flash photography and making everyone pay for it. So you were ready to let loose and have some fun. You’d taken shot after shot and you were feeling loose, good. You were in good company with two great guys. 

Suddenly, Pope had suggested that the three of you grab something to eat and you offered to cook something at your place. Frankie eyed you, seeing the blurred vision in your eyes and hearing your slur. 

“You sure? We can just stop at McDonalds and call it a night.” Frankie said, he felt an air of protection over you, wanting to make sure you were getting home safe and not surrounded by any of these guys who kept eyeing you. Not just because he didn't like that they were looking at you, he wanted to make sure you were okay and didn't end up with a slime ball.

“Okay, fiiiiiine.” You pouted. Frankie audibly sighed, frustrated at himself that he could find you so damn cute doing anything.

Pope had decided he would get the food while Frankie drove you home. You were feeling so comfortable and relaxed. This is exactly the night you needed, with the man you needed. No, no. You tried to fight your drunk thoughts, not giving in to the temptation of the man sitting next to you in his truck. But damn, was he good looking. 

He had his baseball cap on of course to cover up his messy curls, his strong nose illuminating through the streetlights. His large hand on the armrest, tapping along to the music. You wanted so desperately to know how his hand felt around your waist, how his calloused skin would feel against your back, against your curves. 

“You good?” Frankie eyed you, not that he complained that you were staring at him. 

“Yeah, just trying to figure out what to do once we get to the house. I figure Pope might take a while. Wanna go swimming?” You blurted out. Frankie froze, saying he would love to he just didn’t have a swimsuit. 

“That’s what underwear is for, silly. You still have to see my pool, anyway.” Who was this girl and how were you so bold? Frankie was so nice for going along with it. He could tell you were drunk, you were sure of it. And he was just being your sweet friend that he usually was.

When you got to the house, you jumped out of Frankie’s truck before it was fully parked for even a minute. You opened the door to see the lights were off so your roommate was asleep. You waited until Frankie parked and grabbed his hand when he had arrived at the door. The both of you looked at each other briefly, feeling that same electricity at each other’s touch. His hand was big and calloused just like you had imagined. You pulled him towards the back of the house to the swimming pool. 

Frankie stood admiring your backyard for a moment, loving the tranquil feeling that your home made him feel. It was almost like a reflection of how you made him feel. He saw a hammock in the backyard's corner, fantasizing about laying on it with you leaning into him, reading him your studies as the two of you learned together.

You stripped your clothes off, peeling off your layers until you were left in your pink laced bra and thong that exposed your ass. You had completely forgotten what underwear you had on, but you also hadn't expected to go swimming spontaneously. Frankie turned and saw you change. He was trying to be respectful and not look at the way your hips hugged your underwear and the curve of your ass but this definitely wasn't helping his fantasy of imagining how you felt under him.

He took his shirt off, revealing his broad, tanned shoulders and soft stomach to you. This didn’t help any of your liquor induced urges. He removed his hat, carding through his dark curls that you wanted to run your own fingers through, envious of his own hands for being able to touch them. Frankie may have been out of the army for a while but you could definitely see he'd taken care of himself.

He took his jeans off, and the liquid courage was wearing off. You realized you were very half naked in front of your very attractive friend and you were truly alone for the first time since you’d met. 

“You chickening out on me?” Frankie joked as he read the reluctance on your face. You looked at him, eyebrow raised as you opened your palm for his. He cupped his fingers into yours as you moved towards the edge of the pool.  

“On three, Morales.” One… two… three…

Chlorine surrounded your senses as you felt the calm of the water. This was exactly what you had needed. You steadily moved through the pool at a leisurely pace as Frankie swam towards you in awe, his smile illuminating through the pool lights. 

“Drunk and still able to swim so well, impressive.”

“Reminder that I was a champion swimmer so I could out swim you in my sleep.” You grin at him. 

“Oh, is that so?” He gave you a devilish grin. Swimming towards you and playful dunking you underwater, you came back to surface and splashed at him, jumping on his back and laughing. He grabbed you off of him and you suddenly found yourselves extremely close, both of you still and silent with his hands at your waist. You wondered if he felt the same electric current that you did, you were burning so badly you almost wondered if he could feel your excitement.

You felt his hands slide further around your waist as you moved your legs to wrap around his large back.. You fingered through his curly hair so casually as if this wasn't the first time. It all felt so natural. Frankie gazed into your eyes. He’d never looked at you with such heat before. 

You could feel the energy between you shifting. He moved closer towards you, your eyes drifting to close as you felt his warm breath meet yours. 

And then… a bright fluorescent light shone throughout the backyard. You both quickly turn to see two figures standing near the sliding doors. 

“Hey!!” You hear Santi’s familiar voice and the moment is gone, snatched away so quickly. “No lo puedo creer! I get ditched so you can play Aquaman?”

Frankie was already so far away from you, you weren’t sure how he could move so quickly. Not close enough to reach your arms out to him so his large arms could hold you and you felt incredibly bare. Taylor, your roommate, came around the corner in her robe. One of your closest friends, Taylor knew about Frankie but I don't think she expected this to be the way she had met him. As curious as she had been about him, her eyes were currently attentive to Santiago.

“Luckily, cariño, your very lovely friend over here helped me out. She let me in and gave me the sweetest cup of coffee I think I’ve ever had.” Santi grinned at Taylor as she giggled, twirling a lock of hair around her fingers like a schoolgirl. Taylor was the one to break hearts so this was a shock.

“Come in, dry off and have some coffee! Santiago brought McDonalds!” Taylor called out. You and Frankie looked at each other from across the pool. Frankie swam over to the edge, muttering under his breath about tiempo de mierda. You had no choice now but to get out and enjoy your friends as if nothing had just happened. 

That night you, Frankie, Santi and Taylor stayed up chatting about anything and everything. It was the same feeling of comfort you had always felt around Frankie, loving the dynamic of this group. You looked at Taylor and Santi flirting shamelessly, happy that your best friend and Frankie's best friend got along. You met eyes with Frankie and he gave you an identical smile. Damn, you. wish you hadn't been interrupted in the pool.

At some point you peered out the window and realized that the sun was coming up. The boys had decided it was time to make their way to their respective homes as you said your goodbyes. Santi greeted you first to make sure he could give Taylor an all-encompassing hug, placing his hand on her cheek, stroking it as if he was going off to war and not just to his own bed.

“I’ll call you? I’ll take you out somewhere nice this week, cariño.” He looked at her with his molten dark eyes, turning on a certain charm that clearly worked on Taylor as all she could do was give a small nod and giggle as he kissed her hand.

You and Frankie looked at the two of them in awe and then at each other, you let out a nervous laugh and you weren’t sure why. Nothing about spending time with Frankie was awkward, but it felt like the night’s events were catching up to you. You felt incredibly brazen for touching him and stripping down to your underwear in front of him. You could feel the heat creep up on the back of your neck. 

“Did you have fun?” You asked in a small voice. 

“I always have fun with you.” Frankie grinned, looking down at you and taking your small hand into his. It was so rough and calloused, you couldn’t help but remember how they felt along your sides, your legs around his huge back. Snap out of it you could hear your inner voice. 

“Lili is going to be back tomorrow night. I know you’re usually off on Friday nights. How about you come over for dinner and a movie?” You bit your lip and nodded at Frankie’s question, of course he already knew your schedule. What couldn’t this man take from you? 

He engulfed you in a hug and you could smell the chlorine mixed with his natural scent. You inhaled a little longer to take it in. 

Frankie left your house with you and Taylor watching and leaning on your front door. He waved towards you both as Taylor smiled to him, talking to you through gritted teeth. 

“One down, one to go.” She grinned. 

“Excuse me?!” You balked. 

“He needs to hurry up and ask you out already. Who knows? Maybe we could double date.” 

You scoffed at Taylor’s suggestion but felt the heat rise on the back of your neck. It was impossible to spend this time with Frankie and not continue to fall head over heels for him. You respected that he clearly hadn’t asked you out yet for a reason, probably to focus on Lili and his sobriety, but is a crush on your friend that bad? Your tall, sexy, stoic, brilliant friend? 

"Tay?"

"Yeah?"

"I am so fucked."