Who: Joe and Belle (aka Tink) What: Joe explaines what to expect when one is considering dating a Hardy Brother (also known as: Frank is about as romantic as a fish) When: Backdated to shortly after Tink's birthday Where: Tink's shop Rating/Warnings Low Status: Complete!
After Joe’s shift at the garage, he headed to the gym. There he put in a quick work-out, then showered, changed into his normal street clothes and headed to Tink’s shop. Her birthday had been last weekend, but Joe hadn’t had the chance to either wish her a happy birthday or give her the gift he’d gotten her. He’d gotten his hands on an old electrical engine he thought she would enjoy dissecting, or maybe use for one of her inventions.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to go back to his apartment to cook anything to bring to her so he picked up some take-out and a little chocolate cake for dessert and headed to Tink’s shop. He was kind of curious about how her birthday evening had gone. He’d heard a little bit from Frank, but he was interested to hear it from the birthday girl herself.
Joe let himself into the shop, take-out in one hand, cake in the other and a bag carrying her gift slung over his shoulder. “Belle?” He called out into the shop. “Are you here?”
They didn’t get a whole lot of foot traffic at the fix-it shop. Tink wasn’t really expecting anyone else to come by--she hadn’t had any calls or emails asking for appointments. (Actually, the website had a lot more traffic now that she was in control of it, and she’d set up a spot on the site where people could schedule appointments without having to call in ahead of time.) So Tink was in the back, behind the curtain behind the register, working on an antique clock that a customer had brought in. It was beautiful--all the clockwork visible through the glass case--and exceedingly old. Every piece needed to be carefully disassembled, cleaned, and then reassembled. Thankfully, all the glass pieces were still in good shape, so they wouldn’t have to try and recreate anything.
“Yep!” Today she was wearing her magnifying glasses. They made her look bug-eyed and a little on the cuckoo side. But her hair was drawn back, and her tongue was pressed carefully between her lips as she put the clean clockwork gears back into place. She was running way ahead of schedule. Hopefully her boss would be pleasantly surprised when he came in in the morning to find the clock was cleaned and ticking away under the glass. “I’m back here! Come on back.”
Joe headed in the direction of Tink’s voice, brushing the curtain out of the way. “Are you busy?” He asked before he got a look at the magnifying glasses on her face, which caused him to smirk. “Love the look,” he teased playfully. “Can you see tomorrow with those on?”
All joking aside, he placed their food on the counter for her. “Food, just as I promised aaaand, cake!” He placed the little cake in front of her with flourish. “Happy birthday, Tink”
Tink turned with a grin at Joe who came through the curtain. She knew he was planning on bringing dinner--they’d texted about it. It was still nice to see him. “Not really. Just wrapping things up.” She motioned to the clock. Only two screws were left, and she could turn the thing on and put the glass case over it.
“What? Ohhh, no. They just make me look funny.” She lifted a hand and adjusted the glasses. “Your brother called me Maurice from Beauty and the Beast first time he saw them.” She pulled them up off her head and set them aside. “Yay! Cake!” She bounced on her toes, and wrapped an awkward arm around him in a hug.
Oh, Frank, you hopeless romantic. Joe laughed. “Yeah, that’s pretty spot on. Also, the best character in the whole freaking movie.” He took a step back from the counter so Tink could bounce over to hug him. He hugged her back tightly. “Its chocolate, I hope you like it. And, before I forget, I got you this.” He handed her the bag he’d had over his shoulder and handed it to her. “I wasn’t sure how to wrap it.”
Tink chuckled. “Him and Chip.” She grinned. “And who doesn’t like chocolate? Only stupid people and those with chocolate allergies.” It was mostly a tease. Mostly. When he offered her the bag, she took a step back and raised an eyebrow. “What… is this…?”
But when she opened the bag, she gasped. “This… is awesome! Where’d you find this?” She moved over to the table to set the bag down, and tugged the engine out.
Joe knew the little engine would be a hit and her reaction was perfect. “Ebay,” he answered her with a grin. As she poured over her present, he went about dishing them each up some food to eat. “Sorry I’m a bit late with the birthday wishes. So, you and Frank went out. Did you guys have a good time?”
“It’s okay! This way more than makes up for it.” Tink spoke as she fumbled with the parts, already turning the thing over and inspecting where all the screws went. She couldn’t wait to take it apart and put it back together again.
But then she flushed a deep pink. And when Tink went pink, she went pink. This was the embarrassed!Tink and not furious!Tink face. When she got mad, she went red.
“Um… we did.” And then she tried to smile, but it came out like a deer in headlights.
Joe raised a brow. What did Tink have to be embarrassed about? It was just Joe. But he smirked a little bit despite himself. “Wow, you look as though I asked you a loaded question. It’s alright. You like my brother, don’t you? Like a lot”
“Well… I guess? I mean… I dunno, he’s cool to hang out with. And he makes me laugh. And we get into these pun wars that just… no one else puns the way he does.” She smiled down at her hands now sitting still on the engine and realized she was gushing. Tink was gushing. This didn’t often happen. This wasn’t like her. She cleared her throat.
“He kissed me on Saturday.” Was that weird to tell his brother? It just sort of came out. Tink was excited to have someone to tell. Someone who wasn’t her own brother.
Joe chuckled a little. Yes, Frank had a way with puns. Joe had spent his entire life listening to and rolling his eyes at them. He looked at Tink carefully. It wasn’t just the way she was spoke when Frank became a part of the conversation. It was the way she acted, they way she looked - blushing and averting her eyes, grinning with a happy kind of spark in her expression. Hell, it was written all over her face and Joe had suspected for a while now that Tink had some pretty strong feelings for his brother. The question was, was she aware of them, and what did she want to do about them.
“He did?” Joe raised a brow. This was the first time he was hearing about any kind of kiss, although, that didn’t surprise him too much. Frank - for the most part - stayed out of Joe’s romantic life (what there was of it), and Joe had always offered his brother the same. Even when it was obvious what was happening. After what had happened with Callie, Joe didn’t think he could just sit on the sidelines and watch either Frank or Tink flounder. Frank was going to kill him, but…
“What kind of kiss?” He asked. “Like a quick peck on the cheek or…?”
Tink’s face couldn’t possibly go any more pink. She was grinning like an idiot at the memory, then cleared her throat a little. “No, it was more than a quick peck.” Anyone with eyes and half the people without them could see how much Tink was crushing on Frank. “I had a really good birthday.”
Joe grinned. “Good, I’m glad.” And it was about freaking time, Joe thought. He wasn’t sure if Frank was ever going to get past what had happened between him and Callie, or if he ever would stop blaming himself for the end of the relationship. It hadn’t been Frank’s fault. Joe may have been a bit biased, being Frank’s brother, but Frank and Callie were not good for each other. Frank was...a special sort when it came to relationships. It was important that any potential partner understood that from the beginning.
The grin faltered on Joe’s face a moment. “Tink…” he started then paused attempting to gather his thoughts. He didn’t want to come off as looking like the overprotective brother here. He had to tread very carefully - not exactly Joe’s strong suit. Ironically, this was more Frank’s thing. “I know you really like Frank, and I think he really likes you too, but there are a few things you need to understand about my brother.”
Tink paused for a moment, bringing her eyes to Joe’s face. Her own grin faltered, too, just like his. Was there something else she needed to know? Did Frank not feel the same way? Was this Joe letting her down easy? Suddenly, her heart was beating a little faster than normal in her chest. She could feel it pounding beneath her breastbone for a couple of thunderous heartbeats before she cleared her throat, then spoke. “What do I need to know?”
Joe took a breath and attempted to gather his thoughts as best he could. “Frank is...different,” he started slowly. “He’s not the kind of guy who goes out of his way to do something romantic. He just doesn’t think that way. Like, I have to remind him about our parents’ anniversary every year. It isn’t like he doesn’t care or doesn’t love them, because he does. It’s just that kind of thing never registers with him.” This was very important for Tink to understand if she hoped to have a relationship with Frank. Joe had watched Frank crash and burn with Callie and how much it had hurt his brother. He really didn’t want to see it happen again, especially with Tink.
“The thing is,” Joe went on, “if you want something from Frank, you have to tell him in plain English and as clearly as possible and you’ll have to remind him. Probably a lot. For example, say you two make plans to go out to dinner or a movie, or something, you’ll have to remind him otherwise, he’ll forget. Again, it isn’t that he doesn’t care or he’s just being neglectful. That’s not it at all. In fact, I know he cares a lot about you, it’s just the way Frank’s mind has always worked. He gets distracted. I can help, and I will help as much as I can, but ultimately it's gonna be something you have understand and deal with. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Tink watched Joe explain with one eyebrow raised. She frowned just slightly, listening to his words, and trying to figure out exactly what Joe meant. Why was he giving her all this information? Was it to protect her? To protect him? Did Joe not want Tink to pursue anything with Frank, or vice versa? It was a lot to think about, and made the pretty blonde’s head hurt a little.
“I think so?” She said, lifting a hand to scratch at her scalp. It was one of those cliched gestures, but Tink couldn’t help it. “...so… you think he’s going to forget about me?” Though her mind was fixated on I know he cares a lot about you. It was hard to think about anything else.
Tink may have said she understood, but the expression on her face and the way she scratched her head said otherwise. Joe knew he hadn’t quite done a good job in explaining things when Tink asked if he thought Frank would forget her.
Joe’s shoulders sagged. “No,” he said gently. “No, Tink, that’s not it at all. He may forget to meet you somewhere or that you guys are going out for dinner, but he would never forget you. And that’s what I’m trying to tell you. When he does stuff like that, he isn’t doing it to be mean or neglectful, it’s just the way his mind is wired.”
Tink nodded. That made sense, she thought. She could understand forgetting a meeting, or getting accidentally double-booked. Inventors were like that, too--she’d spent many afternoons working on a project only to realize that six hours had gone by in a blink, and she’d missed family dinner. So maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “I’ll just have to text him to the point of annoyance.” She mused aloud.
Then she flushed red again, realizing she’d sort of assumed Frank wanted her to text him. “I mean, if he wants me to. Or, um. If we make plans. Y’know. Like, to hang out.”
Joe smirked. Tink seemed to get it, at least for now. Joe wasn’t lying when he said he’d help as much as he could. He could nudge and prod, but in the end it would be up to Frank and Tink to decide where their relationship would go, if they would stay friends or maybe become a little bit more. “I’m glad you understand,” he said. “And you have my blessing to text him ad nauseum if you two make plans.”