“I just came back from the worst fucking date of my life, like I genuinely think I’m done with boys and dating.” you lift yourself back up to face Lena. you don’t notice Jack standing nearby looking up at the board, pretending to look for a patient,

“And get this, Lena, not only is he late, but all he did was talk about himself. Like I actually don’t think I said anything about myself until the bill came.” 

“Did he at least pay?” Lena asks. you groan and put your head back onto the desk. “And you didn’t walk out?” you shake your head, still face down on the surface,

“No! Please remind me to never waste my time on a stupid date before my shift.”

Jack raises his eyebrows in curiosity as he eavesdrops in on the conversation. Lena turns her head towards Jack, finally noticing that he’s been lingering around for longer than he should, 

“Doctor Abbot, did you need something?” 

“Nope. All good.” Jack walks away once he’s been caught. 

Jack doesn’ t get jealous, especially not over his younger resident’s dating life. he thinks you could do much better though, rather than wasting your time over stupid, immature boys. if it were him, he would be sure to pick you up a few minutes early with a bouquet of your favourite flowers, wine and dine you at some expensive spot, then if everything goes right, he’d kiss you sweetly as he dropped you home. it’s not something he thinks about often though, except maybe on his drive home after seeing you for over 12 hours and sometimes right before he falls asleep. there was also that time he thought about it when he saw a bouquet of pink flowers at the grocery store; he knew you’d love them. other than that though, he’s never really thought about it,

“You good?” Doctor Ellis snaps Jack out of his daydream. 

“Yeah, go ahead and page the OR again and let’s move her up as soon as a bed opens.” Jack says. the night shift has barely started and Ellis can tell he’s off his game tonight. she doesn’t try to pry and lets Jack excuse himself from the conversation. he takes a deep breath as he pulls the rubber gloves off, throwing them out. Jack enters the break room to grab another coffee when he suddenly hears,

“Seriously? I love that movie!” you say excitedly nearby in north one.

“Yeah? Here lemme show you.” a male voice replies. Jack puts his mug down and decides to stroll past to check on you. he was overdue for a quick check up on all his residents anyways. he walks over to north one to see you leaning over to look at the phone of your patient. you’re practically cheek to cheek with him, smiling in awe of whatever he’s showing you. Jack lets out a fake cough, breaking up the moment.

“Doctor Abbot, sorry. This is Joshua Harris, he’s got a left fibula fracture, currently waiting on x-rays to come back,” Jack nods, waiting for a further explanation on what he walked in on. “Joshua works in the film industry and was just showing me a picture of him and Harrison Ford!” your patient turns his phone to show Jack. 

“Wow…” Jack tries to come off as interested but anyone can tell he really couldn’t care less, “You mind if I steal her for a minute?” you stand up to follow your attending out but Joshua is quick to intervene,

“Maybe, we could see that new Harrison Ford movie sometime? I’ll have a lot of time now that I’ve got this thing on.” he says gesturing to the boot you put on his leg. you exchange a glance with Jack and awkwardly laugh, “Oh sorry, I didn’t realize you guys were…” Josh waits for one of you to complete his sentence. neither you or Jack say anything. you stare at each other waiting for the other to define what this is. he could easily shut down the accusation by saying that he was your attending, but Jack lets the idea of you two dating linger in the air,

“Sorry, I legally can’t accept since you’re my patient. Plus I’m just not really looking for anything anyways.” your words come out in an awkward tone, desperate for the conversation to end.

you consider Jack as your coworker, your boss practically, but you always fantasized that there could be something more between the two of you. there was no denying that he is incredibly handsome and that you’ve always had a little crush on him, but who didn’t? Jack puts his hand on the small of your back as he guides you out of the room and back into the break room,

“Everything okay? Is this about my GSW victim in South 18?” Jack picks up his previously discarded coffee mug and takes a casual sip,

“She’s fine, she just went up to surgery. You just didn’t need that conversation.” Jack says nonchalantly as if he’s not boiling with jealousy. your eyebrows raise, 

“I’m perfectly capable of handling my patients if that’s what you’re implying.” Jack takes a small step forward. it’s small but enough to make your breath shallow, enough to make you avoid eye contact with him. 

“I know you’re capable. More than anything, anyone here.” Jack says lowly, “I just think if you’re gonna go out with someone that it should be with someone who isn’t gonna waste your time.” your eyes finally look up to his, realizing that he overheard your conversation with Lena. 

“Do private conversations not exist in this hospital?” you say as your heartbeat quickens. You swear Jack can hear it as it thumps hard against your chest. 

“Not when they involve my favourite resident.” Jack is quick to answer. 

“Oh, so I’m your favourite?” the sudden praise brings back a bit of confidence in you. “So, if I’m your favourite then you’d know what’s best for me right?” Jack tilts his head up slightly, smirk slowly growing on his face. Doctor Shen casually walks into the break room, stopping in his tracks when he sees you both,

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope. Was just grabbing a coffee.” you say taking Jack’s coffee mug from his hands. you take a small sip of his coffee, keeping eye contact with him. 

“Alright…” Shen says throwing his Dunkin’ cup in the garbage. he leaves quickly hearing his name come from a nearby room. you put the mug back on the counter,

“Well, if you’ll excuse me Doctor Abbot, I have a patient with a broken leg waiting on me to push some painkillers.” you say walking back out towards north one. 

Jack walks around the ER with pride after his encounter with you. damn right he knows what’s best for you. it’s selfish of him to be greedy with your attention, but he didn’t care. he felt like you were his, even if it wasn’t explicitly said yet. you’re charting your latest patient’s info when Doctor Ellis rolls her chair next to you,

“Hey, so what’s up with you and Abbot?” your eyes keep focused on the screen ahead,

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like, why is he being so….” Parker can’t find the words to describe whatever the hell has been going on tonight. you look over at her as she tilts her head quickly, pointing towards Jack’s direction. you follow Parker’s tiling head to see Jack already staring right at you. he smiles at you before continuing his conversation with one of the nurses.heat floods your cheeks suddenly as you look back down at your screen quickly. 

“Shen thinks you guys are fucking.”

“What!” you say louder than expected, grabbing the attention of Jack and surrounding patients. you dip your head back down making yourself small, “We are not… fucking.” you whisper. 

“Might as well be with the way he’s been looking at you. Seriously, he looks like he wants to eat you alive.” she stands up, grabbing a tablet and walks away to her next patient. 

he looks like he wants to eat you alive replays in your head a few times. you gnaw on your lip at the thought, oblivious to the sight of Jack approaching behind you. he bends down and looks over your shoulder reading your charts,

“31-year old male complaining of lower right abdominal pain, diagnosis appendicitis, patient admitted to surgery,” Jack mumbles close to your ear. 

“Very good.” Jack stands back up straight as you spin your chair around to face him,

“You’ve been very distracting tonight.” you say pointing at him. 

“Just doing my job.” your eyes widen in disbelief at his response. despite being annoyed at him, he thinks he might die if he looks at your big, doe eyes for any longer.

“If doing your job includes being on my ass tonight, Abbot, I would say you’re doing great at it.” you say spinning back around to face the screen. Jack pulls up a chair sitting close to you. 

“Didn’t I tell you that you were my favourite earlier?” he says.

“If being your favourite means you’re looking over my shoulder for every patient and chart, I don’t wanna be.” you say with your focus still locked on your charts. 

“Way too late for that.” Jack mumbles. you stop typing to meet his satisfied smile.

“Incoming trauma, cardiac arrest, 5 minutes out!” Lena calls from the desk. Jack stands up and heads towards the ambulance bay.

𝜗ৎ

you’re dragging your feet when the morning shift starts to roll in. the regret of getting up early for that date yesterday is really taking a toll on your body and you’re ready to head home,

“For someone who just worked 12 hours, you look great!” Doctor Whittaker starts as you walk together to your patient. 

“Really? Thanks, I had an awful date right before my shift. Never doing that again.” Dennis lets out a small empathetic laugh.

“Dating or getting up early before your shift?” he asks. 

“Both.” Dennis laughs a bit harder at your response. 

“If you ever wanna talk about it, we could get coffee? Bond over bad first dates or something.”

from a distance, Jack watches your face change from casual into a surprised expression at Whittaker. he turns to Santos who’s also observing,

“What’s going on over there?” 

“Huckleberry’s asking her out. I think he’s had a little crush on her for a while since Amy dumped his ass.” Santos replies amused at the sight. you’ve gotta be kidding me Jack thinks. 

“Do you think she’s gonna say yes?” he asks. Santos shrugs,

“What’s it to you anyways, Abbot?” he rolls his eyes at the comment. to Trinity, it’s just Jack trying to pry and gossip, when in reality, he’s spent all night showing you that you deserve better and Jack was better. sure, maybe Dennis was closer in age to you, but Jack knows he can’t take care of you the way he can. before he can think, his legs start walking towards you and Dennis. he’s so blinded by jealously that he doesn’t even realize his body is in autopilot,

“Dennis, I think you’re great, but I don't think-” Dennis jumps as a pair of hands grab his shoulders,

“Whittaker! I've got a special patient to introduce you to. You're with me.” Jack's grip tightens on Dennis and pulls him away from you. you stare and watch as Jack takes him away towards the ambulance bay. your eyes lock with Trinity’s from afar, staring at each other in confusion. Trinity shrugs and carries on with her rounds. 

slowly, you’re starting to puzzle the pieces together. all the sudden flirting, fleeting touches, always showing up right in the middle of an awkward disaster, Jack was jealous. he wanted your attention all to himself and you liked it. you enjoyed watching him have his way and not letting anyone stop him. doubt crosses your mind for a split second, there's also a possibility you could be wrong about all of this. surely he’s just been looking out for you tonight and all the alleged flirting was you mistaking it for something more than just kindness. 

whatever, you’d have to deal with it tomorrow night.

Jack is finally free from the last handoff of the night. his leg is sore, head pounding, and all he wants is to see you one last time before he heads out for the day. he circles the ER one last time and doesn’t see you anywhere. Jack swears he just saw you at the workstation desk a second ago, did you leave without saying bye?

“She left a few minutes ago.” Santos says as she passes by with an amused expression. Jack glares at her, too exhausted to ask why she knew who he was looking for. Jack knows that he’ll see you tomorrow night but he was hoping to see you before you left so he could savor the way you looked at him for a bit longer. 

the elevator dings to the top floor of the parking lot. the sun is just about fully risen and the soft sunrays peek through the clouds. as Jack walks down the lot, he sees you putting your bags in the trunk of your car, letting out a deep sigh as you shut it,

“Was looking for you.” you spin around hearing his familiar voice.

“You were?” Jack nods in response. he doesn’t want to leave. he’s exactly where he wants to be, even after being in the ER for twelve hours. you give Jack a tired smile as you both stand silently, lingering in each other's presence,

“I’m gonna head home in a minute, but here's what I think should happen,” Jack starts. there’s a bit of raspiness to his voice that catches your attention.

“On Friday, I’m gonna pick you up a little before seven and I’m taking you to North and Vine.” you tilt your head, brows furrowing in confusion,

“I’m working Friday.”

“You’re not anymore, and neither am I. I’ll take care of it.” Jack is quick to respond, like he was expecting your reaction. a smile slowly forms on your face,

“Was a little jealousy all it took for you to ask me out?” you say with aching cheeks. 

“I don’t get jealous.” Jack replies with an unamused expression. your smile still big, finally proving your jealousy theory,

“Right… I’ll see you Friday night, Jack.” you lean up to press your lips to his cheek lightly, finally breaking his straight face. 

oh, you were gonna be the death of him. 

though, the apartment has felt a bit off lately. you’ve noticed movie nights have been getting cancelled, Trinity and Dennis stay in their respective rooms more often, and sometimes you hear different voices that don’t belong to your roommates right as you’re about the fall asleep from a long shift. you’ve convinced yourself that the sleep deprivation is driving you insane and those voices were just in your head, maybe they were just remnants of patients in the ER. 

you come out of your bedroom to see Trinity making dinner in the kitchen. she’s got a three course meal laid out on the counter. 

“Woah, who’s the Michelin star dinner for?” you ask, peering over her shoulder as she stirs sauce around. 

“I’m trying something new! Meal prepping, you heard of it?” she bites back. Trinity comes off a bit more defensive than usual. you back away in defeat, she’s probably stressed out over Garcia texting her suddenly, or maybe Dennis pushed her buttons again. 

“Kay, well I’ll see you in a bit.” she turns to look at you and sees that you’re a little more dressed up than usual. your hair is blown out to perfection and your cheeks are extra pink from your blush. 

“Hot date tonight or something?” Trinity smirks at you.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” you reply with a similar smirking expression. “I bet Huckleberry’s out on a date with Amy right now.” you change the subject quick to avoid her pressing further.

“He hasn’t been home in days and y’know he’s been kinda avoiding me whenever I see him at work! Like he’s practically running away from me.” she says, turning the stove off. 

“And what about you? Still hung up on Garcia? I sure hope all this is actually meal prep and not you trying to win her back over.” you say gesturing to food she’s got out on the countertop.

Trinity rolls her eyes and you take that as your cue to leave. 

Doctor Al-Hashimi is the first of the three attendings to enter the shared apartment space that night. her and Trinity eat dinner together alone in the empty apartment before continuing behind Trinity’s closed door. Dennis comes home later that night with Doctor Robby. he sees multiple sets of plates by the sink but thinks nothing of it. you probably just ate dinner with Trinity before leaving, he assumes. Robby already knows his way around and heads straight to Dennis’ room. 

a few hours later, you and Jack stumble into the apartment giggling. you had spent a few hours out together at a new fancy cocktail bar you saw on tiktok, then at a dive bar Jack suggested since he wanted to end the night with something “old and classic”

“I hope I get to end the night with someone old and classic.” you remember saying as you winked at him. he knows you’re just joking around but he takes your suggestion seriously. 

by the end of the night, you’re stumbling around trying to get to his car, giggling as you hold onto his arm for balance. Jack is practically sober and just happy to see you let loose after a long week. he takes pride in taking care of you and didn’t mind that you were a little tipsy. 

you slip your kitten heels off before Jack has you against the front door kissing you deeply. you moan into his mouth and wrap your arms around his shoulders. you try to pull away from him for a second, 

“Jack, my room, we can’t out here-” he cuts you off with another kiss before slowly kissing down your neck,

“I know pretty, give me a second.” he pulls away and grabs your hand, pulling you towards your bedroom to finish what he’s started.

𝜗ৎ

Jack is wide awake, staring at the walls of your bedroom. you’re passed out curled up against him, snoring softly. he smiles with pride at the sight. if he wasn’t such a night owl, he’s sure he’d be the exact same, especially after the several rounds you put him through. Jack has seen your bedroom a dozen times now. you’ve got a small vanity in the corner, with an overflowing dresser beside it. for a doctor who spends most her week in scrubs, you sure have a lot of clothes, he thinks to himself. there’s film and music posters all over your walls and a small collection of photobooth strips in a wall corner. Jack makes a mental note to make sure you put up the newest addition to the corner of the wall. 

he slowly pulls himself away from you and sits up to put his prosthetic back on. he looks down at you and sees you shuffle around before laying on your other side. as he exits your room, he makes sure to shut the door as softly as possible before turning around to see Doctor Al-Hashimi with the same idea. she’s completely frozen with a glass of water in hand as she stares back at the other attending,

“I was just grabbing some water.” she starts as she breaks the silence. 

“Me too,” Jack replies awkwardly. he walks towards the cabinet to grab a glass and fills it with water. Baran hasn’t moved and doesn't know if she should go back to Trinity’s room or if she should explain herself. “So you and uh- Whittaker?” Jack questions.

“God, no!” Baran whispers in shock. she almost looks offended at the accusation. Jack raises an eyebrow as the response. The door knob to Dennis’ door starts to jiggle, causing Baran and Jack to look over. The tallest of the three attendings emerge from Dennis’ room. 

Robby’s eyes are wide at the sight. two of his attendings (one of which is his best friend) are standing in the kitchen of his secret partner’s apartment. Robby awkwardly shuts the door, 

“So, do you wanna start first or should I?” Jack starts in disbelief

“I was gonna tell you-“ Robby replies. Jack is quick to cut him off.

“Well, why don’t you tell me all about it over breakfast? We can cook it in the kitchen of our resident’s apartment!” Jack whisper yells back. 

“Oh, as if you’re any better. Y’know I thought Ellis was joking when she said you were giving her special treatment but now I’m seeing it’s a lot more than just special!” Robby says gesturing to your bedroom door. Right as Jack is about to reply, Baran lets out a harsh Shh!

The apartment is quiet again. No one moves.

“I suggest that we all go back to bed and we figure this out tomorrow,” Baran says calmly. Robby and Jack stare at each other, still in disbelief. “Or at least I will.” Baran is the first of the three to retreat back into her girlfriend’s room. Jack and Robby stay, both still confused.

“So, how long?” Robby asks, breaking the awkward silence.

“Six months, you?”

“Nine.” 

“Hm,” Jack acknowledges as he puts the glass in the sink. neither of them push on any further questions for the time being. 

“Well, good luck tomorrow morning.” Jack slowly opens the door to your bedroom. Robby lets out a chuckle. 

𝜗ৎ

the morning sun shines through your sheer curtains waking you up. you slowly open your eyes to a small hangover headache and empty bed. Jack liked to wait for you to wake up so the empty bed made you panic slightly. you grab your phone to check if Jack had left you any messages. usually, he’d leave you a goodbye text or let you know he stepped out if he needed to, but there was nothing. however there were dozens of messages from Trinity and Dennis all along the same premise.

wake the fuck up

why is abbot in our living room

how long has this been going on

explain now

you get up in a rush to explain. you knew you were going to have to tell them eventually, you just didn’t think that they would find out because your boyfriend decided to get up early and watch tv. you open your bedroom door to see Trinity and Dennis eating breakfast at the dining table, eyes wide as they stare at you.

“Morning!” a deeper voice says. you whip your head towards the kitchen to see Doctor Robby, Doctor Al-Hashimi, and of course your boyfriend Doctor Jack Abbot all looking at you with big smiles. 

“So which couple wants to start explaining first?” Jack says with a big smirk on his face. couple? you look back at the dining table to find Trinity and Dennis staring at their apparent partners.

what have you walked into?

“And in central 4, there’s a thirteen year old boy with a concussion just waiting on a CT scan. Took a nasty baseball to the head, no other signs of a brain bleed,” Trinity says passing the tablet to you.

“Hey, you still good to come with me and Crash to the PinkPanthress show next week right?” you look up at her and smile. this wasn’t the first time Trinity asked you to come with her to a concert. it had almost become a routine of her buying an extra ticket for you.

as expected, the emergency department had a strict no music and no headphones policy. you came in every shift with one earbud in and one out softly singing whatever your song of the day might’ve been. charting was extra boring without music so you were left to finish humming your song of the day while you typed away. it’s a habit your night shift attending had caught onto the first day you joined.

“You ever notice how she’s always singing something?” Jack says to Lena, tipping his head towards you.

“Yeah but she gets her work done so what’s your point, Abbot?” Lena responds with her eyebrows raised. she’s known about his infatuation and interest in you since day one, maybe even before Abbot himself has realized it.

it’s a rough shift for everyone that night. theres a huge accident on the bridge, a few casualties and multiple injured. Jack began to notice how it was affecting you when you stopped making small talk with your patients. you kept it to a short introduction and went straight into the diagnosis and plan, which was unusual for you. he always took an interest in the way you cared about your patients and how you’d ease them into it with small talk about themselves. when it finally slows and the day shift begins rolling in, you rush to get through your hand offs. you keep the conversation short and get straight to the point. you needed to get out of the ED for a bit, just a few minutes to catch your breath and smell something other than antiseptics. you’re quick to grab your stuff and head to the roof, but not quick enough for Jack.

“What’s going on with the mom in south 2? I’m seeing we ordered an ultrasound over three hours ago,” Robby says looking at the tablet. when Jack doesn’t respond he looks up to see his gaze diverted to the stairwell entrance. Robby turns his head in time to see you enter and head up to the roof. “You know I thought Lena was joking when she said you’ve got a little crush, but you’ve got it bad, brother.” Robby mutters just low enough for Jack to hear. Jacks attention snaps back to Robby.

“I’ll check on that ultrasound before I go and you can fuck off.” Robby chuckles at the response, he can’t recall the last time he’s seen his best friend so down bad for someone. Jack races towards the stairwell entrance in hopes of catching you but is cut off by an incoming trauma announcement.

you lean your arms against the rooftop railing, headphones in and taking deep breaths. the sun is rising and you close your eyes as the sun hits your face. you can finally feel the stress of this shift leave as the music plays. you hear the muffled sounds of the door opening, then a voice,

“Thought I’d find you here.” you turn around to find your attending standing there with his hands in his pockets. you pull both your headphones out,

“Doctor Abbot, sorry I just needed a few minutes before finishing my hand offs. I’ll be back down in a minute.” he walks over and stands beside you, looking out to the Pittsburgh skyline.

“What’re you listening to anyways? I swear every chance you get you’ve got those things on.” he says pointing at your phone. you unlock it to show him your favourite album, scrolling through the song titles.

“It’s, uh, my favourite album. I listen to it when I get overwhelmed or if a shift was kinda rough like tonight.” you feel your cheeks warm up a bit as you explain. you feel like you’ve been caught doing something wrong for some reason, maybe you were nervous he just wouldn’t understand. Jack reaches to grab an earbud and puts it on. He grabs the other and tries putting it into your ear. You can feel him struggle to put it on securely so you reach to help correct him. His hand doesn’t move so you put your hand on top of his to secure it.

“There we go,” he mumbles, eyes softening when you finally look up at him. “Tell me more about it, or play me something actually.” your mind goes blank, you’ve done countless sutures, see bodies cut open, bones broken, but nothing could compare to the way Jack Abbot was looking at you. you break eye contact to play him your favourite song.

“Uh- it’s an album about love and intimacy and heartbreak. There’s also a few songs that talk about femininity and the role love plays in feeling feminine enough in a sense,”

Jack nods as he listens to you ramble “Like this song, there’s certain like play on words.” You hum some of the lyrics, emphasizing your point.

“I like it. I see why you like it too,” he says. you feel the corners of your mouth slowly form a smile. Jack turns to see you bopping your head to the beat a little. “Is this that PinkPanthress I overheard you and Santos talking about?” you chuckle, is he keeping tabs on your or something?

“No she makes totally different stuff! Should I be concerned that you’re eavesdropping on very private conversations between your residents?” It’s Jacks turn to chuckle. A slower, softer song comes on. You both listen in silence before he turns to you.

“I gotta head down to make sure Robby has what he needs today,” you try to hide your disappointment with a small smile. “But maybe if you’re still here in 15 minutes, we could go for breakfast? And you could show me another album you like?” Jack asks, voice getting a bit quieter as he asks you. The Jack Abbot, the SWAT physician that likes to get shot at for fun, is suddenly getting shy with a few words.

“I would really like that, yeah. You could show me some Beethoven songs or something, I know those are more from your times.” you respond, feeling your spark come back. Jack laughs and takes his headphone out before walking to the stairwell.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be back in a bit to come get ya!” he calls out. you look back out to the Pittsburgh skyline and put your headphones back on.