intern young robby being the one to find dennis on the eighth floorâŚ
it was insane. robby shouldâve checked with his grandmother before he offered the spare bedroom, but that whitaker kid had one of the worst days heâd seen anyone have, like, ever. the idea of just letting him languish in a dingy, abandoned floor with no working AC was simply not acceptable.
and his bubbe ended up loving dennis! sheâd give dennis the first scoop of kugel, which was, quite frankly, offensive.
but, the thing was, robby understood. dennis was so fucking likable.
he did more dishes than robby ever did. he watched terrible old lady television with bubbe and didnât even make fun of it. he was quiet after nine and didnât sneak in girls up to his room like robby did in med school.
having dennis across the hall was nice. he was funny in a subtle, plausibly deniable way. robby liked the guy. robby liked the guy a lot. a confusing amount.
robby had only snuck girls into his room. heâd never wanted a guy to knock on his bedroom door until now.
so when dennis did knock, robbyâs heart pounded. robby had just showered a shift off and was lounging horizontally on his bed in his robe. âcome-â his voice crack and he cleared his throat. âcome in!â
dennis was in his infuriatingly adorable pajamas. the pants were ridiculously long. the shirt was hanging on by a thread literally. his collar bones were exposed by the thin material. he was holding his old laptop, scrolling on it with a scrunched face.
dennis anxiously asked, âcan you read this over for me? itâs basically a third of my grade and i think i sound like a fucking a idiot.â dennis put his laptop in front of robby on the bed, just sort of lingering by the foot of it.
robby finished the first page of fifteen before questioning, âare you gonna stand there the whole time?â he could barely comprehend the words he was reading knowing dennis was leering at him in his bedroom in just a terry cloth robe.
âoh, sorry.â dennis hesitantly sat down. he still intently observed robby, waiting for the inevitable edits.
they got closer, inch by inch, correction by correction, until robby had gotten to the bibliography.
robby, who was still laying down, actually had to crane his neck to look dennis in the eyes. his breath stuttered a little bit when he noticed how close theyâd gotten, just an open laptop between them.
robby had to clear his throat again. âitâs good!â he hoped his hair hadnât dried in that stupid way it could sometimes. âyouâre a good writer.â
dennis looked down at his criss-crossed knees, nearly blushing. âthanks.â
robby slid the laptop down towards his legs, just to have less between them.
âno, it was really good. youâreâŚconvincing.â
dennis laughed a little. âiâve never been called that before.â
and robby was tired. heâd worked a double, heâd done CPR and hundreds of sutures and prescribed a billion different medications. he wasnât liable for how he acted when a confusingly pretty boy like dennis came and sat on his bed with no regard for the effect he had on people.
robby pushed up on his elbow a little higher. âyou have a way about you,â he whispered.
and robby couldâve sworn dennis looked down at his lips before he quietly asked, âyou think so?â
robbyâs eyes definitely wavered down when he replied, âi do.â
both nearly started leaning in when bubbeâs voice cut through the tension. she yelled from the kitchen, âboys, dinner!â
they both scrambled to get up. robbyâs robe nearly came untied in his haste.
robby stuttered out, âjust-just tell her i gotta get dressed.â
dennis relayed the message. poor boy was so confused when bubbe coyly replied, âoh, itâs about time.â