#denny

You can feel his eyes darting to you every time he shifts, but you don’t say anything. Not now while Trinity is within earshot, and certainly not after the myriad of comments she’s made in the last week alone about the two of you. “You’re in love with him,” She said as she poured stale breakroom coffee into her mug, needing a quick pick me up in the middle of a long shift just a few days prior.

You rolled your eyes in the moment, but you could feel the heat rising in your cheeks before you could even respond with a dismissive “You’re talking out of your ass again.”

Not even an hour later, she was elbowing you as you both sat charting in a spare moment of downtime, an abrupt nod of her head across the room where Dennis stood, now bright red in the face and doing his best to seem as though he was in the middle of something very important. All it had really managed to do was make him look even more panicked when he ultimately met your eye. “He’s been staring like a lovesick puppy. Why don’t you two just give in already?”

This time, you said nothing in response, simply dropping your eyes back to your computer, typing faster than before in an attempt to escape her. Now, in the quiet darkness of their apartment, with some movie long forgotten in the background, you’re left wondering if she had a point.

Except, it's not really wondering when you know she does. You have for as long as you’ve been denying it, and a part of you thinks he does too.

And then, in the same manner as just a few days ago, his eyes find yours. Your breath catches for a split second, eyes locked on a shade of blue that sends shivers down your spine, and it’s then that certainty settles in heavy over your body. He knows, and he has for just as long as you.

It's weeks later before you even allow yourself to address the idea that is being in love with Dennis Whitaker.

Trinity’s had the day off, and she really is even luckier than usual for that. The influx of patients has been overwhelming in a way that's made the day fly by and drag on all at once, and you’re more than ready to be free from the ever present scent of antiseptic and the unshakable weight of the emergency department as you finish up the last of your charting.

By some spark of luck or chance of fate or interference from a deity you’re not sure you believe in, you and Dennis happen to be leaving at the same time. You see him at your locker, already slinging his jacket over his shoulders. It’s mid-December now- long past the days of light jackets. They’ve been calling for snow any time now, and so you’ve already gone through the hassle of beginning to carry around your heavy coat. Better to be safe than sorry.

As you’re slipping into the warm fabric, Dennis makes an observation. “You’re missing a button,” He says, eyes drifting between your face and your hands that have already moved to verify his words.

“Oh,” you say, lips pressing together as you look down. “Damn-”

You go ahead and continue to fasten the rest of the buttons anyway, one being left open isn’t going to be the end of the world, and shrug as you finish. “I think I’ve got the spare at home somewhere. I’ll sew it back on at some point..probably.”

He nods, and then you do the same before you both begin to head towards the exit. You don’t exchange any more words until you’re outside, wind whipping past you the second you’re out the doors.

You aren’t far at all into your walk to the parking lot- he always insists on making sure you’ve made it to your car- before he’s reaching a hand out to stop you. “It’s snowing,” He says quietly. You can hear something soft and warm in his tone, and it makes you bite back a smile. “Look.”

You direct your gaze to where he’s pointing at a street lamp, the light catching just right on the falling flurries, and you can’t fight the smile anymore. “First snow of the year,” You say in an equally soft tone as you turn to look at him, your shoulder brushing against his own from the proximity.

He nods and turns to smile at you. “Reminds me of home.”

You hum, not sure what the best response is, but knowing it isn’t silence.

He starts walking again, and you trail along by his side, eyes still drifting from the falling flakes you catch under the street lights to him and the ease of each step he takes, suddenly a lot lighter than he was walking out of PTMC. The thought warms your heart, and you find yourself forgetting about the missing button on your coat and the exhaustion of your shift. Instead, your thoughts are filled with nothing but a quiet, all encompassing infatuation for the man beside you.

You don’t know the exact moment things make a shift from strictly platonic and pining to something more, something real. You just know it’s happened. You go from sleeping over in Trinity’s bed or on their couch to waking up tucked into his chest after movie nights. When you walk to your car after shifts together, it’s not just so he can make sure you’ve reached it safely. It’s so you can both ride home together, small-talking about your day as he fidgets with the radio to find the right music. 

You wake up on shared days off to the smell of burnt toast and the unmistakable sound of him singing along to his current favorite song- sometimes one you’ve suggested, sometimes one he’s listened to a million times over.

You don’t hesitate to shuffle out to him with a yawn, his shirt hanging off your body as if it always belonged to you to begin with. And maybe in some ways it has because there’s a notion that he’s always belonged to you and you to him in the same manner. Some twist of fate or act of destiny written among the stars that ensured you two would fall for one another. That this wasn’t a pairing brought together for the sake of friendship. This is love in its truest form.

You don’t mention this new development to anyone, but you don’t hide it either.

Trinity knows because there’s no way to hide your newfound relationship with her roommate. It was inevitable that she’d take note, and if not through observation then by her catching the two of you tangled together one afternoon on the couch. Nothing too graphic, but just short of it as his hands caressed you like you were the most precious thing he’s ever held, and your lips locked with his as if you were speaking love letters directly into his mouth.

Your coworkers follow suit after. Some take note of the way you two arrive and leave together more frequently than before. Even when one of you has no excuse to wait on the other. Others catch sight of the photos that adorn your lockscreens, and more intimately, the photo he has plastered up in his locker. It’s simple- a snapshot of you, unaware but beautiful, smiling just for him- and it’s far too romantic to be anything but.

One night, Perlah is lucky enough to catch sight of the two of you in the parking lot. The day had been long, but you had both ridden to work with Trinity, and so you were stuck until she eventually made her way out to the car. You were leaned back against the door, looking at Dennis as if he’d hung the moon and sun and stars, and he was staring right back with the same intensity. You weren’t caged in per se, but he did have one arm resting against the car as he leaned in to steal a kiss from you mid-sentence. You smiled and nudged him before stealing a kiss of your own, and Perlah felt as if she’d won the lottery as she dialed Princess’ number almost immediately.

From there, word worked its way throughout the emergency department, but you and Dennis paid no mind to it. “We knew it would happen eventually” and “I told you so” echoed throughout as the gossip spread. And maybe they did know, and maybe most of them had said that it would happen- resulting in a betting pool no doubt- but it didn’t matter. Not now.