#oph1

He was about 75% of the way through dinner when he heard her key in the door, Dalia’s face appearing for a flash just before shutting the door. Whenever she came home to him cooking, she would always say, “Mm! Smells good.”

“Mm! Smells good.” He smiled. “Hello, Chef Ramsey,” she teased, placing her own bag next to his. He smiled even bigger and looked towards her, grin bright as she started to take off her shoes. 

“Hello,” was his simple greeting, more communicated in the single word than most can put in a ten minute speech. She soaked in the underlying layers and walked towards him, finally barefoot. 

“How was work?”

“How is it that so much ineptitude can still exist in someone who went to school for eight years?”

She winced and placed a hand on his cheek. “That bad, huh?” He only hummed his response and leaned into her touch. “Well, I’m going to shower, so I’ll be right out, yeah?” He nodded and watched her go before turning back to the pasta. 

When she returned, he’d made two bowls with a fork sticking out of each. She grabbed the bowl that said DR. RAMSEY across the front while he grabbed the one that said DR. BLAESE, each a Christmas gift from their coworkers that they had since switched after spending so much time at Ethan’s place. He watched her fondly as she hopped up on the counter to eat hers, playfully straightening her back since it made her just an inch taller than him. 

“Haha!” she said, slurping down a forkful of noodles. 

“You’re a real giant,” he deadpanned, gracefully eating his own food in stark contrast to her messy approach. 

“Meanie.” He only offered a sly smile in response, eyeing her bare legs as she kicked them out childishly. He was always amazed at her optimism and how she hadn’t completely broken down at this point in her career after seeing so many horrible things. She always stood tall (but never taller than him) and rolled with the punches, turning them into opportunities at every turn. He must have been staring, because she cocked her head. “Ethan?”

“Hm?” He was pulled out of his thoughts by her concerned gaze, running over his eyes, his nose, his lips, his stubble before returning back to his eyes. 

“Are you alright?”

“No,” he admitted, still feeling weighed down by the day. “But I feel better with you here.” He was trying to be more honest about his feelings lately, unwilling to live through any more misunderstandings or pining that came with him shutting Dalia out; he decided that he would write down every thought that crossed his mind for the rest of his life if he got to see the way her face lit up at his confession, a slight red forming on her cheeks at his unexpected straightforwardness concerning his emotions. She looked away and then back at him almost bashfully, as if she were confronting a boy she had a crush on instead of a man she was dating. 

“Thank you.” Finished, they both placed their bowls in the sink and Ethan wrapped his arm around Dalia’s waist to help her down. She didn’t really need it, but the warmth of his skin on hers was something she couldn’t find within herself to reject. Dalia takes her place in front of the sink to wash, comfortable with Ethan’s elbow brushing hers as he dried each dish she handed off to him. 

It was a routine that never had a set time with their erratic shift schedules, but the overall domesticity of it all still made Dalia’s heart beat faster in her chest. She was sure that she and Ethan were meant to be together, and she had no doubt that she would scream yes to the heavens if he asked her to marry him right then and there, but even without those thoughts swirling in her mind, she knew she was happy. Even if they didn’t get married or have kids or go through the normal path of life, she knew she was happy with coming home to a very sexy and very secretly sweet man cooking her dinner, and she knew she was happy with washing the dishes and flicking water on him to tease him. 

“Hey!” he whined, his deep voice and tone mismatched. She let out a loud laugh and threw her head back, leaving herself vulnerable for his own spritz of water that he showered her with. It evolved into a mini water fight, both lovers giggling like school children on either side of their makeshift war, using washcloths and sponges to increase their damage. Finally, Dalia found a white rag and raised it high, waving it with two fingers. 

“I surrender!” 

Delighted, Ethan yelled victoriously, “The Ramsey Army prevails!” before sweeping her up in his arms, pressing his wet body to her own as he lifted her small frame. Used to the strength he loved to exhibit for her, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist, locking her ankles to keep her steady despite knowing he would never let her fall. “What’s my reward?” 

She knew what he wanted, but she still leaned back and tapped her chin. “Hmm…” Her long hum faltered when he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck. “Seems you’re already taking it.”

“So you’re my reward?”

“Is it suitable?” She took his face in her hands and squeezed his cheeks once before letting him speak. 

“Is it suitable? I believe this is the best reward I’ve ever received in my life.”

“Well, you’ve lived a long time; I wouldn’t go around saying hyperbolic things like that,” she teased, her joke prompting his fingers to dig into her sides. She squirmed and giggled, laughs reverberating in his ears and stored in his mind for later. 

“Keep in mind that this old man is currently carrying you. Effortlessly, I might add.” 

“You’re the one who brought up the ‘o’ word,” Dalia reminded, raising her palms and eyebrows. He quieted her with a soft kiss to her lips, easily moving against her as if he’d been doing it since the beginning of time. Honestly, that’s how he felt with Dalia; with her, time seemed to stretch and fly by at the same time, brought on by her quick wit and his praying for each moment with her to last forever. The kiss melted the tension in his shoulders and cleared his mind, and it quickly turned more and more passionate with each movement of her body against his. 

“I want you, Dalia.”

“I’m yours to take, Ethan.” Each word wasn’t hurried or whispered; they knew they had all the time in the world that night. He hugged her closer without the urgency of a time constraint or the panic of being caught by a coworker. Tonight, it was just Ethan and Dalia together in an apartment, living for each other and stretching each moment ‘til it was a lifetime. He walked them both to the couch and sat heavily on it, relaxing immediately with her in his arms and pressed to him. He briefly pulled away from her and placed two thumbs on her cheeks, rubbing the hill of the bone there. 

“I love you, Dalia.”

She offered a dopey smile that was all teeth, her mind hazy and drunk off his kisses. “I love you, too, Ethan.” 

#

At 11:30 pm, he thrust up into her for the first time of the night but surely not the last. She was tight around him and he moaned at the feeling of how easily she swallowed his cock, her nails digging into his bare shoulders and her breasts perky in front of his face. He took advantage of his position and wrapped his mouth around the pretty bud, holding her bare back when she gasped. 

He had always loved her back; the way her muscles would flex under her warm skin was so hypnotizing. He also was reminded of the many mornings he would wake up to her naked back facing him as she slept next to him, a firm reminder that even though she was turned away, it wasn’t because she was leaving. 

Despite his fascination with the back of her body, he had to say that his favorite side was her front. Her features distort with the pleasure he was giving her; the firm flesh of her breasts in his hands and mouth; the way his cock slid in and out of her like they were made for each other. All of it was a testament to how she was real in his arms and around him and in front of him and everywhere, which is exactly where he wanted her to be. 

He bit a trail of hickeys up the swell of her breast to her throat, biting the places he knew would make her yelp and wail. The moment he placed a thumb wet with his spit onto her clit, she was pushed over the edge with a moan of his name, sounding every bit divine as it reached his ears. 

He looked up at her when she did cum, her eyes rolling back and her mouth wide to let the sounds fall unobstructed. She’d been good about that recently; she never used to be loud until he seemed to make it his personal mission to draw out the most sinful noises with just his fingers or mouth. He enjoyed being the one to collapse her to that state of complete and utter uncaringness of her din, instead being only focused on drawing out her pleasure because it, in turn, prolonged his. 

“Dalia!” he groaned, fingers tightening on her hips as he drove his own up into her. She sat on his cock and ground down when he released into her, keeping him sheathed as he painted her walls white. She was shuddering and trembling with the feeling of being so full of him, resting her head on his shoulder to somehow be even closer than she already was. Her breath was hot on his neck and he clasped his hands behind her, just holding her as they both calmed down from their highs. 

A hand came up to rub at his stubble, nails gently running over the coarse hair that covered the lower half of his face and gave him the rugged look she loved so much. She had teased him endlessly when he cut it after coming back from the Amazon since it had only taken a simple comment from her to get him to shave it down. Despite him swearing up and down that he wasn’t ‘whipped’ for her, they both knew it couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

“Want to go to bed?”

“You’re so warm, though.” She shifted on him and he hummed, leaning his head on hers. 

“I can stay inside.”

“We’ll be gross in the morning.” He grabbed her face in his hand and gently turned it to face him. 

“All the more reason to shower together.”

Over time their relationship grew and during that time Danny fell in love, yes Ethan was sometimes cold and was a quite often a bully towards the interns but Danny saw through that, saw the man Ethan truly was beneath the harsh exterior, saw how the man truly cared and fought for what was right. Danny had developed some kind of feelings towards Ethan when they shared the weight of the loss of the loss of Dolores and the fear over watching over baby Ethan and then finally the relief over him making it through the night. The shared secret of Naveen’s case and the fear over losing him. The moment Danny knew that Ethan had feelings for him was Miami, their stolen moments lead to some heartbreak for Danny, not the only moment of heartbreak Danny would have in their relationship. Thinking back to that moment caused Danny to smile fondly, but also with a hint of sadness attached to it. He had been so hurt, of course he knew what Ethan had meant by Ethan needing to push him to his limits and challenging but it still didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Further helping Ethan with Naveen’s case just drove Danny to falling for the man further. The moment Danny truly realised that he had fell for the man was when Mrs Martinez died and he told Ethan what he had done for her, and Ethan had taken him to the opera to distract him. Danny had ended up crying and Ethan had wiped away his tears, it was at that point Danny realised he was well and truly gone for the man. He had kissed him after without thinking, after Ethan waging an internal war with himself and his feelings, he had kissed him back, which was wonderful and Danny felt every emotion that Ethan was trying to convey through that kiss, it was cut short however through the lights being suddenly turned on. Danny went home that night with a heavy heart. The first time they had slept together in Danny’s eyes was perfect, if you were to ask Ethan, he would wholeheartedly agree with that statement and comment about how every time after that was just as perfect. Which truth be told Danny would agree with. Danny’s feelings for Ethan only grew during the day before his ethics hearing where he solved Naveen’s case and supported Ethan in helping Naveen. Punching Declan Nash had definitely been a highlight of his ethics hearing, along with being able to continue his internship at Edenbrook. The night of his ethics hearing was a night full of passion and love for both Danny and Ethan. The morning after was filled with bittersweet sadness at having to go back to normal and pretend that they weren’t anything other than standard work colleagues to each other, when in reality they meant much more to each other than that.

Ethan had left for the Amazon without so much as a word to Danny, which absolutely broke him, his friends didn’t even know the extent of which Ethan and Danny’s relationship went too. They didn’t know that behind the smile and the false bravado about how brave Ethan was to go and fight an epidemic in the Amazon, was a broken heart. Danny did think that Ethan was very brave but at the same time Ethan was simultaneously being selfless and incredible selfish as he knew the real reason why he had gone, and that was to get away from Danny and the complicated but not at all complicated feelings they felt for each other. Danny’s heart ached, he was mad, Ethan never even said goodbye just disappeared without a trace, hell Danny found out where he had gone through hospital gossip. In actual fact at first Danny had felt used, like he was nothing to Ethan, but he knew that was just the hurt talking, he knew how Ethan had actually felt and that made it hurt even more. What had actually hurt the most was, Ethan walking into Donahue’s barely acknowledging Danny, giving him a simple nod after 2 months of no contact, after everything that they had been through together, Danny deserved more than just a nod. The conversation, that they had, had after Donahue’s had closed, did little to make Danny feel better, yes they had kissed and it was pretty clear that Ethan did still have feelings for Danny, hell it was apparently why Ethan had decided to volunteer for the Amazon, he had wanted a fresh start for them both as Ethan was going to be Danny’s boss and he didn’t want to ruin Danny’s career or reputation. Danny wasn’t going to lie it hurt, the longing looks and the pained expressions across the diagnostic’s room, not being able to touch Ethan the way he truly wanted, the way he constantly craved. Danny constantly craved Ethan and not just in a sexual way, he craved the way Ethan’s arms felt wrapped around him, pulling him tight in a hug, missed the way his blue eyes softened when talking to him, he missed the way the man felt safe, he always felt safe around Ethan, he even missed running his hands through Ethan’s soft hair. But there was nothing Danny could do about it now; he could only wait and hope that the longing they felt for each other would come to a head and Danny would get to have Ethan again. Because he missed him and wanted him desperately.