randompiecesofwriting

[randompiecesofwriting]

Your Side of the Bed

Summary: Robby finds himself in an arrangement of sharing the reader’s bed. Sleeping side by side in the most literal of senses. It was simply a way they could be there for one another, offer comfort on hard days. And yet he found himself wanting more.

Paring: Michael “Robinavitch” x reader

Word Count: 9k

Warnings: NO SMUT I don’t think it’s even joked about here lol so there’s no smut in here! Brief mention of suicide prevention measures in a joke. Reader gets a small cut and is freaked out by medical procedures.

A/N: Really this was born out of me just wanting to write some Robby fluff. I think I’m slowing down on my writing frenzy y’all so please don’t expect my previous schedule of nearly every other day story releases I’m sorry! All in all as always I just wrote what I thought I would want to read so I hope y’all enjoy it and as always let me know what you think!

You hadn’t expected the night to end the way it did when you left your job that evening.

And honestly there was no reason you should’ve, afterall you hardly knew the man.

Sure you’ve met Robby a few times before. Interacted with him enough to know what he did for a living but beyond basic elevator small talk you’ve never really spoken to the man.

So when you spotted him standing outside of his apartment, keys in hand, just staring down at them dejectedly you didn’t really have a plan when you opened your mouth. You just knew you recognized that look on his face, the way his hands shook, the way he stayed rooted in place even as the elevator dinged as you got out, and you wanted to help.

“Hey Robby” His head snapped up at the sound of his name, the way his eyes went wide at your voice telling you he truly hadn’t noticed your approach “just getting back?”

“Yeah” he sighed out the word, telling you more than you thought he really meant to, his gaze going back to his keys, reluctance on his face as his shoulders dropped slightly.

“Have you eaten yet?” The words basically tumbled out of you, the offer though made spontaneously was no less sincere “I’m just getting back too and was going to make something quick if you want to come in” and you could see the hesitance quickly building, the denial on every part of him but his lips “I was thinking pasta and I struggle to make anything less than four servings”

He seemed to pause at the joke, to take a second to reconsider. “It’s late I don’t want to impose”

You shook off the worry easily, moving past the man to your own door faking confidence he would follow “I promise you aren’t, besides I’ve kinda had a shit day so being alone doesn’t sound like a lot of fun right now”

It wasn’t a complete lie to be fair. Your day hadn’t been the best but more than anything you knew this man shouldn’t be alone right now and he wasn’t going to take help unless he could offer some in return.

“I should shower first” The implied acceptance had you smiling as he turned back to his door, you could practically see him hype himself up to go in.

“You can use mine” You offered, forcing a level of nonchalance you didn’t feel into your tone “no pressure obviously the dinner invitation stands either way  but since you’re going to be over anyways” you let the end of your sentence dangle purposefully as you shrugged “plus I don’t mean to brag but the landlord just fixed my plumbing so I have the best water pressure in the building”

Your attempt at a joke had him snorting as he cast one final look at his door before wordlessly turning away from it and heading in your direction, following you back to your place “If that’s true the landlord and I will be having words”

Trying to tamp down the odd mix of anxiety and excitement at having Robby listen to you, you kept your gaze ahead, focusing a bit too hard on getting your key into the lock as he stood behind you patiently “I had to threaten to sue and it still took months so good luck with that one, you’ll need it”

Opening your door you toed off your shoes and put them to the side in your entryway prompting him to do the same while you started turning on lights “Feel free to set your bag anywhere, kitchen tables covered in my work stuff so that may be your best bet” you instructed him as you set your own work bag down at one of the chairs at the table “in the meantime make yourself at home I’ll grab you a towel and some clothes you can use”

You rushed through the process of grabbing an extra pair of clothes you thought would fit him and a towel, knowing the longer you left him alone in your living room the more likely he was to back out entirely. Something that was quickly proved correct as you joined him with the stack back out in the living room, hesitation and awkwardness practically carved into his bones as he stood rigidly in the center of the room.

“These should fit but obviously let me know if you need anything else” you ignored the trepidation on his face as you handed him the stack, Robby blindly grabbing it as he already started to backtrack.

“You really don’t have to-“

“Please I want to” you interrupted him, walking back towards the kitchen forcing him to hold onto the stack as you got out a pot “besides I need someone to get wine drunk with. Can’t do it on my own, I think that’s when they call it alcoholism”

Still he stared at you silently, you could practically see him trying to think of a way to politely extract himself.

“Unless you don’t drink of course in which case I’ve got soda or water or-“

“No no” he chuckled though it sounded slightly strained, patting to top of the stack you had given softly “wine’s good”

“Good I’ll open the bottle then” you smiled warmly at him, gesturing with a nod back towards the hallway behind him “bathroom’s down on the left I’ll be out here if you need anything”

Still he just stared at you for a brief moment, silence stretching with words unsaid, before he finally accepted it and nodded, giving you one last thanks before he made his way to go shower, leaving you to start cooking and distract yourself from the death spiral of regret and anxiety your brain was trying to force you down.

You heard the shower start up just as you put the pot on the stove to boil, you’d honestly planned on doing as little as possible when it came to getting food in you tonight after work but with Robby here you figured you could at least put in a minimal amount of effort. All things considered though boxed pasta and jarred sauce was as far as you were willing to go tonight.

Deciding last minute to add at least a salad to the side you were chopping up vegetables by the time that Robby joined you once again, looking tired but clean and a little lighter at least.

“You weren’t kidding about the water pressure” he noted as he sat on the other side of the bar that separated living room from kitchen, watching you continue to chop.

“I know right” you grinned at him “I don’t know what they did but I’m considering letting all my other unanswered maintenance requests go as a thank you”

He chuckled at that, looking back out at your apartment appraisingly “do you need me to do anything cause I-“

“Sit down doc” you chided him harmlessly “have a glass of wine you look like you’ve had a long shift”

He took the glass you slid his way with a nod, a small huff escaping him as he shook his head “what about you what’s got you coming home this late?”

A part of you wondered if you should commend his effort to try and fix your shifty night in lieu of his own or condemn his clear avoidance of the conversation turning to him. For now you chose to do neither and instead just answer “parent teacher conferences”

He hummed at that, watching you carefully as you threw the salad together and checked on the noodles “they go that badly?”

“They didn’t but that’s kind of the problem” you shrugged as you stirred the boiling water.

He raised a brow at that, no question coming to his lips just a silent ask to continue.

“It’s always the parents of the kids I’m not worried about who show up” you shrugged, leaning your elbows on the counter in front of him as you spoke “The straight A students, or at least the students who are clearly putting in the effort and trying”

“Meaning the students who’s parent’s you want to speak to don’t come” he answered for you in understanding.

“Exactly” you nodded, grabbing out a colander to drain the pasta as you continued “Which I get it parents can be busy or can just not make the conference hours but given all the emails I’ve sent over the course of this semester that have gone unanswered…”

You trailed off with a shrug, dishing up two portions of pasta and salad without a thought and placing one in front of Robby before putting yours in front of the seat next to him.

He nodded in thanks, starting to eat as you did the same, a small silence passing over the two of you that felt infinitely more comfortable than the one shared earlier in the evening, before he broke it “do you know what you’re going to do about it yet?”

You nodded in answer, twirling your fork absentmindedly in your pasta as you thought “Yeah it’ll be another round of emails, maybe some printed notes sent home with kids offering to meet at other times, I’ll see if I can at least get some of them on a phone call or something”

He hummed in thought, studying you for a moment before his eyes cut back down to his plate “you’re a good teacher”

You snorted at that, furrowing your brow at the man beside you in response “what makes you say that”

“You care” he shrugged like it’s obvious “you’re going out of your way to try and set these kids up for success. That’s what a good teacher would do”

“Feels like the bare minimum” you chuckled slightly “it’s my job to make sure they leave my classroom set up for whatever comes ahead”

“The fact that you so clearly believe that proves my point” he smiled back at you “it’d be a lot easier to write it off, to say you tried and give up but you keep pushing, keep advocating for these kids. You’re a good teacher”

And truly you didn’t have anything to say to that, the words dying on your tongue as you looked up at him and saw the complete sincerity in his eyes. Instead you simply offered him a small smile that he mirrored back.

“What about you how was your day” the question was out of your mouth before you could think better of it, the action of asking him in return feeling too natural.

You could see him shut down at the question, could see his walls going up as his gaze cut back to his plate “Fine. It was fine”

And maybe you should’ve left it there but you were already in too deep to feel comfortable with letting it go “you’re a good doctor, you know that right?”

His gaze cut back up to you quickly with a furrowed brow, a shocked huff leaving him at your words “have I treated you before?”

“No” you assured him with a snort “but no matter what you claim I can see that you’re not fine” you watched him tense at your words, would’ve found it almost funny in any other circumstance “I just mean a good doctor wouldn’t have a day get to him like that. You clearly care about your patients. Like actually care not just pretend to care until you can shuffle them along to the next person, that’s what a good doctor would do”

He chuckled slightly at your words, a lopsided small smile tugging at his lips as he looked you over “Feels like the bare minimum””

“You throw my words back at me and my response will be the same as yours” you chided him good naturedly, relishing the sound of his laugh you got in response as he shook his head.

“touché”

You smiled at the concession, taking note of both of your empty plates and looking back out at your living room before making a decision “do you want to watch a movie?”

He raised a brow at you but you watched the corners of his mouth tick up in response making you smile back “Obviously you can tell me if you’re tired and would rather go to bed but I like a movie at the end of the day to wind down” you shrugged in response.

“Only if you let me do the dishes”

You tried desperately not to let it show how much his easy acceptance shocked you “Robby you can come over and do my dishes anytime”

He laughed easily at that as he took both of your plates and made his way over to the sink, collecting the various dishes you’d used to cook from around the kitchen.

“I hope you know this means I will be subjecting you to my objectively terrible taste in movies”

“I think I’ll live” and you tried to ignore exactly how it made you feel to see this man smirking at you from your kitchen as he handwashed your dishes. Instead you choose to make your way over to the couch and start looking at your options.

And that was how you found yourself seated comfortably next the neighbor you’d had maybe five conversations with before, watching a movie much too late into the night. And thus how you found yourself waking up the next morning to the light streaming in through your living room windows and a comfortable chest beneath your cheek, with an admittedly painful twinge in your neck but feeling more well rested than you had in months.

-

You didn’t see Robby for a few days after that. The morning after had been awkward enough you counted it as a blessing.

There’d been a brief moment of serenity, admittedly, right before you fully woke up where all you could notice was how warm you felt, how comfortable, how secure. You remember burying yourself further into the comfort, giving a soft wiggle as you pressed your face further into what you had assumed was your pillow, until you heard a chuckle.

Rather you had felt the chuckle first, could feel it ruminate up Robby’s chest beneath your head before it broke to the surface. You felt what you quickly surmised to be an arm thrown over your shoulder and wrapped around you pull you in tighter, hardly enough to notice but enough to send butterflies through your stomach, before you finally opened your eyes.

Robby had already been staring down at you, his eyes wide in clear surprise but still the corners of his mouth ticked up, you wondered if he noticed. You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped you as you looked back up at him, neither of you moving for a moment, almost afraid to burst the bubble before you spoke “good morning”

His eyes got almost comically wider as his gaze cut to the nearest clock, a verification of the time seeming to fully solidify exactly what position the two of you were in for him as he quickly retracted his hands, open palms coming up by his head as if to placate you in the situation as a million apologies spilled from his lips.

You had just barely pulled yourself off of him before he was on his feet and grabbing his bag, all but running out of the door before you’d even finished stretching.

So naturally the first time you would see him in days would be when you were drunk off your ass after a night out with friends.

You all but stumbled out of the elevator, heels as always were a terrible choice for a night out but you couldn’t help but love the way your legs looked in them. So focused were you on keeping upright as you exited the elevator that you completely missed Robby standing in front of his door.

Looking up from your feet finally however you noticed the man frozen in place, keys in hand, lips slightly parted as his gaze made a slow climb from your feet up to your face. You couldn’t have stopped the grin from growing on your face if you had tried “Dr. Robinavitch we have got to stop meeting like this”

You speaking seemed to have snapped him out of whatever daze he was in, a startled huff escaping him as his posture relaxed “Well you look like you had a good night”

“I had a great night” you affirmed, taking a wobbly step forward that had him surging forward to brace you by the forearm, a slight chuckle escaping him as he helped you steady yourself.

“And how many drinks did we have tonight?”

“Not enough” you shook your head, griping his hand in yours happily as you took another step “ohhh we should do shots”

He laughed much more freely at that, shaking his head in response “we absolutely should not do shots we should do carbs. When was the last time you ate something?”

“Fuck I love carbs” you hummed letting him lead you back to his place without a thought, leaning up against the wall while he put his keys in the door “French fries, we should do French fries”

“I can manage French fries” he smiled at you, pushing open the door before extending a hand to you, helping you into his place with a hand on your hip.

You leaned into him happily as you more pawed at the buckle on your shoe than actually tried to get it off, this going on for just long enough Robby was getting ready to help you with it when it finally slipped off your ankle and you fled the shoes where they dropped, making your way to his kitchen and going right for his freezer.

“Make yourself at home” Robby teased as he carefully picked up your shoes and set them off to the side alongside his, making his way next to you in the kitchen to start preheating the oven as you dug around in his freezer for the fries.

“yes you got the good ones” you cheered as you unearthed the bag, handing it to him without a thought as you immediately dipping into his fridge “we should do cheese on top”

Smiling in amusement Robby took the fries without a word and got out a baking sheet, dumping a good amount onto it before fielding the block of cheese you tossed his way without even looking to see where he was.

“Now you don’t have salsa but you do have tomatoes and onions and I can make that work” finally you shut the door to the fridge and turned to face him with the required ingredients clutched in your hands.

“Salsa?” he asked with a raised brow, putting the fries in the preheated oven.

“We can’t have loaded fries without salsa” you answered as if it were obvious, eyes skating around his kitchen looking for something “now where do you keep your knives”

“Absolutely not” he chided immediately, making his way across the kitchen over to you and grabbing the produce from your arms.

“No I swear I can do it” you tried to assure him even as you let him push you out of the kitchen.

“Swear all you want but I’m chopping the vegetables”

“You chop the vegetables I’ll chop the fruit?” you asked hopefully, giving him your best charming smile that Robby couldn’t help but mirror.

“Nice try now will you please sit down at let me do it” he shook his head as he led you around the bar to the stool on the other side, hands on your waist to steady you as you stepped up into the chair and plopped yourself down.

“But I could help!” though you thankfully stayed put you still tried to get involved, swinging your legs energetically in the air as you watched Robby start to dice “I could be like that person who hands you the scalpel”

He furrowed his brow at you with a smirk, looking up at you from his slightly bent position as he worked “person who hands me the scalpel?”

“Yeah you know in the tv shows. You go scalpel and hold you hand up like this” you demonstrated the proper movement to him, choosing to ignore his grin as you talked “and someone puts it in your hand without saying anything that could be me”

“You do know I’m not a surgeon right?”

“All I’m hearing is you don’t have a scalpel person and it could be me”

He laughed at that, shaking his head as he gathered up all of your fry toppings “why don’t you sober up first then we’ll talk about your career options”

With a disgruntled huff you rolled your eyes, resting your head in your palm as you watched Robby finish off your loaded fries, dutifully instructing him on how much of each ingredient was required before happily digging into the plate he set in front of you, a myriad of content hums coming from you as you ate making Robby smile.

“You know I like this way better” you pointed out without looking at him, taking the time to pick the perfectly loaded fry.

“Like this better than what?”

“Better than you being weird” if you noticed the way the room went cold around Robby at your words you didn’t let it show, instead snacking happily as you stole a glance at him from the side of your eye.

“I’m weird?”

“You acted weird” you corrected him with a shrug “after we woke up on my couch you basically ran away from me”

A tense silence followed but you watched him unabashedly, waiting patiently for a response Robby wasn’t sure he wanted to give “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable”

“I wasn’t uncomfortable” again the words came out of you so easily, a part of Robby wished he could be drunk for this conversation too “in fact I was really comfortable until you moved”

A huff left him at that, a small smile growing on his face despite his inner turmoil “Really?”

You nodded in response, finishing off the last of your food and wiping off your fingers on a napkin, pushing the plate off to the side and finally turning your full attention to him “I mean the couch wasn’t the best but you make a comfortable pillow”

He couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at that, an anxious hand coming to rub at the back of his neck as he laughed it off “well I’m glad I could be of service”

“I don’t think I realized how bad I had been sleeping lately until that night” you revealed softly, the carbs and the late hour clearly kicking in as you seemed to sober slightly “stress of parent teacher night ya know? But I slept really well that night”

“I know what you mean” the words slipped out of him before he could think any better of it, the way they put a smile on your face making it hard for him to regret them though.

You studied him for a moment, a comfortable silence blanketing the two of you before you broke it softly “you wouldn’t admit it but you were having a bad day. Did I make it better?”

Now it was his turn to examine you, to watch the lazy way you kicked your feet out from the chair, the way your hair fell half hazardly around your face as you tilted your head slightly at him, the soft curve of your lips as you smiled absentmindedly at him “yeah. Yeah you did”

“Good” and now you were beaming at him, spreading a warmth through his chest he wasn’t prepared for “we should do it again sometime”

“Pass out on your couch?”

“I’d prefer the bed but beggers choosers” you shrugged through the idiom with a chuckle “but no I meant be there for one another. It’s nice to have someone there, even if it’s just to exist next to them in silence”

“yeah it is” the admission again left him without much thought, a smile growing on him as he watched you perk up slightly at the response “for now though you need to get to bed and work on sleeping this off, you good to head home now?”

You nodded happily at the question, pushing yourself off the stool with practiced ease as you did so “Just need to grab my purse and I’ll be good”

He frowned at that “what purse?”

“Black tiny bag” you described it to him, looking around his apartment lazily “got my keys in it”

“You didn’t come in with a purse”

“no” you shook off the statement without a thought “I remember packing it before I left, got all my stuff in it”

“No I mean you didn’t come into my place with a purse” he explained slowly, watching as the news seemed to hit you, your shoulders dropping in defeat “You didn’t have it with you when you got off the elevator”

With a heavy sigh you cursed under your breath, the palms of your hands coming up to dig harshly into your eyes as you swore softly, the last of your fun drunkenness abandoning you fully.

With a huff Robby couldn’t help but smile at the move, gesturing back to his room with a nod “Go take a shower I’ll call the bar you were at and see if they have it”

With a grumble you nodded “thank you”

“Don’t worry about it” he shook you off as he pulled out his phone “bottom left drawer of my dresser should have clothes you can wear, take whatever you want”

Nodding you slowly pulled yourself off towards his room, tossing the name of the bar you were at over your shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Calling confirmed the bar did in fact have your purse and were willing to hold onto it until the morning so Robby made sure to inform Jack he would be running a little late the next day so he had time to go with you to pick it up. By the time he had finished his calls and cleaned up the kitchen you had joined him back out in the living room, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with dripping hair in sweatpants that were just slightly too long and a shirt you had no business looking that good in.

“I’m sorry I could’ve helped clean”

He shook you off again with a swipe of his hand, practically forcing his eyes away from you as he surveyed the space around him “don’t worry about it there wasn’t much to do” he assured you, offering you the glass of water he had gotten you earlier “drink all of that first but go ahead and go to bed, we can go pick up your purse tomorrow”

With a nod you took the glass with a small thank you, “will you-uh-“ you stuttered on the words, fidgeting slightly on the spot making Robby frown “do you think we can share the bed?”

His furrowed brow raised as he realized what you were getting at, already shaking his head “Oh don’t worry about it I was already going to insist you take the bed anyways, I’ll sleep on the couch”

You chuckled nervously at that, taping your fingers on the side of the glass as you shook your head in response “no I mean. Just it was really nice last time we-ya know-shared the couch. Would it be okay if we did it again?”

Robby was at a loss for words at the question, his entire mind going blank on the spot as you fidgeted beneath his gaze.

“The answer can of course be no” you quickly cut in with a small laugh “I just haven’t slept as well since so I figured”

“Yeah” the word all but slipped out of him without his head clearing it, Robby finding in the moment that he didn’t really want to walk it back anyways “yeah we can share the bed”

Finally your fidgeting broke as you smiled in relief, relaxing on the spot as you nodded “okay good”

“You go on ahead I’ll meet you in there” he instructed softly with a smile “just gotta lock up first”

Giving him a nod you heeded his instructions, slipping underneath his covers on one side of the bed and laying still, listening to Robby’s nighttime routine as he locked the door and brushed his teeth.

When he finally made it back to the bedroom you could practically feel the hesitance rolling off of him as he stood beside the bed for a moment, not moving an inch as he debated just taking the couch anyways, before he carefully peeled back one corner of the blanket and slowly lowered himself, careful not to jostle the bed too much in case you were sleeping, careful not to get too close to what he considered ‘your side’.

You, however, were having none of that. The minute he seemed to settle you turned around and moved yourself beside him, placing your head directly onto his shoulder with a soft hum.

A startled inhale sounded from Robby as you did so, the muscles in his arm all tensing beneath you the second you made contact.

“I warned you, you make a comfortable pillow” you whispered out into the room attempting to cut the tension in the air. Something you seemed to at least partially accomplish as he huffed out a laugh in response, his arm remaining tense nonetheless “unless you’re uncomfortable cause we don’t have to-“

“no no” he interrupted you softly before you could get too far, his voice slightly hoarse causing him to pause as he cleared it quietly before continuing “could you just lift your head for a second”

Complying quickly Robby slipped his arm beneath your head and wrapped it around you wordlessly, prompting you to drop your head back down onto his chest and wrap your arm around him in response, one leg naturally tangling with his as you buried yourself fully into Robby’s side with a content hum that made him chuckle.

Your mind stayed fixed on the soft patterns he was tracing on your arm with his finger, wondering if he was even aware he was doing it. “Thanks for saving me tonight Robby”

Another appreciative laugh escaped him, your head bobbing slightly as his chest rumbled with it “’saving’ is a strong word there, I just gave you a place to crash, basic human decency”

And you thought about arguing the point, pushing back on his refusal to properly accept your thanks, point out that he was doing a lot more than the ‘basic’ nice thing. But if you knew Robby, and you were starting to think maybe you did, that would just make things worse, would just push him further away, so you let it go, for now at least “and supplied the French fries. You can’t forget the French fries”

“You’re right I did save you didn’t I? Think they’ll knight me?”

“Pretty sure that only applies in England” you hummed back, enjoying the quietness of the moment, the simplicity of it, the lack of any expectation “maybe a key to the city?”

“Not nearly as cool”

“No. No it isn’t. We’ll get you something to make up for it” your next words left you in a sleepy whisper, your eyes already closed, your brain not conscious enough to fully recognize the weight of your words as they slipped out “you deserve nice things Robby”

His fingers stilled at the words, no sound escaping him as he went silent, staring at the ceiling above the bed, all while you finally succumbed to sleep.

-

Things changed after that.

It wasn’t quite as you hoped, you still went days without seeing one another but whenever you had a bad day you had someone to go to, someone you knew would be there for you without question, without comment if that’s what you preferred, and you knew Robby felt the same.

There was no dramatic change, you didn’t automatically start spending every night together but still you found your excuses to cuddle up every now and then.

Something that apparently wasn’t going unnoticed, at least on Robby’s end.

“You seem lighter lately. Happy almost” Dana’s comment came out of nowhere at the end of a fairly standard Thursday shift. As usual with the charge nurse there was no preamble, no beating around the push, no coddling of feelings, she went right to the issue. For the first time Robby found that he really wished she wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry?”

“No it’s good. It’s creeping out the med students, our number of charting errors have been cut in half” She smirked at him, a smile that foretold trouble he did not want to deal with.

“Ah then you’re welcome”

“So you gonna tell me about her?”

And there it was, the metaphorical shoe “her?”

“The woman who’s been making you happy” Each statement was said with such a level of confidence, of finality, it felt absurd to try and push back.

“There is no woman” And yet still he must.

“There has to be a woman”

An incredulous laugh left him at that as he finally lifted his gaze fully from the chart in front of him to look at her. “Is it so impossible to think I’m just feeling better lately” he knew how weak the argument would be before it even left his lips “Maybe I found inner peace”

And based on the glare Dana sent back at him she thought so too “Either there’s a woman or I’m asking Gloria to up suicide prevention measures on the roof”

“Ask her to hire more nurses while you’re at it”

Surely there had to be something else to do in the emergency department than badger him “Does she work here?”

Surely she had to accept his flat out denial eventually “There is no woman”

“There’s a woman” The two of them both tensed slightly at the emergence of a new voice, Purlah’s sudden arrival catching them both off guard.

Dana, however, recovered quickly with a wolfish grin “What do you know”

“I know a lot of things you’ll have to be specific” Purlah leaned on her forearms against the nurse’s desk as she settled eagerly into the conversation. Now was his time to escape.

“About the woman”

“The woman up front? Is there something to know?” The last question was directed to him as the two woman fixed him with their gaze, halting him mid tip-toe.

“I don’t even know who you’re talking about” Robby groaned softly, rubbing a tired hand over his face as he grabbed the first tablet he could see “now if you excuse me I think at least one of us should be doing thier job right now”

“Wait but the woman up front” Purlah stopped him before he could leave “She’s asking for you, says her name is Y/N Y/L/N”

A strange mix of panic and dejection filled Robby at the revelation, both feelings only growing as he watched Dana break out into a wolfish grin over Purlah’s shoulder as she watched his face drop before finally conceding “Yeah send her back”

Purlah nodded and took off and Robby knew news of your existence would be spread to every medical professional on the floor within the hour. So much for flat out denial.

“So there is a woman”

He refused to look at Dana as he switched out tablets “I promise it’s not what you think”

“Believe me I’m trying very hard not to think about it” she snorted, gaze pulling to the door to the ED as it opened and you scurried in behind Purlah, head ducked low and eyes planted firmly on the ground as you held a familiar looking kitchen towel to your hand “She’s cute”

“Not a word” Robby tossed the empty threat over his shoulder as he made his way to the room you were being placed in, choosing to ignore the cackle Dana let loose as he did so, instead putting all of his focus on your clearly panicked figure that sat up on the bed before him.

“Hey I’m really sorry”

“Don’t be sorry” he brushed you off easily, docking the tablet and pulling on a pair of gloves with practiced ease “What’s going on”

“I cut myself honestly a while ago and it hasn’t stopped bleeding” you held the towel wrapped hand out in front of you, offering it to him, speaking much faster than you normally did.

“Alright let’s take a look” he tried to slow down purposefully, to speak lowly and quietly, to put as much calm into his tone as he could.

“Again I’m so sorry to bother you at work and ask for you specifically I didn’t-“ Still you took off at double speed, not even making eye contact with him as you spoke.

“Hey you’re okay you should always come in with stuff like this” he cut you off with a reassurance, hand coming out to squeeze your knee in a small offer of comfort.

“Yeah I know I just feel like I used you to bypass the whole line and you guys probably have a whole system in place-“

“You’re rambling what’s going on” he cut you off again, a small frown as he watched you squirm on the spot, gaze never staying in one spot for long enough to be natural.

“I don’t really do hospitals well” you admitted shyly, the corners of Robby’s mouth ticking up slightly at your words as he shrugged.

“That’s okay me neither”

For the first time your eyes finally met him as you sent him a cold glare “you’re not helping”

He tried desperately to fight back his smile “Okay I’m sorry but listen, small cut, just a few stitches, we’ll have you out of here in no time”

“Right sure, few stitches” he let you all but talk to yourself as he gathered the suture supplies, tuning back in when he heard you voice raise slightly as you addressed him “I’m assuming that requires a needle”

“If you’d prefer I can hold the skin together myself until it starts to heal but I’ll warn you my hourly rate is incredibly expensive”

Another death glare was sent his way, he choked back a chuckle.

“Jokes’re really not helping got it.” He changed tactics with a warm smile, planting himself onto a backless stool a breath away from you, giving your knee a soft knock with his own “I’ve done a million of these it’ll be over before you know it”

Still you looked at him skeptically, a look that told him you were seriously considering his offer of simply holding your skin together himself.

“Hey you’re the one that told me I was a good doctor not that long ago, let me prove you right”

That finally got to you, a dramatic huff leaving you as you deflated slightly on the spot, a defeated “fine” slipping through your teeth Robby couldn’t help but chuckle at as he got the lidocaine ready.

“That’s the spirit. Now local anesthetic, small pinch and a burn” The words came out quickly, more one amalgamation of sound than individual words, his brain already starting to go through the motions when he paused “Imma need you to stop tensing, it’s just going to make it worse”

“Yeah I know I’m sorry” you sighed out the words, giving your shoulders a little shake to try and relax.

“You’re still tensing”

“I can’t help it I’m freaking out” the words exploded out of you as you tried to pull your hand back, Robby grabbing you by the wrist softly to try and direct you back into place.

“Hey hey look at me” he approached calming you down like dealing with a wild animal, entirely soft words and slow movement “sweetheart please I’ve got you. Do you trust me?”

With a huff you let him have you hand back, staring back at him blankly with an expression that told him the second he let go of you you were out the door.

“I’m going to pretend this hesitation doesn’t hurt”

With a roll of your eyes you sighed again, forcing a deep breath as you shook out the tension in your shoulders once more before refocusing your gaze, locking eyes with him and nodding softly “yeah I trust you”

Before you could even think of doing anything else he inserted the needle and depressed the plunger, pulling back quick enough to escape the way you dramatically snatched your hand back from him “Fuck did you just stab me with a needle without looking”

“I told you I’ve done a few of these” he shrugged with a smirk, already moving on to prepare the next step.

“Did you do each of them blind too?”

“The needle was already lined up” he motioned for you to give him your hand back, unable to keep the smile off his face as you glared at him.

“No I’m not listening I want a new doctor”

“What if I promised to look when I actually do the stitches”

“That should be a given?” The words came out in an incredulous shriek that had Robby fully laughing

"I'll give you a lollipop when we’re done”

You narrowed your eyes at him at the offer, hand on your injured wrist tightening slightly before you suddenly thrust it back at him with a huff “If I have a scar I’m suing”

“Deal” he conceded easily, threading his needle and inserting it before you could call it off again, the cut requiring just two quick stitches Robb had you done in minutes “See that wasn’t too bad”

Only when he had finished bandaging did you pull back your arm again, cradling it protectively into your chest as you sent him another glare “I want you to know I’m leaving this hospital with emotional pain as well as the physical pain I was already in”

“Oh that’s my specialty” Robby snorted as he started to clean up “Call it a two for one special”

“I’m demanding a red lollipop in recompense”

Robby looked surprisingly sheepish at that, hands tucked deep into his pockets as he swayed back on his heels “ah so about that we don’t actually have lollipops here. More of a family medicine thing”

You let the silence stretch uncomfortably as you glared at him, crossing your arms over your chest for an effect that pulled a small snort out of him.

“I can offer you a crisp five dollar bill for the vending machine though”

“And you lie to patients” you mused with an shake of your head and a condescending tsk “I’m adding this to my pile of evidence for the malpractice suit”

“My first name’s Michael just so you can make sure to get the right person on that”

You paused at that, cocking your head to the side slightly as you asked “is it really?”

“Yeah” he chuckled softly “you didn’t know that?”

“Always thought your parents just had a thing for alliteration” You shrugged it off with a smile, watching the corners of his tick up in response “seriously though thank you for this. I know I’m not the easiest patient”

“You didn’t get bodily fluids on me or try to hit me so that’s a win in my book”

“Damn so the bar’s low”

“Everytime I think we hit rock bottom someone shows up with a pickaxe to prove we can go deeper”

You let out an almost hollow chuckle, a sound more to fill the awkward silence following a statement you guessed held more truth than you could know.

“About what you said earlier” he hedged the words in, seemed almost hesitant to let them fall.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be held responsible for anything that comes out of my mouth for the duration of this visit”

He chuckled appreciatively at the break in tension, running his knuckles up and down across the palm of his other hand as he looked at you for a moment before physically shaking himself out of it “no I mean if you’re ever back here again, for any reason, tell the nurses to come find me okay? Don’t worry about messing up our system I promise it’s a myth anyways, just come find me”

You couldn’t help but smile back at him at that, the promise falling softly from your lips “I will”

“Good” he answered just a softly with a nod “now how are you getting home”

“Ah I walked” you answered sheepishly “Tried to delay the inevitable for as long as possible”

He shook his head at that but didn’t say anything to condemn it, reaching into his pockets to pull out his wallet “I get off in 45, here”

You furrowed your brow as he tried to thrust a few folded bills into your hand “oh you don’t have to”

“Please it was cruel of me to dangle candy in front of you without following through” he was brushing off your denial quickly, grabbing your hand to force the money into your fingers when you refused to grab it “Get yourself something from the vending machine and wait in the breakroom I’ll take you home”

“Its not that far” you tried again

“Let me anyways” and you could see the silent question in his eyes, the plea, it was a look not dissimilar to the one he wore when he showed up at your door late at night.

“Which way’s the breakroom”

He responded with a soft smile, making his way behind you and leading you forward with a hand at the small of your back, stopping just outside the door to point to a room across the way. “Just through there, I’ll come find you when I’m done”

With a nod you started to make your way to the room, not making it more than a step before he was calling back to you.

“Also if a blonde woman introduces herself as Dana you run in the opposite direction”

“You realize that just makes me want to talk to her more right?”

“It was worth a shot”

-

For perhaps the first time in his life Robby was ready to leave work on time, some may even say he was eager to do so. And if the smirk on her face was anything to go by Dana was certainly one of these people.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve checked your watch in the past five minutes”

Robby chose to ignore her teasing tone, bouncing on his feet lightly as he eyed the board with dread “My shift did end five minutes ago”

She snorted at that, shaking her head as she watched him avoid her gaze “I wasn’t aware you knew what time your shift ended”

Robby sent her a cutting glare “I don’t suppose you’re going to get on Jack’s case like this too for being five minutes late when he’s always twenty early”

She sent him a dangerous smirk and a shrug “Don’t have to Jack’s here already”

Robby furrowed his brow at that, casting his gaze over the bustling ED in search of the attending “He is? Since when?”

“Bout twenty minutes ago” there was a forced casualness to her tone that made him dread whatever she was going to say next “I sent him to the breakroom for coffee, weird he hasn’t come back yet”

Another sharp glare was sent her way she couldn’t help but grin under “You’re too invested in my personal life”

“What personal life” she snorted “thought you said ‘it’s not what you think’”

“I’m leaving” he declared with a nock on the desk “you should too”

“You going to offer to walk me home too” she called after him as he made his way to the bank of lockers, enjoying the pointed way he ignored the comment.

Grabbing his things quickly he threw his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the breakroom, barging through the door without a thought to see you and Jack sitting side by side, the corners of his mouth tipped up in as close to a smile as Jack got while your soft laugh rang through the air, your injured hand without any of the dressings he had so carefully applied half an hour ago cradled softly in one of his.

“Hey Robby” Your greeting snapped him out of his staring contest with your hands, his gaze meeting yours across the room as you offered him a soft smile.

“Hey” he greeted back, watching Jack slowly, deliberately, retract his hand from yours “is everything alright with your stitches?”

“Yeah they’re good” you affirmed happily “Jack just wanted to take a look at them”

Jack, not Dr. Abbot or even just Abbot, Jack.

“Can’t remember the last time you did stitches, gotta make sure you don’t horribly scar the poor girl” if the smirk on Jack’s face was anything to go by the man knew exactly what he was doing.

“And the verdict is?”

“I’ve seen worse”

He snorted humorous-lessly “high praise coming from a combat medic”

Jack sent him another smirk before turning back to you “let me get you another set of dressings and you’re good to go”

“I got it” Robby cut in before Jack could get up, not enjoying the amusement that danced in the man’s eyes as his gaze cut back to Robby still standing in the entryway.

“I don’t mind-“

“I said I got it” Robby forced a polite smile to his face, one he knew didn’t reach his eyes, a fact that only made Jack’s smirk deepen “Besides I heard you have a case of explosive diarrhea to take care of in south 7”

Jack chuckled as he leaned slightly closer to you, stage whispering while he kept his gaze on Robby “I think I’m in trouble”

You giggled back at him knocking your shoulder against his playfully as you stage whispered back “you better go before you get me in trouble too”

Standing up slowly Jack made his way out of the breakroom finally, sending Robby off with a mirth filled smile and a slightly too aggressive set of pats on the shoulder, finally leaving you and him alone in the breakroom.

“In my defense you told me to avoid Dana, nothing in there about Jack”

With a huff he shook his head, dropping his back next to you “My mistake clearly. Now lets get you some new bandages and get out of here before she has a chance to sink he claws into you”

“Ah you’re about thirty minutes too late for that” you giggled at the way he sighed dramatically at that, sitting down next to you to start applying a new set of bandages to your hand. “I like your coworkers though, they’re nice”

He chuckled at that with a shake of his head “nice is not the word I would go with there, try lacking any semblance of boundaries”

“The best of friends are” you shrugged with a grin, Robby unable to help himself from mimicking it as he finished off your bandage.

Finally free to leave the hospital the two of you made your way out, Robby doing his absolute best to avoid the gaze of everyone as he led you through the packed waiting room. Only when he was safely outside with you did he finally breathe easy.

The silence between the two of you as you walked stretched, blanketed the surrounding area, he couldn’t help but focus on it and yet it didn’t feel oppressive, didn’t feel awkward, he didn’t feel the need to try and break it.

This was the moment everything changed, there was a charge in the air you could feel, a weight to the moment that was palpable.

Robby looked down at you wordlessly, eyes dancing over your face as he just studied you for a moment, the corners of his mouth tipping up as you offered him a soft smile.

“Let me take you out” a simple offer, said on a shrug, followed by an endearing clarification “like on a date”

It wasn’t a grand declaration, wasn’t a cathartic clash, wasn’t a dramatic outpouring of emotion. It was quiet, casual, understated. A facsimile of that first time you spoke in the hallway. A simple hand held out, palm up. An offer for the taking.

“I’d like that”

You hadn’t known all that would result from that chance meeting late at night in the hallway. Hadn’t known all of the comfortable silences, awkward moments, and heartfelt conversations that would be shared in the weeks to come. And honestly you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[randompiecesofwriting]

Hi, how are you doing? :)

Hello Anon! I'm doing pretty well I can't complain :)

How are you doing?

[randompiecesofwriting]

PLEASE ANOTHER PART OF DONT BE A STRANGER !! 🤞🙏🤞🙏🤞

I PROMISE SHE IS COMING! I don't know when yet but I swear I'm working on it!

I'm so glad you like it enough to yell though!!

[randompiecesofwriting]

I need part 3 of don’t be a stranger bad 😭🫶🏽

It’s on its way I swear!!! The funny part is I actually just wrote part four without even starting part three (I’ve already got the plot nailed down tho lol) so the series is going places I promise 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[randompiecesofwriting]

The teasing from Robby is giving me life !!! My babygirl

No cause it’s my favorite when it’s so obvious someone is crushing that everyone around them picks up on it! And you know Robby would never let that shit slide without a comment lol

[randompiecesofwriting]

All of your stories were such a fun read. Put that smile on my face you only get with the best fluff fic 💕

Thank you so much! 💕💕💕

I’m a sucker for fics that have me smiling like stupid at my phone so it’s my ultimate goal to make everyone else do the same lol

[randompiecesofwriting]

JACK U BETTER CALL HER!!!

Look this man outside of an emergency situation is just trying his best okay 😭. But he’ll definitely call her!

Probably

Maybe

Hopefully

[randompiecesofwriting]

Literally obsessed with don’t be a stranger

I’m so glad to hear that!! It’s defiantly the toughest series I’ve attempted thus far (she says confidently knowing she’s only written one series before this lmao) but I’m having so much fun with it so it’s nice to know other people do to!

Thank you so much for reaching out tho it means so much to me!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[randompiecesofwriting]

Don't Be a Stranger (pt 2)

Summary: You end up in the hospital after your neighbor’s kid has a minor accident, guess who you run into while there!

Pairing: Jack Abbot x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Dead brother, medical inaccuracies, no gore or anything specific

Author’s note: Here’s part 2! I had fun with some new characters here so I hope y’all like them! As always I cherish every bit of feedback y’all send so please please please flood me with more (it’s your fault anyways for spoiling me up to this point lmao)

Part 1

The emergency department of the PTMH was not exactly where you envisioned spending your Saturday, but you supposed you didn’t have much else going on.

A large crash from next door had you sprinting out of the house without much thought and finding your neighbors teenage son Jamie splayed awkwardly on top of a few of the bushes that lined the side of their house had you ushering him into your car without any consideration as to what you were wearing.

That was how you found yourself shivering slightly in the waiting room of the PTMH in an oversized t-shirt and shorts that usually never saw the light of day. Jamie had knocked out after the first hour, leaned back dare you say comfortably in one of the waiting room chairs with his ankle elevated on your knee to keep it from hurting, you were truly impressed with the kid’s ability to fall asleep anywhere.

You hadn’t even thought to bring anything to pass the time while you waited, had only grabbed your phone, wallet, and keys before you left with Jamie, who spent the whole drive complaining that he was fine from your passenger seat. Now that you were on hour three and your phone was nearly dead though, you were really starting to regret it.

With 10% to spare Jamie’s name was finally called and you were ushered back and onto a bed with a curtain pulled around to offer some privacy, thus starting the second period of waiting.

Again, just as you were about to reach your breaking point, Jamie perking right up after his afternoon nap and containing far too much energy for his fourth hour within the hospital, the curtain was suddenly pulled back and a familiar looking face was emerging.

“Robby?” The name startled the man who had been looking down at the tablet in his hand, his gait stuttering as his head whipped up to connect his gaze with yours.

“Y/N?”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the surprised look on his face, admitting to yourself that when you had met him wearing scrubs the other day you’d hardly thought you would see him here either “I swear I’m not stalking you”

He laughed appreciatively at that as he sat down in a backless roller chair “I hope not it’d be incredibly boring” he joked before giving his hands a small clap and rubbing them back and forth “now what brings you and uh-“ he frowned slightly as he turned back towards Jamie who was sitting back with a mischievous smirk, eyes dancing eagerly back and forth between you and the doctor, you could practically see him forcing together puzzle pieces that didn’t fit in his mind.

“Jamie” you supplied the name for Robbie as he trailed off, sending a glare at the kid himself in warning, silently begging him to behave.

“Jamie right” Robby nodded as you watched him wrack his brain for Jamie’s name, clearly looking for the connection between the two of you “Sorry I just didn’t know you had a son”

Your eyes went wide at his statement, panicked gaze turning to Jamie to see the exact expression you had feared on his face, nothing short of pure malevolence and barely contained glee.

“Please no” you groaned under your breath, Robby turning a confused look to you just in time for Jamie to start spouting off.

“You’re adopting me!” He pitched his voice loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the area, a wide grin on his face as you buried yours in your hands to hide your flaming cheeks.

“You have no idea how much this means to me” the kid was pulling out all the stops, dabbing his eyes to keep the fake tears at bay, Robby taking in the whole display with bewilderment and poorly contained amusement.

“come on mom, bring it in” he brought it home by holding his arms out wide to you, and though you complied by stepping into them you made sure to supply a loud fake gag as you squeezed him too tightly.

“Please never call me that again”

Separating yourself from Jamie you stood by his side by the bed, sending Robby what you hoped was an apologetic smile, though based on the smirk on his face he didn’t think one was necessary.

“Jamie is my neighbor” you supplied finally, giving the kid a soft elbow in the side that made him laugh gleefully “his mom’s at work so I came running when I heard a sudden crash from next door”

“And the cause of this crash?”

Robby directed the question at Jamie with a raised brow, and though you had hoped the kid would be at least a little sheepish beneath the doctor’s gaze he instead answered with a gleeful smile. “fell off the roof”

Your head was in your hands with an exasperated groan as soon as the words left his mouth.

Robby was doing his best the swallow back his chuckle as he nodded in understanding.

“and why were you the roof in the first place Jamie?” You asked sweetly, pointedly ignoring the glare he sent your way.

“I don’t think we need to bother the doctor with-“

“I do” you cut him off with a grin and a raised brow, a silent threat sent that had him folding immediately.

“I was smoking pot”

“Ahh” Robby hummed in understanding, standing back up to begin typing notes on the terminal, the pieces all finally falling into place.

“but since my mom is right here we obviously don’t need to notify anyone else as to why I was on the roof tonight right” Jamie tried desperately, putting on his best charming smile that made you snort.

“Nice try kid I called her as soon as we entered the waiting room”

He narrowed his eyes back at you in response “I changed my mind I don’t want to be adopted by you anymore”

“Feeling’s mutual” you responded stoically, turning your attention back to Robby “left ankle is tender and swollen, but mostly I wanted to get his head checked out. He claims he feels fine but-“

“but never hurts to check” Robby supplied easily “you did the right thing we’ll schedule a CT to check and in the meantime I’ll take a look at your ankle, go ahead and scootch back”

Jamie complied with the request without a word, you jumping in to help him carefully raise his leg while Robby snapped on some gloves.

Carefully taking the joint in hand he examined it delicately, poking lightly at the swollen area before addressing you softly. “Jack know you’re here yet?”

“why would Jack know I’m here” you asked, Robby’s gaze snapping up to meet yours with a furrowed brow.

“You two haven’t talked yet?”

You shook your head, still failing to see why you would need to notify Jack that your neighbor was in the hospital. “Not since I gave him my number a few days ago” You watched Robby’s frown deepen, suddenly feeling the need to defend Jack “I told him it was no pressure, so I get it”

“No I know I just thought-“ he trailed off suddenly, light frown still present on his face as he searched your expression for something.

Jamie took the silence as the perfect opportunity to jump in with a shit eating grin “who’s Jack?”

You glared back at your neighbor, ignoring the cough Robby used to try and disguise his laugh as Jamie grinned back at you. “keep talking and I’ll make sure you leave this hospital in crutches one way or another”

“Doc” Jamie protested to Robby through his laugh “you going to let her abuse me like that, didn’t you take an oath or something”

Robby shook his head in response as he took off his gloves, making his way back to the tablet “since she’s your mom not much I can do”

You barely had time to properly revel in your victory when the curtain somewhat surrounding the three of you was pulled back again revealing the man of the hour himself looking slightly frazzled behind it.

“Jack?” his name was spilling out of you before you could think better of it. You could practically feel Jamie’s grin get wider at the news.

“Front desk said you were here what’s going on, are you okay” he asked quickly, eyes already scanning you head to toe for injuries, clearly not realizing you weren’t the one on the bed in a gown.

“no I’m good” you assured him, gesturing with a tilt of your head to Jamie as you said it “not here for me”

Not quite satisfied his gaze stayed on you for a second longer, silence lingering for just a tad too long before he turned his gaze to Jamie, a kid who was on a roll with filling these awkward silences “so you’re the famous Jack I’ve heard so much about”

Robby hadn’t even tried to contain the snort that came out of him at that statement, Jack’s gaze whipping around to glare at his friend while you turned on Jamie with a threat “I will disown you”

He grinned back, clearly reveling in the embarrassment he could see rising within you as he fought back “I just think if he’s going to be my new dad-“

“Finish that sentence I dare you” you threatened with raised brows, Jamie happily shutting his mouth as he recognized that he got the important bit across.

Turning almost reluctantly back to the two doctors you made eye contact with Jack first, his brow furrowed as he cast his gaze back and forth between you and Jamie just as Robby had done initially, his friend watching his confusion with as badly contained mirth as Jamie had.

“I’ve actually never met this person before” you tried weakly, “Actually I think I’m in the wrong place entirely” you ignored the loud cough Robby used to cover up his laugh, Jack’s gaze pinning you to the spot with a curious expression, the silence lingering just long enough for Jamie to decide he needed to fill it again.

“You know, this one” he threw an arm over your shoulder and jostled you dramatically “will not stop talking about you. It’s always Jack this and Jack that-“

“Okay and that’s enough out of you” you pushed his arm off of you as laughter spilled out of Jamie despite his best efforts to tamp it down as you sent Jack a desperate look and nodded back out into the hallway “can we”

The smirk on his face was much too smug for your liking but he complied nonetheless, following you out of Jamie’s curtained off area leaving the teen alone with Robby who you were fairly certain was giving him a fist bump as the two of you exited. You were almost out of earshot before you heard him yell out after you “Wait Jack we need to talk, what are your intentions with my mother”

“I’m going to kill him” you groaned in exasperation.

“As a mandated reporter I have a pretty good idea on how I can help you get away with it”

You snorted at the quick response, shaking your head softly as you looked up at him, properly getting a good look at the man for the first time, not realizing the two of you had been silent until it felt like it was too late, the two of you trying to break it at the same time.

“I didn’t know-“

“Jamie’s my neighbor’s kid”

The two of you stopped as soon as you recognized you were talking over the other, you chuckling softly while Jack smiled down at you.

“sorry-just-before you make the same assumption Robby did, I’m just the neighbor, was there at the right time”

“he’s lucky to have you” he spoke soft enough you almost felt the need to lean in further, encroach further on his space, you held back for now.

“He won’t think so when his mom shows up and learns he was smoking pot on the roof”

He chuckled softly at that “you two seem close”

You nodded at the implied question, a smile growing naturally on your face at the thought of it “after my brother died they kind of took me in, his mom’s the only real reason I stayed fed for months straight”

His smile dimmed slightly at that but he nodded, gaze cutting back briefly to Jamie’s room before returning to you “It’s good to have someone to lean on”

“Yeah it really is”

Another short silence stretched, you couldn’t help but notice that with Jack they hardly ever felt awkward, before he broke it “Listen I meant to call you-“

“You don’t owe me an explanation” you cut him off with a wave, Jack frowning back at you in response.

“Really I was going to call. I am going to call”

“I told you it’s fine”

“You know most people let it go after one insistence” the smug smirk was back as he threw your words back at you, you hated how well it suited him.

“Well I’m not most people”

There was a pregnant pause, Jack searching your gaze for a moment, you offering a soft huff and a smile as a silent invitation to properly end the cycle “I don’t know how he could ever stand you”

You chuckled softly at that, shaking your head, giving it a moment before responding “you know that’s a really fucked up thing to say to someone who’s brother died”

You didn’t even try to keep the smirk off your face as you said it, Jack huffing back in response as he shook his head, the corners of his mouth ticking up in response as well.

Another silence, a small comfort.

“I usually work nights” he offered up the information softly “or whenever they need me. It’s a little hard to find time to talk during the day for me”

“It’s fine whenever you find the time works” you assured him just as softly “plus I have a shit sleep schedule so don’t be afraid of calling too late”

“4am work?” You snorted in response, the speed at which he did this to you always catching you slightly off guard.

“May have to shift a few things on my calendar but I think I can pencil you in”

Jack smiled back at that, a small silence falling over the two of you before a newcomer whirled in and broke the bubble that had formed around the two of you.

“Y/N sweetheart” Jack hadn’t even realized how close he’d gotten to you until he was jumping back at the sound of the stranger’s voice, clearing just enough room for the woman to swoop in and throw her arms around your neck. “I got off as soon as I could”

“Marnie it’s okay Jamie’s fine” you were assuring her quickly with a tight hug, giving the woman a small rock before the two of you separated “he’s been a pain in my ass for the past four hours believe me the kid will live”

“Oh that sounds like him” Jamie’s mom nodded, giving your arm a final squeeze “Where is he?”

Jack, for some reason, decided it was time for him to jump in, pointing back down the hall towards Jamie’s bed “He’s just down the hall bed 20”

This seemed to be the first time the woman acknowledged his presence, her eyes widening slightly as she turned to Jack “Oh I’m so sorry you are?”

“Dr. Abbot” he introduced himself with a polite smile, extending his hand to Marnie who immediately pushed it aside.

“Oh you saved him” she exclaimed, Jack immediately recognizing where Jamie got his theatrical spirit from, before she wrapped her arms around his middle in a bone crushing hug catching him completely off guard.

He heard a muffled cackle from over the woman’s head and looked to find you hiding your laugh behind your hand. Sending you a glare as he awkwardly patted the woman’s back, Jack carefully extracted himself from the tight hug. “no actually that would be by colleague Dr. Robinavitch, he’s with your son now” he gestured down the hall towards Jamie’s bed again “he’s a huge hugger though” he added with a wink in your direction as he watched you attempt to swallow back another laugh from behind Marnie.

“Oh well thank you still” Marnie brushed off the mistake easily, giving his arm a soft squeeze before turning back to you and hooking her arm into yours, giving you little choice but to follow back to Jamie’s bedside.

He did his best to bite back the grin on his face as he heard the flurry of questions you were fielding from Marnie on the way back about the “tall, handsome doctor” but given the wolfish grin on Dana’s face when he returned to the nurses’ desk he didn’t do a great job of it.

“Worth coming in early for right?” She asked with a teasing tone, enjoying way too much the small smile on Jack’s face even as he shook his head disapprovingly.

“You’re trouble”

She cackled in response. Just as he was looking up at the board trying to choose the case that would get him away from her for the longest time possible Robby came swooping in, a slightly haggard look on his face that had Jack chuckling “I see you met Marnie”

“Do something nice for the man and he sic’s his future mother-in-law on you” Robby grumbled under his breath, Jack doing his absolute best not to choke on air at the title.

“I didn’t ask for either of you to do something nice to me” he protested as he crossed his arms over his chest “I don’t need your help”

“Clearly you need it considering you never called her” Robby sent a glare in Jack’s direction, Dana immediately jumping in with a disappointed admonishment.

“Jack”

He pointedly ignored them both, deciding instead that the next patient he laid his eyes on would work just as well.

“Dana, Jack does still keep that napkin with her number on it in the pocket of his scrubs correct” Robby asked facetiously.

“It’s either that or he’s just happy to see us”

“It’d be a little more obvious if I was just happy to see you” Jack cut in stoically, not taking his eye off the board as he spoke.

“Not sure it was us he’s happy to see” Robby ignored him with a smug grin.

“This why you called me in early, so you two could practice your comedy routine?”

“Come on what’s the issue” Dana tried to steer the conversation back on track “she’s cute, she’s single, and she’s clearly into you”

“She didn’t give me her number for that” he brushed Dana off entirely, the bitterness in his tone rose to a noticeable level for the first time that conversation making Dana and Robby share a glance “she gave me her number to talk about her dead brother, who was my best friend”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean-“ Robby tried but a yell from across the Pitt cut him off.

“Bye Jack!” Jack whirled around suddenly at the call of his name, chuckling slightly as he saw Jamie waving at him eagerly, clearly for the sole effect of embarrassing you further. Something that was obviously working as you elbowed the kid sharply to make him stop, mouthing out a silent sorry to him from across the room.

“He needs our help” Robby muttered behind him to Dana who snorted in response with a nod

“he needs our help bad”

[randompiecesofwriting]

I'm Okay

Summary: Robby’s girlfriend is a reporter with the local news station sent out on a field assignment she was exceptionally excited for, covering Pittfest

Pairing: Michael “Robby” Robinavich x Reader

Word Count: 5.5k

Warning: Pittfest fic! Mass casualty event, shooting, reader gets a bullet in the arm, medical inaccuracies, swearing, so much angst

Author’s Note: Took a break from my Jack fic to write an obligatory Pittfest fic because I don’t have one yet! Thank you so much for all of the kind messages notes and tags that you all have left on my work as I’ve said before it means the absolute world to me and I do read each and every one over and over again because I love them all. Thank you!!

The nurse behind the desk barely spared you a glance before waving you and Jake in, the two of you sharing a small smile as you bypassed the line of people waiting, shuffling back into the ER, pointedly ignoring the jealous glares that were being thrown your way from the waiting room as you did so.

Because the two of you were on a mission, get into the ED, grab Jake’s tickets to Pittfest then get out hopefully soon enough to give you enough time to get ready before you started your broadcast. You only had three hours of time blocked off to get this done so honestly you were cutting it close.

Your first stop once entering the ED was, as always, to Dana at the nurses’ station, the woman herself grinning as soon as she spotted the two of you entering, her eyes dancing back and forth between you and Jake with a small smirk. “Y/N on babysitting duty then”

“Definitely don’t need a babysitter” Jake cut in with an exasperated groan that had you and the charge nurse chuckling.

“Besides I’m working anyways” you cut in with a shrug “so he’s ditching me for a girl”

Dana’s gaze cut to Jake eagerly as she did her best to tamp down the shit-eating grin on her face.

“Who’s got a girl” Langdon, however, made no such effort, sliding in beside Dana eagerly making Jake duck his head slightly in response as he tried to hide his flushed cheeks.

Deciding to put the poor kid out of his misery you jumped in to save him “Today all I’m good for is gas money”

“That’s not true�� Jack assured you with a mischievous glint in his eye, clearly not properly appreciating your save from Langdon “your press badge will let us skip the line too”

You elbowed Jake in the side fondly as he erupted with warm laughter, so distracted with getting your revenge you missed the footsteps that approached you from behind, jumping slightly when a hand at your hip was all the warning you got before Robby was pressing a quick kiss to the side of your head as he flew by. “I’m still upset you get to meet the girlfriend before I do”

He clapped Jake on the shoulder fondly despite the tease as he swung around the desk, Jake shrugging with a smirk in response “I like her better”

Robby snorted at the jab, eyes already scanning the desk for his next task. And you could see the exhaustion in him that had sunk to his very bones, could see the desperate need within him to keep moving, to distract himself. But you knew better than to call him on it now, knew he just needed to work through it in his own way, knew he’d find his way back to you at the end of the day.

So instead you threw an arm around Jake’s shoulders and pulled him into a dramatic side hug, jostling him roughly and enjoying the chuckle Jake let out at the motion “What can I say the kid’s got taste”

Robby sent Dana a fake exasperated glance as if to ask for at least one person to be on his side.

Dana responded accordingly “Don’t look at me like that I like her better to”

He knew better than to look to Langdon after that.

Someone on the other end of the room called out Robby’s name, and his body reacted almost reflexively to move him in that direction in response as he called out back at you “Traitors, the whole lot of you”

“Wait” Jake called out after him, realizing quickly it was of no use and dropping his voice down to a speaking level as Robby disappeared within one of the rooms “he has my tickets”

You snorted at his dejected tone “honestly that’s on you for thinking we’d be in and out of the Pitt in anything less than two hours” clapping a hand on his shoulder you pulled him in the direction of the lockers “come on I stashed a bag of m&m’s in his backpack this morning lets go for the record”

-

An hour later you and Jake had long since set up camp at Dana’s desk, you sitting in a roller chair on one end of the room with a bag of m&m’s in hand calling out to Langdon who sat in his own chair on the other side “What color?”

“Red I need the contrast” You snorted at his genuine use of strategy, shaking your head as you dug through the bag, feeling the newcomer approach from behind more than see them.

“Going for the record?” You could hear the amusement in Collins’ voice even as she pretended to be exasperated by it.

You grinned up at her in response “nine feet, that’s gotta be worth at least a page in the Guinness book right”

“Least he’s good at one thing”

“I heard that” Langdon called out across the Pitt making the two of you laugh before she called back

“You were meant to”

Finaly spotting the correct colored piece you held it up dramatically, extending it to Jake as if for inspection, the kid nodding solemnly before declaring “with this piece we make history”

You snorted at how seriously they both took this, hearing Collins hide her own in her sleeve as you lined up the shot, mimicking the movement a few times before finally letting it fly.

Langdon tracked the movement with a level of concentration you’ve only seen him use in trauma situations, dipping his head slightly at the last minute just in time to catch the m&m directly in his mouth.

He was on his feet as soon as it landed with a yell, tossing a dramatic double high-five at Jake in celebration as you dissolved into a puddle of giggles on your chair, Robby joining the group just late enough to miss the record shattering catch that sparked the reaction.

“You guys are still here?”

And you couldn’t help but sober slightly at the question, worry rising within you as you started to realize how much he was throwing himself into his work today. You’ve wasted a lot of time in the Pitt waiting on him before, but never had he fully forgotten you were here.

“Yeah we need the tickets” Jake responded good naturedly, Robby’s brows rising as he realized his mistake and having Jake follow him back towards the lockers to grab them.

Langdon and Collins took that as their chance to break off as well, giving you the opportunity to slide your chair up along side Dana’s “How’s he doing?”

“He says he’s fine” She sent you a look that told you she believed that about as much as you did, making you shake your head “just need to get through this shift and he’ll be alright”

“Yeah” you sighed doubtfully, putting on a small smile as you watched him and Jake emerge with the tickets in hand, Robby’s smile noticeably lighter after the interaction.

Jake started to make his way out of the ED as you rose to meet Robby behind the desk, giving him a quick peck and a light squeeze on the arm.

“Be careful today”

“Course” you shook off his worry easily, knowing that between the two of you there was only one who warranted such concern “take a break here soon yeah? Just a quick breather”

“I’m fine” he started to brush you off, cutting himself off at the raise of your brow, another call of his name pulling him from the moment with a tired sigh “I’ll try”

“Thank you” You smiled up at him, giving him one more kiss before stepping back, allowing him to dive back into the chaos of the Pitt.

“You know you’re the only one that can do that” Dana commented with a smirk from the desk as you started to gather your things.

“Yeah well we’ll see if he actually listens” you sighed as you finally pushed your chair back into its proper place, taking a second to give Dana a hug goodbye “look after him yeah?”

“Don’t worry I’ve got him” she assured you with a smile, stepping back as you let her go and started towards the doors to the waiting room.

“Have fun at Pittfest” she called out after you “call when you can”

“I will” you called back with a chuckle, pushing open the doors to the waiting room and joining Jake as the two of you exited the building, gladly listening to him rattle off all of the bands he and Leah were excited to see play that day.

-

Robby needed this shift to end.

It was the shift from hell, every resident he knew and trusted were gone, he was left with a heard of medical students on their first day, and now Dana was talking about quitting as well.

He needed the shift to end then he needed to hibernate for the next week straight.

Then Dana’s phone rang.

He didn’t think much of it at first, another trauma inbound, some more time to beg the one last person on his side to stay with him.

Then he watched her face drop, a look he wasn’t used to seeing on the infallible charge nurse. It wasn’t exactly surprised, wasn’t exactly sad or even shocked, it was haunted.

He furrowed his brow slightly, tilting his head to try and get a better read on her.

“Turn to channel 8” her voice came out hoarse, soft, without any weight behind it as if she couldn’t comprehend the words herself.

“What?”

“Turn to channel 8” she didn’t bother responding to him, this time pitching her voice louder to ring out across the Pitt.

“Dana?” he tried to call her attention back to him but she ignored him, clutching the phone she’d already hung up tightly in her grasp as she glued her eyes to the screen.

A familiar voice rang out across the room as the channel was changed. Nancy he realized, the lead anchor for the local news station, came onto screen. You’d introduced her to him once, you two were close at work.

Her red rimmed eyes were the first thing he noticed.

“We bring you breaking news tonight with reports of an active shooter at Pittfest the city’s summer music festival”

And Robby’s mind went blank.

There was no struggling to understand, no attempt to even process the news, just flat out rejection of the base premise. Those words simply did not go in that order, they couldn’t. It didn’t make sense for there to be a shooter at Pittfest, Jake was at Pittfest. He was here earlier, goofing off with Langdon before grabbing tickets from him he couldn’t be in any danger. He was happy, he was excited, there couldn’t be a shooter. You were at Pittfest, you’d been excited for the field assignment, your favorite band was playing, there couldn’t be a shooter.

“We go live now to field reporter Chuck Newcastle who’s on the scene now, Chuck are you with us?”

Another sentence that didn’t make sense. You were the reporter on the scene. You were the one they had sent. It was supposed to be you they went live to.

His gaze sought out Dana’s only to see the woman already looking at him. She looked panicked but that couldn’t be it, Dana didn’t get panicked, she ran the ED, she wasn’t allowed to panic.

“She’s supposed to be there” His voice sounded hollow even to himself as he watched Dana’s face crumple in response, eyes casting desperately back to the screen for answers.

He wasn’t sure the Pitt had ever been this quiet before.

“As you can see behind me first responders are currently on the scene and taping off areas as they attempt to apprehend the shooter” Chuck started to describe the situation with a hand on his ear, listening to the earpiece within it, continuing on without a hiccup “we have a reporter who was inside the festival area at the time of the event, out own Y/N Y/L/N. We’ll play a clip of her broadcast here in a second, but viewer discretion is advised”

He hadn’t realized how much of him had been hoping there’d been some sort of mix up until that moment. That you had backed out at the last minute, that they hadn’t actually sent you in, that you’d been lying to him about your plans for the day the entire time, anything that would keep you from being there.

A few heads turned in his direction at the news and he could see the hesitation on their faces, could see the silent questions they sent one another, could see the pity creep in as the Pitt all collectively wondered if they were about to see Dr. Robby’s girlfriend get shot on camera.

A hand reached for the dial and the command was out of him before he could think

“Don’t”

There as an unfamiliar edge in his tone, an unquestionable authority, a deeply buried fear masked by anger.

The hand retracted and you appeared on the screen.

“Hi my name is Y/N Y/L/N and you’re joining me here at Pittfest-“ you launched into your intro with a smile on your face and Robby drank it in greedily, heart stuttering in his chest as he desperately held onto that smile even if it was just your fake one you used for the camera, committed your voice to memory even if it was the falsely sweet one you used for reporting.

Then it all broke down.

Your report came to a screeching halt as a loud crack sounded through the background, an unnatural moment of stillness passing as the world around you froze, as everyone around you struggled collectively to comprehend, to react.

Your gaze suddenly strayed from down the lens to behind it, to your camera man, a silent question in your eyes before another shot sounded.

His heart leapt as you flinched this time, knees bending reflexively to get lower. A man in the background collapsed and instructions leapt to his throat unbidden, a silent plea to get down, to get under cover, to hide, to do something.

Instead you went after the man.

He could’ve screamed.

The camera crashed to the ground as it was dropped, the entire scene going sideways with you still barely in frame as you pressed firmly down onto the man’s chest, too far away for the audience to make anything out.

The scene suddenly cut back to Chuck.

His eyes stayed on the screen long after you left it, willing you to come back, willing them to cut back to you, willing for some sort of sign that you were okay.

He felt Dana’s hand being placed hesitantly on his shoulder bringing him back. He pushed her off without a second thought, launching headfirst into his leader roll “okay everybody listen up as the nearest trauma center we are going to be getting most of the victims”

“Robby” Dana tried to call his attention

“we need all the narcotics, paralytics and sedatives that we can get our hands on” he ignored her, delegating tasks off rapidly to anyone that would listen.

“Robby”

He ignored her again, avoided the pity in her eyes, avoided everything. “We also need to establish a temporary morgue we’ll take peds for now”

“Robby”

“Dana I can’t” He didn’t mean to blow up at her, to raise his voice, to make her physically recoil back from him. With a deep breath he tried desperately to reign it in. “I can’t do this right now, I can’t think about-“ he cut himself off, stopping the line of thought before he could get to any referral of you, severing the link in his mind before it could spiral “I can’t”

“okay” she nodded in response, a steady mask slipping into place though he could still see it in her eyes, appreciating the gesture nonetheless. “what do you need me to do”

Work, he could focus on work. He could distract himself with work. Work was good. “Gurneys, make sure all the gurneys and wheelchairs you can get your hands on end up in the ambulance bay. And see if you can get ahold of Jake or even Janey” she nodded eagerly at the instruction, happy to be able to do something, he’d have to thank her for that later, “and” he continued hesitantly “just at least see if you can get ahold of-“

“I will” she cut him off before he could get too far into it, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze before ushering him off.

Work, he could do work.

-

You don’t remember much after throwing yourself into the bed of some guy’s truck. Lying flat out on your back on the hard aluminum and closing your eyes, registering nothing until suddenly a hand was tapping rapidly on your cheek.

You cracked your eyes open at the sudden movement, coming face to face with a wide-eyed Ellis hovering over you.

“Fancy seeing you here”

She didn’t laugh, instead made eye contact with Shen on the other side of the vehicle, the two sharing a silent conversation before shouting Jack’s name in unison as Ellis slapped a pink bracelet on your wrist.

“shhhh I’m fine” you pointedly ignored the way the words slurred slightly on their way out while Ellis ignored their meaning all together, gingerly helping you out of the car and towards a gurney.

“It’s just my shoulder I can walk” you tried to protest as she forced you down, a familiar head of salt and pepper curls appearing behind her in a rush, a string of curses slipping out of him at the sight of you. “Thank you Jack tell Ellis I’m fine” You used your good arm to try and fend her off as Jack pulled a penlight out of his pocket and shined it directly into your eye “Dude it’s my shoulder not my head” you protested, bringing a hand up to rub away the shadows he burned into your vision.

“Lay back or I’ll strap you down” he threatened and though Jack was usually on the gruffer side you couldn’t help but notice the edge in his voice, that being enough to make you finally lay back and let them wheel you through the doors without a word.

Ellis followed, pushing the gurney, as she rambled off numbers you didn’t understand to Jack as he started to peel away the strips of fabric you’d been using as a dressing from your shoulder making you wince.

“Go find Robby and get him over here now” he instructed Ellis without looking up at her “Take over whatever he’s doing if you have to just get him here got it?”

She left with little more than a nod.

“How’s he doing?”

The corner of his mouth ticked up at your question for a second, hands moving fast to try and stop the bleeding “not really the priority right now sweetheart”

“Well that doesn’t bode well” you hummed back lazily, letting your eyes rest for a second.

Jack jostled you by your chin suddenly, forcing your eyes back open and on him “absolutely not, you’re not allowed to shut your eyes till Robby’s here”

“Robby then nap”

He huffed at your response then went back to digging harshly into your shoulder “Robby then nap”

Forcing your eyes to stay open was harder than you thought it would be even with the sharp pain of Jack working on your shoulder, the loud murmur of the hospital in complete chaos around you, the distant sound of your name being called.

Forcing your vision to focus you realized there as a familiar looking doctor now hovering over you with wide eyes, your familiar looking doctor hovering over you, a panicked look on his face as he stared down at you.

“Hey”

He relaxed slightly at the sound of your voice, barely enough to be noticeable but it was better than nothing.

“You’re here” his voice cracked as he said it, a hand coming up to run soft fingers through your hair before you were interrupted by Jack’s small “got it” and a small ting ringing out as he dropped a small metal object into a metal tin.

Robby’s gaze hardened as he eyed the bullet Jack had just dug out of you, wordlessly taking over for his friend and yelling out your blood type without having to check with you first.

Dana descended on the scene as if she’d been waiting just feet away, hanging a bag of blood on the pole by your head before hovering over you in the spot Robby had just occupied “you were supposed to call me”

“Sorry I got a bit caught up” you responded with a lazy smile, faintly registering Dana’s hand tangling in your hair as she smiled down at you.

“I don’t forgive you yet”

You snorted at that, eyes starting to drift closed once again before you heard your name being called.

A vaguely familiar looking man appeared over Dana’s shoulder, introducing himself as a fellow reporter and talking just a bit too fast for you to keep up “you were there right? Did you see-“

He hadn’t even gotten the whole question out before Robby was yelling out Jack’s name through clenched teeth, the physician entering your field of vision swiftly to grab the reporter by the hood on his sweatshirt and yank him back from you roughly, everyone ignoring the chocking noise he made as he gagged on his own neckline.

“Jake” you remembered suddenly, calling out the name as your hand shot out to desperately grab for Dana, the only person within reach “is Jake okay?”

Robby never answered, stern frown locked into place as he stared down at your wound as he worked, leaving Dana to fill in the gaps “he’s fine don’t worry Jake’s fine”

“Good I sent him ahead in someone’s truck” you nodded weakly, relaxing back onto the gurney “wasn’t enough room for all three of us”

Robby scoffed from beside you, eyes never leaving your shoulder even as he spit out “there was enough room”

Neither the time nor the place you decided as you let it go for now, sharing a look with Dana but electing to stay quiet while Robby finished. The man himself not relaxing until he had tied off your last bandage, fingers hover over the wound a second longer than necessary before his eyes finally cut up to meet yours, the corners of them wet as he swallowed “it’s done, you’re okay”

And you knew he wasn’t talking to you when he said it but you nodded along anways, taking his hand in yours with a squeeze “I’m okay”

His other hand came up to cup your cheek, thumb grazing over the skin softly as his eyes danced back and forth between your own “you make me intubate you I’ll never forgive you”

You snorted at that as you sniffed, not realizing how close you had been to crying until you were trying to speak around the lump in your throat “just a nap I promise”

“I’m holding you to that” he whispered, leaning forward to press a kiss to your forehead, lingering there for a moment longer than necessary before straightening back up.

“I love you” the words spilled out of you before you could even think to regret them, finding that you didn’t mind if you hadn’t said them before, or if this was probably the worst time to say them, it didn’t make them any less true.

Robby responded without thought, grabbing your good hand to press a kiss to the back of it, whispering the words back into your skin before nodding to Dana, letting the woman wheel you away “I’ll see you in an hour okay”

“One hour” you repeated weakly, nodding as you relaxed further back into the gurney, falling fully asleep before you had even reached your destination.

-

You woke to find you’d been given your own room at some point, not all that surprised Robby had pulled some strings to get you tucked away from the chaos of the Pitt, not all that surprised to see the man himself knocked out in a chair beside your bed looking incredibly uncomfortable.

You needed to sit up and get a drink but knowing Robby needed the sleep you did so slowly, desperately trying to minimize the noise as much as possible. You barely got a few inches up off the mattress before you heard him come to with a loud breath.

Taking a mere second to catch his bearings, he was by your side quickly, helping you up with soft whispered easys.

“Thanks” you whispered back to him almost afraid to break the silence in the room as he arranged the pillows around you comfortably to sit. He was handing you a glass of water before you could ask, gently pushing your hair out of your face as you greedily drank, wordlessly grabbing the cup from you to set aside when you were done.

“How’s your shoulder any pain?”

You shook your head waving off the concern “I’m fine it’s manageable”

He eyed you skeptically but didn’t say anything in response, your first warning sign that something was up as he didn’t press, didn’t insist.

Reaching out you tangled your fingers into his, giving his hand a small squeeze, relieved to find he didn’t pull away as you did so. “You look tired”

He huffed at that, taking your entwined hands up to rest against his lips as he leaned on his elbow against the bed, watching you for a moment “I had a long day” Another deep breath, a shake of his head “I had a really long day”

A pause, an internal debate you could see written on his face, and a small sigh before he pushed ahead “seeing your broadcast really didn’t help”

You winced internally at the statement, already knowing where this conversation was going.

He must have been able to read your reaction on your face as he nodded, carefully taking your hand and untangling his fingers from it, setting it gently back on the mattress before harshly digging the palms of his hands into his eyes. “yeah I saw that”

“Robby I-“

“You ran towards the guy who had just been shot” he cut you off with a glare, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.

“I wanted to stop the bleeding”

“You didn’t know where the shots were coming from, didn’t know where the shooter was first” Again he shut you down “You should’ve went for cover, should’ve gotten down, I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain that to you” His voice got louder and louder as he went on, refusing to make eye contact with you as he went.

“I couldn’t just let him bleed out”

“And look where that got you” his gaze was cutting, his tone harsh “he’s still dead and you’re here with a bullet hole in your shoulder”

“That’s not fair”

“I don’t care about fair” he took a pause, took a deep breath, maybe he realized he’d started yelling at you or maybe just realized if he pushed any further he’d start to break down, you weren’t sure which was true “I care that god forbid you’re ever in a situation like that again that I know I can trust you to at least try and keep yourself safe instead of running directly into the next bullet”

“That’s not even when I got hit” The defense sounded weak even to you but you couldn’t help it, couldn’t take him looking at you with such disappointment, such frustration.

“I don’t-“ He cut himself off, forced another deep breath, forced himself to calm back down before continuing “tell me then was is before or after you sent Jake ahead”

“Robby”

“Was it before or after you sent Jake ahead”

You stared back at him in silence, setting your jaw, knowing there was no getting out of the question, knowing that the answer would be easy enough to get from other sources anyways. “Before”

He swore loudly as he stood up suddenly, pacing the room at the foot of your bed anxiously as he ran an exasperated hand through his hair.

“There wasn’t room-“

“That’s bullshit and you know it” he cut you off with a glare “you had a bullet in your shoulder you could’ve squeezed in there easily so why the fuck weren’t you in the car when it left”

You stayed silent beneath his gaze, offering no defense.

“Y/N”

“There was a kid” you shouted back in frustration, practically exploding with the phrase before taking a page out of his book and pausing for a deep breath “there was a kid crying alone and I couldn’t leave him there”

“So you grab him and take him with you”

“Leah didn’t have time for that” you dropped your voice at that, both of you knowing it was true, neither of you particularly liking it “I couldn’t look Jake in the eye and ask him to risk his girlfriend’s life for a random kid”

“So you just decided to do it to me”

You were taken aback by that, those words hitting you harder than you had expected, you hadn’t considered it like that before “That’s not fair”

“There were no more ambulances” he shot back quickly, putting his hands on the end of your bed and leaning into them “the roads were shut down, no one could get through that very well could’ve ben your last chance to make it here and you just let it go”

You clenched your jaw but stayed silent as he made his way back to your bedside, bending down slightly to capture your gaze, keeping your eyes locked on his.

“You risked at best decreased functionality in your hand. And at worst? Infection, losing the entire arm, blood loss, getting hit again”

And you knew you should let him finish, let him get it out, let him unload. Instead you leaned forward and wrapped your arms around him.

Robby cut himself off immediately, his entire body freezing beneath your touch. He stayed like that for several seconds, his entire body tensing within your hold, long enough to make you start to doubt if you had just made everything worse, before he finally brought his arms up around you in response.

He robotically positioned them around you, steadily tightening their hold on you as he finally started to relax, softening further and further into the hug before he all but melted into you. One arm tightened almost uncomfortable around your waist while the other bunched up the back of your shirt into a fist as he buried his nose into the base of your neck, holding you as closely as possible, clearly afraid to let go.

“I thought-“ the words were thick as he whispered them into your skin.

“I know” you cooed softly, tightening your arms just as much around him “I’m so sorry Robby”

You stayed like that for long enough to grow uncomfortable, your back starting to ache at the awkward angle, but you didn’t dare move, not until he did, not until he was ready.

Slowly he sat up straighter. Hands snaking along your back and up to the nape of your neck to hold you in place, to keep you close, his face coming back just far enough to keep your noses from bumping.

“We’re going to have a fight later”

“I know” you nodded with a wet chuckle, refusing to let go of his sweatshirt long enough to wipe away the tears.

“I am so angry with you right now” his voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

“I love you”

The tips of his mouth ticked up at that, just barely but it was enough.

One of the hands that were at the nape of your neck moved to cup your cheek, wiping away the wetness from your skin for you “I am so fucking glad you’re okay”

You couldn’t help but laugh again at that, the sound ringing out tragic and broken but still a reprieve from the day, a single band that had been tightening around your chest loosening at it.

“me too”

[randompiecesofwriting]

Don't Be a Stranger

Summary: When your brother doesn’t come back from duty overseas you take it out on the one man your brother never seemed to be without, the one man who showed up on your doorstep to break the news, you took it out on Jack. Now years later you manage to come across him in a random coffee shop and hope you can make amends.

Pairing: Jack Abbot x Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Reader’s brother is killed in active duty, grief surrounding that is not handled well, Jack is an understanding king tho

Author’s Note: Did I just finish my Robby series yesterday? Yes yes I did. But this idea came to me and I couldn’t not write it so now you all get to suffer the consequences! Honestly I’m very proud of how it came out I’m already thinking about maybe doing more parts because I think there’s some potential here but as always let me know what you guys think!

Part 2

You weren’t proud of how you responded to your brother’s death, of the person you became.

You pushed people away, you were mean just for the sake of wanting to hurt someone, you isolated, you spiraled, you went through just about every cliché in the book in your grief.

And once you managed to pull yourself out of that hole, once you admitted you needed help and learned where to seek it, you made as many amends as you could, groveled until people gave in purely just to avoid having to hear you apologize again.

You found a new normal, wasn’t better, wasn’t worse, just different. Maybe some of your relationships came out the other end stronger, some surely came back weaker, and you learned to accept that, learned to move on, learned how to be you when all was said and done.

But there was still one person you couldn’t get over. Jack.

He’d been your brother’s best friend while he was over there and while you had never personally met the guy your brother wrote about him often enough you felt like you knew him at least on some level. At some points it felt like every story was told in relation to this mysterious Jack, they all had to involve him in some way, his name was always the second word out of his mouth.

And sure a part of you felt jealous of it at times, that this stranger got to spend more time with your older brother than you did, but at the end of the day you were glad he had someone out there, someone who had his back, or at least that’s what you told yourself with nearly a decade of hindsight.

He���d always said he thought you and Jack would get along, mentioned in one of the last phone calls you had with him that he was thinking about trying to get Jack to visit when he made it back.

In a way you suppose he got his wish.

You knew something was up when a man in uniform, missing a leg, forced himself up onto your porch. When you greeted him with a curious smile and his face stayed stoic. You didn’t hear much beyond his first few words, tuning the whole conversation out after “missing in action”

Jack tried to fill the silence, you could see his lips moving more than hear the words coming out of them, nothing really coming through until he said the words “he was like a brother to me” and you snapped, every ounce of anger, jealousy, hatred pouring out of you at once.

“but he wasn’t”

Speaking for the first time seemed to freeze him physically, Jack clearly not expecting it as every part of him tensed at your words.

And you should’ve backed down, should’ve taken a breath, should’ve just shut the door then. But grief does funny things to a person.

“he wasn’t a brother to you because he was mine” you spit the words at him, and Jack took each without faltering, without blinking, without an ounce of emotion. A part of you now wonders if that made it worse “he was my brother, he was your partner, it was your job to bring him back so where is he?”

You watched him clench his jaw, watched as his gaze never strayed from your own, the man didn’t falter easily under pressure you had to give him that.

“I’m sorry” and even then you acknowledged how gut-wrenchingly heartfelt those two words felt coming out of him, how they felt more like a sucker punch than a condolence.

It wasn’t until then that you did the first smart thing that entire conversation. You shut up. You let his words hang in the air, let them wash over you, let them choke you just a little, before you took a step back and slammed the door in his face.

You aren’t proud of how you handled that conversation, aren’t proud of how you burned the note he left in your mailbox with his number on it, aren’t proud of how you collapsed into yourself after that.

That was why it felt like your entire world came to a complete standstill when you spotted a familiar looking figure through the window of a coffee shop as you passed.

You froze as soon as your gaze fell on him, the woman who had been walking too closely behind you grumbling angerly at the sudden change before shoulder checking you, but you were too caught up to care, because it was undoubtedly him.

He was relaxed at a table, sitting across from someone who was clearly a friend, the two wearing matching scrubs as they talked.

And right away you could tell that the time had been good to him, the past few years changing the man you had met on your porch dramatically.

You watched him and his friend laugh softly, his head coming up to look at the ceiling as he did so and never had you imagined him able to look so light, so alive, so okay.

Your feet were moving before you could think twice, carrying you into the coffee shop before you could talk yourself out of it.

But as you approached his table you couldn’t keep the doubts at bay, thoughts swirling as you started to convince yourself that he wouldn’t want to see you, that he wouldn’t accept your apology, that you would only bring him back to that day of your brother’s death.

You were speaking before you could let any of it falter your voice.

“Jack?”

He pulled his eyes from the person across form the table quickly, clearly startled to hear his name but the edges of his mouth still stayed ticked up from whatever the other man had said.

The smile hadn’t completely dimmed by the time he met your gaze but you could practically see his brain try and work through who you were. How he knew you. You couldn’t exactly blame him it had been a few years.

As soon as it clicked though it was like the man had exploded, He was up and on his feet so fast the chair made a loud screech on the floor.

Both you and the man he was sitting with cringed at the noise, but Jack hardly noticed it. Instead, his focus was solely on you. “Y/N?”

You smiled softly and nodded your head in response, and Jack was reaching out and pulling himself back within the same motion at the confirmation. Arms not wide enough for a hug but hands splayed as if to simply grasp at you. To confirm if you were real or perhaps to offer some sort of condolence, you weren’t really sure.

His hand came back almost awkwardly to the nape of his neck, the other resting on his hip as if to ground himself as he spoke again “you-uh- you look good”

And you couldn’t help but notice the sudden change in him. The way he seemed so unsure of himself suddenly. The way he seemed to shrink on the spot. Suddenly much less the relaxed man you saw through the window and instead much more the man who had knocked on your door all those years ago.

“So do you Jack”

And you weren’t really lying. The man before you looked so much healthier than the one from years past, stronger, sturdier. You were almost proud to see it.

He studied you for a moment. A slight frown on his face as he crossed his arms and cast his head in a slight tilt “how are you holding up”

You smiled at the concern “I’m good. Better” He lightened slightly at the statement but didn’t seem to fully trust it. Eyes scanning you briefly as if he could read through you. “Been going to therapy, doing some work at the VA. It’s been good for me”

Finally he relented with a satisfied nod, a guard dog relinquishing duty. You took a deep breath, giving yourself a moment before speaking “I owe you an apology-“

You barely got the word out before he was interrupting you with a scoff “No you don’t”

You huffed slightly at the dismissal but expected nothing less “Really I do”

“You don’t” and he said it so conclusively, so definitively, you couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know most people just let it go after one insistence”

He smirked at that, shrugging before answering “well I’m not most people”

The next line slipped off your tongue before you could stop it, the well-meaning jab coming so naturally you didn’t think to question it at first “I don’t know how he could ever stand you”

The mood soured immediately, a seriousness you hadn’t meant to bring hanging over the interaction like a storm cloud that made you want to crawl into a hole. “Jack I‘m so sorry-“

He held up a single hand to stop you, a lopsided smile on his face as he stared you down for a second before responding with a huff “no don’t you’re-uh-you’re not exactly wrong”

Biting your lip you debated pushing the topic, debated making him let you apologize for that before deciding ultimately to let it slide “will you at least let me apologize for before? If not for your sake, then for mine?”

He was silent for a moment, sizing you up, analyzing before wordlessly giving you a nod, an invitation, an olive branch he didn’t seem to think either of you needed.

“I really am sorry for what I said to you that day” you started before he could change his mind, relieved and yet also unnerved to find that his gaze never once strayed from yours “I was grieving and angry and I took that out on you and that’s absolutely not fair. You were grieving too and instead of letting both of us lean on someone who knew him I was vindictive and mean and you didn’t deserve that” the words were practiced, you’d even written them down at several points, but they were no less heartfelt, no less true “Jack I’m so sorry for how I treated you that day”

His answer was quick and infallible “I forgave you the moment you shut the door in my face Y/N”

You couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that, shaking your head but smiling nonetheless “I didn’t deserve it then but thank you”

And for a second there was nothing but silence, nothing but the two of you taking a moment to size the other person up, to recognize how much the other had grown, to see the kind of change the grief had brought each, before Jack was breaking it “Do you want to join us for a coffee?”

It was only then that you remembered there was another person at the table, a person whose conversation you had completely interrupted by walking in, a person who had his face resting comfortably on his palm as he looked back and forth between Jack and you with rapt attention, a sly smirk on his face as he observed.

“I’m so sorry” you couldn’t help but blush as the reality of the situation hit you, eyes bouncing almost frantically between this person and Jack “I promise I didn’t mean to interrupt”

“No interruption” Jack promised as he placed his hands on the back of his chair, almost seeming to offer it to you.

“I’m Y/N” you ignored the invitation completely, offering a small wave to the person on the other side of the table awkwardly.

“Robby” he grinned back at you, already moving to stand up “you can have my seat just tell me what you want I’ll grab it”

“No no” you ushered him back down into his seat, silently preying that both men would just sit down and leave you to bow gracefully from the conversation “really you’re both fine I need to get going I just wanted to say hi to a friendly face”

Jack frowned slightly at your answer, taking a step closer, looking down at you with slight concern “are you sure?”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking him off easily “really I appreciate it but I should go” you hesitated for a moment, debating briefly your next words before forcing yourself to continue “If it’s not too much though could we talk at some point? Doesn’t even need to be about him just in general?”

He smiled easily at that, nodding softly “I’d like that”

“Good that’s-“ You smiled back up at him gladly, cutting yourself off as you started to dig through your bag “do either of you have a pen?”

Robby beat you to finding yours easily, wordlessly offering you one from his pocket with a smile.

You sent him a whispered thank you before grabbing a napkin and starting to write “I- we’re going to say lost here instead of destroyed- but I lost your number way back then but here’s mine just reach out any time”

You offered the napkin to Jack who took it gingerly, studying the numbers for a second before tucking the paper into his pocket securely with the hint of a smile on his face.

“If you don’t want to talk about him or if it puts you back in a place you don’t want to be I totally understand”

“I’ll call you” and it was the way he said it, so assured, so insistent, so confident, that it kept you from second guessing yourself, from feeling guilty, from trying to offer him an out.

“I hope you do”

There was another silence, another moment where you and Jack just looked at one another, just appreciated one another’s presence, before the call of the barista knocked you out of it.

Snapping your attention back to Robby you put a smile on your face “It was really nice to meet you Robby I’m sorry again”

“Don’t be” he shrugged you off easily with a soft smile of his own “it was nice to meet you too”

Turning back to Jack you offered him a slightly softer smile, giving him one more look over before nodding “don’t be a stranger yeah?”

“I won’t” he assured you easily, offering you one final nod before you extracted yourself from his bubble, taking one slightly wobbly step back before forcing yourself to pivot away from the two and out the door.

Only after exiting the coffee shop did you feel like you could properly breathe, giving yourself one second to properly collect yourself before taking off down the sidewalk, biting back the grin that threatened to spill, just barely catching Robby eagerly punch Jack’s shoulder with a grin on his face from the shop window as you passed by, Jack barely giving his friend the time of day as he stared down at the napkin in his hand.

Part 2

[randompiecesofwriting]

I can’t even tell you how much I love Coffee Snob. It is so sweet I can’t evennnnnnn 🩷🩷 I’m gonna miss those two

Thank you so much!!! Had to sneak in a little bit of angst at the end but this man deserves peace! I think I’ll miss them too they were honestly so fun to write for it felt natural

[randompiecesofwriting]

Oh my gosh that finale was better than anything I could’ve ever imagined!!! So beautifully done and it is a guaranteed favorite xx

Thank you so much 😭😭😭!! I feel like endings are so much pressure and so hard to get right but having this objectively small moment where they just lean on one another just felt right. I’m so glad you liked the series as a whole tho too I know I had a lot of fun writing it ❤️❤️

[randompiecesofwriting]

Coffee Snob (Final!)

Summary: Robby has a bad shift, reader shows up to help keep him together

Pairing: Michael “Robby” Robinavitch x Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Warning: Angst! Happy ending though I promise! General talks of sad depressing things you know how it is

Author’s Note: The last part!! I’ve had so much fun with these two and I really hope you guys have too but I think that for now at least I’m done with them, let them have their happy ending. Thank you so much for all of your guys’ lovely comments they alone kept me writing new parts to this!

Tagging @li22ie2017 one last time!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Robby was right.

It was hard to go back to the way things were after that night. To return to a cold empty apartment shift after shift.

And maybe it was ridiculous to expect things to change drastically after one night. You’d only spent the night in his arms, made him breakfast the next morning, spent the remainder of the day in his clothes as the two of you went out and ran a bunch of errands.

The DMV, the bank, the locksmith, the grocery store. All day in his clothes, smelling like him after using his products in the shower.

That didn’t have to mean anything right?

But he could only take so many of Dana’s smug smirks as he delivered her coffee in the morning. Could only bare so much of Jack’s disappointed frowns each day at hand off as he asked if Robby had grown a pair yet.

So he was going to do it. Today. This morning. Before he could talk himself out of it.

He’d already talked his way through the process time and time again. Debated too many times if asking you to dinner was the wrong move given your profession. Wondered what he was going to do if he’d read the entire situation wrong from the beginning. He wasn’t going to push it off any longer.

He knocked on your door just as he did every morning before his shift. He had a surprisingly easy time getting up just a few minutes earlier if it meant he got to see you before going in. For too long he had told himself it was all for the caffeine.

He was practically repeating the words in his head as he waited. Practicing them over and over, ready for when you opened the door. Or at least he thought he was.

Because when that finally happened, when you finally opened the door and peered up at him with a bleary smile, his brain went fully blank.

How could it not when he saw that you were wearing his clothes.

He knew it was a possibility when he never got them back after lending them to you, but it was an entirely different ballgame in this moment, seeing you blinking the sleep from your eye, hair still mussed slightly from the night, silently waving him deeper into your place, all while wearing his sweatpants dangerously low on your hips. It was like you were trying to kill him.

He followed you in without a word, determined to recover, determined that he could still get through his question.

Then you beat him to the punch, speaking before he could, “they’re leak proof, I tested them, so you might want to put these in your bag” you handed him the familiar tumblers and he furrowed his brow at the instruction, nevertheless doing as you said and slipping them into the pockets of his backpack, the new rules becoming clear once you handed him an unfamiliar looking disposable cup.

He knew at this point his question was too far gone.

“What’s this?”

“Decaf for Abbot” you answered as if it were obvious, as if he should’ve known you’d make him one this morning.

“You made Jack one?”

You hummed almost nervously, playing with your fingers in front of you as you answered. “I’ve never met the guy so tell me if I’m wrong, but he seems like someone who would appreciate a proper pour over. Plain black and decaf of course”

“No he is” and the corner of his mouth tipped up in response as he inspected the cup “where’d you get it?”

You furrowed your brow at the question “what do you mean I made it”

“But it’s in a disposable cup”

“Well I couldn’t keep giving away all of my tumblers”

He paused at the implication, smile growing mischievously as he realized “Did you buy disposable cups just to give my coworkers coffee?”

You scoffed at the accusation, crossing your arms over your chest in response “What no I-“ you cut yourself off as you looked up at him to see Robby’s knowing smirk, the words dying in your throat “shut up”

He was laughing now, fully from his chest, the sound much too loud and earnest for this early in the morning and yet it felt right, it felt good. You watched him laugh while you squirmed slightly on the spot, rolling your eyes dramatically as you started to push him out of your apartment without another word, the corners of your lips still tipped up in amusement despite everything.

“No no I mean it’s sweet” he tried to defend himself, but you weren’t having it, hands on his back to physically move him out the door and into the hallway, grumbling about being late for work before slamming the door shut in his face, never giving him the chance to say anything more.

Robby’s grin never once slipped as you did so. “Thank you honey” he called loudly through the door despite the early hour as he shook his head softly, giving you a moment to respond even though he knew you wouldn’t before finally starting his trek down the hall.

With a smile on his face he couldn’t help but think that at least for now, this was enough.

-

Robby’s had some tough shifts in his time.

Of course none come close to the day of Pittfest in his mind but damn if today didn’t try and give it a run for its money.

He’d lost too many people, had to break the news to too many families, been screamed at by too many patients. Things just kept piling. He was pulled into too many directions so that it never felt like he could poke his head above water for even a second.

It was why at the end of his sift he found himself at the rooftop. On the wrong side of the fence. In Jack’s spot.

Jack was talking to him. And maybe he should be listening. Maybe he should care that his friend was trying to help. Maybe he should at least try and be nice when he asks him to leave but he doesn’t. He doesn’t blow up, he doesn’t yell, he doesn’t collapse onto himself, instead he shuts down. He stares out at the ground below him and lets everything else fade into the background.

So he misses the way the gravel crunches beneath Jack’s feet as he retreats, misses the second set of footsteps that approach in return.

What he doesn’t miss is the newcomers first words to him when they reach the safety railing “hey”

And for the first time a single emotion cuts through all of the numbness he’s felt since he got to the roof, giving way to pure panic. Because he knew that voice.

His head whipped up to meet your gaze in surprise “What are you doing here?”

You simply shrugged, leaned your forearms against the railing, looked past him at the skyline “thought I’d see what all the fuss was about, scope out your usual spot”.

And he knew what you were doing. This was the part where he jumped in, made a joke about not bringing alcohol this time, did anything to lighten the mood. But he couldn’t. Couldn’t get his head straight enough to form a cohesive thought because you weren’t supposed to be here, you weren’t supposed to see him like this, to see the cracks, to see how he could barely hold himself together, to see just how weak of a person he truly was.

And you must have read his silence, seen through him enough to know that he needed an answer, because eventually you provided one “Dana called me”

And of course she did, he loved the woman, respected the shit out of her, but she had a habit of sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, of trying to solve problems she had no business being a part of “I’m fine”

He refused to look back at you as he said it, refused to let you read his face as he blatantly lied, refused to give any weight to the conversation, refused to give you any reason to stay. And for a second you let his answer hang in the air, let him choke on it just a little before you spoke “We both know you’re never fine when I find you on a rooftop Robby”

He whipped around again to meet your gaze as a million emotions ran through him, his head not sure whether he should be embarrassed or angry or resolute in that moment. You knew, you always knew, and of course you knew. From that very first day on the roof he’d been able to see how well you seemed to be able to read him but he thought he had done a better job at hiding it, at being non-cholent, at being a normal fucking person.

 “It was why I talked to you that first day you know” you continued as you ducked under the railing to come stand next to him “when I first saw you I thought about just turning around and going back inside”

He scoffed at that, burring his hands deeper into his jacket as they formed tight fists “instead you decided to what take pity on me? That why you started the conversation”

“Instead I decided hey here’s a guy who looks like he’d understand” you spoke the words quietly, without any heat, refusing to rise to his bitter tone “you aren’t the only one who seeks out a roof when things get bad”

That shut up him, made him swallow his pride, made him look down at you with surprised eyes, because you were the last person he would expect to need something like that, something you seemed to be able to read in his expression.

“I’m alone in this city Robby” you shrugged as if it were obvious, looking out over the edge as you spoke “no real friends, no family. I feel incredibly underqualified for the job I have and because of that I constantly put pressure on myself to be better, to be faster, to be more creative, to come up with more dishes, then maybe I can start to deserve what I have. I have an entire kitchen that relies on me including a chef de Patisserie who likes to randomly disappear on me meaning most days I’m the last one out and too many days I’m up at 4 in the morning doing prep work” you rambled nearly too fast for his brain to keep up, your eyes growing red as your blinks got quicker but never once did you allow yourself to faulter, taking a deep breath to steady yourself before you looked back up at him “so yeah I saw a guy sitting alone on a rooftop and thought maybe I shouldn’t be alone and after watching you for a few seconds, seeing the weight on your shoulders, thought maybe he shouldn’t be alone either”

And he deserved you yelling at him for what he said, hell he deserved a lot more anger from you, but for now he let it be, let your words fill the air around him for a second before he spoke “I didn’t know-“

And he didn’t need to finish he thought, you knew where he was going with it, answering with a small shrug “I’ve gotten good at hiding it, better than you at least”

He snorted at that, the corners of his lips tilting up at the edges just slightly for the first time that night “you’ll have to teach me how to do that sometime”

Seeing his small attempt at a smile had you relaxing slightly, your posture slumping just a tad at the sight of it, the corner of yours raising as well “not a chance, I like knowing when I can be there for you”

For once Robby decided to let himself feel comfort in that thought, allow himself to be looked after for a change, just a little bit “I want to know that about you too, to be that person for you”

And he watched your smile turn almost sad in real time, your eyes casting back out to the city “I see the way you shoulder everyone’s responsibility Robby” he furrowed his brow slightly at the change, eyes never straying from you even as yours avoided him “for your patients obviously, but also for your coworkers, for your friends. It’s this massive weight you can almost see that you’re constantly threatened to be crushed under” and finally you cut your eyes back to meet him, any playfulness from the past few comments long gone “I’m terrified of becoming just another responsibility for you to shoulder”

“What if I want the responsibility?”

You snorted at the question but again it was wrong, it was sad, hollow “you’re a good man Michael Robinavitch. I don’t think you’ve ever taken on someone’s responsibility unwillingly”

And at first he didn’t know what to say to that, because to an extent you weren’t wrong. He knows that he invested to much of himself into his work, gave too much of himself away, took too much on. But he could never bring himself to regret it, to do less, to be less. It just wasn’t who he was. “You know I’ve never considered you a burden I needed to carry”

You sent him a raised brow, a silent feeling of disbelief “Even when you have to take a day off from work to take me to the DMV?”

He chuckled at that, chin dipping down to his chest “especially then” He took a moment to study you, to watch your reaction as he said it, to watch the way his answer seemed to bounce off of you rather than wash over you “I mean it when I say I like spending time with you. There are few places I would rather be at eight in the morning than the dmv if you’re there”

He felt his chest warm as he watched your smile grow at his words, watched the way you tried to hide it by looking away, watched the heat creep up into your face as you bit down on your lip, every part of you trying desperately to school your expression and failing miserably. It was cute.

“You know usually I tell myself that sometimes I have good days and sometimes I have bad days and that’s just the way it is” you were looking back up at him again, lips pulled up into a soft smile “I’ve had a lot less bad days since I met you”

And god did that make him feel proud, making him feel deserving to even be talking to you, make him feel at a total loss for words on how to respond because what does one say when someone like you says something like that to him.

And as usual you had an answer when he didn’t. Taking a seat at the edge, dangling your feet over the side, and patting the ground beside you, beckoning him into the position he’s shared with you from your apartment building many times before. “So here’s what we’re going to do”

He relented almost eagerly, taking a seat next to you, sitting close enough your shoulders brushed against one another, happy to see that you didn’t seem to mind “we’ve got three options” he nodded at that, more than happy to go along with anything you said at this point “you can talk about your day, I can talk about mine, or we can just sit in silence for a bit”

He knew his answer before you had even finished talking.

“Tell me about your day”

You smiled softly at that, looking up at him through your lashes, bumping your shoulder lightly against his before looking back out in front of you “Well it started with me remaking the coffee I gave you three times”

A surprised laugh snuck out of him at that “what?”

“Well not yours and Dana’s that one was fine, the decaf for Jack though? It kept coming out either too bitter or too acidic I nearly drove myself insane trying to get it right this morning”

“Abbot would snort ground up caffeine pills if we let him” Robby chuckled again, shaking his head as he spoke “you could’ve given him instant coffee dissolved in lukewarm water and he would’ve happily drunk it”

“It’s my first time making him coffee” you defended yourself with your own laugh “ I have to make a good impression”

He laughed louder at that, more and more weight almost imperceptibly falling off his shoulders with each passing moment “I don’t think-“

“Anyways” you cut him off pointedly, giving him a glare that lacked any heat from the corner of his eye as you continued “after that I went to the restaurant and worked for a bit on some new recipes, we have a critic who’s expected to come in sometime this week I want to have something new to give them”

“You ever figure out that duck dish” he asked genuinely curious, eagerly watching the grin grow on your face in response.

“Oh my god Robby we pulled out some blood oranges and made a pan sauce with the juice” and god did he love watching the passion on your face as you spoke, the excitement in your voice as you described the dish to him using words he didn’t recognize, your voice getting louder and faster as you went, your hand shooting out to squeeze his bicep as you did so something he wasn’t even sure you had noticed you were doing, too caught up in your own excitement.

He loved watching you get caught up in talking about your food, loved the passion of it, the ambition, the excitement. So much so that the words slipped out of him before he even became aware of the thought entering his head. “have dinner with me”

He could physically see your train of thought come to a screeching halt at the question, could see the way your entire body froze as you processed it “what?”

And a big part of him thought about walking it back, pretending he had said different words, that he didn’t mean to attach the exact meaning he meant to them. A bigger part of him, however, was more than ready to double down “have dinner with me”

You furrowed your brow at him, struggling to put together exactly what was happening, struggling to figure out where this was all coming from. He couldn’t help it as his mouth ticked up on one side in amusement. “Yeah I mean we can get dinner, it’s probably a little late to pick up anything but I can make us something quick”

He was fully grinning now “no, tomorrow. At a restaurant. I’ll even let you pick it”

Your expression still hadn’t changed, one brow raised high “you want to get dinner, tomorrow, at a restaurant?”

He nodded “And I want to dress up a little for it. And pick you up at your door and tell you how beautiful you look. And I want to make awkward small talk on the way there. And pay for it before I escort you back home and beg you to let me do it all again”

At that you paused, eyes bouncing back and forth between his own as you desperately tried to read him, silently assessing before seeming to come to a conclusion “you want to take me on a date?”

“Several if you’ll let me”

And even if he felt like he knew you well enough to read your expression Robby felt like he couldn’t properly breathe until you responded, until he had your actual answer out in the air between the two of you.

And maybe you could read that in him too for you had no problem drawing it out, letting the statement grow stale on his tongue before you spoke “promise the small talk will be awkward?”

A relieved chuckle expelled from him at the question, Robby taking his first proper breath since he had first asked before responding “I’ll even start by noting what good weather we’ve been having lately”

You grinned at that, biting your lip as you scootched impossibly closer to him “well it has been uncharacteristically warm as of late”

“save it for tomorrow. At this rate we’ll run out of things to say”

“Ahh well we can’t have that” you relented, hooking your arm through his and setting your head on his shoulder as the two of you looked out on the city.

“Limoncello” You spoke out after a brief silence, your voice soft “I think we should do Limoncello tomorrow”

He couldn’t have bit down on his grin if he had tried, leaning down before he could stop himself and placing a soft kiss on the crown of your head “I think I can make that happen”

You hummed happily at that, giving his arm a small squeeze in response.

“But only if we do Alta Via as the second one”

He could feel you laugh from his shoulder in response, your entire body shaking softly with it “Already planning the second one, someone’s awfully confident “

“I like to think I’ve earned the right to be by this point” he shrugged, still reveling in the ring of your laughter.

“Fine but I’m cooking for the third”

His grin grew so wide he could feel his cheeks hurt with it, unable to do little more than whisper his next word

“deal”

[randompiecesofwriting]

Coffee Snob is giving me life!!!!!

It's SO GOOOOOOOD AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

I desperately want to make a joke about how maybe you should cut back on the coffee there yourself but I’m living for this energy 😭 this means the absolute world to me thank you so much!! 💕💕

[randompiecesofwriting]

I love your beautiful mind

Oh my god you’re going to make me cry thank you so much! I love your kind heart ❤️

[randompiecesofwriting]

Coffee Snob (pt 4)

Summary: The reader ends up in the Pitt threatening to break as she goes through the aftermath of a mugging leaving Robby to pick up the pieces

Pairing: Michael “Robby” Robinavitch x Reader

Word Count: 6.5k

Warnings: Reader gets mugged but she’s 1000% physically fine, hurt/comfort, lots of fluff, this is the angstyist one so far!

Author’s note: Back again because I cannot be stopped! Again I do not have the words to convey just how much all of the feedback I have gotten on this series thus far it is absolutely what drives me each and every time to write another part I cherish every one of them!

Also tagging @li22ie2017 because they asked! Thank you so much!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

There was a woman in his spot.

A very familiar woman. A very familiar woman in a very familiar spot at a rather unfamiliar time.

It was early, too early for even the sun to have risen yet, so early he had expected the spot to be empty, for even the city below to posses an unnatural stillness.

He couldn’t say he was upset to see you there though, legs dangling over the edge, familiar coffee cup in hand.

“Caffeine and heights?” You whipped around at the sound of his voice breaking the silence of the city suddenly, eyes just wide enough to show that he had caught you off guard, thankfully not bad enough that you were in any real danger that close to the edge.

Still you adjusted quickly, a warm smile growing on your face at the sight of him, the scene sending warmth through his chest “thought I’d mix it up”

He came up to sit beside you, the scene so similar to how everything had started and yet still so vastly different, a coffee instead of two beers, a familiarity in the air instead of a cautious approach, a much smaller distance between the two bodies than before. “And the verdict is?”

You hummed as you thought about it, wordlessly handing your mug over to him without any real thought behind the gesture, as always sharing your creations with him. He took an eager sip before handing it back “It’s too quiet”

He nodded at that, looking out over the city around him “too empty”

You took a sip of your coffee and hummed in agreement, setting the mug down between the two of you. A silent invitation, one he took up happily “What are you doing up this early?”

“My chef de patisserie is out for the week so I’m doing their prep” you shrugged.

“Their prep starts at four in the morning?” You smiled at that and he couldn’t help but appreciate the ease he always felt with you, the ease at which you gave out smiles, the ease with which he returned them.

“Pastries take time. You have to let dough rise, let creams cool, bake. It’s a labor of love”

He hummed appreciatvily at that, stealing another sip of coffee, looking out over the city, a sense of peace washing over him despite the weight of the world he had felt crushed under just an hour ago.

“What about you; why are you up this early?”

“Couldn’t sleep” and he decided to leave it at that, hoping you wouldn’t pry further, not quite ready to scare you off with his full answer.

But as you always did you seemed to know when to not push it, to not ask quite yet. He could feel your eyes on him, looking him over for a brief second, assessing him before nodding slowly, making a dramatic showing of checking a watch he knew you weren’t wearing “well since you don’t have to be at the hospital for a few hours. Want to come to work with me?”

He furrowed his brow at the invitation, asking the obvious question silently.

You shrugged in response, grabbing your mug and cradling it against your chest as you stood “It’s four in the morning, restaurant will be empty, come keep me company” you stated it like it was obvious, as if there was no better answer to his lack of sleep than hanging out in an empty restaurant kitchen “I’ll even make you breakfast” personally Robby couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing.

And that was how he found himself wide awake at nearly 5 in the morning, sitting at a stool in a restaurant he has never been in, looking out over an open kitchen as you carefully weighed out ingredients into a giant bowl, eating what was undoubtedly the best omelet he has ever had in his life.

There was a small array of soft lights that illuminated the kitchen before him, all other lights in the restaurant remained off creating a soft ambiance in the space, an almost intimate look that highlighted how it was just you and him here, your laugh echoing slightly off the walls as you recounted a story.

“You should’ve seen his face when he realized he’d been chopping cucumbers for the last hour instead of zucchini”

He tried to listen to your story, he really genuinely wanted to. But his sleep deprived brain refused to focus on one thing for too long. Jumping from how good the food was, to how warm the coffee felt, to how beautiful you looked as you worked, ot how at peace he felt in the space.

It contrasted so greatly with his world he almost felt on edge within it, waiting for that other shoe to drop, for something to ruin it.

Then you’d look at him from over your shoulder and smile softly, naturally, and everything for a second would be okay.

“And you said this kid went to culinary school?”

You snorted at that and he felt almost proud, of being able to make you laugh, of saying the right thing, of deserving in that moment to be here.

“He’s just nervous. So eager to prove himself. Reminds me of myself when I first started”

And god could he relate to that. To starting out after school and desperately trying to prove that he deserved to be there, to solve a patient’s every issue, to be good.

“What’d you do with all the cucumber?”

You hefted the bowl with a small huff and poured it into a giant mixer, flicking the thing on and coming back to stand on the other side of the bar from him, leaning casually on the countertop on your elbows “let him come up with a way to use them for dinner service. He came up with-“ you suddenly cut yourself off, standing up straight and looking at the fridge along the back wall “actually…”

Trailing off you started across the room before he could say anything, opening the fridge and grabbing a deli-container. As you made your way back to him, you grabbed a fork from a cup on the counter and scooped up a bite from within “try this”

Without question he took the fork from you, taking a bite and looking back up at you with wide eyes “wait that’s delicious”

“Right” you laughed at him, grabbing a second fork and taking your own bite from the container “basically a spicy quick pickle, went perfectly with the braised beef I’d already had going. We turned it into sliders and served it with this. Shit I wish I still had some to give to you it was so good” And Robby, to be honest, didn’t mind at all that you didn’t, listening to you talk about it, seeing the way you practically melted onto the counter as you recounted it, that was more than enough.

You packed back up the container and put it back into the fridge, stopping on your way to grab the dough from the mixer and a container of flour, grinning at him rather maliciously as you made your way back over to the space in front of him. “Now how’s your kneading Robinavitch”

He chocked slightly on a laugh at the question, watching you spread flour out on the counter and place the dough on top of that, giving it a small slap as you smiled back at him.

It was five in the morning, he had to be at work in two hours, you had him doing manual labor in the kitchen where you worked, and there was nowhere else Robby would rather be.

-

You’d been holding yourself together rather well all things considered.

You weren’t sure if it just hadn’t hit yet, if you were bound to break later, if you were unhealthily shoving every feeling too far below the surface, but to be honest right now you didn’t care. You were tucked into an empty room in the Pitt and you would be damned if you were going to cry at Robby’s place of work.

Then he walked in.

No matter how many times you had been in this hospital without it being an emergency he came with the same expression every time. Brows furrowed in concentration, eyes soft with concern, hands reaching out to softly prod, desperate to figure out what was wrong before you could tell him, desperate to solve your every issue. It was strangely comforting as he did it this time.

He was asking you questions, bent down slightly to stare directly into your eyes, looking for any sign that would tell him what was wrong, why you were here.

And you cracked.

A single tear slipped out and you couldn’t stop it. Your breathing picked up and stuttered as you fought against the lump in your throat, fought to keep everything under control, fought to swallow it all back down.

But Robby noticed it, of course Robby noticed it. There was a brief look of panic that flashed across his face before the mask was yanked back into place, a hand coming up before you could pull back to wipe away the tear with his thumb, leaning even closer, dominating your field of vision “Honey please, tell me what’s wrong”

You were worrying him. That’s what made you get it under control, what sparked you to tamp everything back down, to take a deep breath. You were worrying him and you didn’t like that expression it put on his face.

“Nothing it’s-” you pushed his hand away from your face, tilting it up to look at the ceiling as you blinked back the tears, taking a deep breath before speaking “nothing it’s stupid”

His hand dropped without issue from your face down to your hip, his thumb rubbing slow, soft circles into the area “It’s not stupid” and he said it so simply, so conclusively that you couldn’t help but start to believe it “now tell me what’s going on”

You watched him for a moment, the furrow in his brow, the way his eyes never once strayed from you, before you cast your gaze across the room, finding yourself unable to look at him as you said it “On my way back from the restaurant I-“ another pause, a slight break in your voice, a deep breath “I got mugged”

And because you weren’t watching him, weren’t totally paying attention to all that was around you, you didn’t notice the way he went still at your words, the way his entire body tensed, the way his expression went completely blank, before you were talking again.

“He took by bag it’s got, fuck, it’s got everything: my wallet, my phone, my keys” you could feel yourself starting to spiral again, could feel the grief and the panic start to swell before you looked back at him to see the almost blank stare, the way he seemed to look through you rather than at you “I’m sorry I didn’t know where else to go”

That seemed to snap him out of it. His entire expression softening as his hands came up to capture your face in them, cradling your head between them as he shook his slightly “no no no you did the right thing, you come here. You always come here okay?”

You nodded numbly, barely processing the words as he spoke.

“Good okay now I really need to know are you hurt anywhere”

You sniffed quietly, shaking your head before you could properly think about the question “I don’t think so he pushed me down and kicked me in the side but it doesn’t-“

He was reaching down for your shirt before you could finish your sentence, stopping himself forcibly as soon as he grabbed it, eyes flicking back up to yours for permission “please can I-“ he didn’t finish the question, didn’t need to as you were already nodding.

You looked away as he lifted your shirt, didn’t want to see the damage that had been done, didn’t need to based on the sharp inhale that Robby let out at the sight of it, the way his jaw clenched visibly, his hands tightening their hold on your shirt as he looked it over.

Swallowing, you watched him as he lowered a hand to probe softly at the area, eyes flicking up to meet yours at the hiss that left you as soon as he touched it. His voice gruff but soft “I know I’m sorry”

You felt like a child the way you sat on the bed, your lip wobbling as the confession escaped you “Robby I want to go home”

His expression fell at your words, the professional mask fully dropping as he nodded and let go of your shirt “It looks like your ribs are just bruised but I’d really like you to get a chest x-ray”

And to be frank you were too tired to fight him on it in that moment, no matter how badly you wanted to. A thought that must have shown on your face as Robby sighed, crumpling slightly on the spot as an anxious hand came up to run through the hairs on the base of his neck. “You shouldn’t stay at your place until we can change the locks” he finally conceded “let me talk to Dana about getting Jack here to cover for me and I’ll take you back to mine”

You smiled softly at that, looking up at him gratefully and only upon seeing the corners of your mouth tick up did Robby start to relax, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly at the sight as he moved back just enough to give you space to step down, placing a comforting hand at your back as he led you back to the nurses’ station.

Dana was nothing but a force of pure sympathy the second she connected eyes with you. Up and out of her chair before you were fully at the desk, engulfing you in a warm hug before you could get a word out, a “Oh sweetheart I’m so sorry” whispered softly into your hair.

A slightly warmer than hollow chuckle left you at that as you melted into her arms, rocking her back and forth slightly before letting her go, giving her arm an appreciative squeeze as she let it fall back “thank you Dana”

The corner of her mouth ticked up at that as she put her hand over yours to give it a soft reassuring squeeze before nodding back at Robby who immediately stepped in to take her place, standing practically at your hip as a large hand ran comfortingly up and down your back “Dana can you give Jack a call see if he can cover for me”

“Called him the minute she walked in” she answered easily, making her way back around the desk “he’s leaving as soon as he can, should be here within the hour”

He frowned slightly at the news but still nodded appreciatively, head snapping across the floor with a huff as someone called out his name asking for him in one of the rooms. He sent Dana a look, silently asking her a question she answered without having to think about it “go I got her”

Still he turned to you with a frown, another question sent silently you were already nodding at, taking a step back from him and wrapping your arms around yourself “go I’m good”

Still he stayed rooted on the spot, an internal debate playing out on his face making the corners of your mouth tick up again, nodding back towards the room that had asked for him in response “really I’ll be okay here”

With a sharp exhale he conceded, finally seeming to make up his mind. Taking a second, he shed his stethoscope followed by his hoodie, slipping it around your shoulders without asking, helping you shove your arms into the holes and zipping it up for you, hand resting on the zipper for just a bit too long as he looked you over once more “you need anything-”

“Dana will know where to find you” you answered for him with a small smile, watching one grow on his face in response as he nodded, giving your shoulder a soft squeeze before shooting Dana a silent look and heading off across the floor.

“Come on kid I’ve got a chair back here for you” Dana called you back from watching Robby disappear through the doors, directing you to a roller chair behind the desk with a pat on the seat.

“Am I allowed to be back here?” You asked hesitantly, perching yourself on the seat next to her.

She shrugged in response, eyes glued on to the screen before her as she typed something rapidly “Sure just if Gloria asks you’re a nursing student”

A laugh huffed out of you at that as you nodded, relaxing further into the seat burying yourself deeper into Robby’s sweatshirt in response “Nursing student got it”

-

The hour came and went slowly, you feeling more and more useless and in the way with each new emergency that came through the doors.

Robby visited whenever he could, never able to stop by the desk for longer than a second or two but always carrying a new snack each time he did. The pile of sandwiches, protein bars, apples, and cups of water was growing to a nearly hazardous size on the table before you as you took each from him without complaint when you realized how relieved he seemed to get each time you did.

Rounding the counter this time you were a little relieved to see his hands empty for once, forearms resting on the countertop before you as he leaned on it casually, giving you one quick check before turning his attention to Dana. “Any word on Abbot?”

The woman shook her head with a frown “Not in the last few minutes” She confirmed what you already knew “though there’s supposed to be an accident blocking the interstate he’s likely caught in that” and you tried not to deflate further at the news, tried not to make everyone pity you even more.

Robby, however, seemed to notice, he always did.

Seeming to debate something with himself for a second Robby hesitated as his eyes scanned you, taking a moment before speaking “if I give you the key to my place are you okay getting there on your own?”

You perked up at the question, straightening in your chair “are you sure?”

He nodded easily “I’ll be right behind you”

And you tried to tamp down your excitement, but truthfully you were more than ready to get out of the ER by this point “I’d really like that”

He chuckled softly at your answer, seeming to note just how happy the proposition made you as he motioned wordlessly for you to follow him back to a row of lockers, opening up one of them and rooting into his familiar backpack for his keys.

“Go back, take a shower, help yourself to whatever you need, just be careful yeah?” He asked you purposefully, dipping his head slightly to properly catch your line of sight “And call me if you feel anything off with your ribs I’m not joking”

You nodded gladly at that, grabbing the keys from him carefully, giving them a quick inspection.

“My cars parked in the third row, left side” he instructed with a soft smile making you furrow your brows.

“I’m not taking your car”

And for once his smile didn’t drop at all when you argued with him, instead his face stayed exactly the same, the corners perhaps ticking up even further, as if he had been expecting it “yes you are”

“What about-“

“I’ll walk” he interrupted you before you could even ask with a small chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning one shoulder against the locker next to his, settling in.

“Robby I can walk”

“You’re insane if you think I’m going to be okay with letting you walk back alone after what just happened”

“I’m fine” the protest sounded weak even to yourself.

He only raised a brow at that, silently daring you to double down on that, before he released his posture with a sigh, taking a step closer to you, dipping his head slightly to better meet your eye “please, can you just for once let me take care of you”

You couldn’t help but snort at that, shaking your head softly “I’m not great at that”

“Really I hadn’t noticed”

You smiled at the sarcasm, at the familiarity of the tease, at the man who seemed beyond willing to greatly inconvenience himself for your sake “Fine I’ll take your car”

A smug grin grew on his face at that, nodding appreciatively as he straightened and took a step back “good text me when you get back” You nodded at that, watching as he began to take small steps away, dragging his feet as he returned to the ER, throwing back one more comment before he disappeared “and if I find out you filled up my tank on your way back there will be hell to pay”

You snorted at that threat, biting down your smile as you watched him disappear without comment, shaking your head as you looked down at the keys in your hand.

You had a least a few days before he would notice that anyways.

-

It was a sight he wasn’t even aware he had been missing, coming home to the lights already being on. There was a new warmth permeating the space he wasn’t used to greeting him as he opened his door. In that moment he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do without it from now on.

Standing in the doorway the smell hit him first. Citrus and fat cooking, fresh herbs and spices mingling in the air. Soft music playing from the Bluetooth speakers he barely remembered owning.

He shut the door behind him as he entered and you spun around at the sound of it, sending him a smile over your shoulder he found himself already returning.

His mind was completely fixated on the fact that you were here, in his apartment, cooking at his stove, wearing his clothes.

Your wet hair told him you’d done as he suggested and took a shower, the familiar looking sweatpants and shirt telling him you had raided his dresser too. He couldn’t help but wonder if he refused to let you return them was there a chance he’d get to see you in them again?

“What’s going on here?”

“Recipe developing” you answered eagerly, Robby spotting the dozens of pages of hastily scribbled notes he had long since learned to associate with your development process. “We have pan seared duck over a citrus kale salad”

He couldn’t help but frown slightly down at the dish, furrowing his brows as he asked “where’d you find all this?”

“Over at mine” You answered simply, avoiding his gaze as you started to assemble a plate “stole the spare I gave you and popped over to raid the fridge”

And god did he not want to let that go, to tell you how unnecessary, how dumb it was to risk something like running into the guy who has your keys for some ingredients. To tell you that if you wanted food he would have gladly sent you back with his credit card.

But for the first time since his shift had started you seemed lighter. There was more ease in each of your smiles, a soft sway in your hips to the music, a happiness in your expression as you carefully arranged the food on the plate. He realized that he couldn’t ruin it.

Instead, he just watched as you assembled a bite for him. A ritual he was more than used to every time he was recipe testing for you. You always took the time to gather a bit of each component meant to go together in what you declared to be the perfect bite on a fork for him to try, always wordlessly passing the utensil over and looking up at him eagerly.

And every time he delayed taking that bite just a little. Taking the time to appreciate the way you looked up at him, eyes blown wide in anticipation, a small proud smile on your face as you waited patiently for him.

Taking the fork from you he brought it to his mouth. Biting down on your so-called perfect bite and finding himself completely unable to stop his entire expression from souring immediately.

Your face fell instantly, sending Robby into a tailspin as he desperately tried to quickly do damage control, speaking around the food still held in his mouth as he tried to force it down.

“no no it’s good” He chocked through the words, each coming out through a coughing fit as the food stuck to his throat.

He heard you snort loudly at that as you reached for a glass from the cabinet beside him and moved to fill it up with water “are you seriously trying to lie to me right now”

He gladly took the water from you, draining the glass quicker than he thought he was capable of, taking a deep breath once he finished, trying to force the memory of the dish from his palate as he forced a smile “I swear it’s not that bad”

You shook your head at him, lips still tilted up in amusement he was counting as a win “You are a dirty liar Michael Robinavitch”

He opened his mouth to respond, getting just a little too hung up on the way his name sounded in your voice, how soft, sweet, organic is sounded even as you teased him.

But you beat him to it, taking the fork and assembling a bite for yourself

“No I wouldn’t-“ he tried to interject but the utensil was in your mouth before he could stop you.

Immediately your face was puckering just as his did, wasting no time in bending over the sink and spitting the food out as he wordlessly filled a glass of water for you.

“Oh god what was that” you gasped out as you took the glass from him, downing the water in seconds and grimacing.

He couldn’t help but laugh at your expression, taking the now empty glass from you and putting it back on the counter.

“Oh my god and you swallowed that are you okay?” You were reaching for him before he could react, hands coming up to his forehead to check his temperature only making him laugh harder as his hands came up to encircle your wrists, holding them there rather than pull them away.

“I think I’ll pull through”

You pulled your arms from his grasp with a snort, turning back to your pages of notes. “I just don’t understand why it was so acidic. What the fuck kind of lemons do you keep here?”

“Here?” He asked “you found a lemon here?”

You furrowed your brow up at him, pausing your search as you answered “yeah. Lemon in your fridge”

He simply shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t think I’ve ever bought a lemon before”

You didn’t seem to know how to answer that for a second, your mouth opening and closing as you processed his words “you and I are going to talk about your lack of citrus appreciation at some point, but better question right now is if you didn’t buy the lemon how’d it get there”

He thought back briefly, the only logical answer coming to him and making him regret having to admit it “I think I bought a lime once”

“Michael”

The way you sighed his name like that almost made it worth it. The subtle uptick in the corners of his mouth spurring you on.

“Michael how long ago”

He chuckled at that, running a sheepish hand through his hair as he grimaced.

“Michael no”

“I mean it couldn’t have been that long ago”

“It was yellow!”

“I feel the bigger issue here is you can’t tell the difference between a moldy lime and a lemon”

“I thought it was just an old lemon!” and you were laughing again, Robby happily drinking up the sound as the two of you turned to glare down at the admittedly beautiful duck that was now ruined. “Are we going to die?”

“No” he scoffed, taking the plate off the counter and making his way over to the garbage “probably not”

“Oh that’s reassuring”

He could only shrug in response, sending you a cheeky wink before dramatically tossing the whole dish into the trash.

You glared at him at that, crossing your arms over your chest even as a twinge of amusement danced over your expression “This is why Gloria is on you about your patient satisfaction scores just so you know”

He groaned at that, returning the plate to the sink to be washed “I knew putting you next to Dana this afternoon would be a mistake”

“Eh you’ll get over it fruitcake”

-

The pizza Robby ordered instead of your carefully prepared duck was delicious but you couldn’t help but note the theme of the day seemed to be you screwing things up and Robby swooping in to fix it. Always without question, always without judgement, always without any expectation of anything in return.

A petty part of you wanted to be annoyed about it, to keep score in your head of all the things he did for you so you could do something of equal value in return. A part of you wondered if that was why you felt the need do those small things for him today, fill up his car with gas, make him dinner, you already had a mental list of all the things he was starting to run low on in his cabinets for the next time you went grocery shopping.

But another part of you relished being taken care of like that. Relished being able to let go of the reins for just a little bit and trust someone else to steer you in the right direction. Another part of you knew that you liked being that person for him in return, liked making him smile as you did little things to make his life a little easier, liked knowing you knew him well enough to have that kind of impact.

You were glad now more than ever that Robby had never returned the book you left at his place from back when he was sick. Being able to curl up on his couch with a blanket and a cup of tea he had made you without even asking first was an exceptionally comfortable place to be.

There was no awkward tension between the two of you as he sat on the other side and read his book as well, no need on his part to try and host you and no need on yours to provide any sort of conversation. There was no expectation in the air, simply two people existing comfortably tangentially to one another.

You honestly weren’t sure how you were supposed to go back to your empty apartment after all this.

Robby hummed softly from the other side of the couch before closing his book, setting it on the coffee table, running a tired hand over his face as he sat up a little straighter.

“Bedtime?” You asked with a small smirk, watching him over the brim of your cup as you took a sip.

“Bedtime” he nodded affirmatively, pushing himself to his feet and giving his back a big stretch.

“Goodnight Robby” you hummed at him as you went back to your book, hearing a small huff of a chuckle escape him as he slipped past the couch back towards his room.

“I’ll let you have the room after I change” You paid no real attention to the words as he disappeared, letting your eyes skim over the words with no real thought before you heard the sound of his door open again a few minutes later, looking over your shoulder too see him standing in the doorway clutching a pillow and blanket he didn’t seem like he was giving up anytime soon.

His expression alone told you exactly what you needed to know “Absolutely not”

He chuckled at that, softly shaking his head as he made his way over to the couch “I knew getting you to agree blindly to it was too good to be true”

“Go sleep in your bed you psycho I’m fine on the couch”

He seemed to ignore the statement entirely as he set his pillow on the side of the couch he had been sitting earlier, “I’m turning off the lights in five minutes so I can sleep, it’ll be much easier to read if you’d just go in my room”

“It’d be much easier to sleep if you’d just go in your room” you countered, watching as Robby arranged the blanket over the part of the couch you weren’t sitting on with a small sigh, still refusing to acknowledge your words.

And a part of you felt a little guilty for fighting back, for always fighting back. He’d just gotten off a shift, a rather busy shift you interrupted by going to the Pitt without really needing to, the poor man needed sleep and though you weren’t willing to throw him out of his bed he clearly was just as unwilling to let you take the couch. This was a stalemate plain and simple.

“We could share?” You nearly cringed on the question as it came out, face starting to run hot as Robby froze on the spot as he processed the words, gaze snapping up suddenly to meet yours.

And maybe he could read just how stubborn you were going to be about this as well, maybe he came to the same conclusion as you did, because instead of pushing back like you almost expected him to he spoke “are you sure?”

“Yeah” you willed yourself to be normal about it, to be chill, to ignore the eagerness that edged your tone as the word spilled out of you “I’ve always wondered if I snore, be nice to have a witness”

He snorted at that with a fond shake of his head, taking a moment before bending down and picking back up his pillow and nodding back towards his bedroom “If the answers yes then I’m coming right back out here”

You smiled back at him as you set down your book, moving in front of him to his bedroom “oh that’s much nicer than what I’d do”

Chuckling as he placed his pillow back on one side of the bed, the two of you moved in a strange tandem, the ritual of pulling back the covers and getting ready beside one another feeling strangely familiar “and what does that mean?”

You sent him a cheeky wink as you got into bed and settled down on the pillows, watching as he made his way across the room to the light switch “don’t snore and you won’t need to find out”

With a shake of his head he took a second by the light switch, giving you a onceover from across the room with a soft smile before turning off the light and making his way back, the mattress dipping slightly as you felt him settle in beneath the covers.

And you couldn’t help but acknowledge how awkward the situation was starting to become even with how smoothly it had started. The two of you sharing a bed that easily fit you, a good amount of empty space between your two bodies, both of you terrified of breaching the others personal bubble.

You became cognizant of your very breath, sure that even performing that necessary bodily function could be felt by him.

“We should start at the DMV tomorrow”

The statement pierced through the silence suddenly, taking you so much by surprise all you could do was hum in response.

“To replace your license” his answer came simply, as if it were obvious “bank should probably be next. We can stop by your place in the morning to grab all your documents before we go”

And you couldn’t fully process his words in this moment. Couldn’t get past the one pronoun he had opened with “we?”

“Yeah I mean” You could feel him shrug more than see it in the dark “I’ve got the day off tomorrow”

“You’ve got the day off tomorrow?” You asked in genuine surprise “Since when?”

“Jeeze you have my whole schedule memorized?” Yes. The answer was yes. “Abbot owes me one, it’s no big deal”

You were pushing back before you could even think the words through “you don’t have to-“

“I want to”

A tense silence permeated the air. An unnatural stillness the words settled into. “They’re basic errands, it’ll be boring”

“Not if you’re there” and again the answer was so simple, so natural, so obvious.

You were moving before you could talk yourself out of it, acting purely on instinct rather than logic, on want rather than restriction.

Robby reacted on instinct as well, arm coming up and out of your way as you pushed yourself into his side, tucking under your neck as you slotted your head on his shoulder, placing one arm over his stomach and entangling your legs with his, giving the man a small squeeze in appreciation.

He froze as soon as you came into contact, muscles tensing beneath your touch as you settled into him, remaining like that just long enough to make you worry.

“I’m sorry is this-“ You started to pull away as you spoke, worried you had crossed some sort of line, worried you had ruined everything for yourself.

“No” the word left him quickly and maybe a bit to loud for the otherwise silent room, the arm under your head snapping into action to curl around you and pull you back into him, pressing your face softly into his chest “no it’s okay-it’s good”

Accepting that you tightened your hold on him and buried yourself a little further into the comfort, whispering into the dark room “Thank you Robby. For everything”

“It’s nothing” you could feel his voice rumble within him beneath your head, could feel yourself rise and fall with his chest with each breath.

“It’s not nothing” you protested softly, rubbing soft patterns into his side with your fingers “not to me”

There was nothing but silence in the air for the next few seconds, a weird feeling of vulnerability around you that you didn’t feel the need to shy away from, before you felt a soft kiss being placed onto the crown of your head, the arm wrapped around you tightening its hold.

“Anytime honey”

Final