Chapter Text
Trinity remembered the night at the bar where she first met Emma very well. She was just out with Whittaker, both of them a bit desperate to get out of the house, though he was checking his phone a lot, clearly very distracted. Every time she managed to get two consecutive sentences out of him, his phone buzzed and he was right back to barely following their conversation.
The fourth time it happened, Trinity just rolled her eyes and went to get the next round, having already downed her vodka cranberry while Dennis had barely touched his beer.
As she approached the bar however, she saw a set of braids that looked particularly familiar.
“Hey, didn’t know you were old enough to drink,” Santos joked, coming up next to her. Emma jumped a bit, but softened when she realised who it was
“Oh, hi! Yep turned 22 so just about” she joked back. Emma hadn’t had a lot of one on one time with Santos. She didn’t dislike her, just that this was a very sudden new environment to find herself in with a coworker who she barely knew. “It’s my roommate's friend's 21st birthday. I barely know her, I think Hannah just didn’t want to leave me at home on my own” Emma commented. She was of course glad to be invited, she knew she needed to get out of the house more, but she didn’t really know any of them.
“What you’d rather be at home with a good book or something” Trinity imagined her as a big homebody. Someone who knits and watches period dramas or something
“No, nothing wrong with a night of drinking, I think it’s more the company than anything else. I mean it’s a 21st anyway, it’ll be over in an hour tops” Emma sighed, thanking the bartender for her drink as he came over with it.
“I never pegged you for a party animal” Trinity joked, looking her up and down a little
“I get that a lot, but I promise I'm fun” Emma wasn’t really sure why she was making such promises. Maybe she just wanted Dr Santos to not brush her off as some kid.
“Don’t worry I believe it” she said, giving her a disarming smile that sent a rush of butterflies to her stomach.
They spoke for a bit longer, neither really wanting to go back to their respective tables. But eventually the bar started getting too crowded to still be hovering around. “So, uh, I've also got pretty abysmal company right now, you don’t wanna get our own table and have an actual fun night by any chance do you?” Trinity suggested, really hoping she said yes
“That actually sounds great” she laughed, excited at the new prospect of not wasting the evening
“Great, let me just go let him know and I'll be back, maybe let your friends know too so they don’t think you’ve just disappeared” Trinity said, strangely excited. She walked back over to the table where Dennis was still enraptured in his phone
“Hey, huckleberry” Thankfully she got his attention immediately. “Go to whatever fuck buddy you’ve been texting all night, you are being terrible company”
“What are you just gonna go home?”
No denial of the fuck buddy thing, interesting.
“No I've found someone else who actually responds when I say things” trinity rolled her eyes
“Wow you already found a hookup, that’s quick” he shot back, with no real malice behind his voice.
“She’s not a hookup, we’re just talking”
“Yeah sure whatever you say. Just let me know if you want me to stay clear of the apartment longer than the next few hours” he said, giving her a wink before downing the last of his beer and exiting. Trinity didn’t think that’s where it was heading, they were just talking. People talk to their coworkers all the time outside of work. Though she did make a mental note that she now had a free place.
Trinity found herself getting along surprisingly well with Emma. She was funny, had an unexpected wit and could actually keep up with her biting comments.
And as much as she’d talked a big game about having some fun night, they’d only gotten two more rounds since sitting down, the ice from the last one all but melted and ignored at the side. She often found chatting with people tiresome. They couldn’t appreciate her humour or droned on about things she absolutely did not care about. She could also tell a lot of the time people were just putting up with her. She was loud and abrasive. She knew that. Dennis had rolled his eyes at her more times than she cared to admit. Not that she cared.
But Emma was different. She gave her her full attention, and she found she didn’t mind when she told stories about her own life. She was interested in the places she worked before, the stories of patients. At first she thought it was because she was a nurse. Same palace, different journey kind of thing, but the more she spoke, the more she realised it was an Emma thing.
She was cute, not just in a lamb sort of way that made Trinity want to protect her. But rather in a way that made Trinity notice the blush on her cheeks from the alcohol and warm bar. She didn’t seem to stop smiling even once and her eyes had this sparkle to them that she couldn’t just put down to the dim light of the candles. It wasn’t until Emma had stopped talking that she realised she’d been staring and barely paying attention to whatever question she just asked her.
“Sorry, didn’t quite hear you” She said, blaming it on the bars loud environment
“I asked if you were on some bad date or something before”
“No, not a date, just Dennis” she laughed at the thought.
“Oh I didn’t realise, i’m sorry to pull you away”
“No you’re fine, he was far more interested in texting his new friend with benefits” She definitely needed to interrogate him about that later.
“Ah, probably for the best then, I’m much better company” Emma joked, elbowing her lightly
“You really are,” Trinity said, meeting her joke with a genuineness that was very unlike her.
Then someone tried to get past them and Trinity shuffled her chair out of the way, realising, only when she turned back, that she was now closer to Emma. Much closer.
Trinity noticed she had glanced down a couple times now at her lips and she didn’t want to be presumptuous of course, but she wasn’t blind. Suddenly she was overwhelmed with thoughts of closing the gap and feeling her lips on hers. Well there was one way to find out.
So without thinking too much, she inched forward just a little, hoping Emma wouldn’t immediately back away because she read things wrong.
Instead, with very little hesitation, Emma surged forward at the invitation, kissing her gently. She could still taste whatever fruity drink she had been drinking before. It was slow and incredibly gentle. Very different to what Trinity was used to, but she found herself not minding. She got to notice everything this way. The way their noses touched, the light breaths Emma took. She could feel her hands on her shoulder, like she was scared to touch her and break the moment. She could smell Emma's perfume, jasmine and cherry blossom, and now all she could think about was that smell on her bedsheets. And as much as she could make out with her for hours, she desperately needed to ask her to come home with her.
“Dennis said he’s staying the night somewhere else, if you wanted to come back to mine. You can avoid your roommate for a bit” she said, trying to disguise the invitation as if it was her doing her a favour.
“Yeah, that would be nice” Emma smiles so sweetly that Trinity can’t help but go in for more.
Trinity had not dated many people. Sex sure, she’d had plenty of that but dating had never been a big thing for her. A lot of the time just because it was easier. Of course having one stable partner was something she wanted, not just for the physical, but for the emotional too. But so few people were good at sex and could hold a good conversation with her.
That implicit feeling of being able to let down those barriers, or even begin too. Garcia had been the only one in a while that gave her that feeling. But that was a lost cause, she didn’t want commitment. Her loss.
Trinity would have been fine if Emma only wanted sex. If the next morning she collected her clothes quietly and left so they could share blushing smiles in the hallways at work and nothing more. But she didn’t. She stayed well into the morning, almost the afternoon, offered to make coffee and even asked for her phone number.
“It seems silly to not have your number after last night” she giggled. She was so confident about it too. Not arrogance like the way Trinity usually came off, but more like if she had said she had a lot of fun but she didn’t want anything more, she would have moved on completely unphased. It was incredibly attractive.
Of course Trinity did give her her number. It started as just some good morning, good night texting, gossiping a little about the hospital. Then it was inviting each other round for late night dates. It was more often at Emma’s place but if Dennis was ever staying with his “friend” Trinity didn’t hesitate to invite her round. And yes they had sex but they found out they really enjoyed cooking for each other, constantly trying to one up the other. Once Trinity found herself contemplating if she had time to hand make pasta for a lasagna. Which she of course didn't do, so instead she just bought some pre-made dough.
It was a quiet type of love, in the dim lights of the kitchens. One of them cooking, the other sitting and watching, often with a glass of wine, talking about anything and everything. Occasionally offering a spoon to try the dish so far. It was two months of this that Trinity came to the realisation that she loved Emma. She couldn’t say for sure when she realised, somewhere between always stocking her favourite snacks and the incredible sex. She just understood her, in a way she didn’t think anyone ever had, like it was the easiest thing in the world.
And Emma was equally as infatuated. She found everything just constantly made her think of Trinity. Funny things she saw online, flowers that were her favourite colour, recipes similar to ones she’d made. Trinity didn’t coddle her like a lot of people did. She was soft with her, in a gentle way that made her feel like she could be open and honest about all her thoughts. But she wasn’t a piece of glass either. Trinity never made assumptions about her feelings or what she could handle. She didn’t push her away when things got hard or try to be some hero protecting her from the nasty stuff. And maybe those heavy conversations happened through gritted teeth because Trinity absolutely would rather never tell anyone about her fears and secrets, but she knew better than that. And that was maybe the part that Emma liked the most about Trinity. She didn’t feel like she had to prove anything with her, which was a weight of Emma’s back that she hadn’t realised she’d been carrying.
They took care of each other. Learnt each other's habits, what soothed them when they were upset, the best way to surprise them. Emma was the best at that, constantly leaving things in Trinity's locker or on her desk. Always waiting behind a corner to see her reaction. Honestly thank god no one had picked up on it because to an outsider it would probably look a bit creepy. But Trinity appreciated it and it was clearly having the right effect because she overheard Donnie talking with Perlah, noting that she was much easier to get along with these days. Of course they had their theories, and of course one of them was that she was getting laid, but they didn’t know who. Maybe Garcia.
As much as she felt a twang of jealousy at them suggesting Trinity was hooking up with her ex again, she was just glad she wasn’t a suspect.
“Are you sure you’re fine with not telling anyone at work?” Trinity had asked one night. Emma knew what prompted it. Someone had finally dared to joke to Santos about her good mood, making some joke about old flames. “Because I would love to show you off to the whole team as my girlfriend” she said, nuzzling into her neck while they cuddled on the couch. Dennis was out again for the evening so they were in pyjamas, under far too many blankets, watching star wars after Emma found out she’d never seen it.
“As nice as that would be, I like our little bubble. I love our coworkers but they get far too involved”
“Well you’re right about that” then a beat. “So, it’s not on your radar at all, being public?” Trinity asked, not actually looking at her in an attempt to make the question sound far more casual than she meant it. Emma looked at her for a moment before it dawned on her.
“I want to, I really want to, I promise” she said, making her look at her. “How about you tell Dennis so we don’t have to only stay here when he’s gone” she joked. “And if that goes well we come back and have another one of these super chill conversations” that made Trinity laugh.
“Deal” she returned to her place with her head on Emma's shoulder. “Thank you”
Emma didn’t need to ask for what, she already knew.
“Now watch the movie, you’re about to miss the best bit”
“So I may have done something” Emma said on their car ride into work. She had decided this was a better conversation in private than at the busy ED.
“Oh God, way to worry me, what’s up?” Trinity laughed, keeping her focus on the road ahead
“So Mel’s going out with someone and I invited them on our date to the arcade this weekend” Emma said slowly, keeping an eagle eye on Trinity’s face to watch for any reactions.
“Oh so you finally told her, I was wondering how long that would take now that she almost sees you more than I do” she joked. Thankfully Mel was the last person who was going to make her jealous so she didn’t mind their sleepovers. In fact she thought it was great she was getting along with their coworkers so well, even if she did sometimes want Emma all to herself.
“I can always go less, especially since she knows now”
“No I wouldn’t ask you to do that, plus I really don’t mind. So who’s this mystery person, anyone we know? You know I knew there was something different about her recently, I wonder why she hasn’t said anything”
“Well you are known to tease people quite a lot about stuff”
“Yeah but you love it”
“Yes I do, but I think she wanted to wait for this one”
“Why, what’s wrong with him, im assuming it’s a him”
“Uh yep and he is Dr Langdon” Trinity almost crashed the car.
“You’ve set up a double date for us with Mel and Langdon? Langdon, of all people” Trinity practically shouted. It was in shock more than anger, but it was still there.
“I only said I would ask, we both would”
“I don’t want Frank to know my business and I certainly don’t want to know about his”
“So that’s a definite no?” Trinity was about to shout a yes at her but she looked over. Emma was looking at her so hopefully. Not giving those fake puppy dog eyes that would have made her annoyed at the fact she wasn’t taking her frustration seriously. She knew if she said no right now, that would be the end of it. From Emma anyway, Mel would probably try and talk her into it as well.
“What do you think about it?” Trinity relented, at least wanting to hear her out
“Well the arcade has a lot of opportunities to go your separate ways so in theory we could barely see each other. It’d be nice to get food together but we don’t have to. We can even go after 10 minutes if you want and we’ll figure out some other date night activity. I promise, it’s on your terms” Emma got out quickly, totally earnest. “I know that day wasn’t good, I’m not asking you to forgive him by any means, it would just mean a lot of if my girlfriend and my best friend could get along, which may from time to time include her boyfriend”
“I get along with Mel fine” she sighed. “But okay, clearly it means a lot to you so i’ll try, but i’m holding you to that leaving after 10 minutes things if it gets bad”
“Yes absolutely, thank you so much Trin” she said excitedly, reaching out from her seat to hug and kiss her on the cheek
“Hey, hey no distracting the driver” Trinity laughed, returning her affection. Though her hand stayed on Emma’s leg all the way to the hospital.