Chapter Text
To say that Trinity was nervous would be an understatement. After their meeting in the storage room, Santo had sent over her weekly schedule that very night, letting Garcia handle the logistics of their ‘date’. It was only a few hours later that she got a reply. A simple, “Friday, I'll pick you up at 7. Wear something nice.” which only increased her anxiety. In their 10 month situationship the two doctors had only visited dimly lit bars and crowded clubs, nothing that could actually be classed as a proper date. If Garcia was taking her somewhere fancy then that meant she was really serious with her promises of making it up to Trinity.
Whitaker had bombarded her with questions as soon as the pair stepped onto the bus. He had sent her a few worried looks across the ED after her and Garcia's confrontation but with more and more patients infiltrating The Pitt they never actually had time to talk. Unable to keep it hidden anymore, Trinity had spilled everything as soon as they got home. Her flirtatious thing with Dr Wells, her different disputes with Garcia and finally their reconciliation in the storage cupboard. Dennis listened, mouth agape, and when she was done he tentatively asked her questions, “So are you two back together now?” and “how are you feeling about this?”. Santos knew that Whitaker wasn’t a huge fan of Garcia in the first place, having voiced his disdain for how she treats the younger doctor and her effect on his sleep schedule, but she watched him push down his grimace for her sake.
Trinity was still cautious about this whole ‘apology’ from Garcia. The brown eyed woman hadn’t treated her well, making Trinity feel like some sort of squeeze toy for months until she finally exploded. Just because she had revealed her true feelings with an apology didn’t mean that her behaviour was all forgiven, she had lost some respect for Garcia over the last few months. Trinity was never very good at accepting apologies. From her experiences in the past, people never really mean it, they just say it to make themselves feel better, or look better. Parents, coaches, friends. They made her feel vulnerable, exposed, and so she had taken Yolanda's confession with a grain of salt. If she really was sorry then she would have to prove it, sincerely.
3 days later, Santos had managed to score the Friday and Saturday off and had spent the whole of her first day away from work deep cleaning the apartment and watching New Girl. Her bedroom was the only outlier in the tidy apartment, clothes strung haphazardly on her bed and over her desk chair. Dresses and pantsuits, skirts and boots. There were too many options. She had taken an everything shower, running the water for almost half an hour, trying to get her mind straight. She hadn’t been on a date since god knows when. Trinity was never really the ‘dating type’ and she was certainly too busy with her job to go on dates nowadays. So here she was fretting over what to wear.
She stood in her underwear staring at the piles of clothes, Santos could hear Whitaker pottering about in the kitchen, probably dirtying her pristine counter tops. She considered briefly asking him to help her pick out an outfit, but his fashion sense was limited to framboy plaid and bootcut jeans. Trinity was trying to get him to be more adventurous with his style but there was no luck yet, the best thing she had done so far was getting him to grow out his hair. She scanned the room once, twice, before landing on a pair of wide legged, black and white, pin stripe trousers that she had brought for a medical conference a few years ago. Pulling them on, she then went in search of a top to match and after cycling through a few options she found a white, pleated blouse. Its fitted style hugged her curves in all the right ways, with its short sleeves showing off her tattoos, she left the first few buttons undone to reveal her lacy white bra. Not bothering much with makeup she threw on a simple ‘going out’ look with a soft pink lip combo, before picking out some silver pearl drop earrings.
She was finishing up her hair, carefully pulling it back into a messy bun with her fringe and soft side pieces framing her face, when Whitaker’s voice called her name from down the hallway. Dennis was meant to be at Amy’s by now but he had decided to stay home until Garcia arrived to pick Trinity up with the promise that she would call him if anything bad happened or if she just needed him to come home. She took one last check of the time, 6:45, before peeling out of her room. She found Whitaker hunched over the fridge, hands roaming around the barren shelves, a lone monster energy and a chopping board sat on the countertop.
“Whats up? Are you cooking food now? Aren’t you leaving in 20 minutes?" Her voice startled him as he hit his head on the shelf above him, letting out a small scream. Trinity started laughing as he turned to face her.
He sighed, rubbing his injured head with a frown, “For your information the farm is at least a 45 minute drive and I’m hungry,” he paused suspiciously, “do you know if we have any more avocados?” He said, pouting as he moved to take a swig of his drink. Trinity abruptly stopped her laughing to stare at him in concern.
“What do you mean? You can’t find any avocados? I bought 3 yesterday when we went shopping,” Dennis smiled sheepishly opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out, “Huck, please don’t tell me you ate all 3 avocados in the last 24 hours,” she sighed bringing a hand to her forehead as Whitaker fumbled with his words, trying to find a good excuse.
“No, no of course not, maybe they ran- you look very nice, is that a new top?” he deflected nervously as Trinity groaned and walked away. She loved living with Dennis but sometimes she just couldn't excuse his weird habits.
Santos retreated back to her room to tidy up, which really meant pushing all her clothes into the bottom of her wardrobe to sort out another day, putting her makeup away and making her bed. Garcia hadn't revealed any of her plans for their date and from past outings the two had been on they usually ended up at either Trinity or Yolanda’s apartment so Santos wanted to make sure her room looked presentable, just in case. She sat anxiously on her bed, scrolling mindlessly through her phone until the tell tale sound of the doorbell rang through the apartment. She scrambled up grabbing her oversized black leather jacket and her small bag, stuffing her house keys inside, and racing to slip on her chunky heeled boots.
But before Trinity could even step out of her bedroom she heard the door creak open. She froze at the threshold, just out of sight of the woman she had been waiting for. Her nerves making her hands clam up, maybe she wasn't ready for this? The silence stretched for a few seconds.
“Whitaker, how nice to see you,” Garcia was the first to speak, greeting Dennis in a sincere tone of voice, “I’m here to pick up Trinity, do you know if she is ready?”
“Garica,” Dennis responded, voice cold. She could picture him now, like a puppy trying to bare his teeth at a wolf. “I’m sure she will be out soon.” His voice was steady. Only a small hum from Garcia followed his words. Neither of them moved to say anything else, no offer to come inside or small talk about the weather. He really was keeping his promise on giving Yolanda the cold shoulder. Trinity’s timer for seven pm went off, pulling her out of still state. She could do this, it was just a date, not an interrogation. She took one final deep breath before finally moving out of her door. The hallways seemed to stretch forever as she made her way towards the front door.
Looking up, her eyes roamed over Garcia’s body, studying her outfit . Trinity's lips parted in surprise at how good she looked. She wore a brown satin draped dress, her hair slicked back in a half up half down style, makeup coloured with soft neutral tones, and her golden jewellery shimmered in the orange light of the lamp by the door. Her eyes flicked once at the long slit that ran from her upper thigh to her ankle, swallowing harshly. This was going to be one long night.
Trinity’s eyes finally met Garcia’s, seemingly the older woman was in a similar state, her eyes wide, tongue darting between her lips.
“Hey, you look…” Trinity said with a shy smile, her words failing her. It was only when the older woman thrusted her hands towards Trinity, did she notice the bouquet of red and white lilies in a brown wrapping paper.
“These are for you,” Garcia hands the flowers to Santos who takes them gratefully, “You also look…” she tapered off with a small laugh. She looked nervous which was shocking to Trinity. Garcia was normally cocky, sure of herself, but never nervous. The two women just stared at each other for a moment. It had been so long since Trinity had seen Garcia outside of the hospital she had forgotten how quickly she could get entranced by her.
A small cough brought both their attention towards Dennis who looked unimpressed. His arms were folded over his chest looking between the two women with an expression that looked a lot like one Robby pulls when Trinity and Dennis start ‘fighting’ over patients in the middle of the ED.
“How about I take the flowers so they don’t get in the way of your ‘date’, I’ll put them in water for when you get back.” He said breaking the charged atmosphere.
“Thanks Huck,” Trinity passed over the flowers, with a slight ruffle of his hair, “Have fun at Amy’s, be safe.” She smiled appreciatively at him watching his cold mask slip slightly.
“Yeah yeah, you too, don't forget what we spoke about, okay? I’m available anytime.” He looked slightly apprehensive, nodding his head reassuringly. She let out a small breath through her nose, nodding back at him. He turned abruptly towards Yolanda.
“And you, take care of her or else I’ll send that picture of you sobbing to Toy Story 2 to the whole hospital and you will lose your ‘stoic stone cold’ reputation,” He smiled fakely before stalking away, leaving the two women in shock.
Garcia just let out a small surprised laugh, “Wow, I didn’t know he had it in him, he could barely look at me a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah, he’s not your biggest fan at the minute,” Trinity grimaced at how the mood had dropped slightly, “should we get going?”
Garcia's sleek black Porsche Taycan stood out amongst the family cars and Trinity’s old beat up Toyota Corolla. Its cleanliness hadn’t shocked Trinity when she had first seen the older woman's car, Garcia was very ‘type a’ clean, her apartment looked like a showroom before Trinity had started leaving her stuff strung around the minimalistic rooms. Yolanda moved to open the door for Trinity with a small “milady” and a tip of her imaginary hat. Santos laughed before slipping into the passenger seat. She had missed Yolanda’s lame jokes. A soft smile crossed her lips as her apprehension eased slightly.
The drive to the restaurant was full of slight small talk, exchanging gossip about coworkers and patients, a new tv show on HBO and their plans for the weekend, a simple exchange of words that the two had rehearsed thousands of times. When the car did lull into a silence Trinity took to the window, watching the bustling streets of Pittsburgh flash by. The drive took about 20 minutes and soon enough they parked outside what looked like an apartment complex on the top of a hill. The sign read “Monterey Bay” with a small fish on the bottom. This was definitely not a restaurant that Trinity had been to before.
As they stepped through the revolving doors they came to a reception where Garcia gave her name and soon enough they were sent over to an elevator with the promise that their table was ready up there. The doors of the elevator opened as they reached the top floor, directly into the restaurant. It was really fancy. People in formal wear sat on small round tables, dinners illuminated by candle light. Waiters in suits bussed trays of food and cocktails, as the smell of seafood and steak wafted around the room. The main event though was the wall to floor windows looking out onto Pittsburgh's skyline, the dimly lit room was illuminated further by the soft glow of the moonlight. They were guided over to a table for two directly by one of the windows. Trinity settled comfortably watching the cars pass over the bridge down below as she and Garcia were handed menus. She opened the book, briefly scanning the options, steak, fish, pasta, as her eyes widened at the prices.
“This is too much,” she said worriedly, eyes meeting Yolandas, her face a soft orange in the candle light, “it’s amazing don’t get me wrong, so beautiful but this is too much.”
Garcia only let out a small laugh, “It’s okay, I’m paying don’t worry, call it payback for all the shit I put you through,” She smiled reassuringly. Okay, so they were diving right in. They sat silently for a few minutes looking over the food and drink menus, making small comments here and there before the waiter came over to take their drinks order, with Garcia ordering a red wine and Trinity a white.
“So,” Garcia started after the waiter left, “I know that I said it the other day, but I wanted to apologise, again. I treated you so badly when we were together and when we weren’t. I suppose I was scared about how I felt for you, about how strongly I felt for you. I don’t really do relationships, but with you it was different,”
The noise of the restaurant faded away as Trinity focused on Garcia’s words, “And so I pushed you away because I didn’t want to mess up anymore than I already had, especially with myself, and I was worried that if we kept going as we were that it would just end up hurting both of us. I ended up really screwing it up and for that I’m so sorry Trinity.” Yolanda moved to hold Santos’ hand caressing her knuckles.
Trinity smiled understandingly at Yolanda, “Look, I get that okay? My feelings for you scared me as well, and I know that you wanted causal, you said that from the start, but somewhere along the line I think we both know it got much more than that,” Trinity took a deep breath, “And I understand that you were scared but you really hurt me, throwing things back in my face that I told you about in confidence and then acting like I didn’t exist, I lost some respect for you Yolanda.”
Garcia nodded dejectedly, eyes darting around Trinity’s face as she tried to find her words, “And I cannot apologise enough for the way I treated you, it was wrong, and I regretted it all that time. I was giving you space at first, selfishly, I was hoping you would call, and I know that now I should have called and I was a coward for not trying to immediately get you back,” her hand dropped Santos’ own and moved to play with the napkin on the table.
“And then I saw you with Wells. You fit so perfectly together, and I thought, ‘wow she is so much happier without me’ and you seemed so quick to move on. So I tried to ignore it and be happy for you, yet there I was, stuck in your orbit, some sort of cosmic pull keeping me in place, tied to you,” she took a deep breath, “and so I pulled away, ‘for the better’, I told myself, but seeing you with her just made me so jealous, and after that first time I confronted you about it, I realised that I wasn’t upset because you had moved on so quick, no, I was upset because I still wanted you. Want you.”
Trinity bit her lip, hearing the confirmation again that yes, Garcia still wanted her, after all this time. Her words felt like a punch to the gut.
“Yolanda,” Trinity started, voice wavering slightly.
“No Trin, please let me say this before you speak. I love you. I think I have loved you for a long time now and I’m so sorry that I didn't said it sooner. You were right, we were something more, and I let my fear of commitment get in the way of one of the best things to happen to me. And I’ve had three god damn months to think about how much I love you and how much I have screwed us up. So please, I’m asking for another chance, another shot to show you how much I love you and to fix whatever I broke.” Garcia broke, her words flowing freely as Trinity just sat in shock. Oh my god.
As Trinity was stunned into silence she watched Garcia plead for remorse, she didn’t break eye contact with Trinity, her hands now nervously playing with her dress. Santos tried to get control of her thoughts. Jealousy. Love. Sorry. It was all she had ever wanted to hear from Garcia. She tried to inconspicuously pinch herself on the leg. Nope, not a dream. Just as she was about to respond the waiter walked over, pen and pad in hand.
“Here are your drinks,” He placed the glass of wine down carefully, breaking the doctors out of their bubble of emotions, “and what can I get you to eat?”
Trinity took a second, clearing her voice before she spoke, “Um I’ll get the filet mignon please,” she smiled politely up at the waiter, palms sweating, “Thank you.”
“And I’ll get the king salmon,” Garcia’s voice came out weaker than normal, her usual edge eroded by her emotional confession, “thanks.”
The waiter left without too much of a fuss, obviously sensing the tension, leaving a basket of bread and butter in his wake. The moment he left Trinity let out a wet laugh, shocking Yolanda before she joined in too.
“Sorry I just,” Trinity started before laughing again, “That was the worst timing.” She wiped her eyes with her napkin, smiling softly at the older woman.
“It really was, wasn’t it,” Yolanda huffed back, letting out a good natured sigh, “you were about to say?” She spoke quietly, hopefully.
Trinity took a moment to gather her thoughts. She had been thinking about what she would say to Garcia for months and now suddenly her words evaded her. She looked out over Pittsburg, the soft lights of the city below shone like stars in the darkness of evening. She wanted this, she wanted Garcia.
“Garcia, these past few months hurt me so much, being away from you. Thinking that you hated me made me feel crazy, I thought that I’d lost you. And then Wells came along, and she was a good distraction and it was fun to flirt with her, but I never thought of her in that way, not how I thought of you. And you sat on my mind every time I touched her and I hated you for it, because I thought you liked me, you treated me like your girlfriend and then chucked me away when it got too much.” Trinity spoke softly, her chest tight and hands trembling slightly.
“And all this time I’ve loved you too, I've been wanting to say it for weeks now, to scream at you just how much I love you, but I’m scared. Scared that you’ll leave again, scared that you’ll find someone better, someone less fucked up than me. I have lost some trust in you, in us, and Yolanda, I can’t do what happened in these few months again. I don’t think I could survive it, so if you really want me back you have to prove it. Show me that you love me, that you won’t leave because I can’t lose you for a second time. And we need rules, and communication. No more casual.”
“Trinity,” Garcia’s voice interjected, “I don’t think I could do casual with you even if I tried. I love you so much and I will go to the ends of the earth to prove it to you. I promise, baby,” the pet name slipped out naturally, “I am with you forever now, you’ll get sick of me telling you how much you are mine, showing you how much you mean to me.”
Trinity felt like she was going to cry as she struggled to keep the tears at bay. Just hearing Yolanda’s words made her feel so warm, wanted.
“I um, I actually got you something,” Garcia started rummaging around in her purse before she produced a small box about the size of her palm, “I admittedly got it for you many months ago when I saw it in a shop window, but never found the right time to give it to you.”
She slid the box across the table and Trinity picked it up curiously. Her fingers ran over the smooth leather of the black box before finally opening it. Inside sat a small diamond plated tennis bracelet. It looked sleek, expensive. Trinity wondered at it in awe.
“Yolanda, I don’t know what to say, it's beautiful,” her breath caught in her throat, “thank you.”
Garcia beamed up at her, “I wanted to give it to you when I asked you to be my girlfriend, so Trinity I know that it’s long overdue, but, will you be my girlfriend?” She said nervously, a loving glint in her eye.
Trinity laughed in shock, tears definitely flowing down her cheeks, “Yes, yes, of course.” She placed the box on the table, moving to grab Garcia’s hands, squeezing them tightly.
“Will you help me put it on?” Trinity’s voice shook as she held her wrist out. Yolanda carefully put the bracelet on Santos’ wrist, tightening it before placing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.
“I love you,” Whispered Trinity. Eyes meeting Gracias, full of love and adoration.
“I love you too,” Garcia replied. A wet laugh falling from her lips.
They spent the rest of the evening sharing jokes and anecdotes of the past few months, catching each other up on what they may have missed. Their food came not long after and it was amazing. Trinity could not stop smiling, her cheeks had started to ache by the time they ordered dessert. This was everything she wanted. Yolanda was her girlfriend and she loved her. The pair got caught up in the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant. They conversed under the dimly lit lights, laughing at stupid jokes together as a warmth spreading over Santos' body. And just a few hours later they were walking back to the car after Garcia paid the very expensive bill, leaving a hefty tip. The full moon now sat high in the sky, stars twinkling like the light in Trinity’s eyes.
The drive home was quieter. Both doctors basking in the silence, smiles on their faces. At every stoplight Garcia would turn to Trinity, looking at her softly and Trinity only beamed back. The streets were full of people on that cool Friday night. Groups crowded outside of bars and clubs and Trinity watched in fascination as they laughed, falling over each other. It was a parallel of the night that she had fled Garcia’s, observing people as she ran home, feeling jealous and ashamed of what had occurred that night. Now, instead of feeling bitter at where she left things with Yolanda, she felt content, Yolanda wanted to try again, wanted to be better for Trinity. She loved her. This time, as she studied the crowded sidewalks, she smiled. She was interrupted by a hand on her thigh.
“You want to come back to mine or shall I take you home?” Yolanda whispered into the quiet of the car.
Trinity didn’t even think before answering “Yours.” Moving to place her hand over Garcia's. The hand on her thigh moved further and further upwards as they drove towards Garcia's apartment, leaving Trinity flustered and squirming.
By the time they had parked and made their way to the lobby of Yolanda’s fancy apartment complex, Trinity was almost ready to jump on Garcia. They kept their distance in the elevator and then again on the short walk to the apartment. Darkness shrouded the women as they stepped through the door and into the open plan kitchen/living room. Garcia flipped on a few lights, taking off her shoes and leaving her bag on the kitchen counter. Trinity mirrored her actions. She hadn’t been in here since ‘the incident’ and it made her nerves resurface.
“Do you want something to drink?” Yolanda asked moving towards the mini fridge, rummaging around the stocked shelves.
“Yeah, I'll have whatever you're having.” Trinity said, sliding onto one of the seats on the other side of the island and sitting down, grabbing her phone out of her bag. She sent a few quick picture to Dennis, one of Yolanda bending down to grab the wine, and another of herself smirking. She sent a message attached reading, ‘I'm at Garcia’s, not dead yet, will be home sometime tomorrow, have fun playing farm boy! :)’. By the time she was done Garcia was opening a bottle of wine in front of her. She moved back round to stand beside her, Trinity’s hands finding Yolanda’s hips.
“Did I tell you how good you looked tonight,” Garcia whispered, turning her head to look at Trinity, “because you do look so fucking good.” She poured the wine into two glasses and handed one to Trinity.
“It was all for you baby.” Trinity took one large sip of her drink, looking up at Garcia through her lashes. They stood in silence for a bit, one of Santos’ hands stayed on Yolanda's hip, slightly caressing her side. Her eyes never left Garcia's, who very quickly threw back the rest of her drink, placing Trinity’s unfinished one on the side next to her. And in one quick movement, Garcia moved in front of Trinity, her arms bracketing either side of her hips, practically trapping her in place. Her hand moved up to brush a strand of hair from Santos’ face before catching her lips in a hungry kiss. Her back pressed against the island as Yolanda pushed her body further towards Trinity.
Santos could taste the wine on the older woman’s lips. She moaned into the kiss as Yolanda bit her bottom lip, moving to nip at her ear. Trinity’s hands roamed Garcia’s body from her ass to her hair. She tugged and pulled at the curls adoring Yolanda’s head, grabbing the older woman’s chin to pull her back into a fierce kiss. Garcia’s tongue slipped easily into her mouth as she grew hungry for more. Trinity was panting and groaning as they made out. She could feel herself getting needy as Garcia slipped her knee between Trinity’s thighs, Santos whimpering into Yolanda's mouth.
Trinity broke their kiss to mouth at Garcia’s neck, biting slightly just behind her ear before soothing it with her tongue. She could hear Garcia whimpering above her. She had always been loud, but tonight she wasn’t keeping anything in. Trinity continued to rut against the older woman's leg.
“You’ve been good, so good baby, I think you deserve more than just my thigh,” Garcia whispered from above her. Trinity moved quickly to nod her head, looking desperately up at Yolanda, whose hands moved to grip Trinity’s ass. “I just need to hear you say it, tell me how good you’ve been cariño.”
Trinity whimpered at the pet name, she caught Yolanda’s lips in a needy kiss again, “Please, I’ve been so good, please landa.” Trinity moaned against the curly haired woman’s lip.
“Okay, okay,” She caressed Santos’ face as Trinity curled into her touch. She removed her thigh from between Santos' legs and Trinity wined at the loss, “come one baby, let me take you to bed.”
She grabbed Trinity’s hand leading her towards the bedroom, abandoning the bottle of wine on the kitchen island. They moved through the apartment as one being, hands interlinked, mind both focused on only each other. As they got to Garcia’s bedroom Yolanda closed the door behind them, pushing Trinity up against it harshly and kissing her senseless once again. She felt like she was floating, every part of her body was consumed by Garcia.
“Strip and then get on the bed,” she whispered seductively in Trinity’s ear, “Tonight is all about you baby, let me show you how much I love you.” Santos nodded with a soft smile and hooded eyes.
This is where she could stay forever, in Garcia’s arms, under her gaze. Trinity would give her life to Yolanda and Yolanda would do the same. God she loved her woman.