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It doesn't click into clear vision in Trinity’s mind in one clear sweeping motion. It shifts, ever so slightly, in minuscule bits to form one crystal clear picture. Dennis is - though not proven… yet - definitely dating some abusive sort of asshole. Trinity is damn near certain of it. Again, she has little hard proof, yet there is so, so much evidence pointing towards it.
— — –- — — — —
It’s easy to disregard in the beginning. Little tidbits and comments made here or there. It starts like this: Dennis meets a guy named Michael. Trin teases him endlessly about it, about how over the moon the country boy seems to be about this man.
That’s the first thing that sends off a little dinging bell somewhere in Trinity’s brain. Michael is… older. At least a decade or so older than Dennis. It isn’t on its own an issue. Dennis is a big boy who can make his own decisions without Trinity prancing around acting like his mother. So, she lets it slide. And hey, who knows, maybe that’s a thing for Dennis. Like, a thing; Trinity sure as hell isn’t asking to find out.
So, Dennis’s boyfriend is older than him, and Trinty doesn’t think much of it.
Later on, she tries to ignore the implications of what that could mean. Tries to ignore the idea that, since this - technically - is Dennis’s first relationship, he could be seen as young and naive by some older man. She tries to ignore the thoughts that Dennis could easily be manipulated into believing that this Michael guy could know better. Tries to ignore thoughts that the age gap between the two put into Trinity’s mind. Tries to ignore all of it because goddamn if Huckleberry doesn’t seem damn happy.
— — — — — — —
The next thing is that Dennis never actually allows Trinity to learn where his boyfriend lives. Never lets her drive him over when he decides to stay the night at his boyfriend's place because somehow - miraculously - Dennis’s boyfriend lives closer than she and Dennis do. Dennis never lets her visit, never invites her to hang out with him. Dennis never lets her meet him.
And truly, it should be a much bigger red flag than it feels, but every time it comes up, Dennis has a good excuse. Or what seems a good enough excuse at those times.
Going to his place after shift: “It was a rough shift, and I want to walk to Michaels to think about it.”
Hanging out at the local club: “He’s not a big going-out person, but the two of us can still have some fun!”
Getting to meet the goddamn guy: “He’s busy during the day, and gets super darined at night cuz of it.”
There’s always some sort of excuse; there's always something. And in the first few months, Trinity tries not to even think about it. Tries to ignore the growing bells dinging in her head.
So she never meets Dennis’s boyfriend.
And it takes some time, some months actually, before she realizes it's a tad bit odd. Odd that she has gone nearly eight months now of knowing Dennis is dating someone and never actually meeting the man. It takes those months before she realizes that, yeah, this is strange. It takes time, and when it hits, the rest of it starts to pile up too. The bells stop their gentle dinging, and they shift to rapid tolls.
— — — — — — —
Dennis is pent up. Thats another thing Trinity notices. Her roommate is unusually anxious, especially surrounding anything having to do with his relationship. He’s cagey, flighty, and at From where she stands, times he gets argumentative.
There's one instance where Trinity tries to corner him, tries to get a bit more information out of the man. Shes searching for some sort of explanation for a growing worry inside her because god. Dennis’s relationship is really starting to look bad. She corners him, and sure, maybe this isn’t the proper way to go about it, but she asks her questions. Why won't this Michael guy meet her? Why won't he ever come over? Why won’t Dennis bring him up at work?
Because that’s simply another thing. Dennis will not, under any circumstances, mention much of anything about his relationship the second he steps upon PTMC grounds. Dana brings up how Whitaker seems happier. He is, by god Santos sees it, she does, but at what cost? Dana mentions it, and Whitaker gets teased some before he gets… weird. He’s fidgeting, eyes flitting around like he’s searching for someone, or the lack of someone.
Whitaker shuts down that conversation quickly. And when word spreads around - likely gossip started at the nurse’s station, but no one is exactly able to say - Whitaker shuts down the other staff's questions, too.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Mel asking sweetly if he’s been having a nice time recently with anyone. Mckay being sweet about how smiley Whitaker has been as of late. Abbott is pushing a little on night shifts because, of course, word spreads that far. It doesn’t matter - Whitaker refuses to say zip about zilch.
And every time, the word slowly makes its way around. More rumors spread around the ED about Whitaker likely being in some sort of relationship. And every time Santos hears about it, because that’s just how the gossip spreads. And every time Trinity is able to see Dennis buckle a little more. Because for some reason, he’s hiding his relationship with Michael from damn near everyone in his life.
And that brings the tolling bells to a shrieking, continuous ring. Because Trinity pieces it all together one day in the middle of a coffee break. She thinks about Dennis not letting anyone meet his boyfriend. About how nervous he gets anytime the man is mentioned, his avoidance. How flighty he gets, the age difference, the likely power imbalance that comes with it. She thinks about how strange Dennis was getting about receiving texts and calls, hiding his phone, and going into the next room to take any sort of phone call. Trinity thinks of how it had been months since she could last remember actually going out with Dennis.
She pieces it all together, and for a brief, heart-shattering moment, she is terrified for whatever her best friend has gotten himself into.
— — — — — — —
It all comes to a head, finally, on a Thursday. There's nothing inherently special about the day; there are a few frantic patients, a few more pressing and troublesome than others. It’s nothing irregular from any other Thursday - any other day.
It isn’t until Dennis is in Trinity’s car after their shift, the night crew having taken over in a quick handoff. They sit there, in the parking lot, for a few silent moments before Dennis breathes the words, “I need to tell you about something.”
And Trinity’s breath catches. Because this is likely it, this is when Dennis admits that his relationship is toxic, and he needs help, because his overbearing, obsessive, and seemingly downright abusive boyfriend has been using him and-
“Trin?” Dennis’s voice breaks the silence and her thoughts.
“Dennis,” she breathes, soft and sharp somehow at the same time, a sweetness to it she didn't know possible. She’s looking in his eyes, trying not to convey the anger boiling inside her at whoever this Michael prick thinks he is, treating her Huckleberry like some trash. “I think I already know what you’re going to say, and I just… Before you do, I need you to know that I’m here for you, and whatever you need, we’ll figure it out together, okay?”
And then Dennis is staring at he like she’s a foreign object he doesn’t know what to do with.
“Uhhh, what?” He asks, bewildered. Truly, he has no idea what Trinity is on about at this point.
“This is about Michael, right?” She says, voice still impeccably soft. Dennis nods the affirmative, still staring at her a bit strangely.
“About… how he treats you, right?” And Dennis goes to speak, but before she lets him get a word in, Trinity stops him. “Listen, I know you might think it’s not that big a deal, and you might want to defend him, but Dennis- I’ve noticed things, okay? Over the last few months, that are a bit strange, and I know you might think they're normal, but-!”
“Trin, stop! Just stop, okay!” He cuts her off. “I’m not… being mistreated or abused or whatever you think this is okay?” His face looks less bewildered, and there's a faint smirk ghosting his mouth.
Trinity sighs, because of course. Of course, Dennis believes everything is okay; of course, he doesn't see the glaring sign in bright red saying ‘CAUTION: MAY CAUSE DISTRESS!’
“Oh, Denny…” She breathes, soft and low. And he’s shaking his head, flat out disagreeing.
“No, seriously, Trin, it’s literally so far from what you’re thinking, okay? Like you couldn’t be more wrong-!”
“Then explain it to me, Dennis, because from where I sit, it seems like my best friend is being emotionally abused! Maybe verbally, fuck for all I know, physically! So just explain to me what the fuck is going on before I beat this guy's ass!”
“It’s Robby!” He shouts finally, putting his head in his hands, sighing. “Okay, the guy is Robby.”
And boy, if that doesn’t change absolutely nothing and damn near everything. Because Trinity is still willing to beat some ass for Dennis, if it so happens to be her boss, then fuck it. But this also means there are so many other levels to how fucked this is. If it is abuse, regardless of what Dennis says, what does this mean? Has it been going on for longer? Is there some strange boss/employee power dynamic…
“Has he been… abusing you at work, Dennis? Is that why you won’t talk about your relationship in the Pitt?” She questions, incredulous. “Oh, I swear to god-” She’s fuming, seething, so many levels of anger there were no longer any words to describe how she felt.
“What- NO! No, god no, we’ve been keeping work and personal separate until the HR form went through.” He exclaims. And that… is confusing.
“HR form?” She says.
“Yeah, we filed through HR so we wouldn't get in trouble. We didn’t even start dating until after I finished school. Really, Trin, it’s uh, it’s not abuse.” He says it sheepishly, like he’s ashamed he’s worried her.
“But, you’ve been so anxious lately? And you take weird calls and respond funny to texts! And you don’t want to go out as much, and you’ve been super cagey about anything having to do with your relationship, and… and…” She trails off, confused a bit now, anger still lingering because, what the actual fuck?
“I’ve uh, been stressed because of hiding. But the HR report got finalized today, and I told Robby I was gonna tell you on the way home so we could get drinks… maybe even with him? As for the rest, it was just… well. Trying to hide. I didn’t want anyone finding out about us at work because HR was already up our asses and well… yeah.” He still has that stupid sheepish look on his face, like a little kid who accidentally broke his mother’s vase.
“But, what about the phone calls? And you never wanted to go out anymore and…” She trails off again. “Those were HR calls, weren’t they?” She gets a nod. “And you didn’t wanna go out due to being so stressed… and you were texting Robby but didn’t want me to know… And I couldn’t meet him because, of course, I couldn’t. I’d find out…. Fuck.” She laughs, a bit hysterical, mostly relieved.
“So you aren’t being abused?” She clarifies. He shakes his head once more.
“Yeah, uh, massive no. Dating our boss? Yes. Being abused by him? No. “ He smiles, a real thing this time, not a scared or sheepish or ashamed smile. A real happy one. “I really like him, Trin.”
And that causes Trinity’s heart to melt a little, because god he does look super fukcign happy. Her boy is whipped so hard for that old man.
“God, Huckleberry. I thought I was going to have to kill a man.” She laughs again, and he’s laughing too until Dennis’s phone is buzzing in his pocket. He pauses, reaches for it, and looks to her.
“It’s Robby.” She nods for him to pick it up. He does. “Hello?”
“Hey, love! Have you talked to Santos yet?”
Dennis barks a laugh, the phone on speaker between the two on the armrest.
“Yeah, she’s here with me, actually. You’re on speaker.”
“Oh, okay, well, I’ll take it that it went well then?” And Dennis and Trinity both start giggling. Robby makes a noise of confusion on the other end of the line, and they laugh harder. It takes a bit of time before the two reign in their giggles, explaining to Robby the misunderstanding that now seems funny.
“I was ready to commit a murder for Huckleberry here!” Trinity barks a laugh, and Dennis smiles. They sit for a moment, chatting with Robby a bit before deciding to go out and get drinks to celebrate. Apparently, Robby had already told Abbott about the now able to be announced relationship, and he was down to accompany the lot of them as well. They hang up after saying their goodbye’s and see you in a bit’s, Trinity punching the address for the bar into her GPS.
They sit silently for a few minutes of the drive before Trinity breaks the silence again.
“Just so you know, uh, if anything ever - and I mean ever - does actually happen between the two of you, let me know? I’m here for you.” Dennis thinks she sounds uncharacteristically soft, which means he truly, wholly, actually worried the girl.
“I will, you’ll be the first to know.” He promises.
“I better… So. Old guys then?” She teases.
Dennis groans, burying his head in his hands.