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Dennis Whitaker never expected he'd grow so close with the night shift staff, especially since he primarily works days. On the off chance when he's called in to work nights, it's a whole other beast. It's calmer in a way the day shift never is, but definitely more unpredictable. The night shift tends to bring in the most challenging cases in terms of ‘nightly activities’.
It can be a bit awkward at times, it's definitely the type of atmosphere where everyone has to become very comfortable with a lot of things very quickly. There's only so many times you can skirt around the fact that someone put something up their anus that wasn't meant to be there before you just have to get to the point. Maybe that's the reason the night shift staff is so easy going, or maybe it has something to do with the attending who oversees the hospital during late hours of the night, Dr. Abbot.
Dennis instantly took a liking to Dr. Abbot it was clear that he and Dr. Robby, the day shift chief attending, ran the hospital very differently. Where Robby teaches by having the trainees work through decisions with extensive reasoning, Abbot is all about the hands-on approach. Robby is all about the thought process while Abbot likes to run the hospital in a way that shows he clearly has prior military experience. He likes a well oiled, practical dynamic even if it means bending the rules sometimes. It's different, sometimes intimidating to just jump into cases when he doesn't know what he's doing, but learning by doing is a fast way to figure things out.
He hasn't been put on night shifts too many times, mostly it's the occasional call in or he works a double to cover someone from the night shift. This week he was put on the night shift exclusively. One of the other doctors on staff took a week of vacation time on top of an intern falling unexpectedly ill and told to stay home, so he's filling in so they're not short staffed, or at least, not more than usual.
His first night he warmed up to the night crew pretty quickly. He'd just put his things in his locker and went over to where the rest of the night shift staff were chatting amongst themselves as the day shift started trickling out.
“Hey, Whitaker, nice to see you on the dark side.” Dr. Ellis pipes up and gestures for him to join them in their mingling.
“Thanks,” he laughs. “It's been a while. What's up?”
Dr. Shen, another night shift attending, takes a sip from his coffee. “We're waiting on Jackie boy to finish the hand off. He likes to chant us in.”
Dennis furrows his brows, “Chant you in? Who's Jackie boy? Are you sure the night shift hasn't made you guys lose it?”
They all laugh and snicker at him, their faces bright with amusement. “It's a sweet little nickname I have for one Dr. Jack Abbot, and he likes to get us all in a huddle to start the shift. It helps with morale.”
Dennis promptly ignores the second half, “His name is Jack Abbot?” He asks incredulously, his voice is thick with laughter.
He hears a gruff voice pipe up behind him, “Yeah, why?”
Dennis’ eyes go wide with being caught, he turns on his heel to see Abbot looking down at him with a cocked brow. Dennis shoots him a sheepish smile, “It sounded like he said Jack Rabbit, like a bunny.”
“Awe, ain't that cute, boss?” Ellis laughs loudly, “We should start calling you that.”
Abbot grumbles, “Great another nickname.” But the way his cheeks are tinged with pink and his lips twitch into a smile, Dennis knows he's not actually upset. He lets his shoulders fall and relax into the humor of the night shift.
Mateo chuckles, “I like that better than Jackie boy.” He nudges Shen with his elbow and waves as he walks off towards Triage.
Shen takes another sip of his coffee and walks off, patting Abbot's shoulder as he passes, “Looks like Jack Rabbit’s the winner.” Ellis follows shortly behind, her face is lit up with a smile. Her expression shifts into a teasing one when she passes Abbot.
Dennis is now standing alone in front of Abbot, he shifts his weight on his feet and bites his lip. “Sorry about that, I didn't mean to get them all to tease you.”
Abbot clicks his tongue, his smile deepening into a smirk. “No worries, kid, it's all in good humor.” Abbot walks up to him and pats his shoulder, “Let's get started.”
Dennis now finds himself on night shift doing his usual song and dance of checking on his patients, working on new steps to improve their condition, checking with an attending, and getting them discharged as quickly as possible. He just took up a new patient after discharging a woman coming in with pelvic pain that turned out to be ovarian cysts. With this being her first time experiencing the symptoms she was sent home and told to monitor her symptoms. Hopefully he wouldn't be seeing her come in again so soon, most often ovarian cysts go away on their own.
He's now heading to North 5 to see a 9 year old girl who’s come in with persistent belly pain. He knocks before entering the room, “Hi there, I'm Dr. Whitaker, I'll be overseeing your care for today.” He keeps his attention on the young girl, but his gaze flickers every now and again to the woman sitting next to the patient bed. He looks over the chart once more to catch the girl's name, Lilliana Ryder. “Now, Lillian, I heard you've come in for some belly pain, is that right?”
Lilliana nods her head and squeezes the bunny plushie she's holding. Dennis glances over at the woman who speaks up, “I'm Lilly’s mother, Grace. I brought her in, she’s been complaining of a stomach ache for the past 3 days. She said it started hurting more before I put her down for bed so I figured I'd bring her in.”
Dennis nods and rolls a stool over to the foot of the bed so he's closer to eye level with Lilliana. “Good, so you've been having a stomach ache for 3 days, huh? Can you show me where it hurts?” The girl stays quiet. “You can point if you'd like.”
“Go on Lilliana, show Dr. Whitaker.” Grace urges.
Dennis smiles encouragingly and taps his fist against his thigh, “I understand being in the hospital is a little scary and you're probably not feeling good.” Lilliana looks up at him, her eyes are glossy, “But your mom and I are here, and we have so many amazing doctors here to help you feel better any way we can. It's safe, you're safe, and once we figure out why your stomach hurts we can send you back home, okay?”
She nods. Dennis’ smile brightens and he clasps his hands together. “Let's take a deep breath, can you do it with me?” She nods and follows him as he takes a deep inhale in through his nose and out through his mouth. Lilliana gives him a small, shy smile and releases her tight grip on her plushie. “Now I know a nice nurse already asked you, but could you show me where your stomach hurts?”
Her voice comes out quiet, hesitant, but that's to be expected, “It hurts all over, not all at the same time.”
“Alrighty, well your bloodwork came back normal which helps us rule out some things. The next step is to do a physical examination, so I'm just going to have you lay back and I'll press on your belly to see if I can feel anything.” He moves his gaze over to Grace then back to Lilliana, “How does that sound?”
Lilliana nods and lays back, Grace moves her chair back to give Dennis room to move around. He stands and moves over to the girl. “Is it going to hurt?” She asks, her brows furrow in concern.
“I can't say it won't,” he says honestly. “I'll only put a little pressure and you'll tell me if it hurts at all, okay? I'll stop if you ask me to.” She seems to relax slightly at his reassurance. “Can you move your plushie off to the side, please?” She moves it and hands it to her mom. “I'm going to lift your shirt a little just to see your belly, okay?”
“Okay.”
He lifts her shirt and rubs his hands together, he smiles softly at Lilliana, “Sorry if my hands are cold Lilliana, I'll have to bring some hand warmers with me next time.”
Lilliana smiles back, “It's okay. If you want you can borrow my gloves. They're pink, my grandpa made them for me.” Dennis’ mood brightens as Lilliana seems to get more chatty.
“Wow really? I bet they're really nice and warm. I'd love to borrow them,” He drops his voice a little to sound disappointed, “But I think my hands might be too big.” He lifts them and flexes his fingers.
“Yeah, you're right.” Now that she's more relaxed, Dennis goes through the motions of the physical exam, noting when she winces or tells him an area he presses hurts.
“I'm going to use my stethoscope right here,” He unhooks it from his neck and shows Lilliana. “to listen to your belly and see if I can hear anything, okay?” She nods. He rubs the chest piece against his scrubs to try and warm it up. “This might also be a bit cold too, sorry about that.”
She giggles and lets Dennis continue his examination.
When Dennis is done he pulls her shirt back down and tells her she can sit back up before sitting down in the stool. “We're going to send for an x-ray so we can take a good look at the inside of your belly, but based on the physical exam I'd say it's most likely constipation. I don't feel any abnormalities other than backed up stool, and your bowels sound good.”
Grace nods her head, her face relaxes into a relieved smile.
“Stool?” Lilliana asks.
“Poop.” Lilliana laughs, Dennis smiles amusedly at her. “Doctors call it stool, and when you go number 2,” He holds up two fingers. “we call it a bowel movement. It makes it a little less silly.”
Grace hands Lilliana’s stuffed rabbit back to her right when Dr. Abbot walks through the door. Dennis’ voice into a teasing tone, “Hey Dr. Rabbit, how's it going?”
Abbot scoffs, “Just doing my rounds, came to check with you and your patient.”
Lilliana’s face instantly brightens, catching Dennis’ attention. “Dr. Rabbit?”
Dennis laughs, “Oh, well his real name is Dr. Jack Abbot, but I called him rabbit because it rhymes.”
The little girl giggles, “I have a pet rabbit at home!”
Lilliana’s energy is infectious, Dennis straightens and asks with a new enthusiasm, “Oh, you do? What's their name?”
“His name is Bunny, he’s even the same color as Dr. Rabbit’s hair! Mommy, can you show him a picture?”
Her mom pulls up a picture of the rabbit and lo and behold the rabbit has grey, curly fur. Dennis has to make an effort to school his expression. He looks over to Dr. Abbot with an amused expression before turning to the girl. “You're right, they do look alike.” Lilliana beams a smile at him. He takes the lull in conversation as his cue to leave. He stands and makes his way to the door. “I'll be back soon after your x-ray to go over the results.”
“Thank you both.” The mom says, sighing tiredly as she smooths her hand across her daughter's hair.
“Of course.” He turns to the girl, “Say goodbye to Dr. Bunny. If your scan looks good, you won't be seeing him for the rest of the night.” Dennis chuckles as the girl gives them an enthusiastic goodbye wave.
“Bye, Dr. Bunny!” Dennis pivots and makes his way through the door. He hears a choked out goodbye from Abbot as he follows behind him. Dennis sneaks a glance at him to see his face lit up in a dark blush. He takes note of that with a deep satisfaction and files it away in his mind for later use.
About an hour or so later, Lilliana’s x-ray comes back and her diagnosis is made. Just simple constipation. He runs it by Dr. Shen, who gives him the go ahead to prescribe some Miralax and send them home.
Dennis ends up presenting his next case to Shen as well, so the next time he sees Abbot it's in the lounge. He’s pouring himself a cup of coffee and Dennis moves to the fridge to grab his water bottle. They stand in a comfortable silence, Dennis glances at Abbot every now and again between sips of his water.
He hears Abbot clear his throat before he turns to him, “Have you discharged that girl yet?”
“Oh, Lilly? Yeah, I sent her home as soon as I talked to her mom about her x-ray.”
“Good.” Dennis’ ears catch on the noise of Jack tapping his finger against his coffee cup. Dennis hums and finishes another sip of water.
“I better get a move on, more patients to see. Later, Bunny.” He turns to hide his expression as he bites his lip, pushing open the doors and leaving Abbot alone in the break room. He hears Abbot’s breath catch. Dennis pictures what expression the older man is making as he rounds the hallway towards the hub.
Dennis was now faced with an obvious realization that he was dangerously attracted to Jack Abbot, and that Abbot seemed to have a thing for pet names, specifically being called Bunny. He let himself run it through his mind again as he went over to the patient board. He knew it could get him in trouble, the teasing, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.
A part of him wanted to see how far he could push it, or even just to keep playing it off as a joke and see what Abbot would do about it. Or if he would do anything about it at all. It had something spark in his stomach at the thought.
He tried not to let his mind get too carried away while he was on the clock, but later when the sun finally came up and he was free to go home, it's all he could think about. He laid in bed fully enraptured as he replayed Abbot’s expression and the way he blushed at being called Bunny. It made Dennis feel almost giddy in a way he easily recognized as him developing a devastating crush on the older man, a senior attending no less.
-
The next night was slightly more interesting, Dennis had more than one case of 'patients coming in with things that shouldn't be inside a human body’ and it made the night more eventful if anything else.
Dr. Ellis was teasing him about it as she, Dennis, and another nurse were sharing their horror stories. Someone came in with a bottle of shampoo stuck in them, it ended up opening while it was still inside. The nurse shivered as he retold the time a patient came in with a baseless dildo and ended up having an orgasm right in front of him.
Ellis suddenly piped up, “What about you Whit, ever had anything like that happen to you?” Dennis could tell she wasn't asking seriously, her face was fully teasing. She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
He rolled his eyes with a grin, “Whatever I put up my ass is none of your business, Ellis.” His chuckle is briefly cut off when a familiar voice sounds off behind him.
“Guys, please. If you have time to chat about God knows what, then you have time to be saving lives.” Dennis winces at being caught, yet again, and ducks his head as he speed walks out of the room. Not fast enough, as he's just about to reach the door, Abbot grabs onto his shoulder.
He stops, but keeps his head down, careful not to make eye contact. Time seems to slow down as Dennis waits with baited breath for Abbot to say something. Only, he never does. He lets out a sigh and releases him. Dennis looks up, confused, to see Abbot faced away from him. Dennis opens his mouth, closes it, and leaves the break room.
Dennis doesn't have any time to contemplate the interaction as he's quickly swept up into the chaos of the night shift, apparently there were many college parties in the area because most of the patients he gets are completely inebriated and seem to make it their mission to torture him.
“Doc, how old did you say you were again?” A young man who came in for alcohol poisoning is looking up at him with his head tilted. It seems he's trying to pull a charming smile, but the overall shit-faced appearance doesn't do him any favors.
Dennis shakes his head with a sigh, “I never said my age, Mr. Hadley.” He says simply, he gives Mateo the go ahead to hook Mr. Hadley up with an IV.
“Just Connor, please. How old are you then?” He raises an eyebrow.
Dennis bites the inside of his cheek before giving up and deciding to indulge him, “28, just had a birthday two months ago.”
“I would've guessed you were younger, but I guess it makes sense if you're a doctor.” He mumbles, his words come out a little slurred. “Not too much older than me.” He smiles again.
Dennis has to hold back a scoff at Connor's obvious lack of filter. “Well, luckily your symptoms weren't too bad for coming in with alcohol poisoning. We're going to keep giving you fluids and monitor you until you're sober and able to be discharged.”
“Thanks doc.” Connor shoots him a wink. Dennis nods and turns to leave, when he's out of the room he rolls his eyes and lets out a soft groan. He hears someone chuckle beside him and looks over to see Abbot walking up to him.
“What's got you worked up?” Dennis sighs and crosses his arms, turning to walk with Abbot towards The Hub.
“It seems like every intoxicated college student is being assigned to me, and they all have absolutely no filter. It's driving me slowly mad.” He huffs when Abbot lets out another chuckle.
“What're they saying, anything interesting?”
It's Dennis’ turn to laugh now, “If you think verbal harassment is interesting. Who knew I was a bisexual wet dream, the way they're all staring at my ass and flirting with me.” He freezes and slowly turns to look at Abbot. His eyes are wide, an incredulous look on his face. “Sorry, that was very inappropriate for a lighthearted work convo.”
Dennis clamps his mouth shut to stifle a laugh. “Well, that’s definitely something…” Abbot fixes his face back to a more neutral expression. When they reach The Hub, they direct their attention to the patient board. After a moment Abbot is the first to speak again. “Let me know if it becomes too much or you start feeling uncomfortable, I'll take some of them off your hands.”
Dennis smiles and nods, “Thanks, Bunny. I'll see you later.” He waits to see Abbot falter and his face erupt with a blush before turning to alert Lena. “Hey Lena, I'm taking the patient in North 6. If you see Mateo before me, can you ask him to come get me when Ms. Tristan’s CT comes back?”
“Sure thing, hon.” Dennis nods and chances a glance at Abbot before making his way towards the North wing. He's still completely flushed, but obviously trying to cool his reaction. If his face is stuck in a pleased smile the whole way there, then that's no one's business but his.
Dennis decides right there and then that he's going to milk this as much as he can, if only just to keep that flustered expression on Jack Abbot’s face.
-
Dennis finds himself extremely distracted the next day, the small interactions he's had with Abbot feels like they've completely altered his brain chemistry. He finds his eyes automatically roam any room he walks into in search of Abbot, and when he does inevitably spot him, he stares longer than he'd like to admit.
Watching the way his muscles twitch and flex as he's working, the way he scratches at the stubble along his neck and jaw as he's charting, the way he bites his lip when he's thinking, and even better, the way he seems to automatically become flustered when he's around Dennis.
Dennis had assumed it was the whole ‘Bunny’ thing at first, but ever since that discovery, he's been more hyper aware of all of Abbot’s reactions and facial expressions. He's been able to pick up, at the very least, that Jack Abbot is attracted to him. He wasn't sure how deep that attraction went, and he wasn't sure how to naturally bring it up to make it go anywhere. The only times they interacted was for work related things, and Dennis only had a few days left of night shift before he was put back onto days.
Dennis knew his brain wouldn't let him just let this go either, so he decided to take it up a notch. Instead of whipping out the nickname and walking away, he would take the direct approach. The next time Abbot is sitting doing paperwork and chatting, Dennis takes the opportunity to initiate a conversation with him.
He walks over to where Abbot is typing away at his computer. He has his glasses on that make his eyes look bigger than they really are, and the sight of it makes Dennis unsure whether he wants to laugh or to kiss him. He clears his throat and tries not to visibly fold when Abbot looks up at him over the rims of his glasses.
Dennis casually leans against the counter in front of the work station with a smile, “Hey, Bunny, how's it going?”
Abbot’s face immediately flushes, his lips pull into a frown, “Dr. Whitaker, what is it with you and that nickname?”
Dennis feigns innocence and tilts his head, "What do you mean? I think it's a cute inside joke.”
“I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call me that at work, I'd even prefer if you'd call me Jack over… Bunny.” He stutters over the last word which makes Dennis’ heart flutter in his chest. It takes a second for his brain to process what Jack said, but when he does… freudian slip.
“Not at work, huh?” Dennis smirks.
Jack’s eyes widen, his mouth drops in momentary shock. “Uh… I didn't mean to insinuate anything.”
Dennis hums before deciding to throw his dignity out the window from the heat of the moment, “Would you like to see me outside of work? We could go get breakfast after tonight's shift if you're down?” Dennis has to muster up all his confidence to keep eye contact with Jack and not immediately resend his offer and walk up to HR and report himself.
He watches as Jack finally processes the question, he squints his eyes and bites his lip in thought. “I’m not so sure that's a good idea, kid.”
Dennis scoffs, “Don’t start with the ‘kid’ shit, I'm a grown man. It's not like we're breaking any rules by getting breakfast together. You want to, right?”
Jack’s pupils dilate from Dennis’ direct tone, to which Dennis notes for later use. He keeps his gaze firmly on Jack as he waits for an answer.
Jack sighs, “Okay, fine, yes. Breakfast after work sounds good.”
Dennis’ face lights up with a bright smile, “Alright then, I’ll leave you to your charting.” Dennis bounds off to start making his rounds and checking on his patients, there's extra pep in his step from the exciting prospect of seeing Jack out of work.
-
Dennis is waiting outside the hospital in the ambulance bay while Jack is finishing up handoffs. He starts feeling an anticipatory fluttering in his stomach, he's not sure if he's more excited or nervous.
“Hey, Dr. Whitaker, you ready to roll out?” Jack saddles up beside him and adjusts his backpack.
Dennis smiles up at him, “Yup, also… you can just call me Dennis.”
Jack nods and starts walking to lead the way to his truck. Dennis hops into the passenger seat and slings his bookbag off by his feet. Jack gets in and they buckle their seatbelts before pulling out. Jack busies himself with driving for the most part, seeming very focused on the road, but he ends up switching on the radio to fill the slightly awkward silence.
It's an 80’s radio station that Dennis finds himself humming along to most of the songs. Dennis indulges himself to glance at Jack every now and again. He lets his eyes linger on the slope of his nose and the cut of his jaw, he wonders for a moment what the stubble would feel like under his fingers.
“Have you ever been to Jimmy’s Diner before?” Jack glances over at him before redirecting his attention to the road.
Dennis shakes his head, “No, it's in the opposite direction of my apartment, so I’ve never been over here before. Is it any good?”
Jack chuckles, “I think it's good, but I've also survived on MRE’s and thought they were pretty decent, so I don't know how trustworthy my tastebuds are.”
Dennis laughs and sees the way Jack’s face softens under his attention, “Well, I grew up on a farm where money could get pretty tight, I'd eat whatever my Momma put together. Can’t say I could trust my own tastebuds either, but Trinity- er, Santos, has been trying to expand my palate.” He decides not to mention his previous homelessness.
“You close with Dr. Santos?”
“Yeah. We're actually roommates, long story, but my housing situation fell through and she just so happened to have an empty room.”
Jack hums, “How’s that working out for you?”
“Honestly, not too bad. We bump heads a lot, but she's doing me a huge solid by letting me stay at her place, so I really can't complain.”
“Good, I'm glad you're getting along. I haven't seen much of her, but from what I have seen, she seems like a character.” His lips quirk up into a smile.
“What about you, do you live around here?” Dennis asks as they're pulling into the Diner parking lot.
“Yeah, my pad is just a mile from here. No roommates, I've lived there pretty much since I got out of the Military.”
They both hop out of the truck and make their way inside, it's one of those Diners where you can seat yourself. It's a small, intimate place. It has a nostalgic feeling in a way.
They settle into a corner booth that's tucked away more than the others and Dennis starts looking over the menu. It's a traditional American-style place, and when he starts reading off the items his stomach growls.
When he glances up he finds Jack already looking at him. “Do you come here a lot?” He asks, and he notices Jack didn't grab a menu.
“Yeah, my buddy Jim owns the place, so I pop in pretty often.” Dennis makes an ‘Ah’ expression and puts his menu down when he spots the waitress heading towards them.
“Hey there, my name’s Julie, I'll be serving you this morning, what can I get started for you?” She glances between them.
“I'll get a #2. Sub the sausage for bacon and I'll take the eggs over medium.” The waitress nods and writes on her pad. “Thank you.”
“Of course, anything to drink?”
“Black coffee, please.”
Julie hums and turns to Dennis with a smile, “What about you?”
“I'll have the pancake platter and I'd like my eggs scrambled, please.”
“Good choice, did you want a drink with that as well?”
“I'll have a half sweet, half unsweet tea, please.” Dennis puts his menu back on the stand and shoots the waitress a polite smile.
“Alright, I'll be back with those drinks in a second.” She smiles at them both, her gaze lingering longer on Dennis, and heads into the back.
He turns to Jack and rests his chin on his hands, “So… are we going to talk about us?” Dennis asks bluntly.
Jack's eyebrows shoot up in surprise before he relaxes into an easy smile, “Straight to the point, huh?”
Dennis smiles, “It's better than skating over it. I'll be honest, I like you, in more than just a physical attraction way.”
Jack turns his face to the side to hide his reaction, but Dennis catches the blush there. He clears his throat before meeting Dennis’ eyes. “That's flattering, kid-”
Dennis clicks his tongue, “Don't call me, kid. You're doing it on purpose, like my age matters.”
“Dennis, it does matter. I'm 51, you're barely in your 30’s.”
Dennis hums and leans his forearms on the table, “And does that matter to you, or does the thought that it matters to other people make you uncomfortable?”
Jack takes a sharp inhale, “It's not just our age difference, I'm a senior attending, your superior and boss.” He looks as Dennis pointedly.
“You're my attending for one more night, Dr. Robby is my senior attending, so you're not my boss outside of the occasional night shifts I have.”
“So… what are you implying we do?” Jack tilts his head, his brows are furrowed.
“Well that depends on your answer to my confession. I told you I like you, a lot, and I'd like to date you.”
Jack is silent for a moment, and just when he's about to respond the waitress comes back with their drinks. “One black coffee for you, sir.” She places the coffee down along with a small bowl of creamer and sugar packets, then sets down Dennis’ sweet tea and pulls out a straw from her apron. “And your half-and-half tea.”
She keeps her attention on Dennis for the most part, sparing quick glances over at Jack. “Is there anything else I can get you until your food comes out?” She asks, her tone is extremely flirtatious, so much so that Dennis questions how long she's been working as a waitress to be so forward to customers.
Dennis gives her a polite smile, “No, we're good, thank you.”
“Alright then, just flag me down if you change your mind.” She turns and for a moment Dennis thinks she actually winked at him. He huffs and turns his attention back to Jack.
“You don't have to answer if you're not sure, or if you need some more time to think… I don't mind. I also don't want you to try and spare my feelings. If you don't like me back or we're not on the same page, then you can be honest. I really won't be upset.”
The earnest expression Dennis gives Jack is enough for the older man to relax more into his seat with a resigned sigh. “Okay. If we remove all the reasons this is inappropriate and wouldn't work… Yes, I like you too. I'd like to try and work something out.”
Dennis shoots him a mischievous grin, his tone is teasing, but he can't help a bit of seriousness leaking into the question, “And not in just a sexual way?”
“No, Dennis, not just in a sexual way. I'd like to take you out on a date, formally, if you'll have me?”
Dennis’ expression immediately morphs into a beaming grin. “I'd love to! Really, I don't think you should be so focused on what could go wrong. Aren't there some ER relationships already?”
“Yeah, but not Intern and Senior Attending.”
“Then we'll be the first. I say we should go to HR first, no room for rumours or miscommunication. What do you think?”
“Sounds good to me, maybe a little awkward, but worth it in the end. Let's hold off on that until your temporary night shifts are over.”
Dennis nods, his smile never leaving his face. “Then it's settled. Does that make you my boyfriend?” He plops his head back onto his hand.
Jack shoots him a lopsided smile that makes his heart convulse in his chest, “I'm not sure if ‘boy’friend suits me, but I doubt there is anything else I'd call it, so yeah, boyfriends.”
Dennis giggles, their attention drifts from each other when the waitress comes back with their food in tow. “Number 2, and the pancake platter.”
“Thank you.” They say in unison.
“Of course,” Julie pauses before turning, “Anything else I can do for you?” Her eyes are glued to Dennis, making him shift under her gaze.
He keeps his voice and expression polite. “We're good, thank you.”
“No problem.” She smiles and goes back into the kitchen.
Dennis shakes his head and starts digging into his food. It's greasy and sickeningly sweet, but that makes it even better. Nothing like greasy food after a long shift. He hums approvingly and when he glances up he sees Jack staring at his plate with a small frown.
“Are you okay, did they get your order wrong?”
Jack startles out of his zoning out, “No… she was flirting with you.” He says, his voice slightly strained and sounding more frustrated than anything.
“I know, can you believe how obvious she's being? Next thing, she'll leave her number on the check.” He laughs, but it quickly dies down when he sees Jack doesn't think it's funny.
“Sorry, Dennis, I can be a jealous person. I get this way in the hospital, too… I just wasn't dating you before.”
“Don't worry, Bunny, I'm not looking at anyone else.” The pet name makes Jack freeze, his breath catches and Dennis savors the blush that makes its way up his neck. “If you don't actually like that nickname, you need to stop reacting like that whenever I say it. Your reaction is too cute.”
Jack looks up at him with wide eyes, his food entirely forgotten. “Cute? You think I'm cute?”
Dennis cocks his eyebrow, “Jack, you're fucking adorable, are you kidding me? What, no one's ever called you cute?” Jack is silent for a moment and Dennis is the one to speak next. “Wait, really? No one's ever told you you're cute? Is that why you react to ‘Bunny’ so much?”
“I guess…” Jack mumbles, his face is still bright red.
“Does it make you uncomfortable?” Dennis decides to discard his teasing.
“Not in a bad way.” Jack's voice is still quiet, he looks nothing like the Military trained, confident leader he is in the ER. It throws Dennis for a loop and has him craving more.
He lets his voice dip back into that teasing tone he knows gets to Jack, “Not in a bad way, huh? I see…” Jack’s eyes flicker to everywhere but him, it's incredibly endearing how meek and shy he seems to get around Dennis.
“Okay then, Bunny, let's finish up our food. Go on.” Jack shifts in his seat and starts to eat quietly. His face is still hot and flushed, but he obeys Dennis anyways. It stirs something deep in Dennis’ gut, which he ignores in favor of finishing his meal.
When they're done, Jack grabs the check, much to Dennis’ complaint since he was the one to make the plans. They make their way to the truck and sit in comfortable quiet as Jack drives to Dennis’ apartment.
“She ended up leaving her number on the receipt.” Jack blurts after a few minutes.
Dennis looks over at him, he notes the way Jack’s jaw flexes and his neck tenses. Dennis hums and reaches out to grab Jack’s hand that's resting on the center console. “Bunny, can I have your number?”
Jack glances over at him and interlaces their fingers, “Yeah, of course.” He mumbles.
Dennis squeezes his hand and lets go so he can grab Jack’s phone from the cup holder and save his contact info. “There.” He says simply and takes Jack’s hand into his own again. They calm back into a comfortable silence as Jack focuses on driving and Dennis focuses on the way their hands look laced together. How Jack has freckles even here, and how his hand is slightly bigger than Dennis’.
Jack glances over at him and squeezes his hand, “If we're dating, we're exclusive. I want you to be just mine, I don't like to share.”
Dennis bites his lip and smiles, “Good, then you're mine too.” Jack shoots him a fond smile.
They arrive at Dennis' apartment a few minutes later. Dennis grabs his bookbag and turns in his seat. “Can I kiss you, Jack?”
Jack’s face blushes in the beautiful way that Dennis loves and he meekly nods his head. Dennis leans over the center console, Jack meets him halfway, and softly presses their lips together. It's short, sweet, but so good. The way Jack breathes out when their lips meet has Dennis’ stomach swooping. He decides to test his earlier fantasy and brings a hand up to caress his fingers against Jack’s jaw.
He hums against Jack’s lips at the feeling of his stubble against Dennis’ smooth fingertips. They pull away after a moment and Dennis is graced with Jack’s shy smile.
Dennis grins back at him, “Who knew you could be so cute and soft. Just for me, right?”
Jack’s flush deepens, “Just for you.” Dennis swoops in to press a kiss on Jack’s cheek before slinging his backpack over his shoulder and hopping out the car. “I'll see you tonight.”
“Bye, Bunny, see you later.” Dennis smiles and waves him off before entering his apartment complex.