Work Text:
Finna be in The Pitt
Santos: girls night at mine tonight?
Mel: I have a shift, or else I would love to!
Whitaker: you know it!
Santos: you’re not a girl.
Whitaker: I live there.
Santos: not while you’re house sitting. loser.
Javadi: but he’s one of the girls. can I invite Emma and Joy?
they’re so new and I want them to feel included.
Ogilvie is such an ass and I feel bad that she’s stuck with him :(
Santos: i don’t care, bring anyone. bring wine. just come over i’m in
desperate need of something to happen
Whitaker: she’s feeling upset about the surgeon
Javadi: yeah I noticed things were icy a couple weeks ago…
Santos: NOT talking about it. bring wine <3
—
Victoria’s voice breaks through the silence of the apartment as she opens the door, “I brought wine!”
“Crash! You’re the best,” Santos beams, taking the bottle of wine, walking into the kitchen and passing Whitaker on the way who simply offers a tight lipped smile and a wave.
Emma walks in last, shutting the door gently behind her— Joy and Javadi navigate to the kitchen to find Santos, leaving her alone in the living room with him. Emma wears a soft smile on her lips, noticing how his loose curls fall onto his forehead, soft and fluffed like his hair was freshly washed.
"Hey!”
“Emma! Hey! How are you liking the Pitt so far?”
He glances at the ringlets which fall to her shoulders, usually worn in tight braids now freely outlining her head. Her face appearing softer with the roundness of her hair, though he thought this impossible. He can’t help the soft smile that stays on his face as she looks at him, her big brown eyes staring into his.
She glances around the space, noticing the dark oak entertainment center with matching bookshelves on either side which are decorated with trinkets and plants. She found herself wondering what he contributed, what books he ran back to time after time, and what items he held close.
“Oh. It’s, uh, it’s going good. Glad that everything is back to… normal. I guess. However normal an emergency room is. Dana is great, lots of help, super great teacher. I like it, even though it’s hectic… helping people is just really fulfilling,”
“That’s great. It’s definitely hectic but you’re doing a great job.”
He leans against the back of the couch, his arms now crossed in front of his chest, his biceps softly defined through his shirt. He watches her face, the faint freckles doting the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheekbones
“Thanks, Dr. Whitaker”
“Oh no, we’re not at work and even there you don’t gotta call me doctor. Whitaker is fine, or Dennis even.”
“Force of habit! Whitaker. I got it”
“What do you got, Sunshine?”
Santos meanders into the room with two wine glasses in her hand, passing one off to Emma with a knowing and pointed glance at Whitaker.
“Oh uh, nothing. He was just telling me not to call him Dr. Whitaker… It was a force of habit.”
She nods sardonically, smirking at the obvious nerves in the young woman’s voice. “So! Are we playing a board game? Are we doing crafts? What. is. the. vibe?”
“What craft would we do?” Javadi asks, sitting on the couch with Joy.
“We could make beaded flower bouquets, I have beads and wire, I also think we have air dry clay because I wanted to make an ash tray out of it one time… But that’s kind of it.”
“Wait that’s actually cute, let’s do that” Joy chimes in, leaning back into the couch.
“Any objections?”
The silence is the answer she needs,rummaging through the bottom of the entertainment center to gather the materials that she needed, placing the materials on the coffee table and sitting criss-cross on the green patterned rug below her.
Emma opts for sitting on the floor instead, sipping out of her wine glass as she curiously watches Santos set up the supplies— organizing the wire into colors and opening each bead container. Her attention turns as his footsteps approach, an unopened bottle of wine in one hand and a full wine glass in the other.
“I figured we would want some of this”
Whitaker grins as he holds up the bottle of wine, setting on the edge of the table. He takes a seat next to Santos who hands him her mostly empty glass as another sad Laufey song plays in the background. Not about the surgeon.
“I don’t have any objections to the activity. But I have some major objections to this music. Maybe we could play something… happier?” Javadi suggests, looking at Santos with her eyes wide with thinly masked concern.
“Yeah, maybe some 2000’s or something? Make you feel like you’re at the club even though we’re drinking Josh in your living room.”
Santos rolls her eyes and snorts, sliding the remote across the table to Joy with a playful smirk.
“Okay then, Kodiak. Turn something on then.”
“Play some Ke$ha, she loves that shit.” Whitaker pours her a rather full glass and handing back with a knowing smile. He had heard all about the conversation they had in the elevator a couple weeks prior— and about how Garcia hadn’t talked to her outside of work since she reminded Trinity of how casual their situation was.
But she wasn’t upset about it.
Not. At. All.
Joy nods, typing in Dinosaur by Ke$ha and turning the volume up watching as Santos smirks and rolls her eyes.
“Good pick, Kodiak. Good pick.”
“I know my Ke$ha very well.”
“So what are we doing?” Emma chimes in, glancing at the supplies with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion “How should we make them?”
“Honestly? I don’t know, I just thought it would be cute. It was a date thing and now I don’t have a date so I figured I could use the supplies.. I actually don’t know how to make a flower out of this shit.”
A sad chuckle escaped from her chest as she gestured at the beads in front of her, “It was her idea, actually.”
“Oh… Trin” Javadi starts, her tone laced with empathy and pity, “Why don’t we just… not… do this.” Her hands reach over the table, sliding the beads to her and shutting the containers.
“Yeah, maybe that isn’t a good idea” Whitaker says gently, noticing Santos’ chuckle turned into a sob which is strange. Especially coming from her.
“Oh my god why am I crying!” She groans defensively, wiping at her eyes, “It’s so stupid! We weren’t even dating. She was just.. UGH. No. It’s not important!” She huffs, swallowing harsh and willing her tears to stop.
Emma notices how Whitaker rubs his hand on her shoulder gently, and how she lets him. She notices how her tears stop and her face goes blank. She notices the way Santos allows her eyes to gloss over and how she shakes her head to focus herself again. The all to familiar pit that must be in her stomach, and the thoughts spiraling through her mind.
Emma clears her throat, “Uh, hey, Santos… Wanna do a Just Dance with me? We can look it up on YouTube.”
“Oh my god! I want to!” Javadi beams, standing up and setting her empty glass on the table, in which Whitaker pours her another without her having to ask.
“You doin’ good? It’s my job every girls night. They let me come to the girls night, but I have to keep their glasses full” Whitaker says with a genuine smile which makes her heart warm. His dimples ever so slightly apparent in his right cheek.
She doesn’t understand why she feels her cheeks heating, so she decides to blame it on the… half glass of wine that she drank. “Uh, yeah maybe top it off” She offers him her glass and he pours into it carefully.
“Okay Huckleberry, move so we can move the coffee table back and dance since ‘Vadi wants to and Joy is already changing it to YouTube”
Santos sounded annoyed, but she was smiling at him Emma noted. Watching as she quickly moves the table after he scoots around to the other side, his back resting against the leg of the couch.
“See how she bosses me around”
Her noses crinkles with a smile at his joke and he felt his chest flutter as her cheeks rose to crinkle her eyes.
“She sounds like my older sister.”
Her cheeks are rosy and her glass is about half-full again, sipping mindlessly as she watches the group of girls assemble in front of her arguing over who is what avatar on the screen. She feels safe, and for the first time that she might fit in. It was hard at work, Perlah and Princess were so much older and sure they were nice, but they weren’t friends. Dana was there to be anyone’s friend, and she hadn’t really tried to talk to anyone else.
“Yeah, she’s basically my older sister. But don’t let her hear that. She’d get a big head.”
“My lips are sealed” She mimes zipping her lips and throws the key away, which makes him chuckle.
“Thank you, it’ll be our secret” He nudges her with his shoulder and lingers before she straightens her posture and takes a long sip of her drink before sitting it down.
“How long have you known each other?”
She turns her body to face him slightly, their knees touching. Neither of them move though both of them notice, glancing down but not saying a word.
“Almost a year… We met the day of Pittfest and…” He trails off, realizing what he was about to admit.
That he was homeless, that years of medical school and fighting to support himself finally caught up to him. That his family was nowhere to be found since he left Broken Bow. That he had nothing and nobody. That he was nothing and nobody.
“We just got close. We moved in together because I needed some cheap rent and she felt nice… She’s the kindest person I know.”
“Awh Dennis. That’s so sweet”
He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was. How her eyes crinkles when she smiled… and how she seemed to always wear a smile. Her eyes are the most gorgeous shade of brown, deep and kind. Her cheeks are rosy and her eyes are almost shimmering. He realizes that he had been staring at her for a second too long.
“Yeah, she’s the best.. So uh, How long have you been in Pittsburgh?”
“Uhm, not very long. I went to nursing school at the University of Pittsburgh and so I guess the last four years. But I worked as a CNA all through school so I didn’t have much time for making connections. It’s been nice. Working here. It’s been about a month now, and Victoria is so sweet. She always asks me to hang out when she knows I’m off.”
She finishes off her glass and sets it down, Dennis picking up the half empty bottle and offering it to her.
“Just gotta fulfill my job, if you’d like that”
“No thank you. I’m all Joshed out.”
“Yeah of course, I just wanted to offer… so where are you from?”
He pours the rest of the wine into Trinity’s glass though she has seemingly forgotten about it, giving the Rasputin dance which was blaring from the TV her all before discarding the
“St. Louis. My grandma lives there and she raised me and my siblings. We don’t talk a whole lot anymore but it’s all good. My siblings and I keep in contact.”
Her tone is as tight as her expression, lines drawn around her which clearly sent the message that she does Not want to talk about this. That she was here for a reason. That they were there for a reason, and that there was no going back. Dennis recognized it all too well.
“Ah. I see. I get it. I’m from this small town in Nebraska called Broken Bow. I had three brothers, and they all are still there. I left and I guess I just never looked back. I much prefer a big city I think. I enjoy the noise a little more than the silence.”
“Usually it’s the other way around, huh?” She jokes, her leg sliding in between his and the couch to stretch out.
“Usually yeah, but I don’t know. When silence is all you know sometimes it’s nice to be heard, and to hear.”
He gives a tight lipped smile and watches as Santos goes into the kitchen, hearing the clinking of glass and giggles.
“Take a shot if your avatar loses!” She calls, setting her new acquirement of shot glasses and a half-drank bottle of Pink Whitney on the table.
Joy and Javadi chatter in agreement and Emma crinkles her nose at the alcohol of choice, remembering hazy high school nights.
“What Sunshine, you don’t like Miss Whitney?” Santos asks, pouring herself a shot.
“Not after two glasses of Josh and no chaser”
“I have juice in the fridge. Huckleberry go get the juice” She says, nodding towards the kitchen “Please?”
He rolls his eyes but gets up, the loss of warmth making Emma sigh through her nose.
“Only because you added the please. And your surgeon situation ghosted you.”
“Don’t bring her up!” She groans taking a shot and shivering “Ew.” Grimacing at the lingering taste of the astringent alcohol.
Emma grins watching the two and nods at Santos “Mkay, give me one.”
“You sure, Sunshine?”
“Yeah, why not. It’s girls night and this is how we get over bad situationships. Dennis, juice me!” She says, putting her hand out like a surgeon would to a tech. She is grinning and he obviously plays along.
“Juice” He repeats, placing a Capri-Sun in her hand firmly, her fingertips brushing the sides of his hand as she grasps it and opens it swiftly.
“Shot.” Santos chimes in, already having poured them both one.
Dennis watches as Emma shoots the liquid back, her head tilting with a quick jerk. She shivers, takes another, and then joins the group dancing. She looks so relaxed, like she fits. He missed staying here, Robby’s house was lonely and it felt strange existing in his space without him in it. It was so acutely not his space… He didn’t want to sleep in Robby’s bed and there was no guest room. So he slept on the couch. He missed staying with Trinity, even with all the drama between her and Garcia. He would never admit it, but this was the most at home he had felt in as long as he could remember.
By this point, Emma is dancing to California Gurls, giggling with Javadi and Santos. The three of them are jumping— definitely being horrible upstairs neighbors, but having the best time. She hadn’t felt like this since high school, probably when her and her cousins had a sleepover. She feels like she belongs, like she has somewhere. She feels herself get emotional, but she chalks it up to the Josh and the Whitney that she had drank and pushed through, finishing out the song exasperated.
After numerous songs, another gossip sesh, and a Door Dash order, the night finally fizzled out as Joy and Javadi slept on the couch. Emma and Whitaker sat around the coffee table as the beginning hints of sunlight peak through the midnight blue with Santos who was finishing up filling Emma in on the last ten months of Pitt drama.
“…Huckleberry, stay here tonight please. I miss you” She lays her head on his shoulder and he leans his head into hers “Don’t bring it up. But I do miss having your annoying ass around. Especially when I hear weird noises at night. But please. Just stay.”
Emma watches as his face crumples, the emotion evident in the tired creases of his eyes.
“Of course Trin. I got you. I miss you too you know?”
“I said don’t bring it up again! I’m gonna lock the door. I’m exhausted from winning, so I’m going to go to bed”
“Uh you didn’t win, there was no controller” Emma interjects with a teasing smile, knowing that she is stirring the pot.
“Maybe there wasn’t a controller, but I definitely won.” She retorts, grabbing the dirty glasses she could fit in her hands, nudging Whitaker with her foot for him to follow her.
He stands, taking the remainder of the glasses and follows her into the kitchen, placing them into the sink.
“Goodnight Huckleberry. Love you” She says, nudging his shoulder with hers as she walks out of the kitchen, not waiting for him to return her remarks.
Dennis walks into the living room where Emma has leaned her head back against the couch and had apparently dozed off within the moments they were in the kitchen. He leans down and rubs his hand over her hair, his thumb running over her forehead.
“Emma”
Her eyes shoot open and a tired grin covers her face as she blinks the sleep out of her eyes.
“Yeah?” “You can sleep in my bed, I’ll sleep in the recliner. Go on” He says, offering her a hand up.
She takes his hand, standing up, but shakes her head “No, it’s okay. I don’t want you to sleep in a chair, Den.”
“Well, Joy and Javadi have taken the couch”
He gestures to the women sleeping on either end of the couch, their legs tangled carelessly. He covers them with the throw blankets on the back of the couch and smiles at Emma. “So, you can take my bed and I’ll sleep in the recliner. I’ve done it tons of times, it’s a pretty comfy chair actually.”
She shakes her head again, her hand still in his “I trust you, we’re adults we can just sleep in the same bed. Unless you’re uncomfortable. Then I can Uber home, but I’m not letting you sleep in a chair because of me”
Her fingers lace with his and she watches his face realize that neither one lets go of the other.
“Do you want something to sleep in besides jeans?” He asks, changing the subject as he walks into his room, their hands linking them together as she followed behind him.
“If you had some extra pajama pants and a shirt or something that would be appreciated actually” She says walking into the neat space that he had claimed as his own. There were framed prints on the wall with plants in the corner by the window.
“Hm. I assumed the plants were her thing.”
“Oh yeah” He chuckles “No, they’re mine. I grew up on a farm and I missed the aspect of growing something, so I filled the place with plants.”
He rummages through his dresser and grabs a pair of plaid pajama pants and a grey t-shirt for her to wear, both worn with age but comfortable. He hands her the clothes and walks to the door “I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll knock before I come back in”
The knock on the door makes her jump despite its soft volume, followed by his scratchy and tired voice “You decent?”
“Yeah, sorry come in… Are you really sure this is okay?”
She stands up as he walks over to the bed after turning off. The lamp on his nightstand dimly illuminating the room. She watches him crawl in, situating himself against the wall and settling into the mattress.
“Yeah, absolutely! Come on, get in” He says, groaning comfortably as he gets into the right spot.
He pulls the blankets back, gesturing to the open area next to him. She climbs into the bed, turning on her side to face him, his features soft in the light. His hair falls to the side, almost in his eyes and he looks so peaceful. He continues to stare back at her, admiring the curve of her cheeks into her jaw, the softness and kindness that she wore everyday. A soft smile still apparent on her face as their hands find each other again, his thumb rubbing gently against her hand.
“Today was really nice… I haven’t had fun like that in years.”
“Vadi really likes you. And Joy. But I’m really glad that she invited you guys. It’s good for Santos to branch out… Especially today. You helped her more than you think, she has barely left her room for the past couple of weeks. She needed this.” He says, his voice soft as she scoots closer to him, their hands falling to her waist.
“I did too.”
“Really now?”
He lies with his chin rests against her head, their legs fitting together. He reluctantly lets go of her hand, only to flip onto his back— his hand sliding to hold the small of her back. He pulls his arm further around her waist, pulling her into him as her arm adjusted to wrap around his stomach, her leg laying over his hips.
“You smell nice” she grumbles, smiling into his shirt, her face buried in the fabric.
He chuckles into her hair, and presses a soft kiss to the crown of her head. “Thanks Emma.”
She looks up at him and nods, memorizing the feeling of his lips against her head, “Are you sure this is okay?” She asks, probing deeper than simply that. Are you sure you’re okay with this? Is this something that we’re going to pretend never happened in the morning? Is this happening at all?
“I’m sure. Now, let’s get some sleep” He whispers into her hair, tightening his grasp around her. He held her close, waiting for her breathing to slow and for her body to relax with sleep. Kissing her head once more, he finally allows himself to drift off with the most beautiful woman asleep on his chest— thinking of what he could have done to be deserving enough to be in this position.