@puppydogwhitaker said something about dennis getting him and trinity one of those best friendship necklaces but he gets one that's in thirds so trinity can wear two and i can't get it out of my head...
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the first year they'd lived together, the day trinity always dreaded rolled around: her late best friend's birthday.
dennis didn't know what was wrong, not at first, but he could tell something was up. he and trinity had only been living together for a handful of months but he liked to think they were becoming friends.
when they got home he finally tried asking what was wrong. what followed was an awkward and stilted conversation filled with lots of "sorry"s on dennis' part.
eventually, trinity broke. big messy tears, heaving sobs; dennis had never seen her like this. through the tears she managed to tell him that it was her best friend's birthday, that this was her first year away from home, she couldn't even visit her grave.
dennis had scrounged up ingredients from their pantry and made them both shitty haphazard mug cakes in the microwave. he brought them out to the living room and said, "let's celebrate her." as he settled onto the couch next to trinity. "promise i'll have something proper for her next year."
--
and now it was next year. trinity didn't hold him to it, she was probably weird for even remembering his promise, right?
what she didn't know is that dennis put her birthday in his calendar that night. he wasn't going to forget.
by the sheer grace of god he'd ended up with the day off work. he went to the shopping center to pick up a small but properly decorated cake, it had her name in cursive across the top. he hoped trinity liked it.
he was on his way out of the mall when he walked past a Claire's and saw a display for friendship necklaces. he couldn't say what compelled him exactly but he walked in to take a closer look. there was a set made of three pieces instead of two "B.F.F." one letter on each pendant.
he and trinity had become nearly inseparable over the past year. he definitely considered trinity his best friend and even if it took some prying (and a couple shots of tequila) to get her to admit it, trinity would say the same. but dennis knew trinity loved her childhood best friend first, would always love her first, and maybe this was a cheesy way of acknowledging her but it still felt right. so he found himself with a three part friendship necklace and a birthday cake in tow as he made his way back to their apartment.
--
"what the hell is this, huckleberry?" trinity said as she walked into their apartment later that evening, still in her scrubs and ponytail messy from a day in The Pitt.
"it's her birthday. i told you i'd get the real thing next year, and, well, it's next year now!" dennis said, he was wringing his hands in nervous anticipation.
trinity dropped her bag at the front door and kicked off her shoes before walking over to where dennis stood. there was a cake on the kitchen counter and a small jewelry box beside it.
"it looks like you're about to propose to me," trinity laughed, trying to hold back the tears that threaten to stream down her cheeks. "but thank you, i didn't think you'd remember," she added quietly, not looking him in the eye.
"of course i remembered, trin. she's important to you, so she's important to me," dennis said with a soft smile.
"what's in the ring box?" she asked, trying to deflect from the emotions that were welling in her chest.
"oh! right. um, if you hate it just tell me and we'll forget it ever happened, but," he said as he reached to open the box, "i got us one of those dumb little friendship necklaces. and it has three parts, so you could wear one for her too."
"dennis...." trinity said in disbelief as she stared down at the necklaces in his outstretched hands.
"do you- do you like them?" dennis asked nervously. "oh my god trin did i overstep? i'm so sorry i-" dennis was rambling when he noticed tears running down trinity's cheeks.
"fuck, no, i- i love them. i love you. thank you," she said, wiping her eyes. "but fuck you for making me cry."
dennis chuckled, there was the trinity he knew and loved. "let me put them on you?"
trinity nodded quietly, moving her hair out of the way so he could clasp the chain around her neck. when he finished she looked down, he'd given her the two F pendants.
"friends forever," she whispered as she rubbed the charms between her fingers. she reached for the other necklace and gestured for dennis to turn around so she could put it on him. "there we go, B for bitch!" she said with a shit eating grin.
"walked myself right into that one didn't i?" dennis said shaking his head. "i love you, trin. i mean it."
"love you too, huckleberry," trinity said, grin shifting into a more genuine, earnest smile. "now i think it's cake time, you even got it decorated in her favorite color," her voice was soft and on the edge of breaking, but so full of love.
"c'mon, let's celebrate her," dennis said, squeezing trinity's arm reassuringly.
