Second try (Dennis Whitacker x f!reader)
Content: Mostly Dennis' pov, reader has she/her pronouns, no use of y/n, dubious medical talk, they both have some degree of childhood trauma, A LOT of pining/yearning
Summary: You and Dennis were in high school together and of course he had the biggest crush on you. But you suddenly moved to the big city to chase your dreams. It's been ten years now and you both come back in each-other's lives in an unexpected way.
Note: First tumblr fic, lil nervous but all these wonderful Dennis stories inspired me fr š„° okay enjoy! Also english isn't my first language
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Dennis Whitacker has officially been a doctor for a little over a year now, he knows the ER, he knows the staff, his coworkers, a lot of them he'd call friends now. So when his scrubs got ruined, he wasn't as embarrassed about it as he would've been on his first week here. Although he could go without Trinity's jabs at him as he left to change. He took it well though, just an eye-roll and a head shake as usual.
Unfortunately for Dr. Whitacker, fate really liked to throw him for a loop. Usually, he'd change into a patient gown, go to the nearest dispenser and get new scrubs there. But he realized in horror that the one he went to was out of order. He'd have to walk through the entire hallway, for everyone to see, to get to the next one. A long sigh escaped his lips, thinking to himself that this was fine, they've seen way worse, this is an ER after all. Still, he moved quickly, wanting to get back to work as soon as possible.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw you in the distance.
"Shit..." he slowly whispered, his eyes wide open.
You were looking around, reading signs, looking a little lost. You weren't in a patient gown so Dennis could see that your fashion sense really developed into its own. Your hair changed a bit. He noticed all the things that were different about you since the last time he's seen you. In his small town of Broken Bow, ten years ago...
God, it's been ten years... He's wearing a patient gown.Ā
Dennis wanted to take a longer route to avoid you and get to the dispenser. Then you two can meet and have a reunion that is proper and more in accordance to all the daydreams he's had.Ā
Before he could turn, you beat him to it. Your eyes met.
"Oh my god." you mumbled. "Dennis?" you called out as you rushed up to him.
Dennis' mind went blank. Even without his whole predicament, this already wasn't going according to his list of scenarios.
"...We were in high school together." you placed a hand on your chest and tilted your head. "I'm-"
"I-I remember." he nodded.
The fact that you assumed he could ever forget about you wass already insane to him. But what was more shocking was that you remembered him.
He spoke your name in an exhale.
"Hi." he smiled. "What uh," he looked you up and down but quickly stopped before you could think he was being creepy. "what are you doing here?"
"Oh a friend of mine's here." you pointed behind you. "Nasty accident. She's okay but her leg's pretty messed up now." you sighed.
"I'm so sorry to hear that..."
"It's fine. They said she needs to stay here but a week or two and then she could go home." you smiled. "I was just looking for where to get food for her. What about you though, are you okay?" you looked down at his gown. "What happened?" you looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Oh no." he shook his head, your concern for him making his heart skip a beat. "No no no I'm..." he cleared his throat. "I'm totally fine." a pause. "Thank you." he nodded.
"Okay." you smiled faintly, not wanting to push on what could be a personal concern. "So, what are you doing here? I didn't know you left Broken Bow. When did that happen?"
"Uh..." his gaze wandered for a moment. "A bit after you left. Yeah." he nodded.
"Wow... And here I was just starting to get homesick."
"Really?" he blinked, remembering how you'd talk about your small town in the middle of nowhere.
"Yeah." you shrugged. "It's been, what, like ten years?"
'Exactly ten years.' Dennis thought.
He couldn't help but feel a little pathetic that he knew the exact number.
Shit. Your gift. He left it at the farm.
He put that thought out of his head as soon as it appeared. Even if he still had it, no way was he going to give it to you now.
"H-How've you been?" he smiled. "Are you still in law school?"
"Uh, no." you smiled back. "I graduated a while ago. And I've been great. Y'know, I have my place, I have my job. It's great." you nodded.
"...Great." he nodded, a little speechless.
There was a pause. Your gaze went down to his gown again.
"I should get back to my friend." you quickly checked the time. "Are you okay standing? Aren't patients supposed to stay in their bed?"
Dennis felt like he was snapped back to reality and felt like an idiot. He was so engrossed in this moment with you, he had completely forgotten about the scrub situation.
You both turned to see Dana in the distance, calling for him.Ā
"Hurry up and get new scrubs for Christ's sake! They need you in trauma 2!"
It would seem he had also forgotten about the doctor situation. Now he felt like a real idiot.
You faced each-other again. You looked dumbfounded, staring at him with your mouth agape.
"I..." he slowly walked passed you. "I have to go I- I'll explain- Uh..." he walked backwards to still face you, but knew every second counted at this point for whoever his next patient was. "Sorry." he made half a turn but quickly faced you again. "Oh! Cafeteria's that way." he pointed. "Take the elevator up one floor then you make a right."Ā
And with that, he gave you a half smile and left.
"A doctor...?" you mumbled, still in shock as you made your way to the cafeteria.
You had no idea Dennis was even interested in medicine. You always pictured him working at the farm with his parents after graduating. You realized he never talked about his private life. You two weren't that close back then, you figured there was a lot of things you he just didn't tell you."
'IĀ was doing most of the talking.'
You chuckled as you recalled all the monologues you'd go on between classes. You and Dennis were always sitting next to each-other ā your teachers thought he'd be a good influence ā so whenever your friend group would chat, he was forced to be a part of the conversation. It was awkward at first, but because he was a quiet kid, he progressively became your favorite person to info dump on.
Your friends would always tell you to leave the poor guy alone and you'd apologize, but he'd always say it was no problem. He'd always listen, nod along, and whenever you'd pause to give him a surprise quizz ā you felt so embarrassed about it now ā he'd answer correctly every time.
'He was really sweet.' a faint smile formed on your face.
You felt a tugging feeling inside your chest.
"A'ight." you mumbled to yourself as you shook your head like it would make the blushing go away.
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The trauma 2 patient was in critical condition, Dennis quickly focused on them and got his head in the game. Once the patient stabilized and was taken up to the OR, he left the room and began feeling like a real doofus again as your reunion played in his head. You must've thought he was a weirdo, laughing at him with whoever your friend was. He sighed and rubbed his face. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You okay?" Robby asked, his voice a little quieter.
Dennis figured he must be thinking that that trauma case got to him.
"Yeah." he nodded. "Thank you. I'm okay."
"Okay." he patted his shoulder before stepping away. "You did good."
Dennis nodded again with a tight smile before getting back to his other patients. He stopped by the board, taking the opportunity to look for any leg injury. But Dana came into view before he could even start reading, standing in front of him from the other side of the counter.
"Need help, hun?" he heard her ask.
"Uh..." he hesitated but started speaking again before he even knew it. "Yeah there's a woman who got in an accident, her leg was injured and she needs to stay here for a week?"
"Girl in North three, why?" she said, not looking at him as she did her paperwork, fast and swift like it was second nature. "As far as I know, she's not your patient."
"S-She's not." he shook his head. "Nevermind."
Dana paused and finally looked at him.
"Is this about the patient's friend?" she put a hand on her hip.Ā
Both Perlah and Princess glanced at him, then at each-other, already coming up with a plan to investigate. Dennis felt his heart drop. Even Dana had a little smirk on her face.
"I'm gonna go...check on my patients." he left in a rush.
"Yeah you do that." she chuckled.
North three... He didn't know if he should come by once he got some free time, or avoid it like the plague. Thankfully, he would be far too busy to even consider the question again.
But you never really left his mind. Not today, not ever. And besides, it wasn't like Princess or Perlah were going to let that down.
"Just got back from North three." Princess went up to Dennis as he was in the middle of charting. "She's pretty."
"What- Uh-" Dennis became tense, turned his head to the North area before looking back at her. "Who...?" he acted confused.
"Heard you two were 'catching up'?" she raised an eyebrow.
He sighed. No secrets could be kept from the nurses, that was a lesson he heard, but that he was now learning first-hand.
"We were in high school together." he slowly said, like admitting it took a great effort.
"High school sweethearts?" she leaned closer.
"N-No!" he looked down, hoping to god he wasn't blushing. "We were just classmates, that's it." he stared at the screen and started typing again, thinking that would be the end of it.
"Oh my gosh, seeing your crush again after graduation..." her eyes wandered as she sighed. "And you still have a crush on her? That is so cute!"
"I don't." he checked the time and quickly closed his tab before standing up. "That was forever ago." he walked away.
Princess had the biggest smile on her face. Whitacker didn't even realize what he just said. She went looking for Perlah to do a debrief.
Now the poor doctor had to do his job while also trying to dodge the nurses' questions.Ā
"Who're we talking about?" Trinity asked at some point while they were doing a case together.
"Oh god..." Dennis mumbled to himself.
"Whitacker's high school crush is in North three." Perlah told her.
"My leg fracture patient?" she frowned.
Dennis' eyes widened as the nurse clarified that no, not the patient, the patient's friend.
"She's your patient." he said without realizing.
"Yeah." Trinity exhaled. "Just got back from that. They're taking her upstairs."
He felt a twist in his heart as he realized that he missed his opportunity, again.
"And you still have a crush on her?" she raised an eyebrow. "That is so sad."
"If you hurry up," she leaned a little closer to him. "you could catch her before she leaves."
Dennis opened his mouth and glanced away.
"...No." he sighed. "Have a lot to do."
Perlah and Santos exchanged a look.
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By the time his shift was over and the night shift came in for handoffs, Dennis had gone through the five stages of grief all over again and everyone could see it. Trinity tried to cheer him up, in her own way, by telling him to 'get over it' and that 'that girl probably peaked in high school'. She then invited him to hang out at the bar with the others. But whatever attempt was made to cheer him up, he'd reply with a 'I'm good, thank you.'
If your friend got a bed upstairs, then you'll very likely never run into each-other again. This was fine, he thought. If anything, this was a good reality check. A reality he hadĀ accepted years ago, but, in his own foolishly hopeless way, he thought ā he hoped ā things might be different.
"Wait up, Huckleberry!" he heard Santos calling him just as he was ready to leave.
He turned around with a sigh.
"I told you, I'm not going."
"I know. I'm going with you."
His eyes widened as he blinked, caught off guard.Ā
"Like I'd let you go home alone while you're being all...depressed, and pathetic." she rolled her eyes, avoiding eye contact, like she was cringing.
Dennis came to learn that this was how she showed concern.
"Thanks..." he said quietly, touched.
Since she had just finished her handoffs, he said he'll wait for her outside. He needed some fresh air anyway. On his way out, he told himself the same thing he did ten years ago and whenever his thoughts would wander back to you:
People sometimes exit your life and leave endless 'what if's and 'if only's. That's just how things are. It is a warm thought to think of a perfect timeline where everything is just better and it all ends happily ever after. But life isn't like that. Some stories just never get endings ā even less satisfying ones ā and that's okay. Today's 'perfect reunion' had a one-in-a-million chance to happen. The fact that it did was enough to make Dennis happy, despite the less-than-desirable impression he believed he made on you.
You had a job. You had a place to stay. You had friends. You had a life. You looked okay. That was good. That was what needed to remain in his mind now.
He forced out a chuckle. Realistically, he thought, it was just silly to believe everything around you two would be put on pause for the sake of catching up and maybe even rekindling your friendship, if you could even call it that.
The air outside was cold. It was dark. The wind blew. He heard a groan that sounded too familiar for comfort.
He looked up and let out a surprised sound. Your eyes met. You both said each-other's name at the same time and with the same shock.
"Hey again." you smiled as you faced him, your hands under your arms to keep them warm.
"Hey..." he said, still stunned.
"Y-Yeah." he nodded, glancing at the hospital. "What about you? How's your friend?"
"She's totally fine. Her boyfriend's here now, he'll stay with her for the night."
"He couldn't come in earlier?" he tilted his head.
"He was working, she didn't want to stress him out during work. She didn't even tell me what happened when she told me to come here." you sighed.
"I see... I hope you weren't working today."
"No, I have weekends off." you smiled, there was a hint of smugness to it.
"Oh." he looked down as he chuckled. "Lucky you." he titled his head.
"So..." you looked at the building. "You work here?"
"Yeah..." he slowly nodded. "I'm a...first-year resident in the ER."
"Ooooh that's great!" you paused. "So you just started working here?" you asked, wondering just how long med school was.
His gaze wandered as he realized he'd have a lot more explaining to do, which made him feel awkward. He didn't want to take up more time in this conversation.
"I was still a med student last year." he pointed to the side to illustrate his words. "I would go back and forth between classes and working at the hospital. Then I graduated, became a doctor." he pointed toward the middle. "I applied for an residency here," he pointed at the hospital with his thumb. "which means I'll be working and learning here for like, seven years."
He skipped over details, not wanting to possibly annoy you with them.
"Got'cha." you nodded. "So why were you dressed as a patient back there?" you furrowed your eyebrows, trying not to laugh.
The question struck him like an arrow.
"I uh..." he avoided eye contact. "Had this patient..."
He then explained the condition his patient had, and this time he went into every step of the procedure, using the full scientific names so that it sounded more serious. It gave him the confidence to meet your gaze. Of course ending his little story with 'and saved their life'.
"Mh-hmm, so you got puked on."
Another arrow to the ego. Of course anyone could figure out what 'gastric fluids' are.Ā
You started laughing at the look on his face. He laughed too. The wind blew again and you clutched yourself. Only now did Dennis realize you didn't have a jacket, and he called himself a moron in his head for it.
"Uh, do you have a car or...?" he asked.
"I'll walk with you." he said without thinking.
"Huh?" your eyes widened. "Noooo you must be exhausted. You go home."
"It's dark out and you're alone. I either walk you home or I get you an uber." he said, ready to download the app on his phone the moment you'd take that option.
You sighed, your shoulders dropping a little bit, but smiled.
He nodded with a tight smile as he tried his best to ignore his own heartbeat.Ā
"Oh, here." he took off his jacket and handed it to you.
"But what about you?" you said as you took it.
"I'm okay. I still have a hoodie."
He was about to speak again when Trinity came into view. He looked at her and you followed his gaze.
"Oh. Hi." you smiled, recognizing her as the doctor who took care of your friend.
"Uh..." Dennis trailed off awkwardly, having completely forgotten about his and Santos' talk earlier.
Now he felt conflicted. He didn't want to dismiss a rare kind gesture from Trinity. But you...
Thankfully, his roommate could see his distress a mile away.
"Well." she huffed and started walking away. "I'm off to the bar. See you tomorrow, Dr. Huckleberry." she waved without looking back.
Dennis' heart dropped. He could hear her smirk when she said his nickname. He figured this must be her revenge for wasting her monthly nice gesture.Ā
Now he was scared to look at you.
"It's a nickname she gave me." he quickly clarified.Ā "I didn't choose it."
"No one chooses their nickname." you shrugged as the two of you started walking side by side. "Unless they're reallyĀ desperate."
There was a pause. He looked at you.
"If you say so, Captain Rocket."
You let out a scream of horror that made him burst out laughing.
"Noooo!" you covered your face as it all came back to you. "Oh god! How?!" you asked but he was too busy laughing. "How do you remember that?!"
"You..." he struggled to speak. "You don't?"
"No! My brain erased that shit from my memory a long time ago!"
"I guess I just have a good memory." he said, knowing full well he could only recall a third of his childhood.
"And you brought it all back! Dennis! How could you?!"
He laughed again, making you laugh too.
"Please never call me that again." you spoke again once he calmed down.
"Our little secret." he placed a hand on his heart. "I'll take it to my grade."
You took a deep breath, but Dennis could still see you flushed cheeks and the small frown on your face.
"To be fair," he said. "I wasn't going to bring it up. But you gave me the perfect opportunity."
"I guess I only have myself to blame." you shook your head.
Dennis watched as you put on his jacket.Ā
"Did you really not bring a jacket?" he asked.
"Well I got here early afternoon. I didn't know I'd stay here until nightfall."
"You clearly have never been in a hospital before." he chuckled. "That's a good thing, though, I suppose."
"And thank god for that!" you leaned back and faced the sky before looking back at him. "The emergencies are insane."
"Believe it or not, today was a slow one."
"Yeah I don't believe that." you looked at each-other in a soft confrontation. "I think all these years of med school messed up your idea of slow." you pointed at him, making small circles, which made him smirk.
"I ended earlier than expected today." he shrugged. "I sometimes spend three more hours-"
"It's not a desk job." he laughed. "You leave when you find someone who can take care of your patients."
"That... That makes sense." you nodded.
"What's your work schedule like?"
"Kinda flexible." you scratched your head, looking elsewhere. "But I give myself strict hours or else I'd be too lazy to do anything." you chuckled bashfully.
"Do you work at a law firm?"
"Um..." you looked more away from him. "Not exactly. I work for a company." you turned back to him.
"Oh. Cool." he nodded smiled.
"Yeah. So!" you clapped your hands, like changing the subject was a magic trick. "You said you left Broken Bow after me?"
"Like a few months later." he nodded.
"Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Remember the Granny's food stall?"
You gasped as your expression fell and you put a hand on his shoulder ā Dennis felt his heart jump. ā stopping both of you.
"Don't tell me..." you covered your mouth.
"Didn't die!" he pointed. "But she retired."
"Noooo!" you leaned closer and Dennis did his very best to keep it together. "The kids won't know the taste of Heaven!"
"Trust me. I pity them too." he chuckled as you both kept walking. "But, we'll hold onto the memories."
"Y'know her food was one of the few things that made me okay staying over there!"
"Yeah same." he lied, smiling.
The two of you talked for the entire walk to your home, naturally bouncing from subject to subject. About your new lives here, how different it was from Broken Bow, the places you went to often, the shows you'd watch. For that latter one, you went on a monologue about the series you were watching.Ā
For Dennis, it was high school all over again. At some point, you went a little ahead of him and walked backwards to talk to him face to face.
While you were wearingĀ hisĀ jacket. That finally hit him. He took a deep breath through his nose.
As for you, it was like everything in your life was put on pause. You haven't felt like this in so long. You and Dennis were never 'friends', per say, you were just sitting next to each-other. High school really sucked for you, but whenever you'd talk to Dennis, things felt lighter, slower.
The fact that that didn't change, that he didn't change, brought you great relief.
But you didn't notice that he was more talkative in small ways, making observations, cracking a joke here and there. Or that sometimes he'd purposefully move to the side so that you'd move too, avoiding people and street lamps while you were too engrossed in your talk to be fully aware of your surroundings.
Next thing Dennis knew, you announced that this was your street. The two of you began to walk a little slower which he greatly appreciated. With each step he took, he began mourning you again. He felt his heart twist. Once again, he wished he had more time.
He looked at you just as you walked passed a street lamp, its orange glow enveloping you and reflecting in your eyes.
Now that he thought about it, he never got to walk you home before. Never found the courage to offer. And here he was, walking you home safely, to the rest of your life.
It was a perfect goodbye, really.
He smiled. He really wanted to say 'see you later', but he decided he would just repeat whatever you'd say next as you both stopped in front of your door. He didn't want to impose any expectations on you.
"Say, do you think I could get your number?"
"Do you think- What?" he started saying quietly before speaking louder than he wanted, his eyes wide open.
"It's okay if you don't want to." you raised your hands. "I'd just...like to talk with you more."
Dennis was dumbfounded. Why was everything working in his favor while also never going out the way he planned?
Shit. He's been staring for too long! It's been two seconds-
"S-Sure, sure." he started patting his pockets, looking for his phone. "Uh..." he looked at his jacket, then at you.
"...Oh!" you reached into the pockets and handed his phone to him.
He slowly took it while you both kept eye contact in another soft confrontation. Seeing the big smile on your face, Dennis had to bit the inside of his cheeks to not smile too, but an upside-down smile formed on his face anyway.
"You sure?" you asked in a higher pitched voice, adjusting the collar. "We really connected her and I."
"Her?" he mumbled. "Yes. I'm sure." he said, acting like it bothered him.
You let out an exaggerated groan as you took it off and handed it back to him. You two then exchanged numbers.
"Alright. Goodnight." you turned halfway before facing him again. "It's great to see you again, Dennis." you smiled softly.
"You too..." he paused before saying your name. "Goodnight."
He watched as you walked up the small steps and stepped inside your house.
He took a deep breath and looked down at his jacket. When he put it back on, he smelled something new yet familiar. Even without the jacket or the hoodie, his heart would be enough to keep him warm. He didn't realize he closed his eyes, staying in this moment for a little longer.
It got cold again when he heard it, from inside the house.
"Hi babyyy!" you said, your voice as sweet as honey.
Dennis started at the front door for a moment too long before walking away. He let out a long sigh and shook his head, forcing a smile.Ā
Of course. It's been ten years after all. Plenty of time for anyone to notice how great you were.
Once again,Ā he was reminded that fate really liked to throw him for a loop...
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As for you, having your sweet little baby ā your cat ā welcome you home was just the perfect way to end the night!
You put Dennis' number in your contacts and sent him a 'get home safe' text, to which he quickly replied.
[You too!] then another text, around forty minutes later. [I mean thanks! I did get home safe!]
That made you laugh.Ā Dennis wanted to die. Trinity was confused as to why he looked even more sad now.
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There! This is the premise! š
I'll def write a part two, but in the meantime, if you guys have ideas for scenarios or other situations, do share them! I might write about them!
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