I read, like, follow, and reblog a lot of dark content. If that is not something you want to see, then stay away from my blog. No hard feelings babes ❤️
He's already moving closer before he even finishes his question.
You swallow, forcing your voice to stay steady because it's actually the first time you saw or spoke to him in eight days. "Kitchen accident." You offer simply. No details, no inflection in your voice
He steps up beside the bed and his eyes go straight to your hand. You forgot how tall he is.
Langdon doesn't stop working, though. He doesn't acknowledge Robby, but he seems to feel the shift in the room.
You see Robby's jaw tightens just like it does every time something bothers him. Does he not want you in his ER?
Work in progress. Stay tuned 🙌🏻
age gap, post break-up drama, afab!reader is hurt, jealousy and more
summary: you've officially sworn off pittsburgh. robby just can't let you do that.
word count: 1.8k
warnings: pittfest mentions, mentions of death, kidnapping, drugging, very dark!robby, third person pov, manipulative!robby, age gap (reader is said to be 21)
robby masterlist - main masterlist — request a fic!
next
a/n: i cannot stress this enough. this is a dark!robby series. the title is taken from stockholm syndrome by one direction. this is a stockholm syndrome series. this writing also mentions the events of pittfest. if any of this makes you uncomfortable, do not read. i am not responsible for your consumption of media. you have been warned.
reminder: this is an 18+ blog, minors PLEASE dni!
jack was happy for robby. he’d finally gotten a girl by his side. you looked familiar, felt familiar, but jack had just brushed it off. it wasn’t until he saw your face on the news that he began to worry.
there was a woman who looked just like you, her hair was a bit longer, and slightly darker, but the face. the face was the exact same. she was claimed to be missing from montrose, noticed on the fifth of july. the day after robby's sabbatical had started. that had to be a coincidence, right? jack had only met you once, and you didn't seem like you were in any trouble.
robby told him that you two had met a week into his sabbatical. but he said he went to canada, there was no way he could've taken you. it just didn't line up.
but as jack watched the news, your name on the screen, his blood ran cold. you had a family. you had friends. you had a job. plus, he knew robby. robby was sweet, kind, and there was no way he could do this right? the interview taken with your mother drones in the background as jack finds himself deep in thought.
did he know robby as well as he thought he did?
you had written to ptmc three weeks after the pittfest shooting. you thanked the emergency room for all of their hard work during the event. the tragedy had truly been horrible, and you remember it all too well.
even though you were twenty-one, you still lived with your parents at home. it had taken them months of convincing, but you had finally had their approval to travel across pennsylvania, from montrose to pittsburgh, for the once of a lifetime music festival. your best friend jesse had seen that sombr was on the lineup, and she was determined for the two of you to go.
what was supposed to be the best night of your lives, quickly turned into a nightmare. some man had started shooting into the crowd, bodies dropping quickly. you can still remember how jesse's hand gripped yours, up until she was shot. the bullet had grazed your shoulder, but unfortunately, went through jesse's chest first. you had managed to carry her body to the ambulance, only departing to get into one of your own. you didn't know it right then, but that would be the last time you’d ever see her.
it took what felt like forever, but you had arrived at ptmc. the doctors were in a craze, but they took care of you with the utmost precision. for that, you were eternally grateful. you stayed in the hospital for two days, your parents traveling to pittsburgh to discharge you. a lighthearted joke had escaped your lips as you left, saying that you would rather chew glass than to return to pittsburgh. unbeknownst to you, a dark haired doctor had overheard, an unfamiliar pang of hurt twisting around his heart.
robby had been the one to read your letter. he remembered you quite well. you were understandably shaken, and robby had made sure to spend extra time with you. whether it was comforting you, or just making conversation. he felt tied to you. after the unfortunate death of leah, you were like his second chance. he never wanted to let you go. so when he had heard your playful vow, he took it to heart. he never wanted you to leave.
you had put your home address as the return address, as most normal people do, and robby couldn't help but listen to the sick twist in his gut that told him it was an invitation. you wanted to see him again. it was then he decided he could convince you that pittsburgh wasn't as bad as you thought it was.
he needed to wait though. there was no way he could slip into the night, all the way to montrose and back in time for his shift the next day. that wasn’t even counting the time he’d need to convince you to stay. robby realized he needed a plan, to start small, then he’d build.
first, he mentioned to jack one night about maybe taking a break from all the madness that the pitt brought into his life, visiting the cabin he owned in alberta for the first time in years. jack had agreed, he was proud that robby was putting himself first for once, and robby almost felt bad. jack had no clue the real reason for the break, but that didn't matter. the seed was planted.
his next step, was to tell gloria. robby knew she'd be the easiest to convince. he decided to wait a few months, closer to his departure before running it by her. she was almost elated when he shared the news. one of the pitt's "er cowboys" gone for three months? she couldn't wait. he was well aware gloria already had a list of temporary attendings she would call in, and he was counting on it.
he set his time off to start on the fourth of july, just far enough away that he could use the excuse "didn't wanna leave you guys all alone on the fourth", but also far enough away that you wouldn't even begin to suspect a thing.
in all honesty, the fourth of july came quicker than you were ready for.
it had been almost a year since pittfest, and with the help of therapy, you had finally started to process everything. you were, however, nervous for the loud fireworks that were to come later tonight. your parents had opted out of going, claiming they just wanted a night in for themselves. you couldn't blame them, you were well aware that it was a crazy year for them too.
the large crowd that had spanned across the town park had spooked you, but you quickly shook it off, deciding to stick towards the edge. it wasn't until the first firework had gone off that you were truly panicked, and your heart began to race a mile a minute. your fight or flight kicked in, and your legs started moving before your brain caught up.
the one thing you did not take into account, was the large man you had just run into.
robby had left work early, dana sending him off with a hug and a playful shove to the arm. he smiled to himself, knowing he could make it to montrose before it was too late into the night. robby decided to indulge, deciding to go to the fireworks show in the town’s main park. all work no play makes a dull boy, right? he didn't know if you were going to be there tonight, but a large part of him had hoped you'd be. it'd be easier that way. turns out, his hopes were fulfilled.
after he arrived, he lingered towards the edge of the crowd. he knew no one would recognize him, but he couldn't be too careful. it was almost a sick fate when you ran right into him. he recognized you right away. the distress was written on your face was clear as day as you threw yourself into his chest, and he almost felt bad for a moment. he grabbed your shoulders tightly, forcing you to look up at him. "hey, hey. are you okay miss?"
your teary eyes were wide as you shake your head, pointing to the empty space behind him. "have to-i have to go!" you tried to push past him, but he just continued to hold onto you tightly, leading you away from the crowd. he guides you to the parking lot, towards a car you didn't recognize. your stomach drops at the possible danger, but he just props you up against it.
robby fishes around in his car for a minute, before handing you a bottle of water. "drink. you need it." you just nod dumbly, accepting the bottle and cracking it open, chugging most of it in one go. the cool liquid helps a bit, but does nothing to stop the tremors racking your body. he rests his hand on your shoulder firmly, catching your attention. "you're okay. you're safe. breath with me."
the words you need don't come to you, so instead you just nod. you study the rise and fall of his chest carefully, matching your breaths to his. once you seemed to have calmed down, you finish the water, before giving robby a lopsided smile. "uh, thank you. for that." he shakes his head, smiling gently at you.
"not a problem. you sure you're alright?" he feigns concern, his brown eyes searching deep into yours.
you nod without thinking, and hesitantly shake your head. "no-no i don't think i am. i should probably get home." your voice is quiet amongst the booming of the fireworks, but robby hears you anyway.
"would you like a ride? i wouldn't feel very good if you left on your own." the caring words felt almost fraudulent in his mouth, and it wasn't that he didn't care. he most certainly did. he wanted you to get home safe. but your version of home was a bit different from the one robby was thinking.
a warmth spreads through his chest as he watches you nod, your bottom lip resting ever so slightly between your teeth. "yeah that-that would be great actually. do you um, do you maybe have more water? i feel like i'm dying." you try your best to smile at him, show him that the fireworks didn't bother you nearly as much as he may have thought, but robby knew. he saw right through you as he offered you the second bottle of water.
he couldn't help but smile at the way your fingertips brushed against his, your frail digits gripping the water bottle like a lifeline. and to robby? it was. he watched with a careful precision as you clambered into his passenger seat, shutting the door tightly behind you. he glances at his watch as he gets in himself, noting that a few minutes had passed since you had finished your water, and he could see that you were already divulging into the second bottle.
he notices the way your body naturally relaxes as he begins to drive, your arms already weary from his concoction as you lazily point for directions. after a few minutes, he glances over at your form, completely unconscious in the seat.
a relieved sigh passes his lips as he takes note of the time, 10:15pm. that gave him at least a day and a half to get to alberta before you woke up. maybe even two if you had never used diazepam before, which according to the chart robby studied, you hadn't.
mdni, 18+, posessive!popecody, dom!popecody, borderline obsession, based off season one and two pope cody (still catching up)
listen to this ♬.ᐟ
pope cody’s really possessive over you. but he doesn't show it.
it’s quiet, a heavy feeling that settles in the air. it’s the way he sits at smurf's pool parties, back against a chair, just watching you. not little glances, stolen and shy. no, not that. he stares long and hard until you feel the uncomfortable heat of his gaze burning a hole at the back of your neck.
especially now, with you in that cute little two piece he loves, the one that makes your boobs sit just right and pretty, shows off the curve of your hips and ass. his jaw stays tight, the beer bottle sweating in his grip while some guy by the barbecue lets his eyes drag over your legs a beat too long. but he doesn't say a word. he doesn't have to. he just stores the image away, coming home later with a split lip and bruised knuckles from slamming his fist into the guy, a silent, violent way of marking his claim.
and when any of his brothers talk to you, especially baz okay, mostly just baz, something ugly snaps in him. if baz even just says hi to you once, pope gets quiet in a way that’s terrifying. he’ll grip his bottle until the glass shatters in his palm, not even flinching as the shards pierce his skin, blood welling up and dripping between his fingers. it’s like he’s too focused on the idea of someone else taking up space in your head, that his own body becomes an afterthought.
he'll never acutally tell you he doesn't like when you smile at other guys. he isn't built for conversations like that, never has.
but later, when you're asleep in his bed, breathing slow and warm against his shoulder, he reaches for your phone on the nightstand. he memorized your passcode weeks ago, just watched your thumb move over the keypad enough times until he knew the pattern better than he knew his own. he scrolls through the texts to your mom, your friends. then he checks the logs. the endless strings of messages and missed calls between you and him while he was at work. just how it should be.
after he puts the phone back exactly where he found it, down to the millimeter, he doesn't close his eyes. instead, he lies there in the pitch black and watches you for an hour straight, chest tight with a quiet, irrational fear that if he looks away, you might just slip out of bed and disappear into another man's arms. and, when he's definitely sure you won't, he pulls you flush against his chest, wrapping his toned arms around you so tight it’s almost hard to breathe, tangling his legs with yours, and finally lets himself drift off, anchoring you to him.
girls nights out make him sick. like borderline physically ill. the nausea sits heavy in his stomach when you mention them. he won't say a word, just nods his head, murmurs "have fun" in a voice so flat it sounds hollow. but he’s already planning the route in his head. he parks three blocks away from whatever bar you're at, sitting in the dark with the engine off, just waiting. he watches you through the foggy glass of the bar window.
it’s not about trust or the lack of. he knows his sweet girl could never ever lie to him. he knows you could never do him wrong.
it’s the men.
he knows exactly what runs through their heads when they see you walk in the room. watching you like a pack of wolves to a lamb. and he can't stand not being there to put his body between you and their eyes.
and, god, it drives him fucking feral knowing you had a love life before him. he hates the thought of other mouths kissing you, other hands that had touched you before his ever did. it lives under his skin like a deep, festering splinter he can't dig out.
and he tries to fuck it out of you every single time.
it’s like he thinks if he just goes deep enough, hard enough, slow enough, he can physically overwrite every memory of anyone who ever tried to claim you before him. that's when the quiet, simmering possession cracks wide open and turns into something desperate and hungry.
he leaves kiss bitten bruises in places you can't hide. the hollow of your throat, the dip of your collarbone. the soft inside of your thigh where your skin is sensitive, where the blood pools into a pretty, dark purple. little flowers blooming where everyone can see them, visible above the neckline of your blouse, impossible to miss. marks that scream "stay away" without him ever having to open his mouth.
and he can go the whole night just pounding into you, fueled by that inhumane stamina of his. his large hands grip your hips hard enough to leave fingerprints, dragging you back onto his cock with every painfully sweet stroke, until you're sobbing, a drooling, whimpering, beautiful mess. only then, only when you're completely undone, would he slow down, burying himself to the hilt and just holding himself there.
his lips brush over your ear, low and wrecked, "tell me." you always know exactly what he needs to hear before he even says it. "tell me you're mine. tell me this pussy's mine, sweet girl. please, please, please." he chants it into the damp skin of your neck, over and over, until the words lose their shape and just sound like a desperate prayer. and you moan it back, delirious and broken, "yours, yours, 'm all yours, popey."
"good girl."
his large hands come up to wrap loosely around your throat. not squeezing. just holding. his thumb pressed against your pulse point where he can feel your heartbeat hammering frantically against his skin—proof that you're alive, and here, and entirely his. he can feel the vibration of every moan and whimper right there under his fingertips and it makes his cock twitch inside you. he grinds his hips forward just once, slow and filthy, watching your mouth fall open and your eyes roll back.
and when he finishes, he finishes inside you. every single time. he thinks about it more than he should, obsesses over it when he's alone. getting you pregnant. watching your belly swell with something that is purely, undeniably his. a living, breathing proof that he's the one who gets to have you. that you belong to him and him alone.
a dark, twisted part of him hates that you're on birth control. to the point that he even has your cycle memorized down to the day. and when you’re ovulating, he fucks you with a savage, desperate intensity, filling you up over and over again till you're practically dripping, silently praying the pills fail. just waiting for that one slip-up that will tie you to him forever.
but he'd never say any of this out loud to you, of course. never let you know about the obssessively possessive thoughts that fester his mind, because he's terrified you'll leave him if he ever does, if you ever find out.
little does he know the more terrifying truth is, you already know.
and it doesn’t scare you in even the slightest, if anything, it only makes you love him more. because maybe you're just as unhinged as he is, because maybe you two are broken things feeding off a mutual madness, and you're more than perfectly willing to let him ruin you for anyone else, to let him consume you completely. whole.
just as long as he lets you ruin him for anyone else too.
pairing .ᐟ andrew ‘pope’ cody x younger!fem!reader
warnings .ᐟ 18+ mdni. age gap (reader is in her 20s). reader is deran’s best friend. established relationship. reader calls pope andy. shower sex. cunnilingus. slight possession kink (?). pussy spanking. creampie. slight cock warming. pope cries during sex!! no use of y/n.
summary .ᐟ you get andrew’s initial tattooed onto you :)
authors note .ᐟ talked about this with @ovaryacted meowww
You remember the day you met the rest of the Cody family like it was yesterday, more importantly the day you met Andrew - you were Deran’s best friend, someone he’d met at a surf shop that felt like a breath of fresh air, someone that didn’t see him as a Cody but just as Deran; you both clicked instantly, becoming the best of buds in no time. Deran made sure to keep you far away from his family, he didn’t need them running you off and ruining the one good friendship he had in his life - but unfortunately, like all good things, that were to come to an end.
You had been shopping for some new bikini’s, wired earphones in your ears when you caught sight of Deran and a taller man with shoulder length brunette hair, a smile immediately encompassing your features as you took your earphones out and went up to him, covering his eyes from behind, “Guess who?” You giggled, kissing his cheek before settling beside him, leaving Craig incredibly puzzled, who watched the entire ordeal with furrowed brows and wide eyes.
You immediately felt the awkward tension between the three of you, your wide eyes darting between Deran and the man you hadn’t seen before, a very incorrect realisation dawning on you, “Oh fuck - are you on a date? Shit! Don’t worry I’m literally just his friend - the kiss on the cheek is just how I greet him.” You rushed to explain yourself to the stranger, hands up in defence as you apologised profusely, introducing yourself and reassuring him that you were just a very affectionate best friend.
Craig burst into laughter at your words, shaking his head, and although Deran was mortified by your words and the fact that you weren’t a his little slice of normal life anymore, he couldn’t help but laugh, rubbing a hand over his eyes at your flushed face, only serving to confuse you even more.
“Nah I don’t swing that way - and he’s my brother so even if I did that’d be all kinds of messed up.” The stranger clarified, your hand slapping over your mouth in embarrassment, looking at Deran with, “Oh my god, why have you never showed me pictures of your family before asshole?!” written all over your face, snorting to yourself as you looked to the floor, squeezing your eyes shut.
Deran slapped a hand to your shoulder, shaking his head, “This is uh Craig,” He cleared his throat, gesturing to his brother before introducing you by name, still very weary about the interaction and what this meant for you - his whole family would know about you the minute he and Craig would leave, meaning Smurf would know about you, something he never wanted.
“You been holding out on us man - didn’t know you had such dope friends.” Craig huffed, eyeing you in a manner that was anything but friendly, ticking Deran off even further, steam practically bellowing from his ears as he thought up ways to tell off his brother once you were out of sight. “We’re actually throwing a party t’night - you should come, could get to know Deran’s bestie better like that - Smurf would love her.” Craig snorted, an obvious inside joke thing happening before your eyes as Deran stared daggers at his brother after his last comment, muttering a hushed, “Jesus,” under his breath.
You chewed the inside of your cheek at his offer, looking from his brother then back to Deran, trying to gauge what he wanted you to say from the look in his eyes; “Uhh I’ve actually got something to do t’night but thank you Craig.” You murmured, dropping your one hand to squeeze at Deran’s, showing understanding for his predicament - he was always weird about his family any time you’d brought them up throughout the duration of your friendship, simply chalking it up to him not having the best relationship with them, but based on this interaction alone it was a lot deeper than that.
Deran breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes conveying each emotion he’d just experienced, silently communicating with you, thanking you even. “Anyhow - I’ve gotta go but it was good meeting you Craig, see you later Deran.” You smiled, standing on your tippy toes to press a kiss to his cheek again before leaving, waving over your shoulder before disappearing into another aisle.
Craig stood with his hands in his pockets, unashamedly watching the way your ass swayed side to side in the jean skirt you donned, shaking his head before looking down at Deran, “She’s hot.” He laughed, earning him a punch to the shoulder as Deran shook his head and walked ahead of him, reaching for a cigarette in his pocket as they exited the store, “Shut up man - and don’t go near her you hear me? She doesn’t need your coked up ass messin’ up her life.” He scoffed, entering his car.
But later that night you found yourself alongside Deran anyway, having had the blonde rock up to your apartment and ask you if you actually did wanna go to the party his family was throwing, to which your answer was - “I won’t go if you don’t want me to - if you’re not comfortable with me meeting them, I’d understand,” - Deran brushed you off, dragging you along with him to the party anyway; he knew his family would find out about you regardless and if he was forced to stare at Smurf’s face for a few hours, at least he had you to keep him company then.
“Holy shit D - your mom a fucking mob boss or what? This is nice.” You snorted as you got out of his car, your eyes wide as you looked over the Cody residence as yourself and Deran walked through the gate to the backyard where the party was well underway, people scattered everywhere - in the pool, in the kitchen, on the lounge chairs, it was like something out of the movies you’d grown up watching.
Deran shook his head, shaking his head as you practically hit the nail on the head with that one, placing a cigarette between his lips before lighting the stick, “You don’t wanna know - believe me.” He huffed, greeting a few people here and there before reluctantly introducing you to the rest of his family - J and Smurf - when Craig called him over, handing you a beer with a cheeky “There she is!” as Smurf looked you over in that judgemental way of hers, almost sussing you out before leaving to enter the kitchen, the swagger in her walk sending chills down your spine.
You’d been swallowing back the bitter taste of the beer Craig handed to you when a loud, booming voice sounded out from where you and Deran had just entered, your head whipping over your shoulder to watch as the hottest, broadest, beefiest man you’d ever seen strut toward Craig and Deran, “Where the hell is Smurf?!” He roughly asked again, tone of voice conveying just how pissed off he was, his lips curled as he looked from his two brothers to J and then to the unfamiliar pretty face standing with wide eyes next to Deran.
It was in that moment that Pope’s entire worldview was altered, his shoulders broad and brows set as he stared meticulously at you, eyes raking over how snug the clothes you donned fit to your figure, looking so out of place amongst his shit show of a family.
You figured if looks could kill you’d be dead, with the way the stranger before you was staring at you, his green, no brown - no hazel eyes almost trying to figure you out and who the hell you were, the cogs in his brain whirring the more he stared. Deran could feel you shaking like a leaf into his side, muttering a strained “Jesus Pope you’re scarin’ her,” under his breath, half stepping in front of you, pulling Pope’s attention, “Hey man chill out - she’s inside.” He cleared his throat, looking to the kitchen then back to Pope, whose eyes were now back on you, cataloguing your micro expressions by the second, his infatuation with you growing as he stood in place.
The hairs on the back of your neck stood to attention, chewing the inside of your cheeks to a shredded mess as you peered at Pope with curious eyes, watching him watch you before he grunted and stormed off to the kitchen, catching Smurf as she poured herself a vodka cran. You cleared your throat, nudging Deran’s side with your shoulder, “Who was that?” You whispered, gesturing toward Pope with a nod of your head.
Deran swallowed, fishing for a cigarette from his pocket, "Andrew, ‘nother one of my brother’s - he's the oldest." He nodded, lighting the cigarette and taking a puff before passing it to you. You hummed around the bud, exhaling the smoke before handing it back to him, your eyes tracking Pope as he talked with Smurf, the sliding door providing an ample view into the intense conversation they were having.
You kept staring, watching it all unfold - in a similar fashion to what Pope would usually do, only pulling your eyes away for a brief second as Smurf brushed Pope off with one of those malicious smiles of hers before coming back to the backyard, your eyes picking up to see Pope leaned up against the counter, jaw clenched and nostrils flaring, that was until he looked up, his eyes connecting with yours once again.
You held his gaze, still chewing the inside of your cheek before you timidly lifted your hand up and waved, the sweetest smile encompassing your features as you did so.
This caught Pope completely off guard, brooding demeanour faltering, his features softening in confusion as he watched you, only lifting his hand and waving awkwardly after you'd already turned back to Deran and Craig, this interaction searing a place into his memory - something he'd hold on to for years to come without a doubt, carrying him through any and all hardships until he eventually mustered up the courage to actually ask you out after countless awkward encounters with one another.
Fast forward to two years later - you’d been helping Lena with her math homework whilst Pope and the rest of the boys were busy with a job, picking her up and spinning her around when she’d gotten all her questions correct, carrying her to the kitchen for one of the brownies you’d promised her as a reward for getting her questions right, laughing when she dramatically fawned over the brownies, only for your girl time to be interrupted by the sound of rowdy wolf whistles and loud voices from the backyard, a huge smile on your face as you realised they were safely back.
Lena immediately rushed past you at the sight of Pope, the smile on your face wiped clean off when you saw the cut on his lip and cheek, the skin around them already bruising, mouth agape as you watched him pick Lena up, pressing a kiss to her hair before setting her down, sighing as he walked up to you.
“What the hell happened? Are you okay?” You worried, gently taking his face between your palms, assessing his injuries to make sure they weren’t too serious. “Popey got his ass handed to him is what happened.” Craig laughed, to which you only rolled your eyes, looking over your shoulder at Lena, “Why don’t you go finish the brownie in Grandma Smurf’s room and I’ll call you when dinners done then I’ll take you to Jessica’s for your sleepover?” You tilted your head at the little girl, blowing her a kiss when she nodded and trotted away, the scene before Pope reminding him of why he fell in love with you in the first place.
Once Lena was out of sight you turned back to Pope, chewing the skin on your bottom lip, “You’re okay?” You murmured again, softer this time, your thumb stroking his jawline with so much care in the world it genuinely had Pope’s knees buckling. He nodded, shushing your worries by pressing a kiss to the palm of your hand, “I’m fine - this is nothing - where’s Smurf?” He grunted, looking around before settling those hazel eyes back on your figure, his right hand sneaking to cup your ass through your jean shorts.
You shrugged, “No clue - she just left, told me to keep an eye on Lena like I haven’t been doing that this whole time.” You tsked, clearing your throat before leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips, “Glad you’re back in one piece.” You mumbled against his lips, teasingly biting his bottom lip before slipping away, jogging up to Deran and pressing a kiss to his cheek, looking him over to make sure he had no injuries similar to Pope’s, patting his cheek and running your hand through his hair once you were done, expressing how happy you were to have him back safe.
“What, me and J don’t get kisses? I’m wounded.” Craig dramatically gasped, clutching his chest to which you giggled, blowing him and J a kiss before joining Pope back in the kitchen. “Want me to clean that up for you?” You softly spoke, pointing a manicured nail toward his cheek, to which Pope shook his head, mumbling something about doing it later.
You nodded, turning on your heels and standing on your tippy toes to reach the glasses on the third shelf for a celebratory drink, your white tank lifting as you did so, revealing a sliver of your midriff and evidently the ‘A’ tattoo you’d gotten near your bikini line, immediately catching Pope’s attention, stealing the breath from his lungs - he had an inkling on what it meant or more so, who it was for, and the thought drove him mad. He swiftly slid up to your side, getting the glasses for you and setting them down onto the counter before placing his hands on your hips, turning you so you were properly facing him, his eyes never leaving yours as his thumb found the ink on your skin, stroking it with the care and precision of a surgeon.
“What’s this?” He murmured, his eyes still on yours as he tapped the tattoo for emphasis, adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, his unoccupied hand white knuckling the edge of the counter behind you. You sucked your cheeks in, biting back a smile, “A tattoo.” You answered simply, giggling to yourself as he sassily rolled his eyes. “I know it’s a tattoo smart ass - when’d you get it?” He asked softly, his eyes closing momentarily when your hands moved into his auburn curls, carefully raking your fingers through them.
It was moments like these that Pope cherished dearly - quiet moments with you between his arms; you, him and lena having dinner together then a movie night, almost resembling a normal family, hence the sentimental value he placed on them.
“A bit ago - ‘s not as sore as it used to be.” You quipped, puckering your lips for a kiss, to which Pope complied, leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of your lips, “How come I’ve never seen it before?” He quietly asked, pressing another peck to your lips before pulling away, his eyebrows scrunched in thought as he looked at you.
“You’ve been busy planning for the job - glad you’re seein’ it now though - d’you like it?” You hummed, tilting your head with your bottom lip caught between your teeth, wide eyes staring up at Pope. Did he like it? Did he like it? God he was fighting to not go against his own morals and fuck you right there in the kitchen - of course he fucking loved it.
He scoffed at your words, the slightest smile encompassing his stoic features, his eyes finally leaving yours to take a better look at the tattoo, taking in the neat line work and the heart next to the ‘A’, his pants tightening by the minute at the implication of it.
“What’s it mean?” He voiced, his eyes trailing back up to yours, the rest of the world forgotten - you at the centre of his universe. You knew he knew what it meant, judging by the full cocky smile spread over his lips, pearly whites on display, and the very noticeable tent in his jeans, he definitely did. Your lips curled inward, smiling as you leaned forward, pressing your forehead to his chest, your face hot at the tension brewing between you and your oh so doting boyfriend.
“You know what it means Andrew.” You laughed softly, pulling back to look at him as he nodded, bringing both hands to your hips now, grabbing at the flesh there. “Yeah you’re right, I do.” He exhaled, looking you over a final time before bringing his right hand to grasp at your jaw, blunt nails digging into your cheeks as he angled your face up, eyes moving from yours then down to your lips, lingering on your plump bottom lip before connecting yours with his, his eyes closed in bliss as yours arms wrapped around his neck, bringing him all the more closer as he all but ate your face, his tongue sliding into your mouth with practiced ease, keeping your face right where he wanted it with the hand still on your jaw.
Your head spun as he continued kissing you, legs wobbly as you melted into him, his other hand at the small of your back to keep you steady, only pulling away when he could tell you were running out of breath, panting as a string of saliva connected your kiss bitten, swollen lips to his, the sight down right sinful. “You’re somethin’ else y’know that?” He roughly spoke, his voice gravelly and his lips begging to be back on yours again.
You chortled, shrugging as you hopped up to wrap your legs around his waist, hugging him tightly before pressing a careful kiss to the cut on his cheek, then to the underside of his jaw, “Love you too.” You whispered into the skin there, playfully nipping at it before hopping down at the sound of Lena’s voice calling your name, mumbling a “duty calls,” under your breath, your hips swaying as you walked away from the kitchen, smiling briefly at him over your shoulder before disappearing to get to Lena.
“So pussy whipped.” Craig huffed from the dining room, only earning himself a cold glare from Pope, his mind still on you and the ink etched into your skin - not just any ink, his initial, practically branding you as his, sending his mind into overdrive.
Later that night, with Lena at her friend’s place and away from Smurf, Pope was finally at ease, his mind still on that damned ‘A’ on your skin, mindlessly nodding his head when you mentioned that you were going to take a shower, pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek before skipping off, the sound of the shower going on in the distance as Pope lingered in the kitchen, gripping the edge of the granite countertops before he all but marched to the bathroom, opening it slowly and taking his usual seat on the ottoman in there, his eyes zeroing in on your soaked skin as you showered.
This was something he did regularly, sitting and watching you that is - the first time he did it, you were a little freaked out by it, but as time went on you slowly grew fond of it, even missing it at times when he’d be busy with his brothers, so when you watched him saunter into the bathroom, manspreading on his usual seat, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes never leaving you, you smiled, continuing the task of lathering the new vanilla body scrub you’d bought, all over your skin.
Pope sat there, his eyes trailing your naked body until it landed on the ink again, gaze never leaving as your body twisted and turned to scrub yourself up, his adams apple bobbing with each swallow to keep himself composed, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he thought back to your words from earlier - “You know what it means Andrew,” - the emphasis you put on his name, it all had his mind short circuiting.
“Do you wanna join me baby?” You hummed, interrupting his train of thought and pulling him from getting lower in his own mind, as you stuck your head out from around the glass shower door, a mischievous smile on your face. Pope’s brows shot up, rubbing his hands up and down over his clothed thighs, the corner of his lips picking up just slightly before he got rid of his own clothes, cupping his junk as he walked across the bathroom to get to the shower, smiling at the sounds of your giggles as he got in.
You immediately reached to wrap your arms around his neck, bringing him under the stream of water with you, Pope wincing slightly at the scalding, damn near molten like temperature of the water, “Jesus honey, d’you wanna burn your skin off? That can’t be healthy.” He huffed, large calloused hands digging into the small of your back as you twisted your body to make the water a little colder, mumbling a soft “oops” under your breath as you did so.
“Sorryyyy,” You dragged the word out, turning back to him, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to the tip of his nose, the softness of it all making up for all the trauma he endured in his childhood. “Forgot how fragile your skin is,” You snorted, running a hand through his now damp curls, only laughing even louder when his one hand snuck down to cup your ass, body jolting as he laid a light smack to the plump flesh there, “That smart mouth.” He commented offhandedly, shaking his head before he looked down, the tattoo catching his attention again, the hand that had just been on your ass now snaking to your front, just barely skimming the ink.
“Can I touch it?” He hummed, blown pupils meeting yours for permission as you nodded, “Course you can, it’s healed already so yeah.” You said, watching intrigued as his thumb found the tainted skin there, stroking oh so gently over the lines of ink in your skin, pressing just slightly on the heart next to the ‘A’, his breath shaky as he did so, sending a rush of arousal to your centre.
“Why’d you do it mhm? It’s basically like gettin’ my name tattooed onto you, y’know that?” He murmured, voice gravelly in that way that turned your mind to mush, paired with his hands touching anywhere and everywhere, his focus on the tattoo and the tattoo only.
You let out the softest whimper at his left hand sliding to your ass and massaging the fat of it, “Cause I love you - and cause I like being yours.” You shrugged, your voice sultry, your eyes low as you moved your hand to his jaw, tilting his face up so it was in line with yours.
“I like people knowing I’m yours and yours only Andrew - love telling them it stands for Andrew when they ask what it means.” You chuckled, chest heaving now as your want, no, your need for him grew stronger by the second.
Popes skin was buzzing now, his cock standing to attention as your words set in - you wanted to be known as Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody’s girl, you wanted people to know who you belonged to - the thought alone had his body moving before his mind caught up to it, sliding both hands to your hips before sinking down to the shower floor, the tiles digging into his knees as he looked up at you, ready to worship you like one would worship a deity.
“Say it again.” He roughly spoke through broken breaths, his right hand sliding down to cup your thigh, not before pressing into the tattoo, lifting your leg over his broad shoulder, your sex a mere inches away from his face. You moaned at the sight before you, your hand reaching to fist itself in his hair, “I like - I love being yours Andrew - I love people knowing I’m yours and only yours.” You spoke through bated breaths, slick dripping from your folds now.
Pope nodded, his eyes staring at his (your) pretty pussy, leaning forward to press a kiss to your mound before looking up at you, “Yeah, yeah that’s right - mine, all mine.” He hummed into your skin before diving in, eating your spoiled cunt like a man starved, his tongue burying to the hilt inside you, all the while his nose deliciously rubbed against your clit, already sending your thighs shaking.
“God yes.” You huffed under your breath, pulling slightly at the roots of his hair, egging Pope on, full on making out with your pussy now, not sure where your slick ended and his saliva began, needing to taste your essence on his tongue. “Yeah you like being mine angel? Gonna put a ring on it, make it official.” He mumbled into your flesh, pulling away from your entrance with a sex induced haze, focusing his efforts on your swollen bundle of nerves, his words falling on deaf ears as your eyes rolled to the back of your skull, your unoccupied hand reaching behind you to grip at the wall, your stomach twitching as he ate you out like never before, a man on a mission that no one was going to get in the way of.
“I asked you a question honey.” He hummed into your cunt, sucking so gloriously on your clit, your entire body on fire, and not due to the warm water from the shower. He emphasised his words with a slap to your poor clit when you still hadn’t answered, looking up at you with your arousal coating his lips.
You nodded, tears in your eyes as you were just on that edge of bliss, needing one little push, “Mhm-yesyesyesyes.” You babbled, completely gone now as he kept placing light smacks to your throbbing clit, “Like being yours Andy, only yours.” You mumbled, words barely audible but enough for Pope to dig back in, now tongue fucking you as the hand that had been on your thigh that was over his shoulder, now rubbing pressured circles onto your sensitive pearl, occasionally pinching the bundle of nerves.
“That’s good - you’re doing so good. C’mon baby, wanna taste you.” He practically begged, needing to taste his woman’s spend. Those words were all you needed it seemed, your legs shaking uncontrollably around him, tugging harshly at his hair as that coil in your belly snapped, the rapid up and down of your chest a testament to how earth shattering the orgasm was, your body numb as Pope pulled away from your spent cunt with a pop, his lips and chin covered in you, groaning as he stood up straight, his hand seeking out your jaw to press your lips to his, tasting yourself on his tongue as he bullied his way into your mouth.
“God I love you so much.” He mumbled into your mouth, pathetically panting as the kiss grew messier, one hand on your hip to keep you steady whilst the other stayed on your cheek, his thumb gently stroking back and forth as he continued kissing you, swallowing your mewls.
“Mhm - love you too Andy.” You cried, only pulling away to catch your breath, your forehead resting on his as your hand reached down for his cock, delivering a few gentle, slow teasing strokes before bringing the tip of his girthy dick to your sensitive pussy, gasping when it caught on your clit, dragging it through your folds until Pope couldn’t take it anymore, moving both hands to your hips so he could ram into you, his clock slipping into your sopping hole with ease, immediately pressing to that spongey spot inside you, making your toes curl as he lifted your legs to wrap around his waist, squeezing your thigh as he bucked his hips, increasing his pace as he fucked into you, desperate to get closer, almost needing to be inside your skin.
“You-you have no idea how much you mean to me do you baby?” He huffed, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as you scratched up his back like a bitch in heat, digging your nails into the muscles there as you rested your face in the crook of his neck, the sounds bouncing off of the walls like something out of a porno - filthy and degenerate, the complete opposite of the love making you and Pope were immersed in.
Your tits bounced as he rammed into you, completely gone now as you let him use your body, your moans growing in pitch with each thrust into your spent cunt. “I’d be nothin’ without you, you hear me? God I love you so fuckin’ much.” He mumbled, groaning as he pressed your back into the cool tiles of the shower wall, using this to fuck into your faster, your whines egging him on.
“Touch yourself.” He groaned after a moment of silence, and through your hazy, cock drunk mind, you did so, sneaking your hand between your body and his, whimpering when your index and middle fingers touched your used and abused clit, rubbing tentative circles in time with his thrusts, eyes half lidded as you came once again, body twitching as you bit down onto his shoulder to quiet yourself, a drooling mess as he kept fucking into you, needing that release himself.
“Yours.” You babbled into his skin, brain mush as your body jerked in time with his thrusts, Pope full on crying now as your words registered, grunting as his balls tightened, ropes of cum coating your insides as his pace faltered, breath hot as he panted, tears streaming down his beautiful face.
He loved you more than words could ever convey, it was sickening almost.
You both stayed there for a minute, under the warm stream of the shower, your legs still around his waist, his softening cock still buried in your heat, keeping him warm, one strong arm keeping you to his chest while the other stroked down your back, gently bringing you down from your intense high.
“Were you serious? About what you said earlier?” You eventually croaked out, voice hoarse as you kept your face in the crook of his neck, pressing little kisses here and there as he held you to his chest. He knew what you were talking about - making you his wife - of course he was serious about it, you were it for him, what more could he want.
He nodded, pressing a lingering kiss into your hair, inhaling that scent that was all yours, something he grew addicted to.
Summary: You grew up with the Danforths; your father was Chester Danforth’s right hand man. When he passes, his twins Titus and Ursula inherit the hotel and casino resort empire, but the chair of the High Council goes to Titus. There’s one rule for Titus to claim it: he must be married. And his bride… is you.
Warning: Age Gap (No specified), Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience, Swearing,
about this idea (angst with robby + pregnancy), would you prefer a happy ending with michael and the reader or a happy ending with jack and the reader? i cannot promise anything big but i saw how much people liked this idea :)
You get a 'J' tattooed just over your rib cage and surprise your husband Jack with it (think Zendaya's 't' tattoo)
Jack is 50, reader mid to late 20s
You don’t tell Jack.
Not when you book the appointment.
Not when you sit in the chair, heart thudding a little too hard for something so small.
Not even when the artist wipes it clean and hands you the mirror.
It’s simple.
Just a tiny, delicate J—inked just over your ribcage, fine-lined and subtle, tucked somewhere private. Not for the world.
Just for you.
Just for him.
You’re home before he is.
Changed into one of his shirts—because of course you are—bare legs, bare face, trying (and failing) to act like you didn’t just permanently mark yourself with his initial.
Your nerves don’t hit until you hear the front door open.
Heavy footsteps. Familiar. Grounding.
“Hey,” Jack calls out, voice rough with the end of a long shift.
“In here!” you reply, maybe a little too quickly.
He finds you in the bedroom, already loosening his watch, eyes scanning over you in that quiet, assessing way he has—like he’s checking you’re okay without asking.
“You good?” he asks.
“Yeah,” you say, smiling. “I’m good.”
He hums, stepping closer, hands automatically settling on your hips, grounding himself the way he always does when he gets home.
It’s instinct for him now.
For both of you.
“You eat?” he murmurs.
“Mhm.”
“Rest?”
“Jack,” you laugh softly, “I’m fine.”
His thumb brushes absent circles against your side, his body finally starting to relax.
Then he frowns slightly.
“Why’re you… twitchy?”
“I’m not twitchy.”
“You’re twitchy,” he says, matter-of-fact.
You bite back a smile.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
His eyes narrow just slightly—not suspicious, but curious. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“…you definitely did something.”
You huff out a quiet laugh, stepping back just enough to grab the hem of his shirt you’re wearing.
“Don’t freak out,” you warn.
That alone makes his expression shift. Not alarmed—but attentive. Focused.
“I’m not gonna freak out,” he says.
“You say that now.”
“Just show me.”
So you do.
You lift the shirt slowly, just enough to reveal the small mark along your ribcage.
For a second—nothing.
He just… looks at it.
Processes.
His brow furrows slightly, eyes tracing the delicate line, the placement.
Then it clicks.
“…is that—”
“A ‘J’,” you confirm, suddenly a lot more nervous than you were five seconds ago.
Silence.
You rush to fill it. “It’s small! And subtle! And I thought—well, I wanted—”
“You got my initial tattooed on you.”
It’s not a question.
You swallow. “Yeah.”
Another beat of silence.
And then—
His hand comes up.
Slow. Careful.
Like he’s approaching something fragile.
His fingers hover for a second before finally, gently, brushing just beneath the ink—like he’s making sure it’s real.
His jaw tightens slightly.
“You serious?” he murmurs.
“Yeah.”
“Permanent.”
“Last I checked.”
He exhales through his nose, something shifting in his expression—something deeper than surprise.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he says quietly.
“I know,” you reply just as soft. “I wanted to.”
That makes him look at you.
Really look at you.
There’s something heavy in his eyes now. Not bad—just… full.
“You like it?” you ask, a little more vulnerable than you meant to sound.
He doesn’t answer right away.
Instead, his hand slides to your side, thumb brushing just beside the tattoo again—more certain this time.
Then, slowly, he leans down.
Presses his lips right over it.
The contact is warm. Lingering.
Not rushed.
When he pulls back, his voice is rougher.
“Yeah,” he says. “I like it.”
Relief floods through you, followed quickly by a small, teasing smile. “You didn’t freak out.”
“Didn’t say I wouldn’t later,” he mutters.
You laugh, but it cuts off when his grip on your hips tightens just slightly, pulling you closer.
“Do you have any idea,” he starts, voice low, “what it does to me, knowing you did that?”
Your breath catches. “Jack—”
“Marked yourself with me,” he continues, not harsh, just… intense. Honest. “Like I’m yours.”
You meet his gaze, steady. “You are.”
Something in him snaps—quietly, but completely.
His forehead drops to yours for a second, like he needs it.
Grounding.
“Jesus,” he breathes.
Your hands come up to his chest, fingers curling into his shirt. “Too much?”
“No,” he says immediately. “Not even close.”
Then his hand slides back to your side again, covering the tattoo fully this time.
Protective.
Possessive in that quiet, restrained way he has.
“You don’t hide this from me,” he adds, almost like an afterthought.
You blink. “What?”
“This,” he says, tapping lightly over the ink. “You don’t go showing it off to people.”
You raise a brow, amused. “It’s literally on my ribs, Jack.”
“Good,” he mutters.
You laugh softly, but it fades when he leans in again—pressing another kiss to the mark, slower this time.
More deliberate.
“Mine,” he murmurs against your skin.
Your heart stutters.
“Yours,” you echo, just as quiet.
And the way his arms tighten around you after that—
titus? dbf?? guard dog????? well BARK BARK GRR WOOF
thank you for the ask, Hannah! (@pope-codys, you too 🖤)💚
✧ this is my first fic where I’m officially adding an age gap (and a big one!). not gonna lie, I’m kinda nervous about writing someone so young. I don’t want to dumb her down, but she definitely will be more… inexperienced, in a lot of ways;
✧ I’m gonna play with Titus’s character a little. he will be freaky and funny in my other oneshot, but in this one, I want him to be different. more closed off, more dangerous, less insecure. seemingly managing to control his temper and his urges… that is, until he can’t anymore. because love brings out the best and the worst in him ♡
✧ this might be an AU? because there won’t be any satanic worship lol
(as you can guess from the header, seeing Shawn covered in blood gave me a lot of inspiration)
✧ ask me about my WIPs 🔪
synopsis: jack abbot is obsessed with you and he's going to make it everybody else's problem
- or -
5 moments the night shift (and co) observes between you and jack + the 1 they don't
contains: bsf night shift crew!! dana & the pittlings cameo, he fell first AND he fell harder, age gap (reader is in her 20's), suggestive at times, everyone calls reader sweets, no use of y/n, jack is probably ooc but i refuse to believe that man does not yearn deeply and he is written so, and most importantly: NIGHT SHIFT SUPREMACY
note: first fic for the pitt because i think i might have actually read my way through every fic on here and i crave more pls be nice to me :') this started off as a completely different fic and then it became this instead so there's a half written part 2 (and a part 3 …) if anyone really wants it. yes i did write this instead of the giant piles of actual work i have to do i hope you enjoy <3
dividers by @uzmacchiato <3
1. The Crush
It’s been exactly one week since you joined the night shift. Six days, twenty three hours, and thirty one minutes technically speaking but who was counting.
In that time you’d made yourself indispensable. You were one of the most competent nurses to ever walk through the doors of the PTMC. You were practically hard wired to thrive in the absolute chaos of the night. And, best of all, you’d become Shen’s caffeine addicted partner in crime. Five out of your last seven days you’d dragged him into a pre-shift coffee run and he always complied with your demands.
The night shift wasn’t easy for just anyone to take to. It was hard and yet here you were, doing it all flawlessly. And Jack couldn’t look away. Not that he’d ever want to.
It’d taken no time at all, about five hours into your first shift, for him to become borderline obsessed. All it took was one conversation in the ambulance bay just after midnight. A joke cracked under the light of the full moon, one that broke through the stern expression he’d had on with no hesitation at all, for Jack to want to know every single little detail that made up who you were.
In a normal way of course.
Now here he was. Watching. Eyes following you as you walked into the ED beside Shen, both of you carrying trays piled high with various hot and iced drinks. He can’t imagine how much even one of those things cost.
Within moments most of the drinks are gone, taken by Ellis and Lena and whoever else had placed their order with the two of you the night before. Jack, for just a moment, regrets not having done so. Not that he even likes the sugary sweet monstrosities you always chug your way through before midnight, always somehow armed with another one to get you through your second half of the night.
He’d pretend though. Especially if it meant you’d stop and smile at him and maybe even talk to him for just a couple seconds about something not medicine related before diving into the mayhem.
“Hey!” Your voice isn’t a hallucination, Jack determines when he sees you walking up to him with a smile.
He tries not to look too surprised. Or flustered. Or excited. “Hi.”
Nailed it.
“I brought you something.”
Jack thinks he might melt into the floor.
You hold out a drink, one clearly meant for him. It’s green on top and pink on bottom with strawberry slices floating above the ice.
“You didn’t have to.” He takes it from you and relishes in the brief moment that his hand touches yours. You need to calm down, he thinks to himself.
“I know, I wanted to. It’s on me.” You say it so easily and Jack thinks now might be a good time to excuse himself and go jump off the roof because he can feel his whole body warming in a way it shouldn’t be at the sentiment.
You’d thought of him. Part of him wonders how long you’d been doing that for and if it was for as long as he’d been thinking of you. Day and night. Hour after hour. In ways he definitely shouldn’t be.
“I just figured you could use a little caffeine that wasn’t the stale black coffee in the break room for once,” You shrug like it’s nothing but it means everything to him. “As a certified drink specialist I thought you might like this one. Shen said I was crazy for picking it but I spent every minute I was awake looking through the cafe's menu debating and I think I finally narrowed down something to live up to your incredibly high standards.”
Jack had stopped listening as soon as you looked up at him. Wide eyed and a little nervous but with that sweet smile he was maybe just a little bit obsessed with already. “What is it?”
Frankly, he didn’t really care. He’d love it no matter what because you’d been the one to hand it to him. You’d put effort into finding something you thought he’d like and that was more than enough for him.
“An iced strawberry oat milk matcha. It’s not too sweet but definitely a step up from a black coffee. I,” You stop yourself for a second, hesitating a little. One look from him though, one that practically begged you to continue, and you kept going. “I see the face you make when you drink it even when it’s fresh so I thought we’d switch it up a little.”
You’d noticed him. He was one more observation away from imploding. He swirled the drink around to distract himself from the fact and then took a huge gulp.
“Holy shit,” His eyes went wide as he took a second to savor the drink. It was good. Really good. He had no clue how you’d figured him out so perfectly. Part of him was hopeful enough to think that you just knew him. Saw him. He took another sip.
“You like it?” You were beaming at him now, satisfied and proud of yourself.
He couldn’t be more obsessed with you if he tried. He was tempted to propose marriage right then and there. Instead all he said was, “This is phenomenal.”
Jack couldn’t help himself. He looked directly at you and hoped that maybe these abilities of yours to read him perfectly well extended past the drinks and you’d be able to look into his head to see what he really wanted to say. You’re phenomenal. I like you. Probably more than is healthy. Never leave me, actually.
“Oh you’re kidding,” Jack had almost forgotten where he was until Shen walked over, handing you a half drunk iced coffee along with a fresh one for later, just like usual. “He liked it?”
“Just like I said,” You held up your hand for a high five, which Shen gave you despite dropping his head and groaning. “Which means you’re buying for me tomorrow.”
Jack rolled his eyes at the sight of the two of you. His smile pushed through the serious facade he was trying to put on. Nothing could ruin his mood right now he was positive of it.
“Is it that surprising?” Jack held his drink a little tighter and held back the urge to take another sip of it. He was seriously already starting to understand your guys' shared obsession with always having some kind of drink on you.
“No, it’s just,” Shen paused for a moment and it hit him all at once. Abbot was in a good mood. And all it’d taken was a personal delivery straight from you. He was wearing a smile, a genuine one. Best of all, his eyes kept straying back to you. Like you were some kind of magnet pulling him in against his will. Oh yeah, he’s obsessed. “I’m glad you found something you like.”
Jack heard it. The tone. His eyes snapped back to Shen and narrowed the slightest bit. All he did in response was wink at him and take a sip of his first coffee of the night.
He could see right through him.
2. The Confession
It had been three days of this and every time Jack saw you he felt the question at the tip of his tongue. And every time something else came out instead. So here he was. Two weeks into your time here and he was obsessed with you. That much he could admit.
If he wasn’t he wouldn’t be lingering by the nurses desk, pretending to look at a stack of papers he was pretty sure were blank. Every few seconds he glances up to where you were deep in a conversation with Ellis and Walsh. The three of you had gotten yourself partnered on the same case and were taking advantage of the fact that your patient was doing perfectly after surgery to actually talk about something normal while you could since you found yourselves with a little downtime.
“You don’t have to hover, you know.”
Jack freezes.
He thinks he might’ve actually stopped breathing. He knows exactly what Lena’s talking about though and he’s determined to lie his way through it.
“What?”
Okay, maybe not the best start. He doesn’t look up from where he’s pretending to flip through whatever papers were in front of him. Definitely not eavesdropping.
“Oh, please,” Lena rolls her eyes and leans back in her chair. “She’s not gonna disappear into thin air. You can get work done and I promise she’ll be there after.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Jack betrays himself when he glances back over in your direction. He smiles to himself when he sees you laugh, a beaming grin on your face. When he looks back towards Lena she’s already staring at him with her arms crossed.
“I think you just might be the world's worst liar,” Lena leans forward conspiratorially. Her voice drops when she asks, “So when are you gonna ask her on a date instead of moping around?”
Jack freezes again, “What are you talking about?”
“Seriously?” She lets out a disbelieving laugh at his bad attempt at faking innocence. “You’re worse than a kid with their first crush, it’s a miracle she hasn’t noticed yet.”
Okay so maybe she had a point, Jack could admit that much. He remembers the first time he’d seen you here clearly. He’d felt some kind of pull towards you the moment you entered the PTMC just over a year ago. It’d been easy to ignore then, though. You’d just graduated and had been doing an emergency medicine residency program under Dana during the day shift and it was only every now and then he’d be there at the same time too. Yet every time he did happen to work with you, even for a fleeting moment, it was like the entire place shifted a little bit.
Dana had even stopped him one time, so casually that he hadn’t even questioned why she was calling him. “You better watch yourself, Abbot. That’s my girl, best one to come through here in ages. Last thing she needs is you distracting her.”
He’d scoffed at the statement at the time, claiming that it wasn’t like that. It had been exactly like that, though. He knew that now. You’d been easy to avoid when you were on day shift but now you were here all the time and he couldn’t imagine not finding every reason he could to stick to your side.
“She’s not one of yours, you know. She’s one of mine,” Lena’s voice brings him out of it. There’s an I told you so look on her face that he rolls his eyes at. “I’m just saying, the paperwork will be a lot easier to fill out.”
“Aren’t you a romantic,” He knows he can trust Lena, though. If it was really a bad idea she’d tell him so with zero hesitation. So finally, hesitantly, he says, “I’ll think about it.”
***
Jack barely needed time to think about it. He had made his choice quickly and it was eating him up inside. It was just past 7 AM and he could hear the day shift and night shift looking for you both. His time with you was running out and fast. It was just the two of you alone in the room, your patient had just miraculously gotten a bed upstairs and you’d been there to ensure a smooth transition. Maybe that was his sign that you’d say yes.
He stops you before you can pull the curtain open to let them know the room was now open. He reaches for your hand, grabs your waist, and spins you around to look at him in a single swift move. “When can I see you again?”
The question doesn’t phase you.
“In about twelve hours.” You answer him with a teasing smile, choosing to stay just a little bit too close to him instead of stepping back.
“You know what I mean, honey.”
And then you look at him in a way that’s new. Your smile turns less teasing and falls a bit. It makes you look a little more vulnerable. He watches your eyes flicker across his face and he knows you’re trying to see what he’s really made of. If he really means it. He wants to shout the truth to you in that moment. That he can’t get enough of you.
“Say it,” Your voice comes out soft and he wonders briefly if you can read his mind. You step a little bit closer to him. “Tell me what you really want from me.”
Jack is painfully aware of the voices and footsteps coming closer. They’ll walk in any moment now, he knows it. He glances towards the door and when he looks back he can see you about to step away, thinking he wasn’t going to tell you the truth. He blurts it out before you can.
“Everything.” He says it so easily that it makes your breath hitch a little bit, he can see it happen. “I want to take you on a real date again and then take you home with me because you will not believe how hard it is to sleep without you next to me. When I wake up I want to just lay there looking at you for a little bit wondering how the hell you agreed to all of that. And then I want to do that over and over again until you get sick of me.”
You don’t say anything after his confession. A few seconds pass where you just let the words sink in and then, “Only if your plan includes taking me to that cute little cafe down the street too.”
“Whenever you want.” Jack’s never agreed to anything so fast in his life.
“Right answer,” You finally will yourself to step away and swing the curtain open. Before you walk away you look at him again and the teasing smile is back. “I’ll meet you outside in a bit?”
He walks towards you again and he’s really pushing it when he stands so close you can feel the heat of him. “Odds we can sneak out of here before they can stop us?”
“Abbot!” Dana's voice.
You laugh at the way he groans as his head falls onto your shoulder briefly. “Not likely.”
3. The Kiss
It’d only taken a month for everything the night shift knew about Jack to change. It had also been a month since you’d joined them. The two things had to be related. They just couldn’t prove it yet.
“Hey,” Ellis whispered as she practically ran to where Shen and Lena were deep in a conversation. There was an uneasy look in her eyes as she looked around, as if she was expecting someone to overhear what she was about to say. “Is he being weird?”
They look towards where she had subtly nodded and found Jack. He was in an exam room laughing with a patient as he finished stitching him up. Laughing.
Night shift chief attending Dr. Jack Abbot was in a good mood. For the first time maybe ever, as far as they knew. At least publicly in a good mood. He was never like this at work, always opting for serious and stoic with his patients because he needed to be at a job like this.
But this was his third patient in a row now that he made easy conversation with. It was a lot more than pleasantries and small talk, it was real conversations. Questions about themselves and their lives and jokes traded back and forth. It was unsettling, frankly.
“Thank you! I told you something was up with him,” Shen slams a hand down on the counter before looking at Lena and leaning forward the same way Ellis was, mocking concern. “ Have we tested him for any substance use lately?”
“Alright drama queens,” Lena rolls her eyes at them and leans back in her chair. “Why can’t he just be having a good night?”
Ellis shakes her head at that, nose scrunching as she disagrees, “No, I think he might actually be physically incapable of that.”
“Well what do you think it is then?”
“I think he got laid,” She says it confidently and with zero hesitation at all. Shen chokes on his drink and Lena’s eyes go wide as saucers. “What? He’s all glowy and shit, there is literally no other explanation?”
“Explanation for what?” Your voice comes out of nowhere and Ellis and Shen nearly jump out of their skin.
“For,” Ellis recovers faster and quickly glances at Lena and Shen, neither of which provide any help. “For why Shen’s guy in south 18 is really concussed.”
“Oh he’s having an affair with his neighbor for sure,” You set your tablet down and swipe your badge along the card reader at one of the computers. “This guy shows up with his pants backwards, shirt inside out, and his left shoe missing and he expects us to believe he just tripped while on a late night walk?”
It’s at that moment that Shen notices it. There’s no iced coffee in your usual place. It’s always right there, tucked in the corner of the desk Lena sits behind. You always reach for it every time you’re nearby, it’s how you make your way through it faster than almost anyone else. He watches carefully as you reach in that exact direction subconsciously before pulling your hand back. Empty.
“Where’s your drink?” He blurts the question out suddenly and you glance up at him.
“What?”
“Your drink,” He glances at Ellis and Lena and they can see the real question in his eyes. “You always leave it right there. It’s barely nine, there’s no way you’ve had enough downtime to finish it already.”
“Oh,” You go back to the computer screen and shrug. “I just woke up late, didn’t have time to stop.”
“Right,” Shen’s eyes narrow at you but he doesn’t say anything else. That’s when he notices Jack leave his patient's room and walk in the direction of the break room. “Hey, my second one is in the fridge if you want it?”
You sit up instantly and immediately a little bit of life fills you again. So maybe you both had a little bit of an addiction. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” And that’s all he has to say before you’re making a beeline to the break room, steps faltering just the slightest bit when you see Jack disappear through the door. Then you glance back at them, smile, and disappear in the same direction.
“No,” Shen shakes his head immediately. “It's a coincidence. There’s no way.”
“And what makes you so sure?” Lena, admittedly, is invested now.
“Uh, because Sweets is my best friend in the whole wide world and would have told me obviously,” He rolls his eyes like it's obvious. “Plus there’s no way Abbot would admit how deep he is in his feelings already. He’s due for at least another couple weeks of yearning from afar.”
“I don’t know, he might’ve,” Lena shrugs as she recalls all the little things she’s witnessed the last few weeks. “This is intense, even for him.”
“Besides, look who we’re talking about,” Ellis points out the fact that they all know is right. You were sunshine personified. The piece they didn’t even realise the night shift was missing. And it was just like Jack Abbot to want you all to himself. “He’d be crazy if he didn’t.”
“Wait,” Lena pieces it together first. The missing coffee. The good moods. The hesitation before your smile, the one that was just a little bit different than usual. Softer. “Didn’t they walk in together today?”
There’s a moment of silence as they all realize the same thing at the same time.
“First one to find out pays for the others drinks for the next two weeks?”
“Deal.”
“You’re on.”
***
“You’re insane.”
Jack only grins at you as he locks the door of the supply closet behind him. He wastes no time at all and immediately wraps you up in his arms, skipping all formalities and letting his mouth fall to your neck. “I thought that’s why you liked me”
He knows now how easy you are to distract. One glance at you and how your eyes have fluttered shut already confirms that. You let out a content little sigh as you pull him closer to you, “Among other reasons.”
The noise that fills the pitt disappears and suddenly all you know is Jack. His hands wandering underneath your shirt. His mouth on every bit of skin he can reach. The way he cages you in between his body and the shelf behind you and holds you like he’s afraid you’ll disappear.
“Jack seriously,” It takes every bit of your self control to pull yourself back and attempt to look at him for real. “We can’t do this here.”
“We're alone, honey. No one has to know,” He doesn’t even look at you, eyes trained on your lips instead. He slips your scrub top over your head leaving you in just the thin, see-through, white undershirt. You're both quickly losing all sense of rationality.
“Someone’s gonna come looking for us”
“I'm their boss, I'll make them go away,” One of his hands tangles in your hair this time and he pulls your head back so he can look into your eyes. Blown out pupils, breaths falling heavy, lips swollen from how you’d been biting them in an effort to keep quiet. He groans a little bit at the sight. “Just this once, baby, I swear,” He kisses you. Really kisses you. Long and slow and deep. Enough to make your thoughts go blurry and your knees weak. He pulls away the slightest bit and smirks when you chase the feeling of him. “Promise.”
“You know, somehow I don’t believe you.” He laughs then, pretending he doesn’t notice you start to push his own shirt up little by little. Your hands are cold on the warm, bare skin of his chest and he shivers a little bit, smiling even wider. He's addicted to you, he thinks.
“Can you blame me?” Another kiss, this time picking up where he left off before. “You’re perfect.”
Someone pulls on the door seconds later, just as his hands start wandering lower.
“Why is this door locked!”
You slip your scrub shirt back on in record time and Jack pushes you behind him when he goes to open the door as Ellis starts pounding on it. “I swear to god I -”
She doesn’t see you when he opens it. Not at first.
“Can I help you?” Jack asks the question like nothing is wrong in the slightest.
Ellis looks around for a second, trying to determine if anyone else was seeing this or if she had finally entered a state of hallucination. “I just need -”
That’s when she sees you. Tucked behind Jack, clothes a little crooked on your body and a little more disheveled than before. You’re smiling at her, only the slightest bit shy but mostly looking a little pleased. “I - hi?”
She doesn’t know what else to say to you.
“Hi,” You smile at her and step around Jack. “What did you need to grab?”
“I just - I just need a suture kit.”
You grab one off the shelf next to you and step around Jack, stopping for just a second to shoot him a smile. She watches him return the smile, absolutely noticing the way he reaches for you. His fingers barely skim against you when you step just a little too close to him, like even that feather light touch will get him through the rest of the night. You turn back towards her like nothing happened. “Do you want any help?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Ellis tries not to stare when Jack grabs your hand for real, pulling you back and kissing you again, modestly this time. On your forehead as he whispers something to you that she can’t hear.
It’s not until you’ve walked further away from the storage closet that she leans a little closer to you. “Hey, are you two…you know?”
You laugh a little bit at the question. “Dating? I thought it was kinda obvious after that.”
“I didn’t want to assume.” Ellis laughs along with you and shakes her head, leading you in the direction of one of the rooms. Then she notices Shen and Lena out of the corner of her eye again and stops. “Hey, can you get started? I need to check with Lena about some lab results real quick.”
“Yeah, go for it! Take your time.”
Ellis watches you pull the curtain of the room closed. Then she waits until Jack has disappeared into another room on the other side of the ED, the most smug looking grin on his face, before she practically runs to the nurses desk. “They’re dating, I told you so.”
“What?”
“And we’re just supposed to believe you? How do you know?”
“I asked,” She pauses for a moment before leaning closer. “And I found them both in the supply closet with the door locked, you connect the dots.”
Shen’s face scrunches in disgust. “Ew.”
Lena on the other hand only lets out a sigh. “We’re gonna have to keep an eye on them aren't we?”
“Probably.” Ellis looks incredibly pleased as she starts walking back to the room you’d gone into. “I’ll send you guys my drink order before next shift.”
4. The Reveal
The day shift doesn’t usually notice when the night shift starts to trickle in. You remember it clearly, the way it feels like every single person with every single ailment known to mankind seems to congregate in the pitt all at once right before it’s time for shift change. That’s something you don’t miss. By the time you guys come in it feels settled. Or maybe you all just like to think so.
Either way, they definitely don’t notice when you and Jack walk in together, your bag slung over his shoulder. They’re too distracted by the drinks Shen and Lena walked in with, relegated to delivery service after losing some bet to Ellis.
All the noise is forgotten quickly. This, the rare quiet moment in the staff locker room where it feels like the whole world comes to a stand still, is Jack’s time to breathe. He watches you throw all your things into his locker, somehow getting to the point of sharing custody of one now in the last couple of weeks.
He knows you’re saying something. He can hear the sound of your voice but you’re also tying your hair up so it’s out of your way for the night and he loses all ability to think straight. Some kind of pavlovian response overtakes him and this feeling fills him up inside and suddenly he can’t help himself.
He stands up and it's like his hands move on their own without him meaning for them to. They set themselves firmly on your hips and pull them back, completely flush against him. He bunches the scrub top up and settles his hands underneath the long sleeve shirt you’re wearing under it. Your skin is warm under them and the little noise he lets out is perfectly content.
“Can I help you?” He can hear the smile you’re wearing when you ask the question and he can picture it perfectly.
“No,” Jack shakes his head a little and kisses your cheek. It lingers for a second before he starts moving down the expanse of your neck. “I’m fine. What were you saying?”
“You're so needy, you know that?”
“Are you complaining?” He doesn’t get a response from you. Instead your arms settle over his and you relax into his hold. He smirks. “That’s what I thought.”
You don’t get very long to escape into the moment.
“There you are. Robby’s looking for - woah,” The exhausted look on Santos' face turns into a shit-eating grin in a fraction of a second. “What’s going on here?”
Jack frowns when you wiggle out of his hold to turn to look at her.
“Hey,” You smile at her like she hadn’t just seen what she clearly just did. She shares a look with both Javadi and Whitaker who’d walked in with her. “How was your shift?”
“Uh, I'm sorry,” Javadi laughs in disbelief a little as she looks between the two of you. You, smiling brightly at her in the way she misses seeing so much on the day shift, and Jack, who looks like he’s never hated three people more. She’s pretty sure he’s committing their murders in his head. “What is this? When did this happen?”
Jack all of a sudden feels protective in that moment. Over your relationship that very much fuels his will to live and over you. Part of him is surprised you hadn’t told them yet. The first friends you’d made here, probably some of your closest, clearly had no idea about you and him. Then he remembers your opposite schedules and the constant cycle of work and being completely enveloped by the so-called honeymoon phase of your relationship he thinks might actually never end.
“Wait, did I not tell you guys?” You’re trying your hardest to trace back every moment of the last few weeks. Jack takes it upon himself to hand you your drink and grab his before shutting his locker, taking a second to just listen. One of his arms wraps around your waist again.
“You did not, sweets,” Santos shakes her head and speaks slowly, trying to push through her absolute shock at this revelation. And trying very hard not to stare at the casual display of affection from Jack Abbot of all people.
Whitaker is the one who recalls the last real interaction you’d had with them fastest. Somehow he’s the least surprised. “You spent all of breakfast the other day telling us about that kid you patched up with Ellis. The one who slipped off the fire escape trying to sneak into his girlfriend's room."
“You told Mel, Samira, and Langdon," Jack says it in between sips of his matcha like it’s nothing. “When you had them over for dinner at yours your last night off. You sent me a picture of their reactions.”
“Right!” You try your hardest to hold in a laugh at the recollection. Samira had shouted into a pillow. Mel had asked a lot of questions, incredibly excitedly. Frank had decided he needed to take a walk to process and stood on your balcony for ten minutes. “I guess I forgot, everything kinda blurs together. They didn’t tell you?”
“Sweets, I think you told the three least nosy people in the ED,” Santos makes a mental note to yell at all of them for keeping this from everyone else. “Of course they didn’t.”
Then your attention slips from Jack completely when Javadi prompts Whitaker to tell you about something that happened earlier. He stops listening completely, now perfectly distracted by the excited look in your eyes and the way you smile at them. And okay so maybe he’s a little bit clingy.
Jack wraps himself around you from behind again, arms now fully circling your waist. He does not hesitate in the slightest to pull you flush against him again either. He does exercise a little bit of self control though. There’s no kiss this time. Instead he let out a soft sigh and let his head fall onto your shoulder, chin resting against it silently as you talk.
He doesn’t notice the way Javadi covers her mouth with one hand to hold back the comment she wants to make out loud. Instead she points at the sight as subtly as she can and mouths “oh my god!” you only grin at her. You roll your eyes, pretending to be annoyed at Jack’s display, but you settle back into him anyway.
He also doesn’t notice the way Whitaker stares at him, eyes narrowed in his direction and head tipped to the side curiously, debating to himself whether or not Jack was actually in the room with them. Physically or mentally.
Santos, ever curious, is the one who finally cracks and breaks him out of his self induced trance. “Okay, I have to know. How did this even -”
“Hey!” Ellis cuts in before she can even ask the question all the way. She pops her head in the door, eyes skipping past everyone until they land on you and Jack. She doesn’t look phased by the sight in the slightest. She nods at you with a smile in greeting before looking at Jack. “If you don’t get out there in the next five seconds for hand-offs, Robby might just track down a guillotine and use it on you.”
“Alright, alright,” Jack rolls his eyes and takes his time standing up straight again. He lingers for as long as humanly possible. Another kiss, to your forehead this time, before he very begrudgingly lets you go one arm at a time. “I’ll see you out there.”
Jack keeps holding your hand as he walks out of the room, not letting a single second go to waste. He holds on until he takes a step too far and lets it fall out of his own. An absolutely devastating moment in his eyes.
“Later, kids.” He just barely glances at Whitaker, Javadi, and Santos, saluting them with two fingers before taking another sip of his drink and walking out of the locker room with Ellis, who hands him a tablet.
The silence sinks in around you. In those few moments your friends realize that Abbot’s whole little display is evidently very much normal for the night shift. And then -
“Since when does Abbot drink matcha?”
5. The Declaration
It was bordering on 2 AM when the trauma came in. A young girl, who’d just wanted some pancakes and coffee while pulling an all nighter studying for her upcoming SAT exam. She’d been hit by a drunk driver on her way home from the diner and was in rough shape.
The room was already tense. She’d coded in the ambulance and they’d only just managed to get her stable. Every single one of you held your breath as you all did everything in your power to try to save her.
It was really with no hesitation that everyone else took a backseat to you and Jack moving easily around each other. The two of you were the girls best bet at surviving, a well oiled machine at this point. In every sense of the phrase. You could anticipate what he was about to do before he even said it. All he’d have to do is give you a look and you just knew, you’d hand him whatever he needed, or ask someone else if your hands were full, and you were right every single time.
“Honestly I think the rest of us can go home,” Walsh, who’d been paged to consult and make sure the girl was stable enough for surgery, said from where she stood on the other side of the hospital bed from you and Jack. She was watching closely and honestly, was more than a little impressed. Especially when you pointed something out to Jack that he’d missed right before she could. “Our sweet little angel face over there has this whole place locked down.”
“Including Abbot,” Shen watches from beside Walsh, looking on curiously at the silent understanding between the two of you. “It’s like they have some freaky mind meld thing going on.”
“You think its contagious?” Walsh puts up her side of the bed railing, seeing that Jack was just about done.
“Hopefully not,” Shen makes a face at the thought. “I'm more than happy letting her be the one to keep him too busy to yell at the rest of us.”
Neither one of you notice their conversation in the slightest, too involved in each other even in a trauma room. It’s almost unsettling. The small little smiles and the bedroom eyes and whispered comments passed between the two of you. The way Jack pauses for just the briefest moment mid procedure to turn and send you a wink that makes you roll your eyes and grin back at him.
Walsh watches the whole interaction, positive the two of you have forgotten everyone else is the room. “This can't possibly be normal. Are they like this their whole shifts?”
Shen thinks for a moment before shaking his head, “It’s usually worse. Boarding on an HR violation is their normal.”
A moment passes where Walsh realizes that yeah, that kinda tracks considering the moments she’s been witness to up until this point. Then, to Shen’s horror, she smiles. “Hey, do you wanna see something funny?”
His eyes narrow at her but ultimately his curiosity gets the better of him. “I’m not taking responsibility for your funeral expenses if this goes badly.”
That only makes her smile wider.
Walsh maneuvers her way to your other side, taking the place of one of the other nurses that was there. Shen’s eyes go wide when she looks at him again. She speaks before he can shake his head to stop her, breaking you and Jack out of the little bubble you’d put yourselves in.
“You know you’re really good at this, Sweets,” Walsh grins when you look over at her instead and Jack hesitates for just a second. “When can I steal you to help me in the OR? You’d be amazing in there.”
“Anytime,” You meet her smile easily. “I’m always down for a change in scenery.”
“Perfect,” She smirks a little at your answer. “Name a day and time and I'll steal you all for myself.”
“Done,” The other side of the railing snaps up, maybe a little more harsh than it needs to be. Jack looks up, not a hint of the smile he’d been using with you left when he looks at Walsh. “You can go now.”
Walsh looks more than pleased by his reaction. She looks at Shen who’s trying his absolute hardest not to laugh giddily at what he just witnessed.
“Down, boy,” She unlocks the wheels of the hospital bed and smirks even wider when Jack removes his gloves and loops his fingers into the hem of your scrub top, pulling you back into his side. It’s completely subconscious, she realizes, when neither one of you seems to even notice it happens. “Even when I steal her from you for my OR you’ll still get to take her home at the end of the night.”
“Wait, hang on, that’s where I draw the line,” Shen unlocks the wheels on the other side and starts wheeling the bed out with her. “You are not taking our best nurse all for yourself. Especially not when she’s the one who also brings us our caffeine every shift.”
“You know, you’re only giving me more reasons to steal her.”
Neither one of them notices that you don’t follow. Instead, the room empties out and then it’s just you and Jack. The silence settles between you as Jack unties the back of your surgical gown. When you turn to face him again he speaks softly.
“You could go, you know. To the OR. If you wanted to.” Jack says it before you can say anything about it. “Walsh is right, you’d be a natural up there.”
“Jack -”
“You don’t have to stay here forever. I mean, Shen is also right. We’d miss you down here. It hasn’t even been a couple months yet and it feels like you were made to be here with m- with everyone -”
“Jack -”
“Even if you just wanted to try it out. I think you should. I mean it’s-”
You kiss him. Not in the storage closet or the locker room or in an on call room or behind a curtain like usual. Right there in the middle of a trauma room, windows wide open and the ED buzzing all around you.
Jack melts into you immediately. Hands moving to your hips to pull you closer before one moves to the back of your neck to deepen the kiss. A small groan leaves him when you pull away, the sweetest, most innocent smile on your lips.
“You talk too much,” A moment passes where you just stare at him, making sure he’s really listening to what you’re saying. “I’m not leaving the ED,” and then you add a little quieter, a little more shy, “You’re here.”
“I love you.”
Jack doesn’t know what possesses him to say it out loud here and now of all places for the very first time. But he feels it and he acknowledges it and there’s no way he can hold it in after that. There’s a need that settles deep in his bones and he knows he’s never going to want anything less than you right there with him always. Forever. He doesn’t know how he’d survive otherwise.
It takes a moment for what he said to sink in. You can see the intensity in his eyes, how much he feels it and means it. You really wish you were anywhere but the ED right now. Maybe if you wished really really hard you could somehow will everyone and everything to slow down long enough for you to sneak away with Jack for just a little bit.
Jack Abbot who loves you. The knowledge of that fact makes you feel warm all over.
“I love you too.”
+1. The Move
Jack is obsessed. He knows that for sure now.
With the way you kiss him and how you look at him after. With the way you let him be as attached to you as he needs to be at any given moment and you don’t mind at all. With the way you hold his hand and pretend not to notice when he moves his fingers to rest on your pulse point out of instinct. And especially with moments like these.
It’s pushing ten am and the two of you have only just left the hospital. A morning rush hour pileup meant that not only was there an influx of trauma’s coming in right before 7 but also that a good chunk of the staff were stuck behind the backed up traffic.
Despite the fifteen hour shift, you’re still happily nodding your head along to the soft music that fills Jack’s car. He watches you out of the corner of his eye. You’re mumbling the words to the song playing and taking sips out of the drink he’d just bought you, your third one of the day. His drink is sitting the cup holder. His second one, your habits had rubbed off on him.
The song switches once and then twice. By the time it switches a third time he’s watching you frown as you reach the bottom of your drink.
“Honey, don’t take this the wrong way,” He looks at you for a moment before looking back at the road. “But I think you might have a problem.”
“I do not!” You feign offense and turn towards him in your seat. “God forbid I treat myself to something nice after a long day.”
“What were the other two for then?”
“A treat for going to work and a pick me up for halfway, clearly.”
“Clearly.” Jack shakes his head as stops at a light. Silently, he drops one hand from the wheel and sets it palm side up on the center console. Almost immediately you’re placing your hand in his, the exact way he was craving.
The light turns green and he makes the split second decision then. He turns right, the direction that’ll let him turn around to head towards his place, instead of continuing straight, the direction that would take him to yours.
You watch as he does so, driving further and further away from your apartment. “Jack, what are you doing?”
He kisses the back of your hand. “Taking you back to mine since you’re clearly not planning on sleeping after all that caffeine.”
“Okay, one,” You turn to face him again, even while he’s driving. “I’ve built up a tolerance. This is nothing. And two, I've been out of clean clothes for like a week. I can only wash the ones I have there so many times.”
“So steal some of mine.” Jack shrugs and maybe the thought of you in his clothes is a little bit for him too.
“Bad idea, cause then neither of us will ever have clean clothes again.”
“I’ll buy you new ones then.”
“Not if I don’t let you.”
“Good luck stopping me.”
He’s winning and you both know it. So instead you say, “I have to stay at my place sometimes, what’s the point of even having it if I give in and always let you win these fun little arguments.”
The stop is sudden. Jack pulls over into the first empty spot he sees on the side of the road and turns to face you fully before you can ask him what he’s doing.
“You know what, honey? You’re right,” He leans towards you, fully leaning on the center console until he’s close enough to kiss you if he really wanted to. “There’s really no point in you paying for an apartment you’re barely ever in so I think it’s the perfect time for you to let me move you in with me.”
For a second you’re not sure if you heard him right. Maybe he was right and the cocktail of caffeine and sleep deprivation was finally making you imagine things. “What?”
“Move in with me.”
So you definitely heard him right.
“You’re not serious.”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
“It’s barely been three months,” You shake your head as if that should explain everything. “And we haven’t even technically been dating for that entire time.”
“What can I say, I know what I want,” You’re still looking at him in disbelief so Jack takes your hand again and he sounds more serious when he says it plainly. “What I want is you. Every morning, every night, every shift, every minute you’ll let me. If you’ll have me.”
“It’s too fast.” You’re only trying to convince yourself at this point.
Jack smiles at you, softer than before. “You’re forgetting I’ve been pining over you for more than a year now.”
You catch the implication immediately. It went way further back than just three months. All the way back to the day you walked through the doors of the PTMC halfway through him going through shift change. He’d lingered a lot longer than necessary and you had thought it was just normal for him.
“You’re crazy.”
“That’s why you love me.”
And he’s right. It’s the reason why you finally give in. “Will you at least let me split the rent with you?”
“I own the place.” Jack shrugs and you know for a fact that he’s not sorry in the slightest.
“Mortgage then.”
“Already paid off.”
“Bills?”
“Paid in advance for the next three months.”
“Groceries?”
“Not a chance.”
“50 50?”
“90 10.”
You huff a little and pout at him. He doesn’t fall for it, only pausing for a second to kiss the look off your face. “Are you ever going to let me win one of these arguments?”
“Not unless it’s in your best interest.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“And you love me for that too.”
Jack finally thinks for a moment and that’s when his eyes land on the drinks in the cupholder between the two of you, his half full one and your empty one. “How about I let you pay for my drink every time we stop for one?”
You light up at his proposition. “Will you let me pay for mine?”
“Only after the first one. First one I’m paying for,” He leans in a little bit closer, knowing he’s got you on his side now. “Consider it a compromise.”
“Works for me.”
“You can pay for Shen’s too,” He adds quickly before you can agree. “I refuse to fund his addiction, he’s worse than you.”
“Deal.” That makes you laugh and you finally lean in and kiss him, sealing everything in place.
He can taste the sugary vanilla drink that still lingers on your tongue and it makes him smile against your lips. “Will you let me take you to our home now?”
“Okay,” You kiss him again. You really can’t help it. “Take me to our place.”
Summary: You get punched by a disgruntled patient while you're outside in the Ambulance Bay (à la Dana Season 1) before you head into the Pitt for your shift. Familiar faces come towards you trying to help, but all you can think is that you need Jack. Robby can’t help but wonder why it isn’t him anymore.
Words: 2k
Warnings: no description of the assault, just the injury and emotional aftermath, angst, jealousy, blood, if you squint it could be you overhearing Robby and Jack talking at the end, season 2 spoilers, discussion of Robby & Langdon, sorryyyy there is no happy ending
A/N: this is so self indulgent as always - I’m mad at Robby right now and I need him to see the error in his ways
You lift yourself off the ground slowly, head spinning as you find your balance on your two feet again. Blood spills from your nose, running down your face and dripping from your chin. You raise a hand to wipe it away before realizing how useless it is.
You put one foot in front of the other, heading towards the Ambulance Bay doors. You try to settle your nerves with a deep breath as you cross the threshold, but your heart pounds, the breath coming out shaky and wrong.
Faces at the nurse’s station turn to you. You hear your name called, over and over. There’s shock, concern, panic, someone calling for Robby. The last thing you want. Their voices are abrasive, keeping your nerves sharp.
You drag in another breath, wrapping one arm across your chest. Your feet keep carrying you towards the nursing station, towards the faces. You duck around the security guards as they reach for you. Ahmad’s hand briefly contacts your arm, but you pull free, refusing to stop.
Robby appears down the hall, jaw slack, eyes wide. Before you can think, he’s running towards you, crowding you, sputtering questions. He wants answers, explanations, but you can’t give them.
You teeter, and he steadies you by your elbow. The contact is foreign, wrong. It feels like an electric shock.
You jerk backwards, turning your face away from Robby. Your eyes scan the nurse’s station. “Is Jack here yet?”, you ask.
Robby blinks. “Jack? No, no he isn’t... Why -”
“I just need Jack.”
“Hey,” Robby says quietly, reaching for your face.
“Don’t touch me!”, it comes out before you can think. You barely recognize your voice like this, the panic making it sharp.
He steps back, hands raised. He steps aside and grabs a stool from the station, wheeling it towards you, and gesturing for you to sit.
He remains two wide steps away while you sit.
“I’ll wait for Jack.” you explain quietly. You tell yourself that the others will believe it’s because Jack is your attending. He was there with you last night when the patient was upset with you. He already knows the situation.
Hurt flashes in Robby’s eyes, followed by confusion.
“Jack …” Robby turns the name around. He lets out a long breath before pleading with you.
“Please … we need to get you checked out. At least let them clean you up.” he nods towards Dana and Princess, waiting patiently at your side.
You look at Dana, and slowly nod, allowing her and Princess to close in, hands moving quickly and carefully, blood wiped away in moments, as if it were never there.
He stands back, watching the others blot blood from your face and neck. He’s silent while someone else assesses your pupils.
“Who was it?” Robby finally presses, “Was it a patient?”
Your heart hammers. It’s too much, his eyes boring into you. He always does this, staring with that intense look. Your hands shake, and you can’t bring yourself to look up at Robby.
Staring at your hands in your lap, you mumble “I don’t want to talk about it.”
It’s all wrong, having him stand over you like this. He’s waiting expectantly for answers that you can’t give him. It feels like before. It reminds you why you decided to switch to nights in the first place. The two of you just don’t go together. Like oil and water.
Robby nods, arms crossed in front of him, clearly considering carefully his next steps. He recognizes now that his presence is making things worse for you. He hopes that this is about something bigger than him.
Then, you hear the voice you’ve been waiting for, and everything feels right again. He calls your name, pulling you out of the dissociation.
You look up, and your eyes meet Jack’s from across the room. Everything around you halts. You see the fear flash across his face before he masks it, flipping the switch to enter medic mode. He weaves through the crowd of staff gathering around you, crossing the line that the others have been hesitant to cross.
Jack is kneeling in front of you in a moment, one hand firm on your knee, grounding you, the other carefully cradling your face.
You feel the tension in your chest fall away.
Robby stands helpless at the nursing station, watches Jack carefully hold your face in his hands, checking for fractures. Sees your hands curl into the front of Jack's shirt, like instinct.
“Hey,” Jack says quietly, “I got you, ok? Talk to me.”
Your voice is a whisper, only for Jack to hear, “It was the patient from 14 - the one who was yelling last night.”
His jaw sets, and you can tell he’s keeping calm for your sake. His anger sits under the surface, waiting. It stirs something in your chest. You lean forward, dropping your forehead to Jack’s shoulder, letting yourself relax into him for a moment.
You don’t normally touch him like this at work, but you need it right now. He takes this as permission to wrap his arms around you
Something cold settles in Robby’s throat. He can’t seem to swallow it, but he also can’t seem to turn away.
“Room 3 is open,” he says quietly. He hates that he feels like he’s interrupting something by saying it.
Jack walks you to the room, and he can barely pry himself from the edge of your bed for long enough to order the CT. While you’re in the room getting the scan, he stands outside, stone-still, leaning back against the wall behind him in an attempt to look casual.
When you finally make it back to your room, all you want to do is sleep, but Jack keeps you awake, whispering to you, until the CT results are back. You’re both supposed to have started your shift by now, and while you obviously won’t be seeing patients tonight, Jack definitely should be.
“You should get out there.” you tell Jack, breaking a moment of silence. You’ve gotten the all-clear 15 minutes ago, but he’s lingering, limbs tangled with yours on the hospital bed.
Jack’s hand, previously rubbing circles on your arm, stops briefly. You can almost feel him calculating what he needs to say to convince you to let him stay.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he teases. Of course he’s taking the route of deflection.
“Never,” you reply, “I’m just thinking of all of the other patients waiting for you to come lie in their hospital bed with them and pet their hair.”
“Would you believe that this is a service I don’t tend to offer to other patients?” he asks into your hair, unable to pull away for a moment.
“Really though, Jack. Go start your shift. I’m okay here, and I promise I will rest as long as needed before I go home.”
He groans, and peels himself out from under you, pressing several kisses onto the top of your head before standing.
“I’ll be back to check on you. Ring if you need anything at all?”
“Of course.”
Robby stands at the nursing station, getting ready to interrupt you and Jack to ask about passing off his patients for the night.
He can’t stop replaying it - the way you leaned into Jack after pulling away from him.
Footsteps approach, and Jack stops beside him.
“She’s okay,” Jack says quietly, “CT’s clear. Maybe a mild concussion.”
Robby nods. “Good.”
The silence is long.
“I’m sorry.” Jack sighs, “I should have told you.I was afraid that you wouldn’t understand. I’m not just fucking around though, man. I’m serious about her. I am.”
Robby shrugs, “You don’t owe me that.”
“I kind of do.”
“She didn’t want people to know, did she?” he guesses.
“No, she didn’t.”
Robby nods slowly, “That tracks.”
There’s no bitterness in it, just understanding. He rubs a hand over his jaw. “You know, being public with me was a thing.”
Jack waits.
“We worked together, and everyone knew everything. Every argument was amplified. We always had an audience.”
He looks back at Jack. “She hated it. I think it’s a big part of why we didn’t work out. It was a lot of pressure on her. I didn’t want that for her.”
There’s a quiet beat.
“She didn’t let me touch her today.” He says it without accusation, but the hurt is still there in his voice. “But she let you. She kept saying she wanted to wait for you.”
Jack doesn’t gloat, but he doesn’t sugarcoat the truth.
“She needed someone she doesn’t have to be strong with.”
“I thought I was that. I thought I used to be.”
“She was different with you. Sharper, more guarded. I think she wanted your respect too much to fall apart.”
Robby laughs under his breath.
“And she doesn’t want your respect?”
“Mine isn’t as conditional as yours is, Robby.”
Robby straightens a little at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jack holds his gaze.
“Come on.”
Robby’s eyes narrow slightly, defensive now. “No, say it. Go on.”
“Look at how you treated Langdon.”
It hangs there. A conversation they haven’t had yet, but Robby’s been waiting for it.
“Don’t.”
“You were his biggest advocate.” Jack continues evenly, “Your star resident. Your golden boy. And the second he messed up -”
“He didn’t ‘mess up’, man, he endangered patients. He let all of us down.”
“I know,” Jack says. “We all know, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“We all saw what happened, and we all saw how fast he went from being number one to being iced out.”
The words hit home.
“And we all wondered,” Jack continues, voice firm, “what it takes to fall from your good graces.”
Robby reels, feeling exposed, doing this right out in the open.
Part of him knows that it’s true.
“She didn’t want to risk that with you.”
Robby swallows.
“That’s ridiculous. This is so different, Jack. She didn’t do anything wrong - she got hurt! She was fading, couldn’t stand up straight, and when I touched her arm she flinched - like she was afraid of me.”
“I love you, brother, but I think she is.”
Jack has never been one to placate; especially not with Robby.
“I never meant to make her feel that way.”
“I know.” Jack says.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to send me any requests :)
pixelskylines
2087
snowghoul
izzy806
