#ed husbands

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the pitt on twitter pt 3 (part 2 | masterlist | part 4)

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the pitt on twitter (masterlist | part 2)

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trans!robby who figures it out during his second year of med school but has a really hard time finding a name that suits him and doesn't want to be constantly telling classmates and professors new names.

robby who ends up crying curled up in jack's chest late one night after a draining afternoon working on a group project where everyone kept calling him by the wrong name. and he knows they don't know, and he knows it's his fault, and he knows he doesn't really have a name right now, but it's hard and it hurts and he wants it to stop.

jack whose heart breaks while he holds robby together. so he thinks and he thinks and he thinks. and he comes up with robby, because it's easy, it holds no connection to his deadname, it requires little justification and he can keep using it long after he settles on his new name.

jack who comes with him to get a new haircut the next morning.

jack who has a hand on his shoulder while he tells their friends.

jack who goes with robby to talk to all his professors and help explain.

jack who calls him robby every chance he gets and encourages everyone else to do the same.

jack who helps him try out new names and is always coming up with new ideas.

jack who starts using mike and robby interchangeably when robby finally settles on his name because robby says both are him.

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i miss them dearly and i want them back

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enemies to lovers during med school jack and robby. everyone thinks they're going to be together forever, college sweethearts, 'most likely to end up together' if they had a yearbook.

jack getting cold feet as he reaches residency, a mix of family pressure, the internalized homophobia he's still working through and a fight with robby that is bigger than they're used to.

robby who is left heartbroken when jack breaks up with him, cuts contact and runs off to the army.

robby who goes by himself to the ten year anniversary graduation party and smiles through the pain when everyone asks about jack. robby who feels his heart break a little bit more (a wound that never healed, that probably never will) every time he has to explain he hasn't seen him in ten years, last he heard he was still in the army.

jack who shows up at ptmc a bit over two decades after they last saw each other with a ring on his hand, missing a leg and missing his smile. jack who acts like he doesn't know him, like they were nothing. jack who brushes past him like he's just another coworker, offhandedly acknowledging to everyone else that him and robby are from the same generation.

robby who feels like with every shift handoff he leaves a little bit more of himself at the hospital.

robby who gets in the habit of going to the roof for fresh air after every shift when he feels like he can't do it anymore. robby who gets closer and closer to the edge every time.

jack who runs after him and grabs him by the back of the hoodie in one of his worst nights. jack who looks terrified and desperate and keeps apologizing. jack who's crying while his hand shakes but keeps an iron grip on robby.

robby who absentmindedly gets away from the edge just in case something happens to jack because of him.

jack who drags him to the other side of the barrier and falls to the floor, dragging robby down with him. jack who wraps robby in his arms and keeps murmuring things robby's too shocked to understand.

jack and robby who stay like that for dana to come up and find them and inform them she's calling for someone to cover for them.

jack and robby who end up staying there for hours

first crying. then holding onto each other. then confessing, explaining, apologizing, fighting, screaming. all without letting go because they're both afraid of what may happen.

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little rabbot ficlet i guess. @hawksredrobe you said you'd like to see it 🫣

The first thing Jack's aware of upon waking up isn't the beeping of the machines making sure he's alive or the sunlight streaming in from the windows; it's the knuckle tight grip that's holding onto his left hand for dear life. He makes a confused noise, groggy, fighting to stay conscious, and he feels the grip tighten even more before there's movement on his side.

The next thing he feels, as he fights to open his eyes, is the hands that come up to cradle his face. He knows those hands, but that can't be. He doesn't know a lot of things right now, but he knows Robby's back in Pittsburgh, away from Afghanistan, away from the war, away from him.

It's the memory of war, of the mission, of the convoy exploding, that makes him finally open his eyes as panic takes root deep in his chest.

The machines start beeping like crazy, but he can't pay them any mind because suddenly Robby's right there. He's inches away from his face– so close they're basically breathing the same air– and his eyes are red like he's been crying for a while as tears slowly fall down his face.

He hasn't changed that much, Jack thinks distantly as he takes him in. The lines on his face are a little more pronounced, there's a few strands of grey on his hair that weren't there before and there's more weight on his shoulders. But under that, he's still Jack's Robby; the guy that made sure he got through med school without losing his mind, the friend that punched him when he told him about the army and then hugged him so tight and for so long Jack knows he'll never feel like that again.

Jack feels his body relax as he takes Robby in, his panic residing in the face of his most important person being right here, a sign that's he's alive, that he's safe. Instead, a different worry takes place. Robby's crying, Robby's upset. Why? Jack doesn't like that, Jack doesn't want that.

He feels himself frown as he makes another confused sound from deep in his throat. Robby's caressing his face– thumbs moving idly where they sit on his cheeks as he examines him– even as the tears keep falling. He smiles at him, wobbly as anything but with a joy Jack knows he's not able to fake. And he figures the tears can't be that bad if he's that happy.

"You're alive," he whispers, low and soft but with feeling behind it.

"You're alive, Jack." He reiterates, like he needs to keep saying it, like he still can't quite believe it.

"Look at you," he breathes as his eyes flicker all over his face, "you made it out."

And Jack's still confused, but he fights his body with all his might until he manages to raise one of his hands enough to rest it on Robby's forearm as he attempts a reassuring smile. It feels appropriate, and he's not sure which one of them needs it more.

The gesture makes Robby start crying in earnest, his forehead coming to rest against Jack's and his hands tightening on Jack's face until he has no hope of moving even if he wanted to.

It doesn't seem like he'll stop crying any time soon, but Jack doesn't really mind. He likes the closeness, the comfort of his best friend right here with him after so long apart. And he figures he'll get answers sooner or later– about what happened to him, to his men, about what his future looks like. For now, he's content enough to close his eyes and bask himself in the feeling in his chest that being held by Robby brings.

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jack is the kind of guy who will say "good morning, sunshine" in the most obnoxious tone he can muster when robby finally stirs in his arms, without ever letting go of him.

robby, on the other hand, will whisper the sweetest "hi" when they make eye contact and kiss jack's forehead before continuing to pet his hair, which threatens to put jack back under every. single. time.