Dennis has a crush on his close friends partner...
Pairing: Dennis Whitaker x Reader
Summary: You and Dennis went to med school together, where you and his roommate dated. But Dennis secretly liked you the whole time, even though he shouldn't. Now, you're a student doctor at the Pitt.
wc: 600
This is part one -`♡´- more coming smile this is just like the intro.... Part 2 part three
From the day you two met, Dennis Whitaker thought you were so special, so beautiful. You made him laugh, you actually listened to him and saw him. He couldn't help but smile in your presence. But not only was he painfully awkward and shy, his roommate kinda got to you first. His roommate for most of med school, Alex, who quickly became his close friend. The two of you began going out, you ending up hanging around the dorm with Alex, where Dennis was as well. Dennis tagged along a lot, so he was there with you studying, going between classes, getting lunch or dinner. But Alex was always in the middle, taking up most of your attention. It made Dennis jealous, which he knew was ridiculous. Sometimes Alex would be busy, and so just you and Dennis would have lunch. It was weirdly never awkward, the two of you genuinely friends. He looked forward to these lunches, where just you and him could be together. He would imagine that Alex didn’t even exist, that your smile really was special, just for him. He felt terrible about it,
You were a grade below, so when Dennis graduated, he told himself you would probably never see each other again. The thought ate away at him, but he figured it would be for the better. He had been trying to shake off his feelings for you, they were wrong. But he just couldn’t. He would never go after his best friend's partner, and so he just bit his tongue and sucked it up.
Starting as a med student at PTMC, Dennis became even busier, having less and less time to think about you, but he still did from time to time. At this point, communication with Alex was sparse as he was at another hospital, and you were still committing all your time to school. Time went on, Dennis missing you like a sick dog, which he internally beat himself up over. From what he could tell from social media and his seldom talks with Alex, you two were still together.
Months sped past, barely giving Dennis the time to breathe, and suddenly he was officially a doctor. He was proud of course, he had worked so hard for this. Things slightly eased up now that he finally reached such a major goal. It was nice, but still, in the back of his mind he wanted to tell you. He wanted to share this victory with you, check up on your progress, but it had been so long since you two talked. And the two of you had made an unspoken rule that it was best not to talk or hangout, just the two of you anymore. So, on his way to work Dennis just walked with his thoughts. He let his mind wander around while the sun came up.
Dennis made his way into the pitt, when he was reminded that today there would be three student doctors joining, along with a student nurse, which Dennis honestly had forgotten. He was both nervous and excited to have the chance to teach instead of learn, hoping today would go smoother than his own first day. Lost in his memories of that day, something catches his eye. Weirdly, it was a side profile of one of the new students. Dennis’s mind went silent, just processing. He knew that side profile, that nose and lips, he basically had them memorized.
Dennis continued to stare, dumbfounded when Robby told everyone to gather around. Robby’s voice was a distant mumble, as you finally lock eyes with Dennis.
alright chat i've been sitting on this one for a couple days but have been too lazy to get on my laptop and write it LMAO
Anyways, I'm imagining being Dennis' high school sweetheart back in Nebraska. Your family is the traditional type, wanting you to get married straight out of school and start having kids. If you didn't marry dennis your parents would set you up with someone else to marry, and if you didn't you knew your parents would disown you and kick you out.
Dennis didn't want to get married straight out of high school and you knew that, but you weren't going to ask him to stay and give up his dream of being a doctor for you. After Dennis left for undergrad, your parents already had a man lined up for you so the night before your supposed wedding you did the only thing you could think of, you ran. Taking with you what you could fit in a backpack.
You didn't see Dennis again until 8 years later during his first year of residency. You looked different, your long undyed hair has been traded in for short styled bob dyed black, you had tattoos and you looked professional. You worked with Noelle Hastings as a case manager. After leaving home you were able to live with a second cousin out in Colorado for your undergrad, before obtaining a full ride to Carneige Mellon University for your Masters in Healthcare Administration. It's been two years since you graduated with your masters and started working in the Pitt.
You looked different, but you were just as beautiful as Dennis remembered. You were confident, moved with a purpose and certainty you didn't have in Nebraska. Dennis could feel his heart going a million miles an hour, he hasn't heard from you since he left for undergrad. He had no idea you were in Pittsburgh and you obviously had no idea Dennis was here either.
He was still so in love with you, just as in love as he was in high school. He froze for a good five minutes when he first saw you by the nurses station talking to Dana, Santos had to repeatedly nudge him in the ribs to get him out of it. Before even thinking he walked right over to you.
"Hey" he manages to get out
"Hi" You return, almost just as shocked as him
"You uh here to see a patient?" he brings his hand up to scratch the back of his neck
"Yeah I was." You respond, adjusting the many files in your arms.
Dennis had become so confident in himself during his last year of med school, but being in front of you like this, he forgot everything.
"I didn't know you left Nebraska" he finally says after just staring at you for 30 seconds.
You shift your weight onto your other foot, "I had to Dennis. I couldn't stay there."
He nods in understanding, "I'm sorry."
You give him a confused look, shaking your head 'For what?"
"Leaving you there, we could've worked something out, I could've worked something out. I felt- I still feel guilty for leaving you in Nebraska." He admits to you, the slighting tinge of pink on his cheeks.
You muster up a small, comforting smile, "Dennis it's okay. You've talked about being a doctor your entire life, I wasn't going to keep you from that."
"Well - I have to go, I need to go over this insurance plan with Hastings." gesturing towards the files you've been holding.
He nods slowly before you hesitantly turn away to start walking towards the elevator.
"Hey- wait! Would you wanna-uh maybe get dinner sometime? To-uh catch up?" He catches up to you just as the elevator opens.
This time you offer a geniune smile and nod, "Yeah, I'd like that."
summary: you spot a new booth at the farmers market, you ended up with more than just honey
content warnings: brief discussion of religion, slightly ooc whitaker (i gave him an accent but can you blame me), this ch is mostly intro & fluff otherwise
hellooooo this is my first fic in literal years so pls be kind to me <3 these pitt mfs have bewitched me mind body & soul <3 this is just chapter 1 so more will be coming eventually, i have so much in my brain i need to get out so i can’t say for sure when an update will be but <3
It was routine for you at this point, Thursday afternoons you’d make your way over to the park near your apartment to attend the farmers market. Sometimes you didn’t need to buy anything but you preferred getting your fruit & vegetables from your community.
This week you noticed a new booth in the mix, a honey stand that boasted products from a local bee farm which you also didn’t know existed. Curiosity got the best of you and as you approached the booth you saw the bee hand? bee keeper? whatever his title was you could tell he wasn’t from around here by the hint of twang in his accent.
It was over for you as soon as the "Hey Darlin" hit your ears.
You weren’t sure if you were thankful that you were the only one at the booth or not. Regardless, the blush that spread across your face was embarrassing to say the least.
Quick enough you pulled yourself together enough to return the greeting "Hi, um, are you new to town? I’ve never seen your booth before."
"Sort of?" he responded, more of a question than an answer. "I actually work at the hospital in the emergency department, the bees are just what I do for fun. We had a lot more honey than I could give out to my team so I decided to sell it to raise some money for the bees."
"Oh! That is actually way cooler of an answer than I was expecting," you replied with a chuckle.
"You are officially the first person to ever think what I do for fun is cool." Now he was the one blushing. "Do you know much about beekeeping? I’d love to give you a tour of the farm sometime." You watched as his eyes went wide at his own forwardness and laughed a bit to yourself.
"Actually no, the only thing I know about is the white suits you guys wear that apparently are enough to protect you. If I can get into a suit then I would love a tour, but I think I’ll pass on a tour of the emergency department unless I develop a bee allergy while we’re there."
"You’re not actually allergic are you?" His eyes went wide again and you knew your joke did not land.
"No! Well, I haven’t been stung in awhile so there really is no way of telling, but I should be fine." You laughed this time, trying to signal that you were joking. This time you got a laugh out of him, and thank god you did, you could listen to that laugh forever.
"I keep an EpiPen on me while I’m there just in case….and to avoid any trips to the ED." He smiled at you, bashful, almost like you weren’t supposed to see.
"So mystery man, do you have a name or should I just ask for the cute guy with the accent when I get to the bee farm?" His face went bright red at this, eyes widening again. You just smiled, polite as ever because you were being genuine.
"Oh! I…um…right sorry, my name is Dennis but everyone calls me Whitaker, that’s my last name. I’m not huge on the name Dennis so I prefer it."
"Well then Whitaker, how about I give you my number and you can give me a time and place to meet you for the exclusive bee tour." Man was this boy blushy! He handed his phone to you and you quickly put your info in. You opened your mouth to say your goodbyes - there were people hovering and you knew they would get huffy soon - but before you could get any words out he handed you a jar of honey.
"So you can sample the product before you visit the factory," he said in response to the slightly confused look on your face, "and don’t worry about paying, consider it a gift."
"Thank you," you replied, feeling the blush crawl over your cheeks again, "I’ll let you get back to your actual customers, call me later?"
"Oh yes, the other customers," he was almost giggling now "and absolutely I’ll call you later."
"Have a good rest of your day Whitaker" you said with a wave and a smile. This boy was absolutely going to be trouble for you.
Once you got home with your spoils you stared at the jar of honey for a moment. You weren’t sure what to do with it, you weren’t a tea drinker, but you figured it would come in handy some day. Putting it on display on one of your shelves you set about putting everything else away.
A few hours later and you still couldn’t get that boy off of your mind, so like any normal person you looked him up on every social media platform that you had and perhaps even Googled his name but we can’t be sure about that one.
You didn’t find much, a few photos on Instagram of the bees and some friends, and a Facebook account that hadn’t been touched for years. And because the cosmos enjoy making fun of you, he called as soon as you closed out of the tab you had been on.
"Hi, um. It’s Dennis, sorry I never actually sent you my number and then I wasn’t sure how “later” later was so I hope this is a good time for you."
You found yourself giggling already (good god girl get a grip!!) "Oh! Hey Whitaker, no you’re so good - how was the rest of the market?"
"Good, good. It went pretty quick actually, I just got back to my place, so smooth sailing over here." God he was so fucking awkward but it was so endearing you found yourself smiling as he rambled. "I was wondering - are you free Saturday morning? I could give you that tour I told you about, if you’re up for it still!"
A quick glance over to the shelf where the jar still sat and you replied "Oh definitely, will I have to buy my own bee suit or will one be provided for me?" Please GOD can he catch your joke this time, you don’t think you could handle flopping again.
You heard him chuckle over the phone "You know, we usually make people buy their own, but since you’re such a special guest I’ll make sure one is set aside for you when we get there."
A smile spread across your face at that, "A special guest huh? I’ll wear my best outfit then, I can’t look bad in front of the bees."
"Oh of course not, don’t want to offend the bees." you could’ve sworn you heard him smiling over the phone "Actually, if you have boots I would suggest wearing those just so it’s easier to walk out to the hives."
God you had never been less prepared for something. "So unfortunately the only boots I own are Doc Martens, will I survive or will the bees hate me?"
Another laugh, it was like music to your ears "As long as you can lace them up tight I think you’ll live. If it comes down to it, I am a doctor so either way you’ll be fine."
How did you already forget about his actual job. You couldn’t exactly picture him doing doctor-ly stuff but the idea of playing doctor with him did not sound bad to you.
"Sounds good Doc, text me a time and address and I’ll meet you there?"
"Oh yeah of course! Hey actually, I was thinking I could pick you up? It’s a little confusing to get there, no reason for both of us to deal with it." It sounded like an excuse but who were you to say no!
"That works for me, I hate driving so any excuse not to I will absolutely take," you said with a laugh "I’ll text you my address then, I don’t live far from the park."
You heard him let out a little sigh of relief "Perfect, I’ll see you at 7:30? It’s a bit of a drive so it's easier to go earlier."
"Lucky for you I’m a morning person, 7:30 sounds great," you just knew he could hear your giddy smile from across the phone, "Texting you my address as we speak so I don’t forget….there. Wait yay! I’m so excited, I’ll see you in a couple days then yeah?"
It was your turn to listen to his smile grow, "Yeah definitely, and I’ll text you when I’m on my way over just so you have some warning." There was that chuckle again. God you were going to die on Saturday you could feel it.
Friday absolutely dragged - of course it did. And of course everything that could go wrong at your job did, you needed tomorrow morning BAD.
You decided to make it an early night, took a long shower, and after checking the weather for tomorrow morning finally decided on an outfit. Unsure if this qualified as a date or not, you decided to keep everything simple. You genuinely weren’t sure if he was serious about having to wear a suit so you made sure the clothes were light-weight and packed a tote bag of everything you thought you could possibly need.
Setting your alarm for 5:30 you TRIED to sleep, emphasis on tried. You tossed and turned like tomorrow was the first day of school or something. Finally you fell asleep and the next thing you knew your alarm was blaring in your ear.
Dragging yourself out of bed, you slowly got ready. You knew you gave yourself enough time, but you could not stop checking your phone to see if you missed a message or call from him. By the time 6:45 rolled around he had finally let you know he was on his way.
Man, was he punctual, at 7:29 he let you know he was outside. You grabbed a few granola bars from your pantry and threw them into your bag as well before you left.
You walked up to his car waving, "Morning cowboy," you smiled at him as you got into his truck. Somehow he looked even better today than he did two days ago. Is that even possible? You weren’t sure but what you were sure of is that his forearms looked divine as he grabbed the wheel.
"Well good morning to you too," he returned your smile with a similar enthusiasm. "Did you eat breakfast before you left? I was going to stop to grab coffee and maybe something to eat."
"Um no actually, I grabbed a couple granola bars before I left but something real definitely sounds better."
"Yeah you are definitely going to need more than just a granola bar for today," he smiled at you once more before turning his eyes to the road.
After stopping at the coffee place by your apartment, you two finally hit the road.
"It’s about 45 minutes from here, but traffic isn’t usually too terrible going out at this time." He turned quickly to smile at you before looking back over the steering wheel.
"No worries, I’m good to ride along for however long you’ll have me," you replied, and there was that stupid blush again.
The rest of the drive went by in a flash of conversation, it was nice to learn about him. Growing up in Nebraska seemed VERY different from your upbringing in Pittsburgh, but of course there were some similarities.
You found yourselves bonding over your intense religious upbringings, him Southern Baptist and you Irish Catholic. It wasn’t often you found people who got it, that weird tie that you never seem to be able to break no matter how much unresolved trauma you’ve dealt with because of it. He told you about his undergrad degree in Theology and you confided about the numerous times you almost joined a convent.
You both grew up in bigger families, close but not at the same time. "The family outcasts really have a knack for finding each other don’t they," you joked with a laugh.
He looked over at you with soft eyes, "Seems like it, but I’m glad, we always seem to be stronger than everyone else."
You finally pulled into the farm where Whitaker’s bees were. It was gorgeous out here, most of the countryside in Pennsylvania is; all trees and mountains. They didn’t call the Pittsburgh area the Paris of Appalachia for nothing.
His voice pulled you out of your thoughts, "I’m glad you dressed light, I wasn’t kidding about those suits."
You turned to find him smiling at you, "Thank God, I wasn’t looking forward to a potential stinging today," you replied with a laugh.
He led you into the main barn area to suit up, softly explaining different beekeeping terms. "So from here, we’ll head up to the apiary, that’s where the hives and all of the bee equipment is. There’s usually some flying around but most of them keep to their hives this time of day, I can pull a frame out to show you how they build in there if you’d like?"
"Yeah that would be cool, it doesn’t bother them or anything?" You really only ever saw bees when they were trying to get to food so you weren’t incredibly confident in your ability to keep your cool when you got up there.
"Bees are actually pretty chill, they’re just protective of their hives is all," he replied, zipping the back of your suit up for you. "I promise they won’t try to sting you, they really are just focused on working."
You turned to smile at him while he handed you the covered hat, "Ok, I trust you."
He returned your smile and you watched the blush creep across his cheeks as he looked away. "So, the apiary isn’t too long of a walk, if you want to just follow me. We can put the head coverings on once we get a little bit closer."
Nodding your head you fell into step behind him. Thankfully it was a cool morning, the breeze just enough to keep your body temperature down under your new layer. As you walked you found yourself staring at your cowboy’s back, he was broader than he seemed, especially from this angle. You supposed growing up on a farm would do that to someone, everything seems like it would be heavier than you’d assume.
After walking for a bit he instructed you to put the bee veil on as you approached a fenced in area. "We keep the hives fenced in to keep animals out," he explained. He led you into the enclosure and even though his face was obscured you could hear the adoration and excitement in his voice as he told you about each colony. He explained that almost all the hives were bees that were extracted from residential areas or rescued from a plot of land where a developer was tearing the foliage down.
You were trying to pay attention, you swore, but he just sounded so happy you weren’t even sure that you were listening to anything aside from the sound of his voice.
"Alright," he said, startling you out of your thoughts, "I’m gonna open one of the hive boxes now, a few might fly out but if you pretend like you don’t notice them they’ll mostly ignore you."
You nodded, watching as he pried the top off of one of the boxes, reaching in with gloved hands to grab one of the hive frames. After pulling one out he propped it on the top of the box, "So this is one of the frames the bees store their honey in. Each cell here is sealed with wax for safe keeping." He looked up at you with a smile.
"So, do the bees eat the honey too? We’re not like, stealing from them are we?"
He chuckled at your concerned tone, "No not at all, their main food source is nectar from flowers, but during the winter they feed off of the honey. They produce way more than we need which is what we end up taking from them."
"Oh ok…so it’s like their rent payment for their new housing," you shot him a smirk you hoped he could see through the netting.
He gave you another one of those beautiful laughs, "Yeah something like that."
You watched as he carefully placed the frame back into the box and returned the lid. "You said that the frame you showed me was where they stored their food, do they live in a separate part of the box? I don’t think I’ve ever even thought about a bee having to sleep."
"They sleep about as much as us actually, just not all at once. It’s more like a really long blink of rest so they never get too tired out from flying." He led you out of the fenced area and back down the path you walked up prior. "Honey bees are way more intelligent than most people give them credit for, every bee in the colony has its specific job and if any of them slip up the whole hive is affected. As for sleeping, the bees that collect pollen enter into a deeper sleep than the others and that’s how they form memories of how to get to and from their food sources."
He signaled to you that you could remove the head covering and you just smiled at him. "It sounds silly but I never would’ve thought bees were so clever."
"Not silly at all, you don’t know something until you do, right?" He looked at you with those big eyes again, you could see his joy in them now without the netting in front of his face.
"You’re absolutely right, and I think you might just be the best teacher I’ve ever had," you smiled at him again and happily watched as he turned away flustered.
"You must’ve had some bad teachers in your day then," he deflected.
"No actually, I had some pretty good ones. You were just better than they were, more captivating I guess." You could not wipe the smile off your face as you talked with him on the way back to the barn.
He looked back at you, a smile of his own dancing on his lips "Well, I’ll take that compliment and store it for when one of the lower residents at the ED tries to complain about my teaching style."
"How does that all work by the way? I know you have to do a residency but every time I hear someone talk about it it seems like they’ve been a resident for like 20 years."
"It certainly feels like it’s going to take 20 years sometimes," he grumbled. "It can be anywhere from 3-7 years pulling like 80 hour weeks in whatever department you matched with. It’s an incredible learning experience but it’s exhausting."
"You’re getting paid though right? These hospitals aren’t taking advantage of you guys?"
He smiled at your concern, "Yeah they pay us, not great but it’s enough to get the bills paid."
"Well good. I’d be pissed on your behalf if you weren’t." He laughed at the comment, leading you back into the barn.
He helped you out of your suit, making sure you didn’t trip, "Do you want to see where we process the honey?"
"Yeah absolutely," you replied with a smile.
He led you to a smaller room within the barn area, "So, we extract the wax and honey up at the hives and bring it down here in big pots." He pointed over to a table with several large pots sitting on top of them. "Then, it gets spun in what’s essentially a centrifuge to get all of the debris out. After that we just let it settle for a while to get all of the air bubbles out and we jar it up. The barn manager is a master at canning and preserving so she gets all the jars ready and makes sure they’re properly sealed so they can be shelf stable."
"Woah," you breathed out. "It makes sense, all that preparation, but it’s just never something I’ve thought about you know? Honey’s one of those things that’s just always been there."
"That’s part of the reason for the booth at the farmers market, people know honey exists but it’s always just in the plastic bear bottles. This is a little more…personal?"
By this time the sun was starting to move higher in the sky, the big fan in the barn doing nothing but blowing around hot air.
"Well, if you guys ever need help with labels or signs or anything, I’d be happy to lend a hand, one of my degrees is in graphic design so I know a thing or two." You looked at him smiling again, "Definitely not as cool as an ER doctor, buuuut still a pretty cool job if I do say so myself."
"Definitely way cooler than a doctor actually, you would be shocked at some of the people I work with."
"Are you close with any of them?" you asked. "Not to keep harping on your actual job but I wasn’t sure if you guys stay in the same place for your whole residency or if you bounce around year-to-year."
"A few of them, yeah, I actually live with one of the women in my residency class. Maybe I’ll introduce you sometime, Trinity is a lot but she’s great." He shook his head fondly while he said that. "As for your second question, that's also a yes, and hopefully I’ll get to stay on here once my residency is complete."
"Good, that’s probably such an isolating experience, I’m glad you’re in it with people you enjoy. Did you know Trinity before you started or did you meet her there?"
You both sat down at one of the picnic tables in the barn to continue your conversation.
"No we met there, I needed a place to stay and she was nice enough to offer up her extra room. She’s been a great friend, has really gotten me out of my shell," he chuckled to himself. "Growing up in rural Nebraska will really turn you into a hermit if you let it."
"I can imagine, everything must be so spread out there, you really just have your family and if you don’t get along with them, I’d be isolating too." You grabbed his hand from across the table to let him know you meant it kindly.
He squeezed your hand and gave you a small smile, "Yeah, well thankfully I made it out and everything seems to keep getting better since I left so I think it was a good decision overall."
You returned his smile, "Well, I for one am glad you got out of there. Pittsburgh is much cooler anyway."
This got a laugh out of him and you hoped you didn’t ruin the mood too badly by bringing up his family.
"Definitely much cooler, and the people are way nicer. Well, at least everyone I’ve met so far."
He stood up to make his way back to the car and you followed, keeping a bit of distance between the two of you. He made his way to the passenger side of the car to open your door for you, you slipped in and buckled up ready to get back on the road.
Whitaker got in the car but didn’t start it right away, "Hey um, I know we’ve been together all morning but would you want to stop for lunch somewhere on the way home?"
You watched as a soft blush spread across his cheeks, "Of course I would, or if you would rather we could go back to mine and I can make us something?"
"That actually sounds really nice, I couldn’t tell you the last time I had food that wasn’t takeout," he said with a laugh.
"Dear lord, we have to get some fresh vegetables into you NOW. Lucky for you I grabbed a bunch of stuff on Thursday and have been meaning to get it all roasted up." You placed your hand on his bicep and turned your body towards him, "Thank you by the way, for bringing me here today. I had a really nice morning with you."
You didn’t think his face could get redder than it was, but somehow he managed it. "Oh yeah of course, I’m glad you enjoyed it, I know beekeeping isn’t the most interesting hobby."
"I don’t know, I found it very interesting, I’ll always take the opportunity to learn something new though. Like I said, you’re a great teacher." It was your turn to blush now, you were laying it on thick and you knew it, but you couldn’t help it there was just something about this guy.
He chuckled to himself as he started the car, "You say that until one day I start telling you about someone who came into the ED with half their face blown off from a firework."
"That’s what you think Whitaker, I’d love to hear all about how you figured out how to deal with that."
You chatted on the way back to yours, and you spent most of the drive trying to subtly get his favorite meal out of him so you could surprise him with it one day. He pulled onto your street and you showed him where to park at your building, leading him up to your unit.
Once you got inside you kicked your shoes off and made your way to your small kitchen. You turned and saw him standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, "You can sit if you want," you said motioning to the table. "Unless you’re tired then you can take a nap on the couch, I don’t mind. It’s actually really comfortable."
You heard him walking closer and a chair scrape against the floor so you turned and placed your cutting board, knife, and the (washed) vegetables on the table. Talking with him was so easy, it was like you’d known him your whole life. You had more in common than you originally thought but were surprised to hear about his taste in music, it somehow made both no sense and perfect sense for him.
He watched as you put all the veggies in a bowl and mixed them with seasonings and oil before throwing them on a pan and into the oven. You turned to him again "How do you feel about chicken? I get one of those meal boxes and they send me so much chicken. I can throw that in the oven too and cook up some rice."
You watched as a smile spread across his face, "Chicken is good, rice is good, but are you sure this isn’t any trouble?"
"Whitaker I’m literally just throwing stuff onto a pan and into a rice cooker it’s no problem at all. And maybe I’m secretly making more than I need so I can send you home with some, but we’ll never know if that’s really the reason." A grin spread across your face and you motioned for him to follow you into the living room.
"You really don’t have to do that, it’s not that big of a deal," he said, sitting down next to you.
"Exactly," you replied back, "It’s not that big of a deal."
You smiled at him and he knew he wasn’t winning this one. You turned the TV on with the volume low so you could continue to talk while everything cooked.
You both sat in silence for a minute before you turned to him again, "Sorry," you both blurted at the same time. You did the back and forth dance of telling each other to go first before you finally did. "I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, please tell me if I am. I tend to come on a bit strong, but you said you hadn’t eaten real food in a while so I thought it was harmless but I’m now second guessing myself."
You saw a small smile beginning to work its way onto his face, "You didn’t make me uncomfortable I swear. I was actually apologizing because I thought I was making you feel bad about doing something nice. I really do appreciate it, I’m just not great at accepting help from people."
Breathing out a sign of relief, you nudged him with your shoulder, "Well unfortunately for you acts of service is my love language so I will always be offering to help with something."
He threw his arm around you and you leaned farther into his side as whatever was on the television continued to play. "I think I might be able to get used to it, I just don’t want to be too much trouble for you."
"Nah it’s not too much trouble, not if it’s you. Now, you might be trouble for me in other ways, but not this," you said with a smile.
"And what is that supposed to mean," he replied, feigning shock.
You craned your neck to look at him, "You are a very cute beekeeper who also happens to be a doctor. I’ve known you for barely 48 hours and I can already tell you’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I didn’t say you would be bad trouble."
He laughed again squeezing your shoulder. The two of you sat like that until you heard the oven timer go off and moved back into the kitchen to eat. His phone buzzed and you watched as he read the text message. "Everything ok?" you asked, he always looked a bit concerned so you weren’t able to tell when he was actually concerned yet.
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. It was just Trinity making sure I "wasn’t dead in a hole somewhere" as she so lovingly put it."
"Trust me, I’m like that with my friends too, I completely get it. Tell her I’m sending you home with food for the both of you. She doesn’t have any diet restrictions does she?"
"None that she’s told me about, and how did you know that food is the quickest way to her heart?" He was looking at you with those big eyes like you were the greatest thing since sliced bread.
You shrugged, "Everyone needs food, and almost everyone loves it. Wait till I send you home with my baking."
He smiled even wider at that, "Oh you might be trouble for the both of us then, you’ll have to hold her back from making requests." You both laughed and finished your meal, moving to pack the left overs up in reusable containers. You grabbed a tote bag and started stacking the containers in, handing it over to Whitaker.
"For you my liege," you said with an exaggerated bow.
This got you the biggest laugh of the day, "Well thank you kind madam, I will return your containers and bag to you, I swear it."
You giggled, actually GIGGLED, at this. You walked over to your door with him, watching as he put his boots back on and walked him down to the front door of your building. "Get home safe, let me know when you make it there," you said, pulling him into a hug.
"Of course," he replied, kissing you on the cheek. Your eyes went wide and he pulled away slowly, "I don’t know if that’s sunburn from today or if you’re blushing, either way it’s very cute."
Somehow your face got even redder, "I think we both know what it is Whitaker, now please leave before I continue to embarrass myself in front of you."
He laughed again, waving as he walked back to his car. You waited until you saw him pull away before walking back up to your apartment. Shutting the door you pressed your back against it, screaming silently as to not disturb your neighbors. God you were absolutely screwed.
Not long after your phone buzzed, "Just got home, Trin said if I don’t marry you she’s gonna kill me."
You laugh reacted to the message and replied, "Tell her I’ll think about it, I’ll negotiate your death either way."
You watched as the typing bubble popped up, "My savior :’)"
"Anything for you Whitaker, now tell me when your birthdays are so I can bake for y’all."
when santos teases whitaker about their cute new coworker
w.c: 1.2k
contents: dennis x social worker!oc, oc is female and uses she/her pronouns, lots of pining dennis, brief mention of childhood injury, just a bunch of awkward fluff all around
"so huckleberry, i heard she's single," santos said, sitting back in her chair.
"molly?"
"no, dana." santos let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "obviously i'm talking about molly. you've been staring at her for the past fifteen minutes."
it's not that he had been staring per se, but it was just so hard to look away from what dennis considered the most alluring creature on the planet. molly brady had just started working in the Pitt as a pediatric social worker and dennis really couldn't seem to get enough of her. the way her hair moved when she walked, the smell of her clothes, the concentrated look on her face when she wrote. he was trying to be subtle, but subtle wasn't really his forte.
"i have not been staring at her. i just, uh, want to make sure she's doing okay. it is her first week after all."
dennis shifted in his seat. his scrubs suddenly felt too tight and he felt his face heat up. the last thing he wanted was santos teasing him about a crush.
"well, lover-boy, i just happen to know that she needs help with a case. maybe you could sneak in there and be her prince charming," santos teased.
"that's stupid." he looked around, double-checking that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "kind of."
molly scrunched her face up. she had been trying to open the lid of the coffee can for about three minutes. it seemed as if the last person to make coffee was bruce banner post-transformation.
"need any help?"
she looked towards the open door and was met with an unfamiliar silhouette illuminated by the bright light of the emergency department. she squinted, unsure who it belonged to. her brow furrowed and she could feel her eyes straining in the dark of the break room.
the lights flickered on and molly's eyes adjusted, the stranger's mousy brown hair and soft eyes came into focus.
molly had only had a few real interactions with dennis whitaker. sure, their paths crossed every few minutes: shoulders bumping in the hallway or paperwork handoffs, but they hadn't had many actual conversations. he was a resident. she wasn't even a doctor. aside from being assigned to the same patients, they didn't really have any reason to talk.
"no, i think i've got it," molly answered.
"o....kay. i just wanted to double check. you've been in here for a few minutes and robby needs you to talk to the kid in 22. she's scared or something about her surgery."
dennis shut the door behind him and moved next to her.
"i could come if you want. y'know, to explain or whatever. i just thought you might want some hel-"
the lid finally snapped off with a loud pop and the recoil caused molly's arm to snap back and smack dennis right in the face.
"OW!" he reached up to cup his the area, rubbing slightly.
dennis let out a chuckle. "it's okay, it doesn't really hurt that bad. i'm just dramatic, i think."
molly paused. "oh, okay. uh, let me get you some ice, anyway." she headed to the freezer, pulling out a small icepack and wrapping it with a towel. "you really shouldn't stand that close to someone when they're making coffee. you could get burned or something.
"noted." dennis's lips curled up into a small smile.
he took a moment to study her. she held the ice pack to his face with such gentleness, like she was afraid to break him. her eyes were fixated on the spot where she hit him, as if she could freeze away what happened.
molly took a gentle hold of the other side of his head and dennis's breath hitched.
his stare slowly moved to her lips. they were pink and puffy, pulled slightly apart in concentration. he thought about what it would be like to kiss her.
molly seemed to notice the direction of his gaze. too afraid to say anything, she opted to just ignore it. he was probably just zoned out, anyway. no way dennis would be into her. he was a resident. molly knew better than anyone that residents were too engulfed in their work to care about a relationship. if she was looking for a workplace romance, a med student might be a better bet.
dennis looked toward the door, scanning the other side of the window for traces of life. it partly was in effort to make sure no nosy coworkers were looking in, and partly to seem nonchalant. his heart rate felt embarrassingly high and his palms felt clammy.
he was in an impossible-to-stay-calm situation. he moved his eyes back to molly.
"so, i heard that you were living in the hospital," molly announced.
dennis looked down at his feet and shifted his weight against the counter. "did santos tell you that?"
molly pulled away, peeling the damp paper off the ice pack, eyes trained on the ground.
“no. i saw you. not like, actually in the room. but i came in early and saw you walking to the bathroom in your pajamas."
he paused for a moment, not entirely sure what to say. not only did his cute coworker have to nurse him back to health after getting smacked in the face, but she also knew he used to be homeless.
“it was just for a little bit."
molly stayed silent. she crumpled up the paper towel and moved toward the trash can.
"my paychecks hadn’t hit my account, y’know? i live with santos now, though. so it's okay."
"oh." she looked up at him, with an expression different than what dennis had expected. her eyes weren't squinted and her brow wasn't furrowed. there wasn't any judgement or pity in her face, just curiosity. "sounds rough."
"well, i didn't have to pay any bills and there was all the bad coffee i could hope for, so it wasn't that bad if you ask me," he chuckled.
"if it makes you feel any better, i haven't unpacked any boxes and my only friend in pittsburgh is the old lady that lives next to me,"
dennis raised an eyebrow.
"beats homelessness,"
molly laughed. like, really laughed. the type of laugh that made her stomach hurt and brought tears to the corners of her eyes.
something in his chest started to flutter, and dennis realized how much he liked making her laugh.
"how old is old, anyway?" he asked, starting to scoop coffee grounds off of the counter. "like, robby old or..?"
"eighty-four."
"that's not that bad."
"yeah, but she keeps trying to set me up with her grandson," molly huffed.
"nothing wrong with networking." dennis shrugged, hoping to pull another laugh from molly.
it didn't work.
"i guess so, i'm not really interested in him."
dennis rubbed his neck, trying to calm the bile that was slowly making its way up his esophagus. he knew it was weird to ask, but before he could stop himself his mouth was opening.
"who are you interested in?"
molly blinked, not expecting the question.
"y'know i ju-"
the door suddenly flew open revealing a very out-of-breath melissa king.
"quick-huff-whitaker-gasp-crushed leg" she hunched over, hands on her thighs in an attempt to catch her breath.
"oh, uh, yeah. i'm coming." he looked at molly, shifting on his heels. "i'm really sorry."
and just like that, he slipped out the door, leaving molly alone with an empty coffee pot and her unfinished answer.
"you know, i saw alllll of that," santos said.
dennis felt that oh-so-familiar heat emerge from his cheeks.
puppy boy!whitaker who loves when you scratch behind his ears, especially when you just got home from work. you’re clearly tired and in desperate need of rest and yet you make time to sit with him on the couch, running your fingers through this hair and mussing it up while he lay content with his head on your lap and arms around yours waist (an occasional whimper leaving his lips whenever your nails grazed the tips of his ears.)
puppy boy!whitaker who pouts, whimpers, whines, and moans like the puppy he is whenever you touch him. a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose and a stroke of his tail and suddenly he can’t control himself. he’d already be on top of you, pawing at your buttoned blouse while you tried to work—thinking the kiss would satiate him for the time being—but it just made him want more.
“dennis, i’m trying to work..” you’d grumble, fighting off his hands as they traveled up your waist, his face buried into your shoulder to hide his flushed face. “that’s not fair..you were provoking me.”
“it was a kiss!”
“it was a tease.. :(“
puppy boy!whitaker who sort of likes it when your mean. when you’ve snapped because he just won’t stop clinging to you and distracting you from a meeting you’d postponed for forever—and you end up yelling at him. he seems sad. well, he is. his girlfriend just yelled at him. but it’s different from the way it would usually feel if it was anyone else. his face gets hot, his hands get clammy and suddenly he’s pushing himself just to get you to yell even louder. degrade him.
puppy boy!whitaker who was a little caught off guard when you came home a little tipsy one day, clinging onto him the way he usually would you. not that he was complaining. dennis? he loved it. he indulged it. he let you lay on top of him, rubbing your back slowly while you placed sloppy kisses all over his neck.
“mmm..you smellsogood..like icecream.”
“i actually—“
“let me get a taste..” you’d whisper, dragging your tongue against the spot just below his ear—sending full body electric shocks up his spine.
“oh-oh god.”
yep. definitely didn’t complain…
puppy boy!whitaker who gets so flustered whenever you send him needy voice messages or pictures, his pants secretly tightening behind the screen like a teenage boy watching porn for the first time.
“that’s not fair :(“
“u were the one who told me u liked me in pink..i’m just showing u a pink outfit i’m thinking of getting :).”
“that’s 2 pieces of fabric!!?”
but he wasn’t gonna lie and say he didn’t save the picture after. for future purposes.
puppy boy!whitaker who’s actually really sensitive. in both senses of the word. tears flow out of him like a waterfall post-sex when you hold him, whispering sweet nothings against his forehead. you’re both soft and slightly sleepy and everything is blurry, but you can both clearly see just how much you love each other :3
illi’s notez; this is more season1 dennis than season2 but idc i liked when he was a shy little subservient farmboy, sue me
i feel like dennis is the type of guy to go on early morning runs, and when he asks trinity if she wants to come with him. she gives him the most disgusted/are you crazy look at the question he asked. but, he always brings her back a coffee and or breakfast.
Thinking ab dating Whitaker while in college either finishing your bachelors or getting your masters like he comes home from a shift to find you on your shared bed with your laptop out and papers sprawled everywhere across the bed. Hair messily thrown up in a claw clip and glasses repeatedly sliding down the bridge of your nose even though you keep pushing them back up. He just stands in the door way to your bedroom just admiring you for a second, he thinks you look so beautiful like this, his smart girl. Obviously he loves everything about you but your intelligence doesn’t hurt either. God he loves it
“Sorry Den didn’t hear you come in, gotta big exam in my abnormal psychology class tomorrow”
He then sits on the edge of the bed while you ramble on ab the different chapters you have to study for and what topics you find particularly interesting. He never thought someone could look so angelic while discussing the symptoms of personality disorders, he’s so down bad for you
I Watched You Fall For Someone Else(Whitaker x EDnurse!Reader)
(brought to you by a dream I had last night and obviously had to write it out as soon as possible, I am no writer so my apologies in advance)
So to set the scene, it's PTMC annual gala. A fun night for the doctors, nurses, and other employees to let loose and have fun while also networking. Santos naturally dragged you along because she refused to be alone at the event while Whitaker's new girlfriend is all over him. She's nice enough, in the same fake way the popular girl always is in high school. She's a pediatric nurse and no one in the ED can stand her, not even Dr. King. She has quite the reputation at PTMC and is known for dating men from the different departments in the hospital. Her most recent victim before Dennis, was Dr. Nick Barker from radiology. Dennis is too sweet for her, too kind. Too willing to give anyone a second chance even if it's obvious to everyone else that they don't deserve one. And unfortunately, you have been head over heels for Whitaker since he first stepped foot into the pitt as a MS4.
"Im being serious girl. Either you tell him how you feel before the night ends or I will." Trinity says to you with that signature look on her face, nursing a vodka cran from the open bar.
"Trin, come on. You know I can't she's here with him." You respond to her, looking across the gala hall to where Dennis was with his girlfriend.
"You need to get it off your chest so you can stop moping around. It's a real mood killer watching you pine over huckleberry." You roll your eyes at Trinity. Before you can say anything else, she's whisked away by Garcia to take shots at the bar.
Sighing, you adjust the fabric of your dress smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles. You weren't planning to wear such a skin tight dress, but Trinity insisted because it made your boobs look 'spectactular' in her words.
Now standing alone, you decide to head outside for a breather. Watching Dennis with his hand around her waist twisted something deep in your stomach, making you nauseous. The slightly cool air felt refreshing against your sweaty skin. You stand there for a few minutes in silence, debating just leaving the gala without saying anything to any body.
In the midst of your silence, you hear slow but calculated footsteps behind you. "Hey - needed a break too?" It was him, of course it was. Out of everyone at this damn gala and it's him.
"Uh yeah, I guess. I don't know, Trinity is getting drunk with Garcia at the bar so." You glance at him, wrapping your arms around your self.
He nods, "Yeah that checks out. I-uh you look nice tonight." You can see the slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. You give him a slight smile, "Thanks Huckleberry. So do you, this get up is quite the switch up from your usual." That earns you a chuckle with his cute little shy smile he has when he's flustered. It makes your heart twist in a way you hate.
You stand there in comfortable silence for a few mintues. Just enjoying each other's company and the quiet. All of the sudden, Trinity's words from earlier repeat themselves in your head. You take a deep breath before turning to look at Dennis.
"Listen, I have to tell you something and the only reason I'm telling you is because Trin threatened to tell you if I didn't." Your heart is going a million miles per second at this rate and your hands are so clammy you keep wiping them on the sides of your dress.
Dennis gives you a confused look, "Okay? What is it?" Your ears are ringing at this point and you've never felt more nauseous in your life. Your face is probably as red as the tie Dennis wearing to match his date.
"God- I-uh okay. I don- even know how to say it. " You've never even been this nervous when doing a patient's IV for the first time. Dennis places a comforting hand on your shoulder, which is bare by the way from the thin spaghetti straps of the dress. "It's okay, you can tell me anything you know that." He reassures in that comforting tone he uses with patients.
You look at him in the eyes, the shade of blue that has slowly become your favorite. "What? Are you that one that took my new Drs badge?" Dennis jokes, obviously trying to make you feel better.
That gets a nervous smile out of you as you shake your head. "Uh no no it's not that." Closing your eyes for a minute and taking a deep breath, holding it in before letting it out. You turn your gaze to your shoes, " Um - I-uh am kind of in love with you? And I have been since the first day I met you. And I know this is absolutely terrible timing because now you're dating that nurse from ortho, but Trin insisting that I tell you because I've been driving her crazy." You ramble on for what feels like an hour before you finally find the courage to look at his face. He's stunned, the same look on his face when he had to watch a clamshell thoracotomy for the first time as a med student.
"Dennyyyy, Park the shark is paying for a round of shots for everyoneee." You hear her before you see her with her sickeningly sweet voice. Feeling all the blood drain from your voice, Dennis snaps out of his trance removing his hand from your shoulder. "What's going on here?" She says in a snarky tone, flirtatiously wrapping her hand around Dennis' arm.
Dennis looks back and forth between the two of you, "uh- nothing! We were just talking about a case from yesterday. I'll-uh see you back in there (y/n)." He says while scratching the back of his neck and letting his girlfriend guide him back inside. But not before turning over his shoulder to have one last glance at you before going through the doors.
You're stunned, frozen in time feet stuck in place. You can still feel the ghost of his hand on your shoulder. It had to have been at least 10 minutes before Trinity stumbles out the door in search of you. "bitch! I've been looking for you! You missed watching Abbot do the cupid shuffle." She laughs, but stopped immediately after seeing your face.
"Woah woah what happened sunshine?? Why do you look like you just saw Myrna naked?" She places a comforting arm around your shoulders, a concerned look on her face. You can't even get any words out as you feel the tears start to well in your eyes. Your lips start to quiver as you shake your head slightly.
"Oh no, you told him didn't you?" you nod your hand at her question. "Okay come on, lets get out of here. I got a tub of peanut butter cup ice cream at home with our names on it." You let Trinity lead you away to start the short walk back to her apartment.
