Love Sick
Pairing: Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch x fem!resident!reader
Category: fluff, grumpy x sunshine
Summary: A trail of love notes on Valentine's Day leaves Robby both frustrated and intrigued.
Warnings: implied age gap (reader is 20s, Robby is 50s), power imbalance, medical inaccuracies, harassment from an aggressive patient, Robby is sad and lonely, Robby yearns (though he doesn't realise it), kissing, pet name (sweet girl), reader is shorter than Robby, fluff, reader is a sunshine lover girl, Robby is a total grump, Robby's POV, let me know if I missed anything
Word count: 6.2k
A/N: The sad, middle-aged, greying, brown-eyed doctor has captivated my soul.
Holidays were always bad in the ED. Most of them usually reserved their worst cases for the night shift though, much to Robby's delight. Halloween nights were always particularly crazy, according to Abbot. The Fourth of July tended to get pretty wild once the fireworks started too. Luckily for Robby, he got to avoid most of it. But one day a year was always unhinged from the moment he set foot in the building.
Valentine's Day.
He dreaded it every year, knowing how long and hard his shift would be and anticipating that he'd have to work overtime. Something about the romantic holiday really set people off. It tempted those who were alone and single to start drinking early - usually setting off a chain of alcohol poisoning cases. Those in happy relationships used it as an opportunity to explore new sides of their physical relationships - he had seen many embarrassing cases of people hurting themselves in the middle of sex. Groups of friends would take part in rituals to banish their bad luck when it came to their love lives - he couldn't even count how many singed-off eyebrows he'd seen after people had decided to burn old reminders of exes.
So, yeah. Dr. Michael Robinavitch hated Valentine's Day. And that definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he always seemed to find himself single around the holiday.
Dana was already waiting for him behind her desk when he walked into the ED that morning. She looked at him over the top of her glasses, already sensing his foul mood.
"Lighten up. It's not even seven yet." She chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.
Robby exhaled roughly, dropping his bag. "You know what day it is, correct?"
"Oh, I'm aware." Dana kicked his bag softly under the desk, out of the way so people didn't trip on it. Forever the considerate mother hen of the Pitt. "We manage every year. We'll do it again today."
He didn't know what to say to that. She was right, as she often was. So how was he supposed to argue? He reached for the pump of hand sanitiser that sat in its usual spot on the desk. But froze when he saw a yellow post-it stuck to the front.
Our love is like hand hygiene - 100% essential.
Robby ripped it from the bottle and waved it at Dana. "What the hell is this?"
The charge nurse squinted at the piece of paper, a small smile tugging at her mouth. "Looks like a love note to me."
He huffed, about to scrunch it up before she stopped him.
"Hey, wait. Leave it. We could all do with some cheering up today, I'm sure." She pried it from his fingers and carefully stuck it back to the bottle of hand sanitiser. "Just because you're the Grinch of Valentine's, doesn't mean other people can't enjoy it."
Really, he knew his frustration at the note wasn't rational. But he also found himself already done with his day, and it hadn't even started yet. "Where's Abbot?"
"Roof, I think."
Before Robby could say anymore, Dana was swept away into a conversation with one of the nurses from night shift asking about handover. He took that as his cue to leave, striding towards the doors to the stairwell that would take him up to the roof. But before he could get there, he found another one of those sticky notes plastered to the double doors to the stairs.
Are you tachycardia? Because you make my heart race.
He frowned at the sight of it but left it there, pushing through the doors and racing up the stairs. Well, as much as he could race at his age. His knees didn't quite have it in them to go too quickly anymore.
The door to the roof creaked on its hinges as he emerged into the crisp morning air, slamming shut behind him again. It didn't take more than a second before his gaze landed on Abbot standing by the railing opposite him. The noise of the door and a few heavy footsteps clued the night shift doctor in on his friend approaching him.
Abbot turned, leaning back against the railing. "Happy Valentine's Day, dear."
Robby snorted, already so tired of the holiday. "You know anything about those notes floating around my ED?"
"You mean those cute, little love notes designed to make people smile?" Abbot stifled his own smile, tucking his hands into the pockets of his scrubs. "No, not a thing."
"Liar."
Abbot shrugged. "Perhaps. Does it make a difference?"
"I'd like to know who's responsible for being so immature." He huffed and planted his forearms on the railing, looking out over the sunrise.
"I forgot how grumpy you get on Valentine's Day."
"I'm not grumpy." But could he really deny that? Dana had already called him the Grinch of Valentine's Day. There was some truth to it, he supposed. "I just know what today is going to be like. And I don't need to be distracted by some stupid puns."
"If you get distracted by a medical pun scribbled on a post-it note then I think that's more on you than the pun." Abbot slapped him gently on the shoulder. "Let it go, brother. Those love notes might be the difference between someone having a terrible day and an okay day today."
Robby hated to admit that his friend was probably right. He knew nobody in the ED today would want to be there. It was either a reminder that you weren't with your significant other or a reminder that you didn't have a significant other. He could only imagine the amount of sappy couples he was going to have to talk to today.
So he nodded and stood up straight again, gesturing for him and Abbot to head back downstairs. "Well, I'm going to need a cup of coffee before I can bear to read one of those notes again."
"That's the spirit." Abbot teased softly, following close behind.
Only Robby wasn't so lucky. He found himself staring at one of the notes in the break room before he could even reach for a cup. Right there on the coffee pot. Another one.
You must be serotonin because you make me so happy.
"For fuck's sake." He grumbled, snatching the pot out of its spot and pouring himself a generous cup. It was okay. It really was. Only another twelve hours before his shift was over. Only another twelve hours before he got to go home to his empty house. Only another twelve hours until he got to wallow in how lonely he was.
"Good morning, Dr. Robby!"
The upbeat chime of your voice knocked him out of his miserable daydream. He turned quickly to look at you, almost slopping his freshly poured coffee everywhere. "Shit."
"Oh, sorry." Your shoulders hunched to your ears. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine." He snapped, watching as you turned away from him and buried your head in the refrigerator to avoid eye contact with him. He'd made you feel bad. Nice work, Robinavitch.
"So..." You trailed off, softly closing the refrigerator door and sending him a glance that showed you were cautious about being on the receiving end of his wrath. "Wanna place a bet on how many sildenafil related issues we're going to see today?"
Robby took a slow sip of his coffee, ignoring how it scorched his throat. "At least a dozen."
You nodded, agreeing. He couldn't tell whether you actually agreed or whether you were too nervous now to argue. That didn't sit right with him, a frown creasing his brows.
"I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sorry." He mumbled, hoping that would clear the air. He wasn't really in the mood to apologise much more. But that wasn't your fault. "You just... startled me."
It didn't help that he couldn't quite understand how you could possibly be so chipper on a morning like this. This wasn't your first Valentine's Day as a resident in the Pitt. You knew what it had in store.
"Sorry about that." You scratched nervously at your arm, a trait Robby had gotten to know too well over the course of your residency. Only he hadn't been the one to make you do it since your first ever shift. He'd made you nervous your first day, he knew that, but he also knew you'd grown to realise that he wasn't actually all that bad by the end of it.
"It's okay. No harm done." That was true. How could he actually be mad when nothing had really happened? You'd made him jump with your greeting, he'd almost spilled his coffee, he'd almost burned himself. But that was more on him not being aware of his surroundings. It was the break room. Of course other people would be coming and going. Maybe Dana really was right about his status as the Grinch of Valentine's Day.
"Uh, somebody left pastries for us." You pointed at a box on the table in the corner of the room, trying to change topics. "I think it's supposed to make us feel better about having to work Valentine's Day. I'd get in there before they're all gone if I were you. I've already eaten two croissants."
Robby's head tilted to the side. He'd assumed you'd only just arrived, heading straight to the break room after dumping your stuff in your locker. But you'd already been here long enough to know about the pity pastries and eat two croissants. "When did you get in?"
"Oh." Your eyes widened, like you'd been caught doing something you weren't supposed to. "A little while ago. I figured some of the night shift team would like to get home as soon as possible to see their loved ones today."
How fucking considerate of you, he thought bitterly. God, he really was a grouch. "That's a nice thing for you to do."
You shrugged, easing up at his careful tone. "It's not like I've got anyone at home who's going to miss me today."
Robby watched as you processed what had just come out of your mouth, appreciated the way your face screwed up.
"Too much information." You huffed, shoulders slumping. "I'll- I'll go see if anyone needs me."
And then you zoomed out of the break room, as fast as your legs would carry you without actually running. He quietly exhaled something of a laugh to himself. At least he had you to amuse him today, your positive attitude and general nervousness around him made you entertaining at times. Always so eager to please.
The box of pastries called to Robby. Well, the rumble of his stomach did. So he allowed himself to take a peek at them, see what was on offer. What he found was another one of those damn notes.
Call me glucose because I can't help being sweet on you.
At least this one made sense being stuck to the pastry box. He snatched a chocolate éclair and bolted from the room.
As predicted, it didn't take long for the craziness to set in. Before nine, Robby had seen three sets of singed eyebrows, two Viagra problems, and one guy who had cut off circulation to his penis by wrapping a ribbon around it too tightly. The latter's girlfriend had not been impressed by what was, apparently, her only Valentine's gift from him.
The only thing stopping him from going insane was your bright presence. Every time he felt like he was about to lose it, and go and have a breakdown in the bathroom, you would appear at his side. Whether it was to present a case, offer your assistance with something, or just to quip something clever in his ear. You were always there. Like you could sense how far he was teetering on the edge. It was somewhat welcome. On the one hand, he appreciated your ability to talk him down. But he also wondered if you actually knew what you were doing, if it was obvious on his face how depressed the whole romantic holiday made him. He'd only found one more of the love notes in the first two hours of his shift.
I have a concussion from falling head over heels for you.
He had found it on the bottom of his shoe. How it got there, he wasn't entirely sure. The assumption was that it had been stuck to something else but had gotten knocked to the floor and then he'd just walked over it. The inconvenience of it being stuck to his shoe had bothered him. But the actual note itself hadn't set off that flare of irritation that the previous ones had. Was he getting used to them? Was he softening a little as the day wore on? That was an analysis of himself that he didn't have time to make.
An itch of curiosity scratched at the back of his brain, a part of him wanting to know who was the culprit writing them all. He debated asking someone else what they thought of it all. But he'd already caught a couple of nurses positively beaming when they'd read the note that was stuck to the hand sanitiser. So he decided to leave it. If it was making people in his ED happy, then why would he poke at the situation. Ugh, he was going soft.
Before he could dwell on that too much, you appeared at his side again.
"Hi, Dr. Robby." You rolled your shoulders back as you prepared to say something.
"Spit it out." He sighed, glancing down at you.
Your lips puffed out as you exhaled an annoyed breath. "I've got a patient that's being a little aggressive."
"Then take Whitaker for backup. I saw him wandering around a minute ago."
You swallowed a giggle. "No disrespect to Whitaker but I don't think he's all that intimidating. I think my patient would be better behaved with you in the room. Because you're, y'know, tall and in charge."
"Tall and in charge." Robby repeated, eyebrows raising.
"Authority figure vibe. Because you are. An authority figure, I mean. Put a white coat on and you'd be prime for the Milgram Experiment." You winced at yourself. "Anyway, I'd appreciate your help. Only if you're free though. Obviously. If not, I'll try with Ahmad first. But I don't think my patient is going to listen to what I have to say. If you don't support me at least."
"Alright, what's the diagnosis?"
"He crushed up a bunch of Viagra and snorted it." You chirped, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Jesus."
"Yeah. Only he didn't crush it all that well. Little shards of it have torn up his sinuses so he's essentially choking on a mixture of blood and Viagra." You watched as Robby's face crumpled. "Only he's denying that it's the Viagra and that there must be another problem."
"Did he admit to the Viagra snorting?"
"Not at first. But when I pointed out the blue dust all over him, he stopped arguing."
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute."
"Thank you." Your voice was grateful, tone light with the promise of his backup in your mind, and you practically skipped your way back to the patient.
True to his word, Robby took only a minute to compose himself before he made his way over to the examination room you were in. There, it only took a few seconds for Robby to understand why this particular patient had made you feel uncomfortable.
"Brought Daddy with you this time? Aw, was the little girl too scared to deal with me by herself?"
Daddy?
Any other time Robby might have been insulted at the implication that he was old enough to be your father, the fact that he was in fact old enough to be your father was besides the point, but mostly he was just focused on the predatory look that the guy laid out on the bed was giving you. It was enough to make even his skin crawl.
"I'm Dr. Robinavitch." He rubbed hand sanitiser into his hands vigorously, not bothering to offer up his nickname. "I'm the attending physician here today. Can you tell me what the problem is?"
The guy's eyes didn't leave you as he talked Robby through his symptoms. They even stayed trained on you as Robby examined him and as Robby gave a diagnosis. The same diagnosis that you had given. When he told him that, he finally managed to gain the patient's attention. Only for a brief moment though before he was looking back at you again, sat in the corner.
"Hey, you're talking to me." Robby snapped, careful to try and keep himself together. This was not the day for him to be dealing with difficult patients. He knew how close he was to completely breaking and taking it out on someone. An aggressive patient with an unhealthy fixation on you would be an easy target for him. He turned to look at you, to find you already looking at him. "Could you go get Dr. Langdon for me please?"
There was a flicker of admiration in your eyes as you dipped your head once to agree. "Of course, Dr. Robinavitch."
And then you were gone. Robby looked back at the patient in the bed. He was flopped against the bed with a smug smile on his face. Like he'd won. Robby watched him for a moment, mentally debating the pros and cons of saying something. He knew if he got started then he probably wouldn't be able to stop. He also knew that he was too tired to be getting into something like this. Before he could make a decision of his own, Langdon did it for him by appearing in the doorway.
"You called for me?"
Robby gave the senior resident a brief rundown of the situation, explaining what he wanted him to do, and then left him to treat the patient before snapping the gloves off of his hands and disappearing into the bathroom to cool off.
The hours dragged by at a glacial pace and Robby stopped finding those post-it notes everywhere. He figured there must have only been a few dotted about the place and he'd managed to come across them all. He couldn't help but realise that he could probably do with finding another one. At least it would momentarily distract him from the snail speed that the day was going. He wasn't bored by any means, as usual Valentine's Day had him hopping from room to room with the most bizarre of cases, but he did find himself coming face to face with too many happy couples. It was an odd concept to him how so many people could find themselves so happy despite being in the emergency room. Love was a curious thing. Maybe seeing you would also cheer him up.
It didn't help that he was hungry. The only thing he had eaten that day had been the chocolate éclair that morning. The protein bars he usually kept in his pockets for spare moments had been forgotten that morning in his sad haze to get to work before the sorrowful emptiness of his apartment managed to lodge itself in his brain. His stomach growled at him for food. So loud that he'd risked looking for Dana's secret stash in the break room, to no avail.
But then a moment of hunger-induced clarity hit him.
There was a protein bar in his locker. He was sure of it. It was months old, and probably crushed right at the bottom, but at least it would be something. He made sure that nobody needed him in that immediate moment before rushing off to the lockers. But he was barely around the corner before he stopped dead in his tracks. Even from a short distance he could see it. On his locker. Another yellow sticky note.
Robby took slow steps towards it, unsure whether he was bothered or not by the sight of it. He squinted at it as he got closer, trying to read it from a safe distance without his glasses.
You must be hypoglycemia because you make me weak in the knees.
A soft breath, not quite a laugh, escaped him. Whoever was behind all of this, had to be given credit for their dedication to romantic medical puns. He wondered if they had been coming up with them all themselves or had taken inspiration from elsewhere. He shook himself out of the thought and went back to his original mission of searching for the protein bar. It was old and crumbled just like he predicted. He didn't let himself think about it too hard when he peeled the sticky note from the front of his locker and tucked it inside with the rest of his belongings.
Making his way back to the central hub, munching on the ancient protein bar, he found you talking to an elderly woman with a paper pharmacy bag clutched in her hands. He rounded the desk and took a seat a few feet away from you, noting how Dana was listening intently to the conversation, and pretended to occupy himself with something on the computer in front of him.
"It's all written down in the bag, Mrs. Cody. Step by step instructions that you can refer to if you need." You nodded reassuringly at the woman, voice slow and collected like you had already explained this a couple of times before. "And if the problem persists then just come back and we'll have another look, okay?"
"Okay, dear. You've been so helpful." Mrs. Cody reached out and gently tapped you on the shoulder. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." You smiled at her, like it was your pleasure to be helping her with whatever the problem was.
"I'm sorry for ruining your Valentine's Day."
"You have nothing to apologise for, Mrs. Cody. This is exactly what we're here for."
She didn't look too convinced. "Do you have any plans for tonight at least? Like a date with a nice man, perhaps?"
Robby found himself straining to listen closer, not letting himself acknowledge why.
You laughed softly and shook your head. "No, I'm going home to spend the evening with a tub of ice cream and a horror movie."
The elderly patient appeared confused. "But you're such a pretty, young thing."
Robby couldn't help but agree.
"That's very kind of you, Mrs. Cody." You smiled at her, like you genuinely appreciated her words.
Mrs. Cody looked briefly sad for you, before a light bulb seemed to turn on in her head and a sly smirk overtook her weathered features. "Well, my gardener is a very sweet man. And single. Maybe I could set the two of you up."
Oh, god. This was why Robby shouldn't have been listening in. Because suddenly his stomach felt tight, like it was twisting up, and he found himself hoping that you would say no. Please, say no.
A slightly uneasy giggle escaped your lips. "Once again, very kind of you. But I'm not looking to meet anyone new at the moment."
A wave of relief rushed over Robby. He was such a selfish man. Just because he was sad and alone didn't mean that everybody around him had to be as well. He should be happy that the people he worked with had happy lives outside of the Pitt. And he was. To an extent. He liked knowing that McKay managed to find time to spend with her son doing fun activities. He liked that Santos and Whitaker lived together and had clearly become good friends while being roommates. He liked that Javadi had found a hobby in being a content creator, although he didn't actually fully understand what that meant. He had been so delighted for Donnie when he became a father.
But he also found comfort in knowing that there were people like him, people like you, who didn't actually seem to have anybody outside of work. What an asshole he was.
Snapping back into listening in on the conversation between you and Mrs. Cody, he found that the older woman was finally leaving and you were turning to Dana with an amused look on your face. At least you seemed unaware that he had been listening in on your entire conversation.
"Get used to it. You'll get a lot of ladies trying to set you up with their sons, grandsons, nephews, neighbours..." Dana waved her hand around as she trailed off. "Especially on days like today."
"She kept mentioning her gardener when I was examining her. 'Oh, he's such a handsome boy.' 'He's so attentive with my flowers.' I thought she liked him. I didn't realise she was trying to set me up on a blind date." You groaned and buried your face in your hands. "And I kept asking questions about him to keep her at ease with conversation."
"Hey, maybe you should've taken her up on the offer. Then he could have been attentive with your flower." Dana glanced at you over the top of her glasses, one eyebrow arching.
You snorted into the palm of your hand and Robby felt the urge to crawl into a hole and die.
"Let's keep the chatter work appropriate." He said gruffly, trying not to act like he was hooked.
"Sorry, Dr. Robby." You mumbled, eyes widening in embarrassment as you realised he'd been listening. "I'll, uh, I'll get back to my patients."
"Yeah, you do that." He huffed, massaging his temple with two fingers.
You shot Dana a look of pure mortification before scurrying off.
The charge nurse turned to him, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Let the girl have some fun. It's Valentine's Day."
"That doesn't change the fact that she's on the clock and we have patients in need." Though he did feel bad about how much he revelled in the notion that he wasn't the only one suffering on the romantic holiday. He was at ease knowing that you were going home to an empty apartment just like he was. He was a horrible person.
"There's an hour left before the night shift gets here." Dana said, calmly. "She's been on top of it all day. Probably only got some charting to do before she can leave at seven. Pronto."
"Not the point." He replied, gruffly.
"Jeez, and I thought all those love notes would've warmed you up." She mumbled, walking off to where a group of nurses were hovering to break them up before he could even question what she'd meant by that.
The time seemed to tick by quickly after that and, before he knew it, Abbot was strolling through the doors for the night shift. He took one look at Robby before a knowing smile tugged at his mouth. "Tough day, huh?"
"You don't even know the half of it." He groaned, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I'm sure you're in for something special tonight."
"I'm sure." Abbot continued to smile at his friend before turning in the direction of the lockers and walking off.
Robby sighed to himself, glancing around the room to see that it had calmed down a little. He knew that it wouldn't last long before the nightly rush started. He had to make sure he was out of there before it began. Reaching down to where his bag had been tucked under the desk by Dana at the beginning of his shift, he thought about how he would spend the evening. He could get drunk. But then that would mean being hungover for his shift the next day. He could follow your idea and eat ice cream and watch a movie. Not a terrible plan.
Halfway through another thought, he was distracted by the sight of his bag as his picked it up. It was half unzipped. Robby never left his bag open. Never. Cautiously, he opened it all the way and peered inside. He didn't exactly know what he expected to find in there but a pink envelope wasn't even on the list of possibilities. He slowly eased it out of his bag, somewhat surprised to find his name written on the front.
Dr. Robby.
Huh.
With a gentle finger, he eased the envelope open and pulled out a card. A Valentine's card with a cartoon heart on the front. The cartoon heart was drawn with a big smiley face in the middle. It was kind of ugly.
Robby scanned his surrounding area to see if anyone was watching him, nobody was, before he opened the card.
Dr. Robby,
You've given me the love bug. The only antidote is your smile. Will you cure me today?
And a little heart was drawn at the bottom beneath the message.
It was the same handwriting as all of the other notes. Only this one was written in an actual card, addressed to him specifically. Was this all connected? A plan to wish him a Happy Valentine's Day? But who would do that? And why?
His musings were interrupted by Abbot's reappearance. "Figure out who wrote those love notes yet?"
Robby shoved the card back into his bag rapidly, hoping Abbot didn't notice. "No. Why? Do you know?"
"Nothing happens during the night shift that I don't know about."
Robby wished he could say the same thing about the day shift. "So it was someone on the night shift."
Abbot smirked. "No. I just said it happened during the night shift."
A frustrated chuckle tumbled from Robby. "You're not going to tell me?"
"Now, where's the fun in that?" And then Abbot was gone, pulled into the nightly routine of handover.
Robby finished up his work, filling in charts and typing up emails, and said goodbye to nurses and other staff members as they walked by him to leave for the evening. He could see the joy on so many of their faces as they left to go join loved ones for a romantic night. The ache of jealousy settled deep in his bones. He could feel Dana sending him pitying looks every now and again, but he just ignored her. He didn't need to have that conversation with her.
The last dash of joy he was potentially able to drain from the day appeared when you collapsed onto the desk in front of him and Dana. Your elbows propped on the surface and your face buried against your arms.
"I've dealt with enough sildenafil to last me a lifetime." You groaned lowly, glancing up to find Robby side-eyeing you. You immediately straightened up. "Of course, nothing wrong with it. Perfectly normal thing for men to use."
He continued to stare at you for a moment before a smile cracked across his face, softening his features. It was so easy to make you nervous. "Relax."
You grinned back at him. "Wow, there's that smile. It's been absent all day and I was wondering when it would turn up for its shift."
Something snapped tight in Robby's chest. But before he could say anything you were spinning on your heel and heading toward the exit.
"Patients dealt with. Charts done. I am off home to nobody." Your voice was mock-excited as you punched a fist in the air. "See you tomorrow, love bugs."
Robby floundered around with a lack of words to say as he watched you leave. He looked around him to see if he was the only one suddenly having an epiphany, only to find Dana looking at him like he was an idiot. Which wasn't completely unusual for her.
"D'ya finally figure it out?" She huffed, shaking her head. "And I thought doctors were supposed to be intelligent."
"The notes? Her?" He pointed vaguely in the direction you'd left in. He didn't know why that prospect seemed so unbelievable to him. You were totally sweet enough to do something like leave love notes lying around for people to find to cheer them up. But you also didn't quite seem confident enough to do something so bold.
Dana looked over the top of her glasses at him. "Chase her, Robinavitch. While the night is still young. I've got everything handled here."
"Why would I-?" He cut himself off. Surely Dana didn't know about the card addressed to him.
"You think it's just a coincidence that all the notes were placed around to follow your routine. Hand sanitiser, door to the stairs, coffee pot?"
Holy shit. She was right. And the card was just the cherry on top of it all.
Robby shot out of the chair, knocking it back so it drifted away on its wheels. "You're sure you've got everything covered here?"
"Not my first rodeo." The nurse sighed, practically shooing him away. "See you in the morning."
He didn't dare question her further, just grabbed his bag and his jacket before practically running for the exit. Running after you.
By the time he managed to track you down, you were halfway across the park. His old knees just didn't let him keep up so well anymore. He called your name a few times, noting the headphones over your ears that were blocking him out. But one yell of your name seemed loud enough as suddenly you were tugging the headphones from your head and turning around to look at him.
"Dr. Robby?" You looked perplexed. "Is everything okay? Did something happen?"
"No." He wheezed, stopping a few feet in front of you to catch his breath. Sometimes he missed his youth.
"Oh. Did I forget something?" You glanced down at his hands as if he might suddenly hand something over to you but found them empty.
"No." He repeated, pulling in deep inhales.
"Then what?" You looked nervously over his shoulder at the dark park behind him.
"I know it was you."
Your jaw snapped shut. "Know what was me?"
Oh, you were going to play innocent? Funny.
"The love notes everywhere. The card."
You lit up in two ways. One in absolute panic that he had managed to figure it out and was calling you out on it. And the other that you were proud of your work and happy that he was acknowledging it.
"Oh. That." You traced a line on the path beneath you with the toe of your shoe, hands clasped behind you. "Yeah."
"I'm not mad." He clarified. "In fact, I'm sorry it's taken me all day to realise it was you. I might've been in a better mood if I'd known sooner."
You frowned up at him. "You didn't like them?"
Robby couldn't lie to you. "I've been told I'm a grumpy bastard on Valentine's Day."
You snorted a laugh but said nothing.
"Can I ask why?"
"Why I wrote them?" You asked and he nodded. "You've seemed so sad recently. And I thought maybe it would make you feel better."
Oh. That pang of disappoint in his chest was unmistakable.
But then you carried on. "I mean, doesn't everybody like to know that they're loved?"
Oh?
"Loved?" He repeated, staring down at you intensely.
"Did- did I say that?" You pointed at yourself, avoiding eye contact with him. You swallowed thickly and let your eyes land on him again, defeated. "Yeah, I guess."
"You guess?" He laughed, hard. "You guess you love me. So romantic."
You shrugged. "I wrote you love notes and came up with puns. I think that's the most romantic I've ever been in my life."
He shook his head in disbelief. Suddenly he was striding toward you, closing the few feet of distance with large steps. A hand landed on either side of your face, big palms spanning the expanse of your cheeks. He used the positioning of his hands as leverage to hoist you up to meet his lips halfway. A low, breathless mumble ghosted over your mouth. "Oh, sweet girl."
And then Robby was kissing you.
A surprised squeak escaped you, you hadn't been quite prepared for that. But once it seemed to register in your mind what exactly was happening, your eyes fluttered closed and you relaxed. Your hands curled in the fabric of his jacket, fingers appreciating the feel of the fleecy material.
His mouth devoured yours, hungry for everything you could give him. Robby pressed himself as close to you as possible, tongue pushing at the seam of your lips as soon as he felt you reciprocating the kiss. He sighed into your mouth as soon as it opened and his tongue met yours. This was what had been missing, this was the thing that had been making him so sad. Kissing you. Specifically you. How he hadn't seen it sooner, he didn't really know. He was an idiot, he knew that now. But he also knew he'd never let himself be an idiot again.
When you both broke away for air, he was surprised to hear you laugh.
"What's funny?" He asked, nudging his nose against yours. He liked the little sound you made in the back of your throat as he did. He made a note of that.
"Thinking that maybe I should have written you some terrible puns sooner if this was going to be the outcome."
You gazed up at him with such warmth in your eyes that Robby considered the possibility of a heart attack at the mere sight.
"I think the puns were great. Very creative." He tilted your head to the side so he could plant an open mouthed kiss on your neck.
"Robby, we're in public." You whined, despite how you pulled him closer to you. "Also, don't lie to me. Dana told me you hated them this morning."
"I was stupid this morning." He liked the way you shivered as his teeth grazed your skin. "My sweet, sweet girl."
You hummed lowly. "Wanna come home with me and eat ice cream?"
He pulled back from you, already missing the feel of you on his lips, surprised by the offer. He wasn't sure why. You were already making out in the middle of the park. Going home with you wasn't exactly a much bigger step. In fact, it was a pretty natural progression. So, of course, his answer was simple. "I couldn't think of anything better."
With the way you grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind you, Robby couldn't remember how he had ever started the day so miserable. Look at the way it was ending. Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all.
A/N: Ooh, my first attempt at diving into The Pitt fanfic... I hope you enjoyed.
