Chapter Text
The music of the bar seemed reverberate through Robby’s bones. This was definitely not a place he thought he’d end up in, but he’d followed the group and now he needed to at least have one drink before calling it a night.
“Ok, cheers to the newest fellow of the PTMC emergency department. Santos, the floor is yours.” Langdon held up his drink to the rest of the table, toasting Trinity.
The current resident raised her own glass and tapped it against the various other glasses held in the air. “Like I said in the last four bars. Thank you, thank you, thank you. But we really don’t need to do this everywhere.”
“It’s tradition. Senior staff have got to have some fun.” Abbot called out.
Robby just tuned them out and looked down at his phone, looking at his text from Dennis. The young man had been on his mind a lot lately. A quick hookup a few weeks ago had turned into something more, at least for him. For Dennis he was pretty sure he was just a way to cope with his obvious daddy issues.
Out with my sister tonight, but if you’re still up when we’re done, how about I come over and rock your world?
It was probably the only reason that he was still here. Sure he wanted to celebrate Santos for completing her residency and getting the fellowship, after all she deserved it, but it gave him a reason to stay up and then slip away when Dennis was ready.
“Is there a doctor in the house? Oh wait no that’s just my sister. Shame.”
The voice made him look up. Fuck. Fucking hell. There, standing only a few feet away, was Dennis. Dennis, who carried a drink in his hand and had barely noticed him, focused instead on Santos.
Out with my sister tonight.
“Dennis! Where have you been?” Santos was up from her seat and practically climbed over Robby to give the boy a hug. He didn’t understand what was happening, how did these two know each other? Risking a glance around at the others at the table, nobody looked shocked, but they didn’t look like they recognised Dennis.
“Delayed. You gonna introduce me? Because you never mentioned your co-workers were hot!” The way he stressed the last word made Robby squirm in his seat.
“Don’t you fucking dare. People I work with are off limits for you after what happened last time.” Turning back to the table, she grinned. “So this is my brother Dennis, he just got into town a few weeks ago, and I apologise now if he tries to make any moves on you, he is a sex pest.”
Robby almost spat out his drink.
“I am not!” Dennis looked at Santos with mock anger, then looked around the table until he saw Abbot, and winked at the man as he tilted his chin up. “Hey.”
The light slap around the back of his head made them all laugh. “Enough. Sorry Robby could you move up, my annoying little brother needs to his own seat or he will definitely try to get on someone’s lap and I respect you too much to subject you to that.”
Robby blushed at the many memories of Dennis on his lap, but he moved, avoiding the younger man’s eyes. “Yeah sure.”
“So how is it that I’ve known you for five years and you’ve never mentioned a brother?” Langdon leant forward to the table towards Dennis. “If you have any embarrassing stories we would love to know.”
Santos rolled her eyes. “Oh I have, just not to you Frank.”
“I knew.” Dana spoke. “Good to see you again.”
When Dana stuck out her hand for Dennis to shake, the younger man took it and leant forward to plant a kiss on the back of it. “I have heard wonderful things about you Dana, thank you for dealing with my sister’s crazy all these years.” Then he looked around the table. “So we’ve got Dana, Frank, Robby right?” He looked over to Robby and stuck his hand out to shake. “I’ve heard great things about you.”
Then the kid fucking winked.
Robby took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze, much like how he’d squeezed Dennis’s neck only days earlier. “Good to meet you kid.”
“I know I have a baby face but please, Dennis is fine. Or if you doctors insist on the whole last name business, Whitaker is fine.”
“Not Santos?” Langdon raised an eyebrow.
Trinity shook her head. “You hit your head recently Frank? Do I look like I’m actually related to this white boy?” Then she wrapped an arm around him. “I say that with love of course.”
Dennis smiled, and Robby could have sworn that the room became brighter in that moment. “Yeah, in case it wasn’t obvious, I’m adopted. I know, it shocked me too when I was told.” He held up his hands and wiggled them. “That was a joke, I was adopted when I was ten.”
“Who’s the new kid?” Another voice had joined them. Dennis looked up to see an African American woman with short hair standing there, her top just baggy enough to show off the baby bump. When she saw him there seemed to be a spark of recognition in her eyes. “Oh is this the brother?”
“Oh come on you knew too?” Langdon cried.
Robby wanted his seat to swallow him. Santos may have told Heather about her brother, but that wasn’t how she recognised him. No, she recognised him from the picture that he had shown her only two days earlier.
—
The realisation that he’d had his sister’s boss inside of him should have made Dennis stumble, but as he exited the bar to have a smoke, he thought he’d handled that pretty well. Of all the doctors in Pittsburgh, he’d went for one that his sister saw almost every day. He knew the universe wasn’t exactly on his side, but this was extreme.
“So, how’s Pittsburgh treating you? You get that story written?” Dana’s voice whispered over his shoulder as he took a drag and he turned to see her grin.
“Pretty good actually, it’s a change from growing up in Columbus, and from grad school down in Miami. And yeah, the publishers loved it.” It was true, he liked being in a new place. There were no bad memories here yet, so it was a fresh start.
Dana frowned as she lit her own cigarette. “All that time in Miami and you’re still whiter than hospital bedsheets? Never went to the beach?”
“Once or twice.” In his defence he’d been too busy studying, or sleeping with people.
“Well I’m glad you’re here. Don’t tell your sister I told you this but she was so excited when she found out you were moving she couldn’t stop talking about it all week.”
He smiled at that. Normally Trinity took a while to let her walls down with anyone, and even then there was normally a barrier. With Dana there didn’t seem to be one. “Well that is surprising, I may have to let her know about that.”
Taking a drag of her own, Dana pointed her cigarette at him like a weapon. “Repeat what I said and I’ll cut your nuts off.”
He could see why his sister liked this woman.
—
“What’s got you looking like you’re considering heading back to the hospital and stepping off the roof?” Abbot stared at him in a way that always seemed to penetrate his body and look directly into his soul.
Robby looked around as he took a sip of his beer. Langdon was at the bar, Dana was outside, and Collins and Santos were on the dance floor. A good a time as any. “I’m sleeping with her brother.”
If he hadn’t been experiencing an existential crisis, the look on Jack’s face would have been comical.
“I wasn’t expecting that. Why was he winking at me then?”
“Because I have a thing for older guys and you’re a silver fox.” Dennis’s voice made both men spin their heads as he took a seat opposite them, slowly sipping his drink. “Hey stranger.”
The way Dennis looked at him made Robby want to forget the earlier warnings of Santos and pull the boy onto his lap. He looked divine in the low lighting. His hair was messy, the curls hanging over his forehead were just long enough to be pulled, which Robby knew from several prior experiences. His green shirt had just enough buttons undone that Robby could see the tattoo of the arrow on his collarbone, and with his sleeves rolled up, the rosary tattoo around his wrist was visible. Compared to his jeans and hoodie, the boy was radiant.
“Dennis, this is a surprise.”
Abbot leant forward. “So you two never discussed what the other one does?”
Dennis smiled that cocky little smile of his. “As I recall my mouth was usually occupied, so I didn’t have much time for talking.”
Robby could feel the blood in his body being torn between rushing to his face due to the embarrassment, and rushing to his dick due to how aroused he was.
Abbot smacked his lips and sat back. “Did not need to know that.”
When the foot brushed against his leg, Robby’s breath tightened. Dennis was short, but at this small table, his legs easily covered the distance between them, and as that covered foot travelled upwards, slowly making its way to his crotch, his expression never really changed. “So what’s it like working in the emergency room? I bet you must get some weird cases.”
This boy was a menace. Forcing him to think about the most unsexy things he’d seen in his career while his foot was stroking his cock.
Abbot looked over at Dennis. “I’d tell you about the guy that came in with three apples inside him, but I think your response would give this guy a heart attack.”
Dennis bit his lip, looking at both men. “I don’t know about that. I’m no doctor but I’d say his stamina suggests he’s in very good health.” The lust in his eyes was palpable, and all Robby could think was how good this young man would look bent over the bathroom sinks, their location be damned.
Despite her brother’s foot on his dick, he was glad when Santos came back over and sat back down with a new drink for herself and Dennis. “He’s not being annoying is he?”
Dennis shook his head as he took the drink and Abbot spoke up. “On the contrary, I’d say he’s made this night all the more interesting.”
—
It was another hour before Dennis got a chance to actually speak with Michael. He was definitely going to freak out about it in the morning, but the alcohol running through his system was definitely keeping the anxiety at bay. As he finished emptying his bladder, he headed to the sink to wash his hands and check how he looked. Just because he was out with his sister it didn’t mean he couldn’t end the night getting laid.
Maybe Trinity was right, he might just be a sex pest. As his still wet hands ran through his curls a few more times, he gave himself a once over, deciding to undo one more button on his shirt, letting the tattoo poke out a little more. Whereas before there had just been a hint of the head of the arrow, now more of the small symbols that comprised the shaft showed through. Considering himself as fuckable, he dried his hands and turned to the door, grabbing the handle just as it was pushed open and Robby stepped in.
“Oh, hi.”
The man was definitely better at conversations after sex.
“Hey daddy. Surprised to see you here.” He smiled up at the man as the door swung back, and once he was sure that it was closed, he stepped forward to kiss the man, but Robby held up his hands to keep him back.
“Not the time or place Dennis.” His voice was firm, but lacked the passion that Dennis usually heard it with. There was no promise of swift retribution if he crossed the line he so often toed.
So it was on to the serious stuff. “So I guess we need to talk about the fact that you work with my sister. She won’t mind.”
Even as he said the words Robby’s eyebrow raised. “She won’t mind that I’m sleeping with her younger brother who is half my age?”
Dennis’s head tilted from side to side as if he was thinking about it. “Saying it like that I’m sure she’ll have an opinion, but it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong. So how about we play things cool and then go back to yours where you can take your obvious frustrations about this whole situation out on my ass?” Yeah he was definitely a sex pest, but it worked for him. It was the innocent eyes.
“I think that might be a bad idea. Your sister might be a fellow now but she’s still my student, and yeah you’re right, there’s nothing legally or ethically wrong with this, with us, but it still feels like now that we know there’s more to this, we need to consider it. So for now, maybe let’s just wait until we’re both sober, and then have an actual conversation?” Robby’s hands had moved from his chest to his shoulders, and as his thumbs moved over the collar of his shirt and brushed against his bare skin, Dennis had to hold back a moan. There was something about this man that drew him in. He was putty in his hands.
“Ok. I was really looking forward to getting laid tonight.”
Robby laughed. “Nothing stopping you. We never said we were exclusive.” The words sounded like they were as much for him as they were for Dennis.
He was right, they weren’t a couple, they were just two guys who had a lot of sex. They weren’t dating, they always used protection. Either one of them could be sleeping with a dozen other people and it wouldn’t be the other person’s business. But they felt like more than that. Sure the sex was mind blowing, but there was something else there. The way that Michael would stroke his hair in the aftermath, and whisper things to him as he fell asleep. Even the way that Michael would trust him to take control after a rough shift, it definitely wasn’t a relationship but it felt like it could be more than sex.
Leaning in again, Dennis slipped his hand down to rub Robby’s crotch as he stood up on his toes to reach the man’s ear. “I think you’ve ruined me for any other man. And I’m wearing that slutty jockstrap you love. It would feel weird to have someone else see that.” He took a step back, and he was back to his usual flirty self. “So for tonight I guess I’m just gonna get drunk and celebrate my sister. Come join us when you’re done here.”
—
Seeing her brother so casually flirting with her colleagues worried Trinity. Not because she thought that there would be a bad reaction. Hell, Abbot would be glad for the attention and Langdon would wear it like a badge of honour. Robby was an unknown variable. She knew he liked guys, and he liked them younger. That med student in her second year had proved that. But Dennis tended to fall fast and fall hard. Ever since she’d first met him when her parents had told her they were going to adopt him, it was obvious that he had some issues with male role models. Despite her father doing his best, he was never what Dennis really needed, always too lenient with his behaviour and never quite as affectionate as he was with his other children. So Dennis found that discipline and love elsewhere. With men a lot older than what was ok.
If he did end up with Robby, it would only end badly, and that’s would probably be because of something Robby said. Then history would repeat itself and Dennis would run like he always had.
Shit like this was why she tried not to mix her work and personal life.
“You look deep in thought. It doesn’t suit you.” Dennis’s voice whispered to her. The little shit.
“I’m thinking about how to make sure you don’t try to seduce my coworkers. Family and work are two circles I don’t want mixing together.”
Dennis scoffed at that and leant against the bar, raising his hand to signal the waitress. “She says as she’s dating a coworker.”
He really was out to prove her point about being a little shit. “Not a coworker, we just work at the same hospital, we barely interact.” It was the truth. Now that Yolanda was an attending, she had residents to come down and assess patients for the OR, and only really visited if they were treating someone she had a case for or if it was really bad. “I don’t want another Jason.”
Dennis went silent, only speaking to order the shots once the waitress came over to them. “That won’t happen again. I told you, I’m doing good now, and I’m here to stay. If you want you can have one of your friends from psych talk to me and confirm it.”
As he paid for the drinks she did consider it. The memories of getting that call in her final year of college, of choosing a med school close enough to home to be able to make sure that she was there when Dennis needed her, of holding him on his eighteenth birthday when he finally made the call to his biological parents, they all came back to her. But she knew the signs now, she was on top of things. “I don’t need a quack to know if you’re ok. I just need you to tell me if there’s ever anything wrong. Now let’s do these and then we’re off to the next place, Collins made a joke about a strip club and I’m seriously considering it.”