Chapter Text
With a piece of toast in his mouth, Robby sprang across the living room as soon as the phone rang.
"Hello?” He hummed, ignoring the faces Dana made at him from the kitchen while she tried to figure out who was at the other end of the line. It usually only ever meant two things; Robby's grandmother calling to check on him, or her brother wanting to borrow money again.
“Oh, yeah! You interested in renting the bedroom?”
Dana stepped closer with curiosity all over her features, pressing against Robby’s back to try and listen to the conversation while he playfully nudged her away.
“Sure, it's still available. Why don't you come take a look this afternoon?” He continued, turning towards her and accidentally tangling them both in the telephone cord.
Dana arched an eyebrow at him while he untangled them both, but Robby dismissed the questioning expression, making little of it.
“Five works for you?” he continued and nodded before hanging up with a soft “See ya.”
Robby hung up the phone and took another bite of toast before turning towards her, eyebrows raised. “What?”
With a soft smirk dancing upon her lips, she raised her hands in mock surrender. “Didn't know the ad was still up. You sure you wanna go through this again? The last eight weren’t… how did you put it? The right fit.”
Rolling his eyes, he walked back to the sofa and plopped down amidst his Endocrine notes. “They weren't. Remember the guy with the snake?” She couldn't help but shudder at the memory of the python that was lost in their apartment for 2 whole weeks before eventually slithering into the bathtub while she was in it. “Besides, I have a good feeling about this one. Trust me.”
The young blonde scoffed, finishing her coffee. If it were anyone else saying that she would probably call them crazy and send them packing, but unfortunately, she had a soft spot for Robby. Not to mention she knew that he would never do anything that might harm her.
She put her jacket on and used a clip to secure her hair away from those muddy green eyes that always seemed to see through everyone. “Oh, I trust you. I'm not so sure about your intuition though. It's a bit faulty at times. Especially after a drink or two…" She teased, resting her hands on his shoulders.
Robby looked back at her, arching an eyebrow. "Aren't you running late for your shift at the hospital?” he asked, eager to put an end to the conversation.
Chuckling softly, Dana leaned down to press a gentle, almost maternal kiss to the top of his head. “I'll try to be back before five.”
He hummed softly in acknowledgement, finishing his piece of toast and nodding while he gave her wrist a gentle squeeze. “I can handle this. Don't worry. And if he turns out to be a serial killer… at least then I won't have to worry about midterms.”
Dana let out a loud laugh while heading out. “As if you were that lucky!”
The two had been sharing that apartment for well over three years and there was little they didn't know about each other. They had met when Robby had just become an EMT and had started showing up every now and then with new patients to the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, where Dana had been working ever since she had graduated from nursing school. Back then, Robby had been trying to build up a good resume for med school, begging the doctors he met to let him ‘shadow’ them. He was saving up for his studies and looking for a cheap place to live so he could finally move out of his grandmother's house. As much as he loved the woman, he was in his mid 20s and thought it was about time he moved out.
Dana liked to say that she had taken pity on the lanky, tall EMT, but truth be told, she had been struggling to keep up with her student loans and pay the rent of the three-bedroom apartment by herself. She had been more than glad to find a roommate who was a decent human being and with whom she actually got along.
Not to mention Robby reminded her of her younger brother. Not the one she still saw every time she went back home, but the one that had passed away too young and everyone seemed too afraid to even name around her house. So in a way, it was soothing to have Robby around, like she could get back that piece of her that had been taken away a long time ago.
A lot had changed since then. Robby had been accepted into the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine so he had quit his job as an EMT and used his savings from years to pay for it, and she had gone back to school to get her MSN after much encouragement from fellow nurses and doctors at the PTMC who swore up and down that they saw great potential in her.
While renting out the extra room that had so far only been used for storage had always been the plan, Robby had always found some sort of excuse to avoid doing so. Dana had always known that it was probably because part of him was afraid that adding someone else to the mix might disrupt the pleasant dynamic that they had established, but she had never found it in her to actually confront him about it. Some things were better left alone.
She knew Robby came from a small home where it had just been him and his grandmother since his parents had died in a car accident when he was just a boy.
“The ice on the road…” he had once told her with glazed-over eyes, enough for Dana to know better than to keep probing him.
He had trouble letting people in, not because he didn't like them, but because in there he was still that little boy, terrified of getting hurt again. But once he did let someone in, like he had done with Dana after a few months of her asking about his day every time he lingered by the ambulance bay, offering him food and nothing but kindness, he held onto them like a lifeline, hoping they would truly see him for who he really was.