Disclaimer: I don't own ER, etc, etc

Note: just a bit more fluff to lighten up the roomies

Wrinkling up her nose, Neela picked the sport sock off the floor between thumb and forefinger, arm outstretched. She had tried to put off what she was doing for the last few days, she really had, but the mess of clothes that began in her room-mate's own room had started to filter into the living-room and she finally made the executive decision to raid Ray's laundry.

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Having finished the night shift, Neela had the rest of the day off and her roomie was just finishing his last gulp of coffee as she came in the door. As usual, he looked as if he had simply rolled out of bed and into his clothes even though she knew that he would have been showered and dressed well before she arrived. Neela took in his rumpled T-shirt that was emblazoned with a band-name she had never heard of, faded jeans and slightly spiked hair. Even in her tired state, she had to admit that his cuteness factor did rate quite high.

Ah, who am I kidding? Neela sighed, it wasn't just the groupies, she was aware that there were a number of nurses throughout County who had noticed Dr. Barnett.

Ray pushed a fresh mug into her hand. "There's more in the pot and there's some bacon and rolls left too. I gotta run, catch you later on." Grabbing his back pack, he gave her a quick wink before dashing out. Since Neela had been doing more night shifts, Ray had gradually taken care make sure there was fresh coffee and something for breakfast when she came in. He smiled wryly to himself as he went down the stairs. Who knew Ray Barnett was a softie at heart?

Neela made her way over to the hob where a still-hot frying pan with crispy bacon sat next to a fresh buttered roll. She savoured the delicious smell, bacon butties were one thing from Britain that she missed, put it together with a hot cup of tea and there was perfection!

After breakfast and a shower, Neela felt the tiredness ebb even though she knew she should still have really gone to her bed. Nevertheless, as she looked around the apartment, she felt the urge to tidy and it didn't take long until she was left only with her nemesis – Ray's room. In general, it wasn't a bother as long as the door was kept shut but one peek, one crack that opened a view to its interior and the part of Neela that would forever be the organised nerd wanted to get in and tidy!

It wasn't that the room was dirty, it was just messy and often a T-shirt would be left slung on the sofa, jeans hanging off a chair back and they would remain there for days until Neela nagged long enough for Ray to move them or she moved them herself. Thus, with her course of action decided, she rolled up her proverbial sleeves (she was wearing a sleeveless vest), grabbed a laundry basket and pushed open Ray's door.

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Finally, with a full basket and the whole of the floor now visible, Neela dragged the laundry out to the kitchen towards the washing machine. Unsure what was clean and what had been worn, she decided that her best bet was to simply wash all of it so she set about separating darks and lights, something Ray never did. Neela grinned at the memory of the time her roomie had pulled out a just-washed load and all of his whites had come out a delicate blue tie-dye.

Stopping at a dark grey item, she let her hands run over the worn cotton, the feel of the cloth so familiar, reminding her of the first time she had pinched it for lack of clean pyjamas and enjoying the comforting smell of Ray's scent. It had been one of the best night's sleep and incidentally, she found that she always slept well all the subsequent times she had borrowed it, albeit without his knowing.

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Ray yawned as he turned the handle, it had been a mad, bad day at the ER and he was glad to get home and yes, he was glad to get home to Neela. He wasn't sure when that had happened, he just remembered one evening that Neela had stayed over at Abby's after a girlie night of chatting and drinking and he realised that he really, really missed having her around.

He automatically moved over to the sofa to drop his bag onto the cushions when he stopped just in time. She was sound asleep, the throw pulled up to her chin and Ray had narrowly missed giving her a rude awakening with a bag plonking on her head. It was then that he looked round and saw that his room door was open and then spotted the freshly laundered clothing on the kitchen table divided into four piles, two each, one of lights and one of darks.

Smiling at the sweet image of his sleeping friend, Ray picked up his share of the clothing and headed into his room, surprised that he hadn't tripped over anything then marvelling at how tidy everything was. He began to put away the items. Where the hell was that T-shirt? He was sure he had seen it somewhere on the floor the other morning, mind you, there had been a lot of things on the floor so there was no guarantee of its presence.

He was about to shove the pillowcases into their drawer when he felt a bump in the cloth. Probably a sock or some such, they were always getting caught up in duvets covers and things. Reaching in, his fingers curled around the mystery item before drawing out and opening his hand to reveal lacy pink underwear. Ray felt redness flush to the tip of his ears and then flush more as he thought how ridiculous he was being. He was a grown man for goodness sake and it was just material that belonged to his platonic room-mate. Yeah, but it was quite intimate material that belonged to a room-mate that he was no longer sure he just wanted to be platonic with.

Deciding that the thing to do was to place it on Neela's laundry pile while she was still asleep, Ray stepped quietly back to the kitchen. Arghh, the clothes had gone!

"Hey, how was work?"

Arghh, she was awake!

He turned to be met by the adorable sight of her sleepy face and tousled hair, slim figure in vest and tracksuit bottoms. Ray had to take a few seconds to gather himself before replying. "It was fine, just a usual day at County, couple of RTAs, cardiacs and the rest a mix of minor traumas, coughs and sneezes which needed tests to check for more serious illnesses." He didn't mention that it was also one of those days where people had called in sick so they were more short-staffed than usual so it was all systems go from start to finish. Ray didn't feel like talking shop, just wanted a relaxed evening at home.

Neela smiled sympathetically. "I'm just making dinner, hope you want chicken, else you'll just need to make your own."

"Chicken's fine, sounds good." Ray racked his brains to think of a way to move past her and get into her room without her noticing. He couldn't believe he was treating this like 'Mission Impossible', knew his embarrassment was irrational but he couldn't help it. Just as he went to walk past, heard Neela ask,

"What have you got in your hand?"

Crap! There was pink lace sticking out.

"Ah, yeah, um…it got mixed up in my clothes, I think it's yours. I was just going to put it in your room." He held out the item.

"Oh, thanks. I thought I had got everything, I'll just go put it away." Neela took her knickers from him and disappeared to her room. Once there, she sat on the bed and groaned. She couldn't believe she had left her undies in his stuff, would he think she was trying to hit on him? After all, it was the first time that had ever happened. Worse still, she realised that she wanted to hit on him, she just wasn't brave enough.

Note: hope you enjoyed that, tell me what you think x