AU. Inspired by the song "Stay With Me."
Disclaimer: Don't own ER or any of the characters.
He's had one night stands before. Obviously. Plenty of them…probably more than one person should, to be honest.
But there's something different about this one.
Maybe because he's never slept with a coworker before. Don't mix business and pleasure thing and all. Doesn't usually end well, even he knows better than that.
Especially this. There's no hope, really. She's prim and proper and kind of a dick to him, to be honest. Like she thinks she's better than him. But, as it turns out, tequila evens the playing field.
He's never wanted more. Okay, maybe there had been a couple of girls that he would've been cool with banging more than once…because you know, some of them had been pretty hot and a few of them had a personality that was interesting enough to want to keep around for a little bit…but there hadn't been anyone that he had thought that maybe, just maybe, there was potential. Like future potential. Like moving in together and maybe getting a dog and then like…kids and stuff. Way down the road of course but it was there. Somewhere. In the future.
And for the first time when the sun started to filter through the blinds he didn't have the urge to kick her out.
Instead he threw his arm around her waist and hugged her closer.
"Mm…?" she made a noise that was sort of a question and instead of replying with something like, "I have to get to work soon," he just stayed silent and allowed her to reflexively latch onto his arm.
He almost lets the whole thing go. He almost pretends that none of it ever happened and almost went back to the witty and slightly acerbic banter that they had going. Instead he asks her out to dinner one night and surprises not only her but also him. Where the hell had that come from?
And somehow dinner turns into laughter which turns into more dinners which turns into way too much time spent together which turns into them finding an apartment together and…well…shit. It turns into something that he had never expected from what he had thought was going to be a one night stand.
He loves her.
Loves her.
And he knows that one day they're going to have the dog and then the kids and all that fun shit. But until then they're going to be Ray and Neela. Two people who never should've worked out but did.
He's cool with that.