Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 3619
Out of Order (But It All Still Counts)
JD swung the door open, expecting to see either Turk or the pizza delivery driver. He blinked when he found himself face to face with Dr Cox, who, oddly enough, had a duffle bag slung over one arm.
"Uh. Hi?"
Dr Cox snorted. "Are we just going to stand here or are you going to let me in?"
"Oh." JD stepped back for Cox to pass him, and then closed the door. He only managed three steps before another knock sounded.
This time it really was the pizza guy, and JD suddenly found himself glad that he'd ordered enough for what he'd planned on being leftovers. At least he wouldn't be sitting eating without being able to offer his guest some.
When he returned to the living room, he found Dr Cox sitting on the opposite side of the sofa from where JD had vacated to open the door, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.
JD put the pizza and wings on the table and re-took his seat.
"Help yourself," he murmured, pointing to the food. Whatever was wrong, pushing had never gotten him anywhere with the older man, so JD decided he was content enough to wait him out.
He'd tell JD why he was there eventually.
"Thanks," Cox huffed, letting his hands fall away from his head, and leaning just a little further to grab a slice of pizza.
They ate in silence, the TV the only noise in the room, until most of the food was gone, and then JD got them both beers from the fridge. It was only light beer—he wasn't a big home drinker—but Dr Cox accepted it without complaint anyway.
"I need a place to stay," Cox finally said, when he was halfway through the beer. He picked at the gold label, his eyes firmly on the bottle.
"Okay," JD replied easily. "Stay as long as you need. Guest room is that door."
That drew his attention. Dr Cox blinked at him. "That easy?"
"You need somewhere to stay, I have a spare room," JD pointed out. "Well, I have Sammy's room, but he's still too young to be in there yet, so same thing. It's uh… yellow though. Pale yellow. Lemon even. Just… fair warning."
Cox stared at him for a long moment. "Thanks, Newb."
JD smiled at him and nodded, before he turned his head back to the tv. Inside, he was squealing like a little kid at Christmas, but he'd known Dr Cox for a long time and he knew how to not scare the man away.
Well. Most of the time, anyway.
And while JD would never say anything to anyone, living alone just… wasn't for him. He'd almost always had a roommate, and though he'd had the place he was in for five months, he still wasn't used to coming home to an empty apartment.
He was… lonely.
Having Cox there, even if it was just for a few days, would be a welcome reprieve from it.
…
Perry watched as JD opened the door to his 'guest room' and slipped inside, a fresh set of sheets under his arm.
He'd been surprised at JD's easy acceptance of Perry asking for a place to stay, though not because he'd thought he'd disagree.
Perry had been dreading the excited squealing he'd half expected. Still, he supposed that he shouldn't have been too surprised. JD wasn't the kid he'd been when he first stepped into the hospital; hell, he wasn't the same kid he'd been even just a year or so ago.
And it was nice, to not have someone demanding explanations. Perry just wasn't sure that he had it in him to explain that he and Jordan had decided to finally call it quits on their relationship after so many years of ups and downs.
It was… he wasn't sad about it. It was bittersweet, if it was anything, and honestly, Perry wouldn't change what they'd had for anything. He had two beautiful children out of it, after all, and they'd had some good times.
They were just… too old to keep pretending that they were still in love.
Lost in his musings, Perry startled slightly when Newbie rejoined him on the sofa. He tucked his legs up beneath him, and Perry snorted when he saw the stripy socks the other was wearing.
"Newb?"
"Hmm?"
"Why do you have matching odd socks?"
Newbie chuckled. "I got them from Disneyworld. They sell odd socks as a thing and—"
"And you couldn't resist them because you're actually five years old."
JD paused and then nodded. "Sounds about right, yeah."
Shaking his head, Perry sat back against the cushions, his legs kicked out in front of him. JD glanced at the tv and then offered him the remote.
Perry took it gratefully. There had been a game on that day and he'd missed it.
"Thanks, Newb."
"Uh huh. Anytime."
…
Two days into Dr Cox staying in his spare room, and JD had realised that he really wasn't meant for living alone. He was so much more comfortable having someone else around; even if that someone wasn't exactly the most talkative.
Not that either of them had really had time for chatting. Long shifts equalled quiet nights, but that didn't bother JD.
His shift ended an hour before Dr Cox's, and JD called at the supermarket on the way home, grabbing the supplies for a stir fry—one of the few dishes he knew he could cook well and didn't take much effort to make.
He was so tired of eating take-out.
By the time Dr Cox arrived, JD had showered, changed and was almost done cooking.
"What's all this?" Dr Cox asked, leaning against the counter in the kitchen.
"Stir fry," JD replied. "I'm tired of take-out. If I eat any more pizza, I'm going to turn into one."
Dr Cox chuckled. "Have I got time for a shower?"
"Sure," JD replied. "It's a forgiving recipe, it can wait a while yet."
Dr Cox reached out and ruffled his unruly hair before he wandered off for the shower, leaving JD to stare after him.
Well then.
That was new.
…
Eating dinner with JD wasn't anything new. They'd eaten together before Perry had ever turned up at his door even.
But eating a meal that JD had cooked… that was new.
Shockingly, the food was pretty good. Perry cleared his plate, it was so good, in fact.
"Oh, hey, I got you a key cut," JD said, when he'd gotten up to put his plate by the sink to wash later. "I know you're off tomorrow, I didn't want you to think you either had to stay put or go out and wait til I finish my shift."
Perry accepted the key, hiding his surprise at JD's thoughtfulness. It wasn't that he didn't think JD was thoughtful, exactly, but he was going above and beyond anything that Perry could have expected of him.
"You didn't have to do that."
JD shrugged. "I should have more than one key anyway, right? You know what a disaster I can be."
"You're telling me your boyfriend doesn't already have one?" Perry asked, eyebrows raising.
Blushing slightly, JD shook his head. "I kept meaning to get one cut so that he had it in case I lost mine, and then I kept forgetting and… I guess you've done me a favour."
Perry wasn't sure what to say to that. That Newbie was actually trying to make it seem like Perry wasn't intruding on his home…
Well, it was damn sweet, was what it was.
"So, do you have any plans for your day off?" JD asked, getting himself a bottle of water while Perry got a glass for the scotch he'd bought on his way home.
On his way back to JD's. Not home.
"Jordan said I can take the kids, so I thought I'd take them to the zoo," Perry replied softly. "Jack's old enough to be excited about the animals, and Jennifer loves the monkeys."
Newbie smiled as they settled down in front of the tv. "That'll be fun. I used to love the zoo, but the elephants were always my favourite. Oh, and the flamingos."
"I should be more surprised by that, and yet, here we are," Perry teased lightly, nudging JD's arm softly.
Laughing, JD shook his head. "I just like the way they stand on one leg. I tried to do it when I was about six and took a header into a trash can when I lost my balance. Dan thought it was hilarious."
"Of course he did."
Perry glanced at the tv. "You know you don't have to let me watch this, right?" he asked, nodding to the football.
JD wrinkled his nose. "There's nothing I want to watch. Besides, I'm sort of hoping I'll pick up the rules through osmosis or something."
"Uh huh. Well, if you've got any questions, I'm willing to answer them," Perry offered.
JD grinned at him. "You're going to regret that."
"Probably."
…
JD let himself in, yawning widely. His twelve hour shift had turned into a seventeen hour shift and he was tired.
He found Perry on the sofa, a book open in his lap. He looked up when he heard JD enter, chuckling when JD let himself fall into the empty space on the sofa with a groan.
"Long day?"
"Oh, like you wouldn't believe," JD replied softly. "Five codes in four hours."
Beside him, Perry winced. "How many—"
"Three of them will live to fight another day," JD answered before he could even finish the question. "We lost Mr Matthews and Mr Johnson."
Perry sighed.
"I know it's hard for you to lose patients," he said softly. "But you did what you could, Newb."
"How do you know?" JD asked, his tone just as soft. "You weren't in today."
"Because I know you," Perry replied. "And I know you did what you could."
"Yeah," JD agreed, closing his eyes. He stayed there for a few moments, and then opened them again. "I'm going to get a shower."
Perry nodded at him, a touch of concern in his eyes. JD wanted to reassure him that he was fine, but he couldn't. Not yet. He was feeling just a little bit broken, a little bit damaged from the day.
He knew he'd be fine, and he was sure Perry knew the same thing—he'd been there, hadn't he?
JD managed a small smile before he left for the bathroom. It was all he could do, but he had the strangest feeling that it was appreciated by the older man all the same.
…
Perry never thought he'd be glad to be staying in Newbie's spare room, and yet, he found he was. He knew how JD worked, and while he'd never really been the one to offer the affection that the younger man thrived on, he knew that JD did need it.
Especially after a rough day.
Listening to the shower start, Perry stood up and walked into the kitchen, checking the cupboards and fridge until he found enough snacks. He laid them out on a tray—and of course Newbie had a tray specifically for snacks—and took them out to the living room.
Setting them on the coffee table, he returned to the kitchen and set about making hot chocolate.
He was just putting them on the table when JD returned from the bathroom, his hair a mess of untamed chaos on his head, an oversized t-shirt that Perry was pretty sure had once belonged to Gandhi covering his chest.
He'd definitely made the right decision to try and comfort the kid if he was resorting to wearing his boyfriend's clothes.
Perry settled himself on the sofa, a little closer to the middle than he'd been sitting previously, and beckoned JD over.
Newbie's eyes were flicking between Perry and the coffee table as he approached, and when Perry purposefully put his arm along the back of the sofa in invitation, his eyes widened even further.
"You don't have to do this, you know?" he murmured, as he sat down, letting himself fall against Perry when the cushion tilted towards the middle.
"I know," Perry replied, his hand burying itself in JD's hair. "I want to."
…
JD couldn't believe it.
Perry was cuddling with him on the sofa.
A wave of calm settled over JD like none he'd ever known. The hot chocolate had warmed him, and the snacks had eased the slight nausea he'd been feeling, but really, the calm was all because of the man beside him.
Usually, anytime Perry touched JD was cause for fire, a hot trail left wherever his fingers had been, but not this time.
This time it was comfort and it was warmth and it was… it was so good. Everything he'd been denying he needed.
There was a movie playing on tv, a comedy, if the way Perry's chest shook occasionally with a rumble of laughter, but JD couldn't focus on it. He was both tired enough that his eyelids were getting harder and harder to open after every blink, and hyper focused on everywhere that they were touching.
And they were touching a lot. More than they ever had before, anyway.
Perry was a warmth along JD's side, and he imagined he could almost hear the blood rushing beneath his collarbone, which JD had his head rested against. Perry's arm was around his shoulders, his fingers absently tracing patterns along the skin of his arm.
JD bit his lip. He wanted to ask why, but at the same time, he had no wish to ruin the moment and it felt something like a precarious balance.
As he considered it, the decision was taken out of his hands, because his eyelids finally became too heavy to open and he fell asleep against the other man.
…
Perry felt the moment JD lost his battle with consciousness, and he smiled slightly when he felt him get just a little heavier against his side, his breathing deep and even.
He'd forgotten what it felt like, to feel needed like he did with JD.
Jordan had always been so independent—fiercely so, in fact—and she'd abhorred relying on Perry for anything. Newb was independent in different ways, but he was happy to admit that he needed people sometimes too.
It wasn't something Perry himself was good at admitting, but part of him knew that everybody needed somebody.
Spending the day with his kids, Perry had realised that he didn't need to be unhappy to be himself. He'd had the best day, but it had still been quite easy to tell the woman who'd decided she wanted to step in front of his son while watching the gorillas off.
And maybe he didn't need to be alone either.
Staying with Newb had shown him how it could be. He didn't dread coming home because he knew he'd be walking into a warzone. It was like… it was like coming home to Newbie's apartment was actually a break from the hospital, instead of feeling like it was an extension of the hopelessness.
While Perry knew that, eventually, either Jordan would move out of his apartment or he'd find another one, he found that he wasn't actually looking forward to having his own space like he thought he would be.
Sighing, he broke himself from his thoughts and looked down at JD again. He looked so peaceful, but Perry knew they couldn't stay where they were. Not for the whole night.
Neither of their backs would be happy in the morning if they did.
Shifting carefully so he didn't wake up his sleeping companion, Perry moved slowly until he could get a decent grip on JD and lifted him. He was glad the kid was asleep—Perry carrying him bridal-style would undoubtedly cause an absolutely wild daydream.
Careful to make sure that he didn't bang JD's head on the doorframe, he carried him into his bedroom and gently put him on the bed, pulling the sheets back with one hand.
He covered JD up, and after the smallest hesitation, leant down and pressed a kiss against his forehead.
"Sleep well, sweetheart."
…
JD ran a hand through his hair and then stretched. He was on the roof of the hospital, enjoying his break and the chance to let the wind cool his skin.
It was roasting in the hospital—the aircon was on the fritz—and he'd been running around literally since his shift started. They were overfilled and understaffed and it had been a nightmare of a day.
Disturbing the peace, his pager beeped at his hip and he groaned. He'd only been away for about ten minutes.
He checked it, only to find the page was from Perry, asking where he was. He sent a quick one back, telling him he was on the roof and then a second asking if he was needed.
He didn't get a reply, so he assumed not.
Except a few minutes later, Perry was standing beside him.
"You okay, Newb?"
JD nodded. "Fine, just really hot. Kelso really needs to get the aircon sorted like, yesterday."
"He doesn't have the best history of getting things fixed quickly," Perry pointed out. "Though I do think he's realised if he doesn't, he's going to have an angry mob chasing him with pitchforks and torches, so maybe we're in luck."
"I hope so," JD replied. "You wanna eat out tonight? I don't want takeaway, but I also really don't wanna cook."
Perry chuckled and then nodded. "Sure, Newb, whatever you want. We're gonna have to call at home first though, if only for a shower."
They both paused. It was the first time Perry had called JD's apartment—at least to JD—and it made them both freeze for a second. Perry had been staying with him for a little over three weeks, and JD really didn't want him to leave.
He just hadn't thought he had a choice. Maybe that wasn't completely accurate.
JD was the first to recover. "You've never been more right. Only five hours to go, right?"
Perry smiled and squeezed JD's shoulder. The physical connection instantly made him feel better. He'd been a little concerned that Perry would clam up after his slip up, and it was nice to know he wasn't going too.
"Only five hours to go. Come on, let's go and grab a cold drink from the cafeteria before we get paged."
JD allowed himself to be led back towards the door with a small smile on his face.
They'd have to talk about what Perry had said, but JD found that he wasn't worried about it.
And that was special.
…
Perry couldn't deny how date-like it was to sit across from Newb in the restaurant, candles lighting the place, the low music creating an intimate setting.
He… didn't hate it.
"So…. you think of my place as home?" JD asked quietly.
Perry knew he'd been chewing on the question since that afternoon. He twisted his lips for a moment in thought before he nodded.
"I guess I do."
"You know we can't stay there, right?"
Perry felt as thought his stomach had just plummeted thirty stories, and he swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat.
JD frowned at him. "Perry we have three kids between us in a two bedroom apartment. We need at least four bedrooms. At least."
Perry blinked, suddenly wrongfooted.
"Newb?"
"You know I'm in love with you, right?" JD asked, frowning. "I mean, everybody knows. The whole hospital knows. It's like, Kelso is Satan's minion, you'll find Elliot crying in a store room if you open the door, and I'm in love with you. That's how common knowledge it is."
"I. Well."
Perry supposed he did know that. He'd been in denial about it for… a really long time, but he did know it.
"I… did know that."
JD nodded, seemingly unconcerned that he'd just confessed his love. "You're wrong about one thing though, Newb."
"Hmm?"
"Kelso isn't Satan's minion. He is Satan."
JD huffed, amused. "Fair. Anyway, if you, uh, wanted to maybe stay with me. You know, for good? Then we need somewhere bigger. Just… letting you know I'm open to it, you know?"
Perry felt his lips tilt up in a smile. "Good to know, Newb."
…
Could have gone much worse, JD thought to himself, as he climbed out of the porsche. He'd thought he was actually going to vomit when he confessed his feelings to Perry.
Thankfully, Perry hadn't laughed in his face. Not that JD really thought he would. He was a prickly bastard but he hadn't been cruel to JD for months.
He let them into the apartment, leaving Perry to lock up, and grabbed two beers from the fridge. On his way back to the living room, he found a strong arm capturing him around the waist and he was suddenly up against a firm chest.
Perry pressed their lips together softly, almost chastely.
"You know," Perry murmured against his lips, "We're doing this all out of order, Newb. Moving in together before we have our first date. Having the big conversations before I've even kissed you."
"But we've done them all," JD pointed out. "Do they need to be in order to count?"
Perry chuckled. "I don't suppose they do."
JD kissed him again, because suddenly he was allowed to do that apparently.
"Think you can give up the yellow walls and exchange them for cream ones?" he asked, nodding to his own bedroom door.
Perry grinned at him. "Lead the way, Newb."
Written for:
Bromance To Romance: 3. Cuddling
Record Collection: 14. Blinded By Your Grace, Stormzy, MNEK: Write about someone feeling broken.
Written In The Stars: 6. Physical
Book Club: The Dragon: Gold / Yellow / Laughing
Showtime: 4. Gold
Lizzy's Loft: 14. History
Liza Loves: 4. Calm
Angel's Archive: 3. Unruly
Scamander's Case: 19. Fire
Film Festival: 5. Damaged
Marvel Appreciation: 2. Gold
Lyric Alley: 4. I know it's hard for you
TV Spree: 8. Supportive
Forecast: 12. Tired
Entitled: 7. A First Kiss
Build A Comic Book: Secret Identity: Biting Your Lip
Geek Pride: Critical Role, Prompt 1: "You know I'm in love with you, right?"
Founder's Says: Helga, 1: "You don't have to do this, you know." / "I know. I want to."
365: 75. Socks