Title: More than enough
Author: Leven
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: I don't own Ray, Neela or ER in general. They belong to NBC and all the other people who have something thing to do with this show. Song belongs to Michelle Branch.
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Sometimes you have to step back and review your life. So Neela decides it's time for her to do so. But she doesn't know how she's affecting the one person who needs her more than anything.

Chapter 1

I don't know whose side I'm takin'
But I'm not takin' things too well
I can see inside you're achin'
But is it still too early for me to tell?

-If Only She Knew, Michelle Branch

> > > > > > > > > > > >

Neela wasn't expecting anyone home. Ray was usually out on a gig at this time on a Friday night. Which meant that she could, finally, take a nice relaxing shower.

The ER had been hell. Somehow she had ended up with every old, whining, cursing and violent patient that had come in. No actual emergency had come up, no shootings or stabbings.

Nothing.

Susan had called it 'a slump', Neela liked to call it boring. So, after a day of old ladies asking her if she 'was really a doctor' and whether she 'was sure that headache wasn't because of a tumour', Neela opened the door to the apartment she shared with Ray and…immediately turned back around.

"Ray?" She asked, trying hard to suppress the urge to attack him. "Can I turn around now?"

From behind her came an unsure: "Yeah."

Thoroughly annoyed Neela turned around and crossed her arms.

Ray was sitting on the couch, next to him a very blonde girl was trying to decide whether to stare adoringly at Ray or glare hatefully at Neela. She decided on Neela.

"Hi. I'm Neela." Neela deadpanned.

"Melissa." The blonde responded with malice. Ray anxiously shifted his gaze from Neela to Melissa and back. Neela shot him a look that clearly said: 'we need to talk.' He quickly stood up and gestured towards the door.

"Uh…Mel, maybe you should go and…let Neela yell at me." Melissa rolled her eyes, but didn't get up.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend. I don't know why you'd choose her though, she's not very pretty." Melissa frowned. "And she should see someone about those clothes."

Ray groaned. "She's not my –" Neela interrupted him.

"Excuse me? What did you just say? You sl-" Her lips had formed one thin line. "Get out of my apartment. Now."

Melissa shrugged. "Alright." She kissed Ray on his cheek. "Call me. Nice meeting you, Neela." She plastered an extremely fake smile on her face and walked out of the apartment.

As soon as the door closed Neela walked over to Ray and punched his chest.

"Thank you very much for ruining an already bad day." Ray opened his mouth to argue but Neela wasn't having it. "One of the many things I don't want to be the first thing I see when I open a door is you undressing some slutty girl on our couch! Can't you just…do things like that in your own room? We've talked about this before! If you want me to know you're having sex so badly, it's not like I can't hear it through the walls. Since I can hear everything else."

Ray was beginning to get pissed off. What was her problem? He was just kissing the girl, for God's sake. But before he could express his feelings Neela had already started going towards her bedroom.

"Neela, come on." He tried to grab her arm but the moment his fingers touch her arm she yanked it away. "Neela, seriously! What going on with you?"

"What's going on?" Neela repeated in disbelief. "You're actually asking me that?" Can't you see I'm jealous? "What kind of daft idiot are you? You couldn't tell from the things I yelled at you before? What's going on is that you have absolutely no regard for my feelings!" And with those words she slammed the door in his face.

"You're overreacting!" He yelled through the door. No answer. "Neela please just come out. We'll make a compromise! Neela!" After five minutes of inpatient banging on the door Ray decided to give up, hoping she'd be more willing to talk, instead of yell, in the morning.

> > >

Sadly for Ray, Neela was indeed calmer the next morning, but not in a good way. When Ray's alarm clock went off at exactly 5:30 AM he was surprised by the smell of fresh coffee. The smell of Neela's coffee to be specific, coffee with cinnamon. The thing that disturbed him was that this was Neela's day off; she was supposed to be sleeping in.

Wide awake and very alert, Ray hurried into the kitchen but he quickly spotted Neela sitting on the couch…with a large suitcase next to her on the ground.

"Good morning." She greeted, as if nothing was different.

"Morning. Where are you going?" He didn't like this…at all. Then he noticed that everything she owned had disappeared from the living room. "And where's all your stuff?"

A very guilty look appeared on Neela's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

"I don't think I should live here anymore." She replied in a small voice. "All we do is fight, Ray. We fight about everything! Groceries and your dates and your band and who's calling the plumber and…I've had enough. Haven't you?"

"What?" Ray didn't care whether his mouth was hanging open, or whether he was looking like an idiot in loss of words. She was leaving? How could she do that to him?

"Please say something."

"When?"

"Today. I called Abby; I'll be staying there for a while." She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Again."

"Are you sure about this?" He asked anxiously. "Because I can change you know. I can…bring the dates straight to my room or give you a warning or something. And I'll find another place to practice! I just….don't leave." Neela refused to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry." An uncomfortable silence followed.

And in that very moment they were thinking exactly the same thing:

I should have said something.

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