AN: For this chapter I tried something new because I prefer to see both sides of the characters. Especially in a slow-burn-esque fic like this. While I navigate the best way to write, please bare with me. This is my first fic in a WHILE.

Chapter Three

Day One

Edrisa woke first the next morning. She sat up on the couch and hesitated about her next move. Malcolm had stirred throughout the night, however he still appeared to actually be sleeping. Knowing this was a rare occurrence and that he desperately needed sleep, she was very quiet going about her morning.

It was 6:00am, her regular waking time. She brushed her teeth, fixed her hair and collected her clothes to take to the laundromat. She hesitated at the door.

Malcolm had his key to the door, but she didn't. And she didn't want to leave the door unlocked to let anyone in, as Malcolm had a history of people breaking into his home. But she also didn't want to take his key without asking him about it. She also really didn't want to wake him up.

She pondered the predicament before deciding to lock the door and hope he was awake before her return.

She left a note to be safe.

Malcolm was surprised when he woke an hour later at 7am. He actually slept through the night without any nightmares. He fell asleep around 2am, so that was 5 whole hours of sleep!

He looked over to the couch, but couldn't see anything from his position on the bed. So he quietly unlatched himself from his restraints and put his mouth guard away.

When he crept over to the living room he was surprised to see that the blankets on the couch were folded and set on the cushion where Edrisa had slept. On top of the pile was a note.

Malcolm-

I didn't want to wake you. I went out to do some laundry and pick up a few things for breakfast. I should be back around 7:00 or 7:15 depending on traffic. I locked the door behind me.

I hope you slept well!

-Edrisa

Malcolm looked at the clock and it was now about 7:05am. He went to get ready for the day, including a shower.

He had just finished his affirmations and was in the middle of yoga when he heard a light, hesitant knock on his door. It had to be Edrisa.

He flung a towel around his sweaty neck and grabbed his water bottle off the floor, heading to the door.

"Coming," he called out, unlocking the door. He opened it to confirm it was indeed Edrisa.

"Hey," she said with a light blush on her cheeks. Malcolm opened the door wider to accommodate for all the bags hanging off every free space on her arms.

"I can help you," he says, taking five grocery bags from one arm. He's slightly perplexed by how she managed to get everything up the stairs.

He must have said his thoughts out loud because Edrisa was quick to answer.

—-

"I'm good. Years of top floor dorms have worn me in for handling groceries on stairs. One year I went up 4 flights with a case of water and 2 tubs of ice cream! And I hate making multiple trips back and forth, it's a lot of leg work! So this is my gym for the day. Although, it looks like you did your workout already. I knew you had to workout, there's no way you don't with a b-" Edrisa snapped her jaw shut as Malcolm shot an amused glance her way.

"Any-who, I can get these. I just got a few things for breakfast and dinner since we'll be at work for lunch. Although I have snacks for lunch too, I love snacks." Edrisa said putting a few boxes in the cupboards.

"You know Edrisa, I don't think I've ever seen my cupboards this full," Malcolm jokes as he puts the last box of macaroni-and-cheese in the empty space in front of him.

He goes to put his water bottle in the fridge to find it equally full.

"Or fridge for that matter," Malcolm mutters.

"I tried not to go overboard. I know you said most food makes you sick so I was sure to buy mostly organic and foods with more nutrients than artificials. Of course, I broke a bit with some things because I have a few bad addictions. But as I was walking I found a few things that reminded me of you and before I knew it….oh crap, I totally went overboard," Edrisa says with a sudden look of guilt.

She digs around the cupboard she had just filled to pull out a pack of licorice and hands them to Malcolm.

Malcolm chuckles fondly at the package and smiles at Edrisa. He's silent for a while, surprised at how something as small as a pack of licorice can make him speechless. Edrisa thought of him and bought him something simply from the kindness of her heart. Apparently he was silent for too long or his expression didn't translate well to the doctor because soon she was freaking out again.

"Oh no, I totally did! I pulled a Mrs. Tanaka! My mother would totally do this to me whenever she came over and I totally hated it! It was like she was taking over and-" Edrisa's rambles.

Malcolm interrupts her before she can spiral too much.

"Edrisa, Edrisa, you're fine. I promise. I just wasn't expecting this, honestly. You didn't have to go through all this trouble," Malcolm answers sincerely.

"Oh, it was no trouble! You're letting me crash so I thought the least I could do was cook us food while I'm here. I've been told I'm a pretty decent cook. I'm a better baker, but my cooking is okay. People don't realize how much math is involved in baking, it's kinda like that year I made a baking soda volcano for the science fair," Edrisa says fondly. She shakes her head slightly and clears away the grocery bags she had. She takes her bag Malcolm recognizes her having when she first came and set it by the couch. It must've been her laundry.

Having been distracted by the whirlwind that was Edrisa, Malcolm notices she's changed. She's wearing a pair of skinny jeans with a soft olive-green sweater that compliments her features and her signature black converse.

"I'll start a light breakfast so we can make it to the precinct before 8:00am," Edrisa calls taking out a few containers of berries from the fridge.

Malcolm nods and heads to the bathroom. He shuts the door and takes a moment to just lean against the door.

He enjoyed having company. And Edrisa was great company. But she was like a energized-tornado to Malcolms normal docile routine. He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing.

He hurried in the shower and changed into one of his trademark suits. When he exits the bathroom he finds Edrisa leaning against the counter with two plates and cups in front of her.

Malcolm walks over, cautious if he were being honest.

He's relieved to see it's just a smoothie and toast.

"I made it strawberry-banana, I knew you liked strawberry flavored because of the licorice and I thought banana would be a good source of potassium and vitamin B6 and C...but I should just stop talking," Edrisa says taking a sip of her cup and becoming very interested in the counter top.

Malcolm leans over and gently touches her hand, "thank you, Edrisa."

She smiles back at him.

He takes a sip and decides that the smoothie was amazing. In hindsight, he hadn't ate much until his takeout with Edrisa.

They finish their drinks and toast in silence.

"Well, better start heading to the office," Malcolm says grabbing his coat from the entryway.

Edrisa looks at him perplexed. Something on her mind.

"Are you okay?" Malcolm asks, shrugging his coat on.

"Yea, yea. Are you? Okay, I mean?" Edrisa asks sincerely. Malcolm is taken back by her question and the seemingly heaviness of it.

"Yea, I'm okay," Malcolm says. Edrisa nods slowly, turning his answer over in her head.

She smiles at him and takes her coat from her bag and grabs some scrubs to change into.

"Okay, I'm ready when you are," she says brightly.

They leave the building with a comfortable silence. Or not so comfortable. Malcolm feels a nagging sensation in the back of his head. Something wasn't right and he couldn't tell what exactly it was.

—

When Edrisa pulls into the precinct parking lot, her and Malcolm go their separate ways. Malcolm goes to his desk with the detectives and officers and Edrisa heads downstairs to the morgue.

She doesn't have anything to do right away. The one perk of living at work for 5 days was catching up and surpassing all the work you had to do. And there wasn't a new case yet for her to work on.

So all she had were her thoughts.

Edrisa Tanaka was a doctor. A medical doctor. And she was an expert in her field. She was also a semi-expert in Malcolm Bright. She had read his medical files before, purely under desperate circumstances when he was severely injured and no one would tell her how bad it was. And maybe because she wanted to make sure his doctors were doing everything to the best of their abilities. But either way, she knew him. Medically at least.

So Edrisa Tanaka knew that Malcolm Bright had a heavy regimen of medications he was supposed to take on a daily basis. A typically MORNING regimen. And Malcolm didn't take anything to her notice. He could have while in the bathroom or while she was gone, but he's supposed to eat when taking half of them. Judging by his previously barren cupboards that was not happening.

She wouldn't put it past him to take them without eating. But something told her he hadn't been taking his medications for quite some time. Something like opening his bathroom cupboard this morning to put her toothpaste away and seeing an organized line of prescription bottles with a fine coat of dust covering them. All made out to one Malcolm Whitly. All abandoned.

She really wasn't trying to snoop.

Malcolm was her friend. And that was a fine line she did not want to cross. But as a medical doctor she feared for her friend.

She decided she would keep a close eye on him. Monitor any changes in his mood or behavior, which there admittedly already were going off the last string of cases. But she would do everything in her power while she stayed with him to make sure he was okay.

Without letting him know and endangering their friendship.

Easy, right?

—

Malcolm didn't see Edrisa again until later that day, towards the end of their shifts. There wasn't an interesting or pressing case so most of his day was spent doing paperwork.

Between paperwork he ventured over to talk to the team. Dani being at the top of that list. They had a nice chat about the weather, the traffic and Dani gently teased him about his dream. He wouldn't give up any information though, keeping his alternate reality to himself. It was nice to talk to her.

He also talked to Gil. Well, he complained about the lack of a case and Gil listened. He offered to take Malcolm and the team out for drinks, just to get Malcolm to stop complaining.

Which led Malcolm to finding Edrisa. To tell her about drinks tonight.

"Edrisa?" He asked entering the morgue. Edrisa was slumped over at her computer, fast asleep. He felt a pant of guilt. He kept her up last night watching movies and talking, then she was up early running errands.

He wasn't as quiet as he'd have liked because Edrisa shot up as soon as the door shut behind him.

"Yes! Yes?" Edrisa exclaimed sitting up immediately.

"Oh, Bright! What's up?" she asked, adjusting her glasses.

He chuckles at her slightly disheveled appearance. He missed her this morning because she was the first one awake.

"I was going to see if you wanted to go out with me and the rest of the team for drinks tonight. But it looks like you need some rest," he says teasingly.

Edrisa looked at him confused.

"You're asking if I want to have drinks with you and the team?" She asks slowly.

"Yea, Gil said if I promised to stop complaining about there being no case that he'd buy drinks for the team," Malcolm said.

"Right, for the team," Edrisa said, stretching a bit and standing up.

"So, are you coming?" Malcolm asks as Edrisa straightens up some files on her desk.

"Oh, Bright, I-I don't think he meant me too," Edrisa stuttered with a forced chuckle at the end.

Malcolm looked at her perplexed.

"Of course it means you too, you're part of the team," Malcolm says leaning against her desk.

Edrisa looks at him with such a defeated look that he falters.

"Malcolm, please let it go," she whispers, getting up from the desk.

"Edrisa? What's wrong? If somethings bothering you then I want to know," Malcolm says sincerely.

She sighs and turns back to him, hugging the files to her chest.

"I'm not-I'm nobody, okay? I'm the autopsy person, the forensic specialist. I'm not part of the 'crime fighting team.' I'm just me. And nobody here really cares all that much for me so… I think I'll just stay in tonight," she says not meeting his gaze.

Malcolms a bit dumbfounded. He's not oblivious, he knows the team doesn't always know how to address Edrisa and her eccentric behavior. But he never thought she thought so low of herself.

"Edrisa, you're not nobody. You're a vital part of the team. We wouldn't be able to work without you," Malcolm says. She shakes her head.

"Working together doesn't mean liking each other. I'm tolerated. It's honestly fine, I got used to it a while ago. Way before you came onto the team. It wasn't as bad before you came on because you make me all tongue tied and everything and that annoys people, especially JT. Not that-that's not your fault! I just enjoy talking to you because no one really noticed me until you came. And then you talked to me and… it's just nice to have someone to talk to you know? I think that's why I talk so much around you," she pauses and looks at him, "you listen to me. No one else does. Or if they do, they don't really care. But you, you actually listen to me."

"Of course I listen to you Edrisa. You're my friend," Malcolm says sincerely. The mortician's eyes start misting and she quickly turns away.

"I don't really do well in the friend department," Edrisa admits, back still facing him. Malcolm guesses it's to hide her tears, or feelings, or both. He never realized how affected she was by the rest of the team until now.

"I don't either," Malcolm says. She scoffs lightly.

"You're easy to like. You know all the right things to say and what to do. I just-I get lost when it comes to live people. I think that's part of the reason why I became a mortician. Nobody can judge you when they're dead. And you can talk forever without being afraid of saying the wrong thing," she tries to add for humor. The joke falls flat when she turns around to see Malcolm studying her again.

"You're a good person Edrisa. You don't deserve to feel like you're being tolerated. Come out with me tonight, as my friend. The team just hasn't had the chance to get to know you," Malcolm tries again.

She smiles a small smile at him.

"They haven't really tried," she says weakly. Malcolm doesn't have much to say in response to that. As it is he's anticipating every way this could possibly go wrong and what he can do to make it okay for Edrisa.

"Just one night. If you get uncomfortable or want to leave, we will. And I will never pressure you to try again," Malcolm promises.

She worries her lip between her teeth as she thinks it over.

"Okay, one time. But I have to drop by my apartment to find a better suited outfit. All I have at your place is scrubs and some errand clothes," she relents.

Malcolm let's out a splitting grin that makes Edrisa smile back at him with an equally wide smile.

"Deal," Malcolm promises.

Malcolm talks Edrisa into letting him take a cab back to his place so she can gather her things at her apartment. He told her it was so he could get ready himself, which was partly true. The other part was so that he could gather better intel about the team and their opinions of Edrisa before they all went out tonight. He noticed a few times at the crime scene where they poked fun or made comments, he always filed them away as friendly banter. However, using the new information he was told from Edrisa, he re-imagined all the scenarios through her point of view.

Shortly after doing this he feels so stupid for not seeing it earlier. Edrisa was right, she was always the odd man out. If she wasn't with Malcolm, she really wasn't with anyone on the team. If he didn't include her, she would be left out.

He had to fix this.

And he had to fix it without Edrisa knowing.

Easy, right?