Recently I got into ER and I instantly became obsessed fell in love with the Abby and Luka pairing. The fact that it's very similar to Captain Swan definitely helped haha. So here I am dipping my toe in the ER fandom, hoping for the best.

This fic is inspired by the movie and musical "Waitress". I will be borrowing dialogue from the movie/musical, as well as from ER.

Special thank you to aboutbunnies for being my beta and listening to my ideas at random hours of the night ;) and to DocJen for encouraging me to expand on this initial idea.

Enjoy!

xxxxXXXxxx

Chapter 1:

Abby was late.

Well, she was late to work. But she was also late. As in - She shook her head. "Don't even think about it."

It was an ugly February morning and the L train was running frustratingly slow. In fact, everyone around her seemed to be functioning at a sluggish pace. Which meant the diner was going to be full of grumpy, lethargic asses that wanted gallons of coffee and a piece of yesterday's cake to go with it. And she would have to grit her teeth and smile until her cheeks ached and take down their orders without any complaints.

It was an exhausting job that Abby loathed with every fiber of her being. But she didn't have much of a choice.

The train doors opened and Abby shivered as the cold wrapped around her stockinged ankles, bitingly. In her haste of leaving the apartment, she'd forgotten the sweatpants she usually wore over her uniform. The car was completely full of people packed together like sardines, so Abby was mostly able to keep warm by standing among the sea of bodies and their collective heat. But her legs were exposed and every time the doors opened, a small but sharp blast of wind would come through and chill her.

Across from her a man stood up to leave, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the station sign through the window.

Library-State/Van Buren

"Shit!" She hissed and began to push and squeeze her way to the door, earning some dirty looks. "Excuse me. Sorry. I need to get off." It was not an easy feat thanks in part to her small stature and everyone's apathy. But luckily Abby was able to get off onto the platform just as the doors closed behind her.

The cold was even worse now that she was fully outside. It was the kind that painfully made the muscles tense up. Hugging her coat close and ducking her head down into her scarf as if she were a sea turtle, Abby hurried down the steps and onto the street. Further down, the neon sign of the dinner flickered like a welcoming beacon.

To be honest, "Doc Magoo's" wasn't all that special: the food was okay at best and the seats definitely needed new upholstery. If Abby had been a tourist in Chicago, she probably would've walked right past the place. Yet every morning and evening, it was always crowded. Perhaps it was because the diner's location was convenient for everyone in the area.

The bell on the door tinkled loudly as Abby entered, removing her coat and scarf. From the kitchen, a voice called out amidst the clanging of pans. "Abby! You're late!"

"Sorry Chuck!" Abby said breathlessly as she ducked into the backroom. To her dismay, the room was cold, though not as bad as outside. But her arms immediately erupted with goosebumps at the temperature as she turned on the light switch. The bulb flickered to life, revealing the sparsely furnished room in all its shabby glory.

Abby hung her coat on the rack then felt the radiator nearby. It too was cold. She tried fiddling with the knob but to no avail. "Damn you, Chuck." she muttered under her breath as she walked over to the small mirror on the wall, dropping her bag onto the moth-eaten couch.

Her tired reflection stared back at her; cheeks pink from the chill, hair hastily tied back, no makeup. Definitely not a welcoming sight for customers (though most of them were no prizes themselves). Abby yanked her hair tie out, combed her fingers through her brown locks a few times, then attempted to pull everything back into a high ponytail.

As she lifted her arms, her eyes darted down to her reflection's stomach.

No! Don't think about it!

Her thoughts were thankfully interrupted by the bathroom door opening, revealing a familiar plump blonde woman wiping her hands on her uniform.

"Hey."

"Hey." said Susan as she leaned over the radiator and wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "We gotta get Chuck to fix this thing. This is just ridiculous."

"Is that before or after he fixes the coffee machine back here?" Abby said as she hunted through her bag for her makeup case, earning a dry laugh from Susan. "How's Chloe doing?"

"Oh, you know. New boyfriend is a deadbeat, but she's convinced he's Prince Charming."

"Is he cute?"

"Well he's easy on the eyes. Not so much on the nose."

Abby chuckled. She leaned close to the mirror, breath slightly fogging the glass, and began applying her mascara. "Well, here's hoping this one doesn't steal your TV like the last one did."

"Don't remind me." Susan said as she came over to the mirror. Abby ducked slightly so that Susan could lean over her and touch up her lipstick.

Abby had only been working with Susan for about four years and while she wouldn't go as far to call Susan her "friend", she definitely enjoyed her company. She was compassionate but not in an off-putting way. She refused to take crap from anyone, customer or co-worker, but she wasn't abrasive. And much like Abby, she knew the struggles of growing up with an overbearing mother and a reckless younger sibling. So having someone like Susan around during the work day made things slightly more tolerable.

"By the way, did you do it yet?"

"Do what?" Abby said, absently. But then she noticed the way Susan was looking expectedly at her and it all clicked.

Crap. She wanted to know if- Don't panic! Just stay calm.

Her face must have betrayed her, because Susan frowned. "Abby." She admonished.

"What? I'm gonna do it!"

"When?"

"I don't know!" Abby said defensively, as she put her makeup bag away. "I just… haven't had a chance to."

"Oh, come on. It's been almost two weeks. Are you just going to ignore it and hope it goes away?"

"Pretty much."

"Abby!" Susan almost laughed in disbelief.

Behind them, the break room door opened a bit and a dark haired woman poked her head in. "Sorry to interrupt, but are you both almost ready? Chuck's starting to get antsy."

"When is he not?" Abby brushed past Susan to the door, perhaps a little too quickly. "Your nametag's upside-down, Neela."

"Bollocks." She muttered and began correcting her mistake.

The clock above the door read that there were about three minutes left before opening time. Abby could see there was already a small gathering of people waiting outside, faces practically pressed against the glass windows, seeking shelter from the cold.

The diner looked a bit more welcoming now. All the lights had been turned on, including the one overhead lamp that constantly flickered, no matter how many times Chuck changed the bulb. The booths, countertops, and tables had been cleaned and wiped down, giving an illusion of a waxy shine. And the paper napkins were already wrapped around the silverware, ready to be placed.

If Abby wasn't so used to Neela's unnatural pace, she might have been impressed.

Usually whenever something needed to be done, Neela was the first one up to the task. She had this mindset that if she wasn't doing 'something' every second, she wasn't technically working. Most employers might have desired someone like this, but it stressed Chuck out instead.

"So," Neela began conversationally as she and Susan began laying down placemats. "What were you two going on about in there?"

Abby shrugged noncommittally, arranging the napkin-wrapped silverware on the tables. "Oh you know. The usual." But before she could change the subject, Susan interjected with, "Abby still hasn't taken the test yet."

Neela's mouth opened in surprise. "What? Are you serious? But it's almost two weeks."

"That's what I said."

Abby's cheeks flushed. "Yeah and as I said, I just haven't had the time to do so. It's not that big a deal."

"You can literally do it when you use the bathroom! It doesn't even take more than five minutes!"

"What Susan's trying to say is," Neela intervened, "you can't keep putting this off. I mean, have you even told Richard yet?"

This time Abby's face didn't betray her, thankfully. But her grip tightened around the silverware. "Nope. And I'm not going to. Now would you guys just drop it already?" Her voice slightly quavered with annoyance.

She usually wasn't the kind of person who shared her personal life with her coworkers. Abby guarded her secrets and her past more closely and tightly than Fort Knox. But that day had been particularly rough and she had been feeling overwhelmed and before she could stop herself, everything had tumbled out of her mouth.

And now she was beginning to regret it.

"Abby, we're just-"

"I said drop it!" She said a little too aggressively.

"Ladies!"

From the kitchen window, a grizzly man emerged from the smoke off the griddle. His brow was heavily furrowed, making his eyes seem smaller than usual, and his beard was almost as thick as a bear's hide. As such, the combination of heat from both the kitchen and his facial hair left him with a slightly red face.

"We got customers waiting! Let's save the chit-chat for later and get movin'!"

Instantly all three women dispersed, like soldiers manning their battle stations; Neela went to stand by the hostess podium, ready to welcome and seat customers, Susan hurried over to the door and began unlocking it, and Abby ducked behind the counter to fill out the specials board. But when she uncapped the marker, her stomach suddenly turned over at the artificial smell.

"Abby, which dessert are we making for the specials today?" Chuck asked as he disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Deep shit blueberry pie."

There was a slight pause then Chuck popped his head back out, bemused. "Deep shit?"

"Oh-! No, dish. Deep dish." Abby floundered, cheeks reddening again. "Sorry Chuck!" The marker squeaked as she wrote. With each stroke, the smell got worse. She tried to breathe slowly through her nose and swallow.

Across the room, she could feel Neela's brown eyes burning holes into her back. No doubt she was working up the nerve to continue their conversation, which Abby had no interest in doing. Neela meant well but sometimes her "concern" was a bit intrusive.

Susan undid the last lock and flipped the 'closed' sign to 'open'.

The bell rang as the door opened, bringing in customers and the cold.

The day had officially begun.