The absolute last thing you expected to gain from your residency at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre was a boyfriend, let alone two. You started on the same day as Dennis Whitaker, you immediately found his hesitance and lack of confidence endearing. You knew from the very start that he was absolutely brilliant, even if he didn’t know it yet.

Your attending was Dr Robby. A gruff and stern man, but there’s a softer side under that prickly exterior. You saw it every time he pretty much manhandled Dennis to bring him somewhere or to get him out of the way, yeah it was rough but he wouldn’t put in that much effort to help him if he didn’t care. You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t want that same attention.

You got it. You got it from both of them. You got it from Dennis when he’d bring you coffee only to spill it all over himself, you got it when Robby would quietly make his presence known when you had to deal with a particularly difficult patient. The first time Robby grabbed the back of your neck to steer you away from, and put himself in front of, a patient who was escalating to the point of being violent you could have sworn you’d gone tachycardic.

Of course it took a long time for any relationship to progress beyond a professional and friendly relationship. Robby was your attending, HR would have had a fit if he ended up dating either you or Dennis. Dennis was always too anxious to ask you out and you never asked Dennis out either. So it took months. Months of Robby beating himself up for having crushes on two residents, beating himself up for being selfish enough to want both of you.

It all came to a head when you all joined the rest of your shift at a nearby bar. You all got way drunker than you meant to and woke up in the same bed, Robby and Dennis just in their boxers, you just in Robby’s shirt, all of you covered in hickeys and quite sore. Things were awkward for a while but Robby pulled himself out of bed and made breakfast. It’s not like he wanted things to be awkward, especially not when you all worked together.

It felt more natural than any of you could have ever imagined. That one breakfast together turned into the three of you finding excuses to be alone all together. Those excuses turned into movies on Robby’s couch, your legs tangled with Dennis’s and your fingers laced with Robby’s. Those movie nights turned into nights spent together. The relationship that blossomed from that drunken night together fell in place naturally. You just needed that ice to be broken.

It’s nights like this that make needing to hide this relationship worth it. You’re all in bed together, Robby has his glasses on and is reading, you’re on your laptop, and Dennis is half asleep between you two. It’s quiet, peaceful, the only sounds being your laptop keys clicking, Robby’s book pages, and Dennis’s occasional shifting.

“This is nice-“ Dennis mumbles, not even bothering to lift his head. He’s warm, cosy, and he’s not planning on moving anytime soon. Robby chuckles softly as Dennis mumbles, one of his hands moving to scratch Dennis’s scalp.