Work Text:
Dr. Jack Abbot was never a jewellery guy. The only thing that ever came close to it were his dog tags, but he gave those to Robby one day after a tough roof conversation where Robby was on the wrong side of the railing. And maybe when he did that, he should’ve realised he and Robby were never ‘just friends’ but he didn’t have to think about it. What was important that day was getting Robby back on his side of the rail, so he took off his dog tags and put them in Robby’s hands.
Told him that he doesn’t have to wear them, but to keep them in his pockets. And if Jack isn’t there to remind him that he’s important and there is someone who cares, he should hold onto them and think about Jack. Which was stupid and an awful way to accidentally declare his love to his best friend, but it worked and Robby was safe and that’s all that mattered.
They never spoke about it again.
One day in therapy, he was told that even though he worked in a stress inducing environment in the ER, he wasn’t immune to stress triggers, and it would be interesting to monitor his stress levels throughout the day, and that’s where the Oura ring came in. And that damn ring is what started it all.
Jack was forced to start wearing the ring all day and only remove it when showering or when it’s charging. And because sometimes acting like a kid seems to be the easier route, he talked Robby into also wearing one because “it’s good to track your vitals and stress levels when working in a stressful environment”.
They got the sizing cut; he ordered a black size 10 for himself, and a silver size 11 for Robby. Robby wore his on his index finger, Jack switched between the middle and index fingers every once in a while; whenever it started bothering him. They were in each other’s circle, and it was interesting to see that the days Robby had a shitty sleep, it reflected on his mood - which he’d known - but it was like an extra layer of Robby confirmed. On those days he made sure to be extra cheerful when he saw Robby during hand off or texting Dana to make sure she tells whoever is handing off to go easy on him.
Robby wore his for two weeks before giving up and pretending he lost it, and Jack hated him for it but he’s nothing if not determined so he kept wearing his ring and reporting the results to his therapist. Who would’ve thought that standing on the roof at the end of his shift before hand off was the moment his stress levels were down by 80%? Not him, that's for sure.
Jack was doing his laundry one day when his phone buzzed on the table - it was a text from Robby.
"How about I cook something for dinner today instead of take-out?” the message read.
Jack smiled before replying, “sure why not?”
“Any specific requests?”
“You trying to woo me, Mikey?”
“Sure why not, let me woo you Dr. Abbot”
“I don’t have anything in mind, do your worst as long as we both don’t end up at the hospital when we’re not on shift”
“I can’t believe you don’t trust my cooking abilities! I’m an amazing cook, you have been on the receiving end of many original and old Robinavitch family recipes”
“Do I need to remind you about the chicken parmesan incident?” Jack was about to put his phone down and finish his laundry but his phone started ringing all of a sudden so he just answered and put it on speaker.
“That was not a cooking issue, how would I know that cheese expired if it doesn’t look or smell weird?” Yelled Robby at him.
“It’s called an expiry date and it’s on the packaging,” replied Jack, naturally smiling.
“I didn’t notice, and we were fine, just a little stomach ache and we got through it.”
“OK fine, how about steak?”
“Sounds good, didn’t think you’ll let it through this fast, I was ready to go on,” replied Robby.
“I decided to go easy on you, comes with old age I guess,”
“Sure old man, dress nicely for dinner,”
“Wait, why am I dressing nicely?”
“Because I said so, see you at 8,” and Robby hung up. Wait what the hell just happened?
Jack finished folding his laundry, decided to go reply to some late emails and run through his chores for the day. Around 7 pm, he got into the shower to freshen up; he looked at himself in the mirror after and decided to shave his stubble. Robby did say to dress nicely so why not go the whole nine yards? He picked a light green dress shirt, wore nice black pants and on his oura on his left middle finger before he took his wallet and left for Robby's house.
Jack is at Robby’s door by 7:59 pm. He’s about to use his key but decides against it and knocks. He hears a few things falling and smiles, the door opens in a few seconds after it and he’s surprised, Robby looks nice. He’s wearing a beautiful shade of blue that suits his tone and surprisingly makes his eyes look even more beautiful than usual.
“Right on time, come in,” says Robby with a smile.
“Thank you, you clean up nice,” says Jack.
“Thanks, so do you,” replied Robby, going behind the kitchen counter to grab a champagne bottle. What is happening?
“Champagne? Really?” Jack asked, looking at Robby holding the glasses which he then put down and gestured to Jack to sit on the opposite chair. It looked like Robby went all out; the table was set with a bread basket, a small salad bowl and 2 plates, each with mashed potatoes and a smoking steak still sizzling, cooked to perfection.
“Yes, we’re so overdue for something nice, aren’t you tired of all the junk food and beer?” said Robby sitting down in his own chair after pouring the champagne.
“That we are, for a couple of doctors, we really need to take better care of our nutrition intake,” smiled Jack, “so what are we toasting to?”
“To us,” said Robby, “and making it for another day.”
“Cheers to that,” answered Jack clinking his glass to Robby and taking a sip. As he put the glass down, he noticed Robby looking at his hand, “something wrong with my hand?”
“Nothing is wrong with your hand, I just noticed you still wear your ring,” asked Robby.
“I am, it’s doing me good, I noticed my stress levels are down when I’m working with Shen,” answered Jack.
“Oh I bet he would love to hear that,” chuckled Robby.
“He knows,” smiled Jack, “I like working with Shen, his coffee addiction makes me feel normal about my coffee intake”.
The easy conversation kept going through dinner, but Jack noticed that Robby kept looking at his hand. He ignored it a couple of times, but by the time he was taking the last bite of his steak and Robby’s eyes were on his hand he couldn’t keep silent about it.
“Robby my man, what is it with my hands, new kink?” asked Jack looking at his hand like there’s a sixth finger that Robby can see and he doesn't.
“It’s nothing really,” said Robby looking back at his plate like he didn’t mean to be caught staring.
“What’s nothing? You keep looking at me like something is wrong,” said Jack, starting to get a bit annoyed.
“Look - it’s..” Robby took a big inhale then looked up at Jack with purpose all of a sudden, “give me your hand.”
“Wait what?” they’re officially in the twilight zone, thought Jack.
“Just, give me your left hand please,” said Robby, reaching out for Jack’s hand.
Surprised and willing to see where this is going, Jack remained silent and slowly reached forward, giving Robby his hand. He wasn’t sure what to expect, Robby was silent but determined, he moved his fingers slowly from holding onto Jack’s hand till they circled Jack’s middle finger.
Jack didn’t realize he was holding his breath, with Robby taking the oura ring out of his middle finger slowly, Robby taking a deep breath, then sliding the ring on his ring finger with an exhale.
Jack didn’t know if he’s been holding his breath for a long time or this is how it feels to have a heart attack, “Robby” he said in a weighted breath.
“I had a bad day a couple of days ago,” said Robby while still holding his hand and looking at the ring, “I was on the roof after what felt like the longest shift I had in a while, I started doing my breathing exercise and it wasn’t working, I could feel myself on the verge of having a panic attack when I put my hands in my pocket and found your dog tags.”
Oh.. Jack forgot about those, it’s been.. months since that day.
“It may have stopped the panic attack, but man did I spiral,” laughed Robby, still holding Jack’s hand, now turning the ring on his finger slowly, “it was so simple yet I don’t know why it took me this long to realize it, I’m in love with you and I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Jack was still looking at Robby, taking a glance at his hand between Robby’s and how they just fit.
“So what,” asked Jack, still not sure how to navigate this. What do you do when your best friend, your partner in crime and the person you have loved for years, the one you weren’t sure how they’ll act if they knew your feelings towards them, when that person suddenly proposes? Obviously panic and deflect, “you thought let’s just skip the dating part and jump to marriage? Have you even dated a guy before this?”
“It was never about gender for me, it’s about what feels right, and this? Us? Nothing has ever felt so right,” said Robby, bringing Jack’s hand to his lips and planting a soft kiss to his ring finger, “and perfect,” he looked up at Jack while still holding his hand close, “so yes, I don’t want to waste another moment of my life without you, so will you jump with me?”
Jack needs to deflect some more, he’s not sure what’s going on with him right now, his heart is beating so fast it feels like it may explode any minute, he’s not sure he wants to check his oura report later to check on his levels because he’s sure it’s going to be off the charts abnormal, what the fuck is happening to him? This is Robby, his Robby, the love of his life if he ever had one.
His heart still feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest, he can’t get himself to move and give Robby an answer, his eyes are starting to sting, and why the hell is he crying right now? He suddenly can’t talk and can’t get himself to say the YES that’s struggling to come out and Robby is starting to lose that spark in his eyes, he was so proud of what he did and his mini speech and Jack Abbot, who can’t shut up at any given moment during his day, doesn’t want to see that spark goes away.
He still doesn’t remember what it means to speak, so he starts nodding slowly till he can move his jaw again and finally, finally, says “Yes.”
Robby’s smiling again, Jack loves that smile and never wants to see Robby without and he’s laughing right now but the tears are coming down still and in less than a second Robby is standing, holding Jack’s face in his hands and kissing him. It’s hello, nice to meet this side of you and I’ve been waiting for you my entire life all in one.
“I love you too, by the way” said Jack when they both came up for air, “I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you on that roof, you were like a knight in shining armor coming to save me from myself, and I will marry you then date you and catch up on years of what I want to do to you in the bedroom,” resting his forehead on Robby’s, “We can have an anniversary every year on that damn roof that brought us together,”
“You jump, I jump jack.” said Robby smiling.
Jack’s hands were already around Robby’s waist, he pulled him in closer and looked up to see Robby’s eyes on him, he gave it a few seconds, stole another kiss then said “Stop romanticizing that shit, no one is jumping, let’s go to bed I want my dessert.”
fin.
At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger
And put it on the one people put wedding rings on
And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department