Work Text:
Shaun Murphy was standing in the lobby of the hospital he worked at, waiting on his co worker Claire Brown. She was the first friend Shaun had made at the hospital and he valued her opinion on many topics. She took the time to get to know him and was genuine. He knew that she hadn't left for the night yet and wanted to ask her some questions before she did. He was finding himself in territory he had never been in yet and knew she would help to the best of her abilities.
"Hey Shaun. I thought you had left already." Claire greeted him warmly as she walked up behind him.
"I was waiting for you. I have questions." Shaun told her, as he turned to face her, rocking slightly on his heels.
Claire studied him for a moment to try to place where his nervousness was coming from before offering, "Well why don't we go get a late dinner and you can pick my brain?"
Shaun eyed her warily for a second, "Is that a joke?"
Laughing slightly, Claire nodded as she started to lead him out of the hospital. She noticed that Neil Melendez was watching them with curiosity as they headed towards where her car was parked. When she caught his eye, he quickly went back to the tablet in front of him. The entire hospital knew that they liked each other, but as far as everyone knew they were just circling around that fact. Claire knew that they would work well together though. Neil was closed off about the whole situation as everyone expected and Shaun wasn't a gossiper so details had been scarce, just observations from the hospital workers.
As the pair reached the diner that Claire knew was a favorite of Shaun's, the younger man spoke up happily, "Neil took me here yesterday. I like their pancakes."
"You and Melendez see each other outside of the hospital?" Claire asked him, hoping he would answer, but she knew he hated questions. The use of their attending's first name threw her, but it seemed Shaun was comfortable with it.
Shaun just nodded though, not elaborating. Claire didn't push any further as she parked and they walked inside. He shared when he was ready. If she was patient, she could get all the details she wanted out of him. They got a table towards the back and placed their order fairly quickly. As the waitress walked off, Shaun folded his hands on the table. He seemed anxious again, but Claire couldn't place the reason.
Before Claire could come up with a plan to get Shaun to open up to her, he spoke up without making eye contact, "When do people kiss?" Claire gave him a look of confusion and he elaborated, "When they are dating, how long before people kiss?"
Claire thought it over for a moment before telling him truthfully, "It's different for every couple Shaun. For me, I usually kiss someone I like after a few dates."
Shaun nodded thoughtfully as he mulled over the words before asking another question, "How do you know what qualifies as a date?"
"I think if you're questioning it, you should ask the person themselves?" Claire offered with a smile.
Their food arrived and ended their conversation for now. Shaun liked to focus on his meal while he ate instead of talking. While she ate, Claire watched Shaun thoughtfully. She wondered who he was talking about, what kind of things they had been doing, and if they were good enough for Shaun. He was a grown man and could take care of himself, but being his friend sparked a protectiveness of him that Claire just couldn't shake. She hoped she could get all the details before she took him home.
"He said the first time we went out that it was a date, but has not said it about the other times. I've seen couples and we do not act that way." Shaun announced suddenly as he finished up his food. He seemed unhappy at his own words.
Claire set down her fork before answering, "If he treats you the way he did on that first date, I would assume that the rest are dates too. Also, Shaun you don't like to be touched. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a well known fact about you. Maybe he's waiting on you to show that physical touches from him would be welcome?"
Shaun went quiet again as he looked around the diner, his eyes never falling on one spot for too long. Claire waited just a few moments longer before she couldn't contain her curiosity anymore and blurted out her question, "Who is this mystery man?"
"It's Neil." Shaun told her simply, but was looking anywhere but her face. It was like he thought she wouldn't approve.
Smiling a wide smile, Claire danced in her seat a bit, drawing his attention back to her as she told him happily, "I knew you guys would be so cute together. Does he treat you nicely? Respectfully? Are you happy when you're with him?"
She realized at the last moment that all those questions at once would probably be overwhelming to Shaun, but before she could apologize, Shaun said quietly, "Yes to all."
"Then that's all that matters. However, if you're really wanting him to kiss you and do all that couple stuff, sometimes making the first move works."
Shaun shook his head quickly in disagreement, "I do not do well at things like that. I would not want to do something wrong."
Claire smiled sweetly at Shaun as she remembered he was not very experienced with dating, "Then I suggest to let things develop. I'm sure it'll happen soon."
Nodding at his friend, Shaun didn't respond as he thought about her advice as they left the restaurant. They drove towards his apartment in a comfortable silence. After he said goodnight and was alone on his bed, he dived deeper into his thoughts. Him and Neil had been on several dinner dates and the older man even made Shaun breakfast one morning and brought it to his apartment on a whim. All the years of hearing how difficult he was and how much of a burden it was to be in Shaun's life, he was wary. Neil had not once tried to hold his hand or kiss him. Claire was right about Shaun not liking touches, but for a reason Shaun has not been able to explain to himself, Neil's didn't feel wrong.
Leaning back on his pillow, Shaun thought about the times Neil's hand had brushed against his in surgery or when he was trying to read a chart over Shaun's shoulder and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. Usually simple actions like that makes Shaun shrink into himself to get away from the hands, but every time Neil does it Shaun just happily accepts it. Shaun wants to kiss Neil and hold his hand and all the other stuff that comes with dating, but even with all the positive signs he's gotten, he's worried he's majorly misread this situation. If Claire was right though, time would tell. <><><><><><><><>
It was the next day and Claire had spent all of last night going over the things Shaun told her at dinner. Although it was nice to have the confirmation, it didn't make Claire feel good that Shaun was so unsure of where he stood with their attending. When she was done putting her things away in her locker, Claire realized she had a few minutes before her shift started and headed up to Neil's office to talk to him directly. It was entirely possible that Neil didn't know what Claire now knew.
She reached his door right as he was leaving it. He appraised her with a curious look, obviously wondering why she was at his office. Claire just gestured back towards his office with a shrug.
"What is it Brown?" Neil asked her impatiently as they reentered the office, closing the door behind them.
It hit Claire right then that she hadn't actually planned out anything to say. She had to approach this carefully because her attending was very good at hiding his emotions and personal life and if this came across as wanting gossip, he'd kick her out of his office instantly. He watched her fidget for a moment before waving his hand for her to spit it out.
"I had dinner with Shaun last night." Claire blurted out. Neil's eyes flashed with curiosity, but still said nothing obviously waiting on her to continue. "I know this isn't my business and you have every right to tell me to shut up, but I care about Shaun and I want him to be happy."
"Are you trying to tell me that that's not possible for me to do?" Neil asked her, his tone level, but there was an edge to his question and his eyes held a warning.
Claire took a step forward, her eyes wide with regret, "No. No! I swear that's not where I was going with this." She took a deep breath before just rushing the rest out. "Shaun told me that you guys have been spending time together outside of the hospital, but he's concerned that he's in a different place than you are. He finds it odd that you haven't kissed him yet and he's anxious. He did not tell me to talk to you, but I know Shaun. He would shove down his feelings forever if he could. I just want you to be aware so if Shaun is wrong like I think he is, you can fix this. Just kiss him!"
Neil just watched her carefully for a second, making Claire figuratively sweat bullets, before telling her, "So your concern right now isn't that we're starting to date, it's that we're not moving fast enough?"
She opened her mouth to protest before seeing the corners of her attending's mouths go up, trying to hide his amusement, "Not cool. I thought you were mad. All I'm saying is that maybe you're going slow specifically for Shaun, but he doesn't want that."
"I didn't want to push his boundaries. We've only been seeing each other for a few weeks now and Shaun is not shy about his aversion to being touched." Neil started before leveling a glare at Claire, "This does not leave this office."
Claire held up three fingers quickly making the Girl Scout sign, "Scouts honor, I swear. I just care."
Shaking his head at her goofy smile, Neil just turned and led her out of his office. As they reached the rest of the residents, Neil had time to process everything she told him. He was trying to respect Shaun's boundaries, but instead had made him feel as if Neil didn't care about him romantically. Seeing Shaun standing on the outskirts of the group, rocking slightly as he listened, Neil became determined to prove him wrong. There was no way that Neil would let Shaun go to sleep tonight feeling this way. <><><><><><><><><>
Shaun sat on the bench in front of the hospital, waiting on his bus when Neil walked up and plopped himself right beside Shaun without waiting for an invitation. They weren't touching, but they were closer than anyone else could get to the younger man. They sat quietly for a while, just enjoying the nice night they had.
"I'm starving, do you want to go grab something to eat?" Neil asked Shaun, shifting so he was facing him more.
Shifting in his seat, Shaun fidgeted with his hands as he tried to figure out the right way to say what he wanted, "I am overwhelmed with lights and people. I do not think a restaurant would help."
He wouldn't make eye contact with Neil, which is something he had been doing much more since their first date. It seemed like he was worried that him saying that would upset Neil. Reaching out slowly as to give Shaun a chance to move away or protest, Neil rested his hand on top of Shaun's clasped ones with a smile, "I can make something at my apartment if you want? We can turn down the lights even."
Neil could physically see him relax at the suggestion as he shook his head frantically in agreement. Standing up to lead Shaun to his car, Neil held out his hand for him to take once he was standing. Shaun look at his hand then up to his face, studying him with a wariness before reaching out to take his hand. Smiling a wide smile at him, Neil lead Shaun away from the hospital. They chatted easily while they walked, all while not letting go of each other. Once they reached his car, Neil opened the door for Shaun earning him a smile.
However Shaun did not climb into the passenger seat, he had turned his body towards Neil so he could look at his face. Neil waited for him to say something, but by the look on his face, he knew he was thinking about something intensely. He remained quiet though. Remembering his short conversation with Claire, Neil took a step forward. Shaun's breath sped up, but he made no effort to maintain space between them. He reached up to take Shaun's face in his hands, watching his reaction carefully.
"I would like to kiss you." Shaun blurted out, rushing through the words quickly as if he didn't say right then, he wouldn't.
Not even bothering to respond, Neil closed the distance between them so he could kiss Shaun gently. His plan was to keep it short, but Shaun blew that up when he wrapped his arms around Neil's middle and pressed harder into the kiss. As his lips slid over Shaun's over and over, Neil couldn't believe he had waited so long to do this. He felt more than heard it when Shaun sighed happily into the kiss.
Breaking the kiss off, Neil remained close to Shaun as he smiled at him widely. Shaun returned his smile and didn't break eye contact before leaning in to kiss him again. This time was short and sweet and when he pulled back, Shaun announced, "I would like food now."
Leaning over to kiss Shaun's cheek, Neil told him, "Anything for you."