Dempeo: The Whole Truth

Chapter 9

[What is Ellen's most attractive quality?] "Well there's a lot of them, but I definitely love her eyes and she has a great giggle"- Patrick Dempsey

He opened the trailer door to see Ellen already sitting inside with a coffee in her hand, she was almost never there before him but it was the first day of filming season 2 so clearly she had made an exception to be early. He closed the door as quietly as possible before sneaking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and kissing her on the cheek. She didn't even flinch, she obviously wasn't quite as engrossed in her magazine as he had previously thought. "Good morning" she said giggling, her laugh vibrating through her back and onto his chest where he still held her. The sound instantly brought a smile to his face, he had missed hearing it everyday, he'd still seen her once or twice a week over the past couple of months but it wasn't the same. "Good morning, are you excited for season 2?" he said letting her go and sitting on the stool beside her, "I am but I'm going to miss you" she said pouting. "It's only for a few episodes El, don't get too jealous" he said smirking at her, "I'm not jealous, maybe Meredith will meet someone in the meantime or maybe Viper will come back" she said raising her eyebrows at him. God, he remembered Viper, it was only episode 3 of last season, they'd barely been filming for three weeks but watching him kiss Ellen was torture. It was so stupid, he was married and she had a boyfriend that she went home to most nights, but still the idea of her having another love interest on the show made him feel sick. "You know that Kate's only here for a few episodes, don't get your hopes for a new man. And besides I doubt you'd find one quite as good looking as me, and definitely not as good of a kisser" he said making a face at her. She rolled her eyes and laughed at him, "Oh you really think way too much of yourself" she said grabbing his forearm. Everything between them had always been casual, comfortable, like they'd known each other forever, but he couldn't help but wonder whether, like him, she made any excuse to touch him. The unnecessary contact between the two of them, the way he placed his hand on her lower back whenever they walked anywhere together, the way she grabbed his arm when she laughed. Did it mean anything to her too? "Also I read your interview with E!" she said biting her perfect lip, "You did?" he replied, he had done that interview a couple of months before but it must have only just come out. "You love me?" she said smiling and raising her eyebrows, he racked his brain trying to remember what he had said in the interview, surely he hadn't slipped up that badly. "Do I?" he asked with a confused look on his face, "They told you to keep your hands off of Kate and your exact words were 'I know, I love Ellen. I'll do my best'" she said smirking. Shit, he had known that he had fallen in love with her the moment he had met her but admitting it out loud by mistake in an interview was a different story. "Well, you know what I mean it's-" he said trailing off, "Paddy, I know what you mean, I love you too" she said winking at him. As much as he had wanted to hear that he knew that she didn't mean it in the way he did.

"Cut. That was good, this time walk a little slower" the director said, he'd been shooting with Isaiah and James for almost an hour now. Isaiah still got under his skin, he hadn't done or said anything but there was something about him, about the way he looked at him and Ellen. "Your glowering" Ellen said walking up to him from where she'd been sitting reading a script, "I am?" he asked smiling at her. "Well not anymore but you looked like you were about to flip a table over and storm off in a rage" she said, "I promise I'm not, how could I be mad when I have my fan club watching me" he said winking at her as he walked away. "You ass" she said laughing as she made her way back to her chair. He wasn't trying to eavesdrop when he overhead Sandra greet Ellen by saying "Watching your Dr Mcdreamy act again?", he had just happened to be close enough to hear every word. "I don't know what you're talking about, it's the first day of filming, it's hardly a regular occurrence" Ellen said nonchalantly, "Mmmmm... sure. Play stupid if you want to but we both know just how much you enjoyed rolling around in bed with him last season" Sandra replied. He couldn't help but smile to himself at that, maybe she had told Sandra something about him. Wanting to hear more, he moved closer to them before being called over by the director. Begrudgingly, he walked over to where he was being positioned, trying to keep an eye on Ellen and Sandra to see if he could read their lips. It turned out he was terrible at lip reading, unless Sandra had said something about a blue banana which he thought was extremely unlikely. James cleared his throat bringing his attention back to his job, he never usually got this distracted, especially not when he was meant to be filming.

"Why are you smiling like that" she said as he walked over to her after he finished shooting, he was still feeling incredibly smug after overhearing Sandra and Ellen's conversation. "I'm just happy to finally be going to lunch with my favourite co-star" he replied before holding out his hand. She took it, her fingers interlocking with his as she got up, her small hand warm against his. He ran his thumb against the back of her hand as they walked to the food truck that Shonda had hired as a welcome back treat. He looked over at her to see her studying his face intently, "Do I have something on my face? Or has my hair gone flat?" he asked reaching up to touch his curls. She laughed and said "No, I was just daydreaming", he knew that excuse, he had used that excuse a dozen times after being caught admiring Ellen. He didn't want to push her on it, she never confronted him when she caught him staring at her, but a sense of satisfaction spread across his chest.