Dempeo: The Whole Truth

Chapter 13

"They bring out the best of one another"[About Ellen and Patrick]- Shonda Rhimes

He had never seen someone fall asleep quite so quickly, the flight to Seattle was only two and a half hours long and Ellen had managed to fall asleep on his shoulder fifteen minutes in. They had convinced Shonda to fly Ellen out with him and Kate instead of a couple days later with TR. Shonda had agreed of course, laughing about how inseparable they had become. Kate leant across the isle of the small private plane, "How is she asleep, it's so loud" she asked, smiling at Ellen, "She can sleep anywhere, just wait until she starts snoring" he replied with a chuckle. He liked Kate a lot, she had become a really good friend over the months, he felt like she understood his Ellen situation. Of course he hadn't told her about how he felt but he was pretty sure it was written all over his face the majority of the time. The rest of the cast just teased them about it and were more Ellen's friends than his but Kate was different. She still teased him relentlessly about his obvious pining but she didn't push it too far, she was a friend to both of them. He looked down at Ellen, her hair had fallen over her face and she was snoring softly, he pushed her hair behind her ear, running the back of his fingers down her cheek. Moments like this were ones he wanted to cherish for the rest of his life.

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"Are you done yet?" he called from outside her room, they'd arrived at the hotel a couple of hours before and they were expected in the lobby five minutes ago to head off to film. "I'm coming, I'm coming" she responded, he could hear shuffling behind the door, stepping back just as the door opened. "You look nice, very smart" he said looking her up and down, he had to admit that he wasn't quite expecting to see her dressed in a camel blazer to watch him film. "Well the camera crew are going to bring a lot of attention to us so I can't exactly look like a slob can I?" she replied smiling, "This is true, you did look like you just woke up. Oh wait, you had just woken up" he said grinning his cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes at him as they walked to the elevator, "It was only a quick nap", "Right, a quick nap, the snoring and drooling really back that up" he smirked. "I do not drool" she snapped, her eyes widening, "I have the stains on my shirt to prove it", that statement earned him a thwack on the arm. "I just hope your snoring doesn't keep me up all night" he said pushing the button for the ground floor, "You won't be able to hear anything through the walls" she said shaking her head. "Bold of you to assume that I'll be sleeping in my room" he said smirking again, her mouth fell open at the innuendo, quickly followed by a burst of laughter. "Bold of you to assume I'd ever let you into mine" she replied raising her eyebrows, "Just you wait and see Ellie".

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"Come on just one more" she said draining her glass, he, Ellen and Kate had been drinking since dinner, which was two hours ago. He'd never seen Ellen this drunk before and she was getting funnier by the minute but he was afraid if he drank anymore he would do something he regretted. "No, I'm definitely done, I'll leave you to drag her up to her room" Kate said swaying a little as she got up. "Do you need any help" he asked, concerned, "I'm fine Dempsey, I'd be more worried about her if I was you" she said nodding to Ellen who was already ordering another. "Ellie, we have to work tomorrow" he moaned, grabbing onto her hand to stop her from bringing the drink up to her lips. "Just let loose Paddy, one more isn't going to hurt" she said smiling, he supposed one more wouldn't be too bad.

He was wrong, so very wrong, the one more had led to two more which had led to five more. He and Ellen were completely hammered, luckily the hotel bar had kicked them out before they could have anymore. "Hey, we are in an elevator" he said smiling at the buttons, "No shit" Ellen replied laughing, drunk Ellen swore a lot more than sober Ellen. "You know what happens in elevators?" he said smirking, "They take you up or down?" Ellen said sarcastically. He didn't respond, he didn't know how to put into words what he was about to do. The sentence jumbling about in his brain, mixing the words into the wrong order. Instead he stepped closer to her, looking down at her lips, the alcohol really was a bad idea. He leant in closer to her, their breath mingling, he could taste the tequila that she had been drinking. He didn't know which one of them closed the distance between them but somehow they had ended up entangled with each other. He kissed her slowly but thoroughly, letting any ounce of common sense leave his body before he could stop. Her hands tugged on the curls at the back of his head, the feeling made him moan against her lips. The elevator door opened on their floor, suddenly he felt stone cold sober, all to aware of every place their bodies touched, every place they held each other. He pulled himself off of her, the experience clearly hadn't sobered her up as her arms stayed firmly wrapped around his neck. He walked them to their rooms which were conveniently next to each other, he looked down at her to see her looking intently up at him. She went up on her tip toes and kissed him, the act surprised him enough that he fell back against the door. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook his head, "Ellie you're drunk and well... We should go to bed" he said fumbling for his key. With a swiftness he would have thought impossible considering how drunk she was, she opened the door, "I thought you said you were sleeping with me tonight" she said raising her eyebrows, the silent invitation in her eyes. He couldn't, no matter how badly he wanted to, it would mean something completely different for him than it would for her. Besides he didn't want her to wake up in the morning and regret it, when he touched her, kissed her, he wanted her to remember and enjoy every second. Tonight wasn't that night. "Goodnight Ellie" he said opening his door, "Goodnight Paddy". He closed the door behind him, sitting down on the bed, running his hands through his hair. The guilt was there but it was mixed with a satisfaction, the feeling left his mouth dry when he realised that he didn't regret what he did. What did that say about him?

The picture above was actually taken in 2005, I'm pretty sure that Ellen went with Patrick to film his ferry scenes for season 2!