Dempeo: The Whole Truth

Chapter 15

"Grey's Anatomy? It's Patrick and me's story. We sleep together and sometimes we go to work to save lives"- Ellen Pompeo

The drive back to their houses last night had been relatively uneventful, they mostly sat in silence, leaning against each other, savouring their alone time before they had to go back to reality. He woke up that morning at ten am, Jill must have turned his alarm off for him, he really didn't deserve her. He got out of bed and realised that he could still taste Ellen on his lips, could still smell her on his skin, that made him feel ten times worse. He got into the shower, scrubbing himself clean, hoping his wife hadn't been able to smell another woman's perfume on his skin when he had gotten into bed with her last night.

"Patrick, I've made brunch" Jill called up to him from the kitchen. He shrugged on a clean t-shirt, putting last night's clothes straight into the wash before making his way downstairs. He looked at his family, Tee sitting on a chair at the dining room table, Jill smiling at him as he walked through the door. His life had changed so much, he felt like Talula had grown up overnight, like only a couple of weeks ago she had been sitting in her high chair instead. He had missed too much, he had become too obsessed with the show, too caught up in Ellen. He could try to be better, for the family that loved him, the family that had once been all he had ever wanted.

✦✦✦

He had always enjoyed going to events like this, the red carpet rolled out for them, but never as much as he should have. He walked with Jill, smiling for the paparazzi and chatting to people he knew. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for all of the attention, for all of his fans, but he had never been one to make friends with the other actors in the TV shows and the movies he filmed, he much preferred to hang out with his racing friends. However, he was happily talking to Kate, Jill seemed to like her and it was all going well, until he saw her. Ellen appeared out of the crowd, her green dress floating around her, he forgot about the conversation he was having and couldn't help but stare. She really was the most stunning woman there, her golden hair curled, he bristled when he noticed Chris wrap his arm around her waist. He had forgotten that she wasn't going to be alone, that she wasn't his this evening. "Patrick?" Jill said, clearly he had been asked a question but he had absolutely no idea what it was, Kate seemed to follow his eye line straight to Ellen and rolled her eyes. "Way to be discreet" she murmured under her breath, he nudged her, his eyes narrowing in warning. "Sorry, what was the question?" he apologised, "Kate asked whether you knew when Ellen was coming but it seems her question has been answered" she said, the tone of her voice sharper than usual. He winced before taking her arm "Let's go say hi" he said, shooting Kate a menacing look over his shoulder, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself at her answering grin. Her smile when she noticed him lit up the world, it knocked the breath out of his chest, nothing like the closed lipped smile she had given the paparazzi, no this smile was one he knew not many were lucky enough to receive. He unhooked his arm from Jill's, walking up to her and wrapping her into his arms. Kissing her cheek carefully to make sure he didn't smudge the makeup she had on. "You look stunning" he said running a hand along her side, the flimsy material of her dress barely a barrier between her curves and his fingers. "I guess you scrub up pretty well too" she said grinning, he heard a cough come from behind him, "It's so nice to see you again Jill" she said pulling her into a quick hug. "It's nice to see you too, you look lovely" Jill replied, the sharpness from earlier had left her voice, she really might actually like Ellen. He noticed Chris standing behind Ellen and reached his hand out, "Good to see you" he said, trying to smile as genuinely as possible, "Yeah you too" Chris replied. "We should probably spend some more time mingling but I'll meet you in half an hour for photos" Ellen said smiling at him. He nodded and replied "I'll see you in a little bit".

As he posed with Jill he couldn't help but notice Chris flirting with a tall woman behind them, he just didn't understand what Ellen saw in him. He turned around to see if he could find Ellen, maybe she wouldn't mind going to the press wall earlier than planned, he couldn't stay there and listen to Chris. He had no idea what had happened but Ellen was half on the floor, getting up and brushing her dress off when he spotted her. He rushed over, leaving Jill to follow him. He grabbed her arm and looked her up and down, concern filled his eyes, "What happened?" he asked. "Somehow I just managed to fall over on the red carpet" she said, red rising to the top of her cheekbones, he laughed under his breath. "Of course you did" he said unable to hide his amusement, "Stop laughing at me! Ugh it's so embarrassing" she said smiling anyway. "Let's go take some photos now, at least you will have me to catch you if you fall now" he said smirking, "My knight in shining armour" she said hooking her arm through his.

✦✦✦

They walked up the stairs of the stage in front of the blue wall, the shouts of the press would have been overwhelming if they hadn't been so desensitised to situations like this one. He draped his arm lazily around her waist, pulling her in close to him as they posed for photos. "Patrick!" "Ellen!", the calls trying to get them to focus on just one of the fifty cameras pointed at them. He smiled as Ellen waved to them, "We should go stand on the other side, everyone deserves their fair share of us" he whispered. She looked up at him and smiled, nodding as she walked to the other side of the stage. Walking out of his reach when all he wanted to do was hold her hand. When she stood still, he once again pulled her in closer to him, he wasn't possessive by nature but everything was different when Ellen was involved. They stood there for a few more photos before he whispered "Maybe we should go, have a few moments backstage to breathe before the awards start". She caught his eye, probably seeing the glint of need in them, she walked away again but this time he caught her arm. He slipped his hand down her forearm, grasping her hand, squeezing it twice as they walked down the stairs.