My Baby, My Darling.

"Shit! I think you just hit a bird." Dexter yelled from the passenger's seat of my car as his hands gripped the bottom of his seat.

I scoffed and pressed abruptly on the gas pedal. "Shut up, Dexter. I didn't hit a bird. And quit gripping the seat like that, you're being dramatic." I made a quick right turn and continued on with my usual speed.

He shook his head abruptly as his eyes widened upon my increase in speed, "Why did I let you drive? We could have just walked to some place nearby or better yet, I could have drove. Anything would be better than this torture."

"Calm down, we're almost there." I rolled my eyes as we pulled up into my favorite diner off the side of the highway.

When I came to a full stop at one of the many empty parking spaces, Dexter quickly jumped out of the car and bowed onto the ground. "Land! Oh, sweet land."

I pushed myself out of my green pick-up truck and walked around to where he was kneeling on both knees and metaphorically kissing the ground. "Quit being such a baby and get your ass up." I muttered as I walked past him to the entrance of Peggy's Diner. I made my way to my usual booth and plopped down, throwing my purse against the wall so that it landed on the seat beside me. 

The bells chimed as Dexter stumbled in, wiping the dirt off of his scrubs. He stood his tall, gorgeous frame up straight and furrowed his eyebrows as he examined the room in search of my face. He spotted me, and a small smirk played across his lips as he confidently sauntered over to me, sliding into the opposite side of my booth.

"Gabe was right when he told me you drive like a lunatic. I almost shit in my pants." he muttered as a waitress tossed two menus onto our table and sped off with a tray of sodas to a table on the opposite end of the diner.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, please. When do you and Gabe ever talk about me?"

"Every night before we go to bed," he smirked casually, "we spend hours talking about whether your hair is a shade of burnt sienna or a light tan. I argued burnt sienna." He joked nonchalantly as he fiddled with his menu.

I stifled a laugh as a familiar waitress  placed two plates of peach pie on our table. "Hiya, honey. Long time no see!" Stella grinned widely and turned to Dexter, extending her hand. "Stella Henderson, nice to meet you."

"Hi. Dexter McHale." Dexter smiled confidently at the assertive seventy-year-old woman and shook her hand.

Stella nodded confidently. "I see you dropped that hoodlum, Brian. Good choice, honey. He was always an iffy one. Always drank his coffee black, that's how you can tell."

"Stella, I drink my coffee black." I raised my eyebrow at her.

She shook her head, "But ya love peach pie. There's a balance to be made. I'll go get your coffee's. Nice to meet ya, Dex." Stella sped off and made her way behind the counter, talking to the cook as she poured cups of coffee.

"She's sure something." Dexter smirked, taking his first bite of pie. "I take it you come here a lot?"

I nodded, shoveling my first bite of pie and waiting until I swallowed, "I used to come here a lot after school, or just when I wanted isolation. I took Brian here a few times because he kept pestering me about where I was all the time."

"I'm sure Stella felt your pain," he joked.

I nodded slowly and shrugged, "Stella never liked Brian. She was protective like that. She's kind of like the grandma I never had. All of my grandparents are either out of state or died before I was born. I've know her for a few years and she looks out for me from time to time. I probably should have listened to her about Brian though." I smiled lightly.

"Did you want to talk about Brian? If not, that's fine." he looked up to meet my eyes.

I put another forkful into my mouth as Stella came by and placed our coffee on the table, scurrying  off with a tray of breakfast food for a family at the other end of the diner.

I shook my head as I swallowed my last bits of pie, "I wouldn't put you through that torture. Talking about Brian is like opening a game of Jumanji."

Dexter coughed, trying to hold back a laugh while swallowing a piece of pie. He grabbed his cup of coffee and tried to push the pie back down. "I guess we could save that talk for our next date then." he smirked, placing his mug back down.

I laughed loudly, twirling my fork on the table. "This is not a date, Dexter."

He smirked, pushing away his plate. "Oh, I think it is."

"What the hell gave you that idea?" I scoffed, holding back a smile.

"You took me to your place! This is your sanctuary." he gestured all around him at the diner. "This, is the personal crap that goes on at dates, real dates."

"Oh! Says the guy that took me to rescue his intoxicated sister only to have me sleep in his bed on the first date. It all makes sense." I smirked, taking a sip of my coffee.

"I did warn you about that one though, didn't I?" he smiled, gripping his coffee mug.

"Warned me about what, exactly. The one man car chase or the in house doctor kit?" I raised my eyebrows.

He laughed, "the part where I got you into my bed."

I threw up my hands in surrender and laughed, "Well, sorry psychic Dex!"

He smiled, stifling a laugh as I bowed at him, dramatically from across the table. "We should make this a fair date, though."

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows as I placed my empty mug on the table.

He shrugged, pulling out his wallet and placing a twenty on the table. "I'll drive." he smirked as he slid out of the booth and out the door, waiting for me to follow him.

--
The hospital doors opened and closed slowly and dramatically as I sat quietly in the waiting room. I gave up on the gossip magazine on the waiting room chair beside me, headlining all the celebrity breakups because I started to lose all faith in society. I kept looking toward the doors that said authorized access only, waiting for Dexter to come back with my visitor's pass. After ten more minutes of staring absentmindedly out the sliding doors, Dexter's soothing voice erupted from behind me. "Having fun there?" he smirked.

I snapped out of my trans and spun around abruptly to meet his face. "Does it really take twenty minutes to get a Visitor's pass?" I raised my eyebrows accusingly.

He shrugged, "You really don't need one. I just needed to make sure everything was set up for what I wanted to show you. Plus, I needed to check in with my advisor."

I narrowed my eyes, "What is it you're showing me?"

He merely grinned widely, pulling me up from the waiting room chair and led me over through the authorized access door. His hand moved to the small of my back as he guided me down a bright, clean hallway and into an elevator, pressing the top floor. The whole time we walked, his hand remained on the small of my back, even while we were in the elevator. He never left my side. Normally, this act would make me uncomfortable. I'd immediately swat away his hand like I did the first night and hiss some snarky remark about women's suffrage. However, this time I didn't. This time was different because it provided me with a sense of security and it made me feel safe. I rarely ever felt this way, especially at the hands of someone else.

When the elevator doors opened, he led me down another hallway and through a door which displayed a short, dimly lit flight of stairs. I turned my head to face him, a quizzical look on my face. He smiled and gestured for me to go up. I closed my eyes and silently wished that he wasn't about to kill me. I made my way up the stairs and pushed the door open, displaying the wide expanse of the hospital rooftop to me. 

The view alone made me catch my breath. I stepped onto the rooftop and made my way to the concrete railing. The sunlight in the sky was starting to fade and a slight darkness began to fall across the horizon. Few city lights were on, and the city seemed to be entirely still, and calm. After a few minutes, I felt someone come up and stand beside me, placing his elbows on the railing and furrowing his eyebrows as he looked out at the distance. I was suddenly aware of how his elbow lightly made contact with my own, and once again, a sense if security washed over me. I removed my gaze from the horizon and turned my head slightly to examine Dexter's face. My lips parted slightly when I searched the features on his face, trying to decipher a hidden message. He looked the calmest I had ever seen him. The concentrated look in his eyes disappeared and all that was left was an expression of complete bliss. Normally, he was either smirking or thinking. Although his brows were furrowed, his eyes held no confused squint. He breathed evenly and fixated his gaze on the horizon. I stood there for a few minutes and just studied each curve and line of his face, embedding it into my mind.  I silently pulled the Polaroid camera out of my bag and fixated the lens on his face, snapping a picture. Quickly, the picture sputtered out of the camera and Dexter turned to face me, his quizzical look returning to his beautiful features. I put my camera away and grinned lightly, immediately wishing I hadn't interrupted his thought process.

A small smirk played across his lips, "This is like my Peggy's Diner, you know. There's no Stella, but I get by."

I nodded slowly. "You are a man of many secrets, Dexter McHale."

"I could say the same thing about you." he smiled lightly and turned back to face the scenery. "You're a mystery to me, Chelsea."

I scoffed, taking in his words. "Why are you trying to figure me out?"

He shrugged, "Because I like you." He said it so simply, like it was the easiest concept in life.

My head snapped to face him. I narrowed my eyes and studied his features. His eyes slowly turned to meet mine, and before he could react, I disappeared from beside him and made my way through the doors of the rooftop entrance, the door slamming shut behind me.