❝night is purer than day; it is better for thinking, loving, and dreaming. at night everything is more intense, more true.❞
 ─ elie wiesel 

On Keanu's fifth night in Boston, Skeeter had came over close to one in the morning with ingredients for a cake and purple icing shoved into his freezer. 

"I told you!" Skeeter told him, bouncing in excitement as Keanu got their cake out of the oven. "I'd learn to bake a cake for you." 

Placing the newly-baked pastry on his kitchen counter, he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "It was more of me baking and you reading off the instructions, honestly."

"But, despite the mess, we made a pretty good cake, aye?"

Surrounding them were empty boxes of cake mix with icing and flour scattered all over the kitchen. It was a good decision that they both wore aprons with the two commenting that this was the most domestic they had ever felt in a long time. 

As Skeeter worked her way around frosting the cake with a pastel purple color, Keanu observed just how expertly she moved her wands around the two-layered cake. "You've done this before?" He asked.

"Baked a cake?" Skeeter licked some off her index finger then continued on, "Nope. Decorated one? Kinda. It's not going to be much but I hope you think it's up to par with your standards, Chuck."

"I just hope we didn't mess up any of the measuring stuff."

"We didn't. We did good." 

Skeeter didn't waste any time after she was done. She brought out a candle inside the plastic bag she had brought earlier, placed it carefully on the cake before lighting it, and began to sing an okay rendition of Happy Birthday to the man with an amused smile on his face. 

"I wasn't aware this was a late birthday celebration."

The doctor bounced on the balls of her feet as she stood in front of him. "You aren't aware of a lot of things. Come on! Make a wish!" 

Keanu took one look at her ─ taking in her blue eyes shining bright and the smile that seemed ecstatic yet also bled sunshine and genuine happiness. He hoped he was the cause of such smile. He had his wish. I wish I don't lose you because I don't want this to ever end. 

And, blew the candle. 

Skeeter cheered and began digging into the cake with a fork after passing one to him. They stood hunched over the kitchen counter with their home-baked pastry (which surprisingly turned out pretty well) for a few minutes before she softly bumped her shoulder to his. 

"So, what's your birthday wish?"

Chuckling, Keanu shook his head. "I'm not telling you, dear Skeetersaurus. I want it to come true." 

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ────── ⊰

She was exactly where they agreed they would meet ─ just by the entrance of the hospital. Although it was close to midnight, the guards were friends of hers so they let this one time slip. When Keanu came up to her, a bag of Chipotle in his hands, she was still staring at the back of Dr. Garrett's blonde head as if it would magically make him disappear. 

"You got fifteen minutes, Skeet?" Keanu asked, failing to hide a smirk at her annoyed expression. Her eyes were narrowed, hands on her hips, and chest heaving up and down slowly like she was restraining the urge to scream. 

"Yep." Skeeter turned to him and her eyes lit up, "I got thirty since Doctor Surfer over there ─ " She turned to give the grinning trauma surgeon a discreet side eye. " ─ just called dibs on that stab victim." 

"That's. . .bad?"

"I know." She grabbed his wrist, "Come on. I need food and good company." 

They sat at their usual spot in the deserted cafeteria. Unsurprisingly, Skeeter managed to sit on the plastic chair in a squat before devouring her chicken burrito. As she munched, Keanu went on about his past few days: the books he read, an 80's movie he managed to catch last night, and the crowd of people gathering around the TV in Zion's Den. 

"Oh, it's football season." Skeeter told him, "The Patriots fans are coming out of their caves as we speak." 

"You're not a Patriots fan?"

"Eh. I watch the games but all the shouting and spraying of beer gets a bit of tiring. And, I'd rather not have beer in my hair." 

After finishing her burrito, Skeeter slouched her shoulders as if she wanted to hide away. She didn't even meet his gaze and her jaw was squared. She seemed. . .tense (and that was after eating food). 

"You're annoyed." He concluded and leaned forward on his elbows, "Who do I need to beat up?"

Chuckling softly, Skeeter followed his action. "Bold of you to assume I can't beat them up myself."

"Can you even throw a punch?"

"Well. . .no."

"Want me to teach you?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because, if you do, I might end up punching Dr. Garrett in his solar plexus." Skeeter huffed and rubbed a hand over her tired face, "He thinks he's the most important thing that's happened to this hospital. I'm important. I ─ a loyal employee of this institution for years ─ work more hours than anyone. I'm the best attending surgeon they have. I got the most number of successful cases and he gets to be the fucking Chief of Trauma Surgery? No suh!"

There it was that confirmed that she was in fact fuming. No, it wasn't her aggravated tone or the cursing that solidified Keanu's conclusion. It was that hint of her Boston accent that gave it away. There were certain nights where they just seemed to learn more about each other. This was one of those nights. 

"Skeeter, it isn't a competition." Keanu told her and waited for her reaction. When she said nothing, he continued, "I see how much you love your job. Every time I see you after your work hours, you look happy. A bit tired but happy nonetheless. I think that pales in comparison to all those awards and bureaucracy."

Frowning, Skeeter folded her arms on the table and laid her chin on top of it. She looked like a child who was told she couldn't play outside. "I know. I just want to be important for once in my life, you know?"

"You are." To me. 

Before Skeeter could retort back, her pager buzzed around the table. She jumped up to her feet and frantically cleaned her trash from her meal until Keanu gently took hold of her hands and told her he would take of it. Smiling from ear to ear, Skeeter placed a hand on his shoulder as she was she was saying goodbye. "Bye, Chuck. Thanks for dinner and the pep talk. I owe you one." 

And ─ ever so swift and nonchalant ─ Skeeter leaned down to press a quick kiss to his cheek, her soft lips feeling the rough surface of his stubble before rushing out of the cafeteria. The action felt typical and normal for the two that they hadn't realized what had happened until Skeeter was out of the cafeteria and feeling giddy and Keanu was throwing away the containers with stupid smile on his face. Yup, it was definitely one of those nights. 

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ────── ⊰

Skeeter felt drained as she retreated back to the messy and pitch dark on-call room. She chucked her Converse off her feet, wiggled her hair out of it's tangled bun, and just dropped to the bed. She loved her job ─ she really does even if it meant working with the annoyingly smart Dr. Garrett and no Charlie to save her when a machine wasn't working. Man, she really loved nurses. 

There was a buzz within the pocket of her scrubs and the half-asleep trauma surgeon could only fumble to get to her phone and answer without even looking at the caller ID. 

"What?!"

"Hey, you." 

Skeeter shuffled for a bit to get into a more comfortable position (as comfortable as it can get on a firm mattress) so that she could feel more awake.

"Oh, hey, Chuck."  

"I just saw the news. You okay?"

"Uh. . .Keanu, I don't ─ I don't really want to talk about it. It's been a tough night." 

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Hmmm. . .not yet." 

"It's one in the morning."

"I know. I'm too tired to think about getting a meal. I've been awake for the past three hours trying to figure out how to stop some guy's abdominal bleeding so just. . .just leave me alone. Okay?" 

"Okay. Goodnight, Skeeter."

"Goodnight." 

CALL ENDED! 

Skeeter bit her lip nervously as drops pitter-pattered on the window of the humble yet spacious apartment hallway. Almost every night that week the rain had poured down like hellfire despite a bright and warm sunny morning. The cold wind she felt as she stepped out of the hospital by the end of her shift made her choice of ramen for dinner more desirable.

The rainy nights reminded her that it was almost October. Fall was right around the corner as well as the SAT awards in Switzerland with Charlie and her birthday and favorite holiday and her life just felt like it was going a good direction, okay? She couldn't mess it up.

"Hi." Skeeter smiled as he went up the stairs. She was met with a confused tilt of his head. She gestured to the take-out bag in her hands.

"Hey, Skeet." Keanu replied, fishing out his keys from his back pocket. "Did we have plans for tonight?"

"Nope. I – uh – wanted to say sorry about earlier." She followed him into his rented apartment with Keanu helping her with her coat and the take-out bags. His apartment was a bit bigger than hers with an actual dinner table and a TV – things that Skeeter lacked in her own little threshold.

"It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I understand."

With that being said, Keanu brought their dishes to the dining table. Skeeter was left with a glass of wine and a very confused conscience. Was he being stoic about it? Did he really mean what he said? Is he a bit mad at me? Either way, she was going to apologize.

She sat down next to him, placing her wine next to his cold beer. Slowly, Skeeter timidly inched her hand closer to his until it was resting delicately on top. Keanu's cold hand surprisingly didn't make her flinch away.

"Hey. I mean it. I really am sorry." He nodded and gave her a tight smile. She sighed, "It's just. . .I'm not used to having someone call me up late at night just to ask how I'm doing or remind me to eat."

Keanu clicked his tongue. "I remind you to eat a meal – not junk."

Skeeter smiled. "I know and thank you. Really. But, I need time to get used to this doting nature of yours." Truthfully, she needed to get used to the doting nature of men. It seemed like it was lacking these days. "I know you've been here for almost a week already since that night but it's hard letting someone in, you know? God, that sounds whiny."

"It's not whining." For the first time that night, Keanu looked her in the eye – really looked her in the eye. "It's how you feel. Don't invalidate yourself." 

"Yeah but what about how you feel?" 

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"I'm not going to take advantage of your kindness, Chuck."

"I hope you don't." 

"I'm not used to this. I should probably be working right now."

Keanu scoffed and pointed his chopstick at her. "Or eating junk food for dinner. Aren't you glad you came over to talk our problems out instead of letting it go on?"

Rolling her eyes, Skeeter replied. "Yeah, yeah. Is this what a mature and healthy relationship feels like?"

"Depends on your definition of mature and healthy." 

"I think it is. I kinda like it." I kinda love you too. Eh, too soon. No. 

"Good, good." 

She gave his hand a squeeze and asked, "We good?"

"We're good, Skeet." The understanding look on Keanu's face before he shoved more food onto her plate told her they were going to be okay. 

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ────── ⊰

"I'll see you in a week, right?"

"Yes, Skeet. In a week."

"In a week." Skeeter nodded as she backed away slowly. She ran her eyes over his face as she either tried to memorize his features or remember the feelings of butterflies and happiness Keanu brought with him every time they were together. 

In a split second decision, Skeeter walked closer and wrapped her arms around his torso, her face resting just below his sternum. She could tell he was taken by surprise; it took Keanu a few seconds to reciprocate the action as well ─ hands encircling her waist and gentle kiss pressed to the top of her head. 

Skeeter didn't want to tell him she'd missed him in those seven days they'd spend apart because of his work obligations and the Sushrata awards coming up; she didn't want to seem clingy. 

Instead, Skeeter took his face in her hands and softly brushed her lips against his. What seemed to be an innocent kiss turned more intense as she tangled her fingers in his dark hair and Keanu squeezed her waist feverishly. The kiss felt flawless and perfect and oh-so bittersweet. 

Pulling away, both were breathless. Skeeter's cheeks were just a tinge of pink as she smiled up at him, scrunching her nose. Keanu hid his grin behind his hand though he knew she could see right through it.

With one last peck to his cheek, Skeeter backed away to her car and waved. "I'll see you soon."

"See you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
absolute fluff?
absolute fluff. 

also, can 10/10
confirm that
skeanu's (is the
a ship name a 
hit or a miss ??)
song is cornelia
street by taylor
swift bYE