Valentine's Date

finding where you belong

"Oh my God, get up!" Rosalind Warren shouted at Ben, who was sleeping on her couch. "What are you doing here?"

Ben groaned. His eyes fluttered open. As soon as it did, the memories flashed through his head. His confession to his best friend, and her rejection. He sighed and wiped his face tiredly. He just wanted to sleep again. "Hey, Roz."

"What are you doing here?" She echoed.

"Miranda rejected me." He said simply. He didn't want to tell his sister any more details.

"Oh." Rosalind blinked. "Wait. What?"

"Yeah."

"But- no, that doesn't make any sense," she protested as he stood from the couch, heading to the kitchen. "Miranda Bailey has been in love with you for… forever."

Ben kept his mouth shut as he grabbed some cereal and dumped it into a clean bowl. He munched on them slowly, hearing Miranda's rejection echo in his head.

"Come on, Benjie. You can't be giving up." Roz looked at him incredulously.

He sighed loudly. "She told me no, alright? She doesn't love me like that. She said it. We're just friends. That's all we'll ever be. Can we just drop it?"

She sighed. "Fine. But you're both being in denial. She loves you. Why can't you both see that?" She walked away. "Anyway, I have work. I'm sure you do too. Lock the door when you leave, please."

As she left, Ben stared down at his empty bowl. He needed to push his heartbreak down and focus on his work. He just wished Miranda wouldn't be the surgeon he's working with.

×+×+×+×

Ben floated around the hospital. He'd done a couple of epidurals and a cardiac surgery. So far, he'a avoided Miranda perfectly well. He'd taken the long cuts to the OR, mostly using stairs rather than elevators, and he made his errands to the Nurses' Station quick.

He was walking down along the hallway, his thoughts empty, and his heart heavy in his chest, when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Ben Warren!"

It was Miranda, he knew it. Ben had her voice memorized. From the little breaks in her voice, to the southern accent that spilled from time to time. He kept walking.

"Damn it, I know you can hear me," she said, her voice frantic. "Benjamin!"

He quickened his pace, until he couldn't hear her voice shouting for him anymore. He sighed. He should've known she'd find him eventually. He needed to get out of here.

Ben quickly informed the Chief of Anesthesiology of his absence for a couple days, and he sped away to his apartment, where he settled into his bed.

As soon as his head hit his pillow, his exhaustion took over, and tears dropped into his pillow.

Hearing Miranda's voice was torture. Knowing she was just there, so close to him, and knowing she was looking for him, it hurt to be far away from her. But he knew it would be more difficult if he actually got to talk to her.

Ben was so caught up in his feelings, that he didn't hear when the first knock on the door came.

He snapped out of his reverie when the knock became louder. Who would that be?

Ben groaned. They could just come back.

"Benjamin Warren, open up, please!"

And there she was again.

He jumped up. "M-Miranda?" He knew she couldn't hear him, but he panicked anyway.

Ben went towards the door. Miranda kept talking. For a couple of minutes, he just stood there. Did she really go to his apartment in the middle of the day, to talk to him?