The End

Chapter 54: When It Was Simple

For most of the drive, Ellen refused to acknowledge where she was headed. She only knew that Tallulah needed as much space from her as possible.

Hollywood passed her windows in a blur of orange and green.  She drove like she was trying to outrun the chaos chasing her. Outrun the fact that Patrick's family was crumbling. Outrun the fact that she hadn't even begun to address what was happening with her own. Outrun the questions, the world's impending judgement. Everything she knew would come once the truth caught up to them.  All of it biting at her heels.

When she pulled onto the Prospect Studios lot, Ellen realized she'd always been headed here. She was barely still a part of the show, but she'd always be the Grey in Grey's Anatomy. And this place, the buildings, the quiet alleys, the collection of trailers to her left, would always have a place for her. 

She gave a wave to the security guard and let the familiar roads lead her back to the beginning. 

Ellen parked her car and let a heavy sigh leave her lips. Nostalgia hitting her like a wave. She was surrounded by a functioning set, a set she had helped birth. The golf carts, lights, and people moving in every direction had a way of making her feel small. 

Yet, her body recognized the familiar hum of the studio. It sent another ache of nostalgia through her. It wasn't that she would go back. They probably wouldn't change a single thing. 

But as the busy soundstages turned to quiet cottages. Her pace slowed. It almost haunted her, not in the traditional sense, but in the way that the past hung in the air. 

She could taste the bad coffee, and hear their voices lost in some meaningless conversation. The kind that only people who spent 16 hours a day together had the luxury of sharing. She could see the decades of almosts dancing with the unintentional slips. They had spent years being everything and nothing together, all at once. 

And for a fleeting moment, she missed it. All of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It all amounted to a beautiful story. The kind life only wrote if you allowed it.

Ellen found the quiet bench in a courtyard near where Linda Lowy's office had once been. It was surely someone else's office now. But the past was still thick. There had been few times when she allowed herself to really feel it, the years, the joy, the heartache. This time, she did.

She thought of the girl that walked this exact path, script in hand, with no idea that her life was about to change. She hadn't known then what she was walking toward.

 She did now. 

Still in Patrick's t-shirt, her hair dried into beach-y waves and her sunglasses pressed firmly against her face. Ellen settled on the bench. She watched a few actors pacing in front of the casting door. A feeling she certainly didn't envy. And then there was the producer who walked out on the phone. He was grumbling about some sort of production issue, and that too was a feeling she didn't wish for.

But as if fate had sent them, she watch a young couple leave the casting office. Sides tucked under their arms, fresh genuine smiles on their faces and a handshake that lingered too long. And suddenly Ellen realized why she'd come.

It had been so electric but so simple. 

They hadn't yet reached the realization that they'd have to fight these feelings for the rest of their lives, or that the chemistry like that came with consequences. They only knew whatever fire burned between them, they couldn't wait to light it again.

"Well if it isn't Boston," his smooth voice filling the silence.

A sudden warmth blossomed in Ellen's stomach. She looked up to find him lingering near the edge of the cottages. Her eyes met his. They were as captivating as she remembered, "Are they making you read again," Ellen gestured toward the casting office.

"No," he shook his head, "I just had an audition for something else." His voice making her hands tingle, "you?"

"I basically live here now."

He let out an easy laugh, "Looking for a roommate?" 

"Are you offering?" Ellen kept up with him. 

"I don't know," he shrugged taking the empty seat next to her. "Are you one of those people who has a lot of rules..."

"Why? You have a problem with rules?"

"Not generally," his tone was covered with innuendo.

"Good," she smiled, her eyes caught in his again, her breath hitching in her chest. Ellen cleared her throat and let her eyes drift to the ground. She was sitting much too close to him to let herself swim in his eyes for too long. 

"They're going to call you, you know," she admitted. "Probably today."

Patrick raised an eyebrow. "You that confident?"

Her smile giving away that she knew more than she was letting on.

"I have a feeling,"  

"About me?"

Ellen's eyebrows flicked with amusement. "About the part."

He laughed softly, his gaze drifting away to recover. "Right." When he looked back at her, his eyes were smiling. "This is gonna be fun." His words made her stomach flip. 

He shifted to leave, tapping her leg lightly as he stood, like he'd known her for years.  The small gesture spreading through her like a wildfire.  She stared down at her leg, quietly astonished by her reaction to him. Patrick's eyes found hers and with a slight nod he said, "See ya around, Boston."

A genuine smile cracked her lips, "See ya." 

Ellen watched him disappear between the sound stages, warmth spreading across her chest, her heart beating a little faster. She bit her bottom lip in attempt to hold back the permanent smile he'd left behind. Already wondering when she'd see him again.

"Of all the places, Ellen Pompeo,"  the memory dissolved at the sound of his voice. He shook his head as he appeared in the alley between the sound stages. 

"This is the last place you'd look..." she smiled as if the girl from the memory was relieved to see him return.

He quickened his pace to sit next to her. His hand settling on her knee, "it was actually the first." Patrick's eyes lingered over hers.

"Wow," she raised an eyebrow.

"Please," he waved her off. "Give me another twenty years and I'll be able to predict when you're going to pee." He paused "You'll have a diaper on by then, so it won't matter. But it'll still be impressive."

Ellen laughed lightly and swatted his chest. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. It was quiet for a moment, "I don't miss it," she said, her eyes studying the lot. "We had so much good. And so much we had to fight our way through." She smiled faintly. "I just miss the part before everything got complicated. When it was simple"

"We'll get there again," he kissed the top of her head. She hummed a response.

"Did it go ok," she asked quietly.

"It was a great start," Patrick nodded softly, brushing his thumb along her knee. The couple appeared around the corner again, chatting happily. Patrick observed them quietly. "You think they'll end up here in twenty years?"

Ellen looked up at him. "If they're lucky."

A smile pulled at his lips, his eyes dancing over hers. Unable to resist, he kissed her lips.  

"Come on Boston," he tapped her leg lightly and stood, gently taking her hand. "This is gonna be fun."

She stood to walk alongside of him, her fingers still intertwined in his. "Ha," she said with a quiet huff of breath. "Hardly."

"No," he shook his head, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer, "but we'll be together." 

And for a second, at the very place where it all began, that was all that mattered.