Chapter Text
You can count on me like one, two, three. I’ll be there.
And I know when I need it I can count on you, like four three, two, and you’ll be there.
‘Cause that’s what friends are supposed to do, oh, yeah.
Bruno Mars
The elevator ride to the tenth floor was awkwardly, almost unbearably, quiet.
As quiet and uncomfortable as the minutes since they had been told there was just one room for the two of them to share. A miscommunication somewhere along the lines. A fully booked hotel in a city of fully booked hotels. No option other than to share a room.
“There are two beds,” the desk clerk had said brightly, under an illusion of being helpful.
Ellie had leaned into the young woman and asked if any of the gentlemen present was her boss. The clerk had cast her eyes towards the older of three men, and Ellie had quietly asked her how she would like to spend the night in a hotel room with him. The woman had shaken her head, and Ellie had almost felt sorry for making her point.
“Didn’t think so. Not my ideal, either – so if a room comes available, you’ll let me know. Right? Thank you.”
Working his jaw, Alan caught a glimpse of Ellie on the elevator’s reflective surface. She was standing to his left, a step behind, looking straight ahead and avoiding his eyes. He had heard part of Ellie’s interaction with the desk attendant, and he was well aware of how awkward this could be – especially for her. Close interactions on a dig site were different; this – this could be construed differently. People could get ideas. He could get ideas, for all she knew.
Not that he would.
Or not that he would act on ‘em, anyway.
When the doors opened, Alan stepped aside to allow Ellie to exit first, waiting until she had rolled her luggage into the hallway before following. Looking at the room numbers, they silently made their way to the shared room. They had not spoken a single word to the other since making eye contact and agreeing with mutual nods of the head to take the only room on offer, and he wondered how long it would go on for.
Maybe he should say something.
Anything.
Too late.
Ellie opened the door and stepped inside, briefly leaving him alone in the hallway. Quickly scanning the room, and trying to figure out how the hell this was supposed to work, she stood hands on hips and shaking her head. She and Alan were booked for four nights, and this space was not very big for two people not intimately acquainted.
Why do rooms this small even bother with two beds?
Placing her bag near the bed closest to the bathroom, Ellie looked back at Alan with raised eyebrows as if to ask if that choice was okay with him. She didn’t want to be a jerk about it, after all. Not like it was his fault. Satisfied with a subtle nod that he was, in fact, happy to let her choose which bed to take, she plopped down onto it.
It had been one helluva long day already, and if she had the luxury of a private room, she would be considering a late afternoon nap right about now – and she would definitely be ditching the shoes and the bra, even if she had to put the damn things on again for dinner.
Then again, room service is a thing.
Alan knew he needed to navigate carefully. He and Ellie were in a good place – had been in a good place for months – and he didn’t want to say or do anything that would upset the apple cart. He quite liked being in Ellie’s good books. The conversations that came more easily with her than with anyone else he knew. The long days at work that seemed to pass more quickly when she was at his side.
The evenings when they would plan to work just a little longer, lose track of time, and welcome the new day without a wink of sleep between them.
Or the nights when exhaustion overtook them and – collapsing on his sofa for a quick break – they fell asleep sitting side by side and didn’t awaken until the sun beat down on his trailer’s roof and warmed its interior to something approaching an inferno.
Yes. Being in Ellie’s good books was a helluva lot more fun than being in her bad books.
And he would know.
“I could, uh – I could sleep in the truck. Just use the shower.”
It would not be the first – or the last – time he had slept in his truck, after all. He wouldn’t even mind, if it made Ellie more comfortable. He began to mentally check off the things he would need to carry back down.
Ellie looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite name, but he was pretty damn sure she wasn’t impressed with his offer.
“You will not sleep in your truck, Alan.” She lay back against her pillow, closing her eyes. “We’re both adults. We can figure this out.”
He nodded, but he offered her one final out.
“If you change your mind, let me know. Offer stands till we leave.”
She needed to drag her bones off the bed and into the shower if she was going to be half-presentable for dinner. Instead, she turned onto her side and looked across the room to where Alan lay on the other bed. His eyes were still closed, and he appeared to be sleeping.
“Are you awake?” she asked softly, not wanting to disturb him if he was, indeed, asleep.
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.” With that, he cracked one eye open and turned it towards her. “You?”
“Famished.” She thought back to their last meal that day and did a mental calculation. “It’s been seven hours since we had lunch.”
“What time is it?” he asked, propping himself up on an elbow and focusing on the bedside clock. “Shit.” Looking back at her, he continued. “Want to go out or get room service?”
“I vote room service.”
He nodded.
“Me, too.”
Having placed their orders, Ellie decided a shower was still a good way to fill the time while waiting on their meals to be delivered. Besides cleansing her, it might just wake her up, too – and it meant less time making awkward small talk.
Why is it suddenly so weird being in the same room with him?
It wasn’t like they didn’t regularly spend long hours together, often just the two of them. Over the summer, that included long nights – even all-nighters – in his trailer. The rest of the year, they worked closely in the lab or in his office or hers. This was nothing new.
Well, the beds are new.
Intentionally sleeping in the same room – that’s new.
Still, Alan had never once given her reason to feel unsafe around him.
Had often gone out of his way, in fact, to do exactly the opposite.
It’s all in your head, Ellie. Just calm the fuck down.
Alan had not given it a second thought when Ellie stood and announced she was going to have a shower, except to wish he had thought of it first. It had been a long drive on a hot day, and even with the windows down, it had not been the most pleasant ride. A cool shower would hit the spot.
Maybe if she hurries –
If she were to hurry, he could perhaps fit in a shower before their dinner arrived, too. Of course, it had been years since he had shared accommodation with a woman, and he had underestimated just how long Ellie would be.
What the hell is she doing in there?
And then his mind wandered – as minds often do – to the situation they had found themselves in.
To Ellie, in the shower, just on the other side of that door.
Ellie, who would sleep beside him the next four nights.
So to speak.
He picked up the TV guide and tried to distract himself.
It didn’t work.
Ellie could have stood beneath the streaming water all evening had her stomach not reminded her how damn hungry she was. Towelling dry and pulling on a pair of panties, fleece shorts, and a tee shirt, she took a good look at herself in the mirror and figured she could get away without the bra.
With a sly grin and a glance at her long, bare legs, she reckoned those were her danger duo, anyway. Always had been – well, after she had gotten past the awkwardness of being the tallest girl in her class.
She considered covering them before remembering she had spent all summer wearing shorts in Alan’s presence. Of course, she had also spent the summer sweaty and covered in dust, and now – well, now she wasn’t, exactly.
Now she was freshly showered, and she smelled nice and –
Get out of your head, Sattler. You don’t see him that way, and he doesn’t see you that way.
Stop making it so damn weird.
Uncovering their meals, both stared silently down at them for a moment. Alan finally reached for the menu and compared what they had ordered to what they had received.
“Well, I guess it matches the description.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, creasing her brow. “Were there burgers on that menu?”
Alan chuckled and lay the menu down.
“Nope.” Chewing his lip for a moment, he lifted his eyes to look at her. “I could go grab a couple, though.”
That time, Ellie laughed, and it made him grin. Her laughter had always been infectious, able to drag even him into a better mood just for having heard it. One day, he might even tell her –
“God, how long have we been on that dig site? Real food looks alien and unappetizing to us now?” Ellie sat at the small table and placed a napkin on her lap. “Let’s, uh – let’s at least give it a go.”
Alan wasn’t convinced he wanted to give it a go, but he sat opposite Ellie and did exactly that.
She was his best friend, after all – not that there was competition for that title. Not that they’d ever put such a label on their relationship.
And if he were asked, he’d introduce her as his colleague.
Nobody’s damn business what else they were to each other.
Still, sometimes he wondered if he would go to the ends of the earth if she asked him to.
Other times, there was no doubt.
Eating this meal?
No problem.
Problem.
Alan’s attention was all over the place, but the one thing he kept returning to was her hair. Ellie almost always wore it up at university and at the dig site, but here – here, it cascaded down onto her shoulders, and no matter how many times he averted his eyes, they kept darting back to her long, blonde locks.
He just hoped she hadn’t noticed.
God, where was this coming from?
He thought of her spilling her drink earlier that day, and the impromptu backseat changing of her jeans, and how he’d finally pulled over to the side of the road and put some space between them. At the time, he had thought he was just being a gentleman – right?
Now, he wasn’t so sure.
What he did know was that this was Sunday, and they weren’t leaving until Thursday.
Somehow, he would have to focus on something else.
Anything else.
Surely he could do that.