For The Rest Of The Night

[Jen]

Story Title: For The Rest Of The Night

Type of Story: One shot

Main Characters: Dex/April

BTTB rating: T

Genre: Romance

Does the story include spoilers: No

Any warnings: vague SC

Summary: The one where Dex and April have a one night stand. And Xavier fails at being a wingman.

>><<

fic: for the rest of the night

Dex sighs into his drink. He'd even made the bartender put a little umbrella in it, but it did nothing to improve his mood. No sooner had Dex trudged through the door of their shared apartment, tripping a little on the small step, Xavier had announced that they were going out, despite Dex's protests.

"You know it was Dr Anderson's last day, so of course he wouldn't let any of us go until he'd double checked everything," Dex had explained when he had refuted Xavier's plan.

He wanted nothing more than to get into his pyjamas and watch something mind-numbing on tv before retiring early to bed. That, however, was not part of Xavier's plan.

"We need to get you laid," Xavier states, taking a swig from his beer.

"What? No, we don't," Dex replies, playing with the paper umbrella.

"Come on," Xavier whines, "Let me be your wingman."

"Unless you are setting me up with someone called 'Tea' and 'Bed', then I'm not interested."

"Don't be a spoil-sport. You and Annie have been broken up for months. She ran off with another dude to Japan, you can't still be thinking about her!"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me," Dex dead pans.

"Which is exactly why you need to let me set you up. There are tons of girls here tonight, I'm sure I could convince one of them to hook up with you."

"Oh wow, that makes me feel so much better." Dex rolls his eyes, allowing the epic amount of sarcasm to wash over Xavier. When Xavier has had a few to drink he becomes a little oblivious.

Xavier leans over, closing the gap between him and Dex, his eyes widening. "I'm serious, man. I'll even let you have the apartment. I'll call Sasha and crash at her place."

"Please don't remind me that you are dating my sister."

Xavier holds up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, fair enough. But I'm telling you there are a group of girls hanging around the bar who've been staring at us the entire night."

"What? Where?" Dex can't help himself. He spins around quickly on his stool, glancing toward the bar that was swarming with people.

In a place like Summer Bay, Angelo's really was the only place to go on a Friday night. It was a bar-come-tapas restaurant, and the atmosphere was casual, with groups taking up booths and ordering food to go with their drinks, or, as Dex and Xavier preferred, people finding stools and a quiet corner to sit and drink. The only downside of Angelo's being the most popular place in town, was that everybody came here, so nothing was left unnoticed. If someone hooked up or broke up or had a little too much to drink and stood on the bar, then everyone knew.

"I don't recognise them," Dex muses; this in itself, was a bit of a rare occurrence. Not to mention that Xavier wasn't exaggerating, a couple of the girls kept glancing over at them, sipping seductively at their drinks.

Before Dex could say any more, Xavier was sculling the last of his drink and standing up from his stool. "Okay, I'm going in."

"What? No. Wait!" Dex tries to call out after him, stop his friend from waltzing over there and making a complete idiot of himself, but Xavier either doesn't hear or is pointedly ignoring him and continues to stride purposefully across the floor to the bar.

Dex holds onto his glass a little tighter as he watches Xavier from a distance. He is charming, smiling widely, laughing as he shakes the hands of several of the girls in the group.

Dex notices a blonde girl in the middle, her hair straight and framing her pale face. She beams up at Xavier as he speaks, obviously telling some sort of joke or funny story, as she casts her eyes momentarily downwards to giggle. She is cute, Dex has to admit, and he wouldn't mind being introduced to her.

Pretty soon Xavier is looking over at him, smiling from among the girls, and beckoning him over. Dex takes a deep breath, drains the remainder of his drink, and places the glass down.

Dex doesn't do this often - his last relationship was Annie and they had gone out for over a year term - he doesn't do the one night hook-up thing. Not to mention that he isn't exactly overly sought after by women in general. But he knows the importance of timing; of not looking too eager, but not too laid back otherwise you might come off disinterested.

As he makes his way towards Xavier, he tries to surreptitiously wipe his hands on the back of his jeans. They were already a little cold and clammy. Not a good start.

"This is Dex," Xavier says, gesturing around to girls nearest to him. Dex gives a small wave, allowing Xavier to throw an amicable arm around his shoulder and tug him into his side. "We've been mates since high school."

A couple of the girls coo, and Dex averts his eyes. He hates people talking about him, particularly when he is still within earshot.

"Xavier was saying that you two live together," one of the girls pipes up. She's got so much make up around he eyes that, to Dex, she sort of looks like a panda.

"Yeah, we do," Xavier affirms. "And Dex is a great house mate. Always picks his towel off the bathroom floor, never drinks from the carton, and makes the best toasted cheese sandwiches on the planet."

They collectively laugh and Xavier slaps Dex jovially on the back. "He's quite the catch," Xavier adds and Dex flushes crimson. He wishes he still had his drink so then at least he would be able to do something with his hands, rather than have them dangling limply at his sides.

"So, what do you do, Dex?" another girl asks. She's standing immediately to his right, and Dex doesn't miss the way she sidles a little closer.

"Uh, I'm a nurse," Dex replies, and he glances around the circle, finding the blonde girl that he spotted before. She smiles kindly at his response and takes a sip from her cocktail glass.

"Aww," Panda Eyes responds, reaching out to playfully cup his cheek across the circle, crossing all sorts of personal space boundaries. Dex takes a step back, placing distance between himself and the group.

"So, you must have some pretty amazing stories," the blonde who Dex was previously eyeing, says.

And this is the moment to pull out the big guns. Dex needs to say something to impress her, to pull out the sensitive and caring guy, so that she won't be able to refuse. She'll gush at his compassion and medical skills and he'll offer to buy her a drink and things will just progress from there. It basically writes itself.

Xavier is looking across at Dex expectantly.

Except, when it comes to the crunch, Dex can't do it. "Not really."

"He's being modest," Xavier cuts in. A drink seems to have materialised in his hand and he's saluting it in Dex's direction, "There was one time that there was an orphan who'd been brought in the hospital, and Dex single-handedly ..."

Dex can't bear to listen to this.

"I'm getting another drink," Dex mumbles, slinking away from the group and making his way to the very end of the bar, away from most of the evening crowd.

Dex heaves a sigh as he perches on a stool. He nods at the bartender, orders a drink, and doesn't mind the wait. He can see Xavier still talking to the girls, not minding the obvious flirting and even the blonde he previously had his eye on has moved in closer to listen eagerly to his tales of Dex's heroic exploits at the hospital, most of them severely exaggerated.

In all honesty, Dex was feeling a little claustrophobic. He doesn't do well with attention; a residue of a traumatic high school experience. Sure, once he and Xavier became friends in his final year things improved, but that didn't wipe out four years of attention for all the wrong reasons. Now he's moved past that, mostly.

The bartender brings back his drink, sans umbrella this time, and places it down in front of Dex.

He supposes he shouldn't leave Xavier to his own devices for too long. Dex wonders absently how much Xavier has talked up Dex in the few minutes he's been away. He'll probably have him performing brain surgery with a plastic fork by the time Dex gets back. He's had a breather and is ready to go back in and mend the damage, and possibly end the night with a phone number. But maybe he's being a little optimistic.

Standing from his stool, Dex grabs his drink; the glass is cool and slippery to his touch, and he turns away, takes a step and -

He sees a shimmy of silver, the blur of a hand and a startled squeal, and suddenly Dex's drink is spilling over the edge of his glass and splashing down the front of his shirt.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" a voice exclaims.

Dex is temporarily frozen, startled by the sudden coldness of his drink, the sticky feeling of his shirt clinging to his skin, and he blinks a couple of times before he realises a pair of hands are prying the now empty glass from his fingers and shoving a handful of napkins towards him.

"Oh god, I'm so so sorry."

"It's fine," Dex replies, accepting the napkins and beginning to clear away the excess liquid. They are soon soaked through, and he drops the sopping wet napkins on the counter.

"Here," says the voice again, this time a little shyer and less panicked.

As Dex takes the dry napkins again, he looks up, sees the source of the voice for the first time.

She's ... beautiful. Her eyes are brown like cocoa, shimmering, even in the dully lit bar; her skin tan. Her lips are pink, pursed in concentration, and she's watching Dex with the utmost concern.

"Thanks," Dex replies. Their fingers brush accidentally, and Dex feels the slight warmth of her skin against the coolness of Dex's own.

They don't say any more as Dex mops up the last of the excess drink. His shirt is still damp, but he's not dripping anymore, and he feels her hovering nearby. She's biting down on her bottom lip as Dex looks up.

"Sorry about your shirt. I'm such a clutz," she admonishes herself, and Dex can see she's being genuine. "Not in town no more than two minutes and I'm already causing trouble. I hope this isn't an omen."

"It's okay." He shrugs towards her. "At least you can say you made a splash." She grins back, and oh god, is Dex actually flirting?

Dex doesn't flirt. Particularly with attractive girls who spill drinks all over him.

"I'm so sorry for ruining your night," she offers.

Dex waves a hand dismissively. "If I'm honest, my night wasn't looking so crash hot for about the past hour."

She nods, then gestures towards the bar. "At least let me buy you another drink. Make up for the one you lost?"

Dex bobs his head, slips back onto his previously occupied stool, the girl sliding in beside him. The bartender comes straight over, and Dex notices the not-so-subtle way he looks her up and down before he leans in close to get the order. Not that Dex blames him really. Her dress is short, and black, and tight, and she's wearing a silver necklace that hangs low on her neckline, automatically drawing anyone's eye.

"I'll have a vodka orange, and a -?" She looks over at Dex, who adds, "Just a beer, thanks."

The bartender winks, actually winks (who does that?), and moves away to collect the drinks. They sit in silence, absorbing the sound of the crowded bar around them, until their drinks are placed on the bar in front of them. To her credit, the girl hands over a note and doesn't ask for change.

"So, you mentioned you were new," Dex says, "How long have you been in town?"

The girl looks across at Dex, the straw of her drink between her lips. She sucks, swallows and places the glass down gently. "I only arrived yesterday. I spent a day and a half unpacking before I finally realised that if I didn't get out of the house I was actually going to go stir-crazy. Ultimately, the need to get out won out over the pending awkwardness of going to a bar without knowing anyone. What about you? How long have you lived in Summer Bay?"

"Oh," Dex says, "I moved here when I started high school. Been here ever since."

The girl smiles, nods thoughtfully, takes another drink, and Dex actually can't believe he's doing this. Dex is having a drink with an attractive girl, and he's hasn't yet said anything overly embarrassing or humiliating.

The conversation moves easily. Dex buying their next round of drinks, and by the end of it, they're both laughing as the girl recounts the time her older sister almost married a prince, but ditched him at the altar for a rock star on a motorbike.

"Okay, you win," Dex replies as he catches his breath, flashing his companion a wide smile.

"I didn't realise it was a competition," she quips.

"Oh, it isn't. But I just know that you've won," Dex concludes.

For the first time in who knows how long, Dex glances around at the bar. The crowd at Angelo's is thinning, and Dex decides that it is now or never.

"Do you want to maybe get out of here?" he asks, pointedly making eye contact. She raises an eyebrow. "I would hate for you to have to go back to those unpacking boxes before you were ready."

And okay, Dex acknowledges that that statement barely makes sense, but she smiles, drains the remainder of her drink - and Dex doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's staring when she licks her lips - and stands from her stool. "Let's go."

>><<

Dex isn't drunk. A little loose, languid maybe, but he has his wits about him; enough to not get lost on the way home and get his key from his pocket, and remembers to dodge the step at the front door that Xavier is always laughing at him for tripping over, and --

Crap. Xavier.

Dex hopes to god that he followed through on his promise to bunk with Sasha, and when Dex unlocks the front door to empty and quiet house, Dex has never been more thankful for his sister.

"Do you want a coffee?" Dex offers after he's switched on the kitchen light. He moves towards the fridge, but stops when he doesn't here her reply.

He turns back slowly, sees the girl hover in his lounge room. "I was thinking maybe something else ..." She trails off, and Dex is not clueless enough to miss that giant hint.

"Uh, yeah," Dex stutters out, moving back towards her. He hopes that she can't tell that his hands are shaking as he slides his palm into hers, leading her to the bedroom.

>><<

"So, you're telling me that you brought this girl home, had sex with her, and didn't even get her name?" Xavier asks incredulously over coffee the next morning.

"Shhh!" Dex hisses across the table, glancing around furtively at the other patrons in the Diner.

"I'm just saying," Xavier says, bringing his coffee cup up to his mouth. "Not normally your style."

"Please don't make this a big deal," Dex pleads, rips the top off the sugar packet, dumping the contents into his cup. He stirs it around, watches the little granules dissolve before looking up at Xavier again. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just so proud of you." Xavier reaches out a hand, makes to place it on Dex's shoulder across the table. "Your very first one night stand."

Dex bats his hand away, ignoring his obvious condescension. "Shut up."

The silence stretches out for a moment, Dex taking long sips at his cup, and he can feel Xavier's eyes on him. Dex sighs as he places his cup down. "Go on."

Xavier's face splits into a grin. "Was she good? I saw you talking for half the night, which is far longer than it normally takes to gauge whether a girl is interested or not, so please tell me it was amazing."

Dex bites down on his lip, tries to school his expression into something calm and neutral and fails. Xavier makes a delighted laugh. "Yeah," Dex affirms, "It was pretty awesome."

If Dex is honest, he hasn't stopped thinking about his Mystery Girl, as Dex had unsubtly dubbed her in his head. She was articulate and witty and had the most perfect eyes and lips and body, and Dex had never been more comfortable in a girls' presence. He wasn't about to dash Xavier's dreams of Dex becoming some womaniser, but Dex couldn't help but feel the disappointment set in when he awoke to find the other side of the bed empty.

>><<

There was a real buzz about the hospital.

As soon as Dr Anderson had announced his retirement and told the team he had appointed a very gifted Dr Scott as his replacement, the hospital gossip mill went into overdrive.

All they knew about Dr Scott was that he was moving from the city, where he had been trained, and had graduated the top of his cohort. The rumours varied from the plausible (probably a middle-aged man who had a wife and 2.5 children and was eager for a sea change) to the down-right ludicrous (an evil villain who is going to use the hospital as a cover for his plans to create his own human pet, ala Rocky Horror).

And today was the day; all rumours could be dispelled as Dr Scott was arriving.

Nurse Julie handed Dex a clipboard, instructing him to go and check on Mr Bell's observations, and so Dex was caught up in working for most of the afternoon; his mind filled with X-rays and test results and Dr Scott furthest from his mind.

Dex returns to the nurse's station a couple of hours later, trying to chase up Ms Peters latest blood work. He's not looking where he's going, head down in a manilla folder as he walks down the hall, and it’s only when he hits something very solid and his paperwork goes flying that he stops.

"Sorry," Dex apologises, dropping down to his knees to collect up the fallen paperwork.

He shuffles the paper back into the folder, his eyes glancing around the floor, making sure he's got every last sheet. His eyes catch on a pair of heels, eyes darting up to the hem of a dark skirt, a crisp white shirt tucked in, and if Dex wasn't already on the floor, he might have fallen anyway.

The face is familiar; with eyes the colour of chocolate, lips that have been kissed, and skin that had been bitten, licked, caressed with his hands, and Dex is lost for words.

"What -? You?"

Mystery Girl seems to hide her shock a lot better than Dex. She raises an eyebrow, waits until Dex scurries to his feet, tucking the folder under his arm. She holds out a hand, says, "April Scott," and Dex hopes to god that his mouth isn't hanging open.

He closes his mouth, swallows, and tries again. "You're - you're Dr Scott?" Dex manages to splutter.

"Last time I checked," she replies with no hint of a smile.

Dex accepts her outstretched hand, shaking blindly as his brain tries catch up. Not only is Dr Scott not a forty-something year old man, but he - she, Dex corrects - is the Mystery Girl from Angelo's.

Dex's Mystery Girl was April Scott.

Dex's one night stand was Dr Scott.

Dex had sex with his new boss.

Oh god.

He realises he's still holding onto her hand, the awkwardness of the situation compounding as each second passes. Dex quickly retracts his hand, curls his fingers into a fist to stop myself from fidgeting, because this is Dex's superior, and he's trying to scramble for any shred of dignity he may have left.

It may be a lost cause.

"And you are?" Dr Scott prompts, and Dex realises that she still doesn't know who he is.

"Uh, Dex. Dexter Walker. Nurse."

"Excuse me, Dr Scott? Sorry for the interruption, may I speak with you?"

She turns around and Dex sees one of the technicians from radiology strolling towards them completely oblivious to the awkwardness passing between them. Dr Scott nods towards him, dismissing herself, before meeting the technician halfway down the hall. Dex watches her leave, and tries to ignore the pounding of his heart.

>><<

The rest of the day is practically a write-off. Dex can't stop his mind from wandering as he inserts an IV drip into a patient, considering whether she had known. Had Dr Scott - April - known that Dex would be working for her? But there is no way, Dex concludes, that even she - with her top of the cohort, high honours masters - could have foreseen this outcome.

On that night they didn't talk about work. She didn't ask what Dex did for a living and Dex didn't enquire after what had brought her to town. But how he is supposed to work with her now? He won't be able to walk down the halls without thinking of the way her skin had glistened with sweat during the heat of the moment, or the puckering of her lips as Dex eased himself into her body, sliding them together like a perfect fit.

Dex is ready to leave for the day. He's on is way to the locker room to collect his bag when he hears his name being called.

He twists around, sees Dr Scott, peering out into the hall from her office at Dex. She glances around before asking, "Could I have a word?"

Dex nods dumbly, stepping into her office, allowing the door to click closed behind him.

"Dr Scott, I -" Dex begins, ready to just hand in his resignation rather than deal with the whole ordeal.

"April," she corrects, and for the first time, Dex notices a small smile creep onto her lips. "I think in this instance we can forgo the formalities."

Dex clears his throat. "Okay, um. April, I just want you to know that I had no idea -"

"I know," April says. "Me neither."

Dex nods. April looks down at her hands, and it’s the first time all day that Dex has seen any of her unease. Whenever Dex saw her across the hall, or talking to Nurse Julie, she had always seemed so put-together, an air of sophistication and confidence, that Dex could only dream of having.

"I hope this doesn't make things too awkward," April continues.

"What? No," Dex replies, scoffing a little, "I only know what colour your bra is and I've seen you naked; why should that make things awkward?"

It’s safe to say, Dex does not react well under pressure.

He notices April's wide eyes, her lips thin, pressed tightly together, as if trying to contain her shock at Dex's sudden admission.

Backtrack backtrack backtrack.

"Oh god, what I meant was that I don't normally do the whole hump and dump situation, so this whole thing is just exponentially weirder now that I have to work for you, but I will do everything I can to just forget it, okay? I will pretend nothing happened, and only give you a polite acknowledgement if we pass in the hallway so that neither of us have to go through this again, even though I haven't stopped thinking about that night and how I wouldn't mind waking up next to you more often."

Open mouth insert foot.

Dex clamps his mouth shut, wishes he could shove his entire fist into it just so that he can't even be tempted to incriminate himself even further.

April comes out from behind her desk, walking around to stand in front of Dex.

"For the record," she says, "I don't normally do the whole one night stand thing either."

Dex waits for the punch. There's always a punch.

April takes another step forward, continuing to close the gap between them.

"And technically," she stresses, "There isn't anything in the hospital charter about two staff members seeing each other. If, you know, you didn't want this to be a one off."

Dex has to bite back his smile. "Are you serious?"

April ducks her head, looks up at Dex through her long lashes and drops her voice, "As the Head Doctor, I'm very familiar with the hospital charter."

Dex closes the gap between them and says in one breath, "The hospital charter should not be turning me on right now."