Dempeo: The Whole Truth

Chapter 27: Back on Set

- March 2006 -

4 months had passed since Ellen's trip to Greece, Ellen and Patrick had distanced themselves from each other over the holidays. They still went on their hikes but only once every couple of weeks. Both were happy in their separate relationships but filming had just started again, and they were both worried that their onscreen romance would make their feelings obvious once more. They both had their own trailers now so at least their partners didn't have anything to worry about right?

*Patrick*
They had been filming for a week and he already hated having his own trailer, he hated not walking in to hear her laughter. He missed their routines, their habits, he missed her presence and her smell. He had just finished filming and was walking out to have a bit of a break, he looked at the trailer next to his and decided that he could use some company. He knocked on the door and Ellen answered, she smiled and let him. 'I didn't want to go back to my trailer, it felt too quiet, I much preferred sharing one' he said as he sat down. She laughed and said 'I miss it too, it's not the same getting here in the morning without my morning kiss' with a wink. He laughed and dug around in his pocket, he found what he was looking for, the spare key to his trailer. He was going to give it to Jill but she wouldn't miss it anyway, he held it out to her in his palm. 'Come and see me every morning?' he said with his signature Mcdreamy smile. She smiled and took the key from his hand 'Only if you have a coffee waiting for me' she replied.

*Ellen*
She was sitting in her trailer and couldn't help but feel lonely. She missed Patrick making her morning coffee, his gruff grumpy voice when he was tired and his morning kiss (on the cheek of course). They hadn't had any scenes together yet that week but they still made an effort to spend time together on set. She heard a knock on the door and immediately knew it was Patrick. She opened the door and Patrick said 'I didn't want to go back to my trailer, it felt too quiet, I much preferred sharing one'. She laughed, they always felt the same way about almost everything, 'I miss it too, it's not the same getting here in the morning without my morning kiss' she said with a wink. He laughed and sat down on the couch while she got herself a glass of water, when she turned around she saw him sitting there with a key in his hand. 'Come and see me every morning?' he said with that smile that made her swoon, she smiled down at him and took the key 'Only if you have my morning coffee waiting for me' she replied. Maybe it was a bad idea, she was going to give her key to Chris, but then why would he need it? He never came up to set anyway and if she lost her key it would be better for someone who's up there to have it anyway. She would have to think about it.

*Patrick*
He and Ellen finally had a couple of scenes to shoot together, one where they were at Joe's meeting for the first time and the other hit a little bit closer to home. Derek was telling Meredith that he loved her for the first time, he knew that he was in love with Ellen but he could never tell her that. Maybe doing the scene would be good, maybe it would help to get it off of his subconscious.
He ran his hands through his hair as he stood on the set of Meredith's kitchen. Looking into Ellen's eyes he began to say his lines, 'I'm in love with you, I've been in love with you forever', the words coming out of his mouth were no longer Derek's lines but instead what he has wanted to tell Ellen since the moment he met her. He tried to read her eyes, to see if she understood, the way she looked at him with those sad eyes broke his heart. He knew she understood but knew it would never work, the emotions between them running high, to anyone outside of their bubble they looked like outstanding actors, only they knew what was going on. The scene ended and he held onto the back of the chair, trying to bring himself back to reality, trying to tell himself it was all an act. She walked round and placed a hand on his arm, 'Trailer?' she asked, he nodded and followed her back to her trailer. She got him a glass of water as he sat on the couch, they sat in silence, she rested her head on his shoulder. Her presence soothing his pain, he knew it would never be something they could talk about. The unspoken words only made real through the use of their characters relationship.

*Ellen*
She had just finished her scene with Chris O'Donnell, he really was a lovely guy but something about him just grated on her a little. It was fine, she was about to film her first scene back with Patrick, filming with him always cheered her up. She watched as Patrick ran his hand through his perfect hair before the scene started, he started to say his lines. 'I'm in love with you, I've been in love with you forever' he said, the tone of his voice not quite matching the way he usually said his lines. The way he looked at her was too real, she looked back at him, tears in her eyes, she could tell as he searched her eyes that he was trying to figure out if the tears were forced or not. She blinked her tears back, trying to regain composure before the scene ended only to see Patrick struggling just as much, if not more. He had braced himself on the back of the chair once the scene had ended, she knew they should get out of there quickly before the crew could see how much the scene had effected them. She put a hand on his arm and he looked up at her, his eyes lined with grief 'Trailer?' she asked knowing that they would have to get through this together and alone. Once they were back in her trailer she gave him a glass of water as he sat on the couch. There wasn't anything that either of them could say, she knew that it would only make it worse if she tried to talk about it. She did the only thing she could, rested her head on his shoulder and sat with him. They were going to have to get through this somehow, and if they couldn't then they'd end up tearing their lives apart.

Season 3 Episode 1