Worthy

Title: Worthy
Author: Steph aka LickHisLips
Rating: PG
Pairing: Robin/Patrick, Noah/Patrick/Noah/Robin
Category: Romance/Drama
Disclaimer: I do this out of a love for this couple. No infringement is intended.
Spoilers: Nope
Summary: Follow-up to Friday’s (June 1st) episode. Noah tries to help Robin and Patrick work through their issues.

Note: I felt like we needed a follow-up to Friday’s scenes, as I’m sure many of you did. I also felt like I hadn’t been loving Noah lately (when I usually adore him) and that he needed to be redeemed a bit. So, here’s what came from that. Hope you enjoy it and please me know what you thought. -Steph


--- Worthy: Part 1/1 ---


Robin pushed her food around her plate, as she stared at it blankly. Cafeteria food never got her appetite going as it was, but today it wouldn’t have mattered if a gourmet meal was before her. Her mind was a million miles away and incapable of focusing on anything.

“Meatloaf not doing anything for you today?” a familiar voice sounded above her, pulling her from her thoughts.

Robin’s head snapped up and met Noah’s eyes. She shrugged her shoulders and dropped her fork down on the plate. “Not very hungry I guess.”

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, nodding to the vacant chair beside her.

“Be my guest,” she replied.

Noah sat down and immediately began attacking his mashed potatoes. Robin picked up her fork again and began pushing the meatloaf around the plate.

Noah eyed her for a few long moments, before finally speaking. “Are you okay?”

Robin raised her eyes and met his, as she nodded. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re unusually quiet, that’s all.”

“Just tired,” she said dropping her eyes to the table.

Noah let out a sigh and placed his fork down. “Huh, what do you know. Patrick was right.”

Robin’s brow furrowed as she met his eyes again. “Right about what?”

“He told me once that you’re a terrible liar. Now I see what he means.” Noah shook his head. “Come on, tell me what’s wrong. Who knows, I may actually be able to help.”

Robin stared at him for a long moment, then blew out a breath. “Well, that all depends on whether or not you have the power to change a part of your son which seems to be innate.”

Noah rolled his eyes heavenward. “What did he do now?”



Robin folded her arms across her chest. “Nothing really. It’s just…he has this way about him. I mean, you know. You’ve witnessed it. He has this flirty personality. Before we got together, he was overtly flirty with every woman he came in contact with. I know a lot of it was to get a reaction out of me, but even now he has this way of interacting with women that just comes off as this subtle flirtation sometimes.”

Noah smiled slightly. “And it’s driving you insane.”

Robin nodded. “Completely. He doesn’t see it. He thinks I’m being insecure and overly sensitive. And I don’t know, maybe I am to some degree.” Robin lowered her eyes and picked up her napkin, twisting it between her fingers. “He doesn’t understand. I see the way every woman looks at him. They all want him and who could blame them. He’s gorgeous and brilliant and successful and caring and funny and, more often than not, very sweet.”

“You’re afraid of losing him,” Noah stated quietly.

Robin raised her eyes up to him. “I know it’s ridiculous. I trust Patrick and I know he would never be unfaithful to me. Since we’ve been together, he’s told me over and over again how much he loves me. I look into his eyes and I can see that love. I can see how deep and true it is.” She paused and took a deep breath. “But there’s still that little part of me that expects this all to end someday. I’ve learned the hard way that love and happiness always end, so why should this time be any different? I keep waiting for the day when he’ll wake up and realize that my control freak ways and overanalyzing are too much for him. Or my little quirks that he once thought were cute and endearing, he’ll just find annoying.” Robin’s voice lowered. “I’m waiting for the moment he realizes I’m not enough for him and that he could have any woman in this world.”

Noah tilted his head. “And you’re convinced this day will eventually come? That it’s inevitable?”

Robin nodded her response, but didn’t meet his eyes.

Noah leaned forward, crossing his arms in front of him on the table. “That’s why you’re so reluctant to move back in with him, right?”

Robin felt the tears begin to sting her eyes. She lifted her head and met Noah’s gaze. “Once I move in with him, it’s only a matter of time until he grows tired of me. I guess I just want to hold onto him, onto what we have, for as long as possible.”

“Have you told Patrick any of this?”

“Not in so many words,” she replied softly.

“Well,” Noah began, as he reached out and patted her hand gently, “maybe it’s about time you did.”

“He won’t understand. He’ll think I’m being ridiculous.”

Noah sighed softly. “Give him a chance, Robin. He might surprise you.” He paused and then looked her right in the eye. “Look, I know I’ve been hard on you two lately, but the truth is I know that you two have found what everyone’s looking for. You’ve found real, true love. Everyone always thinks the hardest part is finding it. And if they’re lucky enough to find it, then they breathe a sigh of relief and think the hardest part is over when it’s really just beginning. Learning to live with each other, to accept one another’s flaws, that’s the hardest part. It takes work. You have to be willing to compromise and listen and give each other some leeway.”

Robin nodded. “You speak from experience.”

“I speak from hard-earned experience,” he replied with a slight smile. “Listen, this whole love and relationship thing is entirely new to my son. Believe me when I tell you he never expected to fall in love and he’s still finding his way. But he loves you more than anything in this world, Robin. I saw what it did to him when he nearly lost you during the hostage crisis. There’s nothing you could ever say or do that would ever make him want to let you go. There’s not a woman on earth who could take your place in his life and in his heart.”

Robin smiled slightly, as Noah squeezed her hand.

---

Noah entered the locker room, his eyes landing on his son, who stood in front of his locker changing into his street clothes.

“You know, for someone who claims to be brilliant, you sure can be dense.”

Patrick’s head whipped in the direction of his father’s voice. He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Maybe you can save the insults and scolding for tomorrow. I’m tired and Robin’s waiting for me.”

Patrick closed his locker and attempted to sidestep his father, but Noah placed his hand on his son’s chest, halting his movement.

“It’s about you and Robin,” Noah said.

Patrick offered him a crooked smile. “Me and Robin? Aren’t you the same guy who was chiding us about keeping our personal and professional relationships separate? Now you want to have a little heart-to-heart right here in the locker room?”

Noah met his eyes. “I want to help you before you screw up the best thing to ever happen to you.”

Patrick’s mouth dropped open slightly. He blew out a soft breath, “What are you talking about?”

“Have you been listening to your girlfriend lately?”

Patrick’s brow furrowed. “Listening to Robin? Of course. What are you-…”

“I mean, really listening, Patrick. I was married to your mother for a long time. Let me give you the benefit of what I learned the hard way. One of the keys to a successful relationship is hearing the things that go unsaid, finding the subtext, deciphering what she really means when she says something.”

Patrick stared at his father for a long moment, then ran a hand through his hair and blew out an agitated sigh. He slowly sank down onto the bench and was joined a moment later by his father.

“So I’m expected to be a mind reader?”

“You’re expected to be conscious of the fact that sometimes there’s more to her than it seems.”

“This is about those cheerleaders and that nurse, isn’t it?” he said to Noah.

“No, Patrick, this is about the woman you love and how she feels.”

Patrick’s face twisted in confusion. “What makes you an expert on how my girlfriend feels all of the sudden?”

“Because I just talked to her. And I listened to her. Really listened to her. I didn’t just dismiss her feelings because I don’t want to try to understand them or because I don’t want to see the part I play in them.”

“I don’t dismiss Robin’s feelings.”

Noah cocked his head to the right. “Oh no? Look, you may think she’s being overly sensitive or overreacting to a situation, but that doesn’t change how she feels. It’s coming from some place real, Patrick, or she wouldn’t be feeling that way. And you need to own up to the role you play.”

Patrick dragged his hands down his face tiredly. “You mean how I interact with other women.”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, for starters. Listen, this woman loves you so much she can’t see straight. Everyone knows that. But you know her past. You know it better than I do. You know what she’s been through in her life. Every time she’s loved in the past, it’s ended. So she’s waiting. Patrick, she’s waiting for what you two have to end, too.”

“But she knows how much I love her. I’ve told her countless times. I told her that I can’t imagine my life without her. I told her that I want us to be together. I asked her to move in with me, Dad.”

“That’s what scares her, Patrick. She’s afraid you’ll get tired of her. She’s afraid one day she won’t be enough for you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Noah offered his son a crooked grin.

Patrick’s eyes narrowed at him. “What?”

“She said you’d say that.”

Patrick rolled his eyes. “Well, that’s because it’s true.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Patrick. You’re dismissing her feelings. You’re acting like they have no validity when you know they come from a very real place based on her previous experiences. You don’t like it when Robin tells you how you feel. Well, she doesn’t like it when you act as if her feelings aren’t real.”

Patrick ran a hand across his forehead. “What do you expect me to do, Dad? What do you want me to say to her?” He licked at his lips, as his voice grew soft. “There is no one else in this world for me. I love Robin so much it physically hurts. Everyday I find myself loving her more and more, when I didn’t even think it was possible to love her anymore than I already do. I will never get tired of her. She is the only woman I will ever want.”

“I know that. Now you need to make Robin believe it.”

“How? I don’t know what else to do.”

“Talk to her. Talk to her about how she feels and why she feels that way. Then find a way to make her believe in you and your future together.”

Patrick flexed his jaw. “Please, be a little more vague.”

Noah chuckled softly. “Well, you could start with being aware of how you behave around other women and how that affects Robin. Patrick, little more than a year ago you were a playboy and a confirmed bachelor for life. You vowed to never fall in love. I was the same way before your mother walked into my life and changed it forever, just like Robin did for you. But telling your mother how much I loved her and that she was the only woman I would ever want wasn’t enough to make her forget what she knew about my past. She felt very much like Robin does.”

“What did you do about it?”

“Well, I felt like I needed to make some grand romantic gesture to make her believe me.”

“Go on,” Patrick prompted impatiently.

Noah smiled as a twinkle appeared in his eyes. “So when your mother came to meet me for lunch at the hospital one afternoon, I got on the P.A. system and announced to all of floor 10 that I loved her more than life itself and there was no other woman for me.”

Patrick bit back a laugh. “How did she react?”

Noah shrugged his shoulders, as his smile morphed into a grin. “She called me an idiot and refused to speak to me for two days.”

Patrick let out a chuckle. “Didn’t exactly work like a charm, I guess.”

Noah shook his head. “I think I’d seen one too many romantic comedies. I was new at love and relationships, just like you are. I expected her to fall into my arms and kiss me senseless.” He sighed slightly. “But, son, as I learned, life’s not a movie. People aren’t carefully scripted characters. Love isn’t perfectly plotted out. It doesn’t work that way.”

“So how did you finally get Mom to believe in you and your future together?”

Noah tilted his head to the left. “Simple. I put her first. I listened to her. I talked to her about how she felt. I considered her feelings before I said or did anything. In time, she came to trust in my love and devotion to her. There were no magic words I could say to make her feelings suddenly change.”

Patrick blew out a breath, as a small smile curled the corners of his lips. “But you know I’m an instant gratification kind of guy.”

Noah laughed, but shook his head. “No, that’s the guy you used to be. This guy knows a great thing when he has it and realizes it’s worth all of the time and effort in the world to hold onto.” He paused and then added, “He’s also much less of an ass…most of the time.”

Patrick simply shook his head and let out a laugh.

---

Patrick walked into his bedroom and stopped in the doorway. Robin was asleep on his bed, clothed in one of his old grey t-shirts. He had been called into an emergency surgery after speaking to his father. He told her to go home without him and he would be there as soon as possible. That was three hours ago.

He undid a few of the buttons on his shirt, as he crossed the threshold and walked toward the bed. He smiled at the sight of her sleeping so peacefully. She always reminded him of Sleeping Beauty. She had no idea just how beautiful she was to him.

He knelt down before her and lifted his hand, as he gently stroked her silky hair. Her lips were parted slightly and he could hear her soft breaths escape from her mouth.

He felt a pang as his eyes swept over her, knowing that he had unintentionally hurt her. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause her pain, but his insensitivity and obliviousness had done just that.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open while he stared at her, as if she somehow sensed his presence.

A tiny smile appeared on her lips as she said softly, “You’re home.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sorry it took so long.”

“That’s okay,” she said, resting her head in her palm. “I tried waiting up for you, but I guess I was just too tired.”

He bobbed his head, as his eyes continued to roam over her face and he felt his chest tighten with emotion.

“What?” she asked, her brow creasing.

He shook his head, his voice emerging quietly, “Nothing, I just….I just love you so much, that’s all.”

Her lips spread into a smile and she reached up to cup his face tenderly with her hand. “I know,” she whispered.

He swallowed roughly. “I know I can be an insensitive idiot sometimes. I don’t mean to hurt you, but I know I do. I’m working on that, Robin.”

Robin’s eyes narrowed at him. “You talked to your father, didn’t you.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, it seems he fancies himself a couples’ counselor these days.”

Robin chuckled. “He’s just trying to help. He wants us to be happy. He wants you to be happy.”

Patrick’s expression grew serious as he met her eyes. “I am happy. Robin, you make me happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life and that is not going to change. There is no other woman on earth I’d rather be with.”

Robin felt the tears pop into her eyes. “But things change, Patrick. People change. I’ve seen it happen countless times.”

Patrick resisted the urge to tell her that it wouldn’t happen to them. Instead, he decided to take his father’s advice.

“Why do you think one day I’m going to get tired of you? Why do you feel that one day you won’t be enough for me?”

Robin’s mouth dropped open slightly at the sincere questions. She took a deep breath and then lowered her eyes. “Because that’s what happened with Jason.”

Patrick’s brow wrinkled. “I thought you two didn’t make it because of the secret of Michael’s paternity.”

Robin nodded. “That was the main reason, but I don’t think we would have made it anyway. Jason slept with Carly during our relationship. He was still very confused after his injury and trying to figure things out. He didn’t really consider what he was doing or how it would hurt me. I forgave him, but I could never forget it. To me, it meant that I wasn’t enough for him. It meant that Carly could give him something I couldn’t. She was free and bold and spontaneous - everything I wasn’t. I was just beginning to believe that a man could love me and want me again since I’d contracted HIV and that just made me wonder if I would ever truly be enough. And, in the end, I wasn’t enough for Jason. I couldn’t give him what Carly could and I don’t mean sexually. I couldn’t follow him blindly and accept his life and the choices he made the way he wanted me to.”

Patrick brought his hand up and caressed her cheek. “I’m sorry he hurt you like that.”

Robin looked into his eyes. “I know you aren’t Jason. I believe that you will be faithful to me. It’s just that sometimes I can’t stop those feelings of not being enough from popping up.”

Patrick shook his head. “It’s funny. I used to think I couldn’t possibly be enough for you. That you deserved so much better than me. The truth is, I guess I still feel that way sometimes. That a woman like you could want me still baffles me on a nearly daily basis.”

Robin rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Oh, please. You’re gorgeous and brilliant, not to mention countless other things. Every woman wants you, Patrick.”

Patrick bobbed his head. “And that’s what you think every time you see me interacting with one.”

She bit at her bottom lip. “There’s that tiny little voice in the back of my head, yeah.”

Patrick nodded his head. “Okay, I get that. So I propose this. Whenever you hear that voice, you tell me and we’ll talk about it. And I’ll do my best to consider your feelings before I say or do anything.”

“I don’t want you feel like you have to walk on eggshells, Patrick. I’m not going to break into a million pieces if you talk to another woman.”

He smiled slightly. “Oh, I know. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. I just mean I’m going to try to be more aware of how my actions affect you.” He sighed and shook his head. “Remember, this is all new to me. With the exception of my parents, I’ve never had to consider anyone’s feelings but my own. And that’s how I operated, no pun intended. I thought about myself. What I wanted, how I felt, how things affected me. But things are different now. I have you and I’m learning what it takes to be a man worthy of something so precious.”

Robin laughed softly. “Wow, laying it on pretty thick there, Dr. Drake.”

Patrick chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’ll tell you what laying it on thick is. Let me tell you a little tale about my mother and father. So-…”

Robin shook her head and reached down to grab a hold of his collar. She pulled him up off the ground, so that his face now hovered inches from hers. “I think I have a better idea.”

She then lifted her head and placed a kiss on his lips, as her hands released his shirt and her arms encircled his neck. After a few moments, Patrick pulled back and met her eyes.

“Ingenious idea, Dr. Scorpio.”

She smiled and replied, “I thought you’d like it,” before bringing her lips back to his.

-------------------------------THE END-----------------------------
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and please me know what you thought.
-Steph