Howdy!

I know that I said at the beginning of the previous chapter that I wasn't really happy with the way it had turned out. However, I went back and re-read it only to find that I didn't just dislike it - I hated it. In my defence, it was Christmas time, and I rushed it slightly. But, hey! That's what epilogues are for, right?

Now, I'm sorry this has taken me so long but in the last few months I have been preparing for exams that will take place in the next couple of weeks. As a break from intense studying, I sat down and finished this. I've finally have a sense of closure with this story now, so I hope you enjoy it!

Without further ado:

Four years later...

He vaguely felt the torrential rain falling all over him, but he didn't really care. He had came out here on this exact day every year for four years, a little rain wasn't going to stop him. Carla had called and told him to wait until till later, so that she and Turk could be with him, maybe the rain will have stopped by then she had said. But this was something that he needed to do on his own.

As time went by, and he came to terms with it, he had reverted back to the, albeit significantly more toned down, happy-go-lucky guy he used to be. However, he still became as quiet and depressed on the anniversary, as he was on the night he first heard the news.

He walked to the top of the hill and pulled the rose from his pocket.

"Hey, Elliot." he said, placing the flower on her grave stone.

...

...

...

...

GOTCHA!!

Did you really think I would kill Elliot? Seriously? Come on! I'm afriad this epilogue is an angst-free-zone because, even though I didn't intially intend it to be, what follows is 100 pure fluff.

This is the real epilogue...no, seriously!

Approximately a year later…

The early morning light shined through the bedroom curtains, falling across Elliot's beautiful face as she slept peacefully. JD thanked whoever controlled the sun as he lay next to her in their bed, wide-awake, holding her against his body. For the past 15 minutes, JD had simply lay and gazed at her in adoration.

If you would've told me a year and a half ago that I would be here, with her, I would never had believed you. I still can't believe it. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Making sure it was real, JD closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. But suddenly, JD couldn't breathe; something was clogging his airway. He coughed and spluttered in an attempt to get it out, and in a few seconds it was. Unfortunately, his coughing had awoken the woman in his arms.

"Choke on my hair again, babe?" Elliot muttered sleepily, yawning afterwards.

"Every morning!" JD whined, pulling a stray strand of blond hair from his mouth.

"Just as well." she said, patting his stomach affectionately and glancing at her alarm clock. "We've gotta get up and go to work now anyway." Elliot made a move to get up but JD wouldn't release his grip on her.

"Uh-uh, you're not going anywhere." he said.

"JD, c'mon." She tried again to wriggle free but could not. "JD, knock it off." When it was clear she couldn't wriggle out of his grasp, she looked at him, fully prepared to give him her 'I'm being serious, now' face, but she found he was already staring at her intensely, or more accurately, staring at her lips intensely.

"We're gonna be late." she muttered in a last pathetic protest; but when shefelt herself leaning in to him, she wondered why exactly she was protesting.

Instead of answering, he closed the short distance between them and brought his lips to hers. After over a year together, it amazed Elliot that she would still melt into him when they kissed. It wasn't long before the kiss deepened, and hands began to roam.

Okay, nothing could ruin this moment!

Just as JD flipped Elliot over so that he was on top of her, the phone rang.

Damn it!

They both sighed in frustration. JD removed his hands from their not-so-innocent positions on her and reached for the phone.

"Hello? Hey, Carla. Listen could call back in a minute or 40, I'm kind of busy at the mome….yes, we know we're late…can you just…OK! Fine, we're getting up."

JD slammed the phone down in frustration and turned back to Elliot, only to be caught off guard by a quick kiss. She pulled away, shot him a quick smile and jumped up to get ready.

JD felt his 'Elliot smile' creep onto his face as he thought about the two of them.

I can't believe I could have been living like this for the last seven years. But actually, everything we went through seems like it prepared us for a real, adult relationship. And now things are perfect. Although, we did get off to a rocky start. Our first date - well, it was actually like our eighth date if you count our old relationships, but anyway - started a little weird.

JD checked his appearance one last time in the mirror of a car parked on the sidewalk. Satisfied, he walked the last few steps to Elliot's door feeling as though he was about to be sick.

Why am I so nervous? I've been on a million dates with Elliot. No, this is different. I'm serious about us this time. No more fear, no more sabotaging, I'll make this work if it's the last thing I do. The important thing to do here, is not panic. It's just Elliot…

Ohmygod, ohmygod. I'm on a date with Elliot! I'm on a date with Elliot!

His hand shaking, JD knocked on her door. He quickly tried to compose himself; seeing him this nervous might give her the wrong idea. So, he desperately tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach. There was no need, because when she opened the door and he saw her, he forgot all about the butterflies. Even after all this time, he was still amazed by her beauty.

"Hey." she said. He noticed that she seemed a little nervous too, judging by the slightly shy tone in her voice.

"Hi." he managed to croak out, still trying to regain his composure. "Um, ready to go?"

"Yeah." she answered, shutting her front door behind her and setting off down the road.

JD had borrowed the Turk's car for the evening. He made a move to open the door for her, unaware that she had made the same move at the same time. Their hands touched briefly, but they both quickly pulled them back.

They both laughed nervously and JD finally opened the door for her. She mumbled a thank you as she got in.

That was as good as the conversation got. Apart from JD asking her if she was warm enough and her reply that she was fine, the ride to the restaurant was filled with silence so awkward JD felt as though he was being crushed under the weight of it.

What's wrong with us? We made out in the middle of the hospital just over a week ago but now we're all awkward because our hands touched?

When they arrived and were seated, it was more of the same. They busied themselves looking at their menus. When the waiter came, they ordered. Then, more silence.

Oh god, this is killing me. Say something! Anything!

"Hey, would you rather find out was you're biological father? Dr Cox or Dr Kelso?"

Elliot's eye's snapped up from her menu in shock.

"Um, what I meant by that was--"

Luckily he was saved by the arrival of their meals and, after thanking the waiter, silence decided to grace them with its presence once more. JD didn't dare try and make small talk again, afraid of what he might blurt out. Elliot didn't seem to feel like talking either. When their meals were finished he asked her if she wanted desert, and she declined.

The entire night having been a complete awkward disaster, the only thing left to do was take her home.

He paid for their meal and they left, still in heartbreaking silence.

They both looked anywhere but at the other as they walked to the car, but JD stole a glace at Elliot. She was thinking exactly what he was thinking:

This was a mistake. Maybe, as much as we want to, as hard as we try, we just have to accept the fact that we don't work as a couple.

They were on the opposite side of the street to the car now. Unfortunately, JD was so focused on Elliot that he didn't even realise he was crossing the street. Stepping off the curb caught him completely by surprise, he lost his balance and fell to the floor.

People on the other side of the street shook their heads at the idiot. JD sat up and took a second to figure out why he was suddenly on the dirty floor. His eyes travelled up to meet Elliot's. She too looked surprised, but then the corners of her mouth started to twitch upwards. A second later, they both burst out laughing.

JD's expression as he was suddenly falling was one of surprise/fear, and just replaying it in her mind made it even more hilarious to Elliot. JD tried to get to his feet but he was laughing so hard that he stumbled and nearly fell over again, causing Elliot to laugh even harder.

Tears in her eyes, she made her way over to a nearby bench so she wouldn't fall over with laughter and JD sat next to her. They stayed like that for a full five minutes, tears in their eyes, passers by assumed they had drank a little too much tonight.

When the laughter turned to chuckling and then died down completely, there was more silence. This time, however, it wasn't awkward. It was one in which they both reviewed the night's events.

"Aside from me falling on my ass, this night pretty much sucked, huh?" he said eventually. She shot him a sad smile and nodded. "I just don't understand. I mean, we weren't like this the other times we were dating, and we haven't been like this the last 3 years. Why is it so awkward all of a sudden?"

"I don't know." she replied. "I mean, today I was really excited. I came home from work and started getting ready. And then, while I was waiting for you to pick me up, I just started panicking. I kept thinking 'Ohmygod, I'm going on a date with JD! I'm going on a date with JD!'"

"No way! I was thinking the exact same thing. Well, except with 'JD' replaced with 'Elliot'. I wasn't going on a date with myself. Although if I was…"

Elliot saw his eyes drift up to the side and knew he was about to go into his fantasy world.

"JD!" she said firmly, and grabbed his hand.

"Sorry." he said. Snapping back to reality. He soon noticed that Elliot was still holding his hand. They both looked down at the sight, before looking back up at each other.

"How about," JD said with a smile. "we just forget were on a date and just…hang out."

"I'd like that." she said with a smile of his own.

Two hour passed, filled mostly with making fun of weird or drunk people that walked past their bench and prank calling Turk and Carla from a payphone, before JD found himself back on Elliot's doorstep at the end of the night.

Elliot sighed, and leaned against her door as she and JD looked at each other, with silly little smirks on their faces.

"Well, despite a sucky start, I had fun a lot of fun tonight." she told him.

"Me too."

The second comfortable silence of the night followed, before JD leaned in kissed her. It wasn't the full-blown, passionate make-out session they'd shared a week before. It was slow and sweet, and it told her that despite all the crap they'd been through (including the date's beginning) he was still serious about making them work this time.

He finally pulled back for air, but rested his forehead against hers.

"Well," she sighed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." he said, planting one final kiss on the end of her nose before taking a step back. Their eyes remained locked until the door to Elliot's house closed.The doors to Sacred Heart Opened as JD and Elliot walked through them, hand in hand.

"All I'm saying is that most guys wouldn't call their girlfriends insulting nicknames." Elliot was saying.

"Elliot, I have been called everything from crap face to Pee-Pee LeFritz. Trust me, 'Smelliot' is a kick ass nickname."

"Okay, I didn't want it to come to this but if you don't stop, I will attack your crotch every time you say 'Smelliot'." Elliot stopped and looked at JD with her best angry expression.

JD, however, didn't seem intimidated. In fact, he broke out into a grin.

"'Attack my crotch'? That sounds awesome!"

"Wait, that's not how I meant it. I meant that I'll kick you there!"

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take your first remark."

"JD!" Elliot whined, hitting him in the shoulder. As JD was about to continue their playful banter, they were interrupted.

"Well, if it isn't the soon-to-be Mr and Mrs Newbie." Dr Cox said, walking towards the two. JD noticed that Cox had looked at him when he said 'Mrs Newbie'.

Same old Cox.

"Tell me," Cox went on. "how come no one told me when I was engaged that it means I can just show up for work whenever I want, regardless of what time my shift starts?"

JD and Elliot just stared blankly at him, unsure of the answer he wanted.

"I assume that's a rule isn't it?" Cox continued. "Because why else would you be fifteen minutes late for work?" His mock-grin disappeared, replaced with a heated glare directed at the two younger doctors.

Seven years had taught them that answering that question would be a very bad idea, so instead they just stared at floor. After a few seconds of wondering if he would kill them or not, Cox motioned to JD with his finger.

"Come! We have work to do." he growled, before turning and stalking down the hallway. Not wanting to anger the beast any further, JD made an immediate move to follow, until he heard a not-so-subtle cough from behind him. Elliot was looking at him in a way that said 'aren't you forgetting something?'

"Oh!" he said. Quickly, he moved back over to her and planted a kiss on her lips. "See you at lunch?". She nodded with that smile of hers that drove him wild.

"NEWBIE!" came Cox's roar, making JD, Elliot and everyone in the general vicinity jump in fright.

JD was soon at his mentor's side as they walked through the halls at a unusually fast pace.

"Why are you so uptight today?" JD asked. Then, thinking it over, he corrected himself. "Okay, more uptight that usual?"

"Oh, I don't know." Cox answered. "Maybe its because I've had 4 coffees in the last hour, maybe its because you showed no remorse for the fact that you were late or maybe its because Jack has entered a strange phase in which he will not stop asking question, after question, after question, after question, after question, after question, after question, after question, after question, after question."

"Actually," JD said, stopping himself and Dr Cox so he could put his arm on his mentor's shoulder. "I think I know the reason."

Dr Cox responded to his sympathetic smile with a confused frown.

"Elliot and I are getting married in a few months." JD continued, giving Cox's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "And I know you think that means our time together is gonna take a hit. And, while I can't deny that, I want you to know that, even with a wife, I will always make time for you."

JD, who was expecting Dr Cox to shy away from his sensitivity, was surprised to see Cox looking as though he was holding back tears. JD gave his mentor's shoulder another affectionate squeeze as he too felt himself becoming emotional. Slowly, though, Dr Cox raised his fist to the level of JD's face and held it there. Dr Cox now seemed to be gazing at it curiously and JD did the same for a few seconds, looking at the weird gesture Cox was making with his fingers.

What the hell is that? I know I've seen it before; index finger touching thumb, three other fingers in the air. Oh! It's the 'A-OK!' sign. That's what it is. Either that or the shape a person's hand is before they fli--

His thoughts cut short as Cox suddenly flicked JD. Hard. Right between the eyes.

"OW!"

"OR," Cox said, his voice dripping with unbearable annoyance. "maybe I'm uptight because we're short staffed today, and the only doctors I have on hand are IDIOTS like you!"

With a groan of utter frustration, Cox turned and walked away leaving JD rubbing his forehead in pain.

"Having a good day." A voice said directly behind JD, making him jump again. He spun round to see the Janitor painting the wall, an evil grin on his face after clearly witnessing what just happened.

"Not particularly, no." JD answered.

"Aw, that's too bad. Mr Hot-Shot-Rich-Doctor had a few mishaps and thinks he's got it bad. While me, a lowly janitor, works his fingers to the bone all day just to try and pay the rent on a small, one room apartment." Janitor snapped.

JD instantly felt sorry, until he remembered something. "Wait a second, I went to you're house last year! It's huge, and you nearly knocked me out with your door."

"…oh, yeah. Forgot about that. That was fun. " Janitor said, reminiscing. "Well, I hope you're day gets better, buddy." He said, patting JD on the shoulder and walking away. JD looked only to see a giant, hand shaped paint stain there.

Not long into her shift, Elliot had to take a break. When she had got out of bed and gone into the bathroom earlier that morning, she had suddenly felt terrible and had almost been sick. She thought it would be best to sit down in the doctor's lounge for a few minutes. As she entered, she saw Todd lying on the couch watching TV.

"Hey, Todd."

"Hey, Elliot. Look, I saved you a seat!" Todd said, and gestured to his crotch.

"Aww, thanks Todd!" Elliot replied with mock gratitude, before sitting down on Todd's crotch with as much force of possible.

"ARRRGGH!" Todd screamed out.

"One of these days, you'll learn Todd." Elliot patted Todd on the head and got up to sit on the other couch.

"Don't you know it's just my way of paying you a compliment." Todd managed to croak out.

"Well you should try some different methods."

"How about, you're boobs look especially big today?"

"Swing and a miss."

Although, she thought, looking down to her breasts. The girls do seem a little heavier than usual.

Still, Todd's constant use of innuendos, had brought a memory from a few months ago to the front of her mind.

It was our third or fourth date since JD and I had gotten back together and, well, let's just say it was going well.

Elliot felt her back slam against the door as she tangled his hair with the fingers of one hand, rummaging in her purse for her keys with the other. Once she located them, she had to tear her lips away from his to speak.

"J-JD, you have to let me open the door for us to go inside." she said breathlessly.

"O-okay." he replied in the same way, letting go of her so she could turn and open the door. The second he heard her turn the keys and start to open the door, he spun her around and locked lips with her again, pushing the door open himself and leading them inside.

Elliot vaguely heard him kick the door shut behind him, but she wasn't sure as his intense kisses were creating a haze that clouded her mind. How they made it up the stairs with their lips and hands all over each other, she didn't know, but suddenly they were crashing onto her bed.

She started to unbutton his shirt and he slipped of her jacket as they both kicked off their own shoes. Unfortunately, JD abruptly stopped everything he was doing and pulled back to look at her.

"Wait," he said with swollen lips. "we…we said we were going to take this slow. Are you sure this isn't too soon?"

She honestly didn't know what to say. On the one hand, she saw what he meant; every time they had gotten together in the past, they seemed to skip the first few stages of relationships and jump right forward to sex. If they wanted to make this work, maybe they should take it a lot slower than previous times. On the other hand, she really wanted to go back to what they were doing a minute ago.

"I just don't wanna screw this up like the other times by moving too fast." he said

"Yeah, you're right." she reluctantly admitted with a sigh.

JD moved from his previous position of pinning her down on her own bed to sitting on the edge of it so he could talk to her.

"Don't get me wrong, Elliot, I really want to but I think it would be best if we just wait a little while longer."

He's putting sex to the side to try protect our future? God, I love him.

"Okay. We'll wait. But for now," Elliot moved across the bed and leaned in to kiss him. "this is for you."

"These are for you, Bambi!" Carla said as she handed him about ten charts. After changing into a new shirt, JD had arrived at the nurse's station.

"Thanks. Hey, where's Turk?"

"Ugh," Carla said, rolling her eyes. "He took the day off, claiming he was finally gonna teach Izzie to walk."

At their apartment, Turk is kneeling on floor with Isabella on the other side of the room. Turk is holding up a pink bunny in one hand.

"Okay." Turk says. "You're now officially one year old, and you still can't walk. But that don't matter, baby. Some kids just need some inspiration." He indicated the pink bunny in his hand "You love this bunny, this is your favourite toy. Don't you wanna walk across the room and get it? Come and get it, Izzie!"

Izzie looks slightly interested, but her attention soon switches to something on the kitchen counter. It was Carla's vase, the one that Turk had freaked out over when she had bought it for so much money. But she loved it and just had to, she had told him. Izzie had always seemed to be fascinated by its bright colours, and Carla had been saying recently about putting it somewhere safer, where Izzie certainly wouldn't get to it.

"Surely if I just hold it and get Isabella to walk, nothing will happen…right?" Turk thought to himself.

JD began to walk away but stopped and looked down at all the charts in his hand. "Wait, are all these for me?"

"Yeah, we're short staffed today."

"Oh, right…why is that?"

Carla smirked.

"You're not gonna believe this." she said. But before she could say anything else, Dr Cox joined them and asked Carla for a particular patient's personal information, leading to a discussion between them concerning the patient. Figuring that Carla would tell him later, he went back to work.

Meanwhile, Elliot was not having the best of days. In addition to having a significantly increased workload than usual, she still wasn't feeling too good. Even though the feeling that she was about to vomit had passed since this morning, a painful headache had reared it's head. She initially had thought that she might have been dehydrated, so she had drank a bottle of water which must have been bigger than she thought, because here she was in the bathroom, peeing for the third time in the last hour and a half.

God, she thought as she experienced a long yawn. I'm so tired I feel like I'm gonna drop. Probably cause I was up late with JD last night…and the night before. Turns out being engaged is a huge turn-on.

A few months ago…

Elliot couldn't stop the snort of laughter. "I can't believe you just said that." she said.

"I don't know what it is, it's like the blue skin just makes Mystique more of a turn-on."

It was a Friday night and JD and Elliot were at home watching 'X-men'. JD sat on the couch with his arm around Elliot, who was resting her head on his shoulder.

"So what, out of her, Storm and Jean Grey, you'd rather do--"

"Mystique? Hell yeah!"

Elliot started to laugh again, then playfully asked. "What about out of me and Mystique."

"You, of course." he said, planting a kiss on her head. "Mystique's hot and all, but nowhere near as hot as you, Smelliot."

"Really?" she asked in mock-insecurity.

"Oh, yeah. All those years we weren't dating, no one ever compared to you."

Elliot didn't say anything for a second. The playful tone of the conversation wasn't in his voice when he had said that; it was like making sure she knew.

"Same here." She said, wanting him to know.

"Seriously?" he asked this time.

"Yeah." she admitted. "Of all the guys I dated after you; Sean, Paul, Jake, even with Keith who I had all those crazy role plays with, they were all good in bed but…we never had the same connection as I had with you…it was never the same."

Neither said much after that, both just pretending to watch the movie while they were really thinking about what the other had said. JD suddenly became aware that Elliot's hand, that was previously simply resting on his knee, had now began caress it slightly. Elliot didn't even realise she was doing it, too wrapped up in her thoughts, until she felt JD start to do the same with her hair, slowly running his fingers through it. She turned he head to look at him, and he stared back. Before she knew it, he was leaning in to kiss her. Like most of their kisses, it began slowly before steadily becoming more passionate, and Elliot brought her knees up onto the couch so that she could gain more access to JD. She held his face in her hands and pushed him slightly into the arm of the couch, but then he took control and had her lying down on her back as he kissed her. However, just like that night a few months ago, JD pulled back again.

"Do..do you think this is right?"

"Yeah." she whispered with a smile. "I think we've waited long enough." And she brought his lips back down to hers.

After a few more minutes of kissing, they stood up and Elliot led him by his hand to the bedroom.

Elliot smiled at the sudden memory.

It's weird how we waiting so long and then it just came out of nowhere. But still, it was perfect.

Her business finished, she pulled up her scrubs and began walking back to work, before she felt her stomach grumble.

Looks like its time for lunch. I hope they have chocolate cake today, I'm really in the mood for it. Actually I could kill for some chocolate cake right now.

The quality of lunch was not very good at Sacred Heart, as Kelso made sure the least amount of money possible was used to buy food. This was why JD stood in the lunch line deciding which of the meals on offer was less likely to make him vomit. As he was making this difficult choice, he felt someone pinch his butt.

"Hey, sexy." Elliot said, kissing him on them cheek.

"Oh, thank god that was you." JD replied, turning to her. "I thought I was gonna have to file a sexual harassment lawsuit again!" Elliot chuckled at his joke, but then realised he wasn't smiling.

"My high school principal was a bad man until I had him arrested." he said quietly, receiving a weird look from Elliot. "But, hey! That's a repressed memory for another day, right?"

"Totally have to remember to talk through that one later." Elliot said. "Hey, do they have any chocolate cake today?"

"Um, no, it doesn't look like it."

"Frick" Elliot said in frustration.

JD finally chose his food and turned to his fiancé who appeared to be just waiting for him. "You're not getting anything?"

"Nah. If I can't have chocolate cake I really don't feel like anything else." she answered as JD put his arm around her and they walked to an empty table, sitting down next to one another.

"So have you noticed that there are like no interns around today?" she asked.

"Yeah, Carla was saying something about that. Cox is acting like he's pissed about it, but I know he's really angry about how much time we're gonna lose once you become Mrs Elliot Dorian."

Elliot could stop the gigantic smile that found its way onto her face when he said that. "I'm so happy that's going to be my name soon. I've always hated 'Reid'. And 'Elliot' too. Maybe I'll change my first name."

"No you won't." JD said sternly as he attacked his fries.

"Why?" Elliot asked, confused by his serious tone.

"Because 'Elliot' is an awesome name."

"JD, 'Elliot' is a guy's name. I'm probably the only woman on the planet called 'Elliot'."

"Exactly. It's unique, one of a kind. Just like you. That's why I love it."

Elliot stopped, not knowing how strongly he felt about her name. She was so touched that she turned his face to hers and kissed him. Much like at Christmas last year, JD was momentarily caught off guard, but soon returned the kiss. But, like earlier that morning, it started to get out of hand and for a minute they forgot where they were; tongues came into play, Elliot tangled her fingers in his hair like she always did and, just as JD's hands grasped her hips, a napkin that had been rolled up like a ball hit him in the face.

Pulling apart and looking around, they saw the entire cafeteria looking at them, and Dr Cox sitting at the table in front of them, another napkin-ball ready.

"For the love of God, Newbies! People are trying to eat!"

"See? Totally jealous of you." JD hissed to Elliot. "And Turk too, he made up some excuse about Izzie to stay off and sulk today."

"I'm sure that's the reason, babe." Elliot said, patting his hand as everyone else went back to their food."

"Crap." JD muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just meant to look over this chart during lunch, but I have to get back to work in like a minute and I still haven't figured out what's wrong with her."

"I could help." Elliot offered.

"Okay." JD nodded and opened the chart. "Let's see, she's complaining of headaches, a weaker bladder, food cravings, fatigue…"

"Those sound like pregnancy symptoms." Elliot said simply, while eating a few fries from his plate.

"Oh, yeah." JD said, feeling slightly stupid. "Okay, in my defence, it would have been more obvious if she'd given me the common ones, like morning sickness or even bigger boobs. Anyways, I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too." she said as he got up and placed a kiss on her head.

She began to finish the fries he'd left behind, but stopped as her fiancé's words echoed through her mind.

"she's complaining of headaches, a weaker bladder, food cravings, fatigue…"

"the common ones, like morning sickness or even bigger boobs."

Elliot froze and dropped the fry she was holding.

HOLY FRICK!

It had been a busy day for JD, but it was finally coming to an end. He stopped by the nurse's station to see Carla, only to find that she was equally busy.

"What is it, Bambi?"

"Nothing. It's just been a long day." He said, leaning on the desk.

"Yeah, I know how you feel." she replied as she was sorting through the various papers and charts in front of her.

"Why are we so short staffed today?"

Carla suddenly stopped and looked up at him.

"I didn't tell you?"

He shook his head and the same knowing smirk as before appeared on her face.

He couldn't believe he actually had a smirk on his face. He should be petrified. After all, here he was: a self-confessed commit-a-phoebe hiding in the supply closet during his break so he could privately look at the engagement ring he was planning to give to his girlfriend of six months. And to tell the truth, he was petrified…but in a good way. In an excited way. He had always criticised Turk for proposing to Carla out of the blue; he was planning to do things a little differently.

I'm thinking of a huge event, that Elliot will never see coming. Something crazy, and extravagant…like organising a scavenger hunt for her, with things that mean a lot to her as clues, then maybe lead her back to the hospital where all of her friends are gathered as I propose? I'm gonna plan every aspect of this out carefully, who'll be there, what I'll be wearing, how I'll ask her.

At this thought, JD started trying different types of proposals out loud. He closed his eyes and tried to visualise himself proposing in different ways.

"Elliot, will you marry me? Will you marry me, Elliot Reid?…Smelliot, will you be my wife?"

She really would kill me if I said it like that. Try something different, original

"Hey, Elliot, wanna get hitched?"

Nah, probably best to just stick to the classic.

He said it out loud once more.

"Elliot, will you marry me?"

"WHAT?!"

His eyes flew open to see Elliot standing in the open doorway of the supply closet looking speechless. He must have been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the door opening. Unfortunately, Elliot had clearly heard his practice proposal.

So much for a crazy, extravagant proposal that she'll never see coming.

"Your…your proposing?" Elliot asked again, fully entering the closet, still shell-shocked.

"I was thinkin' about it" he answered meekly.

"Like…marriage?"

"No, Elliot, a toast." he deadpanned.

"But…but…"

Even if JD wasn't going to get to plan an elaborate proposal, he had still caught Elliot completely off guard. When she had gotten back together with JD, she was well aware of his fear of commitment. For that reason, they had taken things super-slow and had never even discussed marriage or kids or anything of that nature. They said each 'I Love You' to each other, but that was it. She never brought any of that stuff up because she was afraid of losing him, of scaring him away. Yet, here he was practicing asking her to marry him, along with an engagement ring.

…a beautiful engagement ring! Wow! Wait, focus, Elliot!

"But you're a commit-a-phoebe! You…you should be terrified of marriage!"

"I am." he answered, taking hold of her hand. "But it's a good kind of terrified. Elliot we've been on and off so many times, I just wanna prove to you that I'm serious this time, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Granted, if given the choice I probably wouldn't have proposed in a supply closet but…"

They laughed, and JD decided to go for it.

"So, what do you say? Will you marry me, Elliot?"

She looked at him with that beautiful smile, and JD saw the light from the low ceiling of the supply closet reflected in her now watery eyes.

As the first tear of joy rolled down her cheek, she couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her. "Of course I will!" she said, bouncing up and down slightly.

He didn't think his smile could grow any further but it did as he put the ring onto her finger and brought her in for a long kiss.

As soon as Carla seemed to be getting on top of everything, more work was dropped in her lap. She took a deep breath and got on with her work, JD having ran off as soon as she had told him. At least now she could work in peace.

"Carla, I need to talk to you."

Or maybe not.

"Super busy here, Elliot" Carla said without looking up.

"I know, but it's really important."

"Well then make it quick." she said as she tried to sort the hundreds of files in front of her into some kind of order.

"It's not that simple."

"Well then I don't have time, either say it quick or wait till later." Carla snapped, starting to get frustrated.

"Fair enough." Elliot said. "I think I'm pregnant."

Carla dropped everything in her hands and span round to face Elliot.

"But if you're too busy I'll just see you later." Elliot remarked and made a move to walk away.

"Don't you dare take another step!" Carla yelled.

An intern was embracing the shrink as JD came round the corner, clearly just finishing an emotional session. JD couldn't believe Carla had gone the whole day without telling him he was back. This was the man responsible for the way his life was today.

"Doctor…" JD called out, only to find he couldn't remember the shrink's name.

Well, that's nice. This man changed your life and you don't even remember his name?

The psychologist turned around and smiled when he saw JD; he was expecting to see the young doctor today. Seeing JD's predicament, he helped him out.

"O'Brian." he finished for him.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about, it's been over a year."

"Talking to the new interns?"

"Yeah, we're gonna do the sort of the same experiment as with you, and then compare the different results."

"Cool."

"So how have you been, Dr Dorian?" Dr O'Brian asked as they walked down the hall.

"Great, thanks to you." The shrink chuckled slightly. "No, seriously. I've never been happier. I'm getting married in 3 months to the girl I've been in love with for the past 7 years. And I never would have had the balls to take a chance with Elliot, or even marry her, if you hadn't opened my eyes."

"I didn't change you're life for you, JD. I just pointed you in the right direction."

"Even so," JD said, stopping and outstretching his hand to Dr O'Brian. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded and shook JD's hand.

Later, as JD made his way to the hospital exit, he put Dr O'Brian's card in his pocket. The psychologist had told him to call him if ever needed to, and JD would have thanked him again but he didn't get a chance.

"I mean it, JD. If you're ever need to talk, don't hesitate to call." Dr O'Brian says.

JD starts to thank him but trails off when he sees the doctor looking over JD's shoulder, his eyes filling up with fear. JD whips his head around to see Dr Cox standing behind him with an awkward smile on his face.

"Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sor--" Cox starts to say, but the shrink suddenly turns and sprints down the hall. Cox follows screaming. "HEY! I'm trying to apologise you, you stupid fake doctor!"

JD laughed as he approached Elliot and Carla at the hospital's reception. They both had huge smiles on their faces

"When are you gonna tell him?" Carla was saying.

"Tell me what?" JD asks, and both women jumped in fright when they saw him standing next to them.

"Nothing." Elliot quickly shrieks, telling JD that it clearly wasn't 'nothing', but he would ask later.

"Oookay, ready to go?"

"Um, yeah." Elliot answers, pulling on her jacket that JD had gotten for her and starting to calm down.

"Well then let's go, Smelliot."

"I told you," she says playfully punching him in the arm. "to stop calling me that."

"Don't worry Elliot, in a few months your name will be Elliot Dorian." Carla says. "We'll all call you 'E.D.'"

Elliot hoped Carla hadn't just done what Elliot thought she had done. But when she turned to JD to see the huge smile on his face, all hope was lost.

Suddenly the phone on the desk rang, and Carla picked up; saving herself from being killed by Elliot.

"Hey, baby." she says to her husband on the other line. "Izzie walked? Turk, that's fantastic! I can't believe you…SHE BROKE WHAT?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT VASE COST?!"

Feeling an argument brewing between the Turks, Elliot and JD mumbled a goodbye and walked towards the doors. Turk's call had given Elliot the slightest bit of hope that JD might have forgotten what Carla had said, but when she looked at him he was wearing the same grin

"No." she says simply.

"Oh, I'm afraid so, ED!"

"No. Stop it."

"You're too late, it's already burned into my brain."

"Argh!" she exclaims, rolling her eyes and grabbing his hand as they exit the hospital. "We're gonna have to have a long talk about this when we get home…and other stuff, too."

"What kind of other stuff?" JD asks, only to see another weird smirk appear on Elliot's face.

"Well…I'll tell you when we get home."

THE (REAL) END

Well, that's it. It's finally over! Looking over the whole story, the only thing I'd change (apart from the last chapter) would be the amount of Turk in the story. I didn't think there was nearly enough with such a funny character like Turk, but there just wasn't a whole lot for him to do.

A HUGE thankyou to everyone who read/reviewed this story, remember to let me know your thoughts on this. Once my exams are over, I've got a few ideas for some new stories, so look out for them.

P.S. The "Ohmygod, I'm on a date with (blank), I'm on a date with (blank)!" line was 'borrowed' from a story I read ages ago, I think it may have been a Smallville story (Clois rocks!) but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. Anyway, just wanted you to know that the line wasn't orgininaly mine!