Man... it feels good to be back around here :D

I'm honestly sorry I've been AWOL for so long - school has been kicking my butt hardcore, not to mention that I have a request and to-do list that is literally several miles long... (sigh)

But anyway, this story is pretty drabble-ish. I think there's only going to be one more chapter, unless I think up some sort of terrific brainchild, and then we'll see :D Like I said, nothing really too special - this dates back to Hope Hospital time, when Derek and Angie are just starting to get along.

This is also a request for the awesome that is Mz. CGP. I hope you like it so far, but if you think it's lame, totally tell me :)

Anyway, Hostage is in progress, FCL is on SLIGHT hiatus, Where You Belong is half done and many others are in the works. So, stay tuned, and enjoy this!

Tap… tap… tap…

With crossed arms and an angry stare, Angie Thompson waited in hers and Derek's office for him on an early Monday morning, tapping her foot impatiently. She glanced at her watch and noticed that the second hand only had five more ticks to go before Derek would officially be late.

Tick… Tick… Tick.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…

"Ugh…"

With an annoyed sigh and a roll of her eyes, Angie turned around in a slow circle, examining the office she stood in. She had barely been at Hope Hospital for over two months, and already, the place felt like home for the fact that she spent every day there.

Tick… tick… tick.

She examined her watch again. Seven minutes late.

"For the love, Derek…"

It was true, she had the tendency to be very… anal, as some would put it, though in her own mind, she figured that a surgeon of all people would learn to be on time, especially when that surgeon possessed a superhuman talent and had just successfully cured a patient with a mysterious disease just days ago. He should be here, but maybe she was just being too hard on him again…

One day in particular, she had yelled at him for being a whopping minute and a half late, before he had launched at her and tickled her until she laughed so hard, she forgot just what it was she had been upset about.

Come to think of it, he didn't get her to smile just when he had done something wrong… The more and more they worked together, the better coworkers they had become, just for the fact that when she was ready to fly off the handle he made sure to put a smile on her face. They had gotten so close that they were practically… friends.

A small smile graced her lips as she thought of this, before she squelched the smirk completely. It didn't matter what he did in the past – this was today, and today couldn't get underway without him. He was late.

Though his tardiness was annoying, Angie couldn't help but admit – it had gotten a lot better through their time together. He rarely ever came to work late anymore, and on more than one occasion, had actually taken the time to make his hair look presentable. Other than that he was more professional with the patients and with her, though he still childishly objected to doing his paperwork at times… She kept him in line, sure, but he seemed genuinely concerned with bettering himself.

However, the real question on Angie's mind?

…Was that bettering for himself, or for her?

With a soft sigh and another glance at her watch, Angie relapsed to the day that everything had changed: the day he had saved the young boy right before her eyes, when she had been too frazzled to handle it herself. That very same day she had called him out in front of Dr. Hoffman, basically throwing him under the bus when he was already in enough trouble as it was. Though it had started off roughly, it had eventually become the real start to their partnership – after that she began to trust him more and more, especially when he admitted he wanted to become a doctor she could be proud of.

"Hey you…"

Derek was now standing in the doorway to their office, looking at Angie as she smiled softly, not knowing she was reminiscing about their time together. She turned around slowly upon hearing the familiar voice, the voice that only reserved that certain tone for her, or so it seemed. The smile on her face grew in the midst of her pleasant trip through the past as he stood there and looked on at her nervously. And yet once again in his presence, she had forgotten why she had been so angry in the first place.

"Hi…" she simply replied, smiling at him warmly. The nervousness bled from his expression and he simply broadened the smile on his face, stepping inside their office gently, still staring at her.

"Sorry I'm late…" he said, watching as the smile instantly turned into an irate stare. He closed his eyes and sighed, knowing that he shouldn't have said anything at all.

And just as quickly as she had forgotten, she remembered once again.

"Dr. Stiles…" she started, crossing her arms.

"Here we go…" he muttered back, smiling as she scoffed.

"Don't you 'here we go' me…" Angie replied, hands now on her hips. "You're ten minutes late! We have patients waiting!"

"I'm sorry… I'm running a little behind. It is your fault, after all."

She watched him with a 'how dare you' type stare as he walked over to his desk and set the belongings in his hands on it, trying to get himself settled. Sometimes he was quite daring, especially when he knew that his nurse had the capability to rip him limb for limb should she see fit – but this time he took a chance.

"MY fault?! It's MY fault you're late?!" she screeched at nearly a supersonic level, prompting the surgeon to wince and cover the ear closest to her.

"I didn't mean it like that, would you just let me explain?"

Angie huffed and rolled her eyes slightly, turning her body towards him. "I'm listening."

Derek smiled. "Well, this morning I was driving to work, and I was… dare I say it, early." he started, sticking his hands in his pockets. He decided to press on when he noticed her fight to suppress a smile, walking towards her hesitantly.

"And then I thought to myself, 'Hey Derek, doesn't your lovely assistant who saves your butt seemingly every day hate Mondays?'" he continued, smiling harder when he saw a faint blush creep onto her cheeks, unable to repress her smile any longer. "And after I thought about it some more I remembered that you DO hate Mondays, because you tell me every Monday just how much you hate them… so, being that I owe you more than a couple favors, I decided I was going to do something nice for you, out of the kindness of my heart."

"Okay, okay Mr. Good Samaritan…" she joked, no longer hiding her smile through his story. "Get to the point?"

"Alright." he chuckled. "Well anyway, to cheer you up this morning, I stopped by our local Starbucks and decided to bring you something… You know, to give your morning a kick start… So, I got out of my car and walked inside and I thought about what you would like, when it dawned on me – a long time ago I heard you talking to one of the other nurses, and you mentioned your favorite Starbucks drink. So, because I figured I would need it someday, I wrote it down and stuck it in my wallet."

Angie giggled. "Really?"

"Yes, really." he replied with a smile. "So, I get up there to order your pumpkin spice latte…" he said, watching her eyes light up at the mention, "And, the barista so kindly informs me that their steamer is broken, so no hot drinks will be made today."

He watched the hopeful smile on her face drop, quickly intervening.

"But…" he said with a smile, walking next to his desk and grabbing the jacket that laid on top of it. "I didn't give up that easily…" he said, lifting the jacket off of his desk to reveal two large, white Starbucks cups, one with a pink sticker over the hole on the top to hold in the heat. "I just had to do some extra traveling."

"Hence…" he said, lifting the cup from its holder and handing it to her, seeing the giant smile on her face as she looked up at him.

"…why I'm late." he finished in a hushed tone, winking once at her as she took a sip of her latte, closing her eyes – it was perfect.

"Thank you, Dr. Stiles…" she said, still slightly stunned by his random act of kindness.

"Anytime, Angie." Derek smiled, content now that she was happy, the threat of bodily harm nonexistent. "Now, who's our first patient?"

"…Hmm?"

Angie blinked open her green eyes from behind her steaming hot latte, still inhaling the sweet aroma. He just chuckled at her in her daze, instead moving over to her desk and checking the first chart.

"I'm going to bring in the first patient, Angie. Is that okay, or should I let you spend some time alone with that latte?" Derek joked, an amused smile on his face as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, thank you, Dr. Stiles…" she giggled. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Alright then…"

Angie smiled as she watched him walk away, a small giggle escaping her at she smile he sent back at her over his shoulder. She just winked back and took another full sip of her latte, right before Derek's office phone rang, prompting him to stop and turn around in confusion. With a shrug from her he walked over to his desk and lifted the black phone from its cradle.

"Dr. Stiles."

He listened to the voice on the other end for a brief second before his forehead furrowed, his eyes nervous. Angie stared on at him with concern until he bid the caller goodbye and hung up the phone, looking up at her with a blank stare.

"What's that about?" she asked, taking another sip of her latte as she sat down in a chair.

He scratched the back of his head. "Dr. Hoffman said that he arranged for another doctor to take care of our patients for the morning… and that I am to come to his office immediately."

She turned nervous looking at him, as nearly on cue, another nurse walked into their office and grabbed the aforementioned charts from Angie, retreating from the room without another word.

"Wow…" she said, taking another big sip of her latte. "What do you think he wants?"

Derek grabbed his own drink, taking a quick swig of it before sighing outwardly – this reminded him of the time that Dr. Hoffman and Angie had collectively torn him a new one, something that he was now worried over again. But instead of telling her that he just shrugged with his trademark happy-go-lucky smile.

"I don't know – guess I'm about to figure it out though… wish me luck!"

"Good luck…" she simply replied, giving him a reassuring smile as he removed himself from the room.

Shutting the door behind him, Angie was left with silence – a weird change of pace from her normal, hectic routine. Looking around for something to do she took another sip of her latte, realizing quickly that there really was nothing to do… it was a Monday – there was no paperwork to do, nothing to file because the week was just beginning. And now that hers and Derek's patients had been passed off to another doctor-nurse team, Angie was left wondering exactly what she was going to do with all this extra time.

Spinning her chair around she clutched the latte close to her chest, feeling the steam come though the top and warm her face, the sweet aroma of pumpkin flooding her senses. She closed her eyes and reveled in the silence – Angie was usually the type to be lost without commotion, but as she sank into the relaxing quiet she realized just how much she missed having time to just think. Slender fingers traced over the side of the white cup as her other hand gripped it tightly, spinning her chair around again until she faced out the window, looking at the cityscape. She felt herself smirk slightly as she looked down at her drink, remembering who had bought it for her. It was probably one of the sweetest things anyone had done for her since… well, since she could remember. Not only was one of his first thoughts of the morning about her, he had taken the time to try to brighten her day, and had amazingly remembered her favorite drink – a feat that impressed her, seeing as sometimes it seemed as though he would forget his own name, were it not plainly spelled out and affixed to him on his security badge.

A giggle escaped her at this thought, as she realized something important. Sure she liked to rag on him, but he really was incredibly thoughtful, and pretty skilled as a surgeon. She had this habit of not giving him the benefit of the doubt, but that had all changed recently, as he had come to show her what he was truly made of – a man of incredible composure, integrity, and talent. Usually unshakable, Angie remembered being frightened beyond belief when lacerations began to all but explode in Linda Reid's chest, realizing with the help of Derek and Dr. Kasal that they were due to a parasite – a living creature in her chest that was literally cutting her up from the inside out. With just his best judgment, skilled hands, and a little help from her, they had managed to end it – allowing the young teenaged girl to be free of pain… to finally get on with her life.

Sure, she had given him direction here and there, encouraged him when he needed it – but it seemed like the more dire situations around the hospital had become as of late, the more he was holding her together… something she had not realized until that very moment.

Angie smiled again as she sipped her latte – they had been off to a very rough start, but as much as she hated to admit it, she had really grown fond of her messy-haired, scatterbrained doctor… he really was a sweet man.

She sighed, resting the cup in her hands again, the warmth of it spreading through them and the rest of her body, feeling suddenly comforted. A lot had happened in the short time her and Derek had spent together, but for some reason, Angie knew that this was only the beginning of her helping keep his head on straight. She knew that she was going to get annoyed at times, but working with Derek made every day interesting… a thought that strangely, made her excited for what was to come. Even though they had their differences at times, Angie knew that he would always need her – and funnily enough, she wanted to be there for him.

Snapping out of her trance Angie's eyebrows dropped, her eyes slimming a bit as she set her latte down on her desk. She pushed the warm thoughts of her doctor to the back of her mind and stood up, looking around frantically for something to do.

"It's reasons like that why I always keep busy…" she muttered under her breath, rummaging around in her desk desperate for something to do before she could try to analyze what her wandering mind had brought to her attention.

"I don't WANT to babysit him, I guess… I guess it's just nice to be needed. He really needs me..."

"It's not like that…!" she grumbled, all but throwing her drawers closed as she found absolutely nothing to do – nothing to stop her mind from berating her with questions.

She whirled around in exasperation, desperate to free herself from thoughts of him.

"Come on Angie, could this be more than what you're making it out to be?"

"No…!" she muttered under her breath, storming over to Derek's desk instead – he always had something that needed to be done, as he got distracted pretty easily through the day. "It's not anything more, it's just professional… I'm his nurse and he needs me to help him stay on track, and that's all there is to it."

"But would you be lying to yourself if you said you didn't think of him at all that way? He hangs onto your every word – he even cleaned himself up and started coming to work on time after you asked him to... and you know the day he got his hair cut you could barely stop looking at him..."

"Dammit!" she hissed, seeing that surprisingly, Derek had finished all his work as well. She remained standing behind his desk as her mind continued to push her, force her to think of things that she sincerely did not want to visit.

"And now he knows your favorite drink, and will travel over town to find it, subsequently risking a beating from you for being late."

"Ugh…" Angie groaned, dropping her hands onto Derek's desk, on either side of the white calendar that lay on its surface. Something caught her attention and she stopped, skimming the days to see just what had caught her eye.

Amidst all the jotting of meetings, appointments and other professional notes was a small reminder at the bottom of the calendar on a very specific day, in perfectly neat print.

"Angie's Birthday"

The nurse was surprised when her heart fluttered once, taking a step back after she felt an instant smile form on her face.

It wasn't a big deal – so he remembered her birthday…

"So now, he's remembered your favorite drink, your least favorite day of the week, and your birthday – which you know that you had only casually mentioned once – all in one day. You think maybe the guy might like you? And maybe, you might like him too?"

Reaching up with a groan, Angie grabbed onto both sides of her head and stomped her foot in annoyance at her never-ceasing brain function. She tugged on her hair and walked out from behind his desk, stopping in the middle of their office.

"I don't like him! I'm happy to be his assistant, and his friend – and NOTHING more…" she mumbled, crossing her arms and looking out the window. "This is ridiculous…"

"Alright, fiiiine... I'll shut up. But not until you explain why your heart skipped when you saw that he remembered your birthday..."

Angie paused, thinking to herself momentarily before she grew frustrated, stomping her foot again.

"Ugh… Shut. UP! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"Just admit you love working with him, and I'll leave you alone... for now."

Angie dropped her frustration at the thought that circulated through her mind, realizing that she could honestly admit there was truth to the statement – she did love working with him… he had this habit of making every day a little brighter, whether he was bringing her Starbucks or just cracking a goofy joke to make her laugh. He made Hope Hospital a little more bearable – something that she had not realized was due solely to him until just then.

And not two seconds after her revelation, a brunette cautiously stuck his head in the door to their office, glancing at her with a smile, though he seemed hesitant to walk into the room. Angie felt herself smile broadly and giggle once as he peered around the room questioningly, finally just opening the door and stepping in.

"It's okay, there are no monsters in here… I already checked." she joked, seeing him chuckle and stick his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I guess it would explain who you were just yelling at…" he replied, the smile on his face growing as her cheeks turned instantly fire-engine red, her once flawless diction coming out in spurts and stammers.

"I-I, um… s-sometimes, I just… I was…"

"Don't worry about it, Ang… I talk out loud a lot too. Can't say I yell at myself, but hey – to each his own, right…?"

Angie just nodded, a nervous chuckle escaping her. She looked down at the floor before her brain clicked on, her head shooting up to look at him.

"What happened with Dr. Hoffman?" she asked. "…I-If, of course, you don't mind me asking…"

Instead of smiling like usual, Derek shifted on his feet, reaching behind him and closing the door. Angie instinctively lowered onto their couch, looking at him questioningly as he paced forward, his hands fumbling with one another.

"Actually, I don't mind at all – it's just…"

He raised his head up to look at her, noting her expression of worry and wonder as he continued on, unsure exactly of how to say it.

Derek sighed, dropping his hands to his sides gingerly.

"I guess…" he started. "I guess, I've got some big news."

Alrighty, I'm going to pass out from being so tired, so I'll finish this at a later date. See you then! :D