This, is a story I wrote for Picup for my Christmas request list.

Its my first official New Blood story.

Don't rejoice just yet - I sitll am not ready to leave the SO and UtK crew behind, so I will most likely not be writing anything else New Blood related for awhile.

...and I have to update my other stuff. Dang. I'm far behind dudes.

Anyway. Oneshot time! Wee!

Valerie Blaylock hated surprises.

That's why just three days before her birthday, she was keeping a watchful eye on everyone she knew to make sure nobody was trying to pull one over on her.

As she walked back from the break room, she passed Markus's office, shooting a quick glance inside as she continued to walk. Soon after she registered what was happening inside, she stopped in the hallway.

"She's going to kill you…"

Valerie recognized that voice to be that of Kanae Tsuji. Confused, she backed up a few steps, looking inside Markus's office.

Scanning the room with her dark brown eyes, she noticed Elena, Dr Tsuji, and Dr. Everett, all standing around Markus's desk. Their eyes were all on the aforementioned surgeon, who was seated in his desk chair with his right ankle rested on his left knee, elbows resting on the arms of his chair, hands clasped on his stomach, and his trademark smirk on his lips.

"Markus, you do this all the time, and it's ridiculous – just tell Val what's up…" Dr. Everett said, soliciting a small chuckle from Markus. Before he could give a response, he was cut off.

"Yeah, Markus – tell me what's up!"

Kanae, Elena, and Justin all whirled around to see Valerie leaning in the doorway, her arms crossed with a smile on her lips. She raised an eyebrow as the three stood shocked, turning their attention between Markus and Val.

Instead of looking panicked, Markus's smile just widened, looking at his extremely impatient, curious girlfriend in the doorway.

He turned his attention away from her and to the other three, still smiling broadly.

"Thanks for your help guys – I'll leave directions in your offices later."

They nodded at him and walked towards the doorway, making a quick exit as to avoid the piercing glare of Val on their way out.

"Man I wish I was there to watch that…" Dr. Everett snickered, earning a smack from Dr. Tsuji as they walked down the hallway, listening to Markus's door close as Val walked inside.

"Hey, Val… what's up?" Markus asked nonchalantly, laughing when he saw the look of pure contempt on Val's face.

"Don't you "Hey Val" me… You have five seconds to tell me what surprise you have planned for my birthday."

Markus smiled. "There's no surprises. Everything that is going to happen on your birthday, you will know before it happens."

"I swear Markus, if you pick me up on Friday and bring me to a surprise party, I am breaking up with you!" she snapped, crossing her arms.

Val's face grew even more angry as Markus just started to laugh. She huffed, picked up the Eskimo doll which rested on his desk and threw it at him as he just chuckled lovingly at her. Huffing again, she whirled around and stormed towards the door.

"Wait! Val!" Markus said, barely able to speak through his chuckles. He wanted to go catch her, but as he rose to his feet, he remembered why he wasn't running out the door after her.

--------

The day before...

Markus and Val were seated on the couch in his office, doing paperwork together, when suddenly Val stood up.

"Do you still have gum in your desk?" she asked, watching as Markus smiled, gaze still turned towards the paperwork in his hands.

"Yep – you know where it is..."

She walked over to his desk, sliding open the top drawer to find a huge box of Orbit gum. Smiling, she pulled out a piece and popped it in her mouth, closing the drawer.

Right as she started to walk back to him, his computer beeped loudly.

"New email?" he asked from the couch, head still down.

"Yep..." she said, walking over to the monitor and clicking on the message. "Says it's from someone named Dave Kintack... want me to read it to you?" she asked, looking over at him.

Recognizing the name, Markus threw the pile of paperwork in his hands off of his lap and onto the floor, sprinting over to where she looked at him confused. Diving over the desk to shut off the monitor, a loud crack was heard as Markus yelled out in pain.

Standing in place confused, Valerie watched as Markus successfully turned off the monitor, before crumpling backwards and dropping onto the floor in pain.

"Markus?!" she exclaimed, running around to the front of the desk to where he laid on the ground, holding his knee.

Realizing that was the crack she had heard, Val rolled up his pant leg, wincing when she saw the instant bump that contact with the desk had formed. She helped him up and back over to the couch, sighing as she noticed that the paperwork was spread everywhere, due to Markus throwing it in the air like confetti.

--------

Markus smiled briefly reminiscing about the previous day as he rolled up his pant leg. Suddenly his smile faded as he painfully traced his finger over the giant purple and red bump right next to his knee, nearly the size of a softball. Walking around was not easy, but he could manage for just that one night – for her, that is.

When he had shown it to the other doctors and Elena, they all had told him to tell her how bad it was and call off the plans he had with Val for her birthday, but he couldn't possibly do that. Now that he was injured, he would just need their help, is all.

His smile resurfaced as he remembered Val thinking he was inviting them all to a surprise party. While he did have something up his sleeve, that definitely wasn't it, but it made him glad to know how far off the track she was.

Yes, it was true. Valhated surprises.

…but Markus really loved messing with her anyway.

--------

Valerie returned home from breakfast with her mother to find a small note taped to the front door. Curious, she lifted it off and opened it, instantly recognizing Markus's scrawling cursive.

"I told you there would be no surprises today, because it's your birthday, and I know you hate them."

Val smiled to herself.

"I bought you flowers. And, I put them inside while you were gone, just so you aren't surprised... cause you know, you hate surprises. :)"

She didn't know whether to smile at the thought or scoff at the fact that she could feel the sarcasm dripping off his every written word, but when she walked into her house and saw two dozen red roses in a vase on the kitchen table, she couldn't help but giggle a bit. She never minded that he did nice things for her – she just, liked to know about them first… that was all.

--------

Hair slightly more curled than usual and make-up done to perfection, Val slipped into a red satin dress that clung to her form and stopped just above her knees. Slipping on a pair of gold metallic heels and a matching necklace which drew attention to the plummeting neckline of her dress, Val sighed to herself as she heard a knock at the door.

As she opened the door, she noticed that Markus had his hands behind his back with a smile on his face. His face lit up gently as he looked at her, stepping inside and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Still smiling, Val eyed him suspiciously, trying to crane her neck to see what he had behind his back.

"Just so you know… so you're not surprised…" Markus started, beginning to laugh as he saw Valerie sigh.

"Oh, here we go again…"

"I am holding a box of chocolate covered cherries behind my back…"

Val's eyes lit up. She loved chocolate covered cherries.

"Ooh, can I have some…?" she asked, as Markus pulled the dark brown box out from behind his back.

"Nope." he said, walking them over to the fridge. "You're not spoiling dinner."

Val smiled, walking over to Markus seductively to try to get more information out of him. She leaned into him gently and wrapped her arms around his waist, passionately kissing him as he leaned against the counter for balance.

"So uh… where are you taking me?" she asked, running a hand over his chest.

He smiled and played along for a minute as he leaned closer to her. Closing her eyes in anticipation of another kiss, Markus diverted to the side at the last minute and whispered, "…not telling..." in her ear as he slipped out of her grasp quickly. The pain from his knee shot through him like a knife as he tried to hide his limp so that she wouldn't notice.

"Marrkuuss…!" she whined briefly, leaving him to chuckle.

"If you want to know so bad, you can grab your purse and we can go, and you'll find out in ten minutes."

----------

Markus and Val walked slowly through downtown Annapolis, hand in hand. As they conversed gently, Markus kept stifling cries of pain due to his swollen knee. He had come to have a reputation as a complainer, and that's why he was surprised that being able to keep this from Val was actually working.

Suddenly he stopped the two of them, seeing his destination just a ways away.

"Okay…" he said, smiling at her. "I'm taking you to dinner right there…"

He pointed at a small Italian Bistro on the corner that Val had always talked about wanting to go to, watching as she smiled and turned back towards him, wrapping her arm around his waist. They walked on together, Markus trying desperately to keep up with her as he bit his lip from the pain in his knee.

As they got closer, Val stopped.

"Markus, there's no lights on in that place."

He looked at the front of it and back at her.

"…and?"

She stepped away from him, crossing her arms.

"If there is a surprise party waiting for me in there…" she said, becoming visibly agitated.

"Val…"

"Markus! I know that you love to surprise me, even though you know I hate it – and youpromised that you would tell me everything that was happening today!"

"And I have!" he exclaimed, stepping towards her and grabbing her into a hug. She heard him sigh and step away from her, pulling her to a nearby bench as they sat.

He sighed again, looking up at her.

"…Remember the other day when I cracked my knee on the desk…?"

Val looked at him confused – she had completely forgotten until that moment. Her hands flew over her mouth as he rolled up his pant-leg, revealing a knee that was almost three times the size it should be.

"Markus! Why didn't you –"

"…Because, I knew that you would want me to stay home and would be panicking about it, and that's not an option. I just, enlisted the help of a few friends, that's all…"

Val's look of confusion resurfaced as Markus chuckled softly, sighing at her.

"So you're not surprised…"

"…Get to the point, Markus."

"Right…" he chuckled, looking back up at her.

"I rented out the place for just the two of us – that's why it's so dark."

Val felt horrible, having him ruin surprise after surprise that day.

"But, why were Kanae, Justin, and Elena in your office today?"

Markus chuckled.

"They were advising me not to go tonight because of my knee… but I told them that it wasn't an option, so they instead decided to help me by decorating the place."

Val beamed as she planted a small kiss on Markus's cheek.

"Come on…" she said, helping him to his feet and wrapping an arm around his waist to help him walk. "Let's go celebrate…"

Markus smiled to himself. While she thought that she had gotten every last bit out of him, boy was she wrong.

--------

Val smiled as she and Markus walked into the bistro to find it glowing with tiny tea light candles, speakers playing her favorite Miles Davis album, and another giant bouquet of roses on the table next to theirs. She smiled as the host showed them to their table, pulling out the chair for Val as Markus sat down across from her.

They ordered drinks and were left alone to talk.

"This is just, perfect…" she said, grabbing his hand from across the table. "A day full of surprises that aren't surprises…"

Markus smirked at her as the waiter brought back their drinks and took their order. Again he was gone, leaving the two of them alone in the middle of the desolate restaurant.

"I'm an idiot, you know that?" he asked her, leaving her to giggle just a bit.

"What did you do this time…?"

He smiled.

"I forgot to tell you how absolutely sexy you look…"

Val smiled, blushing just faintly.

"Funny, because I was just thinking the same thing about you…"

Now it was Markus's turn to blush just slightly, as butterflies started to fester in his stomach.

"Oh no…" Val said suddenly, looking out the window as the rain began to pour outside.

As Markus watched Val's eyes gaze outside, he saw the perfect opportunity to deliver her last surprise…

…in the form of a little black box that rested in the inner pocket of his chocolate brown suit coat.

Box now in his right hand, he rested his left hand underneath his chair and stood up just enough to scoot himself and the chair closer to her. As he jerked the chair over, he slid his body over to his left, never noticing the metal bar under the table until it struck him directly in his bad knee.

Markus successfully stifled his pained yell into a small whimper as he fell to the ground, now situated on his one good knee in front of her. He gripped onto his knee as it throbbed, the hand with the box now clutched tightly into his chest as he fought back the urge to scream.

Val turned her gaze from the rainy street back to where Markus had been sitting, quickly noticing that instead of in his seat, he was now on the floor.

"Markus?" she asked. "Are you o---"

Panic set in as Markus looked up at her with a forced smile.

He was on one knee.

What was he doing on one knee?!

Markus mentally slapped himself for being an idiot. He just wanted to scoot closer to her and talk to her about the present beforehand… but no.. he just had to be a klutz and fall over.

"Val, I…"

He stopped talking, noticing that her eyes were wide open with shock. He watched as her eyes slowly traced towards to where his right hand was holding the tiny black box, and in an instant, her hands were covering her nose and mouth.

"Oh my God… oh my God… MARKUS?!" she exclaimed, looking slightly panicked as she rose to her feet.

He looked down at the box, and then at the fact that he had one knee on the ground… and then back at the box, and back at his knee before it finally registered in his head what she had noticed.

"Markus, what are you…" she asked, slightly distraught. "You said no surprises.. you promised!"

"Val, it wasn't supposed to be a surprise – I was going to talk to you about it before I gave it to you…"

"It doesn't matter! We've only been dating a couple of months, we haven't even said…" she slowed to a stop as she noticed Markus was looking at her confused. Slowly he pulled himself off of the ground and sat in the chair that was now next to hers as he stared at her gently, slightly concerned.

"…How do you ask someone to marry you when you haven't even said "I love you" yet…?" she asked, internally wishing she wouldn't have said anything at all. She plopped back into her seat, still shaking.

Markus's eyes shot wide open as his mouth dropped agape slightly. He looked down at the box, and then back up at her nervous expression.

"Val, I think you misunderstood me…" he said, looking at her gently as he raked a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, I feel awful now…" he said, looking down at the box he held.

"What, Markus?" she asked, grabbing his free hand.

Markus sighed.

"I was trying to scoot my chair closer to you while you were looking out the window… and I banged my knee on the metal pole underneath…" he started, watching as Val's nervousness melted away.

"…and it killed, and you fell over…" she finished, leaving him to smile timidly.

"Yeah, that explains why I was on the floor…" he replied, smiling.

Val heaved a sigh of relief before the nervousness came flooding back, looking at the box that still sat in Markus's right hand.

"Then, if you're not asking me to marry you… what's in the box?"

Markus looked at her, sighing gently.

"Val, I know we haven't been together that long, but I wanted to do something special for you for your birthday, to show you how much I care about you…"

She sat perfectly still, listening to him as his eyes bore into her own.

"…A-And while I know you hate surprises, I didn't want to tell you about this last surprise because there is no way to warn you about it…"

Val paused for a second, looking at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

Markus heaved a big sigh, squeezing onto the hand that held his as he looked back up into her gorgeous brown eyes.

"…I love you, Valerie…" he said, watching as her face contorted into one of pure shock.

He was right. There was no way to warn her.

And as she sat flabbergasted, he continued on, pulling his hand from hers as grabbed the box and set it in her hand.

"And I wanted to give you something you would love for your birthday..."

"Open it…" he said softly, head cocked slightly to the right as he looked at her.

Still in complete shock, Val clicked open the small box to reveal two of the most gorgeous earrings she had seen in her life. They were square diamond studs, and upon allowing herself to calm down, noticed how giant they were…

With tear-filled eyes, she looked up at Markus, who was patiently waiting for a response.

She gently placed the box on the table and leaned in towards him, placing both of her hands on his face as she pulled him in towards her. Passionately kissing his lips as a tear ran down her cheek, she pulled back, their noses barely touching as she locked eyes with him.

"…I love you too, Markus…" she whispered, watching as a grin a mile wide appeared on his face. Gently, he pulled her onto his lap and continued kissing her, before he let her go, watching her put on her birthday present.

"How do they look…?" Val asked, smiling as she wiped her face dry.

"Beautiful. Just like you."

She giggled.

"I'm uh… so sorry about my outburst…" she said, looking down slightly embarrassed.

Markus laughed.

"That's okay – that looked exactly like a marriage proposal, so I don't blame you in the least… I'm just sorry I freaked you out.."

The pair traded a giggle as food was set in front of them.

"Just so you know though…" Markus started, looking over at her as he picked up his fork.

Val raised an eyebrow.

"…If and when I do decide to do that… it's going to be a surprise – and you're just going to have to deal with it…"

Val smiled.

As the pair ate dinner, Markus couldn't help but stare at the woman he loved, finding her more and more beautiful at every glance.

Yes it was true, Val hated surprises…

But as Markus looked at the gleaming diamonds that now graced her ears, he realized that obviously, she liked surprises just fine…

--------

"Ugh, I'm so stuffed…" Markus said, walking with Val through her front door and closing it behind the two of them.

Taking off his jacket and hanging it in the closet, Markus laughed when he noticed that Val was in the kitchen tearing into her chocolate covered cherries. She smiled at him and offered him one, to which he politely declined.

"How, did you remember I loved these?" she asked, smiling as she kissed him before shoving another one into her mouth.

He smiled. "Geeky as it sounds, I actually wrote it down so I wouldn't forget."

"Aww…" she said, mouth full of chocolate.

"I remember so well because right next to where I wrote it down is a quote you said about chocolate covered cherries…"

"Hmm?" she asked, swallowing.

"You said, "…Chocolate covered fruit leads to one place…"" he said, the trademark smirk resurfacing once again.

Val started to giggle uncontrollably, right after she popped another one of the delicious treats into her mouth.

Settling down, swallowing, and clearing her throat, Val grew serious as she grabbed Markus by the tie, pulling him into a passionate kiss. She put the rest of the cherries into her fridge and closed the door, walking past Markus as she kicked off her shoes.

A half smile graced her face as her eyes shot him a smoldering look, which stopped Markus dead in his tracks. She couldn't be serious.

…But as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom, Markus realized quickly that she wasn't kidding.

And as soon as it hit him – he wasn't far behind.

Haha, people jumping to insane conclusions is probably my favorite thing to write...

...besides Derek and Angie, that is. :D

Which reminds me. I badly need to update Hostage. I'm going to go do that soon, I promise!

See you later!