Important A/N: I've wanted to do a pre-Scrubs story focusing on the more intimate relationship between Dr. Cox and Carla for sometime now, mainly inspired by the episode, "My Quarantine," in which it is revealed that they used to be an item. The episode also reveals that their first date had consisted of Perry taking Carla out for pizza. He also spent ninety dollars on theater tickets for her, but seeing as how that's not described as part of their first date, I'm going to assume it came after the pizza event. Also, to further tease Turk, Perry goes up to Carla and says something along the lines of, "Remember that Quarantine years back? Just me and you, alone…" (Something like that) Carla gets mad at him for saying that in front of Turk, but she never actually denied it. Oh, and Carla was working at Sacred Heart eight years before JD and the crew showed up. Season 7 reveals that Perry is forty-seven years old. Anyway, I'm having this story take place a year after Carla's arrival at Sacred Heart, so you do the math. lol Anyway, that ends the insanely long author's note. Enjoy part 1!

Disclaimer: I own a very large nothing.

Part 1

Perry shifted nervously in front of his favorite nurse's door, pulling on his jacket with such force he was sure the stitching was going to snap. He couldn't believe he was really getting ready to do this; that she had even agreed. Don't think like that, Perry. You're a doctor after all. A good looking, confidant doctor. So act like it, damn it! The Irishman nodded to himself, willing some of the confidence he had back at Sacred Heart to show in his current stance. But he couldn't seem to stop shifting around or rocking on his heels.

Worst of all, he'd yet to hit the buzzer.

The curly haired doctor inhaled slowly. Breathe, man, breathe! Right. Okay. He could do this. It was going to be fine.

Slowly, hesitantly, Perry put his finger to the button.

"Hello?" came the muffled reply through the speaker.

"Carla. Uh, hi. I'm, um…here."

"Oh! You're early!"

Perry looked down at his watch. Damn it. He was. "Uh, yeah…guess I am."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be down in a second, okay?"

"Okay." Once his finger was off of the buzzer, Perry threw his head back, silently thanking whatever powers that were that he had not been invited in. Carla loved her mother, but she had told enough stories that had him rather hesitant to meet the woman himself. He never said it out loud, but when Carla told him to pick her up at 7:00, she most likely noticed the two second look of panic that had crossed over his face.

Fortunately for his stomach that would refuse to stop rolling with nerves, the Latina woman did not keep him waiting long. She stepped out of the entrance to her apartment building and smiled. Perry tried to smile back, but he was pretty sure it came out as more of a gawk. God, she looked beautiful. Her jeans were tight in all the right places, and her orange-sherbet blouse was doing a number for her curves. The outfit seemed so simple; so easily put together, but that in and of itself somehow made her ten times more appealing than normal, which was really saying something, at least for Perry.

"So, do I still have to call you Dr. Cox?"

Perry smirked. "Is that your preference? I personally find it hot."

Carla swatted his arm playfully. "We're not at the hospital, so I think Perry will do just fine."

The curly haired doctor just shrugged. "Sure then, be my guest."

He was surprised when the nurse linked their arms together, a smile still plastered on her face. "So where are we going?"

Damn, Perry. You may be a nervous, pathetic wreck, but you sure as hell know how to act like you're confidant. And kudos for not openly twitching when she touched you.

"Perry?"

"Oh, um…just a small pizza place. I figured we'd go for something casual, you know?"

She nodded her agreement as they turned the corner, and now, Perry thought with amusement, it was her turn to gawk.

Carla actually stopped in her tracks as he led her over to his car; his new car.

"Since when do you own a Porsche!?"

Perry pulled out his best cocky grin. "Had it since last week. Thought I'd reveal it when the timing was right. By your current expression, I'm gonna go ahead and say I was right on the mark."

"How'd you get it though?" she asked in wonder.

"Well, selling the old car helped, though I'm surprised I got anything for it at all. Worthless piece of junk… And obviously being a doctor helps; money wise anyway."

Carla quirked an eyebrow.

"N-Not that I'm rich." Perry actually laughed at the thought of him loaded with cash. It was true though; he really wasn't rich. He had picked up extra shifts like crazy and had worked his ass off for this car. The Porsche was used, yeah, but it was still in really good condition. "I had to work a lot, trust me, and -"

"You know most guys want the girl to think he's loaded."

Perry just shrugged. "You don't exactly seem like the type of girl who'd fall for the rich guy with the fancy car."

"Then why show it off?"

Damn it, what was with the sudden interrogation? Did she think he stole it or something? "I'm proud of it, that's all. Like I said, I worked my ass off for it and –"

"Relax, Dr. Cox. I'm just teasing you."

"Thought you weren't going to call me that."

"Yeah, well," Carla started, making herself comfortable as she stepped into Perry's car, "It's hard to remember when you start going off on rants like that."

Cox grinned as he started up the engine. "That was ne-hawt one of my rants, and you know it."

"Would've been if I didn't cut you off."

He looked over to the nurse, who was now grinning at him, brown eyes sparkling from the aftermath of teasing. He grinned right back.

--

It wasn't the nicest of places, Perry knew, but it was casual and made some really good pizzas. He'd thought of a fancier date; a lot of them actually, but he didn't want to scare her away with coming off as too serious.

Truth be told, this was more of an experimental date for Carla, but he knew that. Her mentality for this date was the way most people were on their first: "Sure, we could work together. Let's give this a shot." But Perry had already fallen for her at this point; pretty hard too. He wouldn't say love, of course. No, not to that extent, but he really and honestly liked her. She was strong willed, sarcastic, witty, and undeniably gorgeous. How could he not?

Carla had gone ahead and picked them out a table as Perry went about putting in their order. Once he was done and found the spot she had picked, he sat down and swallowed, preparing himself for the classic, first date fear: Awkward conversation.

"I enjoyed the ride, you know."

Perry quickly looked up from the spot he'd been staring at on the table. "What?"

"The car. I know I picked on you a little, but it was a nice ride, and you're a good driver. That actually surprises me. I always took you for the crazy, border line insane driver. You know…lot's of road rage, curses off every red light. That kind of guy."

Cox rolled his eyes. "You sure know how to make a guy feel loved there, Carla."

She laughed in response before asking, "Could you blame me?"

"No…" Damn it. That had come out way too serious. Hell, it was borderline sad. And now the girl he was trying to impress was fidgeting in her seat, looking a little guilty. He should've said something smooth and comforting, but instead he ended up saying, "What's with the face? C'mon Carla, I don't blame you."

Okay…not the smoothest way to say what he meant, but Carla was used to him by now. She stopped her fidgeting (mostly) and gave him a nod with an accompanying smile.

After another painful sixty seconds of silence – which Perry couldn't help finding ironic, because on most days, he adored silence rather than incessant babbling – Carla began speaking. "My mom wants to meet you, you know. She said she wants to make sure I'm being taken care of. Which is pretty ironic, considering I'm the one usually taking care of her."

"To be honest, I'm glad you didn't invite me in. I'm not quite sure I can do the whole, 'Meet the parents,' bit on the first date."

"Parent actually."

Now it was Perry's turn to look guilty. He'd forgotten about Carla's father abandoning them when she was younger. Well no, he didn't forget, he just hadn't been thinking when talking about her parents, and now…damn it!

"It's okay."

Perry rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Right…"

"Will you relax? Seriously, it's okay. If it makes you feel any better, we can switch the conversation and discuss your parents for a while."

It was said in nothing more than a joking tone, but Perry instantly tensed. Now the guilt was shifting back to Carla as she watched the man before her stiffen. He had no reason to blame her though. He'd never spoken of them to her; he'd never spoken to anyone at the hospital about his past before. "They're dead."

"Dr. Cox…I'm so sorry."

"I'm not."

Carla knew her eyes had widened at the words, but she decided to leave it at that. If he wasn't ready to share his past, then she wouldn't push. And okay…she'd been accused of being a bit of a gossip - a seeker of juicy secrets and details – on more than one occasion at the hospital, but this was an entirely different situation.

It was at that precise moment that the pizza was delivered to their table, and the looks of relief that passed on both of their faces would've been almost comical to anyone who'd been observing.

Once the waiter left the two alone, Perry reached for the pizza cutter, but stopped when he saw the look of disgust cross over Carla's features. "There a problem?"

"What did you have them put on this pizza!?" she asked in horror.

The curly haired doctor looked down at his order, wondering why it seemed like such a frightful sight to her. "Besides the cheese I'm assuming?"

She nodded, seemingly too stunned to say anything other than her original outburst.

"Anchovies, pineapples, and red peppers. Why? What's the big deal?"

"Because…because that's disgusting! Dr. Co – Perry…those flavors don't even go together."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because they just don't!"

"Well have you ever tried it?"

Carla rolled her eyes. "You sound like my mom."

Dr. Cox eased up a little at the teasing tone of her voice. Okay, so it was kind of embarrassing how much she disliked his order, but at least the tension from before was finally dissipating. "If I sound like her, then maybe she'll like me when I'm coerced into meeting her. Now at least try the damn thing before you go off into a fit."

The Latina woman picked a piece up hesitantly. She let the tip of it fall on her tongue, allowing a couple of seconds for the flavors to really sink in, and then – "Dear, God that's disgusting!" she quietly exclaimed as the pizza went from her hand to her plate.

Perry inwardly groaned. This date would definitely be put under the category of "Suck."

--

The drive home hadn't been all that bad. While they didn't talk as much as they did the first time around, they had at least been able find and agree on a radio station. (Jazz, as it were)

Perry walked her to the apartment building, stopping at the door and looking for all the world like nervous kid on Christmas; wondering what awaited him under the tree in since he had ne-ho idea whether or not he was on the good list or the bad list. After tonight's catastrophe, he couldn't help but assume the worst, but then a soft pair of lips collided with his cheek. He stared at her, quietly berating himself for looking so shocked, but her wide, brown eyes told him that she liked that.

"Don't worry about the pizza thing, okay? I mean, yeah…it was pretty horrible, but at least I can say I tried something new, you know?"

"I think there's a compliment in there somewhere…"

She swatted his arm playfully, reminding him of the beginning of the date; before everything became tense and awkward and –

Her hand was suddenly around his own, giving it a tight squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow at work, and maybe if you go a whole day without creating havoc, I'll let you take me out on a second date."

Cox grinned. "You betchya', sister."

The nurse smiled before turning into her apartment building, and then she was gone.

Perry let the night air wash over him as he stood for a moment longer, letting the scent of Carla's lingering perfume wash over him as well. At least he was getting a second shot.

A/N: End of part one! I don't think I mentioned this in the beginning author's note, but this story will have three parts. And just in case anyone's wondering, I didn't make Perry as angry and jaded as he usually is on purpose. We've seen him in the beginning stages with a woman that he's interested in on the show, and he's never as harsh as he is with others. And in since he has a bit of a soft spot for Carla anyway, I really couldn't imagine him ranting and raving the whole time. Well, that's it from me. Hope you guys enjoyed it. :) Until next time!