mini floof chapter to tie up some loose ends in the penultimate stage of this story! next (full sized) chapter will still be posted tomorrow so don't worry!

...

It's safe to say that a holiday is what both Talia and Chase seriously needed.

"Welcome to Europe!" Talia trilled excitedly, her hands dramatically risen in the air as she stepped out of the airport exit. "Oh, how I've missed you so!"

"Yeah, you missed it so much that you decided to bring half your wardrobe back with you?" Chase grunted as he lugged her hefty suitcase and his significantly lighter suitcase behind him. "T, why-"

"Robert, we have to go and eat!" Talia giggled excitedly, snaking her arms up his chest from behind and pressing kiss after kiss after kiss up his collarbone teasingly. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving - but I think checking into our actual hotel is a bit more important, no?" Chase grinned. There was no doubt about it - he certainly found her excitement endearing compared to how down she'd been over the past few weeks. Talia nodded and grabbed her suitcase, leading Chase out of the airport and into the awaiting taxi to take them to their beautiful chosen hotel. The taxi driver welcomed them warmly, and popped their bags in the boot* (*'trunk', for the American readers) whilst they got in the backseat and allowed themselves to be driven through the bustling streets of Budapest. Although it was somewhat dark outside, it was still easy to see the wide clean pavements, the huge buildings, the trees lining the roads and the twinkling lights. Talia was absolutely obsessed and she had no shame in taking a countless number of pictures and videos as the car drove on through the town.

Meanwhile, Chase just sat there and watched her with an amused smirk on his face - and Talia could feel his eyes trained securely on her. She turned to him with readily flushed cheeks.

"What…?" she frowned anxiously.

"You're so beautiful, did you know that?" Chase smirked, still unable to stop staring despite the fact that he'd been caught.

"Oh shut up," Talia giggled, leaning on his shoulder and snuggling into his side whilst he let out a chuckle and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. "D'ya know how long we've been together now?"

"What, together, together?" Chase frowned, leaning his head on top of hers. "Yeah…we just passed around six months, did it not?"

"It did indeed," Talia confirmed quietly, clinging onto his arm and drawing patterns on his thigh with her finger. "Are you…happy with me?" Chase blinked down at her and felt himself get a little anxious. He absolutely despised questions like this one, because they were always asked for a reason and that reason was rarely ever good.

"Is…is this about what House said?"

"No, I'm not expecting you to propose to me tonight, dude - so relax," Talia tutted, poking his chest. "But sometimes I feel like every issue we've faced is just another deterrent for you, you know?"

"Listen. I love you and I'm happy with you - very happy with you in fact. Being with you makes me feel…incredible. I don't know how else I can show you, but all you can do is take my word for it for now," Chase hummed before reaching over to press his lips against her neck - before taking it one step further and trailing soft kisses down to her collarbone. He knew full well that those actions were Talia's weakness, and from the way she bit down on both her lips to stifle the noises building in her throat, he knew it was working. "For what it's worth," Chase murmured quietly against her skin, "I'm glad I returned that pen."

"As am I, Robert," Talia giggled as she clung onto his arm a little tighter.

…

The next morning, Talia and Chase were in the hotel restaurant area for the breakfast buffet after an incredibly active night. Chase had already gone to pile his plate high and had since returned to the table, so now it was Talia's turn. But before she could decide whether she wanted salmon or an assortment of cold rolled sausage meats with her bacon and eggs, her phone went off.

It was Wilson, which she was more than happy to answer.

"Hey Wilson," she smiled down the line, deciding on salmon - and cold rolled sausage meat.

"Talia! How's the holiday going?" Wilson yawned down the line.

"Good - wonderful, actually," Talia giggled coyly as she moved onto the eggs section and picking up the tongs. "How's everything going in the hospital? How's House?"

"It's going well, House is responding extremely well to treatment," Wilson confirmed, much to Talia's relief. "Actually, I called to let you know that one of your patients came in asking for you. It's Leona? Not sure if you remember her…the not-so-but-is-now-very-much-cancer patient."

"Yeah, of course I remember her - is she okay?" Talia frowned in worry.

"She's doing well - she said she was trying to get hold of you but that your number was down. I told her what happened with House and that you'd be back before her next chemo session," Wilson assured her, gradually easing her nerves again.

"Yeah, that and I'm planning on changing my number," Talia mentioned, taking a crispy hash brown to add to her plate. "Which I need to add onto the list of things to tell her when I get back-"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get your mind all zoned in on work," Wilson winced as he heard her voice change from relaxed to formal again. "I'll leave you guys to it, now. Enjoy!"

"Thank you," Talia laughed as she returned back to her table where Chase was patiently awaiting her. "See you later Wilson, take care."

"Who was that?" Chase asked curiously, popping a grape into his mouth as he watched her sit down and hang up.

"Wilson," Talia sighed back whilst reaching for a serviette. "Just him giving me an update on my patient…then apologising for giving me an update on my patient. You know how Wilson is." Chase chuckled and nodded. He then stared out the giant window beside them that looked out to the cobbled streets of Budapest in thought.

"Damn. This place really is beautif-"

"Robert, what House said about the ring website…" Talia suddenly piped up as she lifted her mug of hot chocolate to her lips. His head snapped back round to face her again.

"Y-yeah?"

"It definitely wasn't true, was it?"

"No," Chase laughed, cutting into his bacon and eggs casually. Talia clenched her jaw and nodded, saying nothing else. She wasn't sure how to respond, to be honest, because she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

A few seconds passed before Chase spoke up again.

"Out of sheer morbid and possibly stupid curiosity…would you…would you have said yes?" Talia almost choked on her salmon piece, thumping her chest so that she didn't full on die then and there.

"Say yes? To you proposing to me on this holiday? Like…now?" she spluttered, grabbing Chase's glass of cold orange juice to ease the choking process. Chase raised an eyebrow and simply waited for her to answer whilst poking at his food. "I think…whisking me off the Budapest 6 or 7 months after we officially got together to propose is bizarre and borderline frightening. Although I acknowledge that my life has indeed been bizarre and borderline frightening, I'm a little more traditional than that when it comes to marriage," Talia started off slowly, whilst tapping her fingers on the table in thought.

"Traditional? You?" Chase mock-gasped.

"Ha haaaa Aussie boy, aren't you a funny one today?" Talia drawled, stabbing her fork into his poached egg to make it burst before he could get to it and therefore ruining what she knew was his favourite part of the breakfast.

Chase let out a scoff and shook his head in disappointment.

"Low blow," he grumbled as she giggled and gave him a little shrug. He glanced up at her again and ran his tongue over his lips in thought. "So…what exactly by 'traditional' did you-"

"I mean you'd have to do the whole 'asking for permission thing' with my dad, and I mean the entire shabang," Talia announced, watching his face fall into one of shock. "Yup. I used to read fairytales too, Chase. And I want the happiness they had - especially now that I'm halfway there with a beautiful prince."

"Yeah, that's cute and everything but…you want me to ask…House…for permission?" Chase groaned tiredly, already viewing that as a challenge and a half in itself.

"Well, yes please. He is my father after all - it would be weird for it to be anyone else," Talia smirked at him cheekily. "I mean…that's if you were going to marry me, of course. I mean that's like…yearssss down the line, right? We could break up tom-"

"Alright please stop talking now Miss Pessimism - you're seriously ruining the mood," Chase interrupted her as he grabbed her fried egg off her plate with his own fork, making her gasp too. "Always looking for the darkness in the midst of a good situation. Maybe you are more like your father than you first thought." Talia winced at his words and gave a small shudder to herself.

He could be right, for all she knew.

He really could.

Well, he was.