I'm glad people seem to like it. It's my first Scrubs fanfiction, so I really wasn't sure about it.

For the time being, I'll update fairly regularly, as I've got the first 3 or 4 chapters already written out.

Although I'd let him 'win' earlier, I'd decided that I wasn't going to leave without finding out why the hell Newbie had become so… cold. Technically I was supposed to be at the conference by now, but I'd chosen to skip it. It wasn't the first time I'd 'played hooky' from one of these things. All it meant was that the resident who'd been forced to go with me would just have to take notes for the both of us.

Currently I was sitting in my car sipping a cup of awful, awful coffee, waiting for Newbie's shift to end. I'd already been here for three hours, and I thought that if I had to wait any longer, I'd probably end up going back into the hospital and demanding that JD told me what was going on. Luckily he came out only a few minutes later. He glanced around briefly, and I wondered if he was checking to make sure I wasn't waiting for him. I watched him walk down the ramp leading into the car park, similar to the one at Sacred Heart. I opened my door and got out of my car, still watching him. He reached the car park exit and made a left. I hurried to catch up as if I lost him I'd have to spend all day tomorrow waiting for him again. Luckily, he didn't go far – only to a bar round the corner. I followed him in and stood just inside the entrance, watching him. He sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. I decided that now was the time to make my entrance. I walked over to him, but my witty greeting was lost when I saw what he'd ordered.

"You don't drink scotch." I told him, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary.

"I knew you were following me." He responded. I sat down next to him. "What are you still doing here?" I hesitated to respond. Truth was, originally I had just wanted to see him. Ghandi, Barbie and Carla's worries about him hadn't bothered me. I just figured that he needed time to get used to the new hospital and whatnot. But having seen him…

"I'm worried about you." I told him bluntly. He sighed.

"Did Carla send you?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Honestly Simone, I really did just decide to drop by since I was here anyway. I guess I was curious to see how you'd cope without the three musketeers to save you." I didn't mention that I'd also been curious to see how he'd cope without me, but I think he got that.

"So you expect me to believe that Turk and Carla haven't been telling you every single worry they have about me?" I shrugged.

"Not so much Ghandi. Mainly Carla, and sometimes Barbie." He nodded, looking unsurprised.

"What'd they say?" He asked, only sounding mildly interested.

"They said you were avoiding talking to them and you'd always been 'too busy' for them to visit." He shrugged.

"And what do you think?" He asked. I gave him a small smile.

"I thought you didn't want or need my opinion." I reminded him. He shrugged again and sipped his drink.

"I don't. I was being polite." I nodded. I supposed that was fair enough. Still, this was a weird conversation. JD was yet to say anything stupid or zone out or do anything that a conversation with him usually entailed. It was odd that this was what I'd always thought I wanted him to be like, and now that he was… It wasn't right.

"Ok." We were left in silence and I took the opportunity to order a drink. Again, it was odd without JD doing everything possible to fill the silence. "Well, since you did ask, at first I thought it was just Carla overreacting, like she's always done. But now I'm here… Something's seriously wrong, kid. I just wish you'd had the sense to talk to someone about it." He shrugged. Again.

"Nothing's wrong. I've been talking to everyone as much as I can manage. The only reason they don't think it's enough is because they've been so used to me being there 24/7. It's not me they miss, it's all the things I used to do for them without them even knowing." I frowned, but I sensed that it was probably a bad idea to tell him I thought he was wrong.

"Maybe that's true. But you're not yourself, JD. Honest to God, you're not." He stiffened.

"It's not JD anymore." That would explain why the nurse at the hospital didn't know who I was talking about.

"Ok, so what is it then?" His answer surprised me.

"It's not anything. I don't do first names anymore. I'm just Dr. Dorian." Suddenly I was hit by how similar he was to me. For a long time, no one at Sacred Heart had the faintest idea what my name was.

"Good God JD, you've turned into me." I muttered. He looked straight at me.

"No. I haven't." I shrugged. He could say whatever, but I knew I was right. Everyone there either hated him or was terrified of him. He was acting like a hard-ass, but I was positive there was no way Newbie could stop caring. He definitely wasn't big on emotions other than anger. Hell, he probably almost lived at the hospital, too.

"How can you not see it?" I asked, slightly incredulously.

"You cared." Was all he offered me.

"JD… What happened to you?" He just turned away and motioned with a finger for the bartender to re-fill his glass, before carrying on with what he'd been saying.

"I'm not as proud as you. I had a rough time, and I can admit that I didn't come out the other side. I can admit that I couldn't handle it."

"JD…" He sighed. "JD, you don't have to stay here. You can come back to Sacred heart. That's where all your little friends are, after all." He shook his head.

"You know I can't." I didn't say anything. I didn't know whether it was because I knew he was right or because I thought he was wrong. We sat in quiet for a few minutes. "You should go. I know you've got no intention of going to that conference, so you may as well go home now and have a few days off." I knew what he really meant. Even though he'd just opened up to me as much as he was probably capable of now, he still didn't want me around. I didn't blame him. I understood that desire to be alone. But I also understood that the worst thing to do was to feed it.

"No." I told him. He sighed and turned away from me slightly. I decided that I'd carry on anyway. "JD, I don't know what happened to change you. Last time I saw you, you were fine. But…" But what? I was awful at dealing with emotional conversations like this.

"You're really not leaving?" He looked at me hopefully. I smiled. Maybe I could get the old JD back.

"I'm really not." He smiled back.

"That's great." His face hardened. "It means I can leave right now without being obligated to any kind of soppy goodbyes and well-wishing." He stood up, tossed a few bank notes onto the bar and left. I stared after him. Had this entire conversation been fake? I had no way of knowing. I paid for my drink and stepped outside. I headed back to the hospital car park to get my Porsche and go back to the hotel.