A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up, it's been almost two months I think. But anyway, this is the end, but I think I'll do and epilogue after this. Enjoy!

The Move to Maturity

"Hello?" Thirteen said, answering the phone.

"Hey!" replied the voice on the other end.

"Natalie, hi!"

"This weekend Brock and I are having a bit of a get together," Natalie stated excitedly. "Nothing formal, more of a backyard barbeque sort of thing. You and Eric want to come?"

"I'm not sure," Thirteen replied.

"Why not? Listen. This weekend is supposed to break record temperatures and we have a pool. It would only make sense to come."

"I'm sort of stuck at work, in the most literal sense."

"What, is the hospital being quarantined?" she joked.

"Actually, yes," Thirteen sighed, looking around her at the people wearing surgical masks. Her week of suspension had been quite relaxing, and the current excitement wasn't exactly wanted.

"Oh," Natalie replied.

"Yeah. Possible swine flu case came into the ER. No one gets in or out until it's cleared."

"Well, that's just great. Hope you guys get out soon. And don't get swine flu."

"It's just another strain of the flu," Thirteen deadpanned. "And thanks. We'll try to come."

"See you."

"Bye."

Thirteen hung up, and as she did, Kutner glanced questioningly at her from across the ER. "Was that your rapist's girlfriend?"

"Yes," she answered, realizing how odd it sounded. "She invited Foreman and I to a party."

"So you're going to a party with the rapist?"

"Maybe."

"I don't think I'll ever understand you."

"Well that's good. At least I'm still an enigma to someone," Thirteen said, thinking of how this one situation was enough to give House an all-access pass to her innermost thoughts and feelings. That man can be so irritating. Then, as if on cue, the doctor in question appeared, Foreman and Taub at his side.

"How is the soon to be Mrs. Foreman getting along?" he asked with a mocking tone to his voice.

"What?" Taub and Kutner both asked simultaneously, their heads shooting up. Foreman appeared completely indifferent to his boss's mocking, having endured it for so long, and Thirteen's face shone with annoyance.

"You're engaged?" Taub asked again, impatient.

"Yes," Foreman replied.

"We were planning to tell everyone today, but then this happened," Thirteen continued.

"Congratulations!" Cameron squealed, coming up from behind Kutner after having obviously overheard the conversation. She hugged Thirteen briefly, and the Foreman.

"Thanks," Thirteen said half-heartedly, slightly uncomfortable with the closeness. She supposed that she considered the other woman a friend, and Cameron's caring nature was just something she would have to become accustomed to.

"All this emotion is great," House cut in, "but really, is it necessary?" At that moment each of their pagers went off. Thirteen glanced at it and then smiled, seeing that the hospital was no longer under quarantine.

"Foreman," she began. "Natalie called."

Foreman and Thirteen pulled up to Brock and Natalie's home and stepped out of their car. "You look nervous," Foreman stated.

"That's because I am," Thirteen replied, glancing at the house, then back to him.

"There's nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "Go in ,swim, meet some people, and have fun. This is a party, remember?"

"Yeah," she said. "Let's go." Upon knocking on the door, they were greeted by a beaming Natalie.

"Great to see you could make it!"

"Same here," Thirteen replied warmly.

"Get your swim suits on, everyone's out back."

"Will do," Foreman said, entering, Thirteen in his wake.

Natalie guided them to the guest room, where they could change and leave their things, departing with a simple "See you in a bit."

When the door shut, Thirteen stripped herself of her camisole and shorts, revealing a black bikini. Foreman in turn changed into his swim trunks.

"Don't you think we're all a little old for a pool party?" she asked him.

"No," he replied. "Pools are fun."

"True."

"You look good in that, by the way."

"Why, thank you," Thirteen said before doing a mock curtsy. The couple made their way to the backyard, and upon arriving were greeted by the sounds of jovial conversations and Veruca Salt's Volcano Girls blasting from a stereo system. It was a fun, good natured song for such an event.

"There you are!" Natalie's voice chimed as she found Thirteen and Foreman. "This is Sarah," she said gesturing to the pretty redhead beside her, "my sister."

"Nice to meet you," Thirteen said. "I'm Remy, and this is Eric."

"And you, too," Sarah replied. "Natalie tells me you're both doctors."

"Yes," Foreman replied.

"Me, too. I'm at Princeton General."

"Princeton-Plainsboro," Thirteen supplied, smiling. The next hour or so progressed as such, making small talk between short stints in the pool. Much to Thirteen's surprise, however, Brock was nowhere to be found. Upon asking Natalie, she found that he was working overtime on a renovation and would arrive later.

"Are you apprehensive about seeing him?" she asked.

"No," Thirteen replied. "I've gotten over that. I was just curious." And like clockwork, Brock passed through the French doors and into the back yard. He kissed Natalie on the cheek and then turned to Thirteen.

"Remy! It's good to see you. Eric here?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Good to see you, too." She noticed that much of the awkwardness between she and him was gone, the tension, and the resentment with it. That was until he took off his shirt with the intention of jumping in the pool. It was then that she saw it, faint but there, right on the crook of his neck and shoulder, a scar in the shape of a jaw belonging to a sixteen-year-old Remy. Suddenly the moment flashed through her memory, that second, in the heat of the moment drenched with fear and pain, she had bitten him, in that exact spot, hard and long enough to draw blood. "I did that," she whispered, reaching out and running her finger along the scar. "I did that to you."

"Yeah," Brock replied. "And you had every reason to. You know, at the hospital when I saw you for the first time, I referred to you as 'sexy Remy Hadley'. Now when I think about it, it was really stupid and juvenile of me. I guess when I saw you, I was back in high school. But I'm not a teenager anymore and what I did, then and now, is inexcusable."

"Are you apologizing?" Thirteen asked in disbelief. She realized that if he was, she would end up forgiving him, whether she wanted to or not. But part of her sincerely wanted to, seeing as, in a way, he was right. He had been a teenager, a kid, and the person he was then is not the person he is now.

"Yes," he said. "I am."

"Then, I accept it." People's laughter still echoed across the pool and music, now the Foo Fighter's Everlong, still played from the speakers, and she was still a doctor and still engaged to Foreman, she knew that with those four words, she somehow changed her life forever.

A/N: Please review! I swear, if you don't, I'll bring on the Cybermen invasion, and then we'll all end up dead because The Doctor(Doctor Who PWNS!) is a fictional character and won't be there to stop them. And we don't want that now, do we?