H-okay guys, I apologise for the lack of update and also apologise for the shortness of this chapter. It's been a rough couple of weeks so do forgive me. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways.

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Balls

Dr. Cox POV

Oh hell.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that something very heavy was sprawled out across me, breathing heavily and quite blatantly fast asleep. The second thing was the realisation that I, too, had fallen asleep and for whatever reason had managed to sleep for at least five hours on a couch that was, admittedly, pretty damned uncomfortable.

The third thing I noticed was how light it was.

I shifted uncomfortably, twisting my wrist from underneath Newbie's head so that I could see the time. I frowned - 7:21am?! - and shifted a little more. Dammit, he was a lot heavier in sleep than he was injured after falling off of a horse…

His eyes cracked open slightly. "Few more muhs."

If he hadn't been practically on top of me I would've crossed my arms. "What's that, Barbara?"

He scrunched up his eyes. "Few more!"

Uncaringly and, yes, forcefully, I used what force I had to shove him off of me. He fell off of me and the couch with a loud 'thump' and illicited a beautifully frustrated moan from him - I grinned. I was relieved to see that him being unhappy and uncomfortable still pleased me. "Fluent English is required for me to give a crap - want to try that one more time?"

Sleepily and with blatant frustration he pushed himself up so that he was sitting upright, eyes narrowing as they looked up at me. "I said that I wanted a few more minutes."

"And I didn't expect to wake up and find myself on the couch in my apartment with a pain in the ass apparently trying to climb up and over me. Whatcha gonna do?"

Newbie let himself flop onto the couch, apparently grumpy first thing in the morning. "What time is it?"

"About half seven."

"Half seven?" he moaned into the couch cushion. "I don't even know what half seven looks like!"

At that I forced myself into a standing position - groaning inwardly at how stiff my joints now felt - and looked down derisively at him. "You're apparently a doctor. You know what all hours of the day look like."

He slowly moved until he was on his knees - I smirked down at him as he glared up at me, amused by where his head was now situated. "Oh, I wondered where the inner-asshole had gone."

The smirk deepened. "I can show you, if you want."

The colour that flushed through his cheeks was a beautiful sight; I was quickly coming to learn that the mixture of embarrassment and arousal was one of my favourite hues that could alight upon his skin - as much as it pained me to admit that I even had a favourite, or that I even noticed. I turned away from him, picking up the plate from the night before and taking it leisurely into the kitchen. The sound of him grumpily muttering to himself as I stuck it in the dishwasher made me grin again, though I couldn't fail to notice the slight unease that was starting to settle in around me.

It wasn't that he was simply here as such. I had invited him, after all, and it had been me that had initiated practically every affection-induced moment the night before so I couldn't exactly feel odd towards him because of it. Sure, I was an ass, but I could be a fair one when it came down to it.

No… in the end I knew it was because he had stayed the night and was still here the morning after that really bugged me. Worse, that we hadn't even had sex or anything. He was here after a night of… cuddling.

I frowned, instantly turning back to face the living room. "Best get moving, Newbie."

His dark, dishevelled head popped up to find the source of the voice. When he found it, he instantly seemed to tense. "You want me to leave?"

"It would seem so."

Without even hesitating, he stood up off of the couch and stumbled his way to the front door, hastily shoving on his sneakers and running his hands through the insane bundle of fluff that his hair had become over night. I watched him as he twisted and turned, looking for his rucksack, eyes flickering repeatedly over to me as if waiting for me to herd him out of the door. I folded my arms and leant against the doorframe, judging myself for letting him even stay in the first place. For even letting him come over.

He pulled open the door and flicked his hand in my direction in the most half-hearted wave I'd ever seen. "Uh, thanks for the omelette Dr. Cox."

Within two seconds he was out of the door and out of my apartment. The door closed quietly behind him.

I stared at the space he had left, wondering how, within less than twenty-four hours, I had probably made his night and ruined his morning.

Sighing, I wandered out and into the middle of the once-again-too-big apartment.

X X X X X

"If you're going to open yourself up to him, you have to do it right."

Carla's voice was unnecessarily sarcastic on the end of the phone; I rolled my eyes violently and leant my elbows on my knees. "You know how I feel about people staying overnight, I can… could barely stand it when Jordan did it, let alone someone else."

I could practically hear her drumming her fingernails impatiently on the sideboard. "I can't believe you just said that about your own wife."

"Ex-wife."

"Unnecessary details," she said carelessly. "The point is, she was living with you and you eventually got used to it, right? Because you loved her?"

Love her. Not loved. "What's your point?"

"Maybe you should… ask JD to move in with you for a little while."

I snorted. "I sure as hell hope to GOD that you're joking."

"Do I sound like I'm joking?"

"Do I sound like someone who is even remotely interested in waking up with a fluff ball every morning?"

The amusement in her voice was clear. It annoyed me. "You ruined it by calling him a fluff ball. Ruined it completely."

"Whatever," I replied curtly, not returning the amusement. "Look, the only reason you're suggesting he moves in with me is because you're sick of him."

"No, the only reason I'm suggesting it is because you upset him this morning and he's sulking like a child."

"Sooo… because you're sick of him."

I heard the click of a kettle. "Okay, a little bit. I know I'm asking for a lot Dr. Cox, but Turk and I could really do with the space and I know it would really make JD so happy."

Did she seriously not get that there was no way in hell I'd ever agree to something like this? "Carla, as much as I hate to admit this I… I do want to make it up to Newbie. I do. I'm probably going to need to wash my mouth out now from even thinking about saying those words -"

"Get to the point."

I sighed. "My point is, yes, I want to make it up to him but no, I'm not prepared to ask him to move in with me for a few days or weeks or months or however long it takes for me to decide what I want. I'm afraid it's a definite no from this end and I suggest you come up with another idea."

The temporary silence was ominous. "…how about a social gathering of some kind?"

Hell no. "By social gathering would this… could this be interpreted as a… date?"

The tiny intake of breath from her end gave her away, despite her hastily delivered lie. "No, no, of course not! Just you and me, him and Turk, Elliot and Shaun -"

I clenched my first slightly. "What you're effectively proposing here is a triple date, Carla."

"No, of course no-"

"Juuuust because you put your name next to mine and his next to his mistress's doesn't mean I can't see straight through it, h-okay?"

The pout in her voice was clear as day. "Fine. But come on, give me one good reason why it's not a good idea."

"I can list you several thousand if you like?"

"Just one will do."

I sought through my head, picking one at random. "I hate pointless gatherings that consist of only eating food that you could have quite easily cooked at home for much less the price."

"I can understand that," she conceded. "Throw me another."

"Anything that includes me having to talk to Barbie, Dolphin Guy or Ghandi is not my idea of a fun night out."

"Aaaand one more?"

It had to be a good one. "I hate public displays of affection."

Her next words send a thrill of foreboding down my spine.

"Then I know exactly where we can go."

X X X X X

Walking into the bowling alley I felt as if I'd walked back into my teenage years. The place was packed with teenagers, screeching and throwing themselves at each other when they managed to throw a ball hard enough to knock down a couple of pins - it made me cringe inside.

The urge to cringe outwardly increased as soon as I saw the group I was forced to hang out with that evening, sitting opposite a lane, chattering excitedly - Dolphin Guy had his arms around Barbie, her face positively breaking from the massive smile on her face as she spoke animatedly; Carla was standing behind Ghandi who was sitting at the base, waiting to put in our names and start the game… and there was Newbie. He was standing slightly to one side, grinning at whatever Barbie was nattering on about - there was something to the grin that alerted me to the fact that he had no idea I was coming. He was too at ease, too relaxed, too involved in the conversation.

I knew that if he had known I was coming, he'd have known I was here before I'd even started walking towards them. I couldn't lie - that sort of knowledge gave my ego and nice fat boost.

Not that it needed it.

I walked towards them, reluctant. Newbie was leaning down to re-do the laces of his bowling shoes, blatantly unaware of my presense - Barbie noticed me first, her eyes widening in surprise. Did Carla not tell any of them that I was coming? I rolled my eyes, side-stepping a child that had darted out of nowhere and coming to a stop a few metres away from them.

Carla looked up, eyes glittering. "Dr. Cox! You made it!"

The speed in which Newbie straightened up was comical; I watched with a smirk as he outstretched his arms in an attempt to balance himself, leaving one of his laces untied. His eyes were as wide as they surely could go, body tensing - it took all of five seconds for him to analyse my presence, look down at himself and look back up to meet my eyes, clearly uncomfortable.

Barbie nudged him with her foot. "Aren't you going to say hello?"

His jaw dropped slightly. "I'm sorry I look bad."

I raised an eyebrow. He was wearing loose-fit denim trousers with a light-blue long-sleeved shirt underneath a dark blue one, his hair mussed up but not gelled. "Nice to see you too, Belinda."

His hands grasped at the sleeves of his top. "Oh. Yeah. Hi."

I rolled my eyes, walking closer to the group and sitting down on one of the plastic benches, shucking off my shoes and putting on the ones provided by the bowling alley. "Let's just get started, shall we?"

Carla flashed a warning look at me - it clearly said 'play nice'. I frowned at her - she had practically forced me to come here, I was hardly in the mood to be nice and friendly. I was rarely in the mood to be nice and friendly to anyone, let alone a group of people I tried to avoid outside of the hospital as much as humanely possible. I finished tying the laces on my shoes as she straightened up and spoke.

"We've just ordered drinks to be brought down - I ordered you a beer, is that okay?"

I nodded shortly, focusing my eyes on the television screen suspended above us. Ghandi was putting in names.

M o l e B u t t

S h a u n

C a r l a

C h o c o l a t e B e a r

V a n i l l a B e a r

C o x

I scowled. "I'm last?"

He shrugged. "You got here last."

Clearly he wanted me to be here as much as I did - I nodded again, watching as Barbie wandered over to the rack of bowling balls and hesitated over which one. She looked over at us pleadingly. "Which one is the lightest? They're different to when I was last here!"

I sighed, standing up and wandering over. Instantly I figured it out. "Go for the purple one. It's not the lightest but the little bit of extra weight behind it will make it more likely to knock some pins down."

She looked at me in surprise as I walked back over to sit down. "Oh! Err, well, thanks Dr. Cox!"

I didn't bother to reply. The drinks had just come over and I took my beer gladly, swigging at it and placing it on the little table at my side - oh, sweet relief. A double scotch would've been better but what can you do? I watched disinterestedly as Barbie threw the ball down the lane, rolling slowly towards the pins where it managed to knock down four. She turned, smile lighting up her face as her score updated on the screen. "Oh my god, I actually hit some!"

"When we were dating she couldn't even hit one," Newbie teased, moving out of the way as she darted towards him and playfully batted at his head.

"Enjoy your victory whilst it lasts," Ghandi said in an ominous tone from his seat. "'Cos you're going downtown."

"Keep up that fighting talk and you'll be crying all the way home when I whoop your ass!"

"Yeah right, Bambi," Carla responded, ruffling his hair. "You know Turk beats everybody, it's tradition."

He shrugged. "Traditions can be replaced."

Ghandi was full of his usual cocky attitude as he replied, "Bring it on, player!"

I rolled my eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day - did I have to put up with this crap all night? Bantering and teasing and touchy-feely idiocies that made me feel uncomfortable just watching? I glanced over at Newbie again who seemed to be studiously avoiding looking at me; did I really make him that nervous? I continued to watch him take sips of his Coke as the rest of them bowled (Carla getting an impressive strike and Ghandi half-torn between pride and concern - 'Beginners luck, people, beginners luck!'), my eyes staying focused on him even as he got up to bowl. He picked a dark green ball - too heavy, I mused - and watched as he carefully threw it down the lane, knocking down seven pins as it reached the end.

Not content with this, he picked out a different ball, a light blue one this time - too light - and threw it down there for his second go. He hit one of them, a hiss leaving his body in disappointment as he walked back over to the group. His eyes met mine momentarily before quickly darting away - I smirked as I stood up and brushed past him to pick up my own ball. I walked casually and confidently down to reach the lane's edge, moving my arm back and then arching it forwards and letting go.

I watched with light satisfaction as all of the pins fell.

"That was awesome!" Barbie said in hushed tones from behind me. "I mean, I know you got a strike too, Turk, but there's no way you could look as cool doing it as he just did."

Ghandi's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that afterwards, won't we, Mole Butt?"

I picked up my beer and swigged at it again - I felt a light nudge at my side, looking down to meet Carla's warning gaze yet again. She jerked her head slightly in the direction of Newbie (on the edge of the group and looking more and more miserable by the second), making a tiny noise at the same time. I thought about rolling my eyes again… but instead just made my way over to his side, not looking at him as I said offhandedly,

"You all right there, Newbie?"

He jumped slightly, clearly in his own world and therefore not noticed me. "Uh, yeah, I'm cool. You?"

I couldn't suppress the eye-roll. I could tell there would be many more that evening. I was tempted to tell him exactly what I thought - that I was wasting a good scotch-fuelled evening of finding something worth watching on the TV, by spending time with them at a place I had never found particularly entertaining… but something in my stopped me. "I'm swell."

"Glad to hear it," he mumbled, taking apparently desperate sips of his Coke in an attempt to not seem so damned awkward. "I err… I didn't know you were coming."

I shrugged. "What difference does it make?"

He looked at me momentarily. "I would've made an effort to look a bit nicer for one."

I turned a little towards him, looking at him again, taking in what he was wearing and his general appearance. He carried on speaking in a rush.

"I didn't get to gel my hair and I didn't realise everyone else was getting dressed up."

They were hardly dressed up - Ghandi was just as casual as Newbie, women always made an effort, Dolphin Guy seemed to be the type to always wear shirts and I… well, I didn't have any clean t-shirts. I had to wear a proper shirt. "I see."

"So… yeah. If I'd have known you were coming I would've made myself look a bit nicer -"

God, it was like listening to a girl.

"- you look great, by the way. Not that you don't usually. Not that it matters. It's not like this is a date or anything, despite the fact that there are two couples here and then us, but then again -"

Dolphin Guy interrupted us. "JD, you're up."

He went to step away, looking somewhat relieved - I lightly grasped the back of his t-shirt with my hand to pause him. He stopped, looking around nervously.

"Use the dark blue ball. Throw it like you did with the last one and you'll get a strike."

I watched him again as he nodded and stumbled his way over to the balls, selecting the dark blue one I'd recommended and shifting over to the edge of the lane - he threw it, watching as it rocketed down the lane… and knocked down all ten pins.

"YES!" He cried, whirling around and doing a tiny little victory dance; Ghandi looked as if he were sucking on lemons as Carla clapped beside him, Barbie and Dolphin congratulating him as his smile got wider and wider. I couldn't help myself - I grinned as he practically danced his way over, taking a large victory sip of his Coke. I stepped forward, grin remaining as I brushed past him again.

Just as I passed him I muttered, begrudgingly,

"You look nice, Newbie. Your hair… you look nice."

X X X X X

JD POV

I literally couldn't believe how much things picked up from there. After my swooping lack of self-confidence that attacked me without warning as soon as Dr. Cox had revealed himself to be, well, here, as well as being some sort of bowling King, I was sure I was going to be faced with an excruciating evening where he completely ignored me and acted as if I didn't exist but… he didn't.

After he came over to speak to me, recommended a different ball and - I couldn't stop grinning each time I remembered - his compliment, the night got better. A lot better. Dr. Cox, though not quite becoming part of the 'group' made more of an effort, joining in with our conversations occasionally and even paying for a round of drinks for everyone. He bowled nothing but strikes the entire time, putting Turk's nose out of joint (he got two spares and therefore came second) and rather than making me feel inadequate, just made me feel insanely proud to know that the man I loved was so freaking awesome.

When I managed to scrape in fifth place (it turned out that Shaun was pretty good at fourth place, Carla better at third and Elliot… well, Elliot kind of sucked still at sixth) I turned to him to make a joke about being bad at all sports but, to my intense surprise, he winked at me and raised his beer to me.

"Here's to winning being more important than taking part - unless you're Newbie, o'course."

We all rose our drinks in the air, a massive smile on my face as his eyes continued to rest upon me the entire time I finished off my Coke - even when I tore my eyes away from him and turned my attention elsewhere, even when he turned to talk to Carla I was still outrageously aware of the heat of his gaze on my skin… it sent shivers all over me.

All together in a big group, Turk's arm around Carla, Shaun holding Elliot's hand and Dr. Cox walking beside me (not too close, of course) we left the building and turned to each other to say our goodbyes. I kissed Elliot on the cheek, shook Shaun's hand and then turned to Dr. Cox. His eyes met mine, leaving me unsure that I would be able to form a coherent sentence.

"So, umm… well done for winning!"

He nodded, amusement glittering slightly in his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest. I forced myself to talk more, hating the two couples for watching so intently.

"It was really… yeah. It was nice of you to… mm."

I didn't miss both his and Carla's eye-roll. She tilted her head in the direction of the car. "C'mon Bambi, you've got work in the morning."

I nodded, determined to do this right - I extended my hand out to him, forcing my eyes to meet his as I said as smoothly as I could,

"Have a good night, Dr. Cox."

His eyes shot rays of heat through me - his eyes changed instantly, taking on that haze I recognised as pure, raw desire. I felt my heart start to pound as he stepped forward slightly, directing his words elsewhere but keeping his gaze fixed on mine. "I'll drive him back, Carla. There's more room in my car anyway."

Her snort was embarrassingly audible. "Sure there is. I'll see you back home then, Bambi - unless you want to come back with us now?"

I looked from her to Dr. Cox - the way he was looking at me was making me tremble inside. "I… err…"

He stepped even closer, his words falling out in a harsh whisper. "Come… with me."

The double-entendre to the words made my mouth go dry. "Umm -"

There was no mistaking what he was really asking. "I want you to come with me. Like I said yesterday… these offers don't come very often. So come. With me."

X X X X X

Dr. Cox POV

The second we were inside of my apartment, I kicked the door closed and slammed him up against it.

"Now… I still owe you a punishment."