Wake up: To discover a strong starting hand.

Thursday Afternoon

Winston pulled into a parking space and turned off the ignition. Reaching toward the passenger seat, he picked up a cat carrier and held it in front of his face. "Now listen up. You behave yourself this weekend, understood buddy?" He laughed as the cat meowed in his face, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah, I wish I wasn't leaving too, man. Those roommates of ours are all crazy ass idiots."

Winston stepped out of the car and walked across the lot through the automatic double doors into the vet's office. He made he way to the receptionist and placed the carrier up on the counter.

"Furguson, right?"

Winston nodded. "Yep."

"Okay." She spun around in her chair and grabbed a folder off the opposite counter. Pulling out a sheet of paper, she quickly looked it over and placed it on the counter in front of him with a pen. "I just need you to sign right here. You'll be picking up on Monday?"

"Yeah, that's right."

She smiled warmly as she took the sheet of paper and stood up to take Furguson back to the kennel.

Winston stuck his finger in the small cage. "Later, man."

"I'll let Dr. Pierce know you're here." She gave him a wink and he nodded.

Winston whistled softly to himself as he reached out to read a pamphlet on special "organic diet" pet food. He mumbled to himself, "if Schmidt saw this, I'd be broke". He was only standing there for a minute when a voice called to him from down the hall directly in front of him.

"Winston!"

A very petite woman, with strawberry blond hair twisted onto the back of her head in a clip, walked towards him. She was wearing bright blue scrubs and smiled widely at him as she approached. She threw her arms around his neck, giving him a big hug as he held her waist close.

Pulling back, her hands settled on his chest, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. "Hey, hon. How was your day?"

Winston shrugged, "Eh, you know. Same as usual." He narrowed his eyes and reached up to gently rub his thumb under her pink and swollen eyes. "Rough day?" He frowned with concern as she quickly wiped her hand across her cheek.

"Twelve year old yellow lab today. Been coming here since she was a puppy and the kids in the family were real sweethearts. We just..." She paused to look up at him, her eyes starting to glisten.

"Hey, I'm sorry." He kissed her cheek lightly. "I don't know how you do this every day, Natalie."

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled sadly. "Just a part of life, right?"

He frowned again and tightened his grip on her waist. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand in front of her face and poked his chest playfully, batting her eyes. "I may need some Winnie love to make me feel better later, though."

Winston let out a small grunt. "Oh, you know I can help with that." He bent down and kissed her lips, her arms snaking around his neck. A few seconds later there were several catcalls from the front desk.

Natalie stepped back from Winston's grasp and faked an intense grimace toward her staff, lowering her voice. "Get back to work!"

Winston raised his eyebrows and she started to laugh. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the hallway. "I have something I need to talk to you about."

As they walked down the brightly lit hallway, past portraits of some of Natalie's "patients", Winston was suddenly nervous. Here it comes. It was a nice six weeks, Winnie. But yep, looks like she finally wised up and is leaving you. He knew he shouldn't have risked asking her to Vegas for Schmidt and Cece's wedding. It was way too soon for a romantic getaway.

Winston walked past her into the office as she shut the door behind them. Grabbing one of the two chairs in front of the desk, he sat down and nervously shook his legs. Natalie pulled the second chair directly in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulder and giving him a quick kiss as she sat down. Taking his hands in hers, she bit her lip. He nervously stared into her smoky gray eyes, still slightly bloodshot.

"Hey, uh-uh, I ." Her gaze fell down to their hands and he could tell she was struggling to get her words out. One of the first times he met her, he learned that she had a stutter growing up, and although she had moved passed it as she got older, sometimes it came back when she was really nervous about something. She had explained that it was through a therapy dog that she learned to feel comfortable speaking out loud. It was that experience with animals that had lead her to Veterinary School, and eventually, her own practice.

Winston leaned over onto his knees, trying to catch her gaze at her eye level. He squeezed her hands, whispering softly. "Babe, it's okay. Take your time, no rush." He came off with a cool confidence, despite the fact that inside, he was feeling the urge to run before she had the chance to break up with him.

She raised her head, closing her eyes while taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, Winston gave her hands another squeeze and smiled. "Wh-wh-what I wa-wanted to say is..." She took one more deep breath, finally relaxing at her boyfriend's encouraging expression. "I. I worked out my sch-schedule and...I think I can make it this weekend." She paused and then quickly looked away, holding her breath. "If you...if you still want me to come?"

A huge smile came across Winston's face as he clapped his hands in front of his chest, before pulling her into his lap. "YEAH! Come here, you." She squealed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

Sighing heavily, she relaxed into his embrace. "Oh my God, I was so nervous you'd changed your mind!"

"Changed my mind?! Are you crazy?"

She leaned in for another quick kiss, before hugging him tightly. "I'm so excited to finally meet these roommates of yours!"

"Yeaaaaah, about that...I don't know how excited I'd be. They're all crazy."

"Winston!" She slapped his chest and rolled her eyes. "You can't mean that, you're always talking about how great they are."

"Oh, they're great alright. Just not when one of them decides to drop everything and elope after a month of dating."

Natalie smiled, sliding off his lap to stand. "Aw, I think it's romantic..." She paused, a confused look on her face. "Wait, I thought these were the two that finally got together last year."

Winston stood up and put the chairs back in their correct positions, before reaching out for the small of her back as she opened the door. "Nah, that's Nick and Jess. Those clowns might as well be married already...this is Schmidt."

"Oh, the one that I thought was a girl?"

Winston laughed. "Yeah, that's the one."

She giggled as Winston stepped towards her, kissing her cheek. He smiled, reaching up to brush a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

She spoke softly, her eyes teasing him. "So, come over tonight and help me pack?"

He smiled. "You bet."