A/N: Hey everyone! So surprise, this chapter didn't take a year to post. (I'm laughing on the outside and sobbing on the inside.) I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Currently working on the next and I hope to have it up soon.

The room glowed from the sun's rays and warmth filled the room, making getting up in the morning actually pleasant. Expecting to see a time no later than noon, it was a bit of a shock to see it was only half past seven. Normally, I'd say screw it and go back to sleep, but I had a good vibe about today so I got up early. The hardwood was cold on my feet, and although I normally hated the feeling, I kind of enjoyed it now. Maybe today is gonna be a good day.

I got dressed and headed down to the kitchen to make a quick cup of tea. Remy wasn't up yet so I tried my best to keep it as silent as possible, even though I'm pretty quiet anyways. Normally, I would've gone out for a run or at least a short walk around the block, but I didn't want to be out when Remy wakes up. Also, I needed an excuse to be sluggish. Peanut butter cakes: good idea last night, not so great of an idea now.

I watched a mundane news story about some controversy regarding the bypass a couple towns over and I eventually couldn't conjure up the will to pretend to care anymore. I shut the TV off and shifted positions on the couch so I could be upside down, a habit which I adopted around the age of 13 and never quite stopped, even though I felt stupid every time I did it. After a minute or two, I grabbed my phone and put some music in my ears. Suddenly, staring up at nothing didn't become so dull and I tried picking the song apart, trying to imagine the different sounds flowing across the blank canvas of my living room's ceiling. I was so consumed by the songs flowing into my ears that I barely even noticed the blue bird standing idly right outside on the windowsill.

"What the hell am I supposed to get her for her birthday?" I said, pacing back and forth, hoping that walking in the same linear pattern again and again would somehow conjure up a brilliant idea that would solve all of my problems.

"How am I supposed to know?" Foreman said, tapping his fingers on the desk repeatedly. He was either bored out of his mind or frustrated that he and I weren't getting any work done. I think it might be the latter, but reading Foreman's mind is like trying to find words in a book full of blank pages. "Cameron, you've been dating her for a month. I don't think Thirteen will be all that mad if you don't get her the best birthday present ever. Why does it matter so much?"

"Because it just does, okay?" No wonder Foreman had issues finding a girlfriend. With his attitude, he'd have a better chance seducing a horse than an actual human being.

"You know you should probably be in the ER. What's Cuddy gonna think when one of her most treasured doctors is blowing off work to think of a good birthday gift?"

I know I'm a good doctor, but I guess it's always reassuring to hear a compliment. Instead of thanking him, I said something I'd thought I'd never say, "Screw Cuddy."

If it weren't for the thud of his cane against the floor, I probably wouldn't have even heard House enter the room, "No need to tell me twice. If you can think of a way to speed up the process, feel free to let me know. Been trying to weasel my way out of this damn friend-zone and into those two perfect, perky—"

"Not now House." I continued pacing back and forth, faster than I was before.

"Fiesty today aren't we?" House responded, a bit intrigued. "Foreman, go away."

"But we have to find a new case."

The older doctor took his infamous cane and smacked it on the table, hitting a random file in the process, "Read it."

Foreman was frozen in shock for a second, but followed his boss' direction right after, "17 year old Caucasian female collapses in a Starbucks. No signs of dehydration, regular BP, standard blood sugar levels. The girl was perfectly healthy before this."

"A white teenage girl collapses in coffee shop," House repeats, no doubt thinking of ways he can mock this girl fitting into a very common stereotype. "Well, you're a doctor. Go fix it."

"But you didn't even look at the other files!" Foreman complained.

"I don't need to. I want this one," he replied bluntly. "Now go away.

Much to the Foreman's dismay, he picked up the file and left to go try to make a diagnosis alone. Chase and Taub both weren't in today, with the former hung over and the latter wishing he was hung over so he didn't have to go visit his wife's family. Foreman was Foreman though, which means he'll do things way before they need to be done.

"You," he said with a completely neutral expression. "Sit down. Or at least stop pacing. It's irritating me."

I sat down to avoid being hassled and he followed suit, staring at me for a good minute. I didn't know if I was supposed to say something so I just kept my mouth shut.

"So you're banging Thirteen," he interjected, breaking the silence. "Lucky you. Pretty nice to look at. Smart too when she's not being an idiot."

"Banging would be the first word I'd use to describe our relationship," I stopped him before he could insult her more. "And she's not an idiot. You just think everyone who's not you is an idiot."

"You're implying that everyone who isn't me isn't an idiot?"

I didn't reply and he got the message that I really was frustrated. For a narcissistic know-it-all, at least he's sometimes capable of being human. Kind of. "What's wrong?"

"It's Remy's birthday tomorrow and I still have no idea what I should get here." This is the first birthday in our relationship, it has to be special.

"Who?"

"Remy. Did you even read her file?"

"It's quite possible that I did not."

Bullshit. House may be an idiot sometimes, but he's a brilliant idiot. There's no way that he didn't really know her name. Reading her file would be too easy, yes. But even if he really didn't read her file, he was still curious about her from the minute he found out she had a secret. And House's curiosity has driven him to do much crazier things than snoop on an employee.

"House…"

He stood up and walked over to his white board. That board has saved countless lives and fixed a plethora of problems in the past so, hell, why shouldn't it be used to solve my problem? He wrote "Thirteen" at the top followed by "Perks- 1. Nice ass"

"House…" I repeated, this time with a more threatening tone.

He shrugged and squeezed in a 'cl' before ass, "What? You don't think she's classy?"

I didn't say anything, mostly because I couldn't think of a way to describe how immature he is. He took my silence as an invitation to continue speaking, although he'd take anything to keep speaking really. "So what do you know about her?"

"Well, she's pretty close to her day. She's quiet at first, but when you get to know her, she likes to make a lot of jokes. She's quirky and sarcastic and really nice, which makes her more interesting when you actually talk to her, since everyone here is convinced that she wants to kill half of the people here."

House nodded with everything I said, but only added "2. Not a bitch" and "3. Regular sense of humor"

"That all you got?" he asked, obviously not caring on whether I said yes or no. Again, he wants to speak. I've known him long enough to pick up on the signs.

"I guess," is all I respond. I wanted to say of course I'm not done, but I wouldn't dare say that. At least not to House.

"That was shit."

Okay, I was interrupted. That doesn't even count, "Let's see you do better."

"Alright," he answered, accepting the challenge. He continued writing and talking, "Number four. Lost a fair share of family members and keeps a small circle of friends. So, very protective of those she cares about. Number five, always walks around the maintenance ladders when she could walk right under them. Hates religion, but is superstitious. Doesn't make sense since they're fundamentally the same thing. Number six, fervid. She's obviously passionate about her job or else she wouldn't be putting up with my shit. And finally, she cares about everything, even if she does her best to act like she doesn't. She's a doctor so she cares about life in at least some respects or she would've chosen a different career. She also has a knack for calming down animals when she goes on a research trip."

"And by research trip, you mean breaking into your patients' homes?"

"What's the difference?"

I had to give it to House though. He acts like he doesn't care about anything, but he pays attention like no one else.

"Alright, my work is done," he said, capping the marker and turning to head out.

"Wait, what? We didn't accomplish anything!" I called out to him, standing out of my seat and following him, stopping when he stopped. "Why are you leaving?"

"I'm not the one tapping Thirteen. If you want to get her a gift she'll enjoy, it need to come from your head, not someone else. I gave you a start. Do some thinking for a change, you'll find it actually works," he deadpanned, leaving to probably go sexually harass Cuddy.

So I was back to Square 1. I sat back down, looking at the white board, reading every line several times, even following the strokes of each letter, looking for some sort of inspiration.

Then I thought back to the very first time I saw her outside of work. To be honest, I couldn't even picture her living outside of work. It's like trying to picture how your teachers live— Remy just showed up at the hospital for her shift and poofed into disappearance until she was needed again. But there she was, standing in a flower shop, admiring a row of lilies.

Before I could even think about what to do, I found myself already inside the shop. The girl working was too busy on her phone to even notice I walked in. If I actually came for flowers, that probably would've frustrated me. I gave her a double look, feigning ignorance, "Dr. Hadley? Is that you?"

She turned around, and popped out her headphones. "Oh hello, Dr. Cameron," she smiled. "Funny seeing you here."

"I was about to say the same thing. I didn't take you as a fan of flowers."

"Yeah, I like them a lot. But I think people in the hospital got the impression that I just kick puppies for amusement," she answered, laughing although she knew her words were true.

"No. No, people don't think that at all," I lied. Maybe not puppy assault, but I heard a nurse 'thinking aloud' to another nurse that Dr. Thirteen was probably the type of person to pinch babies. I decided to change the subject before she could object. "So you like lilies?"

"Yeah, I've wanted to grow them for a while, but you can't really grow a garden in an apartment, you know? I come here once in a while so I can put some in a vase. I guess I really just like looking at all the flowers though. I wish I could get them all."

"I know what you mean. These are lovely flowers."

"Yeah. They must be out of my favorite though," she said, frowning a bit. "That's kind of disappointing, but I'm not too upset. I only saw them once a while ago here and I haven't seen them anywhere since. Guess I'm just kinda hoping they'll be here one day."

"Which flower?" I asked, intrigued by this. Who knew the infamous Thirteen was an actual human…with interests and stuff. The nurses would be flabbergasted by this.

"You probably don't know it," she mumbled, but answered anyways. "Bird of paradise?"

"Yeah, I've never heard of it," I admitted, laughing a bit. What the hell was a bird of paradise? "Sounds cool though, I'll look it up later."

"Awesome. I actually have to be somewhere in like 20 minutes. I just figured I'd stop by and check. Maybe I'll see you around again?"

"I'd like that," I smiled.

She laughed a gentle laugh and everything I thought I knew about her disappeared into nothingness, "I'll see you around Dr. Cameron."

"Allison's just fine. Or Al. Or Ally. I don't really care," I laughed along. Something about her voice and her laugh was just so hypnotic and I wish that the conversation didn't have to end.

"Remy."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My name. Unless you want to still call me Dr. Hadley or Thirteen. That's cool too. I just noticed most people don't know it or never bothered to learn it so I just go by Thirteen. But my name is Remy. Or Rem. Either's fine."

Remy. Not totally unheard of, but I can't admit to knowing any. Well, before her of course.

And with that she waved goodbye to the employee, who surprisingly waved back and even added a smile. I bought a small bouquet consisting of hydrangeas and azaleas just to look like I actually came in the store for something and went home.

I'm glad to say that today was a learning experience and I'm glad that I didn't chicken out of talking to the most mysterious person, besides House of course, in the hospital.

"I've got it!" I thought aloud and ran out of the room.

I helped quite a bit in the ER before my shift ended. No one seemed to, or wanted to, question my whereabouts for the past forty minutes and with a new feeling of clarity, my work methods became much more efficient.

Luckily, I got out of work at 1 or else I would've been screwed. I got in my car and opened my laptop, looking at all the nearest flower shops. I went to 7 different shops, eventually finding what I was looking for in a small store 40 minutes from Princeton.

Tomorrow came, and we both had the day off to be together. I had worked almost 48 hours straight and I convinced Remy to ask for the day off. It's not like Cuddy was gonna say no. It was the girl's birthday and besides, I'm sure Cuddy is at least the tiniest bit afraid of Remy. Everyone is. She stayed the night at my place and like usual, I was the first to wake up. I made her blueberry pancakes and set up her birthday surprise on the dining room table while breakfast was slowly being prepared.

"Wake up sunshine," I announced, scooting the door open with my foot so I could carry both myself and her breakfast in the room.

She groaned, refusing to open her eyes, "I hate mornings. Why do they exist? Can time just not exist until noon?"

"I thought that this would be the one day you'd want time to go slow."

"Al, I can't do riddles. I just woke up."

I raised my eyebrow, "You really don't remember the day today?"

She opened her eyes slowly and looked at me, probably trying to process why I'm holding a tray of food in my hands. It took her a second, but she got it. "Oh my God—"

"Happy birthday baby!" I laughed, placing the tray on her lap once she sat up.

"I totally forgot. No wonder I slept in, I don't have to go to work today." I thought the concept of her being able to skip work for a day alone was going to move her to tears.

I waited for her to eat breakfast, occasionally nibbling bits and pieces every once in a while, and I dragged her out of bed, much to her dismay.

"Close your eyes."

"Honey, if I close my eyes, I'm gonna fall back asleep," she joked. Still I persisted, "Just do it Remy. C'mon.

She let out an exaggerated sigh and closed her eyes, placing one hand over them just for good measure. "I don't like not seeing. This better be good Ally."

"I'll let you be the judge of that," I answered, slowly guiding her out of the bedroom and into the dining room. I was pretty confident of my gift though.

I looked back at her, just to make sure she wasn't cheating and, thankfully, she wasn't.

"Are you ready?"

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be ready for," she jokingly whined.

I hugged her from behind and kissed her neck, "Do you trust me?"

She hesitated for a second, clearly putting thought into this. Typically, I might be a little offended if someone hesitated the way she did, but with her life, I'd probably do the same thing. Finally, she mumbled out a simple "Yes I do."

"Alright, then you're ready. Go ahead, look."

Remy opened her eyes and went to lower her hand, although it just went straight to hovering over her mouth.

"Birds of paradise," she said, doing her best to hold back her tears. "How did you find these?"

"It took a bit of digging, but I know that you love them. And they are quite beautiful. Though no flower will ever be more beautiful than you."

She turned around to face me and buried her face in my neck. I could feel the tears in her eyes finally escaping, but I didn't mind.

"I love them so much," she said, still crying. "Thank you. I know that you didn't have to go out of your way and you did this for me."

I held her cheek and made her look at me. Tears still occasionally fell out of her eyes, but she was smiling and I knew that my first gift to her was a good one. "Listen, Remy," I said, in a serious tone, but with a smile. "I would do anything to make you happy, no matter what. Even if you don't believe it at times, you're worth it."

She leaned forward and kissed me in a way that I've never been kissed before. For those few moments, everything disappeared: the birthday, the flowers, the world in general. All I knew was that it was just me and her.

And that's all that matters to me.