Last chapter, please enjoy. xxxNTxxx

Then you lean and kiss her on the head.

The staff of Sacred Heart that wasn't on call had decided to go to the bar for some drinks in order to celebrate Turk's amazing surgical skills on a four year old that afternoon. The child had survived and was able to go home as soon as the swelling went down, and so the young scalpel jock was feeling particularly spectacular. As there was usually five to a table, Perry had chosen to sit with Turk, Carla and Elliot, as of course JD was also sitting there and he needed to be near him right now. After their scare today with him pretending not to notice his stares, they had been a little broken and Perry was determined to fix this.

For God's sake, they'd only made out three times. It wasn't even enough for them to be a proper couple and yet he was certain that it would turn out that way. Mainly because all those angst-ridden emotions he'd experienced from being lonely had surely evaporated since JD had returned his lust. Perhaps, strangely enough, they were meant to be together?

Whatever it was, it was enough for him to have to endure the rest of the annoying crew for a beer or two. Turk, as ever, was being incredibly egocentric and dancing all about the place. Carla would kiss his lips and ask him to do it again, because she loved her manly superman. Elliot clapped and laughed too, but mostly she would whisper to JD and they would conspire like they were spies or something. This irritated Perry, so before they could get into any deep conversation concerning the weekend, he mentioned the one guy he knew would get JD's goat.

"Hey, Barbie, is Keith excited about the big day then?"

JD glared at him and sat back in his chair. Elliot immediately began to squeal in delight as she described every last detail of her plans in alphabetical order. This, Carla enjoyed, but now Turk was also sulking where he sat because the limelight had been snatched from him. Perry grinned inwardly and gulped down his chaser.

"I'm gonna get another round in," JD piped up, which was obviously code for 'I can't sit through this any longer so I'm going to move'. "Anyone want anything?"

"Pint and whiskey chaser." Perry smirked at him.

"Same as last time," Carla nodded at Turk. "He'll have a beer."

"Yeah, just some bottled beer for me too," Elliot answered.

"Alright," JD smiled, and then he did something he regretted straight away. He automatically bent down, brushed her hair away and kissed her on the forehead. This wouldn't be such a problem if Perry wasn't there – he always did it, followed he a pat and Carla's head and a slap around Turk's baldness. It was just a thing that JD did. But as soon as he did this, he nervously smacked Carla and Turk at the same time and ran to the bar with a small murmur. Perry growled.

"Don't be mad at him." Carla whispered in his ear so that no one else could hear. "I know you're mad but leave it be, it's something Bambi has to sort out for himself without you pushing him around all the time. He's a human being, not a toy for your pleasure."

"I'm not," Perry hissed back. "But I'd rather he didn't act all Romeo on Miss Juliet over there!"

"You do know how that play ends, right? There's no way they make a good couple. You two are fine."

"Fine!"

JD sat back down at this point, looking from Elliot to Perry in a desperate attempt to see if things were okay. Perry just nodded at him. Turk looked confused – he still didn't know about the two of them, and for a long time they could all tell that he was missing something. He'd been trying to work it out in his stupid shiny head but had not yet come up with an answer.

"What are you doing here, Dr Cox?" He finally asked. "Not that I don't mind, so don't go off on one or anything."

"I will nawt go off on one." Perry replied. "I'm just enjoying the scenery."

"All the hot chicks?" Turk asked, and Carla elbowed him so he changed tactics. "Not that there are any hot chicks in this bar, baby, and if there were, I wouldn't know because I'm too busy checking you out, mm-mm!"

"That's better," Carla told him, and laughed. "You are so whipped, it's unbelievable."

"That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!"

Perry side-glanced at JD and realized something. If there was one thing that wasn't working in this relationship, it was the fact that they were keeping it quiet. Secrets and lying... Perry shook his head. The only person who didn't know was Turk, so how could it be that? Well, there was only one way to find out. Turk needed to know. It was just telling him that would prove difficult. Then again...

Perry, working on instinct, decided to just go for it. Apparently just going for it worked at the moment, so why not do that now? It was these thoughts that propelled him to suddenly leap towards JD and press his lips onto him, trying to ignore the gasps from the spectators. Obviously, JD responded, by wrapping his arms around Perry's neck and moaning in pleasure. Perry lightly held him by the hips, opened his eyes and winked at Turk.

And I never felt so alive and so dead.

After their session at the bar, Perry had forced JD into coming home with him and staying in his apartment. He suddenly knew what the step was that JD needed to get over Elliot; it was blaringly obvious and made him want to kick himself that he didn't think of it before. He led JD towards the couch, offering him to sit down whilst he went to grab a few cold ones.

"But we've just been drinking," JD pointed out.

"Yeah, and I'm not done yet," Perry snapped back. "And after what I'm about to do, I think it would rest easier in my mind if I knew that I'd had plenty to drink beforehand."

"Why, what are you gonna do?"

"Just drink."

"Okies." JD sipped at the cold beer he had just been given and snuggled into Perry as he sat beside him. "Ooh, sticky. I do like a good hop-based beverage."

Perry laughed at this, although in some other life this wussy comment would have made him have to rant at his protégée. Now, though? It was considered cute in his books. Cute. Ha. Thinking like was making this easier, somehow.

"Right, this next part is tricky," Perry told him, putting down his now empty bottle and folding his arms. "Makes me wish I was dead, but I have to do this."

"I wish you'd at some point tell me what's going on," JD sighed. "But, okay."

"Hmm." Perry took a deep breath in, closed his eyes momentarily and then released. "Alright... take your damn shirt off."

JD almost split his drink. "What?"

"Just do it!"

Looking amused and scared at the same time – if that's even possible – JD began to unbutton his shirt under the watchful surveillance of his bug-eyed mentor. It was difficult to watch for Perry, because although he could just about kiss the kid in public, it was another thing attempting the next step in their awkward relationship. Something had to happen and he was going to make it happen.

"There, all done. Now what...?" JD almost said that with a smirk, and Perry definitely liked that.

Something in Perry's mind didn't wish that he was dead anymore. He felt more than that. He felt alive. He gave an evil smile to his protégée.

"Take your pants off."