Hey,

On the last too late story I got kinda stuck. So when I had an idea for another, pretty much similar story, I decided to delete the first one and start again.
So here's the first chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.

One

The hospital was the same as she left all those years ago, yet there had been some sort of change going on. Some old faces looked at her and nodded as they recognized her. But most of the staff she could see from the lobby was new.

It felt strange to be back yet the minute she walked through the doors she felt like she had come home. She had run away as fast as she could, but she could never leave it behind entirely. Part of her soul had stayed behind at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and somehow she had know that she would come back here. Perhaps not in this situation.

She had a great life in Orlando, Florida. The weather was better than New Jersey. She wasn't beckoned at ones will and she had some friends and a nice flat there. But still there was something nagging, some longing for home and she knew she wouldn't satisfy that longing until she got back. When she had seen that PTTH was looking for an spot on the ER-staff she hadn't doubted. It was not fully into her work field, but it meant she could come back home. Cuddy had called her the day after and had awarded her the spot. She had gathered all her things and pretty much jumped on the first plane.

It was her first day back, not really to start work but to get all the paperwork in order. After her route through the entire HR department she had started on a walk through the hospital. She just wanted to remind herself again where everything was. Not that she would spend so much time outside the ER, but still it didn't hurt to know where everything else was. Her walk however had come to a sudden halt when she passed by the ICU.

'Seems like staying paid off' someone said. She turned and saw Foreman standing next to her. He had come back as well, just a couple of months sooner than she did. Both stood there and kept looking at the door.
'You wanna go inside?' Foreman asked.
'Can we?' She asked. As an answer he took a key from his pocket.
'He gave me a spare one, just in case I need to hide or need some rest. We have to keep it locked so House can't get in.' He said as he unlocked the door and let her in.

The tidiness inside the room surprised her, back then he was always the messy one, leaving his stuff everywhere. However in this room nothing was out of place. On his desk some unopened envelopes lay, next to some patients files. They were probably some of his patients that still needed to be checked up on. A bookcase was the other big object in the room. It was completely but neatly filled, all with medical books. It surprised her to see that some where written by his father. During their marriage and the years before, his father was a forbidden object, but it seemed that even on this item time had an healing affect. On the other wall, facing the book case hung a flat screen TV.
'That's the main reason why we have to keep the room locked' Foreman said. 'otherwise he would keep hiding here watching all of his TV series.'

She sat down on the leather seat behind the desk and tried to imagine how it felt having an office like this to work in. Back in Florida she didn't have her own office. There was a room where you could sit to study or work on your charts, but everybody could use that space. It wasn't a room where you could leave all your work and pick it up later. She would loved to have a room of her own, with her own name in the door. She couldn't help to think what would have happened if she stayed, whether she would have a office as well.

'You work in here too?' She asked when she noticed some of the notes held Foreman's chicken handwriting.
'Yeah, Chase only comes in at the beginning and the end of his shift to finish things up. For the most of his time he's in the ICU or the OR.' Foreman said. She nodded. It was the first time someone had mentioned his name and it felt strange. Of course it would be strange, she knew that from the moment she accepted to come back here. He still worked here and they would meet in the hallways and people would mention his name. but somehow she had told herself that it would be different. She was over him, he didn't have the same effect on her like he did back then. But then her eyes fell on the calendar and she was reminded of the fact that today was a Tuesday and she could swear she heard someone say: 'It's Tuesday, I like you'

The first week went by pretty quickly. Work in the ER was pretty much the same as back in Florida, only here a grumpy man kept bothering her. But she was used to House and she knew what he was trying to do. He was pushing her boundaries, just to see if he still had the same effect on her. She was quite happy to be back and perhaps felt that it really was coming home for her. But the week was also great because one person wasn't around. Chase had been on a three week holiday back home, which meant that the hospital was a Chase free space and she could walk everywhere without bumping into him. Today however was different. Foreman had cleared the desk in the office. He had been using the space to write on an article, but since the office was actually Chase's he had decided to clean up before the Australian came back.

Allison had dreaded this day, because she knew that now surprise meetings in the hallways or the cafeteria were a possibility. She had asked Foreman whether Chase knew that she had come back to work her. Apparently Cuddy had asked his opinion on the matter, so she didn't need to fear some 'I didn't know you where back' moments. But that still didn't make her look forward to meeting him.

Right now she was on her way to the diagnostics conference room. She hoped that this time House had paged her for a real consult, not some prank call just to make fun of her. However as she approached the room she could see that a lot of people where inside the room, so it seemed that this time it was for real.
'We thank you for finally joining us.' House said as she entered the room, but she hardly heard him. Her eyes were fixed on the figure standing near the coffee machine. He looked good, like full of life and everything. And to be honest it was kind of devastating . He was always the more emotional and somehow she had pictured him differently. Like totally letting go, losing grip on life. But he looked completely different. He looked in total control, he looked like a man ready to face pretty much everything life threw at him. He finally turned and looked at her.
'Hello Allison. It's been a long time'