This is where I insert all those disclaimers. House is the property of Fox and David Shore, not me. I just own the O/Cs.

# # #

The front door slammed, announcing Shannon's arrival. Michelle jumped and slipped away from House when Shannon wandered into the living room and plopped down in the armchair.

"'The Princess Bride'! I love this movie. I practically have it memorized."

House chuckled, lifting his leg off the coffee table and shifting so that he was on the edge of the couch. "That's what I told your mom." He fixed Shannon with a slight glare. "No more rhyming now, I mean it."

Shannon grinned as she countered, "Does anybody want a peanut?"

"Really, you two." Michelle laughed softly as she rose from the couch, brushing the top of House's head as she passed through. She stopped near Shannon, ruffling her blond hair. "So, did you have fun with…what's his name again?"

Shannon rolled her eyes. "Tony. And we had a great time. We did mini-golf, then stopped for ice cream. I got to meet a couple of his friends…" She rose from the chair, continuing to prattle on about her date, the boy, how cute the boy was, how sweet he was, and other things that House couldn't quite catch as she walked away.

House felt like an outsider. Michelle and Shannon clearly had a very close relationship, and he could hear the two of them giggling in the kitchen as Shannon continued talking about her date while Michelle unloaded the dishwasher.

He limped into the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane. Their earlier activities had taken more out of him than he thought, and he was both a bit sore and tired.

"Hey, Michelle? I think I'm going to take off."

Michelle wiped her hands off on the towel while Shannon looked on with interest. "Are you okay to ride?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. See you in the clinic."

"Hold on." Michelle hung up the towel and followed House to the door and out onto the porch, closing the door behind her. She caught him before he started down the steps, wrapping her arms around his waist and rising on tiptoe to lightly kiss him on the lips.

House responded in kind, and Michelle could feel the handle of his cane press into her backside as he firmly captured her lips, pushing his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers.

"Hey, Mom? Oh…" The front door flew open, and the two quickly broke their kiss, turning to see Shannon in the doorway. House could feel his face heat up, and could see Michelle turning a bit red, looking a little embarrassed.

"Damn. Busted again." House murmured in Michelle's ear. He released her and stepped away to start down the steps. "See you soon." He mouthed 'call me' in exaggerated fashion as he headed to his bike, mounting it and pulling on his helmet.

Michelle couldn't help but laugh at House's parting antics, and she heard Shannon snort behind her. Michelle lightly smacked her daughter in the arm before guiding her inside and closing the door.

She leaned against the closed door, arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, girl, what's so funny?"

"You!" Shannon grinned widely, still giggling. "I've never seen you act like that with any guy. It's kind of cute. Come to think of it, he's kind of cute…for an old guy."

"Old guy?! Greg's only a few years older than me, you know. I'm not exactly a kid myself."

"Totally kidding, Mom." Shannon tilted her head questioningly. "You going to see him again?"

Michelle shrugged. "Maybe. He seems like a decent enough guy. What did you think of him?"

"Don't know. I only saw him for all of five minutes…and most of that time he was attached to your face."

"Oh for God's sake…" Michelle rolled her eyes with exasperation.

"Mom! It's no big deal, really. I'm a big girl. I think I can handle the idea of you doing…stuff with men."

"Okay…I am so done talking about this. This is just getting weird. I want to hear more about this Tony character."

Shannon's eyes lit up at the mention of the young man's name, and once again she launched into the details of her evening with Tony and his friends. For now, House was forgotten, and Michelle was okay with that. This thing with him was too new to share too much with her daughter, especially when there was so much she needed to sort out herself.

# # #

House's mind was still processing the evening's events as he pulled up in front of his building. Right now, he didn't quite know where he stood with Michelle, and that left him uneasy. She was definitely a unique woman, unlike anyone he had ever encountered.

GDI…Goddamned Independent. That old boyfriend might not have meant it as a compliment, but House didn't see any problem at all. This was a woman who had worked her way through nursing school, all while working and raising her daughter, clearly without a lot of help. Shannon seemed like one hell of a kid, and House could see why Michelle wanted to shelter her from the other part of her life.

This was the part that baffled House. A woman like Michelle should have already had a man in her life, a man other than himself. Someone solid, dependable, someone who could have been a decent father figure for Shannon. House couldn't understand why Michelle was so determined to keep men at arms' length. Keeping personal distance was more his area of expertise.

House knew he was overanalyzing things. He poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat down at his beloved piano, trying to push back the obsessive, analytical part of his brain in favor of bringing up the better parts of the evening. Dinner had been good, no doubt, and he had enjoyed just hanging out with her out on her deck, sharing the bottle of wine as the sun set. House couldn't remember ever feeling so easy and comfortable with a woman.

No wonder he had followed her so quickly into the bedroom. He grinned at the memory. Michelle was a bold one, no doubt. House liked her take-charge style, her passionate expression of her sexuality. It only added to her considerable appeal. Knowing what lay under those baggy scrubs was going to make clinic duty far more interesting from now on.

Of course, that knowledge went both ways. Michelle hadn't commented on the massive scar that took up a great deal of his right thigh, and he didn't know what to make of that. She either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared, and House couldn't decide if it really mattered. Michelle had treated the area with sensitivity, taking care not to cause any direct pain to the area throughout the evening.

House didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he wanted to see her again. If nothing else, she was great company, both in and out of the bedroom. That alone seemed to make things worth pursuing. He flipped open his phone, scrolling through the contacts until he found her number.

Her voice mail picked up, and House suddenly got nervous. A million possibilities ran through his mind as to why she wouldn't pick up her phone. Suddenly his clock chimed twice, and he chuckled at his fit of insecurity. Not everyone on the planet was a night owl, after all. It was two in the morning, and entirely possible that she was sleeping, like normal humans did.

After the beep, House left a brief message. He closed the phone and set it on top of the piano, next to his bourbon. His fingers moved over the keys while his mind wandered, playing nothing in particular as the wheels turned in his head.

House was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear his phone chime. Usually he was the one making the late night phone calls, not the one receiving them. Once he saw who was on the Caller ID, it made a lot more sense.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping? It's late."

Michelle laughed on the other end. "I would, but some crazy man called and left a voice mail at two in the morning."

House snorted. "Yeah, what idiot would do that? What are you doing up this late, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm sort of a weekend night owl. I'm a morning person by circumstance, not by choice."

"Right. So, about my message…what do you say? You up for a ride tomorrow?"

There was a long pause on the other end, and for a moment House thought Michelle had hung up. She finally sighed and answered. "I wish I could, but my day is packed. Can I take a rain check?"

House was oddly disappointed at Michelle's response. "Sure. Maybe we can work it in next weekend."

"Okay." Once again, there was silence. "See you in the clinic?"

"As long as I don't have a case, you know I'm there."

They said good night and hung up. House twirled the phone in his hand, surprised by Michelle's answer. Not that he had expected her to drop everything to hang out with him, but still, it seemed odd. Just as well, he supposed. He didn't want to rush into anything anyway. If they kept things casual, neither one of them would get hurt.

Michelle cursed herself for lying to House. She wasn't that busy tomorrow. She just didn't want to devote her entire weekend to hanging out with House. Tonight had been fun, a lot of fun. Michelle wanted to be sure to keep it that way, that was all. She had already broken too many of her own rules. If she didn't start setting some limits, there was no telling what might happen. There was no way in hell she would set herself up for another monstrous heartbreak. If she didn't invest so much time and attention, there was no way either of them would get hurt. It seemed like the perfect solution, didn't it?

# # #

I don't need to tell you what to do from here. Read and review. Thanks. :)