A/N: Thanks for all your awesome comments so far. Hughville and I are thrilled you're enjoying this. Now, hang onto your hats. Sh*t's about to get real, yo! Cuz, as I've discovered, nobody writes Batsh*t Cuddy like Hughville!

Chapter Seven - Maniac

Living with Amanda was very easy, although Greg knew it would be. They got along fine, respected each others space and privacy and things were great. He surprised her by sticking to the rule about bringing girls home. After Lisa, he figured he'd gone through all the girls who were worthy of his attention. His interest was in one woman, and one woman only, and that was Amanda. Besides, it was time to get serious about school and buckle down if he wanted to graduate with the rest of his class.

Of course, there were always excuses to party, and Amanda's birthday was no exception. It wasn't a milestone birthday, but she deserved something fun. She didn't go out or do much of anything since Jack's death and he was worried about her. He knew she was depressed, even though she tried to cover it up. He had his eye on her and noticed her retreating more and more. Throwing a party for her seemed like a good idea. He hoped being surrounded by friends would bring her out of her sadness, at least for one night.

Saturday night came and Greg played it casual, sitting in front of the TV, waiting for people to show up at the designated time. Amanda didn't suspect a thing, although she did ask him why he was home and not out banging a new co-ed. He simply shrugged it off, claimed that he banged them all, there was nobody left, and that he was looking to spend the night in chilling out. She seemed to accept that answer and he was glad.

An hour later, the buzzer sounded to let him know that the party had started and he let them in. "Hey AJ," he called to her as he got up to unlock the door for their friends.

She came out of the bedroom dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt. "What?"

He opened the door and five people stormed in, cheering, one of them holding a birthday cake large enough to feed an army. Another couple of guys carried a large beer keg.

"Happy Birthday," he said, looking a little sheepish, yet proud of himself.

She looked stunned. "You didn't…"

"I did. So sit yourself down and just enjoy tonight. Can you do that for me?"

She looked around at the faces of her friends and then smiled, pretending to look put upon. "Oh...if you insist."

He smiled, leaned over and gave her a chaste peck on her cheek. "Good. Then let's get this party started!"

He went over to the stereo and cranked it up. A classic song by The Stones filled the room as people kept arriving. He only hoped Lisa Cuddy wouldn't be one of them. He kept a close eye on Amanda. Her friends seemed to be keeping her busy but he noticed she went outside by herself or retreated to her bedroom. The party was pretty good, however, and as it got closer to midnight with no sign of Lisa, he began to relax a little more.

He got his guitar at the request of the guys for a jamming session, since some of them brought theirs and they sat in the living room playing various classic rock songs.

"Play Misty for me?" a familiar voice said softly from behind him and he cringed. He knew that voice. He turned around and faced Lisa. As usual, she was dressed like a ten cent hooker.

"I don't take requests. I also don't recall seeing your name on the invite list."

"It wasn't. However, word about parties gets around fast, especially when hosted by the Great Greg House. So what's the occasion?"

"It's AJ's birthday."

Lisa smiled. "And where might I find the birthday girl?"

"Don't you freshmen have a curfew or...something?"

"Yes. So where is she?"

"I have no idea. But you have five minutes to find her, give her your well wishes and then you're going back to your dorm. I'm sure your RA would love to know that you snuck out to attend a party, not to mention one where there's alcohol present. And with you being underage." He clicked his tongue for effect. "Now get. The clock is ticking."

Lisa looked at him with scorn. "Oh, don't you worry about my curfew."

He looked her up and down taking in her low-cut skin tight red sweater, jeans so tight he was surprised she could walk, heavy makeup, teased curls, a pile of gold jewelry and fuck me red pumps. He turned his back on her and started to walk away. Two guys intercepted him and pulled him to the kitchen. Lisa looked around but no one would meet her gaze. Turning on her heel, she went looking for Amanda. She made her way through the throngs of people talking, laughing and drinking. Then she went out to the patio. When she didn't find Amanda there, she made her way back inside and looked in the empty bathroom before opening the door to Amanda's bedroom. Finally, she went down the short hall to the guest room. Flicking on the overhead light, she gasped. Instead of the twin bed covered with a simple blue bedspread was a queen sized bed made up with blue sheets, a brown comforter, four plump pillows and a woven blanket. On the walls were posters of blues artists. Next to the dresser was an expensive stereo system. The closet door was partially open and Lisa recognized several of Greg's t-shirts. He lived here. He lived here with Amanda. That was the reason Amanda wanted her out. She stalked out of his room and hunted him down. She found him sitting at the kitchen table with some of his friends.

"You're living here?" she screeched her face twisting in anger.

He rolled his eyes and reached for his beer bottle. She snatched it from his hand and threw it against the wall. The bottle shattered and beer sprayed everywhere.

"Get a grip, Cuddy! Jesus!" he hissed as he stared at her and then the mess around him.

"YOU MOVED IN WITH HER?"

He flinched at the sheer volume of her voice. Standing, he faced her and she slapped him. Hard. His ear started to ring from the impact and he felt his face burn where her hand connected with his cheek. There would probably be a hand print there. Fucking great. That's all he needed.

"Get the fuck out," he said in a soft, dangerous voice. "You weren't invited, so haul that massive ass of yours out of here."

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! DID YOU PAY THOSE BOYS TO KILL HER HUSBAND SO YOU COULD HAVE HER?"

Lisa's screaming brought Amanda running into the kitchen.

Lisa reached out to hit Greg again but one of his friends grabbed her. She began kicking out at Greg and one of her stilettos flew past his head, missing him by inches.

Amanda came to stand in front of Greg. She was almost as tall as he was, and towered over Lisa.

"Get out of our house, you crazy bitch! If you come near either of us again, I'm calling the cops!" Amanda told her. She looked at the man holding Lisa. "Get her out of here now! And make sure she doesn't sneak back in."

"You'll be sorry!" Lisa shouted as she was carried out. "You'll regret letting him live with you, you ungrateful bitch!"

Someone opened the front door and Greg's friend tossed her out onto the grass. Her shoe landed on her back. Grabbing it, she got up and hobbled away, crying uncontrollably.

Once the fuss died down, Greg went looking for Amanda and found her outside on the patio, staring into space. "Some party, huh?" he said as he leaned against the railing.

"Yeah."

"Did you have fun at least?"

Amanda shrugged. "Yeah it was fine."

"Fine, huh?" he took a few steps closer. "What's going on?"

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're not the AJ you used to be."

"Oh, well forgive me for being a grieving widow," she snapped and started to leave but he grabbed her hand. "Let go!"

"No. I'm not the only one who's noticed changes in you lately. You don't play your video games, you don't listen to your records, and when you do, it's always sad metal ballads. And at work you don't talk to anyone unless you have to. Look, it's one thing to grieve, nobody expects you to get over losing your husband anytime soon. But when it starts to affect your life, then maybe you need to take a step back and ask yourself what the problem really is."

"My problem right now is people sticking their noses where they don't belong!"

"Oh, so we can't show concern?"

"I'm dealing with it, Greg! It might not be to your specifications, but last I checked, you're taking classes in Nephrology and Infectious Disease, not Psychology. What the hell do you know about anything?"

"I don't need a Psych degree to know when someone's depressed. You used to throw some wicked parties back in the day and you could drink even me under the table. You don't even do that and I know how much you love your Fireball whiskey. So don't lie to me, AJ. This is me you're talking to. I can tell when you're lying to me and it hurts because you don't have to. I thought we told each other stuff. No matter what. Or at least, that's how it used to be."

AJ released her hand from his. "Everybody lies, Greg. You of all people taught me that."

"Friends don't lie to each other," he pointed out as he followed her inside.

"I'm tired...I'm going to bed."

"Your problems will still be here in the morning. Sleeping doesn't make them go away."

"Lay off, Greg," she sighed. "Your little scene with Lisa was exhausting."

"Yeah, well, I didn't think she'd show up."

"Of course she'd show up, Greg! She's obsessed with you. Why, I don't know. You're the biggest ass I know, but somehow you managed to bewitch her."

He chuckled at the word "bewitch" and then shrugged. "It was just sex."

"No Greg, it's not just sex to women. Especially not to me. Jack is the only man I've been with. And the prospect of getting back out in the dating pool scares the hell out of me!"

"Nobody expects you to get out and start dating. Jack's only been gone two months."

She sighed and flopped down on her bed. "I don't think I'll ever love anyone as much as I loved that guy, Greg." She grabbed Jack's pillow and held it against her. Greg sat down on the edge of the bed and gently rubbed her back.

"You're young, AJ. You'll find someone else. He won't be the same as Jack, but you will be able to love someone again."

"I hope you're right. I don't want end up one of those crazy cat ladies," she chuckled as she closed her eyes and held the pillow closer to her. "I'm gonna sleep now. Go back and enjoy the party. It sounds like it has no intention of stopping anytime soon."

"Yeah, I'll kick everyone out. It's late. I wanna hit the sack myself."

"See you in the morning," she yawned and closed her eyes. Greg watched her for a minute. His heart literally ached. He hated seeing her sad. While they'd been through a lot over the years, he'd never seen her that down and he wasn't sure what to do or how to help her.

He returned to the party and upon telling people the birthday girl decided to call it a night, they began to trickle out until he was finally alone. He cleaned up the mess in the living room and once that was done, went to bed.

His thoughts kept running back to Amanda and how to help her. One thing he knew was that he was going to make sure she got the help she needed. What were friends for, right?

He closed his eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.