A/N: Thanks again to PurplemintPatty for helping me revise this chapter. Since this is the last one I was able to save, the rest will be written totally by the seat of my pants. Which is nothing new, really. So sit back and enjoy the flight ;)

Chapter 7

"What's going on? What do you mean go with you?" Tina demanded. "Surely you still can't be thinking I had any part in this fire."

"They've got Tim Peters surrounded in an alley. He's threatening to light himself on fire unless he talks to you."

"Taylor, I'm not a negotiator. Don't you have...people for this sort of thing?"

"Not for this. Not in this town. Besides, he asked specifically for you. Greg, I'm sorry but you're going to have to stay here."

"The hell I will! I'm not just going to stay here so she can try and talk to a lunatic who might try to take her with him. So I'm going with you and she's going to keep a safe distance."

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself. But you do what *I* say. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

When Taylor walked away, House turned to her. "You don't have to do this. You can't reason with people like that. Trust me. I know."

She arched her eyebrows at him. "And how exactly do you know?"

"I've had experience with psychotic breaks."

"How? Have you had one?"

"Tina, we have to go!" Taylor called to her.

"We'll talk about this later," House said and then followed her to Taylor's cruiser.

"Damn right we will."

It was a short ride to the scene and there were crowds of people standing around watching and whispering.

When people saw Tina and House approach on her bike, the whispers increased.

Taylor grabbed the loud speaker. "Okay, Peters. She's here. Now put down the lighter for God's sake, and let us help you."

"I don't see her. I want to see her!" Tim shouted.

Tina stepped forward and took the loudspeaker from Taylor. "What are you doing, Tim? I had no idea you had these feelings."

"How could you not? I gave you the roses...we even kissed at the fair. Remember?"

"I remember. But it was just a kiss."

"It was more than that to me! I thought you liked me."

"I do."

"No, you like him! I've seen you two together. What makes him so special?"

"Tim, listen..." Tina took a step forward but Taylor held her back.

"Let her go, Taylor," Tim shouted as he grabbed a nearby jerry can and started splashing it on himself. "If I can't have her, no one can! I won't stay in this shithole town and watch some other man have what is mine."

"I was never yours to begin with! Think about what you're doing. Am I worth killing for? I don't think so."

"He's not worth the gas he's pouring on himself," House shouted.

Suddenly, the crowd parted and Winthrop Jones walked up as calm as ever, raised his rifle and fired, hitting Tim in his knee cap.

Tim fell to his knees, causing him to drop the lighter and the cops to close in and contain him.

"I've had about enough of this damn nonsense," he said as he put down the rifle. "Wasted a perfectly good bullet, too."

"He shot me!" Tim shouted as the cops put him in cuffs and all but carried him to the EMT truck for treatment.

House approached Tina who seemed a little shaky.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her away from the scene.

"I want to go home now," she said, her voice wavering as they walked back to her motorcycle.

"We will. But I'm driving. Get on the back. No arguments."

They arrived back at her place and she went inside, with House close behind her.

"Unless you're willing to talk, go home, Greg."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I want you to tell me what you meant about knowing about psychotic breaks. Had a few yourself, have you? Is that why you know so much?"

He ran a hand over his face and groaned.

"I want to talk about why you never told me about your Mother's house. Why do you live in this tiny box when you could be living there?"

"That's my business."

"Yeah well tit for tat, babe," he snapped back.

"Obviously neither of us is willing to talk so you may as well leave."

"Fine," he said as he fished in his jacket pocket for the keys to his bike. Then he left, slamming the door behind him.

XXX

Tina was finishing up for the day and she was exhausted. Chris stayed clear of her, but he didn't have a chance to warn Star. She came into the shop near closing time and saw the circles under Tina's eyes.

"Rough night last night?"

"You could say that."

"Greg kept you up, did he?"

"Fuck off," Tina snapped and went to her office without another word, slamming the door behind her.

Star turned to Chris. "What the hell was that about?"

"She's having a bad day."

"Yeah but why?"

"You didn't hear?"

"No, I was visiting my Mom last night. Didn't get home till late. What happened?"

"Tim Peters tried torching her mother's house and then attempted to set himself on fire because she chose Greg over him. There was a big standoff apparently which ended with ol' Winthrop putting a bullet into Tim's knee to make him drop the lighter. He's in the hospital now but will be going to County once he's cleared. But of course they suspected Tina did it for the insurance money."

"Of course they did because they're looking for an excuse to run her out of town."

"Yeah well, tread very lightly."

Star nodded and knocked on the door.

"Can I please come in?" she called out.

"Are you going to ask me stupid questions or make assumptions?" Tina called back.

"I can't promise that."

There was a pause and then Tina answered, "whatever."

Star let herself in and closed the door behind her. "What's going on?"

"What isn't? Tim Peters tried to burn my Mother's house down and everyone knows Greg spent the night at my place the other night. I'm not sure which is worse."

"Can it get any worse?"

"Probably. The day isn't over yet."

Star sat down. "So Greg spent the night at your place?"

"Yeah, but it's not what you think, or what anyone else thinks. Nor is it anyone else's business."

"Well the people in this town have a pretty good opinion of what is and what isn't their business. So you didn't sleep with him?"

"No." Tina sighed. "But I told him."

"About what?"

"Prom night."

"Oh," she said and then it clicked and her eyes widened. "Oh! Why?"

"He kind of dragged it out of me. We were talking about being honest with each other, having no secrets. That one's mine. He felt he had a right to know the real reason I left town."

"A valid reason."

"Yeah."

"Feel better?"

"Sort of."

"Only sort of?"

"He's keeping secrets from me. He's all on about us telling each other things but he hasn't told me about his past. He keeps deflecting."

"So when are you going to see him again?"

"I don't know. I'm not in any hurry to talk to him."

The chime beeped outside telling her that someone had come in and Star peeked outside the office door.

"It's him."

Tina sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Unless he's willing to talk to me. I mean, really talk, I have nothing to say to him."

Star came out of Tina's office and greeted Greg with a sweet smile. "Hi, Greg."

He smiled back at her as he leaned against the counter. "Hi, Star."

"Tina's kind of busy. You should come back later."

" Is she okay?"

"No, I don't think she is."

"Damnit."

"Yeah. People have been coming in here all day to gawk and to find out if you're really sleeping together."

Greg closed his eyes and shook his head. "Son of a..."

"I know. But them's the joys of living in a small town."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Here's a crazy idea. Talk to her. I have to go. Cya later, Greg."

House frowned and watched her go before knocking on Tina's office door and slipping inside, locking the door behind him.

Tina glanced up and he noted the tired look in her eyes and the hair that was falling out of her ponytail.

"Wow," he said as he sat on the corner of her desk. "Rough day?"

"You could say that. Ready to talk?"

"Talking isn't what I have in mind," he said, and then gave her one of his sexiest grins.

Tina smirked and got up to put some things in the file cabinet. "That sexy smile isn't going to work this time."

"Ooookay then how about a nice relaxing massage?"

"A massage would be nice," she said as she rolled her shoulders.

"I took a break this afternoon and went to the gym to blow off some steam. I might've overdone it just a little."

"Stress does that. And as luck would have it, I've been told I have magic hands in that department. So, your place or mine?"

"My place. And I have an idea."

"I'm listening," he said as his hands slid up her back and massaged between her shoulder blades.

"Mmm, yeah. That's nice. Anyway, what I was trying to suggest was you parking your car at home and I'd drive you back to my place."

"Ahh," House chuckled. "Don't want to create more scandal?"

"After last night and the day I've had..."

"Understood. I'm tending bar until nine but I'll be home shortly after."

"Okay I'll pick you up at home."

XXX

Tina drove to House's, picked him up and then while he ran in to pick up the pizza he called in for, Tina grabbed a six-pack of beer at the Circle K next door.

An hour and a half later, they sat on the couch watching TV as they finished off their beer and digested dinner.

"I seem to remember your mentioning a massage earlier this evening," Tina reminded him.

"Of course. Where would you like it?"

"Neck, back and shoulders," she replied without a thought, to which House merely laughed.

"No, I mean where as in here, or your bedroom?"

Tina blushed and shook her head. "My bedroom would probably be more comfortable."

"Lead the way," he said as he got up off the couch. "Do you have any oil or lotion?"

"Yeah I think I do."

She went into the bathroom and found some scented lavender oil and handed it to him.

"This will be much easier if you take your shirt off," he said. "And your bra if you're comfortable with that."

She nodded, suddenly feeling shy about it but she trusted him that much to know he wouldn't do anything inappropriate so she unbuttoned her flannel shirt. He busied himself with hooking up his iPhone to her docking station and chose an easy listening station.

"Setting the mood?" she asked as she lay on her stomach on the bed.

"Can't hurt. You seem a little tense."

"If you had a constant stream of people coming to gawk at the chick who was supposedly sleeping with the best catch in town and wondering what the hell he sees in her, you'd be just a little tense too. Had any of them wanted a tattoo or piercing, it would have been worthwhile!"

House moved next to the bed, put lotion on his hands to warm it up and then gently began to work the lotion into her skin, starting with her shoulders.

"Oh God...that feels good," Tina groaned as she closed her eyes and buried her face in her arms.

"Good," he whispered as his strong fingers worked all the muscles up to her neck and then further down her spine. "Your shoulders are very tense, but well sculpted. You work them hard, I can tell."

"That's the tomboy in me," she chuckled. "Remember Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2? I want arms like her."

House laughed. "You have them now."

"Nope, not just yet. But soon."

He climbed onto the bed and straddled her so he could work on her back. "Wow, you're very tense. You need to relax, Tina."

"I am, actually. Quite relaxed," she murmured.

His hands rubbed, kneaded and pressed all the way down her spine. "Your tight muscles say otherwise."

"Yeah well I have a lot to be tense about these days."

"Like what?"

"Oh I dunno, maybe the fact that they still think I torched my Mother's house? Even when it's obvious that Tim Peters did it."

"Your alibi is sealed tight. There's no possible way you could have. I spoke with Trish at the Dolphin this afternoon. She told Taylor that we were there the entire time so I'd like to see them stick it to you now. They can't."

"And when something else in this town goes wrong?"

"You're jumping to conclusions."

"God help me if something bad happens to the Terror Twins. Especially after Liz's bad reading at the fair."

"If she believes any of that it's her problem for blaming you for it."

"She won't see it that way. If she can find a way to tie me to it, she will."

His hands continued to knead the tense muscles.

"There's no point in dwelling on something that won't happen. So just stop," he whispered in her ear. After about ten minutes, he was done and he thought she was asleep so he stopped and put the lid back on the lotion.

"Thank you," she murmured, eyes still closed.

"You're very welcome," he said softly as he sat next to her on the bed and gently stroked her back. When he stood, she reached out for his hand.

"Stay."

"Kind of hard to go anywhere when you drove me here," he said with a chuckle. "I think that was your plan all along. Get me here, make me massage you and then leave me stranded."

"All but the last part. Except you don't have to sleep on the couch this time."

He arched an eyebrow. "Tina..."

"I just want to sleep," she told him. "We'll talk tomorrow."

She pulled off her jeans and dropped them on the floor. "Greg, can you please hand me my shirt?" she asked him. When he didn't answer she laughed. "Earth to Greg."

House had been watching her, and was knocked back to reality when she said his name a second time.

He grabbed the nearest T-shirt and gave it to her before stripping down to his T-shirt and boxers. He climbed into bed with her and was surprised when she snuggled up against him.

"What're we doing tomorrow?"

House wrapped one arm around her and stared up at the ceiling.

"I thought we'd just hang out. I could take you to the Pyewacket store, then out to dinner, or a club. The sky's the limit. Whatever you want to do."

"Mhm that sounds good. I need to get out of this town for awhile. Even if it's only for the day."

"Then that's what we'll do. But we'll take my car," he chuckled. "Not that I don't like your bike because I do. But it's getting colder now."

"Yeah I know. Soon it will be too cold to ride. That's okay, your car is a total chick magnet. And what's better is the guy behind the wheel."

"Oh come on."

Tina propped herself up and looked at him.

"You know you're hot. You're also a nice guy and you're genuine. That attracts. Unfortunately it can attract the wrong kind of people who shall not be named."

He chuckled softly and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, a move that was starting to become a habit that he enjoyed.

"I still just want you," he said, his voice soft.

She smiled, unsure what to say. "Just me?"

"Just you," he said and wrapped his arm around her neck to pull her down for a long, soft kiss. She kissed him back and placed her hand on his chest as she leaned over further to deepen it, her eyes fluttering closed.

House's hand slid up and down her back as they exchanged kisses back and forth for several minutes until Tina broke it up by yawning.

"Sorry," she giggled. "I'm just really tired."

"Me too. Get some sleep," he said as he reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. Tina returned to her former position, snuggled against him and it wasn't long before he could hear her slow, deep breathing which eventually lulled him to sleep.

XXX

Morning sun filtered through the curtains and at first House didn't know where he was. He looked over to see the empty space in bed next to him and placed his hand over the sheets which were cool. Propping himself up on his elbows, he glanced around the room.

The first thing he smelled was coffee, and then toast. Or was it bagels? Smiling to himself, he got up, used the bathroom and went to the kitchen to find Tina making breakfast while dancing along to whatever was on the radio.

He came up behind her and spun her around, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist, taking her by surprise as they swayed to the soft singing of Sir Paul McCartney. Tina smiled and rested her cheek against his chest as he quietly sang along.

"Yep, definitely a hopeless romantic," she giggled as he kissed and nibbled her ear during the instrumental part of the song.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," he whispered as his teeth tugged on her earlobe, causing her to gasp.

"No... not at all," she stuttered as he took her hand, their fingers interlacing, and placed it over his heart as they continued to dance to the next song.

"Good," he smiled down at her and let his free hand slide up and down her back as they danced. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, actually. It's been a hell of a long time since I woke up in the same bed with another person," she said with a smile. "I liked it."

"Me too." He kissed her forehead, then her cheek before his lips met hers in a kiss so deep it made her breathless. When they came up for air, she smiled impishly up at him. "Breakfast?"

"Definitely." They broke apart and made small talk over coffee and bagels with freshly made jam. "Did you make this? It's amazing."

"The jam? No. My Mom made it. There's tons of it in the storm cellar. She loved canning stuff."

"Are you going to move into the house now? It might stop anyone else from trying to vandalize it."

"I've been considering it. I just wasn't ready to move in so soon after she died. It's a condition in her will that I can't sell it for a year after her death. She had it in her head that I should give this town another chance so I humored her and said I'd give it a try, but if it didn't work out, I was selling the house and moving back to Vegas."

"It's a nice house. Big. I'm surprised you prefer living in this tiny shoebox apartment when her place is what, at least 2000 square feet?"

"Yeah that's about right."

House's cell phone rang and he frowned at the number before answering. After a few words, he ended the call. "I have to go to the Hospice. Wilson...he's not doing well."

"I'll go with you," Tina said as she stood up. "I'll take you back to your place and we can take your car."

"You don't have to."

"I want to. I like Wilson and I want to be there for both of you. I know this is hard."

"It's harder than I thought it would be. Come on, let's get going. It's a bit of a drive."

An hour later they arrived at the Hospice and Tina went off to get them something to drink while House sat with Wilson.

When she returned, Wilson was awake and they were talking in hushed tones. She almost turned around and left again but Wilson called her back.

"It's okay, Tina. You can come in. House, can you go get me a fresh pitcher of ice chips?"

Sensing that was his cue that Wilson wanted to talk to Tina privately, he got up.

"Okay. Be right back." Once he was gone, Wilson motioned for her to come closer.

"Look, you have to promise me something. He's not going to handle this very well. They tell me I don't have a lot of time. Don't leave him alone. He'll tell you to, but don't. He's going to need help with...the arrangements. Everything you'll need is in the den, contact information of who should be called, you get my drift. I made sure it was all laid out so all he'd have to do is make a couple of calls and everything would be taken care of, since he...can't exactly show up at my funeral."

"Why not?"

"It's...complicated, Tina. I think Greg should tell you. Of course, when you go through my things, you might get your answers."

Tina nodded, getting his meaning. "I'll see to it."

"Thank you."

After a couple of hours, a nurse came in to check on him, gave House a look and shook her head.

"Not long now I'm afraid. I'm going to up his morphine just a little. Keep him comfortable."

He nodded and Tina watched him for awhile. "I can go..." she offered as she stood up.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I think he'd like you to be here too."

She sat back down and took Wilson's other hand. All they could do was wait.

Eventually she dozed off and when she did, she woke up when a doctor came in. House had also dozed off but the doctor gently woke him and called time of death at 7:27 p.m.

House looked exhausted and he walked over to the window.

"I...don't know what to do now," he said softly. "He's gone and...I'm all alone."

"No, you're not. I'm here," she said as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. He covered her hand with his and for a second she thought he was going to shrug it off, but instead he squeezed it.

"Look, let's go back to my place. I'll take care of everything if you can't. I don't mind."

"Okay," he said and let her lead him out of the room, taking one last look at his best friend. As they walked down the hall, they nearly ran into Cathy Baker. It was Tina's main concern to get House out of there as quickly as possible.

"Oh, Greg! Fancy meeting you here," she said, her tone cheerful as usual. "How's your friend doing?"

"He's dead, but thanks for asking," House said with a finality that made Cathy speechless.

Tina had to bite back a giggle at the woman's expression. She looked completely mortified.

"Oh, well I'm very sorry to hear that," she said, placing a hand on his arm, which he glared at, causing her to remove it and step back.

"I trust there will be a service. Where can I send flowers?"

"There will be, but not here," Tina explained. "He's being sent back home to his family. Now if you'll excuse us, Cathy. We have some calls to make."

"We?"

"Yes, we. Have a nice visit with your mother." And before Cathy could say another word, Tina had gotten House out of there and into his car.