A/N: Yaayayayyaayaya thanks for reviewing. Please keep it up, it helps me and motivates me.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

Remy Hadley and Greg House had decided to skip out on the remainder of the holiday party, fearing the reaction to House's abuse of Chase. They took Remy's car and commenced a useless drive in circles for a while. House and Thirteen argued over where to get food before deciding on McDonald's. Entering the establishment, they were greeted by stares. Thirteen figured it was because they were wearing formal attire in a fast food joint; House figured that everyone in the small setting was in awe of his date.

House ordered a burger and fries, Thirteen got a milkshake and fries. House, fortunately, had the decency to pay for the food.

The pair sat down at a booth and began to eat.

"Better than that crap they call food at the party." House decided, after a taste.

Thirteen slurped her milkshake in response.

"Well that was very unlady-like."

"Maybe I'm not all you think," Thirteen suggested with an air of mystery.

"So…tell me more about you," House said flatly, taking a massive bite of his burger.

Remy paused momentarily. Wasn't this what she had been trying to avoid all along?

"House…" She whispered, toying with her fries, "I'm…I'm not the kind of person you want to get involved with."

"Well I guess it's just too damn late then." House declared. "Unless making out with random men on balconies is a reoccurring thing for you."

"No- it's not like that." Thirteen shook her head.

House frowned. As the conversation was progressing, she had started to regain her old lifeless tone of voice, before she had opened up to him. He wanted to hear open, care-free Remy. Not guarded, scared Remy.

"We can't take this any further."

"And why not?" House challenged.

"Because I'm going to hurt you or myself. Or both."

"That's a risk you take with any relationship" House pointed out.

"Yeah but…I just can't do it."

"Are you looking for an excuse? Cause I've got plenty if you need to borrow one."

"No! I really like you!" Thirteen raised her voice. A few people turned to stare.

She smothered her embarrassment and continued: "So after tonight, we can just go back to things like always, and everything will be alright."

"No it won't," House dropped a fist to the table. "You can really just completely forget about this? Maybe you're more shallow than I thought."

Thirteen made a sickened face. "Are you accusing me of some ploy? I'm not a liar or a tramp. I'm just…"

"What? Give me a valid reason," House snorted.

Remy shot out of her seat and took a brisk pace back to her car. For lack of a better solution (and no other means of transportation,) House left the meal half-eaten and followed her.

"Get out of my car." Remy breathed when House sat beside her.

"Nope. You'll have to drag me out."

"I'll just dump you by your apartment. I'll make sure the walk is long." Remy didn't blink.

House considered saying one of many things that would send her reeling, but decided to keep his mouth shut for once.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Thirteen did not even glance at the person in the passenger seat, effortlessly but irritably driving into a parking spot in House's apartment building's parking lot.

He was about to get the hell out of there when Thirteen spoke.

"His name was Gavin." She said, to nobody in particular.

House removed his hand from the door handle and waited for her to continue. He knew that Thirteen rarely revealed information like this to anyone. Let alone him, and he had to listen. It might be the last thing she would tell him about herself- he was never quite sure.

"We were friends for 6 years, all through college and after. We dated for 3 years after that. Gavin was an amazing friend- and I loved everything about him. But I didn't love him, the way I imagined romantic love to be. So after 3 years, I broke up with him. He said that nobody else would ever love me like he did. He said that if I didn't love him, I could never truly love anybody. Gavin was furious. I still wanted to be friends with him."

House watched Remy grip the steering wheel of an unmoving car with both hands. Her knuckles turned white. Her eyes did not move from their position ahead. Her face was eerily expressionless. The dull streetlights cast patches of light across her face, surrounded otherwise by shadow.

"2 days after the break-up, I tried calling Gavin numerous times, to no avail. By the third day, I had given up on him. I thought I would never see him again; I thought he despised me."

Remy abruptly unlatched her seatbelt and got out of the car. House followed, confused. He continued to follow her wordlessly as they proceeded into the building, went up the elevator and opened the door to his apartment. They walked inside together and Remy sat on the couch, her gaze unwavering ahead of her.

"A week after the break up, I got a visitor."

House sat next to Thirteen on the couch.

"It was an old friend of Gavin's. Gavin was dead."

Silence ensued.

"Gavin committed suicide, 4 days after I had dumped him."

Only then did tears begin to spill down Remy's cheeks.

"I blamed myself completely. Gavin was perfect- nothing else in his life could have made him want to die. I haven't had another relationship since. Or a friend."

House absorbed the information quietly, then lifted his hand to place on Remy's face. He angled the delicate structure toward himself; the fear he had seen in the elevator when she had yelled at him and Cameron not to leave was apparent right now.

House had a million ways to comfort her in his mind, but he didn't want to make it worse. He had never seen Thirteen nearly vulnerable, and he couldn't drive her away with the wrong words now. So he settled.

"You don't have to punish yourself."

Remy was overcome with sorrow.

"You don't have to be alone," House whispered. "I won't let you."

Remy prevented any more speech with her lips on House's.

The room was now dangerously dark (the streetlight had gone off outside) and she couldn't see Greg, but she could feel the heat radiating off his body, the comfort in his hands. House didn't need light to feel burning tears tickle against his own face where his cheek and Remy's collided. He could feel her sadness seep through the skin of her neck and the fabric of her inky dress.

Somehow, House's jacket had found refuge on the floor, his bowtie now hung lifeless around his neck. Remy unbuttoned his shirt slowly and deliberately, a desperate conversation between the pair. Not a word had to be exchanged. Remy's hands slipped House's shirt away and pressed against his chest. She laid her head on bare skin as he put his arms around her and guided her to the bedroom, not once letting go. The stood before the object in question and gazed through ages of hiding and covers within each other's eyes. The moonlight pooled through the large window and cast an ethereal pallor across the room. House slid the straps of Remy's dress down her shoulders, breaking into each other's souls through fierce and passionate gazes. House grazed a mixture of soft lips and prickly stubble across her creamy shoulder, sending a dispersal of goose bumps throughout Remy's body. He caressed the expanse of skin to soothe the shiver away. It seemed to have the opposite effect. His hand found the zipper at the back of Remy's dress and he undid it with calculated care, before it lay to rest on the floor. The moonlight made Remy's body appear as a naked veil, something unearthly and that of a goddess. He saw no hesitation in her eyes, that were now silver with desire. The two were tearing down the barriers between each other. Remy laced her fingers with House's and fell to the lure of his bed. He fell right along with her, draping them both in a cloak of covers. They reveled in their secrets and bathed in their unity without uttering a coherent word.