Title: Contagious
Disclaimer: okay, after this chapter, I say fuck disclaimers, by now, you have the idea that I don't own anything, and I'm sick of trying to come up with something witty at the beginning of each of my new chapters. 'Cause if my normal routine holds true, this could end up running for a while and I'll be damned if I have to say I DON'T OWN A DAMN THING every fucking time... Sorry, I swear this much in real life too :S
Chapter Ten: Don't Read Too Much Into It...
House stared in almost complete shock and disbelief at Allison's statement. Her apartment burnt down? For some strange reason it seemed so surreal that her home would all the sudden go up in flames and land her on his doorstep when he'd just been wishing she'd drop by, even if to just say 'Hi'. He even began to wonder if in some weird way he'd caused her home to burn down, like he'd sent out some weird psychic pyrotechnic vibe which magically set her apartment aflame. After entertaining the idea a moment longer he finally leaned to the side to admit Allison and Kane entrance to his home.
"It burnt down?" He asked, still disbelieving.
"No, Greg, I just missed you so damn much I smeared ash on my face, lit my dog on fire and came running to you with a complete lie." She said sarcastically, going to his kitchen and filling Kane's water dish and a glass for herself, both mutt and master downing the water without a breath.
House shook his head, "I'm sorry, that came out weird. I meant to say how did your apartment burn down?" He rephrased.
Allison flopped onto the couch in exhaustion, "Some idiot in the apartment beneath and off to the right of mine left their stove going when they left for their graveyard shift. Caught something on fire and blah blah blah."
"Are you all right?" House poured her and himself a glass of scotch before he sat next to her and offered up the drink.
"Yeah. Luckily, Kane woke me up." She rubbed her eyes, which were stinging from smoke and fatigue, with one hand as the other took the glass he offered. Still disoriented, Allison took the scotch down in a single gulp and placed it on the coffee table.
"Why don't you take a shower?" House downed his own drink and stood up to help her off of the couch. Allison nodded with a yawn and made her way to the bathroom. "Is there anything you need?" He asked as she walked away.
Allison sighed, rubbing her eyes again. "I don't even know right now..." She felt confused and disillusioned. At that moment she couldn't even remember why she'd told House she was going home that night.
House nodded in understanding, "You shower, I'll see if I can't air out your dog." He took Kane's collar into his hand and lead her into the kitchen. She was still sneezing relentlessly as House grabbed a pair of scissors and went about cutting out pieces of burnt fur. Kane let out an agitated groan that clearly said, -I really don't appreciate this.- but fell to the floor in defeat as House continued chopping off her fur.
Slightly amused by the dog's reaction, House stood up and retrieved a bottle of Febreeze, his alternative to actually doing his laundry. Kane gave a half hearted grunt when he began spraying her with it, but behaved until he'd sprayed her five or six times.
As he set the bottle on the counter, he nearly jumped out of his skin when not only his cell phone went off, but his pager, home phone and Allison's pager all went off. Grabbing his home phone, he barked, "What!?" As he grabbed his cell phone and saw Cuddy was on that line.
"House, it's Wilson! I just saw the news, Allison's apartment burned down, have you heard from her? Is she all right?" James asked a line of questions.
"She's fine, hold on." He answered his cell phone, "Cuddy, Allison's fine, she's here. Okay... Okay... Yeah, just call us if you need us tomorrow." He hung up the cell phone and looked at his pager. It was Foreman's number. "Yeah, Wilson, I'm still here." He dialed Foreman's number on his cell phone while he went to retrieve Allison's from her purse, one of the few items she'd salvaged from the evacuation of her apartment. "Allison's here with me... No, you can't speak with her. She's in the shower... No shit Sherlock, she smells like smoke. I just had to Febreeze the hell out of her dog too..." The cell phone patched through to Foreman. "Foreman, it's House. Allison's fine, she's here with me, now go to bed... Yes, I know you weren't sleeping, how else could you have been watching the news?" He rolled his eyes. "Wilson, will you shut the hell up!? She's fine, go to bed!" He hung up the land line. "Okay, Foreman." He finally found Allison's pager, it was Chase. "I've already spoken to Cuddy, she said you guys would call us if you need us tomorrow. Okay, now leave me the hell alone." He hung up his cell phone. Debating about telling Chase, House determined he might as well make a quick call just so Allison's pager wouldn't be going off all night. "Chase. It's Houe, Allison's fine, she's here. So calm the fuck down." He hung up the cell phone finally and looked down at Kane. "What do you want?" He asked darkly.
Kane licked her chops, and House dumped the rest of the plain white rice from take-out Chinese onto a plate for her. She gobbled it up and drank the rest of the water in her bowl. Limping to the bedroom, House grabbed a t-shirt from his dresser and went to the bathroom. He knocked loudly, so that she could hear him over the running water.
"What?" She called over the spray of the shower head.
"I brought you a shirt to sleep in." House replied, opening the door and putting it on the sink and seeing a Walgreens bag lying there. She must have went there first before coming to his apartment.
Allison peaked her head around the curtain, and a tired smile came across her face. "Thanks." House nodded at her. "I'll be out in a minute." She told him before ducking back behind the curtain.
House changed his clothes and curled up in bed, Kane jumping up and cozying herself up on his feet. The dog still smelled a little bit like smoke, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when she'd first arrived. Soon Allison came out of the bathroom, hair damp and fatigue dragging her to a slow progression to the bed. She swaddled herself in the blankets and yawned wide. "Goodnight." She murmured, eyes shutting and quickly drifting off to sleep.
Wrapping his arms around her, House fell asleep with her in his arms.
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She hardly wanted to open her eyes, they still felt sore and irritated. Even the slightest bit they cracked open stung as light filtered between lashes and lids. Her eyes were the least of her worries though. Her body was sore too, between the stress of the fire and her escape, her attempts to get Kane out, resulting in the loss of some fur, she was wiped. And then of course, being on her period just made the whole rest of the scenario just that much more wonderful.
She groaned. She didn't want to move. Wait, why was she moving?
"What are you doing?" Allison grumbled, feeling herself being pushed onto her stomach.
"Checking the damage." House replied, pulling up the tail of the shirt she'd slept in until he'd pulled it off of her body, leaving her only in a pair of white panties she'd bought at Walgreens the night before. He immediately registered the wide, but shallow scratches on her arms. "Did you carry Kane out of the building?" He asked, dabbing anti-septic onto the scratches.
"Mmhmm." She yawned. "She's no rescue dog, she got scared."
"Well, at least she woke you up." House said. "You've got some first degree burns."
Allison shrugged. "No worse than a sunburn." Yawning once again, she closed her eyes and let House finish his examination. She knew she had a few bruises from being jostled by escaping tenants, and some smoke inhalation, because she had a chest rattling cough every once and a while, but other than that, she'd live.
A knock came at the door and House left her in bed to answer it. He limped to the door, Kane following him closely, looking hungry. Opening the door, House was greeted by James Wilson. "Hey." Wilson waved.
"Hey, yourself." House yawned, leaving the door open as he walked to the kitchen to feed Kane. "Why aren't you at work?" He asked.
"I left for lunch to check up on Allison. She doing okay?" He asked, sitting at the kitchen counter.
House nodded, scooping food into the dog's dish. "She's sore, still tired. You know."
Wilson nodded, "I'm glad she's all right. So how many people called you last night?" He smirked knowingly.
"I'm considering making my phone number unlisted."
"It is unlisted, Greg."
"Then double secret unlisted." House smirked, then glanced at the hallway to his room. "Wow, look! It moves!" He pointed at the slow moving shape of Allison walking towards the kitchen, once again dressed in his shirt.
She couldn't help the slight smirk she felt curve her lips. "Go to hell, Greg."
"Hey, Ally." Wilson waved. "How are you feeling?"
"Like my apartment caught fire last night and destroyed all of my possessions."
"You need to stop hanging out with Greg, you're turning into a cynical and humourless individual." Wilson smirked.
House and Allison shrugged simultaneously. "So, Wilson, anything new at the hospital today?" Allison asked.
"Everyone's talking about the fire." Wilson shrugged. "A bit of gossip, nothing unusual. You guys still don't have a new patient. And, oh! Ally, I brought you a newspaper so you can start looking for a new apartment." James stood up and pulled a newspaper from his back pocket.
She accepted the paper and set it on the table. "Thanks." She went into the kitchen.
House looked at his friend darkly, "Well, you better be hopping on back to the hospital, Jimmy. We don't want everyone thinking you've been hit by a truck." Wilson quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "What?" He grunted at his friend's look.
Wilson looked into the kitchen and whispered very quietly, "Do you not want her to leave?"
"What would give you that impression, Jimmy?" House asked with wide eyes.
Wilson's eyes narrowed, "Whatever." He got up, "Bye, Allison." He called to the kitchen as he walked to the door and left.
"Greg, do you have some clothes I can borrow?" Allison asked as she returned with a bowl of cereal. "All of my stuff was burned in the fire, so I need to go out and buy some new clothes and stuff." She sat down at the counter and began eating.
"Yeah, you can totally borrow my low rider jeans and halter top, but I'm sorry, I don't think we wear the same bra size." House sat next to her.
She laughed, "I think a pair of jeans and a t-shirt will be fine."
"Fine, I can tell you don't like my clubbing clothes, you don't have to hide it." He crossed his arms over his chest.
Allison's pager went off and she got up to check it. "Can I use your phone?" She asked. House pointed to the cordless that was lying on the coffee table. She dialed the number and waited, "Hey, Colin... Yeah, burned to a crisp... Oh, would you!? That would be great... Okay, see you in a bit." She hung up and looked at him. "Colin's coming to meet up with me and go shopping with me."
"You weren't lying, he really is gay." House laughed.
"Do you want to come with?" She asked.
"I think I proved to you quite a few times over the course of the last few days, that I am not gay." House pointed out.
She put her hands on her hips, "There's nothing gay about shopping. After all, you shop... For scotch..."
He laughed, "Not for women's clothes though."
She sighed in defeat, "So... Can I borrow some clothes?"
"Whatever is in the closet is fine." He waved her off. As she went to his bedroom, House looked down at Kane, who up to that moment had been sitting next to his chair. "Looks like it's just you and me for a few hours."
Allison came back, wearing his blue-jeans that were torn in the left knee and his 1968 Cream concert shirt.
And damn did she look good!
"Colin should be here in a minute to meet me."
"He knows where I live?" House quirked an eyebrow.
"No, I'm meeting him at the cafe down the street. We meet there a lot." She explained, grabbing her purse and throwing the beeper in it. "Beep me if you need me." She said as she planted a kiss on his lips and ran out the door.
A few minutes after she'd left, House looked down at the dog that still hadn't moved, "So... You wanna go for a walk?"
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"Hey, babes!" Allison spun around to see her friend. "I'm so sorry about your apartment!" He enveloped her in a hug.
"Thanks."
"Where's Kane?" He asked.
"With Greg."
"Ooh, she likes him?" He asked, giving her a nudge with his shoulder. Allison grinned and nodded. "Good sign, Honey!"
Allison rolled her eyes, "I doubt Kane can sense romantic compatibility." She pointed out as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Well, how are you feeling about the compatibility?" He asked as they rounded a corner.
With a long sigh she thought about it. "I don't know."
"What's stopping you from knowing?" He asked as he pointed at a store. Allison nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Does he like you?"
"That or he just wanted to get laid really bad."
Colin rolled his eyes at that, "Sorry, Hun, but going by what you've said about him, I seriously doubt he would have done half the things he has for you if it was just for a quick fuck."
"I know..." She pouted, "But he's so frustrating sometimes!" She cried out to no one in particular. "It's in his nature to disguise what he feels with sarcasm and lewd comments."
"Well, start from where we left off. So, what happened after the fire?" He asked as they entered a store. "And you totally need to find a bra first, 'cause seeing your twins bouncing around is starting to freak me out."
Allison laughed before relaying the story to him.
"He cut out Kane's burnt fur and febreezed her... Well, I'd have to say if he's paying that much attention to your dog, he's totally into you... That or he's into beastiality." He scrunched his brow together. She laughed.
"Okay, fine, he obviously likes me, but I feel like things are going REALLY fast. I mean, we've only technically been a couple for less than a week and suddenly I'm in his apartment, temporarily, mind you." She pointed out.
"Yeah, but you guys have known each other for a little over a year now, and that should account for something." Colin vollied as he walked between racks and held up a cute pinstriped button down and handed it to her at her nod.
"True, but he hasn't been in a real relationship since Stacey. And then he tried to get her back, practically succeeded and then ran away from it. I just don't think he's the type for a committed relationship."
"Um, from what you've told me about this Stacey chick, she was probably just a rekindling for what once was." Colin pointed at a rack of pants.
Allison followed him. "But-"
"But nothing, Ally, he's got it for you, and you know it, so why are you running? For the last year and a half, all I've heard about from you is 'House this, and Greg that' and damn it, stop trying to self-destruct the relationship now that you have him. If things don't work out, you'll know it was because it wasn't meant to be, not because you were trying to get out before you got hurt. And when things do work out, you are totally buying me dinner at that new sushi bar."
Allison smiled at her friend. Taking a deep breath she took in the courage she'd been pushing away. Colin was great at many things, but one thing he was best at was stomping her down from second guessing herself.
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House was sitting on the couch, Kane's head resting on his leg as he surfed the Tv. On their walk he'd managed to find a pet shop that also did dog baths, and had finally gotten the smell of smoke out of her fur. He now had a soap smelling mutt rather than a smoke smelling one.
And if he'd known Allison was going to be out shopping all day, he would have gone into work, rather than sit around doing nothing. At least if he'd gone into work he could have sat around doing nothing while bugging the hell out of Cuddy.
With a groan he picked up the phone and ordered delivery from a burger and fry place. Kane looked at him in annoyance, "What?" He snapped at the dog's look. "Oh, what do you know?" He slumped back into the couch. "She does like me still, right?" He asked the dog. "I mean, obviously she likes me, but she doesn't want to stick around. She took the newspaper with her, that must mean she wants to get the hell out of here. Unless, she's afraid she's bugging me... Hmm, I didn't think about that. I mean, I'm not the most open person in the world so I guess she could easily see that as contempt for her invading my home. But how can I show her I don't mind that she's here? It doesn't have to be a permanent thing, but at least she wouldn't have to feel rushed about finding a place to stay. Maybe I could make her dinner... No, that would make her leave even quicker... Maybe I could have someone else make her dinner and I could say I made it. Or maybe I could just open my mouth and tell her she doesn't have to find a place right away instead of sitting around here like an idiot talking to a dog that will never say anything back..." Kane raised her head and licked his face. "Thanks, you're a good listener."
Kane settled her head back in his lap and released a sigh.
TBC