Candy Canes and Mistletoe
Chapter 11
Remy went into the living room and sat on the couch, stuffed from dinner. House had cooked an amazing Asian pork dish with brown rice. She was in love with his cooking, at least that much was for sure. Things had been going really well between them. They had spent a lot of quality time together in the last three weeks or so since they stopped having sex and she was ironically happy. He seemed content, as well. It wasn't like they didn't miss it; they just didn't seem to need it. That was definitely an interesting and different concept for her, and she suspected for him, as well.
What was also interesting was the fact that he was a homebody, a complete and total couch potato. He liked to just be at home and watch TV and play his music or video games. They had gone to her yoga class last week as part of the things she liked to do, which she totally was amazed at. He was such a good sport and even agreed to go again later in the week. She had ducked, fearing the rain of frogs and hell fire but he was agreeable and she wasn't going to do anything to rock that boat. Oddly though, they had yet to really go out and do anything that he liked to do. She was fine with the being at home and vegging part, but they were supposed to be exploring parts of who they were before they became a 'them'. She was more than glad he was willing to experience her things, but she wondered what else he liked to do in his free time. It had always been a curiosity for her even way back when she'd first met him. Of course from what he'd told her about his childhood, he already had about three lifetimes worth of experiences to draw from. Maybe now that he was older, he was content to just stay put.
Remy rested her arm on the back of the couch and laid her head on her arm just watching House and Wilson in the kitchen clearing the dishes. She shook her head and laughed. They really were like a married couple. They bickered and teased and pushed each other's buttons. But for as much as they argued, there was a strong caring there. It was obvious that their friendship ran very deep to have survived the crazy shit that had gone down between them. Right now however, they were fighting about whether or not to rinse the plates before putting them into the dishwasher. Strangely enough, Felix was not the anal retentive one about it, it was Oscar. He took his cooking and kitchen stuff very, very seriously. It was adorable.
Finally, the two of them were done and they joined her in the living room. House immediately went for the controller to the PS3 and Wilson groaned in discontent as he sat on the comfortable leather chair to the side of the sofa.
"Can we please not have an Ultimate Fight tournament tonight?" Wilson complained. "There's a movie on television I'd like to see."
House turned and made a face at him. "TiVo it."
"I can't," Wilson objected. "You have it full of that ridiculous 'Say Yes, to the Dress' marathon."
"No I don't!" House nailed him with a glare.
Remy raised her eyebrows and he turned away from her glance to glare even more harshly at Wilson. Pursuing her lips, she bit back an amused giggle.
"Uh, yeah you do," Wilson persisted not caring about outing House's girly laundry. "Besides, aren't you two supposed to be going out on actual dates?"
"We are," House protested lamely. "This is a an economy busting 'stay-date'."
"He tried yoga last week," Remy tossed in there to defend him.
"I know," Wilson said in amazement. "Congratulations, you are the only woman to ever achieve such a miraculous feat."
"I'm sent from divinity," Remy joked. "I possess magical powers."
Wilson rolled his eyes. "That may be true but it's also a testament to just how bad he wants to have sex with you again."
"Please, you'd bend yourself inside out and into a pretzel to have sex with her again too," House grumbled as he popped the game disk into the consol.
Remy laughed self-consciously. It was strange talking about her sex life with such candor as if they were talking about the weather.
"Um… still in the room," she reminded them with a little wave of the hand. Only Wilson really looked apologetic about her discomfort. House was busy getting out the other controllers.
"So what have you done that falls into your realm of 'likes' besides sit on the couch and hog up the TV?" Wilson threw at him as he rounded the coffee table.
"You're looking at it," House sat down next to her and patted her thigh with his hand.
"This is not the only thing you like to do," Wilson objected.
"It's the only thing I can do now," he complained. "Strippers work in places called bars. And bars have all sorts of bad things I'm not allowed to do anymore."
"That's not the only thing you used to do," Wilson declared. He gave Remy a look and shook his head in frustration. "You like bowling."
Remy brought her eyes to House. Tipping his head, he made a face considering this for a moment. "This is true," he admitted.
"Why don't you go bowling?" Wilson suggested.
"Bowling sounds like fun," Remy agreed excitedly. "I haven't been bowling since college."
"Seriously?" he asked looking at her sideways.
"No, wait… there was this one time I went to all day naked bowling extravaganza… yes, seriously." Remy rolled her eyes and then laughed when he actually looked disappointed that such a thing didn't exist. "Come on, Greg, let's go bowling. I think it'd be fun."
He shrugged and put the controller on the table. "I guess we could do that," he said. "I get like a twenty point handicap for the handicap."
Remy chuckled and got up off the couch. "Oh you have nothing to worry about. I suck at it. You could beat me with two bad legs and a blind fold."
"Oh fabulous!" He held out his hand to her for leverage off the sofa and stood up. Coming up to his full height, he gave her a peck on the lips and then turned to Wilson. "Why don't you come with?"
"I'm going to watch my movie," he declined.
"Come on, I bet 3B would like to go. She seems to want your hot beef injection," he taunted.
Wilson nodded his head in consideration. "You think I should ask her?"
"Why not?" Remy said. "The worst she can say is 'no'."
"Stop being a wuss," House pestered him. "Man up, and go ask her. The movie's probably gay anyway."
Wilson stood. "It's no gayer than eight hours of "Say Yes to the Dress"," he grumbled, tucking the tails of his shirt into his pants.
"Hey, those women go to Kleinfeld's because those people know how to make a little girl's dream come true," House argued. Remy laughed at his secret inner girl coming through. Before he was embarrassed about it, now he was wearing it like a badge of honor. He really was too cute.
A half an hour later they were at the bowling alley with 3B. Her name was Nora and she was a bit older than Remy, maybe a little closer to Wilson's age and also very pretty. Wilson was smitten. She seemed nice and a hell of a lot more like Wilson's speed than Amber ever was. It was nice to actually see Wilson getting out there and trying.
"This is the first date he's been on since… you know," House whispered to her as they put on their rented bowling shoes. If and when he did talk about it, he still couldn't really say Amber's name since his hallucinations. She understood. It was a weird thing.
"She seems like a nice woman," Remy whispered back. "Cute too. Tight little ass."
He waggled his eyebrows at her; his eyes alight with a sparkling blue glitter. "If you feel the overwhelming need to kiss her, I'd be ok with that."
Remy giggled and flashed a smile at him. "A couple of drinks and I just might," she teased and then sashayed away in search of a lightweight ball. She could hear him groan as she walked away from him, giving him a show, because she knew how much he liked her own tight little ass in these jeans.
Remy found a day-glo orange one that fit her fingers and was light enough that she'd be able to throw it. Whether it would actually be able to make it down the alley to hit the pins was another matter. When she came back, House made a comment. "Find your kiddie ball ok?"
Remy flicked an eyebrow at him. "Don't even start or the handicap is right out the window."
"I love it when you get sassy." He chuckled and hooked his arm around her waist pulling her in for a kiss.
Nora smiled at them and placed her neon pink ball into the ball return. "You know, I have to admit that I kind of thought you and James were… a couple," she said bringing her eyes sheepishly between House and Wilson.
"You mean you thought we were…" Wilson couldn't even bring himself to say it.
House laughed. "Oh we are. We just have a very open relationship, don't we Jimmy-cakes."
Wilson scoffed in embarrassment. "House!"
Remy snorted a chuckle and hit House's arm. "Don't listen to him, Nora," Remy told her. "Greg has O.L.D. …" When Nora looked at her in confusion, Remy clarified. "Obsessive lying disorder."
"Shit, you're the one who really is gay," House tossed at her. "And has I.E.P.... I eat…"
"HOUSE!" Wilson reprimanded in mortal humiliation, cutting him off before he got to the really vulgar part of his comment. They played off of each other like fire and gasoline. And House just couldn't help himself.
Remy leaned into him and scrunched her nose up at him. "I think you're afflicted with that too," she said to him under her breath.
He blinked at her and grinned. "Num, num." Remy had to press her knuckles to her mouth and turn away from him; the look in his eye was turning her on. It had been three weeks but it didn't take much to remember what his tongue was capable of. Shaking herself, she glanced over at Nora who looked a little bewildered at her new companions casually loose social mores. They were being the annoying, embarrassing couple, but there was a part of her that simply just didn't care.
"Could you two please dial it back a little bit," Wilson pleaded. Ever the pragmatist, he flattened his palms out in the air and made a gesture of finality. "Let's just bowl."
House sat down at the console and put the names into the computer screen, Nora, Wilson, Remy then him. Remy turned to Wilson's date and suggested, "Nora, why don't we go to the bar and get some drinks?"
"Sure that sounds like a good idea," the older woman agreed.
Remy smiled at her as they walked over to the bar area. "You have to take Greg with a grain of salt. He likes to… push the envelope, so to speak."
Nora laughed and waved her hand dismissing Remy's explanation. "I'm getting that impression."
They ordered their drinks. Remy got a diet soda and a regular for House, while Nora ordered cosmos for both her and Wilson. They sat patiently on the stools while they waited for the bartender to fix their drinks. "So how long have you and Greg been together?" Nora asked conversationally.
"Um, almost a month," she quick calculated in her mind. Wow, had it really gone that fast? In another few days it will have been a full month since Christmas.
"A month, that's all?" Nora asked her, an expression of mild shock on her lovely face. "You two seem like you've been together for quite a while."
Remy smiled and slid her eyes to her. "We've worked together for three years."
Nora raised her eyebrows in understanding. "Oh. I see."
"I mean it's not…" Remy paused and then smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, it's exactly like that," she admitted with a chuckle.
The older woman shrugged. "When you love someone, does it really matter where you met?"
Remy blinked at her and shook her head. "It's only been a month…"
Nora smiled at her perceptively. "Of course," she replied. "I understand." There was an undercurrent of disbelief to her voice and Remy was a little unsure about what kind of thoughts that brought to the forefront of her mind. She had been reserving judgment on anything deeply emotional until House was certain he didn't want to just be with her because she was his latest addiction. Love was not part of their equation yet. Thankfully their drinks came to waylay that train of thought. Everybody's was in a plastic cup, sodas and cosmos alike.
With a chuckle, Nora held up her milky clear cups dimming the amber liquid. "Nothing like a backyard cosmo, huh?"
Remy smiled. "I'm assuming it's the whole broken glass on the alley thing. Bowling can get pretty heated, I guess."
"I guess we'll find out," Nora said with an eager shrug.
They made their way back to the alley where the guys were waiting. Wilson was polishing his ball with a rag from his bag and House was slumped in the seat behind the consol, waiting for them to return. Remy liked the bowling shirt he had changed into before they left. It was so completely him, black with pin-up girls in different sexy poses and little red starbursts going down the two side panel inserts on the front. The dark color against his skin make his eyes stand out even more and the v opening at his neck showed just enough skin to make Remy's pulse quicken every time he moved. It was distinctly sexy and she wanted to just bite him.
When she approached him, he sat up and positioned her to sit on his good leg as they waited for their turn. She liked being close with him. He smelled so good and felt so enticingly warm. His hand slipped around her waist and under the hem of her shirt to gently trace invisible patterns on her skin. They were becoming more and more comfortable together, apparently enough that Nora had assumed they'd been together for a while… and were in love. Remy wasn't too sure about that assessment. Extreme 'like' maybe, but 'love', she didn't know. Love was a powerful admission. She felt close to him. She had intense feelings for him and she was willing to do what it took to be with him. Was that love? She had no idea. But, whatever it was, she needed to be careful because he was still extremely vulnerable and uncertain about his own feelings. And rightfully so. He was exploring a new way of thinking that he hadn't allowed himself to experience in a decade, maybe more. He was a recovering drug addict and had spent time in a mental ward. And she was dying. They had issues. A whole Oprah Show's worth of them. She wasn't going to allow herself to fall in love with him if he was just going to turn around and decide that this wasn't for him. She hadn't loved Foreman and it still hurt like a bitch when it ended. Loving House would be far more painful than that. That was for certain. But for now, she was just in the moment. That was all either one of them could really expect.
True to form Remy sucked at bowling. She had more gutter balls than she did anything that went all the way down the alley. Once she got a spare but that was completely by accident. She tapped one pin with the edge of the ball and then it just happened to roll in the direction of the other four that were still standing. House sucked too, but was surprisingly good for someone with the physical handicap he had. Nora was the triumphant one of the bunch, to Wilson's pleasure and surprise. They had shared a few hugs by the end of the night and quick victory peck on the lips as their backyard cosmos did their job of making their boundaries squish into a loose interpretation of first date propriety. It was cute, and House was happy to see Wilson happy, even if he did mock him to cover it up.
Remy drove the crew back to the apartment building. Wilson and Nora got out at the curb to give her and House privacy to say good night. He leaned over and touched his hand to her face. Pressing his lips to hers, he kissed her with an edge of passion that made her stomach flutter in anticipation. Good God, she loved to kiss him.
"I had fun tonight," she told him when he broke the kiss.
"Bowling is fun," he agreed.
"I'm in early tomorrow to take the patient for the biopsy," she said.
Sitting back against his seat, he nodded and tapped his cane on the floor. He looked like he wanted to say something but he shook it off and remained silent.
"I'll text you with the results," she said next.
"Okay," he replied. "I'll be in around nine."
"Good," she said. Suddenly things felt a little awkward and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of what Nora had said. Shaking her head she pushed it off. He was the one who got quiet, not her. She had been way over-analyzing. Wasn't she?
He sat in silence for a few moments and then took a breath. "Do you want me to bring you one of those brownies from Starbucks in the morning?"
Remy smiled. "Sure, and a chai latte?"
He smiled at her and then placed a sweet kiss on her lips. "Whatever you want."
"Okay." She kissed him back and he opened the door to get out.
"Good night, Rem."
"Good night, Greg."
They touched fingers for a minute and then he left to enter the building. Turning the car back on, Remy drove into traffic.
They were fine.
Things were moving at their own pace.
Glacially slow, but at their own pace.
She had always been patient with him right from the beginning. This would be no different.
A/N: As always, a special thanks to my hommies Spot and Punk and Vanamo for helping me iron out the tangle of my thoughts. I so wouldn't be able to do this without you.
And Help! I think I may have an obsession with House/Thirteen. Who am I kidding, I know I do. I'm finding teeny tiny little moments in episodes that tell me there is a thing brewing between them… Vanamo thinks I've gone around the bend but I swear, it's Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it. Thouse will emerge and I will be the happiest woman alive! I even found one in the Cuddy-soide…they were sitting next to each other in the second meeting in the auditorium. It was minor, not as glaringly obvious as the dance from last week which had the Fox broads, oops I mean boards, all in a tizzy! I will forever hold the torch!