In the following days, the blonde kept showing up in unexpected places. Remy was seeing her in the morning, lurking around the locker room at her usual hour of arrival, even if the other doctor was already in her scrubs. She was again seeing her at lunch, because now they kind of have made a habit of eating together if they both had the time. And if she did not see her there, the blonde magically popped up in the lab or at her office or anywhere she was, at least once a day. She even caught her again talking with House while waiting for her to be in the office. It was not exactly what you could consider stalking but it was starting to come close.

At first Remy did not mind. She even found it cute. The blonde was not trying to extricate personal information from her, she was mainly trying to get to see her and chat a little about everything and nothing. Without taking heed of little things, like the way her cringed forehead came to relax when she saw her smile, or the way she placed a hand on her shoulder and never failed to offer her help if something came in her way, she could have just found her behaviour adorably annoying and attributed it to her wanting to be more than just friends. But even if Allison seemed not opposed to develop more than a friendship with her, she doubted it explained her recurrent state of hovering around. Something was off. Remy feared it was nothing else than her reaction to knowing that she was dying.

Allison had been worried since Remy talked to her about her disease. She wanted to help her and to protect her. But the brunette was not one to let herself being protected, by anyone. So Allison did what she could to still feel like she was trying her best to be there for the younger woman without overcrossing her boundaries. She had forgotten about her former grudge at the brunette and could only feel like she wanted to see her smile.

xxxx

It was noon and they had decided to meet at the cafeteria, just like they had done nearly every day for the past two weeks. Remy was already in the line to order her lunch when Allison joined her. She smiled softly at the blonde and saw her features soften. The older doctor looked at her intently before talking.

"I was wondering if I would see you today", Allison said, a coy smile gracing her features.

"You always see me at lunch", Remy replied, her smile still in place. "People are starting to talk", she added with a chuckle, lowering her head to talk more quietly and closer to the blonde's ear.

A sudden hot flush came colouring Allison's face at the brunette nearness and suggestion. Remy stepped back, just enough and just in time, to admire it and chuckle a little more. Allison had to shake her head to regain composure.

"This morning you said that I was meddlesome and that you wanted space. So I wasn't sure you'd show up." Her statement made the blonde realize how jittery she sounded.

"I can find you a little too much sometimes but still be able to enjoy your company", the brunette explained nonchalantly.

"Good", was all Allison could find to answer. She was not used to receiving compliments from the brunette, and even less a formulation of how much she appreciated her companionship. Since they had became friends again, the dynamic had been very different from before their fight. Remy was not trying so much to push her away but she was not really allowing herself to act as freely as she could have before.

"Are you going to eat or do you plan on watching me eat, like when you stalk me?", the brunette said to take Allison away from her thoughts and probe her to order something. The lunch lady was staring at her and soon she would be starting to plan on spitting on her food if the blonde was not planning on allowing the line to stop growing.

Allison blinked at the other doctor. "What?", she said in surprise. "I don't stalk you". She put her hands on her hips and added pensively, "I didn't know you considered it this way".

"I know you don't stalk me", Remy said to ease her mind. "Just order one of your salads and we'll go sit to continue bickering", she said with a soft smile.

Allison looked away from the younger woman, for the first time in what must have been a long time, and saw the lady behind the register staring at her in expectation.

"A chicken salad, please", she said sheepishly. She then searched her pocket for money but felt Remy's soft and delicate hand on her arm.

"It's on me", she said, already extending a bill to the cashier.

xxxx

They took their first bites of food in a silence.

"Do you think you'll work late tonight?", Allison ventured to ask.

"Don't think so", the brunette replied. She raised an eyebrow before adding, "Why?"

"For once I get off early and have a day off tomorrow", the blonde explained. "I was wondering if you wanted to come and have dinner at my place", she continued more cautiously with a bashful smile.

Remy considered the idea. She wanted to say yes but somehow it seemed like a big step that she was not sure she wanted to make.

"I could cook and we could talk about how you enjoy my company." Allison seemed determined to make her accept.

Remy looked at the older woman carefully, her large greys eyes querying for the reasons behind this invitation.

"I know how to do tiramisu", the blonde added with a cunning smile.

Remy laughed at her stubbornness. "Sold".

xxxx

There was a welcoming atmosphere in Allison's apartment; it had a warmth similar to the warmth springing from the blonde. Remy immediately felt at ease there. Obviously she had been there once before, but it did not really count. They had been drunk and she had barely seen anything from the place other than the bed. Now, Remy was roaming in all the rooms of the apartment, taking in the essence of its owner. Allison was obviously very tidy and organized, but that she already knew. She also expected the woman to be girly and was not surprised by the fluffy pillows on the couch and the lilac paint in the bathroom. She admired the handy arrangement of her kitchen and its aqua colour. Allison must have been a good cook to put so much thought in this room. Remy was barely able to cook pasta. She found the Japanese style of her living room very elegant. But once again, she was not surprised. Allison was always graceful. What surprised her the most was an odd chair near the window. It was coated with olive velvet and looked out of place in the zen and sober environment.

"Where did you get this chair", Remy asked, curious of understanding this peculiar choice of furniture.

"It was my husband's", Allison replied simply. She had not planned on talking about this subject tonight.

The brunette suspiciously raised an eyebrow. "I did not really know Chase, but I would not have pictured him choosing this kind of furniture."

"He did not." Allison's answer sounded flat. It was palpable that she was not inviting the other woman to ask more on that topic.

Nonetheless, Remy's interest was picked. "But you said…"

"I was married before." Her statement did not left room for a follow up question.

Remy felt that it would be ill mannered to query more on this matter. She settled for a polite, "Oh".

"I can offer you a drink before we start cooking", Allison said more perkily. She was trying her best to change conversation without affecting the atmosphere.

The brunette complied. "You said you would be cooking. You never said I had to do it too". Remy was making a face and it lighted up the mood again.

Allison laughed whole-heartedly at her charming antic. "You can help me assemble the lasagne. It won't be too difficult", she proposed.

"You took this cooking thing very seriously", an impressed Remy answered. "I should never invite you to eat at my place."

"We could still order in", Allison replied with a coy smile.

Remy stared at her, slightly flustered by the innuendo. She decided to play along.

The brunette followed the blonde into the kitchen and waited for her instructions. Allison was focused on getting all the necessary ingredients on the kitchen counter and did not realised she was being observed intently. When she turned toward the younger woman, she saw the brunette awaiting her instructions with an awkward demeanour, hands in her pockets.

"Are you unfamiliar with a kitchen?", Allison joked.

Remy winced before admitting, "Kinda".

It put Allison at ease. "Finally something you don't know", she answered with a cocky smile.

This made the brunette chuckle and lose her awkwardness in the process. "Am I frightening you?", she asked, very interested in the response.

Allison shrugged. "I just find it hard to connect when you act like you know everything." The brunette had already found back her confidence.

Remy smirked and took a few steps toward her. She knew she had a tendency to need to ascertain her control over things. If she was in control, she could not get too hurt. She was now dangerously close from the blonde, teasing her self-control. She gazed into her blue eyes and reached for a glass situated on the counter behind her. When extended, her arm brushed against Allison's hip. The warmth radiating from the brunette made the blonde gasp. "I'm thirsty", Remy explained, playing innocent but not hurrying to move away from the blonde. Allison gulped and the brunette simpered. Then she finally stepped away from her to go pour tap water into the glass. Her full glass, she turned around to meet the blonde's eyes again and drank without losing eye contact. She put the glass down, back on the counter behind Allison, and said inches from her face, "Please, teach me how to cook".

It took a few seconds for Allison to come back to her senses.

xxxx

They cooked and ate, and the evening progressed agreeably. They were both enjoying each other's company and that helped them relax and fall into effortless talk. Allison shared some childhood anecdotes and Remy granted her companion with a few stories too.

After dessert, they went onto the couch to sit down. Allison offered drinks and Remy accepted. The blonde went back in the kitchen, to look for the few bottles of alcohol she possessed. She came back and presented her selection to the brunette: tequila, malibu or wine. They had already drunk some wine with dinner but the choice being limited she felt like it was still a valid option. "I'm sorry I don't have much choice", the blonde said while showing the bottles to her guest.

Remy studied her options. She was not too keen on sugary mixt like the malibu and she was not sure if she trusted herself to drink tequila with the blonde and resist the urge to be more than friendly. Hard liquor had a tendency to make her feel horny. She smiled politely. "Some wine would be fine."

The blonde went back to the kitchen to discard the unneeded bottles and came back with two glasses and a bottle opener. Remy took the opener while Allison disposed the glass on the coffee table. Then the brunette proceeded to open the bottle and pour the wine in the glasses, their movements in perfect synchrony, as if they already had a routine going on. Allison looked at her, wondering if they could get a routine someday. The younger woman picked up on her questioning gaze, so she tore her mind away from the thoughts and asked, "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

Remy did not feel like concentrating on a movie plot. Her mind was tired. "Do you have music?"

"What do you like?", the blonde asked.

"Mostly jazz, or electronic", the brunette replied, earning a face.

Allison looked at her perplexed.

"Yeah, I know", the brunette said, used to this kind of reaction.

"Miles Davis", Allison proposed while standing up to put on the music.

She quickly found the CD she was looking for, going old school and showing the brunette that she actually purchased a jazz record disk one day.

Remy smiled appreciatively, relaxing to the melody. "So, are we gonna talk about your stalking tendencies?", she asked with a sardonic smile.

Allison came back to the couch and looked at her with defensiveness. "I'm not stalking you." She kept her eyes on Remy, asking her to drop the subject.

"Fine", the brunette agreed. "You are not a stalker", she added, raising a hand away from her drink as if raising a white flag. "But you have to concede that you're acting strangely, showing up all the time to check on me." Allison's face contorted into a queasy expression. "Is it because I'm dying?", she asked. She had desperately wanted to know the answer to that very question, despite the nonchalance she was trying to display.

"No", Allison exclaimed with honesty. "I'm worried", she admitted at the face full of doubt in front of her. "But it's not just because you're dying. It's also what you do about it." Her nose scrunched in anticipation of the reaction of the brunette.

"What do you mean?", Remy asked defensively.

"Exactly what I said", Allison retorted. She was wondering if she should have lied but now was too late to find out. "You drink, you take pills, you use drugs… Where is it gonna stop?" Now that she had started raising her concerns, she had a lot to say. She had tried to remain silent and help her deal quietly but it was not really her nature to say nothing when she was concerned. "Do you have a limit or are you going to push it until you're damaged enough? Whatever that means."

"I'm entitled to my own choices", Remy replied point-blank.

"I'm not saying you're not. I'm saying I'm worried", Allison said with sincerity and compassion.

Remy looked at her blankly. She could not figure out how the blonde could function caring so much, about everyone, all the time. "Why?"

"I care about you." Allison's face had softened. There was no frustration from her concerns anymore, just tenderness.

"Maybe you shouldn't", was the only response that Remy could think of, the words leaving her mouth without her controlling it. Protectiveness had become second nature.

Allison blinked and murmured an uncertain, "Okay".

Remy nodded and drank a long swig of wine. She then put away the nearly empty glass on the coffee table.

Allison observed her still wondering what it meant for them. She hesitated but finally opened her mouth again. "I care about my friends. Don't you want to be my friend?"

Remy thought about it. She did not want it over. But she did want the blonde to back down and let her decide what was good for her. "I don't know."

Allison appeared dejected. She drank a sip of wine and looked at her with her naïve eyes, asking why she insisted on behaving this way.

The brunette realised she was in the process of messing things up again between them. She went from feeling overwhelmed to feeling anxious she would lose the blonde again. Impulsively, she reached for Allison's face and cupped it in her hand. She grazed at her cheek and looked at her intensely, then brought her face closer. She wanted this. She closed her eyes and kissed the blonde. Allison was surprised. She looked at her incredulous and a surprised gasp escaped her when the brunette's lips met hers. Instinctively, she kissed her back and relieved in her taste and smell. However, when she felt the other hand of the brunette coming to rest on her thigh, she pulled back, putting her own hand over the brunette's to push it away gently.

Remy looked at the other woman with puzzled eyes. She had thought they both wanted this. "You don't want this?", she asked timidly. Her defenses had been brought down and she was feeling uncomfortable.

"I do", Allison reassured her, bringing even more confusion on the brunette's face. "I want it. But not like this. Not if you'll regret it tomorrow."

Remy understood where she was coming from. "I get it", she replied with a small smile. "If you prefer, I could go", she proposed even if she did not want to leave her just now.

"You can stay", Allison comforted her. "I want you there", she added with a light blush.

Her words made a candid smile appear on Remy's face. Her eyes were twinkling. "I'm glad."

"Next time I could show you how to cook a simple pie", the blonde suggested as a peace offering. "You seemed overwhelmed by the tiramisu."

"It's more complicated than surgery", Remy said, rolling her eyes, but not declining the invitation.

Allison let out a light laugh. "It's not. But we should start small." Her eyes were glimmering with some kind of hope.

Remy smiled at the blonde. "It sounds doable."

They relaxed in the couch, falling in a confortable silence, listening to the trumpeter and taking a sip of wine every now and then.

"Which one of your parents had Huntington's?", Allison asked. She had wanted to ask the brunette before but figured it was not really something you discuss over lunch. She figured that now, after the little spat they just had, was as good of a time as ever to finally ask this question. They had already argued and no one else was here to eavesdrop.

"It was my mother." Remy was not surprised by the question. She thought the blonde would have asked long ago. "She died when I was thirteen", Remy said, smiling dryly at the irony. "My father never really recovered."

Unconsciously, Allison seized the brunette's hand, her own heart tightening. "I'm sorry", she muttered. "Did you tell him about your condition yet?"

"No." Remy was starting to feel her eyes become watery and it made her fidget on her spot. She blinked the tears out and took a deep breath to control her emotions. "I just can't do that to him."

Allison nodded in understanding and briefly took her in her arms for a hug. Remy's first reaction was to freeze before being able to relax.

Once her composure regained, the brunette wanted to move the spotlight away from her. And since she felt like it was the time for personal questions, she asked away. "How many times have you been married?"

"Twice", Allison answered reluctantly. "There was Robert, whom you know. And before that, I was married in med school."

"What happened?". The brunette started to feel like she was prying but there was something off in the way the blonde was recounting this.

"He died", Allison revealed, bringing her eyes to look at her hands in her lap.

It was a good thing she could not witness the brunette's face at the moment. Remy's eyes had bulged with her mouth agape. It took her several seconds to process this information enough to be able to mouth an answer. "I'm sorry".

Allison looked back at her. She saw some kind of aloofness coming back on the brunette's features.

"The day we met at the bar was his birthday", she admitted. "I always have a hard time on this day", she said, looking miserable. "I can deal with our anniversary and other reminders. I knew we were not meant to get even a silver anniversary when I married him. But his birthday always feels like the world ripped him out of so much time and happiness."

Remy felt the need for more time to process all of those revelations. She had no idea the blonde had so much baggage. And she did not understand how she could be willing to date another dying person. "Why do you want to be with me?", she had to ask, even if she knew it was not the best moment for this question.

"I don't know", Allison answered, disarmed. "I like you"

"You already have a dead husband. You don't need a dead…", Remy hesitated but did not find a better way to word this "girlfriend."

"I don't calculate my relationships like you do", Allison replied with a hinge of annoyance. "I just like you."

"I like you too", Remy confessed.

They looked at each other for a while, wondering what all of this meant.

"Maybe we could watch a movie, like you suggested", Remy proposed before she had a bad impulse again.

"Sure", was all Allison managed to reply. She switched on the television and showed to Remy the list of movies her usb key contained. They settled for a mystery, not willing to get in a romantic mood.

xxxx

By the end of the film, Allison's head had lolled on Remy's shoulder. Evidently, Remy had noticed but had chosen to not say anything because she was enjoying it. The blonde was groggy and, when she realised in which position she was, she quickly straightened up and apologized.

"I should go now", Remy suggested.

The blonde agreed, "Okay".

"I'll see you at the hospital", the brunette said while standing up and starting to move toward the door.

"I won't be there tomorrow", Allison reminded her.

"Then I'll skip lunch", Remy replied with a silly smile.

They were now at the doorstep. It was time to part but neither of them really wanted to do so.

Allison was gazing at Remy with fondness in her eyes, nearly asking for her to stay. Remy looked at those eyes and could not stop herself from reaching for a strand of hair misplaced on her cheek. She twirled the hair on her finger while looking just as affectionately at the blonde. She kept playing like this and Allison let out a quiet moan. So quiet that Remy nearly did not ear it but mostly felt the push of air on her own face. She stepped closer and brought her lips in immediate proximity with the blonde's lips. She waited and let Allison close the gap between their mouths. They kissed tentatively and tenderly, Allison's fingers holding loosely onto Remy's. It felt like time had paused, until Allison gently broke off the kiss.


A.N.: I really wonder how this chapter made you feel. So please tell me ! Writing it was a rollercoaster. So many things needed to be established between them.

I want to thank my dear reviewers ! 'Nice guest', Kate and alettadipollo. Alettadipollo, I am really glad that you like the construction of this story. I don't like it either when things become magically easy after a kiss. Life doesn't work this way. And Thirteen has issues... I want her to deal with it. So the story is far from being over ;)