A/N -
So, I'm not on any fan websites except for this one and the fox forum, so, I was pleasantly surprised when a friend sent me a link to fanpop. In response to someone's question about fics to read, several of YOU, my wonderful readers, suggested this one!! I was in a state of shock, because, well, my lowly little drabble doesn't even compare to many of the great fics I've read here!! I just want to say, THANK YOU!! Whoever did that, you truly made my day!!
September, 1985
He dumped his backpack on an empty table in the back of the basement of the library. He opened up a journal to an article on infectious diseases. He liked to read the symptoms, and then figure out what the disease was. It was a puzzle, and he was good at puzzles. They were easy, and relatively fun to figure out. Much easier than dealing with people.
He'd just gotten into it earlier that week with his chief resident during one of his rotations. Apparently, he had an attitude problem. He told the resident that it wasn't an attitude problem, it was a boredom problem. He knew all this stuff, he just hated dealing with patients. He didn't understand why they forced him to treat people when all he wanted to do was treat diseases. Diseases were easy, people made it harder.
He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair he was in. He entered med school to get away from his father's strict rules and obligations, thinking back to that boraku doctor he had seen in Japan. That was the doctor he wanted to be; the one everyone came running to for advice. One that could make his own rules, make his own plans. But right now, he was miserable, yet again. He was running on everyone else's time. He had to toe the line, something he hated doing. He suddenly felt very old and tired.
And he dreamed...
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He was 7 years old. He didn't remember what he had done, but it must have been something bad. He racked his mind trying to think of what it was.
He was not an easy child. That's what he kept hearing his mom and dad and his teacher's say. Gifted, one called him. He didn't know what that meant. He just wanted to play with his puzzles, with the few toys he had. He didn't have any friends. The other children would make fun of him. Why, he didn't know. Not that there were many kids on the base where his parents were usually stationed at anyway.
He had been watching television in the den. He'd just brought his report card in, and he heard his mother discussing the prospect of him skipping grades. He wondered what that meant. He shrugged to himself, and he went back to watching TV. His mother had decided to treat him to watching TV, which was a rare treat, like candy, or soda.
He heard the front door open, and then his parents exchanged words. There was something in his father's voice that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His dad barged in the den, and he marched over to him. Grabbing him by the upper arm, he hoisted him up, and he began dragging him to the bathroom.
He should have known better, but he couldn't stop himself. He didn't cry. He couldn't remember the last time that he cried, but he did the next worse thing. He asked "why." It was the one thing his father couldn't deal with, his questions. He questioned everything, always wanting to know how, or why, and he had already learned that his father didn't have the answers.
He was stripped down to his underwear, and his father commanded him to sit in the tub. Looking up, he stared, not understanding, but knowing that something bad was going to happen. "Why?" he asked again, trying to figure out what was going to happen. "What did I do?"
"Just sit, boy! Don't question orders from your superiors!" His dad's booming voice echoed off the tiled walls, frightening him.
He didn't sit down, not understanding his father's rational, and for that, he was pushed down into the tub. "Stay there! Don't move!" His father disappeared, and then returned with the bag of ice. Pouring it around him. He cringed at feeling the cold so intense it burned, but he would not cry out. That would make it worse. That would make it go on longer.
"John!" he heard his mother call, and he shivered involuntarily. He kept quiet, hoping that would keep her safe. He may not care for his father, but his mother was everything. His protector, his only friend. He stayed quiet as his father dumped more ice over him, punishing him for something that he didn't know he'd done. So he sat there and shivered, a slow rage building through his small body.
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She came into the library, and she went to the basement, where they kept the medical journals. She walked down the stairs, thinking about what she said to Micheal. Were her and Greg "just friends?" She was certainly drawn to him, and his insane energy, but they had never jumped off that cliff. She wondered if he could ever be close to anyone. He seemed to have encased himself in a wall made of cement and barbed wire.
She wandered into the basement, and she saw him sitting in a chair, sound asleep. At first she was shocked, and then she realized that he was in his final year of med school. He was stretched thin, between his rotations, supervising study groups, and T. a class, plus his studies. He looked peaceful in his sleep, and she didn't want to disturb him. She turned to walk away, but she saw him shiver out of the corner of her eye. She pulled off her hoodie, and she walked over to cover him with it.
He felt something warm cover him, and he opened his eyes. She was leaning over him, her gray blue eyes looking directly into his. He glanced down at the sweatshirt, then back up at the thin white t-shirt that she had been wearing underneath it. Her face was inches away from his his. He could smell the light perfume she wore. Her dark curls framed her face. He thought he was going to drown in her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked hoarsely.
"Studying." She didn't move.
"Same here."
"Sleeping is more like it." He could smell the sweet odor of Juicy Fruit gum on her breath. He couldn't resist it. He leaned up, and he brushed her lips with his, tickling her with his stubble. He half expected her to freeze or run away, but she did neither.
She leaned into him, putting pressure on his lips. He opened his mouth, but didn't use his tongue. He was curious, wanting to see how far she would go.
Which wasn't very far.
She sat up, her eyes bright, but a worried look on her face. "What are we, Greg House?"
He stared in those eyes. "We're here. Together. That's all that matters to me."
She slowly nodded, and all he wanted to do was take her lips in his again, but he heard a throat clearing behind him. He looked up, and Alec stood there with a grin on his face. "Just friends, huh?"
Her eyes darted to Alec, standing at the entrance to the library's basement. She stood straighter, and her steel gray eyes narrowed. "Just friends." she informed him. "That's all."
He returned her scowl with a smirk, and he walked over to them. "Nice sweatshirt, G-man. Too bad it's a few sizes too small for you."
"Are you here to torment me, or do you actually have something interesting to say," he growled. He tossed the sweatshirt back to her. And their eyes met briefly.
"I...I better go," she mumbled, picking up her bag.
As she was leaving, he grabbed her by the upper arm firmly, but gently. "I'll see you later," he murmured under his breath. She swallowed an nodded, trying to wrap her head around how he made her feel. As she was leaving the room, she heard him call out, "because we both know that your organic chem skills suck! You need all the help you can get!. A smile formed on her face, and she left the building.
As she left, she felt odd. She didn't know what to think of him. One moment, he could be the biggest ss in the world, and the next, he could open himself up. He was brilliant, no doubt about it. She sighed, and she made her way back to her place.
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The grin faded from Alec's face as she left. "Don't toy with her," he sighed, sadly.
"Don't toy with her?" Greg glared at his friend. "I was this close to getting my hand up her shirt. If you hadn't interrupted us, I would have had an all access pass to her love rug."
"Is that all you care about? The sex? She's smarter than that, you know."
"Yeah, I'm well aware of how smart she is. You don't get a 4.0 in your first two semesters in Pre-Med without being smart."
"Just don't hurt her. You have this tendency to go through girls like most of us change our socks."
"You suck at metaphors. Leave those to the master."
"Stop deflecting." Alec glared at him. "You're gonna hurt her. Just like you hurt everyone else. I don't want to see her hurt."
"Just admit it." He took a few steps toward Alec, his anger rising. "You're just jealous she want the G-machine instead of what you can offer."
Alec shook his head. "No. You're a cancer, man. You spread your bitterness and loathing to everyone you meet. Just let me know when this falls out. I don't want to be anywhere near ground zero."
"Are you done with your speech, because I've got better things to do than listen to a pretty boy Pennsylvania farm doctor who's gonna spend most of his career setting broken bones and treating the flu."
Alec rolled his eyes. "Your parents called. Your dad's driving up in a few weeks. Don't worry; I'm planning on being out of town. I don't want to be anywhere near that nuclear holocaust." He turned on his hell, still smarting from the insults that were hurled at him.
Greg slumped back down in his seat, massaging his temples. The mixed emotions that were coursing through his veins were turning his stomach. From the elation of her soft, sweet kiss, to Alec's buzz-kill. Then, the news his parents were coming up. It all made him feel nauseous. He slammed his fist down on the table, and then he gathered his things. Maybe Alec was right. Maybe he was a cancer, eating away at all the good that came close to him.
But he had a good reason to be that way.
He slung his back across one shoulder, then left the building with a scowl.
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She was sitting in her apartment, looking over some organic chem notes. She heard a knock at the door, and she went to answer it. She smiled when she saw him standing there. "Are you alone?" He asked softly.
"Yeah. It's a game day Saturday. My roommates are out reenacting the toga party from Animal House. Why?" She saw the dark look on his face. "Are you breaking up with me," she teased.
"Can't break up if we're not dating to begin with." He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes seemingly staring into her soul. "Just wanted to give you those Chem notes. I may not be around."
"Greg, what's going on?" He suddenly seemed cold, distant toward her.
"Nothing." He turned and walked away, leaving her feeling very confused and hurt.