Disclaimer: Nope.

A/N: Before I forget, Ai is a quite common name in Japan and it means "love". That's just me being glib, I suppose, though I like the name. As far as I'm aware, it's pronounced the same way as the English "I".

Chapter 38 - Step 2: Dating all over again
(Month 2, Week 3)

"A common mistake that couples make is that they stop working on their relationship after marriage. They believe that after they married the person they wanted, they don't need to woo or pamper their partner anymore because he or she is going nowhere. That assumption is often wrong, but even when it's right, it leads to a very poor marriage. This is one of the reasons why marriages lose their spark. Many believe that this is the natural course of every relationship, but it doesn't have to be so."

Another week, another session. He didn't like it. Still. He didn't know what was more annoying: the psycho babble or the "exercises". He hated it all. One down, four more to go. Soon there will be two down, three to go. He had to keep his eyes on the prize, that's what kept it bearable.

"There are ways to keep it interesting, just think back to the days when you were still dating; how exciting everything was then. Part of it was the novelty, but another part was that you never knew what would happen the next day. Would your partner call you, make a surprise visit, ask you for a date? As you now live together, it is not possible to keep up that same state of anticipation but you can still surprise your partner every now and then."

This crease in the fabric of the blanket covering their mattress really was interesting. It's fascinating how light gets reflected from objects and depending on the location of the light source, one side will be illuminated while the other will remain dark. The dark side, ha… It's actually the dark side that came first since it's the absence and the light side a presence. Just like many people mistakenly believe that black is a colour when in fact it's the absence of a colour. He leaned a bit closer to examine the crease from another angle when he got elbowed. He straightened up and glared at Cameron who was giving him an evil eye of her own. Whoops…But, honestly… did she really expect him to pay attention?

"When was the last time you went on a date? Spending days cuddled up on a couch is great, but a change of pace every now and then will do you good. Go on a dinner date even if there is no special occasion. Try something new and explore it together, find some hobbies that you both enjoy," Ai suggested before Christian continued.

"At the same time, it's also important that you don't spend every single minute together because no matter how much you love your spouse, for the lack of a better expression… you will get sick of them. Everyone needs some time on their own to process their thoughts. It's also important that you have some hobbies and friends that are yours alone. An occasional guy's or girl's night out is great for reliving stress. We'll trust you to take care of that part on your own; what we will do today, is a different kind of fun."

Christian started handing out mini whiteboards and markers while Ai explained the exercise, "Today we'll have a quiz on how well you know each other. We'll first ask the wives a question and they will write it down on the whiteboard. The husbands will at the same time write down what they think the wife answered. And then we will reverse the roles."

Once all the white boards were distributed, Christian began, "We'll start with an easy one: You're driving a car while your partner is giving you instructions. Soon, you find out that you are lost. What are you most likely to say? A: I thought you knew how to get there; B: It's ok. We enjoyed the drive anyway; C: I should have paid attention. When we made that left turn, I wanted to ask you about it but I didn't. My fault."

This one was a tossup between B and C. He couldn't imagine that she would be angry with him for something meaningless as that and she did have a habit of apologising for everything she did even if it wasn't technically her fault. C it is then.

However, when Allison raised her board, it bore the letter A.

"You'd never say that," House complained.

Cameron raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't bask in me being right and you wrong after you'd probably spend the whole ride explaining how women have poor spatial intelligence and orientation skills? Of course I would."

House glared at her. Ok, maybe she did have a point.

When the question was reversed, the answer was more than clear for both of them.

The next question was, "You have been wandering around lost in the desert all day when you suddenly see a village in the distance. You also notice an oasis not too far away. Where do you decide to go?"

After House correctly guessed that she'd go to the village she was left to decide what he would do. In truth, not much deciding was needed as it was an easy equation. Village equals people and oasis equals no people. Her reasoning proved to be correct.

"Imagine you're walking by a seaside. How many people are around you and how far away are they?"

He knew she was a people person, that was a given. However, he saw her as someone enjoying the company of a few chosen people that she trusted more than a group of strangers.

"Not many and they are close by."

He was right. It was good to know that he could still read her after the previous miss.

When her time to answer came, she was sure that she would be right in thinking that there would be little or no people and if any, they would be far away but his answer was…

"A bunch of half naked models, preferably in my lap. Leg hurts, can't do much walking," he added as an explanation.

Cameron shook her head. She really should have known better.

"If you could take only one thing with you on a desert island, what would it be?"

That was a tough one and he had to admit that he was clueless. His answer, a library of books, was probably a good guess, only if her answer wasn't: Greg.

"Oh, so now I'm a thing?" he pouted. "You know, I think this counselling is not working as it's supposed to. All it did, was make you meaner," he complained and she simply laughed, writing down her next answer: Vicodin.

That one was just too easy. While they were engaging in another round of bickering, they were interrupted by a sudden outburst of shouting coming from a couple in the corner.

"I don't care about her, I've told you that before and I'm not cheating on you," the husband yelled.

"Oh? And is that why you shouted her name the last time we had sex?" the wife accused him.

House leaned into Cameron and whispered, "Uh oh. Too bad I didn't bring popcorn."

Cameron gave him a reprimanding look but stayed quiet. Of course he'd be amused by other people's distress.

"I told you that was a slip. It didn't mean anything," the husband defended.

"Or that your phone is full of her messages with meeting places?"

"Pfft, this guy is an amateur compared to Wilson," House quietly commented.

"You read my messages? That's an invasion of privacy!" the husband was appalled.

"What was I supposed to do if you keep lying to me!" the wife was getting desperate.

"50 bucks says they're divorced before the end of the month," House proposed while Cameron kept ignoring him.

"I'm not lying. You got this all wrong, it really isn't what it looks like."

"You know what," said the wife and stood up, "I don't even care anymore."

She stormed out of the room with her husband right on her trail, pleading with her to stop and listen.

"Well," said Christian once the drama was over, "this happens occasionally. Anyone else suspects their partner of cheating? If you have any pressing issues as this, it is important that we address them as soon as possible and in private."

He smiled encouragingly at the group and waited for an answer. When all remained quiet, he continued, "Sorry you had to hear that…"

"Are you kidding me?" House interjected, "That's the most fun I had in days."

"I'm glad that we were able to entertain you. Let's continue now, shall we? The next question is: which animal do you think you are the most similar to in character?"

Definitely something small and cuddly. Hm…

"A bunny rabbit?" she asked somewhere between upset and amused, when he disclosed his answer.

"What?" he shrugged and looked at her board, "Mrs. Big fish."

"Dolphins are intelligent and gentle creatures. And they're not fish, they're mammals," she defended her position.

"If it looks like a fish and swims like a fish, then it's a fish."

Cameron sighed. It was pointless arguing with him.

When his turn came to answer the question, she was equally amused by the answer.

"Lion?" she questioned.

"Yup, king of the jungle. Hear me roar," he answered with a smirk. "Why? What did you write down?"

She still didn't reveal her board and he was getting curious.

"Common, show me," he urged her.

Finally she did and she had to laugh at his expression.

"An ass? You think you're so clever, don't you?" he grumbled.

Cameron smiled at him with amusement. She was probably enjoying this too much but… If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

"You sure can be as stubborn as one," she said as a case in point.

There were several more questions before it came time for the last one, "Finish the following sentence: Love is… This time just write down your own opinion and then compare it with your partner's."

Neither was surprised when they saw each other's answers. One of life's pleasures vs. a chemical reaction. One would think that the answers could hardly be more different, yet if you examined them closely, you'd notice that there is no reason why both couldn't be true.

The time for homework assignments came and Ai immediately stressed that the no sex rule was still in play because they were still working on the emotional connection. Naturally, House complained but to no avail. The participants were also reminded that they should not forget what they've learned in the previous lessons and if possible, they should continue practicing some of the exercises whenever they had time. In addition to that, they were also given a special assignment: Go on vacation together for at least one day and spend the night there.

A/N: I'm not exactly happy about how this chapter turned out but it will have to do. I'm pretty sure the next one will be better, though. It's vacation time! I already have a great idea about where they could spend it, I just need to explore the logistics but it should be fun. This time, I think there might be several chapters till the next session, I'll see how things go.