Back again. This chapter contains some major spoilers for S5, specifically the last few episodes. Once again, I don't own anything House-related.

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House slept fitfully at best the rest of the night, finally hauling himself out of bed and stretching himself out on the couch. He knew somehow that it had been just a dream but damn…it had felt so frighteningly real.

As he lay there debating with himself about whether to tell Avery, he heard her pad into the living room, a lightweight robe wrapped around her. It seemed ridiculously early to be awake on a Sunday, as the weak morning light just started to stream through the windows. Giving up on sleep, he pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes.

Avery heard House moving around, and as soon as she started the coffee maker, she wandered back out to the living room, where he was sitting up on the couch, his hair sticking up in multiple directions, his face still scrunched up and bleary from the night before. If she hadn't known about his bad night, she would have found it completely adorable.

She opened the apartment door, finding the Sunday paper in front of her door. Some of her favorite Sundays involved a pot of coffee and lounging around reading the paper. Today she would specifically focus on the real estate listings. Avery wasn't sure if House would be up to going from open house to open house today, given his lack of sleep the night before.

House had managed to stumble out to the kitchen, returning with two cups of coffee, carefully balancing them as he limped back into the living room. Avery picked up the real estate section and relaxed into the couch, her feet tucked under her. Just as she started to open it, she found a salt-and-pepper head in her lap, bright blue bloodshot eyes staring up at her. She set the newspaper aside and stroked his head, watching his eyes slowly drift closed.

The simple action comforted House, and he found himself drifting back to sleep. Before long, though, he jerked awake, his eyes flying open, wide with some emotion Avery couldn't quite define. There was fear, definitely, but there was something else, too.

"Another dream, baby?"

"Yeah." House's voice was rough. "It happens. No big deal." He reached out his arm to wrap around her waist, his head still in her lap. The dreams had been coming and going for the last couple of weeks, almost since he had proposed to Avery.

It wasn't that he didn't know what the dreams meant. That was a no-brainer. Any teenage girl with one of those moronic dream journals could figure that out. It was just that they represented another part of his life he would rather leave behind him, another part of his life he didn't feel the need to share with Avery.

She'd figure it out sooner or later, though. House pondered whether it would be better to just tell her now and be done with it. Logically, it would. He couldn't keep secrets from her. One never knew when something like this could come back to bite him in the ass. If she knew, she could at least be on the lookout for the signs. If she didn't, she could be blindsided, and House couldn't do that to her. She was too important to him now.

House felt Avery shift under him, patting him on the head. "Let me up, baby. I need my coffee." He pushed himself to a sitting position, reaching for his own cup. She pushed up her glasses and spread the newspaper on the coffee table in front of her. House noticed that Avery had several open houses circled.

Avery's elegant hands enveloped her coffee mug, and she took a deep sip, the diamond sparkling on her left hand. House couldn't help but smile as he watched her. Here they were, sitting in her living room on a Sunday morning, perusing open house listings and drinking coffee. It was damn near perfect.

"I kind of like this one." Avery pointed to a picture that she had circled. It was a three-bedroom ranch-style condo.

House chuckled. "Yours, mine, and ours. Nice."

Avery rolled her eyes. "I was thinking…guest room, office, ours."

"Guest room?" He shook his head at the idea. "No one in their right mind would want to stay with us."

"My parents, my brother and sister-in-law, your mom…"

"…Wilson after his next marriage goes to hell…"

Avery smacked House on the arm, but laughed in spite of herself. "At least he wouldn't have to sleep on that old couch of yours."

House pretended to look horrified. "That couch and I go way back. We have history."

"You mean that it should be history."

"That's funny…you don't seem to mind it when I'm doing…things to you on that old couch." House fixed her with a wicked grin, moving closer. "Matter of fact, judging by the sounds you make…you seem to enjoy it." He kissed her firmly on the cheek.

Avery chuckled. "That's different. There's definitely no sleeping going on then."

"Better not be." House growled. "Otherwise…I'm not doing my job."

"I could certainly never accuse you of that." Avery gave House a soft kiss on the lips, pulling back with a concerned expression. "Are you sure you're okay?"

House rolled his tired eyes in exasperation. "I'm fine. I'll just go lay down for a while. Wake me up when you're ready to go."

Avery watched him limp down the hallway, his shoulders hunched over. Whatever load House was carrying today, it was heavy as hell. She just hoped he would be able to unload it before it crushed him.

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House lay in Avery's bed, dozing lightly. He wasn't scared to fall asleep, exactly. He just didn't know what he would see when he did close his eyes, and he wanted to spare Avery another screaming wake up call.

At least it was just dreams this time, rather than full on hallucinations. House thought he could probably deal with that. But it was only a matter of time before the lack of sleep caught up to him. He had some idea of what would happen then.

He shifted in bed, considering all of this. House did still have his brain guy on speed dial if he really needed it, and that was comforting. Maybe he wouldn't have to reveal all to Avery just yet.

"Baby?" A hand was shaking him awake. "Open house for that condo starts at one if you want to go check it out."

"Hmm…okay." House turned over to face her, and she was startled by his rough appearance.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"A little. I'll be fine."

Avery regarded him skeptically, but let it go. "Okay…I'll see you in a bit."

Shit. Had a perfectly good opportunity there. House heaved himself out of bed, stumbling for the shower. He'd bring it up to her soon. Very soon, before Avery found herself married to a stark raving lunatic.

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Avery snuck the occasional glance over at House on the drive to the open house. He seemed even more preoccupied than he had earlier. She wondered if he wasn't downplaying his nightmares somewhat. Scratch that. She knew he was downplaying them. It concerned her a great deal, and she wanted to find a way to voice that concern without invading House's space.

They arrived and took a brochure for the smiling realtor, then started looking around. The condo was quite lovely, an open space consisting of a large living room, a dining room, and a kitchen to die for. Avery immediately gravitated toward the kitchen, lovingly grazing her hands over the stainless steel appliances and the butcher block-topped center island. House was still out in the living room, noting the wall-spanning built-in bookshelves and the expansive space itself. He found himself mentally arranging furniture in the space, trying to figure out where his piano would fit.

Avery met him there, taking his hand and nearly dragging him into the master bedroom suite. It was a sizeable space, with a smallish bathroom off the bedroom. House peeked in, noticing the whirlpool tub first thing.

He nudged Avery. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

She chuckled when she saw the wicked gleam in his eye. "Maybe…"

"Nice long soak in that thing after a hard day…would be the best thing for my leg." He wrapped his arms around her waist, brushing his lips against her ear. "Not to mention a few other body parts."

"What do you know…I was thinking the same thing." Avery tilted her head in response. "Scary how we're on the same page."

House chuckled, then fell silent, resting his chin on her shoulder. His thoughts overwhelmed him. They were steadily moving forward, making plans for the next part of their lives. He wasn't just giving up his apartment. He was leaving an entire chapter of his life behind him, the chapter that was filled with pain and isolation and everything that was born of that. It was a scary idea for someone who had never been fond of change.

Change for House had always been a dirty word. Nothing good had ever come from change, until the last year or so. Had it really been that long? On some levels, it seemed that he and Avery had only gotten together yesterday. Of course, that wasn't true. She had changed his life is so many ways, it was hard for him to absorb it all. He couldn't have imagined this scene a year ago. House had long ago accepted that he would be a solo act, a confirmed bachelor, unwilling or unable to make a relationship work.

Avery had somehow managed to get to him, letting him know he was safe with her. No one else had made him feel that way, and he supposed this was all he ever really wanted from someone, that feeling of safety and security that would allow him to take down the barriers he had imposed on his heart. As he had pointed out to Avery once, one couldn't create something that wasn't already there.

The revelation surprised him, although it shouldn't have. House had always been remarkably astute when it came to reading other people, but never wanted to turn that scrutiny on himself. He held Avery a little tighter, exhaling loudly. If he was truly safe with her, he had nothing to lose by sharing one more piece of history with her. Hell, he owed it to her.

Avery turned her head slightly at the noise, feeling his hard breath on the back of her neck. "What's on your mind, baby?"

"Just thinking." House kissed her neck and released her. She turned so that she faced him, looking at House with questioning eyes. He shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her steady gaze, shoving his left hand in his pocket. "I should have told you long before now…"

Avery folded her arms over her chest, trying to read House's face. "Can you start at the beginning of that thought, please?"

He lifted his chin, finally feeling brave enough to look Avery in the eye. "You know the dreams I've been having lately?"

"Yes?" Avery's heart started to pound a little. "What about them?"

House started pacing, suddenly nervous about revealing this piece of his past. "It's…complicated. I don't really know where to start."

She closed the small gap between them, reaching out to take his hand. "I know this is difficult for you. Take your time."

"You have no idea." He laughed darkly, stroking Avery's hand, feeling the sapphire and diamond ring that she still wore every day, the first symbol of their devotion to each other. House took a deep breath and continued. "The first time it happened, I was talking to Wilson as I was getting on the elevator. I had started seeing some shrink out of town, and he found out about it, gave me kind of a hard time about it. My vision kind of went fuzzy, and I heard Wilson tell me that I'd end up alone. I couldn't figure out why the hell he would say something like that."

Avery looked a bit alarmed, but encouraged House to continue, squeezing his hand a little tighter. "Not long after that, Kutner died. No signs, no warning, no nothing. It fucked me up. I was the guy with the answers, and there just…weren't any. I already didn't sleep much, and that just made it worse." House pulled away, afraid that he had already revealed too much. Oh well. It's about to be all out there now. Might as well see where it goes. "Before I knew it I started hallucinating, and those morphed into delusions. I ended up doing some time in the looney bin."

House's back was to Avery, and she could see his shoulders shaking. She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his back, feeling the shortness of his breathing. After a long silence, he finally spoke again. "The delusions, the hallucinations…they finally stopped. Now…they're showing up in my dreams, and it's scaring the shit out of me."

"Of course it is. It scares me, too." House's heart sank a little, even as Avery wrapped her arms tighter. "But you recognize it now. It means you can catch it, maybe…head it off, it you need to. Maybe it's nothing but a reaction to stress."

"Stress? Now that's crazy."

"No it's not. Think about it." Avery relaxed her grip, allowing House to turn around to face her. "In the last year, you've met this woman, started a relationship, and now you're looking at moving out of your bachelor pad and getting hitched. You mean to tell me that's not stressful? And don't even get me started on all the other craziness of this year."

House nodded slowly. There might be something to that. Good stress was still…stress. Maybe this was just how his crazy brain processed it. He leaned down for a small kiss. "So you're not worried about marrying a crazy man?"

Avery laughed heartily, giving him an affectionate look. "You're crazy, but only in the best way. We're still on for a date at an altar somewhere." She returned his kiss, placing a hand on his cheek. "I'm glad you told me. You're a brave soul, you know that?"

He shrugged. "I trust you. I don't want to hurt you. If something happened and you didn't know…I'm not sure I could live with myself."

I trust you. Sweeter words had rarely been spoken. Those three little words meant the world to Avery, more than any empty declaration of love could have. The fact that House had come right out with it spoke volumes about him…and them. Avery was stunned that he had revealed so much about that dark time in his life. It was more than she expected.

She wrapped herself tightly around him, a lump growing in her throat, emotion over House's revelation flowing over her. All she wanted to do now was take House in, shelter him, protect him. Of course, that would be impossible, and would serve no useful purpose, and he'd just bite her head off anyway if she tried. He wasn't looking for help. He just wanted someone to be there for him, without judging him. Avery was determined to be that person, to the best of her abilities.

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