There should have been a spring in House's step, but his gate was laboured as he left the car. Kelly was concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Damn thing's driving me nuts."

"I'm not surprised." Her voice wasn't accusing and he took her acknowledgment in stride. "I haven't seen you take anything for the last little while."

"I might be an idiot, but I don't drive stoned."

"You practice medicine stoned."

"That's different; I'm a creative thinker when I'm hopped up, and I hire people to do the cutting and poking." He took out the bottle of Vicodin and stopped to open it.

She put a hand on his arm. "How are you at making out stoned?"

"Better than you might think," he quipped, but didn't raise the pills to his lips. "I don't have to take them..." He had offered expecting her blessing and was not pleased when she hesitated and got a funny look on her face. She had never said a word about his drug dependance and he found himself shutting down at the very thought that it might finally be addressed.

Then she sneezed, twice. "Sorry. And don't be stupid; take your meds. I'm used to kissing Stoned-House. It'd be weird to make out with Sober-House."

He took one and returned the other to the bottle, relieved and content. "Let's try for half-stoned, and see how it goes. Lead on."

They used the downstairs entrance, and House made his way to the living area and settled heavily onto the couch, reaching for the remote.

"No way," she told him. "First of all, brush your teeth. Secondly, we can watch TV but I get to choose the show. Thirdly...you should change out of those shorts and into something with a little more room."

He smirked at her proudly. "Dirty, dirty girl."

Each of them spent extra time in the bathroom; Kelly even grabbed her toiletries and went upstairs to her parents en suite to prepare herself. It was almost 30 minutes later when they met again, clean smelling and with fresh breath. House had trimmed his beard and shaved around it. Kelly ran a straightener through her hair and reapplied her lip gloss. House purposely mussed his hair because he knew she liked it that way. Kelly changed her clothes, putting on more layers so he would have some to take off. House didn't change his clothes, not even his shorts, because he knew he looked good. Kelly was full of nervous energy. House was full of excited energy.

In short, they were being ridiculous. And as soon as they sat down together, they realized it and laughed it off.

"How's your leg?" He had returned first and was laying on the couch, so she lifted both his legs and sat under them, holding them across her lap. She pushed up his shorts and dug practiced fingers into his thigh.

"I'll live. So, what are we watching?"

She settled on a station that was airing three episodes of 'Friends' back to back. Neither of them were particular fans, but then it didn't really matter.

Suitably relaxed, House sat up and reclined his section of the couch before patting the space beside him. She went to him easily and tucked herself into his side, sighing contentedly when his arms went around her and his head rested atop hers.

Kelly would have remained content if that was as far as it had went, but a deal was a deal. She would HAVE to make out with the handsome doctor who looked and smelled and felt so good in that moment. Oh, the trials she endured. Turning slightly, her lips found his neck and the TV was forgotten.

House found the whole thing rather strange and foreign. The pacing was different because the goal was much different than he was used to. He had no intention of attempting to sway her from her pronouncement that this would not end with sex, because he knew that even if he succeeded she would be plenty pissed after the fact. But when was the last time for him that making out hadn't been simply foreplay? He couldn't remember.

He liked it. With her, at least. And realized that she was probably right in what she'd said that morning about his need for intimacy more than sex.

Mind you, he stopped thinking about that fairly quickly when she straddled him.

Kelly's mind was blissfully calm as she took the lead, settling onto his lap and threading her fingers through his hair as she claimed his mouth again. She laughed at the frustrated noise he made when he discovered the layers.

"You think this is going to stop me?"

"I know you like a challenge, that's all." It was all laughable, really. Just that morning they'd been naked in the shower together, and yet now they were both excited as his hands caressed her stomach and sides and finally brushed the underside of her breast through four layers of clothing.

He unzipped the thin sweatshirt she was wearing and slipped his hands inside to pull her closer, gasping when her teeth raked seductively over his ear lobe. His body's response was immediate and she shifted to accommodate.

Her sweater found the floor and so did the shirt underneath, leaving her in a tight black tank top with her pink bra straps visible. His lips found her bare shoulders and with his hands he cupped her breasts unabashedly.

She shifted again, causing him to inhale sharply. At first she thought it was a gasp of pleasure, but when his hands grabbed her hips and lifted her away she understood. "Oh, your leg! Sorry; I forgot." With some difficulty she extracted herself and sat across him instead of on him, her back leaning against the plush armrest and her legs bent over his lap.

"Thank you," he mumbled before kissing her again, his hand skimming over the skin of her calf exposed under the hem of her capris.

Everything was going along just fine until House's exploring hand trailed up her calf and past her thigh. Kelly immediately brought their activities to a halt and chastised him playfully. "Hey, now. I said I wouldn't kill you when you tried to steal third, but I didn't say I'd allow it."

"That's not third," he told her, leaning in to kiss her again and returning his hand to its destination. "That's second."

"No it's not!" she insisted, pushing him away. "You east coast men have some crazy ideas."

"I promise you it's second!" And then he went on to outline, rather graphically, his understanding of the base system.

"Whoa. Okay, that is NOT right, and definitely not what I was agreeing to."

"I swear I'm on the level!"

"Let's not fight. The Internet will know the truth," she said solemnly, reaching behind her to un-recline the recliner and getting to her feet.

"Yes, let's let the Internet decide." It was an easy concession since he imagined the Internet would MORE than side with him. And it meant moving to her room where her computer was.

House stood behind her as she sat at her desk and called up a search engine. She was choosing a result when he noticed something that he realized in retrospect he probably shouldn't have mentioned until later... or not at all. "You're not wearing your rings." Her wedding and engagement rings were always on her finger or worn on a necklace. Now her neck and fingers were bare.

He knew he'd made a mistake when her whole body seemed to stiffen. "Sorry," he said quickly, his hands going to her shoulders and gently kneading. "It's none of my business."

Kelly ordered her body and mind to relax but was less than successful. Her decision to remove her rings before their rendezvous hadn't been analyzed but it had been conscious. There was a part of her that felt it wouldn't be right to wear them. Now through his innocent observation she was questioning herself. Focus. "Don't worry about it. So, do we let Wikipedia decide? 'Baseball metaphors for sex'?"

"That seems fair." He sensed the change in her but didn't want to push just then for an explanation. He wasn't one to 'talk about it', anyway, but he did feel that some things needed to be said. He leaned in close to read over her shoulder.

"Oh, my word!" she exclaimed. "Okay, when I was growing up, that was NOT -"

His tone was playfully condescending as he interrupted. "When you were growing up, kids weren't having sex yet."

"Oh yeah?" she countered. "Well, when YOU were growing up, sex hadn't been INVENTED yet." She snapped her laptop shut and got to her feet. "I'm sorry, but I don't care what Wikipedia says."

"We had a verbal contract," he reminded her coyly, pinning her against the desk.

"Which I'm declaring invalid based on misunderstanding of the terms." She was smiling when she ducked under his arm and escaped him, but they both knew her reasons for forcing the separation: now thinking of Mark, she was no longer in the mood. "I have some phone calls I should really make..."

"Don't," he warned her. "Don't shut down on me. Come on, let's go watch a movie or something. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself."

The look she gave him was wary, but she didn't deny him. "Okay. I'll be right there."

'The Prisoner of Azkaban' was queuing up when she flopped down beside him. "I have you hooked on Harry Potter. Admit it."

"I'll admit nothing." He was glad to see that she hadn't added any clothes to her ensemble; her shoulders were still bare and rather than recoiling she relaxed into him when he ran his hand down her naked arm, drawing her closer.

And when his hand reached her fingers and found her rings back where they belonged, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.