A/N: Again, apologies for a not-so long or very exciting chapter, but hope you like it all the same. Many thanks for kind reviews!

Disclaimer: Still don't own House MD, but i'm working on it.

HOUSE MD

She stood nervously outside his door. Nervous, but prepared. She looked reasonably good, she stood well, and had this all planned out in her head. She would make it clear she was still leaving, but would appologise for fighting with him andthenleave with a clear conscience. No bickering, nobetrayingany emotion, no getting hurt. She took a beath of the night air and knocked on the door in front of her. Yet as soon as his gaze met hers she could barely even remember how to spell 'plan'.

He opened the door wide enough for her to enter his home for the second time. He tried to register his emotions. The bitter aftertaste from their previous fight still remained, but he was glad to see her. He wished a little that it wasn't in his home, that he wasn't so vulnerable to inspection, but most of all he was tired. He didn't feel like fighting with Cameron. He really wanted nothing more than to just bury the events of the past few days into his subconscious and go back to a less complicated existence.

She was anxious; she couldn't really gage his mood towards her. She felt like it was indifference, but hoped it wasn't. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, maybe he had really meant what he had said; maybe he hadn't expected to see her again, or at least for a long time. Perhaps he had, but wasn't relieved to see her. No, that couldn't be it, could it?

He closed the door and walked back to the centre of the room, trying to think of a conversation starter. He hated formalities. He decided instead to pour himself a drink and wait for her to speak. She let out a soft sigh at seeing him start to procrastinate and figured he was waiting for her to make the first move.

"I'm sorry," she began finally. "I didn't plan to argue with you the other day. I hadn't planned on seeing you at all."

"You thought I'd just let you leave." It was more of a statement than a question, but she answered anyway.

"Well, yes. I thought you made it clear that you wantedme to just go to Jefferson."

"I said that because we were in a heated debate." He glared at her.

"In an argument" She corrected. There was a brief pause.

"So it doesn't work when you try to leave, and it doesn't work when I try to stop you. Perhaps we need a different solution." House replied in a dismissive tone, finishing his drink and setting the class on a table.

"Such as?" She was cautious but willing to engagewith himif it meant that they weren't fighting.

"Well, I'mprepared to forget the whole event and have things go back to the way they were."

"The way they were was kind of weird." She admitted light-heartedly.

"Weird, works for me" his response was playful, but she felt herself slipping slightly; becoming more comfortable in his company. She needed to remind herself she was leaving. She needed to remind him.

"And I work for Yule." Her unusually drab remark had thrown him, but only a little.

"Why are you here?" he asked sternly.

"I…didn't want us to finish on bad terms." she replied, a little taken aback by his tone.

"The fact that you left puts us immediately on bad terms. You want us to be okay? Come back." He was frustrated, and getting angrier.

"I can't." she couldn't believe they were drifting into another argument.

"Why, because I'm so terrible to be around? Because you're so infatuated that you can't be in the same room as me? If that were true you wouldn't be here tonight." He walked closer to her. "So what's really keeping you from coming back? Are you holding out for a better deal? You want more money, better parking space? Or are you just looking to make attachments with all specialist doctors in the county and then leave them hanging dry?"

She turned to make her way to the door; she didn't need this. She came over her to apologise, despite not being the person who actually needed to apologise, and this is the way he acts towards her. He is abrasive and rude and everything she is glad to be leaving behind. And if she could only really make herself believe that then leaving wouldn't be half as hard.

"Wait." House's hand reached out to grab her as she turned, stopping her from leaving.

She paused, and turned a little more towards him, but still not facing him fully. His move was unexpected, and his firm grip on her arm was more than enough to make her heart skip a little faster, however clichéd it was.

"Stay." His tone was deadly sincere, and he kept her gaze. "Please."

She felt her anger melt, and knew that she couldn't refuse him. He had finally shown something to her, even if it wasn't really in words. But she wanted more than that. She didn't want this to be the only time she got any emotion out of him. She was taking a risk in asking for more, he might refuse, but she felt the odds were in her favour.

The silence was terrifying, not that he was letting it show. What was she thinking? Why didn't she answer him? This was a bad idea, he shouldn't have said anything, should have let her leave. God, he was turning soft. Perhaps Wilson was right; perhaps she had rubbed off on him. He kept her gaze, waiting patiently for her to either accept, or reject him.

"Dinner." She answered finally, throwing him for the second time. He let go of her arm, missing the warmth slightly, and painted a confused expression on his face, leading her to elaborate.

"Dinner. My terms of re-employment. And not just a meal between two colleagues. A date."

"You'll come back to work if I'll go out on a date with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay." He answered like it was nothing; as if it was something he did every weekend. She smiled, and the tension of the moment eased only a little, preceding a comfortable pause.

"I should go if I'm going to get up for work in the morning."

"Work, right. Don't be late." he teased.

"I won't." she responded. He walked forward and opened the door for her, an unusual end to an unusual conversation. Her brain was racing to catch up with everything that had just happened, everything they, everything she, had said. Hadn't she just blackmailed him into a date? Panic filled her as she reached the door, this wasn't her intention; she didn't want to force him into this. Although a date is what she has wanted, maybe he'd be even more closed off towards her if he felt obliged to go. She should tell him it was okay to call it off, that she'd come back to work anyway even if he said 'No' to the date.

"House…"

He shuffled awkwardly and sighed at seeing her mind go in to overdrive. He decided to settle her nerves a little.

"It's late. Stop thinking. Go home." He smiled. It worked; she smiled back, reassured, and he closed the door behind her as she left. Now all he had to do was reassure himself.