Another month had passed and Stacy was slowly but surely falling into a deep depression. Mark and her had spoken at least 4 times in the past week, mostly because he was never home, but when he did say something to her it usually came out sharp and to the point, or maybe just a 'hey'. Jacklyn and herself were becoming friends and would go out, whenever Jacklyn could get her out of the house or office of course.

Tonight was one of those nights and Stacy was just finishing getting ready, her clothes were dressy but not overly. She touched her cross while looking herself over in the mirror, she'd done a fairly good job at hiding the dark circles under her eyes but they still looked a little bloodshot. The week had gone by and the total of between five to six hours of sleep was really taking its toll, she'd managed to eat but, usually whenever she looked at food now there was a little sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her skin was a little pale and her smoking had increased to about 5 cigarettes a day. To say the least, she was a mess, but she kept her head high, hoping that things would get better.

He came across her thoughts at least once every five minutes, and some how it was helping her get through the day. She still couldn't figure it out, she thought it was what he wanted, what they both wanted. To be together, she didn't want to be protected, she wanted to take a chance and be with him, make her own choices. She made a mistake the first time and she was tired of paying for it, but that was where the fear came in, not knowing what to do about it really didn't help either. She couldn't just show up at his house and ask for him to be with her again. Could she?

There was a loud banging at the door and Stacy straightened herself up, trying to look halfway excited. When she opened the door Jacklyn squealed and threw her arms around Stacy.

"Aren't you excited," Jacklyn gasped, stepping back. "You just won your first important case"

Stacy looked confused for a minute. Case? What case?--- OH! The Websters case, right, very important. She should be jumping with excitement.

"I am just, have a lot to do tomorrow, lots of errands to run, plus I'm really tired."

"Oh, I bet you are, how long were you working on it 3 weeks?" Jacklyn asked. Stacy nodded and grabbed her coat, plastering on a fake smile.

"Where we going?" She asked.

"Just a little place to celebrate, Where's Mark?"

"Oh, boys night out, you know how it is"

"Men," Jacklyn scoffed, "probably off guzzling beer and eating pork rinds somewhere"

Stacy laughed and shut the door behind her, "Probably," She agreed.

They climbed into Jacklyn's explorer, switching radio stations and making small talk the whole way there. When they finally pulled up to a place called Frosty's Bar and Grill, Stacy's first thought was Margaritas, and lots of them. She got out and followed Jacklyn in, they sat at the bar and Jacklyn smiled at her.

"Thought you could use a break," She said.

"You thought right, good thing you drove"

The bartender came over and they ordered a couple drinks, mostly listening to the music playing in the background. A guy with dirty, ratty old clothes came over and tried to hit on Jacklyn, Stacy watched as Jacklyn cringed at the man. He had cavity filled teeth and greasy blond hair, his breath smelt like something died and his B.0 was so strong it could have killed a plant.

"Get away from me, moron" Jacklyn said, rolling her eyes and giving an 'what an idiot' face to Stacy.

"I got a truck" He said, gruffly, pressing himself against her.

"And I have a SUV, my how many different kinds of vehicles there are."

The man chuckled and leaned into her ear, "you know you cant resist all this," he whispered.

Jacklyn raised her eyebrows and snorted, "Yeah because your just so clean and cut."

He paid her no attention and tried to go in for a kiss, she pushed him away. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled. The bartender came over and looked the man square in the eye.

"Hey buddy, leave the lady alone before I kick your a out, got it?"

The man raised his hands up in surrender and walked away, but not before winking at Jacklyn. Stacy looked at him and then rolled her eyes.

"What a dumba," She said.

"I know," Jacklyn agreed, making a disgusted face. She sighed and turned back to the bar.

"He probably still lives with his mom"

"Yeah," Stacy said, sipping her drink. Jacklyn looked at her and quirked and eyebrow.

"Okay, why don't you save us some time and tell me whats wrong,"

Stacy glanced in her direction and then back to her drink, "Nothings wrong."

"Yes there is, I've seen you, you barely eat, your tired all the time and that isn't just from working on a case, your a little pale and don't think I don't know about the circles under your eyes."

Stacy gave a low chuckle and looked at Jacklyn, "Can't get anything past you can I," She asked. Jacklyn gave a warm smile and shook her head. "Now spill," She commanded.

"Secret?" Stacy asked, thinking it may be better if she told someone.

"Secret," Jacklyn confirmed. With a long contented sigh Stacy began.

"There was this guy, brilliant doctor, he could diagnose anything, just really good. He had these crystal blue eyes and short brown hair, kind of a ruff looking bad boy face going on, it was all stubbly and scratchy but just, drop dead sexy. He acted like a bad boy but deep down he was a big softie." She stopped to give a little laugh. "He'd deny ever bit of that if he heard it, but its true."

"Did you live with him? Were you married?" Jacklyn asked.

"The first date was disastrous, he kept trying to be someone he wasn't and once in awhile he would spit out these sarcastic lines and give all these analogy's, it would give me a glimpse of who he really was, it just didn't go very well, but the second one, it was at a bar. Before we even sat down I told him to cut the crap and show me who he really was, he gave kind of a half sneer and sat down, ended up telling almost everything, like he kept it locked inside for the longest time." Stacy said with another chuckle.

"So----what happened?" Jacklyn asked.

"We lived together for five years the first four were just amazing, great sex, great listener, turns out he even liked to cuddle."

A giggle bubbled out of Jacklyn and she took another sip of her drink. "You said the first four, what happened in five?"

Stacy bit her bottom lip and felt a wave of sadness pass over her, bleakly, she began to explain about the infarction, all the guilt and pain, House's pushing her away. Then how she came back after 5 years, wanting House to treat Mark and the night at the hotel and House's place. She was in tears when she finished and Jacklyn wrapped an arm around her, giving a half-hug.

"Hey," Jacklyn said, "we should get out of here and go watch some movies, at my place."

Stacy laughed, and wiped her eyes with a tissue. "what about Brice?"

"Oh, he's off at some dumb monster truck show," Jacklyn smiled. Stacy laughed again, suddenly she had a pretty good idea of what House was doing tonight. "Are you sure," She asked.

"Of course, now come on."

The paid the tab and grabbed their coats it was a little chilly outside for a night in July but scorching hot during the day.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, what kind of movies do you have?"

"All kinds, chickflics, and Si Fi, I've got ET"

Stacy smiled and followed her out, they were almost to the car when they both felt cold metal against their backs.