The next day, Jimmy helpfully woke me up an hour before I was supposed to be at work. I was facedown on my bed, drooling over half my pillow, when he flicked me on the arch of my foot like those annoying doctors do to babies. I sympathize with you, o drowsy babies of the world. I promise not to flick your feet anymore unless I'm moderately sure you're already dead or dying.

And with that morbid thought, I groaned myself into another sunny day, wondering how the hell Jimmy had persuaded me to let him stay over. Then I fumbled blearily for my cane, to have him hand it and a plate with something egg-ish and fluffy to me. Oh, I remember - our Jimmy's the perfect housewife, so I had been the one to suggest he stay over.

"Why am I up this early?" turned into "Why am I eating really good eggs?" on the way to my mouth. He was already cleaning up the kitchen (which I do, in fact, keep moderately clean, thank-you-so-much) and didn't answer. Duh. I scrambled to my feet and hopped in the shower, singing an obnoxiously garbled version of Singin' in the Rain for Jimmy's enjoyment. As I stepped out and grabbed my cane from where it stood against the wall, I saw a strategically placed razor and a towel next to it. Damn Jimmy and his plans to make me shave every week. I shrugged and picked it up anyway - I might as well cater to the fool's last wishes.

Whistling on my way out of my room, haphazardly dressed, I bumped into Jimmy in the hallway and winked. "Morning, Cinderella."

"Are you Sleeping Beauty, then?" he rolled his eyes, grinning that impish grin that always made me think of pulling a prank on someone. Yum, the souls of the innocent.

I leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "Only if you really think I'm a beauty."

He brushed past me, doing something busy, and I chuckled as I scrounged around in my living room from my shoes. I could hear him in the next room, so I raised my voice. "Tell me again why I'm up this early?"

"It takes twenty minutes to drive there. You have five more to get out the door."

"Ew, but then I'll be on time," I whined. "I don't wanna!"

He came into the room, a tie hanging from his hand. "You're a child." I winced as I slipped my sneakers on, and leaned away when he tried to wrap the tie around my neck. "And you're going to wear a tie today, for once in your life."

I sighed and let him knot it for me, taking a guilty pleasure in the attention and the careful fingers that were tucking the silk under my miraculously straight collar. "Mmm, I bet I look pretty as a picture," I grumbled sarcastically. "You'd be a great mom."

He paused for a moment, debating something, and the smiled as he started fidgeting with my clothes. "I'd make a better mom than Julia, that's for sure."

My hands came up to stop his, and he look at me with a question. I cut him off, since he couldn't have anything more important to say than I did. "So you're okay now?" With the divorce. I didn't dare say the d-word around him.

"You're the one that said I should be used to it by now," he said, evading the question. I let it go, and started heading for the door, Jimmy following me with minor worries.

Hand on the doorknob, I turned back to look at him. "You can hang out here as long as you like, if your apartment seems too cagey." He still had another day off work, after all. "But you can't make prank calls from my phone; every old lady in the city recognizes it on caller ID."

He looked around at the debris that had collected since the last time I'd felt move enough to try my hand with a vacuum cleaner. "I'm sure the rabid animals in your carpet will keep me busy."

I laughed, my honest, Jimmy's-done-something-cute sort of chuckling. "You know," I started, catching his eye, "I really do love you."

Damn. It.

His smile dropped immediately, and I walked out the door and hopped on my bike. Oops.

I ran into Chase and Cameron in the front lobby on their way in, and they both gawked. "House? What're you doing here?" the British (heehee) little upstart asked.

I slowed down, waving in the general direction of the rest of the hospital. "I work here. Remember me from two days ago? All the fun times we've had?"

"No, what are you doing here this early?" Cameron asked, crossing her arms. "And why are you wearing a tie?"

"Someone woke me up on time, and demanded I wear a tie, okay?" I signed in and started walking past them with no further explanation, and I just knew they were still staring as Cuddy fell into step next to me. "Hello, pretty lady, are you my mommy?" I winced as it reminded me of the conversation earlier.

"Something's wrong."

"A new case? Did someone break out in inexplicable hives after seeing one of your old videos from your mud-wrestling days?"

"House." I stopped and turned to her, keeping my eyes on the wall. "You're dressed. If your own mother ordered you into a tie, you wouldn't do it."

"How would you know?"

"I've tried it," she bit out.

I remembered my mother calling me up one day and casually mentioning my disregard for the dress code. "Gasp, that was you? I thought she was just being overly interested in my daily life again."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just tell me who, so I can shake their hand."

"I don't kiss and tell," I said, sticking my tongue out at her. She huffed and stalked off, shaking her head. "Bye-bye, pretty lady," I whistled under my breath.

Wilson ran into my office a minute after I sat down. "You ass!"

"Hello to you, too, sweetie."

He pointed an incriminating finger at me. "I can't believe this. You would go this far just to screw with me?"

I'd do a lot to screw with you, I thought to myself.I stood up, wanting to be on equal ground, and said, "You don't believe me?"

"Of course not!" He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his eyes. "You lie about everything, if it'll get a reaction out of a person. You once told me my dog had 'accidentally gotten underfoot' of your car."

I scoffed, "That was three years ago."

"You abducted him for a week! I was getting ready to have a little funeral for him!"

I watched him for a moment, the Jimmy grin creeping back across my face. Better not to say anything, right?

He stepped closer, hands in fists, glaring. "You're an inconsiderate bastard! You can't tell someone you love them just for a laugh. It's not right! Especially not right after they get out of divorce court!"

I couldn't stop myself. "I figured I'd catch you on the rebound."

He looked like he was having an apoplectic fit. I shifted my weight and opened my mouth to say something else, but his fist helpfully closed it again. And then he left, slamming the door on his way out.

I was so, so, so tempted to end this chapter after the 'I really do love you' thing. Be happy. It would have helped the suspense, hmm? So great, though! I started giggling!