This chapter's a bit short, but I thought it was a good place to stop :) ...Hope you like

Chapter 2

In hindsight, Lisa decided, the roof was not the best place to go at eleven o'clock on a chilly December night. However, it had been quite a different story when she had first flung open the door to gasp in a lungful of winter air; achieving both relief, feeling fresh and clean, and pain as it stabbed at her insides like icy needles. At the time, she had been almost feverish with heat. She had forgotten what kissing Greg House did to her. It made her body tingle, so alive and hot, like nothing else she'd ever known, her core molten and her skin on fire, even worse in places where it was in contact with his. It had taken all her self-control to remain focussed in the brief aftermath when her eyes had locked with his (even that contact stirred fire low in her belly) and she had accomplished a cool appearance of assurance as she stalked out of the room, waiting until she was out of range of sight before dashing the rest of the way upstairs.

And still, as she shivered, leaning against the cold concrete of the waist-high wall at the roof's edge, she felt the subtle sting of stubble burns around her mouth. Even with the cold wind whipping around her, she couldn't escape the heat.

She never could.

And she had to keep her distance or risk being consumed by it.

The sky was clear of cloud cover and Lisa found the stars a beautiful distraction from both the cold and her thoughts. A childlike fascination and comfort in the millions of twinkling lights overhead. She found she actually managed to catch a few seconds of peace and freedom, the wine in her system a possible aid in this short lived feeling. That's all it ever was: short lived, momentary…And then it was broken by, possibly, the least welcome sound in the world at that moment; a sound her ears had become incredibly sensitive to, trained to pick it up…The soft clicking of a cane as it ascended the steps to the roof. A flood of emotion hit her and she wanted to cry. So she laughed, a throaty chuckle, and the door swung open with a creak to reveal…a white lab coat, swaying in the breeze, hanging on said cane.

" Go away, House." Amazingly, her voice was steady. His scruffy head popped absurdly into view offering a pouting bottom lip and sad puppy-dog eyes. She sighed, " This is how you use your lab coat?"

" I couldn't find a white flag…I thought a piece of paper would be boring."

" You're right, it would."

" I could still use my shirt." his eyebrows danced. " Might be a bit cold, though."

Lisa bit her lip. She would not laugh; she would not encourage him. No matter what…images his suggestion had brought to mind…

" And before you order me from your sight again, boss lady," she watched him shuffle foreword, still holding the walking aid and lab coat out awkwardly, like a flag, so the rest of him came into view and she could see what he was holding in his other hand, " I come baring a peace offering." House waved the bottle of wine enticingly at her and began to make his way over to where she was leaning.

" Let me guess, you-"

" -stole it? Pff! Hardly counts as stealing, the catering staff are idiots."

" Since I'm assuming it wasn't a quick getaway, they'd have to be."

She saw him grin in appreciation at her humour as he settled himself next to her, purposely invading her personal space…however, she couldn't bring herself to move away. She told herself it was because he was partially blocking the wind.

She had, so far, managed to sustain a disapproving frown on her face at his antics, but when he cradled the wine possessively to his chest and offered her his lab coat as, what seemed like, a consolation prize Lisa had to grin, shaking her head and covered her eyes with a hand momentarily.

" You're unbelievable." She took the coat off him.

" That is what they say." He produced a cork screw from his pocket, " Though, you would know, wouldn't you?"

There was a pop, and he took a swig. She watched the muscles in his throat move under the stubble, turning away before he noticed, feeling that strange sensation of heat within and cold without. Especially when he turned his gaze on her. House's singular contemplative gaze which she'd had focussed on her many times in the past. And at many of those times, just like now, his mind was a closed book to her and she had no idea what he was thinking. The rest of the time, she usually had a vague idea. His eyes, tonight, held less of his usual icy, piercing stare and more of a softer, liquid quality; but still, focussing on her intensely. She shivered, and this time it had nothing to do with the cold.

So she forced herself to break the moment, but neither could pretend it hadn't happened. She reached out for the wine bottle, still in his clutches,

" Mine. Now."

House smirked, " Or what? You gonna turn that hot, dangerous mouth on me again? Punish me with your wicked wiles?"

She nearly groaned; it had to come up sooner or later, she had just hoped to delay the inevitable for a little longer, " You kissed me!"

" But you kissed me back." Lisa found she couldn't retaliate, couldn't form a feasible excuse or denial and watched that smug grin of his grow, " And you're not denying it."

The silence, she found, was a physical form in the short space between them, crammed full of the things that weren't being said; everything they had ever said and done to each other; memories of the both of them: younger, happier, the arguments and chemistry between them all the talk around campus…And emotion, and want, and his face, now so serious; and the need to fully close the diminishing gap between them, and the years spent without the feel of his body against hers crashing down on her, and she reached for him in the same moment as he did for her.

TBC