Allison got out of the shower and made her way back to her temporary bedroom. She heard the quiet mumblings of House and Wilson in the kitchen and sighed. House could still rattle her, though she tried her best not to show it. She had to find a way to co-exist with him. If she wanted anything to do with Wilson, she obviously had to figure that out. But House could confuse her, play with her emotions, throw her off balance like no other.
She locked her bedroom door, moving to go through her clothes and figure out what to wear. She figured she was on her own the rest of the day and that she'd visit some of her old haunts here in Princeton. Not that she wanted or particularly cared for a trip down memory lane, but she didn't want to spend the rest of the day hiding out at Wilson's, impatiently waiting for him to come back from his "date" with House. She settled on jeans and a shirt over a tank top. Finishing dressing, she brushed her hair, still damp from the shower. She decided to rejoin the men, refusing to let House get the best of her.
"See, Wilson, she didn't crawl out the window to get away from us! She did have a shower!" House declared.
"I can see that, House. Very astute observation out of you, considering she's standing right there." Wilson said.
"I'm in the room and can hear you guys, you do know that, right?" Allison spoke.
"Of course we know. It wouldn't be near as much fun talking about you if you weren't listening."
"House, play nice. I'm not going to ask again." Wilson said, finally seeming to grow a bit of a backbone when it came to House needling Allison.
House looked between the two, seeming to realize for the first time that there was something deeper going on between the two of them, more than just a physical relationship. He found that this bothered him, a lot more than it should. Even when Cameron had been with Chase, he'd always felt that he had a hold on her, that if he'd shown her any attention, she would have come to him, forgetting her vows. But here, looking at her with Wilson, he knew that whatever hold he'd had on her was gone.
"Of course, Wilson. Anything for my friends." With that, House shut up and poured syrup on his pancakes.
Allison couldn't help but feel that something had gone down between the two men, and Allison had won out. Surprisingly.
"I made extra, if you want some. You didn't eat very much before." Wilson said to her, getting a plate out of the cupboard to put pancakes on it for her. She thought that was a very sweet gesture. She smiled, taking the plate from him.
"Thank you. They look great." She sat at the table across from House, James joining her shortly, sitting beside her.
The tension lessened as they concentrated on their food, a welcome relief for James. It seemed like every woman he was with was going to be challenged by his friendship with House. He'd hoped that Allison would be able to handle it, she'd been getting quite good at it before she'd left Princeton. But she'd still ran. He hoped that they could be strong enough together.
It wasn't long til the meal was finished and House surprised them all.
"I'll take my leave of you two lovebirds for now. I'll be back at five, Wilson. Be ready and bring your wallet. You're buying me supper." House headed for the door, leaving the pair staring after him with their mouths ajar. This was definitely not expected from him.
When the door closed, Allison found her voice. "What just happened? Why did he leave? For that matter, if the rally isn't til tonight, why'd he show up at 7:30 in the morning? Wait, don't answer that. I know that one. He wanted to catch us doing something. Which he did."
"I spoke with him while you were showering. I told him to lay off." James took her hands in his. "I don't know how strongly you feel about this thing between us, Allison, but I really want to give this a shot. But we both know that any relationship with each other is going to involve being in House's orbit. And I need to know if you are going to be strong enough to handle it. It's something not many women can."
She looked into the brown eyes, looking at her so sweetly, hoping she'd give him the answer he needed. She wanted to think she could withstand the assault on her that was sure to come if she continued with this. These were all things she'd thought of and dreaded since they'd fallen into this relationship.
"I want to try, you know I do. I thought I was strong enough to withstand him, but now, I don't know if I can. He can get under my skin still. And I hate that."
"So, are you saying this is it? That we're through?" Wilson stiffened. He'd thought she'd meant what she'd said, that she really wanted to give it a shot between the two of them. But the way she was talking, it sounded as if they might be over. His heart started to break a little bit.
"No, no. I'm not saying that at all. God, James, this is so much harder than I thought it would be! I thought I'd put it behind me. He walks in here and he knows just what to say to get to me. But I walked away before I said something I'd regret. Because you mean a lot to me. And I do want to try. You don't want to give this up, do you? Do you think I can't handle it?" Allison started to feel her heart sink. She didn't want to give this up without a proper shot at it.
James looked at her, her green eyes looking at him with panic in them. Without thinking about it, he cupped her chin with his hand and leaned in, giving a kiss that lessened her panic. "I don't want to give this up. I think you can handle it, you knew that seeing him for the first time in so long was going to be hard. You don't want to give up, do you? I don't, Allison, I really don't. I don't know why it took so long for us to finally come together, but now that we are, I want to give this a fair chance. But we have to work through the fact that House is a part of our lives, part of my life. And I don't want to fall any deeper into something and you can't handle it."
That stung Allison somewhat. It was a valid argument, but it still stung her. She looked at him, hope and fear in his eyes, as if he was watching a chance at happiness slip away from him and there was nothing he could do about it. It was then that Allison realized it just wasn't strong feelings she was having for him, she was falling in love with him. And that made her resolve to try solidify. She was falling in love with James Wilson and she wanted to hang on for the ride, not give up, not run. She wanted to stay with him.
"I'm not going to run, James. I'm tired of running when my life gets tough. I can handle this, I can."
He looked at her, hoping he could believe her. He'd had enough of his heart being broken, enough of losing another chance at happiness. He wanted to believe her more than anything. This time, Allison was the one to come closer, capturing his lips with hers. The seriousness of their conversation was forgotten momentarily, as the kiss lead to something more, the continuation of the activities that House had interrupted earlier. Afterwards, laying together, Allison curled up beside him, dozing, James could only hope that she'd want to stay like this with him for a long time. A very long time.