A/N: I'm sorry that it took me a while to update this, but with the Easter-days and the Royal Wedding of course. So as you can see there wasn't much time for writing.

A special thanks to Pyewacket75 (If you haven't read any of her stories yet I strongly recommend that you do!) and Fanny-Wan Kenobi for being the only two people who reviewed the previous chapter!

Anyway enough of my rambling here's the next chapter…

They decided not to bring his stuff to his apartment, because it was late and House remembered there wasn't any power. He was gonna call the landlord tomorrow to tell him he was moving back in.

"How about we take a hot bath? My leg didn't exactly appreciate carrying the heavy bag." House said when they entered Annette's apartment.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, I could use a bath myself."

"Yeah, you stink." He hurried to the bathroom, but he still felt the pillow which hit the back of his head. He keeps forgetting that his girlfriend doesn't throw like a girl or Wilson.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying the big bathtub and later they went to bed where House mentioned that he was afraid of how his friendship to Wilson had changed.

Annette surprised him once again with her honest answers which did reassure him a little bit, it also meant a lot to him that he had this magnificent woman in his life. He was very honored to have his arms around her and to feel her silk like skin, for him it was the greatest feeling he had ever experienced.

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The next day was luckily House's day off, but he didn't sleep in like he usually does. He got up at 9, right after Annette had left for her morning run.

He called Lady and told her to clean his apartment and have it finished by the afternoon. His landlord called to say the power was back on and if there should be some problems House should give him a call.

Annette joined him for lunch and at two Lady called him and said she was finished.

So here they were at two thirty, House had the key and with a shaky hand he put it in the lock.

He noticed right away that the place had been cleaned. House looked around this place had been his sanctuary for so many years, but now it didn't feel right anymore. There were just too many bad memories. He moved here after Stacy had left him and it had all gone downhill from there, with him eventually ending up in Mayfield.

He looked to his right as he watched Annette take in his apartment. Normally he would have hated all the snooping and inspecting, but it was only fair. He had been snooping around in her apartment for over a month.

As Annette stepped further into the living room, House limped to his bedroom to empty the duffle-bag. He was just about to put his shirts in the dresser when he felt Annette slip her hands around his waist hugging him close and kissing his neck.

"I like it here, it's very you." She whispered and he felt her smile against his neck.

"It used to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Well this place is how I used to be. Everything in here just shows how alone I've been." He turned to face her.

"So you're gonna sell your apartment?"

"Yeah, it just doesn't feel like home anymore." He looked deeply into her eyes, trying to find the answer to his next question. Were they both ready both ready for this? He had been ready for this a long time ago, probably two weeks after they had met.

Just as he was about to ask the question Annette beat him to it.

"Since we're both looking for a place, why don't we look for one together?" His eyes widened, maybe she was ready for this. "Only if you want to of course." She said taking his reaction as doubt.

"Okay"

The smile that stretched across her face was like nothing he had ever seen and he couldn't help but to return it with one of his own rare smiles.

"Are you sure you are ready for this? You haven't seen me on my worst days yet."

"Don't worry I'm a doctor, I know you women get bitchy once a month." Annette laughed and hugged him close burying her face in his neck, God how she loved his scent it was so calming.

"Do you think we find something before the end of the year?" She asked the excitement already in her voice.

"I doubt it. Alone the process of finding the right place and then signing the contracts can take up to a month."

"Whoa, we're getting a house?"

"Well we need a bedroom, guestroom and you need an office for your work. I just thought it would be easier if we get a house… and maybe something without any stairs." He tried to add that last part as a joke, because he could already see that she had something else in mind.

"I wanted to rent an apartment, I don't have enough money saved for a house." She stepped back from him and took a seat on the bed.

House knew that money and doing stuff on her own was important to her, so he had to be careful what he told her. He couldn't just tell her that he would pay, that's exactly how her father treated her. But he also had to come up with something, otherwise she would suggest that maybe they weren't ready to move in together.

He thought of all this while slowly limping towards the bed and took a seat next to her staring at the same wall.

"We could look at apartments and houses if you want?"

"But I don't have enough money for something for the both of us."

"That's okay. We use the money we get from selling my apartment and then we split the rest in half."

"But you'll still be paying more than me." She sighed and then she frowned "Do I really sound as pathetic as I think I do?"

"Yes you do."

She slapped his forearm "You're not helping…" She smiled nonetheless.

"Okay how about this then, we'll look at houses and apartments and when we find something then we'll worry about money."

"You're right we're talking about this like we've already bought a house."

"Now that we both agree can we get to the celebration part of this happy moment?"

Annette chuckled "What did you have in mind?" Like she didn't know already…