First fight! I will admit, this one was difficult. I had some trouble coming up with a good reason for their fight. Once I started writing though, it all poured out. Thanks again to my good friend HappyDaysAreHereAgain for her great help! The song is Woman by John Lennon. Enjoy!

Stacy stomped into the apartment and slammed the door behind her. Angrily, she put down the bags and snatched off her coat, striding into the apartment.

"What the hell was that?" She demanded, coming in between House and the television set. House grumbled and lifted his gaze upwards to a very agitated Stacy.

"What was it?" She demanded again, her hands on her hips and her mouth set in a determined, angry line. House sat up, anger starting to boil inside of him as well. This wasn't his entire fault.

"I wasn't the one who completely ditched the other for 48 hours without warning." He retorted, his attention entirely focused on the woman in front of him as he sized her up.

"It was purely business!" She exclaimed, gesturing with her arms in the air. "I even called you when I got into the hotel."

House snorted. "At one in the morning. What were you doing all night?"

Stacy exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down. Things had been going rough lately. Issues with money had started appearing left and right, and she thought if she grabbed the chance in Denver things might've gotten better, but boy, was she wrong.

And at the moment, she wasn't going to admit she'd been out drinking all night, desperately searching for a way to think of anything but the man defying her right now.

"I'm going to go take a smoke," She muttered, grabbing her purse and storming off without even bothering to unpack her suitcase.

A few days earlier, Stacy had been at work when a great case had come up – despite the fact she'd have to go to Colorado for a day or two. The decision had to be made instantly, and she's accepted on the spur of the moment. Without time to call House at the hospital, she packed her bags excitedly and sped off to the airport, meaning to inform him somehow.

Things hadn't been so great between them, either. With a slow income pouring in, House had become quite agitated, often snapping at her and staying out to drink. Stacy had been left with all the responsibility, often even helping him when he stumbled home with Wilson, incoherently drunk. In the morning, he'd sneer at her again, and Stacy often stormed out.

She'd gotten the call just before going into court from Wilson. Apparently, House had gone out drinking again, and to Stacy's absolute horror, ended up sleeping with another woman because of it when Stacy hadn't come home. She'd screamed at Wilson for a bit, inappropriately taking her fury out on him instead of House, and was a wreck for the case.

Which, because of the whole mess, had gone terribly wrong, and put her in a sour mood.

Stacy had consequently gone out and had a few drinks herself, glumly thinking about how House had slept with another woman.

She lit the cigarette and inhaled the addicting substance, letting it dull her thoughts and mind.

House blamed Stacy for it all. If she hadn't made him worried sick why she didn't come home or answer her phone, he wouldn't have gone out searching for her and ended up in a bar. He admitted to himself he should've seen it coming when the lady kept making him drink, and the next morning he woke up with a terrible headache and in a strange bed. It did all come back to him – but in a hazy, dreamlike state – and he regretted it. But when Stacy hadn't come home and he'd found a few of her things missing during a rocky time in their relationship, he'd assumed the worse. Depressed and unbelieving, he went out for a drink, all of which could've been avoided if she'd just called.

And when he'd got home, her message was waiting for him, and all this mess had started.

House rubbed his forehead in a pained matter. He should probably go after her and explain the simple mistake, but he had pride, and it wasn't even his fault. Smugly, he sat down and turned on the radio.

Woman, I can hardly express
My mixed emotions and my thoughtlessness
After all, I'm forever in your debt
And woman, I will try to express my inner feelings and thankfulness
For showing me the meaning of success

He groaned inwardly, dreading the lyrics in the song. Stubbornly, he refused to give in to the little nagging in his heart that told him he should follow her or else. She'd come back; she always did.

Woman, I know you understand the little child inside a man
Please remember, my life is in your hands, and woman
Hold me close to your heart, however distant don't keep us apart
After all it is written in the stars

Stacy huffed outside, staring blankly out across the road, her eyes dull and her heart aching. She was still furious and horrified, but with dark acknowledgement she knew she'd go back to him, and probably always would. She put her head in her hands, knowing somewhere deep down that this wasn't the worst yet to come. This fight was long from over, but eventually their stubbornness would subside and apologies would be made. She wasn't going to be the one to give in, though.

She got up, making her way slowly back to their apartment, carefully planning her words and her actions.

House stared out the window, his ears straining for the familiar sound of her steps coming up to the door. He rested his head on his hand, his elbow propped up on the chair of the couch where he lay, the television on mute beside him as the radio wailed out its song.

Woman, please let me explain
I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain
So let me tell you again and again and again
I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, now and forever

Covered by the sound of the song, Stacy entered silently, catching the last verse as his eyes met hers. They stood in silence for awhile, his blue eyes sad and forlorn, hers offering some sort of sorrow and guilt. They ate in silence, and went to bed a little later, trapped in their own thoughts.

Maybe the dawn would be brighter someday soon.

Thanks again for reading and following, I hope to get more chapters up soon, but in a few days I'm off for vacation and you probably won't hear from me in 5 weeks or so! I'll still be writing but it might take some time before I manage to type it and get it up on here. It's impossible for me to not write for 5 weeks... *shudders*. Sorry for any confusion in this chapter, like I said, it was tough to write, and I'm fairly happy at how it ended up. I still own nothing.