Author's Note: Hello, again! For some reason, this was a difficult chapter to write. I hope you'll all enjoy - let me know. As always, I don't own House.

Once House started playing, the tension he'd felt dropped away. Sarah sat on his couch and when he shot a glance her way, she was smiling. Her shoulders had relaxed the next time he looked over and he felt himself smile. This was going to be ok.

He finished playing and looked over at her. She smiled.

"That was amazing," she said. "I can't believe you can just… make it up like that."

"Do you play?"

"I played the flute in the middle school band. I wasn't very good at it but I've always thought it would be fun to learn piano."

"Come here," he told her, sliding over on the bench. Sarah gave him a puzzled smile as she got up and came to sit beside him on the bench. He gently lifted her right wrist so that her fingers rested above the keys. "Put your hand here. Now, watch what I do – you're going to move your fingers the same way." House played a simple sequence and Sarah moved her fingers the same way, echoing the sequence at a lower octave. He repeated the process with a slightly different sequence and she echoed it again. "Now, can you do it while I'm playing – come in just after my first keystroke."

"I'll try," Sarah said. He started the sequence and she came in just behind him. He moved on to the second sequence but she fumbled on the second note. She pulled her hand back as if it had burnt and her face flushed.

"It's ok," House said, stopping his own playing. "Let's try again." They put their hands back in place and House started the sequence again. This time Sarah made it through to the end. She laughed when they finished and House smiled.

"That was fun," she told him.


Sarah had watched Greg's hands closely, trying to duplicate his movements. It was like playing a round – her notes echoing the ones he'd just played at the higher octave. She fumbled the first time through and felt herself blush.

"It's ok," Greg told her, stopping. "Let's try again." She took a deep breath and put her hand back in place. This time she made it through without an error and she laughed as they finished.

"That was fun."

"Want to try another one?" Greg asked. He played another sequence and she repeated it at the lower octave. Then they tried it together but once again Sarah's fingers fumbled on the keys.

"I don't think I can do this," she said, blushing.

"Don't give up so easily," Greg chided. "Let's try it again." They played on for another twenty minutes, Greg making each sequence a little trickier than the last. Sarah was amazed each time she managed to match him. She would have kept going, but Maggie came over to jump on her leg and squeak. Sarah looked at her watch and realized that it was after 6 o'clock.

"She's hungry," she explained. Her own stomach rumbled and she laughed. "I guess I am too. How about you?"

"I could eat," Greg said. Together they made their way to Sarah's apartment. She fed Maggie while Greg looked through her collection of take-out menus. Somehow things were comfortable between them again. Sarah wasn't sure how it had happened, but she didn't intend to question it.


House watched Sarah feed the dog. He was supposed to be picking out dinner but food was less interesting to him than the woman he was with. Things had been comfortable between them again in his apartment, at the piano, but now he couldn't stop thinking about what he was calling "the kiss."

I like this, he told himself. I like being in this apartment, with this woman. Nolan thinks she's good for me. I've alienated everyone else in my life, except my mother, and she doesn't count. I don't want to mess this up. But I want to kiss her again.

"So, does anything look good?" Sarah asked, dropping into a seat at the table with him. He belatedly turned his eyes to the take-out menus spread out before him, feeling his face grow warm and hoping like mad that he wasn't actually blushing.

"I'm not very hungry," he said, pushing the menus toward her. "Why don't you pick?" Her hand brushed his as she reached for the menus and his face grew warmer. Get a grip, he berated himself even as his heart-rate increased.

"Would you care if we went somewhere?" she asked. "When I took Maggie out earlier, it was the first time I'd been out of this apartment since Thursday evening. I'm feeling a little stir-crazy." House looked up and saw that her cheeks were pink. Was she nervous too?

"That'd be ok," he said.

"Do you like gyros? There's a little place near campus that makes great ones." House felt his heart-rate slow a little. This would be ok. He could do this.

"Alright. When do you want to go?"

"Well, I should walk Maggie again once she's finished eating."

"I'll take her," he offered. It would give him a moment to collect himself. "Let me go get my jacket."

"Ok." They got up from the table and House forced himself to walk at a normal pace through the living room and out the door.


When Greg left the apartment with the dog, Sarah went to her bedroom to change into jeans. She'd been wearing sweats but she didn't want to wear those to the restaurant. She stopped in the bathroom on her way back to the living room to run a brush through her hair. She studied her face in the mirror for a moment, debating on putting on some lip gloss. Stop it, she told herself. This is not a date. We're just getting some dinner together, the same way we have the last several evenings. Don't make it more than what it is.

She went back to the living room and paced, feeling restless. Every time her eyes landed on the couch, she thought back to "the kiss." She could feel her face flushing. Stop it, she chided herself. Don't let this get weird. She took a deep breath and moved to sit on the couch, waiting for Greg to return.