A/N: As promised :)

Chapter 16

"Did you know that your niece is driving back across the country?" House inquired of Wilson out of the blue.

"Umm..yes, I remember her telling me. So?"

"Don't you think that's kind of...weird?"

"No. She's done it a few times. Besides, I think she's driving up to Vancouver first to visit a friend and then driving across Canada. Why? Do you miss her, House?" Wilson asked, arching an eyebrow.

House tapped his cane on the floor as he rested his chin on the handle in deep thought. "She said she just wants to be friends."

"That's her privilege."

"I know."

"Oh...oh..." Wilson laughed. "You like her more than that, and you can't stand the fact that she doesn't feel the same way."

"Shut up."

"Oh, this is classic. The big and powerful Dr. House actually has feelings for someone else. Ahh, I love unrequited love stories."

"I don't get it," House said as he used his cane to stand up. Then he began to pace. "She lets me kiss her, and then she tells me she doesn't want me to. She doesn't want to be friends with benefits either."

"Why can't you just be her friend, House? If that's all she wants."

"Because it's not enough. Not for me."

"Then tell her that, and leave her alone."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because there's something about her...I can't figure her out."

"What's to figure out? She's...Angela."

"When is she due back?"

"Next week. I'm helping her move in. She said she wanted to paint the bedroom a different color or something so I'll be helping her with that as well. Oh, and there's some new news. They caught that guy who was stalking her."

House stopped pacing. "They did? How?"

"They busted him trying to cross the border."

"Great. So now what?"

"He's back in jail. Apparently he assaulted a border guard. He won't be getting out anytime soon."

"Does she know?"

"Not yet. David just told me this morning. He hasn't had a chance to talk to her yet but I'm sure she'll be calling him to touch base."

House nodded, feeling somewhat better. "Good." He was looking forward to having the strong, sassy and confident Angela back.

X X X

"Hey stranger," Angela said in a husky voice as she stood in the doorway of House's office.

He looked up from the journal he was reading and seemed surprised to see her.

"Back already?"

"Yep. How long did you think it would take me to drive across country?"

He shrugged and swung his legs down from atop the desk. "I don't know. Longer than a week."

"Nah. I don't waste much time. I just wanted to get back, ya know? Although I did have to make a stop in Montreal to formally identify Albert O'Reilly before they charged him with everything under the sun."

"I heard. Congratulations."

She blushed and looked down at the floor.

"So are you all moved in?"

"Yeah, for the most part," she said as she toyed with the red and grey ball on his desk. "So, when are you coming over?" Angela asked House blatantly.

"What? Now?"

"Why not? You haven't even seen the new place yet."

"I thought you were having some swingin' housewarming party."

She started laughing, and it made him smile, in spite of himself. "That was the plan. Until I was driving across the country and came to the stark realization that I hate parties. Well, that's not true. I don't hate parties. I hate hosting parties."

"So just have a small one."

"It would be pretty small anyway. I don't have many friends here yet, and the ones I do have are all men."

"Sounds like a recipe for a great porn flick," House joked.

"I wouldn't know."

"Surely you jest!" he sounded shocked and horrified, which made her laugh again.

"I wish. But no, porn doesn't have any effect on me."

"Then you clearly haven't watched the right kind."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not watching porn with you, House."

He pretended to look sad. "There you go again. Ruining my fun."

"So are you going to come over or not?"

"When?"

"Tonight after work is fine. I'll order a pizza or something. You can bring the beer."

House snickered. "Isn't it the hostess's job to provide the food and the booze?"

"Man, you really are a freeloader."

"And proud of it."

Cameron stuck her head in the door. "You need to come to the OR, House. The patient is stable now, but..."

"Oh my God...I'll be right there," House replied in mock horror.

Angela and Cameron looked each other over and he was amused. He knew about Cameron's schoolgirl crush on him so the look of envy in her eyes made him smile.

"House..."

"Okay okay. I'll be there in a few minutes. By the way, have you met Angela? She's Wilson's niece."

For some reason, that seemed to make Cameron less jealous. As if the fact that Angela being related to Wilson took her out of the running for House's affections. Little did she know.

"Nice to meet you," Cameron said pleasantly, before turning her attention back to House. "We don't have much time, House. His kidneys are failing."

"Fine, I'm going." He got up and grabbed his cane, but stopped in front of Angela. "Seven okay?"

"Yeah that's fine."

"Good. Then it's a date," he said, rather loudly so Cameron could hear, and then disappeared out the door.

"You're dating Wilson's niece?" Cameron demanded.

"Who said I was dating her?"

"You just said..."

"Oh that," House waved it off with an air of dismissal. "She's having a house warming party tonight."

"Oh."

"Why? Jealous?"

Cameron looked offended. "What? No! Why would I..."

"Because when you saw her, you looked like you wanted to scratch her eyes out. But then when I told you who she was, you relaxed. Why? Because you thought since she's Wilson's niece that I wouldn't want to date her?"

"Well, I..."

House chuckled as he pushed the button for the elevator. "Who I date and don't date is none of your concern."

X X X

The sound of wood knocking on wood made Angela jump out of her skin. It was a little too early for the pizza guy so she knew it was House and she was suddenly nervous. Why, she didn't know, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

He stood there wearing different clothes than what he wore at work that day. A red T-shirt, black button down and dark grey jeans. And he smelled like he just had a shower, which made her feel warm all over. He actually made an effort to look good for her, even when he didn't have to.

"Hi," she finally said, and opened the door wider to let him in. "Welcome."

House looked around. The place was indeed huge. The layout was big and open with floor to ceiling windows and hardwood floors. In the center of the living area was a wood burning fireplace with a roaring fire, a big screen TV on the wall with a stereo system beneath it, pumping out light jazz music, and the lights were low.

"Nice place," he said with an approving nod as he shrugged his jacket off and kicked off his shoes.

"Thanks. Pizza guy will be here soon, so I'll give you a quick tour."

"Sure."

He followed her through the loft and down a small hallway where the guest bathroom and ensuite were.

"Nice bedroom. I can still smell the fresh paint," he smirked.

"Thanks. This is my sanctuary. Uncle Jim helped me choose the colors. I wanted a spa-like retreat."

"Wilson would know better than anyone. His wife makes him go to spas with her too often."

"Soon to be ex-wife I think," Angela said with a hint of sadness.

"You think?"

"Yeah. He's sad. I can tell."

They returned to the living room just in time for the pizza to arrive. Angela paid and tipped the guy and brought the box into the living room. "Do you mind eating in here? I don't have a kitchen table yet."

"Yeah, that's fine. Quite a romantic scene you have going here."

Angela went to the kitchen and took two beers out of the fridge. "Hardly. It's how I relax. So sue me."

"You're feisty tonight," House remarked as he twisted the cap off his beer and clinked his bottle against hers. "Cheers."

Angela tipped her bottle against his and took a long sip. It was then House realized the label on the beer. "Molson Canadian?"

"I missed it," she shrugged. "We Canadians know how to make beer. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to fit a couple of toofers in the trunk."

House smirked. "Toofer? Let me guess, Canadian slang for..."

"A case of twenty-four beer."

"I see. And a loonie is..."

"A dollar coin with a loon on it."

"And a toonie?"

"A two dollar coin."

House shook his head in amusement and took another bite of pizza. "Kooky Canadian."

"Yep. But you secretly love it. You like having something to pick on me about because you can't think of anything else."

"I'm sure I could."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"Like?"

"Your repressed sexual urges."

Angela stopped smiling and took a long sip of beer. "I'm not repressed."

"No? When was the last time you had sex?"

"I'm not telling you that."

"Why not?"

"Because...it's personal."

"I thought we were friends."

"We are."

"So, friends talk about this kinda stuff all the time. Besides, what's the big deal? It's just sex."

"The big deal is that I'm not comfortable talking about sex."

House scoffed. "I'm a doctor, in case you've forgotten. I've seen it all."

"You're a Nephrologist and a Diagnostician."

He looked confused. "What's your point? You think I haven't seen a thousand hoo hoo's in my day?"

"It's not about that. I just don't want to discuss my sex life with you of all people."

"Or lack thereof."

Angela shrugged. "I just...Mom and I never really discussed it."

"Lemme guess. Your mom was never open about sex and made it out to be something you endure rather than the pleasurable and exhilarating experience it should be, am I right?"

She was astounded at how he knew that, but then he was more perceptive than most people. "Well I have yet to experience it like you just described. The two men I've had sex with, they weren't exactly cassanovas." Then she blushed. "I can't believe I just said that."

"No, it's good to talk about it."

Angela brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "It's kind of awkward."

"Why are you so embarrassed about sex? It's not some sinful thing. Everybody does it."

"I know that. I just...was brought up a different way. We didn't talk about it openly."

"Well maybe you should start."

House started on his fourth slice of pizza and they sat in silence for awhile. "So tell me. How does someone who looks like you do, only have two boyfriends?"

"You don't understand, House. I grew up with guys treating me like crap my whole life. Calling me a dyke or telling me I'm stupid or lame. Over time, I started to believe them. So whenever someone pays me any kind of compliment, I cringe because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, one time, this guy said something about how I had beautiful eyes. And then he said so what happened to the rest of your face?"

House shook his head in wonder. "Asshole."

"Yeah. But that's the kind of thing I grew up with. A compliment was never just that. It was an opening to a cruel joke. And when I did meet guys, they always just treated me like one of them, not as a potential girlfriend."

"Because you're a tomboy?"

"Yeah."

"Let me ask you something. Do you like sex?"

Angela smirked. "I don't classify what I had as sex. More like a desperate attempt to get off, and only one of us did."

House laughed. "And I'm assuming you weren't the one?"

She blushed again. "You got it. Let me ask you something...do you get off on embarrassing the hell out of me?"

House grinned. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"No."

"Then why even ask?"

"Stop deflecting. It's annoying."

"It's what I do. So, you don't watch porn. I'm assuming you don't get yourself off when the situation arises."

Angela blushed crimson and House knew he'd hit the nail on the head. "What? Oh my God...no!"

"Why not?"

She sputtered for some kind of response. "I just...don't do that."

"Have you ever?"

"Why are we having this conversation at all?"

"I'm trying to understand where you're coming from with the whole sex thing."

"Why?"

"You're very tense. You could do with a long...slow...screw," he grinned.

"Oh, and you're just the man to do it?"

House nodded. "Did you have someone else in mind?"

She grabbed the empty beer bottles and took them to the kitchen with a groan, and returned with two cold ones. "If we're going to seriously talk about this, I need to drink more. I did a lot of thinking on the drive. About me, and about you, too."

House's ears perked up and he paid attention. "And what did you think about?"

"Well, I know you like me. And I like you. I've just been afraid of getting hurt. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and I sort of built this wall around me so that wouldn't happen. I was worried that I would push you away because of it. And then I thought, life is short. My Grandma used to say have no regrets. If I don't at least...give you a chance I'm afraid I'll regret it. So, I guess what I'm saying is if you want to...have more than a friendship with me, I'm okay with that."

She sat back against the couch and tucked her knees into her chest. It was a childlike gesture and one that let him know she wasn't as open as she claimed to be.

House nodded. "I don't rush into anything. If I had, we would've had sex long by now."

Angela arched an eyebrow. "You think?"

"It's a fact. That said, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm okay with...taking things slow. If that's really what you want. I've done the moving fast thing. It worked back then, but I'm a little wiser now. I met Stacy and a week later we were living together and stayed together for five years. You're nothing like Stacy, and that's not a bad thing at all. You and I have a history. It's not much of a history, but we go back a long way," he grinned.

She nodded. "Yeah we do."

"So this should be easy. But I have a feeling it won't be."

Angela shook her head. "Nothing worthwhile ever is, though."

House clinked his bottle against hers and they both drank. "Amen to that."

A/N: Oh..I'm sorry...were you expecting smut in this chapter? Serves you right ;) I'll post again tomorrow. I haven't really looked at these chapters in awhile...I forgot what happens haha. So it's just as much a surprise to me as it is to you :) But please...hang in there. I think the wait till be worth it. At least I hope it is :) Love you guys! Thanks for reading and commenting :)