This chapter is rated a mild M for thematic elements.

The next time Kelly and House saw each other was outside the door of the bathroom they were sharing.

"I get first shower," he demanded wearily.

"No way. I need to dry my hair afterward."

"There's like 16 bathrooms in this place. Use a different one."

"I don't want to wake anyone up. Besides, I'll only be a few minutes."

He snorted incredulously. "Feed that load of crap to someone who hasn't lived with you for a week."

Neither were going to back down, and so there was only one way to settle it. "Rock, paper, scissors," she said flatly, holding out her fist and motioning for him to do the same.

"One," they counted together, but before House could continue on Kelly was already closing the bathroom door behind her.

He had to give her credit. He'd been planning the same move for "two".

She hadn't locked it, and so he waited until he heard the toilet flush and the shower spring to life before cracking open the door. "Okay?"

"Yep," she called back.

Not so okay. The stand-alone shower was encased in clear sliding glass with only strategically placed decals to keep her naked body from being fully in view. NOT what he needed at that moment.

Kelly had arranged all of his toiletries neatly on the counter. If only to distract himself, he worked on trimming his beard until the mirror fogged up and then switched to brushing and flossing.

Suddenly the room was quiet; Kelly had shut the water off. He turned to see her slide open the door slightly to grab her robe, slipping into it as she emerged. "Your turn," she told him sunnily, waiting for payback for having tricked him before.

Payback didn't come. "Yeah. Thanks. I... yeah." The robe she wore was loosely tied and when she bent over to attack her hair with a towel he could see right down the front.

"I think I'll dry my hair in my room; with you showering the mirror will be too foggy to see."

"That won't be a problem," he muttered under his breath.

Not under far enough. She straightened and eyed him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he all but growled.

A knowing smile crossed her face, mixed with just a hint of pity. "Are you implying that you'll be taking a COLD shower, House?"

Well, if that's how she wanted to play it... "Are you implying that you haven't noticed I've been turned on since the moment you walked outside in that little swimsuit?" He hopped up onto the counter and sat with a towel in his lap after he saw her automatic glance.

She blushed but didn't let him get the better of her. "I know you think I'm a prude because Mark and I didn't make it to third base until we were engaged" --- this bit of information had come out during a late night gab session and he loved to tease her about it --- "but I was married for seven years, and during that time I became fairly comfortable with the sexual needs of the male gender."

"So what?" he challenged.

"So, you don't HAVE to take a cold shower, you know." She took a step toward him, and then another, until she was standing between his knees.

His eyes widened in genuine shock at her boldness. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, you could take a HOT shower..."

"Wait, I'm confused." He truly, truly was. Confused and aroused. "Are you offering to jump back in there with me? Because I have seriously taken an awful lot of cold showers on this trip, and if THIS is all it took than I'm going to be pissed." He glanced down her robe again, which hung slightly agape.

"Dream on, lover boy." Yet she didn't adjust the robe. "I'm just saying that it doesn't bother me. If you need to... take a hot shower. I've seen your porn stash, remember? Frankly you don't strike me as the cold shower type."

"I'm not. I'm definitely not, but...I wouldn't be thinking about porn." He knew he shouldn't touch her, but he couldn't help it. His hands found her hips.

Her expression, which had been embarrassed yet strong and playful, suddenly softened. "Greg House, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

"You think it's sweet that I'd be thinking of you while I was jacking off?"

"No, dummy," she said quickly as she slapped at his chest, blushing again and adding, "P.S.? I AM enough of a prude that I prefer my metaphor, if you don't mind."

"Sorry." By this point he was trying not to laugh. This was a conversation he never expected to be having with her of all people. "You're going to need to explain it then, I'm afraid. As we've already established, there's not a lot of blood getting to my brain right now."

Even she was laughing now. "I meant - and I think you KNOW I meant - that if you're telling me the truth, it's incredibly sweet that you would consistently choose a cold shower over... involving me in the alternative. Whether I knew it or not." And she leaned in a little closer to kiss him.

He stopped her. "Well, I am telling the truth." And he was. "But you'd be better off getting out of here before I try to involve you in a DIFFERENT alternative," he advised wryly even as his groin tightened all the more. He gave her a little push toward the door. "We've already talked about cruel and unusual. Not to mention I'm not sure the city has enough cold water to help me handle what I'm already dealing with here."

Kelly stood her ground, resting her hands on his thighs and feeling him shudder. It had been a long time since she'd experienced that kind of power. "We're actually on a well," she informed him casually. She wondered if he could hear her heart pounding.

"Even worse." House was surprised he could still find his voice. If she didn't leave right that instant...

She mercifully backed away and continued in a light tone that seemed to deny all that had just taken place. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. That robe there is for you if you want it- " she pointed - "and your shampoo and stuff is all in there. So... Why don't you let me get it started for you?"

She was giving nothing away, and as he watched her cross back to the shower and turn on the water he realized he was holding his breath.

"See you in a bit." She grabbed her hair dryer and brush, and without another look at him she was gone.

House's whole body was shaking with the effort it had taken to maintain his self-control through that crazy encounter. And now he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Until he limped over to the shower and stuck his hand under the water for only a split second before he was forced to withdraw it.

The water was very, very hot.