Insert my usual disclaimers and what not here, along with my humble apologies for keeping you all waiting. Many thanks to VisualIdentificationZeta for his help in writing the motorcycle lesson part of this chapter. I don't know jack squat, but he was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Thanks so much. :)
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The phone call with Wilson continued to work at House's mind as he rode on, easily finding the small grocery store and pulling up out front. He found himself once again questioning the wisdom of staying here.
He shook off the thought. It was only a three month lease. If it didn't work out, he could always return to…to what? There would be nothing to return to if this didn't work out. No apartment, no job, nothing. House seriously doubted that Wilson would allow him to crash at his place for too long, and no one in the area was likely to hire him anyway.
No, for all intents and purposes, House was stuck here. The idea scared him. He was never a man who was comfortable with change, and here he had made a life changing move in a hurry. What the hell was he thinking?
He huffed irritably and pulled out his list, grabbing a small basket and roaming up and down the aisles in search of various items. In addition to the Milk Bones, House grabbed a bag of Pupperonis. Nothing wrong with an extra special treat for the furballs, House told himself.
Finally he had everything on his list, and he limped toward the checkout. While he waited, he noticed a basket filled with carnations of various colors.
"Hey." He called out to the cashier. "How much for the carnations?"
"A dollar each, sir." The older woman answered. "They're for a good cause. Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club."
House wasn't particularly concerned about whatever cause the flowers would support. He chose a red, a white, and a pink, setting them on the belt along with the rest of the groceries.
The cashier gave him a warm, knowing smile. "That's a nice selection there, sir. She must be one special lady."
House could feel the heat rise to his cheeks. Suddenly he wanted to take the flowers back. "Kind of, yeah."
The cashier regarded him curiously. "You ain't from around here, are ya?"
House glared at her, already annoyed with the idle chit-chat. "No, I'm not."
She continued ringing him up, her eyes suddenly lighting with recognition. "Ain't you that doctor?"
House groaned internally. "Yeah, but I'm not practicing yet, so if you've got some sort of weird rash or nagging cough, I'm not your guy."
The cashier merely chuckled in response. "I ain't got none of that. I just heard about ya. The word's startin' to get out. Expect to have folks lined up at your door when you do open up."
"Thanks for the warning." House grumbled.
The cashier smiled at him as she finished. "Thirty-five sixty-two's your total. How you payin'?"
House gestured with his debit card, and he slid it through the reader. The cashier gave him his receipt, that smile never leaving her face. "Thank you, sir. You have a real nice day."
House nodded and left the small store, shaking his head at the interaction. It was very different from his usual grocery store experiences, where the cashiers were brisk, efficient, but impersonal. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just different. House wasn't sure which he preferred.
He shoved the bag into the small storage compartment on his bike, staring down at the three carnations that peeked out of the top. What the hell had he been thinking when he bought those? He'd had no intention of seeing Caroline today, did he? Even if he did, there would be no reason for him to bring flowers. That wasn't like him at all.
This town was doing strange things to him. Maybe he should have bailed out the minute his bike was fixed. He could have hit the road and just kept riding. But where to? He hadn't had any destination in mind when he'd left. All House had wanted to do was get away. He'd had every intention of returning to Princeton eventually.
House shoved the bag down and slammed the seat down, irritated with his constantly circling thoughts. Perhaps he would ride back to Rob's first to drop off the majority of the groceries, then he would figure out what to do about the flowers.
It was a short ride back to the house, and he could hear Rob still banging around in the shed. House dismounted as quickly as he could and limped up the steps inside. Predictably, he was greeted by the ever-eager Baxter.
"Yeah, I brought treats." House told him as he set the bag on the counter and pulled out the bag of Pupperonis. "Got you beasts a little something extra."
Elsa soon joined Baxter, and House gave each of them one of the meaty treats. Baxter immediately downed his and looked up at House hopefully, wagging his tail.
"No way, buddy." House told him. "Don't want you getting too used to the good stuff."
Baxter whined briefly before leaving the kitchen, and House started unpacking the bag. He heard the screen door bang as Rob entered on crutches.
"See, Doc?" He told House in mock sarcasm. "Doin' exactly what I'm told."
House merely rolled his eyes. "Give me a few minutes and I'll take another look at it. Need to restock the kit first."
A hard look settled over Rob's scarred features. "You didn't have to do that."
"I was in town anyway." House shrugged. "It's not that big a deal."
Rob glanced at the counter where the carnations lay. "Hope those flowers ain't for me. I ain't really that kind of guy."
House could feel the heat rushing to his face again as he snatched them up and shoved them back in the grocery bag. "No, moron, they're not for you. I…I don't know why I bought the damn things."
Rob merely arched an eyebrow at House's snappish response. "I can guess." He gestured toward the living room. "Just gonna have a sit-down."
With that Rob left the kitchen, leaving House alone with his thoughts. This was ridiculous. Caroline wasn't House's kind of woman. She was soft, gentle, quiet, where House preferred bolder, tougher, sassier women. Besides, technically, she was still married, which should have made her off-limits. Not that it had ever stopped House in times past.
He shook off his thoughts and limped into the living room, dropping off the first aid supplies he had bought before finding the med kit in the bathroom. Soon House returned, easing himself onto the coffee table and gesturing to Rob. The other man stretched out his leg, and House unwrapped it to examine the wound.
It was still open, which bothered House. He searched through the med kit and found a suture kit. It wasn't ideal, but it would do for the time being. "You keep tearing this damn thing open. I'm going to go ahead and stitch it up."
Rob nodded in agreement. "Do what you need to do."
House prepared the kit and swabbed the area before setting to work. The simple task allowed him to take his mind off Caroline for the moment as he concentrated on creating a tidy line of stitches across the wound.
He soon completed the task, covering the wound and rewrapping the stump, nodding at Rob. "Good as new."
"Appreciate it, man." Rob eased his leg away from House and leaned forward. "So what's the deal with the flowers? Seriously."
"I don't know." House huffed irritably. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but…"
Rob sighed a little. "Look, given the circumstances, normally I'd say back off." He shrugged. "Kinda looks like things are changin' though, you know? You like her, she likes you. So go see her, give her the damn flowers, see what happens."
"I can already tell you what's going to happen." House answered sharply. "Somehow, some way, I'm going to find a way to fuck this up. It's what I do. I'm going to say or do something that'll hurt her, and…" House drifted off.
"And you'll be no different from that asshole she married." Rob finished quietly.
House nodded as he packed up the med kit, avoiding Rob's gaze. The other man had gotten right to the heart of the matter, again.
"There's a whole lot of difference between you and him, you know." Rob told him. "For one thing, you actually give a shit if you hurt her. He never did."
"I don't like hurting people." House replied, still not looking at Rob. "I just…do, somehow. It's just my nature."
"I ain't buyin' that." Rob answered firmly. "I don't think she does, either."
House finally glanced over at Rob. "Why are you pushing this?"
"I ain't pushin' anythin'." Rob replied. "I prefer to think of it as encouragin' things."
"Whatever." House snapped. "Okay. Why are you encouraging this?"
Rob shrugged and pushed himself off the couch on his crutches. "I think there's a real possibility y'all could be good for each other."
House shook his head and pushed himself off the coffee table to put away the med kit. Rob had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, there was a possibility Caroline could be good for him, but there was no way he would be good for her. He sucked at everything resembling a romantic relationship. He wasn't even sure he wanted to try anymore.
But there was something about Caroline that kept drawing House in. She was gentle, kind, sweet, the opposite of nearly every woman he had ever found remotely attractive. Whenever he was around her, he felt an odd calm settle over him, even as his nerves jangled.
He paused just as he was putting away the med kit. Maybe that kind of calm was what he needed.
House shook off the thought. No, that couldn't be it. He was a man who thrived on excitement, drama, the twists and turns of a good mystery, whether it was of the medical or the personal variety. Calm was boring, and House couldn't stand boring.
His watch started beeping, and House quickly hit the button to shut off the alarm. It was time for him to meet Tyler up at the high school for his motorcycle lesson. The Caroline question could be settled later.
# # #
The kid was waiting in the parking lot when House pulled up, helmet tucked under his arm with an eager expression on his face.
"Hey, Doctor House." Tyler greeted him. "I sure appreciate this. This is gonna be too cool."
"Easy, Action." House told him firmly. "You're not going to learn to ride on this one. It's not for rookies."
Tyler's face fell a little, but he said nothing as House continued. "What you are going to do is learn how to be a good passenger. We're going to ride back to Rob's, and then I've got a few videos to show you."
Tyler rolled his eyes. "You mean all them scare videos? They showed us a bunch of those in Drivers' Ed."
"These are different." House told him. "Lots more blood, guts, and body parts flying around."
Tyler's chin took on a stubborn tilt, and House immediately recognized the expression. He was sure he had given his father that look countless times growing up. "I ain't gonna do nothin' stupid. I know better than that. Been ridin' ATVs and stuff for years."
"This isn't up for debate, kid." House snapped. "I'll teach you to ride. It just won't be on this bike. Now you can accept that, and we can go, or you can reject it, in which case I'll just leave you here. What's it going to be?"
The fight seemed to leave Tyler, and he let out a dramatic sigh. "I guess I'll go with you."
"That's kind of what I thought you'd say." House couldn't help smiling a little.
Tyler tugged his helmet over his head and climbed on behind House as House gave him riding instructions. Amazingly enough, the kid followed his instructions exactly, and they were soon flying down the back roads on their way back to Rob's.
House pulled in and shut off the bike, and he could almost sense Tyler's excitement as the kid climbed off and whipped off his helmet. "That was the coolest thing ever! Man, I can't wait 'til I can ride somethin' like that."
"You're more than a few years away from that." House let out a short chuckle. He couldn't lie, he felt the same thrill every time he was able to get out and really let loose on the bike. Not that he and Tyler had even come close to what that bike could really do. The kid was nowhere near ready to handle that, even as a passenger. "Come on in and I'll show you what happens to idiots who try to handle something beyond them."
House sat down at the computer and pulled up exactly what he was looking for before offering his chair to Tyler. "Just hit play when you're ready."
Tyler's expression changed over the course of the video series, and House could see him nearly turning green at one particularly graphic video.
"See why I didn't want you to ride mine?" House asked him gently.
"Yeah." Tyler nodded, still staring at the screen. "Sorry I gave you such a hard time. Guess I wasn't thinkin'."
"Most kids don't." House answered. "Neither do most adults, really. Now at least you know what you're dealing with. Bikes are fun, but if you don't know what you're doing…well, you see the results."
"Guess it's gonna be a while before I start ridin', huh?" Tyler sounded disappointed.
"Well, I do have one more thing to show you, if you're interested." House pushed himself out of the chair and gestured for Tyler to follow him.
Tyler quickly did so, and the two of them made their way out to the shed, where Rob was working away on the old bike. The kid's eyes went wide at the sight. "What's that?"
"My old bike." Rob answered. "It ain't the fastest one out there, but it'll be a good one for you to learn on. She needs a lot of work, though. I've kinda neglected her for a few years."
Tyler's eyes lit up as he approached the bike, smoothing his hand over the seat. "I'd be willin' to work on her."
"Good thing." Rob chuckled, glancing over at House. "I kinda already talked to your dad. He agreed to let you keep her if you fix her up and let Greg here teach ya how to ride her right."
"Really?" Tyler's voice squeaked in excitement. After a moment, he nodded firmly. "I'll do everythin' you tell me to do, Doctor House. Promise."
"Damn right you will." House spoke sharply, but he was having a difficult time being too hard on the boy. "The minute you screw this up, our deal's off. Got it?"
"Got it." Tyler eagerly shook hands with both Rob and House. "Man, this has got to be the best day of my life. Thanks a ton."
House barely managed to suppress a smile at Tyler's enthusiasm. "Come on, Easy Rider. I'll take you back to town."
He limped back up the steps to grab his helmet, pausing when he spotted the carnations on the counter. After some internal debate, he gathered them up and took them with him.
Tyler gave him a puzzled look as he approached. "What's with the flowers?"
"None of your business." House snapped as he tucked them into the compartment under the seat. "Climb on."
It was a quick ride to town, and House soon pulled up in the parking lot of Mike's repair shop. Tyler climbed off and pulled off his helmet.
"Thanks again, Doctor House. I won't let ya down." He regarded House with a curious expression. "Those flowers for Caroline?"
House scowled. "Again, none of your business."
"Doctor House!" Mike called out before Tyler could reply. "How'd the lesson go?"
"Good." House answered. "I think your kid's going to be a good rider. He's stubborn, but he's got some sense."
"Glad to hear it." Mike held out a hand to House. "Sure appreciate it. It's good to know someone with some experience. I know cars, but that's about it. I don't know jack about motorcycles."
House shook the extended hand. "It's no problem."
"Heard you're gonna hang around." Mike casually continued. "Ralph was in here gettin' an oil change. Told me you rented the old doc's place."
House was still amazed at how quickly word got around this town. "Yeah, kind of looks that way."
"That's good, real good." Mike fixed him with a steady gaze. "This town needs someone like you."
"Been hearing that a lot lately." House muttered.
Mike merely chuckled slightly. "Well, hey, I gotta close up shop. Guess we'll be seein' ya around."
House nodded to both Mike and Tyler before slipping his helmet over his head and starting the bike. He rode around for a while, still not sure if he wanted to go see Caroline.
Finally he headed in the direction of Marge's. The stupid flowers were going to wilt if he didn't hurry up and give them to Caroline. Might as well at least get that part over and done with. As for what might happen after…House decided he would cross that bridge when he got to it. If he got to it.
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Turning it back over to you. Read and review.
