Hi everybody,

My dear nagging friend has struck again. After Monday's episode "Family Practice", she ended up frustrated and unhappy about Arlene's bitchy and inappropriate comments to Cuddy.

So she decided Cuddy needed comfort and she talked me into writing this one shot. Prompt: something soothing that would help Cuddy feel better after the horrible things her mother had told her…

Where do you think that led me? Well… read and you'll find out!

Sophie, obviously, this one-shot is for you! ;)

** PEP TALK AND ITS SWEET UPSHOT **

He heard the sound of the front door being shut, then the sound of her heels clicking on the tiles in the hallway. He could have traced her exact itinerary in the house from the way the sound either seemed to come from afar or get closer. He "saw" her glancing into the living room, probably checking if he was there, watching TV, like he was used to doing, having developed that old habit after years of living on his own. Then he knew she went straight to her daughter's room, recognizing her impatient, ever so worried mother's strides. Rachel's door cracked open and he visualized her, hesitating at the threshold, not daring to enter but eavesdropping to try to catch the sound of her sleeping child's breathing. He heard her turn around next and finally heading to her bedroom, to him.

She opened the door but didn't turn on the light. Careful not to make too much noise, she walked across the room, and entered the bathroom directly. He heard the water flow, while he pictured her washing her face and cleansing her make-up with a smooth cotton ball damped with a few drops of that lotion she used which left her skin with a light scent of citrus he liked so much. She brushed her teeth, and he guessed she undressed and put her nightgown on, then after she'd completed her womanly ritual, she came back in the room, approached the bed and silently slid under the sheets next to him. She hadn't slithered half way towards him yet, seeking his body warmth that he promptly rolled to the side, to face the nightstand and turned on the light. She jumped with fright when a sudden brightness replaced the darkness of the room and sat up straight, instinctively leaning backwards to protect herself, her left hand covering her heart.

"God House! You scared me!"

"Nine months and you still ain't used to seeing me lain in your bed when you come home? Nice…" He pouted to hide his mischievous smile.

"That's not what I'm saying. I thought you were sleeping…" She said defensively.

"I'm not."

A short silence filled the room and she sighed heavily. He sat up too and came close to her, leaning his back against the headboard, his shoulders almost touching hers.

"How is she?" He asked, without looking at her.

"She's ok. She finally stopped struggling against fatigue around ten tonight. When I left she was sleeping like a baby."

"Heart rate?"

"70. BP's fine too."

House nodded quietly and turned his head to the side to look at her. Cuddy chewed on her bottom lip for a second and sighed again.

"You hungry?"

She closed her eyes, imperceptibly wincing at the mention of food and shook her head no.

"Have you eaten something at least?" House insisted.

"No, but that's fine. I'm not hungry." Her unconvincing pout was telling the exact opposite.

"Wrong! You are hungry. But you're too tired to get up and go back to the kitchen to grab something to eat."

"Anyway… it means I'm not going to eat anything just the same now. So thank you for reminding me of that frustrating reality!" She rolled her eyes disapprovingly.

"Aww… See? Now you're upset."

"I'm not."

"Does that mean you won't need any of that?"

"Any of what?" She arched an eyebrow, intrigued, while he leaned down to the side of the bed to retrieve something that seemed hidden under the mattress.

When he reappeared, slightly breathless from the uncomfortable stretching, he was carrying a tray with him, and displaying a large self-satisfied beam. She looked at him, briefly, and then at the content of the tray – an appetizing club sandwich and a piece of mouth-watering blueberry cheesecake – ravenously.

"What's that?" she asked, already putting out her hand to snatch the sandwich from the tray.

"Proof that I know you better than yourself." He bragged, feeling proud of his little effect of surprise.

She took a large bite of her sandwich and instantly moaned with her mouth full, closing her eyes in delight. He squinted at her, amused and let her eat until there was not a single crumble left on the tray.

When she was finished, Cuddy took a deep, fulfilled breath and put the tray back down on the floor, on her side of the bed. Then she readjusted her sitting position and came closer to him.

"Thank you." She whispered softly.

"That was just a sandwich." He wound his arm around her shoulders and remained docilely still while she snuggled up against him.

"No, I mean… for my mother." Her voice was scarcely above a murmur. "You saved her life."

"No, you did."

"Huh?" She jolted slightly to straighten up but he kept her enclosed in his embrace. "I wasn't even able to diagnose her correctly… I…"

"Cuddy," He gently warned, "shut up! I may have diagnosed her, but you're the one who insisted I stayed on your mother's case while I didn't want to take care of it. And you're the one who convinced her to come back when she'd decided to leave the hospital."

"Yeah, but I only did it because you asked me to! You forced me to confront her."

"You had to."

He sighed and shifted to the side slightly, causing her to lift her head off of his chest. Their eyes met and he intensely stared at her.

"I've disappointed you, haven't I?" She said, waiting for confirmation with a sad pout.

Seeing her so unsure sent a twinge of sorrow into his heart but he rolled his eyes dramatically to hide it.

"Yeah, that's exactly why I fell for you in the first place," he answered with a hint of sarcasm in his voice "because of that incredibly consistent tendency of yours to disappoint me with your lack of character and intelligence… such a turn-on!"

She sucked in a sharp breath, taken off guard by his declaration and bit her lips self-consciously.

"House…"

"Come here." He commanded, compellingly tugging at her arm to pull her into him.

She resisted at first, confused as to what he exactly wanted her to do, but when he grabbed her by the hips to draw her into him and bent his left leg to clear a path closer to him, she let him guide her between his legs. As soon as she was seated there, her back to him, he instantly enveloped her shoulders with his large hands and started to massage her slowly. She heaved a deep sigh and tilted her head forward to expose a larger portion of her neck to his touch. He drew her hair aside and started to press delicately on the nape of her neck with his thumbs, kneading gently up and down her cervical vertebrae and returning to her shoulder blades and upper back in alternate relaxing movements.

"You're strong." He said, after a long silence, taking advantage of her not directly facing him to deliver his confession. "You know what you want. And you know how to get it."

He felt her stiffen imperceptibly and she tried to turn around but he grabbed her shoulders and kept her immobile against his chest. Then he leaned down and buried his face into the crook of her neck to whisper in her ear.

"You can put up with my crap. I don't listen to many people, you know. But I listen to you…"

She chuckled hoarsely.

"Sure!"

"Cuddy. You kept me in line. All those years… you prevented me from screwing my life up entirely; on so many occasions… I'd be dead without you. You… you saved me."

She wiggled determinedly to set herself free from his embrace and he let go of her so that she could face him. She looked a bit overwhelmed and her eyes were moist. She squinted at him, confused and reached out her hand to caress his scruffy cheek.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's true."

"But why now…" She looked down searching for words, "why… today?"

"Because…"

He sighed and gently made her turned around again to resume his sweet, soft massaging caresses on her back. It also conveniently prevented him from looking her directly in the eyes and she understood he was feeling uncomfortable, so she didn't resist.

"Your mother," He started with a low voice, "she's… like me somehow…"

"No. House, she's…"

"She is, in a way. She's selfish, she's cutting. She's swoft: she lies to serve her point. She thinks she's always right…"

"Well, she has a strong character, and she's a little bit too blunt sometimes but…"

"You let her hurt you. You let her say those horrible things to you…"

"But it doesn't matter. It's not important…"

"Yes, it is!"

He put his hands on the round shape of her shoulders and stopped moving. Silence fell between them and he slowly slid his hands down along her sides and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was so tiny in his arms, so frail, and yet he could feel a force emanating from her, which he indisputably drew his energy from.

"You're tough" He said, pulling her against him. "Why do you let her do that?"

"I'm not tough." She defended herself sheepishly.

"Yes, you are. You say 'no' to me."

"Like it makes any difference!"

"It does!"

"How? House, eventually you just do what you want! And most of the times you're right. How does it change anything if I say 'no' to you?

"Because you care! That's what you do when you care. You set boundaries, and you apply them. Right?"

For the second time, Cuddy swung around inside his arms to face him. She sat in front of him and studied him with a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly. "What's this sudden obsession with my mother and the way I should handle her?"

House set his lips and looked away.

"When she was here the other day for your birthday dinner, she was… obnoxious. She threw barbs after barbs and you just sat there, in silence, waiting until it passed."

"Well trust me, that's the best way to handle it: not pay attention to make it go away faster…"

"I thought so too. I thought you didn't care about her. That you only tolerated her because she was your mother but that it made no difference to you what she said."

Cuddy bit her lips and shook her head. A sorrowful smile clouded her face over.

"But that's not true. You care about her." House added with a low voice.

"Of course I do. She's my mother!" She sighed, "Where is this all going?"

"If you care about your mother, why did you let her go? Why did you let her leave the hospital without saying a thing?"

"Is that why you're angry at me? Because I didn't say anything?"

House stared intensely at her and lifted his hand to her face. Delicately, he brushed her jaw with the tip of his fingers, a light feather touch that made her shiver.

"I'm not angry at you," He said with a serene smile, "But what is that supposed to mean… for me?"

"What?"

"You confront me all the time. We argue. We fight. I challenge you, you fight back. But… your mother, you don't confront her. You let her leave…"

"What was I supposed to do? We'd lied to her! And you've seen how she is: she's stubborn and…"

"No. You don't cave." House said adamantly, looking her right in the eyes.

"But…"

"Listen." He cupped her jaws inside his hands and held her face up toward him, "You need to choose a side. You can't show me you care by arguing with me or fighting back when I challenge you and allow your mother to decide against your professional judgment without saying a word."

"What?" Her eyes widened and she took his hands inside hers and slid them away from her face, "Are you saying I don't care for my mother?"

"No, I'm sure you do."

"So, are you saying I don't care for… you?"

"I don't know, do you?"

Cuddy's mouth dropped open and she pushed herself away from him, slithering to the edge of the bed, ready to get up. He caught her wrist and held her back, pulling her back into his arms compellingly, leaving her no choice but to stay.

"Is this conversation supposed to cheer me up?" She asked accusingly "Because I don't see how…"

Still seated with his back against the headboard, House suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders before she could finish her sentence, making her topple forward against his chest. Instinctively, she placed her legs astride him, straddling him and she put her hands flat on his torso not to lose her balance. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, guiding her toward his lips. His kiss was greedy, impatient and restless at first. It took her off guard and the first seconds she moaned her surprise through his lips, until the contact of his tongue on her tongue and the taste of his desire in her mouth calmed her down and soothed her slight annoyance replacing it with a light feeling of arousal.

"If talking doesn't work, I have lots of other ideas in mind." He teased, while she stared at him a little breathless.

"No. Talk." She commanded with a soft smile she didn't even bother to hide, "I want to know where this is going."

He slid his hands on both sides of her hips and gave it a gentle squeeze, readjusting her seating position on his lap. His smile was confident and a sparkle of mischief glittered in his gaze.

"Half of the time, I pretend to be pissed at your administrative lingo, but you are a good doctor too. You know your stuff."

The smile on Cuddy's lips widened and he felt her unwind in his arms.

"I do?"

"And your mother… she's a pain in the ass… but she can see that… I'm sure she's proud of you."

Despite her smile, Cuddy rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.

"I'm good at my job, yes. But Julia…"

"Cuddy, your sister doesn't measure up. Stop beating yourself up over that unhealthy sense of competition your mother planted inside your head years ago for crappy reasons..."

"You don't know Julia, she's…"

"That's right, I don't know her; but I know you. You don't let people decide what you want for you. You make your own decisions, and you're not afraid to impose them on people."

"That's not true. I question my decisions all the time. I'm afraid to be wrong, just like anybody else."

"For God's sake, will you just shut up and let me finish that pep talk without interrupting me every two seconds!" House groaned, frowning disapprovingly at her.

Cuddy smiled fondly and caressed his stubble lightly.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"When you let your mother leave it pissed me off because that's not what you do. When you care for someone, you stand up for them. You've never been afraid to confront me, and maybe this is one of the clumsiest ways of showing that you care, but I don't want that to change. I don't want you to give up and do nothing."

She bit her bottom lip, and tilted her head down. Instantly, he slid his finger under her chin and made her look up again.

"Cuddy, look at me." she stared intensely into his baby blue eyes and he caressed her hair gently, "I need your strength. I need you to say 'no'. Yes, you are one stubborn, pain in the ass and you drive me crazy when you get in my way with your stupid principles, but I need that to keep me steady. You keep me steady. You hear me?"

She shivered slightly and nodded in silence.

"I don't want you to feel small, and weak in front of your mother," He carried on, "ever again. You're not small or weak… ok?"

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she laughed throatily at the same time, taking his face inside her hands.

"Ok." She told him, with a low voice, feeling overwhelmed. "And just so you know, whenever I'll disagree with you, you have my word I'll keep arguing with you no matter how convincing you'll try to be to make me change my mind."

"Good." He said with a smile.

"And," she pointed her finger and poked him in the chest, smiling, "I'm not going to become softer anytime soon either so don't expect me to melt or cave easily to you just because you're my boyfriend and I care for you…"

"Of course not!" House was beaming now and he stared at her with unhidden pride.

"Because, in case you needed to hear it, I care for you… I really do."

"What makes you think I needed to hear it?" He asked with a roguish smile. "This is your pep talk, not mine!"

"So what are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"I want my dose of smooth talks and sweet love declarations too."

He laughed and shook his head.

"Dream on!" he exclaimed teasingly, "you're feeling all boosted again, thanks to me, you don't need any of that now."

She leaned down to his face and squeezed his cheeks between her palms.

"Tell me you love me, House."

"This is very bad to claim. Didn't your mother teach you that?"

"Screw my mother!"

"Wow, you learn fast!" He said, chuckling. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and stared at her with gravity. "I love you." He admitted in a groan.

She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself into him a little more, until her crotch came in contact with his groin. She flashed an arousing smile at him and she tantalizingly rocked her hips back and forth against his manhood a few times and then she leaned down into his neck to rub her nose against his skin.

"If you're done with the pep talk, can we finally have sex now?" She whispered in his ear, a little short of breath before straightening up again and looking him in the eyes. His eyebrows flew upward in surprise and he squinted at her amused.

"What's wrong with my pep talk?" He asked, taunting her.

"Nothing. But in case you didn't notice, I'm not wearing any panties." She whispered swaying her hips once more.

"How can you seriously think I didn't notice that the minute you crawled into that bed!"

"Then what are you waiting for, smartass!" She said, propping herself up on her knees and arching toward his midriff.

He put his hands on her bare thighs and slid them under the flimsy cloth of her nightgown, climbing up to her ass, filling his palms with the round plumpness of her firm butt cheeks. Impatiently, she tugged at his tee-shirt and pulled it over his head, then without giving him time to take care of it himself, she reached for the hem of her nightgown and took it off just as hastily, throwing it offhandedly on the floor over her shoulder. Now kneeling naked over his lap, she stared down at him for a few seconds, with a mischievous smile and he stared back, challengingly, just before grabbing her by the hips and throwing her to the side, flipping her over and making her fall on her back. She chuckled blissfully when he positioned himself on top of her and she sprawled out beneath him to adjust to his body length. His hands roaming her hips and thighs, he nose-dived to her breasts sucking and licking her pink, erect nipples ravenously, while she skillfully hooked the waistbands of both his PJ's bottom and boxers with her toes and began to slide them down along his legs. But his erection blocked the process and she cursed when she felt it resist her. Leaving her breasts for a second, House propped himself on one elbow and freed his hard member out of his boxers himself, helping her push them down along with his PJ's bottom. She flapped her legs impatiently to remove them entirely until she could feel him finally totally naked against her skin. Incredibly turned-on, she bucked her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her wet entrance came in contact with the head of his cock and he pushed his length inside her slowly, feeling every inch of her tight core enwrap him. She gasped and threw her head back on the pillow, stretching her neck and offering her skin to his lips caresses. He leaned down, appealed by the purity of her nape's outlines and kissed her on the apex of her petrosal bone, just behind her ear, making her shiver and heave long, languorous moans of pleasure. His hips were rocking leisurely slow, pushing his shaft into her at a lascivious pace.

"Oh God, yes, just like that, just like that…" She wheezed into his neck, scratching her nails up and down his back.

There was no sweeter reward than the husky sound of her gasps of rapture. It gave him the instant, irrational need to make it even better, up the ante to give her more pleasure, and make her scream and moan louder. He lifted himself up above her, pushing on his arms, and pulled away from her, until he was almost completely out of her warmth. Then he carefully shifted to one side and seized one of her ankles off of the small of his back and guided it upward, until her heel rested on his collarbone. She read between the lines understanding what he was doing and, without waiting any longer, she put her other foot on his opposite shoulder. This new position made her topple over even more and changed the angle of his penetration and when he pushed himself back inside her, it increased the sensation of him filling her infinitely. He was still propped up on his arms, and he could feel the length of her legs brushing his belly and chest, the back of her calves pressing onto his pectoral muscles. He shoved deeper and harder into her until she began to gasp louder and it made him increase the rhythm of his thrusts even more, encouraged by the enthralling music of her murmurs beneath him, begging him to keep going, never stop and go faster. From above, he could see her pant and swing her head from left to right, and bite her lips, trying to stifle the sound of her cries and he became painfully aware that there would never be a vision more beautiful than this one in his life again.

"Open your eyes." He asked.

She did and when she locked eyes with him, the intensity of her gaze on him sucked him in with a force he hasn't suspected. It sent a pre-orgasmic jolt into the small of his back and he thrust harder into her, almost roughly, eliciting a raspy groan from the depth of her throat.

"Sorry." he whispered, leaning down to kiss her lips and pulling away from her a little.

Instantly she reached out for his ass cheeks and compellingly pushed him back into her.

"No! Fuck House, don't you dare stop now!" she commanded, staring at him with a fierce look of pure lust.

He smiled down at her and complied, with a blissful docility, resuming his hip sways with growing force and speed until she griped his elbows and squeezed forcefully, digging her nails into his flesh. Shove after shove, he felt her hurtling over the edge, her thighs beginning to tremble uncontrollably beneath him. Then he sensed her walls clamp around his hardness as she screamed the name of God and his a few times, alternatively, which made him feel incredibly and ridiculously almighty; and that high tasted undeniably better than every other one he had during the times when he was trying to bring the forgotten sensation of pleasure back into his life by taking pills to deny how miserable he really was. But now that time was over.

And may God, in whom he didn't believe, be a witness of that: nothing compared to what he was feeling now, in that instant, as his shaft was spilling the proof of his non artificial nirvana inside of her in pulsating, powerful throbs.

He removed her legs from his shoulders briskly and collapsed on top of her, panting, almost heedless of his full weight pressing on her chest during those few seconds where he surrendered to a moment of total, selfish abandon. Trying to catch her breath herself, she however let him get back to his senses but after a short while, she pushed onto his chest with her palms and wriggled underneath him trying to set herself free.

"You're crushing me!" She protested.

He instantly lifted himself up and looked down at her, beaming. Beads of sweat sparkled on her forehead and he leaned over her face to lay a tender kiss on her swollen lips. Then he carefully rolled to the side, separating his body from hers completely and lay on his back with his arms spread out on both sides of his head. "Turn off the light", she asked. When he neither moved nor answered, she propped herself up on one elbow and studied him for a second before she unceremoniously climbed on top of him to reach the lamp on the nightstand and switch off the light, plunging the bedroom into the darkness again. They spent the next minute struggling to find their ways back under the sheets and chuckling at their childish stubbornness, forcefully refusing to lift themselves off the mattress to do so. House yielded first and sat up straight to draw the sheets out and she slid underneath them with a victorious smile. After another short, quiet moment while they just lay there, warm and fulfilled, Cuddy slithered closer to House and snuggled up his armpit, resting her head on his shoulder while she entwined her legs with his. He wound his arms around her and pressed her again his chest and then gently, with the edge of his nails, he began to draw winding lines on her back, unhurriedly tickling her skin with his long, long fingers.

She moaned and cuddled up closer, breathing deeply and welcoming the incredibly soothing sensation of his caresses with shivers of pleasure. Long, silent minutes passed by, perfectly still, perfectly quiet. Perfect.

"House?" Cuddy suddenly called, her voice scarcely above a whisper.

"Yeah…"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm."

"The food, the massage, the pep talk… the sex… how many of that did you know I would need when I came home earlier tonight?"

"Pretty much everything." He answered self-confidently.

"So you're saying it was… all… planned?"

"Yep."

There was a beat, and he pictured her adorably frowning in bafflement.

"How is it that you know me so well?" she finally asked, surrendering.

"Twenty years spent observing you closely… You think I wouldn't know my subject by now?"

~ THE END ~

A/N

I have the flu which means I'm just a useless bag of bones with no energy and no rational, functioning cognitive abilities right now.

So let me apologize if this one-shot which I just finished writing contains a lot of mistakes, vocabulary and grammar included. I don't usually have my writing beta-ed (which I probably should) and I'm fairly certain that while it probably already shows in every other story I post, this time it might be even more obvious.

So, please, be lenient. But if you want to point out some of the horrible mistakes or misuses of vocabulary I made, don't hesitate, I think I surely might use some help here! :)

Anyway, enjoy your week-end! ~ maya