5/23/2008
Disclaimer: I don't own the song "If You Ever Stop Loving Me". It's sung by country duo Montgomery Gentry and it's on their CD "You Do Your Thing". I don't own House or Cuddy, David Shore does. If I did own them, this would be one of House's theme songs. This song is written by Rivers Rutherford, Tom Shapiro and Bob DiPiero.
Rated T Please R&R!
A/N: Established Relationship
A/N 2: This story deals with childhood abuse.
House was in a pensive mood, reflecting on his childhood, current lovers and other such stuff. It was a Thursday night as he sat on his black couch, alone, in his apartment, drinking a whiskey tumbler and remembering.
House put the tumbler on the coffee table, got up and turned on the radio which was installed in his stereo system and smiled a bit. He wasn't the kind of guy to listen to country music, but he had heard this song before, but only partly and was glad he could hear the entire thing.
My old man's
backhand used to land, That's all right, I'm ok.
Hard on the side of my head.
I just
learned to stay out of his way.
There's been street fights, blue
lights,
Long nights with the world sittin' on my chest:
It
just showed me how much I could take.
Hard times, bad luck.
Sometimes, life sucks.
It
ain't nothin' but another day.
But only God knows where I'd be,
If you ever stopped lovin' me.
House shivered as he recalled the hell that was his childhood abuse given to him by his dad. Like being made to take ice baths or sleeping out in the yard. It was no wonder years later, he hated the sound of ice cubes or the feel of freezing cold rain on his skin as it took him right back to those hellish times. He remembered the bruises he had gotten from his dad hitting him. Or from the fights he often got into at local bars while drinking. House could recall the number of times he had sat in a cell while being hauled in by the cops for starting those bar fights, not all of them mind you, but just a few and how his dad would never come and get him at least not until the next few days had passed. It was no wonder why House hated his father like he did.
It was no wonder why House's life sucked from the start and it didn't get any better come infarction time. If there was a greater circle of hell, he was in it with Stacey and that was before and after she left. The only thing he could rely on now was Cuddy. It was Cuddy, who in spite of her partly causing House's dependence on a cane and Vicodin, House still considered her a friend, despite his anger toward her. It was Cuddy who had saved House from himself those days, weeks, months, and years after Stacey had left. It was Cuddy who had helped him get back up on his feet (or foot) and get back to living his life. It was that strong friendship which had slowly turned into feelings of love.
Cuddy
had helped House learn what it meant to walk again and get around
again using a cane. She was there for the tears of hurt and loss and
pain, both over loosing his leg and loosing Stacey. She was there for
everything, the anger, the harsh words etc. Cuddy had learned long
ago to speak her mind when the time came and to shut up when she
needed too. It hurt her a million times over each day to see House
like that. But together they worked through their feelings and were
soon in love with each other. The
bank man, the boss man, the lawman, That's all right, I'm
ok.
All tryin' to get their hands
on me.
And I ain't even done a danged thing wrong.
I've been
waylaid, freight-trained, short-changed,
By bigger an' badder
men.
An' all I got to say is: "Bring it on."
Hard
rain, rough road,
So my life goes.
It ain't nothin' but another day.
But only God knows
where I'd be,
If you ever stopped lovin' me.
House
thought back to the number of times that he and Cuddy had butted
heads over decisions for patients while at work. That was after he
had come back to work after the infarction. House knew that he was
right when it came to helping a patient, even if that meant bending
(or in his case, disregarding) the rules altogether. He didn't care
what rules he broke as long as the patient got cured. House wasn't
afraid of confrontation at all. He'd lost count at the number of
arguments he had had with Cuddy over a patients care. But he knew
that Cuddy was just doing her job and in the end House knew that
Cuddy would back him up no matter what. I
need you, Instrumental break. That's all right, I'm ok. It ain't nothin' but
another day. Baby, never stop lovin' me. Ah,
just see, what your lovin' does to me
Gotta have you,
In my life, on my side,
Every
day I'm alive,
Every might when I'm greedy an' needing,
You!
It
ain't nothin' but another day.
But only God knows where I'd be,
If you ever stopped lovin' me.
But only God knows where I'd be,
If you ever
stopped lovin' me.
House smiled as he heard the last lines of the song because he knew the song fit him to a T. House knew that without Cuddy he wouldn't have been able to get through the aftermath of the infarction, or anything else that was thrown his way. It was because of Cuddy's love for him that he had survived the trials of his life and it was her love that House would be able to make it through the next set of trials in his life. He smiled as the song ended and he got up, took a pull from his tumbler, set it back on the coffee table and then turned off the radio. Then he went back to where he sat before, lay down and closed his eyes and slept with a peaceful look on his face. He didn't hear Cuddy knock on his front door about 30 minutes later, walk in, put a blanket over him and kiss him on the lips as she snuggled up next to him and held him close.