New year, new fic :)
I know, I know... I should be writing my two other stories but I was in the mood for a one shot, plus I wanted to contribute another little fic to "30 days of Huddy". I chose the prompt from December 10th which is "fear".
The fic is beta read by the great Jane :)
The "simple" deal
It was supposed to be a simple deal. He did her a favor and at the same time he was getting a favor back.
And at first it started out quite fine… At least until they first kissed.
As soon as their lips touched any deals were forgotten and all they cared about was them.
Of course they didn't tell each other. Both kept acting as if it was JUST an agreement that meant nothing. Absolutely nothing! Nada!
But with each time they slept together it got harder to pretend. It got harder to bury their feelings deep inside them and to hide their affection for each other.
Cuddy hated not being able to lie in his arms after they slept together. She hated that she couldn't drop by his office or his apartment to just peck him on the lips. She hated that she had to act as if he meant nothing to her when clearly to opposite was the case.
After three months of sleeping together Cuddy found out that she was pregnant. She was beyond happy. Over the moon. Another chance had been given to her. Though the fear of losing this baby as well was permanently present.
She didn't tell him immediately. For a moment she even considered sleeping with him for a very last time before sharing the news but she scrapped that plan almost immediately. It wouldn't be fair to him. They had a deal and she was going to comply with the conditions.
She told him 9 days later. She went to his office, sat down in the chair in front of his desk and shared the news about her pregnancy.
There was no reaction from him. No frown, no smile, no flinch… Nothing.
He just looked at her and asked: "Does this mean we can't have sex anymore?"
She got up from the chair again, leaned over the desk and slapped him. Hard.
His team was watching them from the conference room but she couldn't care less.
"You are an asshole!" she hissed and left his office.
They hadn't talked since she had told him about the baby. The news of her pregnancy had changed everything between them.
It had driven them even more apart than they had been before.
House didn't even go to Cuddy's office anymore when he needed permission for a procedure. He just sent one of his team members. He avoided her at all costs.
He even turned around and left when he walked into a room she was in.
He didn't want to see her. He didn't want to have any contact. Neither with her nor the baby. And this hurt her.
She knew that the deal was over and that it had never been part of the plan that House would be there for her during the pregnancy or that he would be the father of their kid but subconsciously she had hoped for it.
"This is getting ridiculous." Wilson said and put his arms akimbo.
"What?" House looked up from the computer screen.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I'm clever Wilson, but I can't read minds."
"Cuddy is miserable."
"She wanted a kid and now she's getting one. That was the deal. It's not my fault that it turned out not to make her as happy as expected."
"You need to talk to her."
"Nope, I don't."
"You like her, House."
"I like having sex with her." House corrected.
"You like HER and that is why you are acting like this now… You don't know how to deal with your feelings."
"You are full of crap!"
"But I am right."
"You wish you were."
"One day, maybe a few months or a few years from now Cuddy will find someone… Someone who will marry her and someone the kid will call "Dad". Do really want this someone not to be you? "
"This is not a romantic comedy, Wilson. There is not gonna be a mushy happy ending."
"It doesn't have to be mushy…" Wilson said as he turned around and approached the office door. "As long as there IS a happy ending I'm fine with it."
Before House could tell Wilson to fuck himself he was already gone.
She had seen her baby for the very first time today. She had listened to its steady heartbeat. It had been like music to her ears.
At this point the baby was just a tiny little thing but she already loved it with each cell of her body.
Doctor Miller had assured her that everything looked perfectly fine and that the critical phase of her pregnancy would be over in two weeks. Until then she should take it easy.
Cuddy was actually one of those doctors that were horrible patients themselves, but in this case she promised herself to do exactly what her gynaecologist told her. She didn't want to take any chances.
She had a big smile on her face when she left her gynaecologist's office and walked to her car.
She wished that House had been here though.
Christina Perry's "A Thousand Years" was playing on the radio as she pulled out of the parking lot.
She turned up the volume as she left the parking area and stopped at the first red light.
She was muttering the lyrics of the refrain.
As the streetlight turned green she let go of the drive coupling and pressed down on the gas pedal again.
When she was in the middle of the crossroads she saw a black car in the corner of her eye approaching. This car wasn't supposed to drive! It had a red light!
She slammed down on the brakes. The tires of her car screeched. Milliseconds afterwards she felt the other car crashing forcefully into hers.
The last thing she heard was Christina Perry singing the words "I have died everyday" before everything went black.
House let out an annoyed sigh when Wilson entered his office. His friend had been getting on his nerves with the Cuddy topic for weeks.
"If you are here to talk me into being Cuddy's baby daddy again then you better leave right away before I shove my cane up your ass." House said without even looking up from the Computer screen.
"Cuddy was in an accident."
This caught House's attention… Well it actually almost gave him a heart attack.
"Some idiot ran a red light. She's in the ER right now."
House's heart started beating faster. This weird sensation that felt an awful lot like fear spread in his chest. He swallowed. "How… bad is it?"
"They don't know it yet… She's not in a life-threatening situation though."
"And… the baby?"
Wilson shrugged. "We have to wait till the test results are back."
House nodded and got up from his chair.
He needed to see her.
"Where is she?!" House shouted as soon as he entered the ER.
A nurse approached him. "Who are you looking for?"
"For Mother Theresa." House said in a sarcastic voice before he shouted: "For Cuddy of course!"
The nurse wasn't really surprised about his outburst. She knew Dr. House. Him behaving weird and rude was totally normal.
"We transferred her to a room… 315. It's over there." The nurse pointed at a door.
"Who's her doctor?"
"Charlson."
"Great" House muttered sarcastically. "Wasn't a more incompetent doctor available?"
"No… The competent doctors were all busy." A voice said behind House.
He turned around and found himself face to face with Charlson.
House immediately snatched Cuddy's file from the doctor's hand.
"Ever heard of patient confidentiality?" Charlson asked.
"From now on I'm her doctor."
Charlson didn't even try telling House that what he was doing wasn't legal. He wouldn't care anyway. So to save House the time to read he said: "She has two broken ribs, a broken arm, a laceration and a concussion."
"Did you do an MRI?"
"We did a CT. Everything looks good. There are no long-term damages to expect. But we wont know for sure until she wakes up."
"What about the foetus?"
"We were worried at first but there is no sign that anything's wrong. We did an ultrasound to check. We are gonna put her on bed rest for the next few weeks though."
House nodded, turned around with the file still tucked under his arm and headed for Cuddy's room.
Her face was slightly swollen. He immediately checked if the laceration on her forehead was stitched up properly. His fingers gently graced the scar. He would have done it better but whoever did stitch her up did an ok job.
He dropped down on the chair next to the bed her sleeping form was lying in and let out a relieved sigh.
He was so glad that she wasn't hurt badly and that even the kid seemed to be fine.
It would have destroyed her if she had lost that baby. And he had to admit: it would have made him sad too. After all it was his kid. It had half his genes.
He opened up her file, looked through it and checked out every detail. He wanted to make sure that they didn't miss anything. He didn't trust Charlson, that lazy, sad sack.
"How is she doing?" Wilson asked in a hushed voice after entering Cuddy's room.
"Still sleeping." House said.
"You want me to sit with her for a bit while you get some food or some sleep?"
House shook his head no. "Neither hungry nor tired." It was just partly a lie. He indeed wasn't hungry but he was tired. Worrying about her had exhausted him. And it exhausted him even more when he thought about what else could have happened and how much worse her accident could have been.
"OK." Wilson smiled at him supportively. There was no point in trying to get House away from her side to eat or to take a nap. He wouldn't leave her. No way.
When she woke up she didn't know where she was. It was unusually hard to open her eyes. Her lids were incredibly heavy.
"Hey." A voice said. A voice she knew very well. House's voice.
She carefully turned her head to the left and saw him looking at her. In a weak voice she asked: "What…?"
But he didn't let her finish the sentence. "You were in an accident…An idiot ran a red light and crashed into your car… You have a concussion, your arm's broken and so are two ribs but otherwise you are fine."
Her memories came back… She had been in her car… On her way home… She came from her gynaecologist… OMG… the baby!
Her good hand immediately went to her still- flat stomach.
Before she could even ask about it, House informed her: "The foetus is fine. They did an ultrasound to check… Charlson put you on bed rest though."
A sound of relief left her throat which kinda hurt due to her broken rips. Thank God the baby was fine! She didn't know what she would have done if she had lost it… She wouldn't have been able to deal with it. Not again.
"How are you feeling?" It was unusual to hear House saying those four words.
"Sore… and weak." She answered. "And happy." She added as she caressed her belly and smiled.
"You… eh… Do you already have a name?" He hinted with his head to her stomach.
"I made a list of names… but I'm not sure which ones are gonna make it to the shortlist yet."
He just nodded.
"I can't even tell you how thankful I am for this." She continued caressing her belly.
"No need to thank me. We had a deal. I got something out of it and you got something. No one owes anyone."
"I do owe you… There is no one else I know who would have done that for me."
"I was just in it for the sex." He lied.
"If that was true you wouldn't be here right now."
She had him and they both knew it.
He didn't say anything and looked away… Oh he looked adorable when he felt uncomfortable.
"I never wanted kids." He said after a while.
"I know."
"But now that it exists…" He broke up… It wasn't necessary to say more. She knew what he wanted to say.
She smiled. Her left hand went to his and squeezed it. "I already told you that you can be the father… I'd love that… but you need to be sure. Once you say yes there is no going back."
He was well aware of that. He knew that once he made this choice his life would change forever.
"If I agree to be your baby's daddy does that mean I get the right to play with the baby's toys too? And with toys I mean your boobs?"
Of course. What else did she expect? House never did anything without profiting from it. Not even for her. Why did it even surprise her? Why the hell had she been naive enough to think that he wanted to be in the baby's life because he felt a connection to it?
As House noticed her reaction he wanted to kick himself in the ass for saying what he just did. It came out wrong. That wasn't what he meant at all. "You got me wrong."
"Believe me, I got you perfectly fine." Almost rudely she pulled away her hand from his and choked down a yelp… Damn broken rips did hurt like hell.
"No, you didn't."
"Then tell me what you actually meant! Tell me in a way I understand!" She demanded.
He looked down on the floor. He felt vulnerable. It was hard for him to open up.
He cleared his throat. "You." He murmured. "I want you… Not for your body – even though it is a nice extra. I want you because of… you."
Cuddy's heart almost melted. How freaking cute could that stubborn get of a man be?!
She looked at him. She was a little shocked. She hadn't reckoned on that. Not at all.
After the first shock moment was over her lips formed to a bright smile. Despite the knowledge that her next action would hurt her, she gripped House's shirt and pulled his upper body down to her so she could kiss him.
He obeyed immediately.
Sometimes you have to feel the fear of losing someone to finally realize how much you actually care about them and how much you appreciate having them around you.
- end
I'm hungry. Feed my with reviews xD
Happy 2013!