AN: All mistakes are mine!

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I do NOT own House!

Perception

The sky sang out into the night. The clouds began to dance as the lightning electrified them. The rain was falling freely from the sky, landing on random objects – cars. Tink, tink, tink. Like music. It is hard not to enjoy the show just as it is hard not to be involved.

A drop fell on her cheek as she exited the hospital's front door, involving her in the performance. She was drenched in a matter of seconds – her hair dripping wet and her clothes a shade darker than before the storm. Lightning ignited against the shadows, and her eyes followed a strand across a vast cloud as it turned into the veins of the sky. Cuddy's mind erupted in thought as her medical mind turned to her mother. The tears that fell from her eyes mixed with the rain, almost like the heavens were crying with her.

"This is only going to make you sick." His voice sounded in the back of her head, but she didn't turn. A man displaced the rain falling behind her. She felt his arms rap around her soaking frame.

The heat radiating from him was too much to resist. Cuddy turned into his embrace, "Hum."

"Saw your shoes." House whispered against her hair as he began to slowly rock her with the sound of the pulsing thunder. She rubbed her bare foot against his and realized he was without shoes. Looking over his shoulder, she saw his shoes next to hers and his cane resting on the door handle.

How is it that he could be such a man, one that blankets me in comfort when I need it most, and a man that can send me off the deep end? Her wheels were turning, and turning. Her thoughts then drifted to the fact that because of him, her mother was alive. Not only that but cured. He had saved her mother and had saved her from making a huge mistake. House had forced her to confront a woman, one that she had been rebelling from her whole life. There was love there, but as her mother had said, "I like your sister more." That's what she really wanted from her mother – to be liked. Being loved equally wasn't enough.

"Eh-hem. I believe there was a wise woman that once said…" Cuddy interrupted him, just as he had interrupted her thoughts, knowing exactly where he was going.

"Why do you have over analyze things to death….why can't this just be nice…" She half smiled at him, knowing she was struggling to find a way to thank him for what he had done.

House smiled back, it was that cocky half smile, "Do you know her?"

"Greg…thank you. I can't think of anything else…" She looked away from his eyes, trying to recover the thought she had just lost.

"It's family, Cuddy. Anyone with the last name Cuddy – I'm willing to pay the price." Cuddy wasn't used to this from him. And he was serious. There was not cocky half-smile hidden in the depths of his eyes. She could see the lightning flash again in his eyes as he spoke, "Because you are my highest priority."

The tears were flowing freely now and all she could think was, thank god for the rain. She was seeing a different side of the man she loved. The thought that he was this caring and was no longer afraid to tell her did little to help the tear situation. His eyes smiled at her – he finally trusted her. Trusted her enough to freak out, enough to tell her what he was feeling, and enough to consider her family his.

If she wasn't already head over heels for him, she now was – without a doubt. Her hand met his cheek, rubbing her thumb against his cheekbone. On her tiptoes, she kissed his lightly. He met her kiss, showing her that it was true. She pulled away slightly, just barely touching his lips with her own. "Thank you…I wish there were more I could say."

He reached down and grabbed her ass, "I'm game for 'thank you' sex."

Cuddy laughed, "I need a vacation."

"You know, I have been meaning to ask you about that."

She cocked an eyebrow, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Mont Saint Michel. You said to give you two weeks, which I took to mean a few months. So I'm now demanding we go."

Cuddy smiled widely, remembering that night spent on his bed just talking. He knew her, and she certainly liked that fact right this second. The moment her mind started connecting the dots and the worry began to kick in, she stepped into his embrace, "What about Rachael?"

"I already talked to your sister. And before you start talking about not wanting to make your sister watch your rugrat, she offered."

She sighed, "I really hate asking her to watch Rachael, when she already has three kids terrorizing her house."

He laughed, knowing the destruction that Rachael can cause in two minutes unsupervised, "If you prefer, we can always bring her with. I just wanted this to be a stress free vacation." House paused for a second, letting her digest the proposition, "It's only a week."

"It sounds like you've got this pretty well planned out."

The smile that enveloped his face was one she loved, "You know me – I'm a schemer."

Cuddy rolled her eyes, "Understatement."

The wind blew against her back, causing her to shiver, "Your cold."

"Oh yeah, how'd you figure that one out?" He looked down at her chest pressed against his and smiled.

Beep, beep, beeeeeeeeep. She felt his beeper go off and waited patiently as he looked at it, "You're mom's out of surgery."

He saw the heavy burden return to her shoulders the moment he mentioned Arlene, "I should go see her before we go home." House nodded, running his hand over her back.

They parted and help each other back into the hospital. He watched as she headed for the elevators, leaving him and her shoes. Limping to her office with their shoes in hand, he thought of the woman he just brought inside. He thought back to that dance they had shared, where he had finally come clean about his encounter with her in med school. They could have been married, with children and a house. White picked-fence and everything. He would probably be a better man. "'You make me better and I hope I make you better.'" But that would have been common and as she herself had said, common is boring. It's common. They weren't at all common. His antics and her controlling ambition – they were quite the pair.

The light was on in the bathroom as he entered and grabbed a towel. He looked into the mirror and dried his hair quickly. House continued to stare at himself, making a silent promise to never allow their relationship to be common, or boring. That promise included never hurting her, or Rachael.

He didn't notice her behind him until her hands reached for the towel in his. It shook him from his thoughts, "How is she?"

"She's still out." The worry she was feeling was etched in her facial features. Turning to face her, he helped dry her face.

House had successfully gotten all of the makeup off her cheeks from the rain, "Hey, don't worry about your mom. I've got one of my team members on it. She won't be left alone."

"You know she was only telling the truth. Something we should all be doing more." Her voice was quiet, like someone might be listening. Probably fear from the last time Masters had walked in on them talking.

"I'm not punishing her. Okay…maybe a little bit." He shrugged, "She volunteered."

"HA! I doubt that very much." She threw the towel on the vanity, knowing there was no point in trying to dry off any more.

"Just trust me…and don't worry. Plus, Chase will be there – he's been assigned babysitter for the evening."

Cuddy laughed, "Well, that puts my mind at ease." She walked to her desk and grabbed her bag. Debating on whether or not she should bring work home, House began to whistle impatiently at the door. The MacBook on her desk was saying 'yes', but her mind was saying 'no'. She closed it and moved swiftly to the man waiting for her, abandoning her laptop.

Once she reached his side, he handed her the shoes that had remained unaffected by the rainstorm. "You should be more worried about your little girl completely demolishing your house."

She linked her fingers with his as the walked to elevators, "She only does that when you're home." House looked at her with questioning eyes that turned sarcastic when she said, "You know why, don't you?"

"Because she wants me to trip and fall, break my good leg and become as close to the ground as she is…" Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Well, if that means you pay more attention to her – then yes." She squeezed his hand gently, trying to combat his sarcasm with honesty.

He looked up at the top of the elevator, "Great, that little scheming bit…."

"House!" Cuddy cut him off before he could finish the word.

"Joking about the bee-with-an-itch part, not about the scheming part. Sorry, guess I'm not the best example."

She stopped him as they exited the elevator, putting her hand on his chest, "Scheming, really? Being a good parent isn't about being the perfect example."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Parent?"

Taking the hand off his chest and running her hand up and down his arm, she spoke quietly, "I want you to be and I'm pretty sure she does too."

His mouth fell open at her honesty, "You must be crazy. That or I'm hallucinating this whole thing."

Cuddy brought her hand to his scruffy cheek, running her thumb over his cheekbone, "I am crazy." She brought her lips to his, brushing them against his gingerly.

House pulled her close, kissing her deeply in plain sight of the entire parking garage. He smiled as he kissed her, remembering when she talked about this stuff stopping at the threshold of the parking garage. So much for that, he thought.

She broke their kiss, took his hand, and began pulling him to her car. The ride home was quiet. It was a comforting silence, one that they shared without awkwardness.

Their relationship had changed him, by his own choice of course, but changed him even so. They were two obdurate people in a relationship that was ever changing – stubborn people evolving. It seemed impossible, even to his brilliant mind. It was like a math problem with no solution or a jigsaw with pieces that didn't fit together. But it all came together somehow. The solution the math problem was that there was no solution, and the chaotic pieces scattered across the floor were their own picture. The mystery was in the "somehow" part. It was all based on perception, not fact. Something he found unsettling.

Perception.

AN: This is my first Huddy fic! Please R&R!