Good Intentions

Just as he reached the sidewalk, he heard the front door click open.

"House?"

Damn. He cringed and sighed. He'd almost gotten away, too.

"Yeah," he called, not turning around.

"House…" Cuddy let out, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. This time, he faced her with an unreadable expression on his face, tapping his cane almost absentmindedly against the pavement.

"Do you want to come inside?" she asked after a moment

House shrugged. "Not particularly."

"Right," Cuddy exaggerated with a raised eyebrow, "You came all the way over here just to party on my doorstep."

"Actually," House contradicted, shifting to a more comfortable position on his leg, "You caught me. I was just on my way around back to see if I could swipe a bra or two for this banner some committee's working on. Plaster a few of those things around town and we could have the hospital drowning in moola within weeks."

His boss merely rolled her eyes and bit back a smile. House could be so predictable sometimes.

"Come on," she told him, gesturing with one hand. Then, without waiting for his reply, she turned and walked back inside, leaving the front door wide open.

House sighed dramatically, making his displeasure known, before following her.

"You know, leaving your door open in the middle of the night is bad," he called to her from the entry. "Some asshole drug-addict could just wander in."

"Coffee or hot chocolate?" Cuddy shouted from the kitchen, ignoring his comment completely. She turned around just as he ambled into the kitchen.

"Coffee's fine," he said as he plopped himself down on one of the chairs situated around the pine table in the center of the room.

"Sure," she mumbled between clenched teeth as she strained to grab a mug from the cupboard. She smiled triumphantly when her fingertips touched it.

"You could have offered to help instead of just sitting there and staring at my ass, you know," she informed him nonchalantly as she came down off her tiptoes and faced him.

"Yeah, I could have," he conceded, "but it wouldn't have been half as fun."

He grinned at her and Cuddy was suddenly struck with an image of how he must have looked as a child. She pushed the thought out of her mind quickly, however, and shot him a glare before starting the coffee machine.

Once both were sitting at the table and had been sufficiently caffeinated, Cuddy cleared her throat.

"So," she began hesitantly, "Why'd you come over?"

"Wanted to make sure the twins were ok," he responded automatically, but the leering gaze that usually accompanied such a comment was missing.

"House," Cuddy sighed, setting her mug down and resting her head in one hand, "We're both adults and we've both been talking to Wilson…"

House snorted.

Cuddy pursed her lips before continuing, "…and besides, don't you ever wonder if it just might work."

"First of all," House said leaning back in his chair and slurping at his coffee, "No idea what you're talking about. Second of all, even if I did happen to have an inkling of what you're trying to get at, I'd have to say no."

"'No' you don't want to try or 'no' you've never been curious?"

"Uhhh…both," House drawled in a bored tone. He drained the last of the coffee from his mug and set it down on the table only to find her staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked after a moment.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, giving her head a little shake before downing the last of her drink and grabbing both mugs. She rinsed them out and left them in the sink, pretending not to notice that House's eyes were on her the whole time.

"So," she said as she sat down again, "I guess that's it then."

"Yep." House grabbed his cane from where it had been resting against the table and made his way slowly to the front door. Cuddy sat for another second, feeling slightly shell-shocked, before hurrying after him.

"Thanks for the coffee," he told her before stepping out the door. She stood with her hand on the doorknob, watching him.

Suddenly, after four steps, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Hey Cuddy," he called.

"Yeah."

"Wanna grab something after work tomorrow?"

"Wha-what?" Cuddy stammered. "You mean, like a date?"

House let out an exasperated sigh. "No," he said firmly, "That time I took Cameron out to some fancy place was a date. This is just you, me, and food. Nothing else."

A slow grin spread over Cuddy's face and House couldn't help but smile back.

"Sure," she agreed. He said nothing, but gave her a slight nod before walking away.

Cuddy shut the door softly and leaned her forehead against it, not sure whether she should laugh or cry. Then, a thought crossed her mind and she frowned.

If Wilson ever found out, she'd never be able to stop him from saying 'I told you so'.