Title: Too Good To Be
Rating: K+
Part: 1/1
Pairing: Huddy
Words: 1620
Genre: Romance / Angst / Humour
Other: Based after season five. House is leaving the psych hospital.
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House looked out of the window and smiled as he saw Wilson and Cuddy climbing out of Wilson's car.
He had been told a week ago that his time at the psych hospital was coming to an end and that he was going to be released the following week. The hallucinations were now completely gone and he was once again thought of as mentally stable. (Or as Wilson had said on the phone to him when House told him this, 'as mentally stable as he ever was'.)
As they got closer House could see the fear on Cuddy's face. She hadn't actually been to see him during his three month span in here though he had been told by one of the doctors that worked there that she had been phoning up every day to find out how he was. (You'd be amazed what information you could get for $100.) But the fear he could see wasn't because she was worried that he was still insane, she was worried that he would be too sane. She was worried that he might have changed.
He saw them going through the door below him and quickly went over to his case. He shoved his hand into a little pocket underneath it and pulled out his pot of vicodin. He moved himself to a position by the door, ready to lean on it if people tried coming in. He threw a couple of the pills down his throat and then shoved the pill pot back into the secret area that been built into the bottom of the suitcase. He moved his case back to its space in the corner of the room and headed out of the door.
"House" Cuddy ran straight over and wrapped her arms around him. House was unsure how to react to this immediate display of affection so moved his own arms around her, hugging her to him, then slid his right hand down her back and squeezing her ass. Well he didn't want her worrying that he'd changed.
She pushed him off her and rolled her eyes. "Still an ass then." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Still an over emotional, child grabbing, and totally hot hospital administrator then?"
Cuddy couldn't help but smile at that. She had been so worried that when she saw him House was going to be nothing like his former self, clearly her worries hadn't been needed. He was exactly the same as when she left him, except without the hallucinations and vicodin.
"So how's the pain?"
"Hey! Wilson is there you know you can ask him yourself."
"That's not what I meant. How are you managing without the vicodin."
House smiled as he thought of the pot of pills he was hiding in his suitcase. "I don't know, how did I look?"
"Good" Cuddy was actually quite surprised by how good House did look, he should be in at least a bit of pain even with the pain management techniques they had taught him…
They had reached the reception and House was handed back his other personal belongings including his cane. He took it off the receptionist and grinned at it before lifting it to his mouth and kissing it. "Aw I've missed you so much." Without so much as looking back to see if Wilson and Cuddy were following he walked off into the car park.
Cuddy followed him out with Wilson at her side. He was still limping which mean his leg must still be hurting… but he wasn't showing any signs of pain. He looked fine but he must have been… "High" Cuddy suddenly realised something. "House you're high on something."
House came to a halt. Damn. He thought they'd at least be in the car before one of them realised, and he'd kind of assumed it would be Wilson that noticed first. Talking of Wilson how was he reacting? House turned around and saw his best friends face fall.
"House are you still on vicodin." It was Cuddy that was speaking. He turned to her and could see outrage on her face. He couldn't help but smile at how horrified the pair of them looked.
"I'm not hallucinating any more.""So you went back on the vicodin?" It was the first time Wilson had said anything since arriving to get House. House's eyes moved back to him as he continued to speak "House the idea of you being here…"
"Was to get rid of the hallucinations." House interrupted. "The hallucinations are gone." He was bored of this conversation now so turned back around and continued towards the car. He was only about a foot away when a hand grabbed his arms. It was Cuddy.
"What is wrong with you House? What was the point of coming here if nothing's going to change?"
"As I already told you" House said impatiently. "The idea of coming here was to get rid of the dead people. The dead people are gone. Therefore the problem…"
"The problem is your addiction House. There's no point stopping the hallucinations if they're going to come back in a couple of months because you haven't dealt with the underlying issue."
House tried opening the car door but it was locked. He turned around and glared at Wilson who had went quiet again. His friend just shook his head sadly and unlocked the door but Cuddy was still ranting and she was getting louder by the second.
"House why did you do this? How did you do this? I mean they were meant to be making sure you didn't have any access to the vicodin."
"The reason I did this was because I am in pain. The vicodin take away the pain ergo I take the vicodin. And in answer to your second question I paid one of the volunteer workers to get it for me. See the 'volunteer' thing means that they don't get paid for being there, which means they aren't getting any money to take home and feed their families with. Promise them $20 a pop they'd sneak in anything for you. I did ask for a hooker as well but she got caught on the way in."
Suddenly a hand flew out and hit House's left cheek. He stepped back in shock and tried to take in what had just happened. He looked at Cuddy in shock "did you just… slap me?"
"Yes"
House was shocked to see that tears were starting to fall down Cuddy's beautiful face and drip onto her, very low cut, white t-shirt. "Hang on forget me for a moment? What's wrong with you? I've always taken vicodin and functioned perfectly well. I can still do my job on it so that's clearly not what you're worried about. So why does it bother you so much that I'm taking it again."
Cuddy looked away from him and House could see Wilson give him a 'you idiot look'. Suddenly the penny dropped. "You're not worried about me being able to do my job. You were worried that I'd changed because you didn't want me to be a different person but at the same time part of you hoped I had changed. Not massively, just enough so that I was capable of having a relationship. Which is why you have been phoning up every day since I got here, which is why you came with Wilson today, and it's why you're so upset now. You wanted me to have changed so that you could…"
"Well done House you figured it out." The tears were coming down Cuddy's face thick and fast now "You're right I hoped that you'd changed so that, just maybe, there would be a chance for us to have a relationship. But you changing was just too good to be true. I was being stupid; you're never going to change are you? And we are never going to be together because you would rather have the vicodin than me."
House was silent for a moment. Then he stepped forward to her and moved her hair out of her eyes. He saw her looking at him, her eyes full of sadness and loss. The loss of the relationship she had spent the past three months imagining and House had managed to destroy within ten minutes of being with her. "I would rather have both" he whispered softly and then tilted her chin back so that she was looking at him. He leant down and carefully placed his lips on hers. The kiss was slow at first, nervous, but as they both began to relax more the kiss became easier and more passionate.
After about five minutes House pulled back and turned to Wilson who had been standing uncomfortably about 2 metres away from the couple. "Can we go home now Daddy?"
Speechless at what he had just witnessed Wilson nodded and climbed into the car.
Cuddy gave House a small smile and went to climb into the front next to Wilson. House put his hand on her shoulder and she turned around. "Hey the front seat goes to the cripple. Go and get into the back."
Cuddy sighed and moved round him. Climbing into the back of the car, she knew she would have to accept that that however many different people tried, House was never going to change.
House was now sitting in the front next to Wilson. He turned to him and with a massive grin on his face said "You will never guess what hot chick I just pulled!"