It was just after lunch on a wednesday afternoon. Lisa Cuddy sat behind her desk, filling in the paperwork her subordinates had neglected to finish. Just as she lifted her watered down tea to her lips, her door opened. She didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"House."

"Cuddles. We need to talk."

She let out a soft sigh as she set down the cup gently. She decided it would be best to ignore the nickname this time.

"What did you do?"

"Do? I didn't do anything. Why do you always assume I do something?"

"Because it's better for my overall sanity if I assume you do something, rather than assuming that you didn't and being hit with the severity of what you did."

"Oh." he responded, simply, and made himself at home in the chair in front of her desk, which he then rested his feet up on the corner of. He twirled his cane out at his side, making for a signature picture of himself.

"Well, this time I didn't do anything. I came to tell you it's over."

"Wh-what?" she had moved her attention to her computer screen, but now it was drawn to his face.

"Over? What's over?"

"Now, now, don't make this hard, Cuddles. I know you'll miss me, but you should just move on. Find someone better. Someone who's more sane and less... limpy." he finished, indicating his cane.

"You can't be serious..." the thing was, his face showed no humor. A thought clicked into place, and she glared.

"Who is it?"

"You're big on assumptions today aren't you? Maybe I just don't like you anymore, ever think of that?"

"House. You've been trying to get with me since I don't care to remember how long. You're not just gonna end it without a good reason. A good, big-breasted, short-skirted reason. Now, who is it?"

But he simply shook his head, and stood, putting his cane to the carpet and turning away from her. She stood also, some kind of anger pushing bile into her throat, and making her grip the edge of her desk painfully hard. He made it halfway across her office before she spoke again.

"House. Who. Is. It." she was on the verge of tears, and her voice cracked as a display of such. How could this man simply walk away from her, with no mercy, no explanation, no goddamn reason? What had she done to deserrve this, besides love him?

As if he had heard her thoughts, he paused. It was a tense moment before his head turned, and he glanced at her from over his shoulder. His lips formed the answer, his voice but a whisper.

"Taub."

It was so unrealistic, it didn't register. Not right away. But when it did, he had already began his trip to the door again.

She rushed out from behind her desk, and ran to his side. Her first thought was to make him stop. To make him explain this to her.

She grabbed his cane. And yanked it away from him.

This of course, caused him to topple sidewys, hitting the ground with an unceremonious thump, followed by a short grunt of pain.

"Taub? TAUB? Have you lost your mind?"

"You see, I told you, you need to just let go. You can start by letting go of my cane." he said, sitting up and reaching for the object.

She pulled it out of his reach and took a step back. "No. You're not getting this back until you drop the pills, and actually think about this decision. Of all the people on this earth, not a beautiful intern, or a ditzy nurse, not even some street whore you picked up from the E.R.! But TAUB?"

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, her door opened again.

"Were you calling me?"

Cuddy looked over to see the man in question, Taub, popping his head into the room from behind her door. She was suddenly aware of three things. One: She must've been louder than she'd thought. Two: The scene was not a good one for her reputation. Three: She didn't really give a fuck.

"Taub! Are you dating him?" She half-screamed, brandishing the cane toward her crippled lover on the ground.

The look on the other man's face could only be described as disgust.

"Dating... House? Hell no! Damn, I know I'm not the most faithful husband, but I'm not gay!"

She turned an icy glare down to the man on the carpet. "That's all, Taub. Please leave."

The door clicked closed, and House shrugged. "Well, I suppose my feelings were one-sided. I could've sworn he was flirting back. Well, looks like we're back together, Cuddles. Now you don't have to let go of me, but I would really like you to let go of my cane."

She glanced at the object in her hand, then back at him. The sting of having gotten so emotional over one of his sick jokes was rather fresh, and she nodded.

"You want this back? Don't worry, I'll give it back to you." she said, eyes shooting daggers. "Along with a few bruises."

It was just after lunch, on a wednesday afternoon. Lisa Cuddy stood in her office. The paperwork was forgotten, her tea left to get warm and even more watered down than it had been. The screensaver had found it's way onto the screen of her computer. And up and down the hallway, the pained outcry of Gregory House could be heard.

Yes, it was just a normal wednesday at PPTH.