Careful Where You Stand
Disclaimer: I don't own House, MD or any of the characters/songs used in the fic!
Rating: It's fine for now!
Summary: Be careful where you stand, Cuddy. People who get close to me get hurt. That's a fact.
A/N: Hi guys! So... my name is Brittney! I'm formerly known on here as Teliko.x3 (from the X-Files fandom), but I can't get into that account... so I've just made a new one! This is my first ever House/Cuddy fic and I'm sure it needs a lot of work... but I hope you all enjoy it. I'm obsessed with the idea of how they met at University of Michigan and I've done a lot of research on the two characters... so I'm trying to give it a shot! If it sucks, I'll completely tear it down and you'll never hear from me again! Haha! I apologize for any grammar mistakes (I know I switch tenses a lot; it's a flaw, I can't help it). Let me know if you like it!
He sat at a table alone, watching undergrads shuffle past to get to their next class or to meet up with other undergrads. The semester hadn't even started yet and the campus was crawling with teenagers straight from high school. He sat there, wondering exactly how many of the girls would waste mommy and daddy's money with a bad drug habit, how many would get pregnant their first month in college, and how many of them would never step a foot outside of their dorm. Stacy had often teased him for people watching and playfully accused him of checking other girls out. Though it wasn't far from the truth, there hadn't been anyone nearly as beautiful, smart, or interesting enough to catch his eye.
He's knocked out of his daydreaming by a hand on his shoulder and a kiss on his cheek. She slings off her book bag and plops it onto the table in front of them before taking a seat next to him.
"I knew I'd find you here."
He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and glanced at the medical textbook laying on the table. He had read through it once already and was brushing up on some facts just for the hell of it.
"Well seeing as I'm not some horny teenager who's just flown from the nest, the bathroom wouldn't be a good bet." She rolled her eyes. "And I definitely don't want to draw attention to myself…" That earned him a snort of laughter from the brunette next to him. "So you probably won't catch me going eye to eye with some frat monkey, either."
"That's the problem with you, House." She pushes herself up from the table and leans over to whisper in his ear. "You do want to draw attention to yourself." There's another quick kiss placed on his cheek as he grabs her hand and prevents her from walking away. He knows she's right and it's hard to hide the grin that dawns his face now. He was the most talked about med student on campus and had been deemed "hottest" among the female population. Add in Stacy Ward and the two were a power couple. No one dared dream of the madness they could take on as doctor and lawyer.
"Where are you going? You just got here!"
"There's a law student meeting for the graduates. I'll catch up with you later." He let go of her hand reluctantly. "Don't fall in love with any freshmen while I'm gone." He waves her off, dismissing the idea completely. His eyes linger on her, watching her walking away until she disappears behind a shelf of books. He turns around to focus on the book in front of him, but there's something else that catches his eye.
'For crying out loud…'
For all his years here (which weren't much), Stacy had been the most beautiful thing around. There was no beating her. She was gorgeous, witty, and quick to play his little mind games.
But this girl was something else entirely.
She had the darkest brunette hair that had been messily thrown on top of her head. It was a high pony tail with bits and pieces of hair fraying from its holder. Her black bra strap was hanging down her shoulder and had escaped the straps of her white tank top. There was an off-shoulder baggy band shirt barely clinging to her other shoulder and jean shorts so tight, he thought she'd surely pop a seam if she bent over. Her ensemble was completed by a pair of worn out black converse whose laces needed desperate changing.
Definitely the type of freshmen Stacy had warned him about not 30 seconds ago. But it was far too late. Gregory House was intrigued and in love.
/./
He sat behind the desk at the bookstore, lounging back in a chair; tossing his hacky sack up and blindly catching it with one hand. It was the Friday before the semester started and he only had a few more hours to go until he could go meet Stacy. There had been talk of a massive back to school party at one of the Lacrosse player's house on campus and everyone was going. Seeing as he had made good friends with all of the Lacrosse players, he had an obligation to make an appearance.
Through the corner of his eye, he could see someone approaching with a stack of books as big as the person. She places her book on the counter top and he waits until she's done stacking them to acknowledge her.
"Sorry. This register is closed. Please make your way to the nearest, longest line possible." He catches the sack in his hand and finally decides to look up. He nearly falls out of his chair when he realizes it's her and tries to recover as smoothly as possible.
"That's too bad because I'm not moving unless you'd like to carry and hold these for me… in the nearest, longest line possible, of course." His heart nearly exploded in his chest. He comes to a full stand and marvels at how tiny she is. Her blue eyes are locked on his and she finally gives him a smile that sends his heart into overdrive.
He starts ringing up her books, reading over the titles as he does so. It's mostly common undergrad courses… except for one. The same book he had been skimming over yesterday in the library. He looks up at her with a knowing smile on his face and she looks weary.
"What now?" Her brows are knitted in confusion and he almost laughs.
"You can't be more than 20." He gestures to her tiny, lean body with one hand and then points to the book. "And this book is for someone who's in their fourth year of medical school."
"Auditing."
"How'd you pull that off? The professor is a total dick." She gives him a well knowing look and then raises an eyebrow, prompting him to pay attention to whatever she's about to do next. She casually shoves the stack of books to the side and crosses her arms, leaning her elbows against his counter and bending over just enough for him to see the tops of her breasts and completely down her shirt. He can feel himself growing hot underneath the collar of his shirt and he pulls his eyes away from her cleavage to meet her blue eyes. No other girl has ever made him feel this way before. Not even Stacy.
"Are you sure there aren't any spots open?" He realizes she's replaying exactly what must have happened in the professor's office. "I'm a quick learner." A few of his co-workers are passing behind the girl, their jaws nearly reaching the floor as they give the girl a good look up and down. House swallows hard and gives her a thin smile. She smirks and pushes herself away from the counter.
"Works every time, I'm sure."
"You never know until you try." She hands him cash for her books and he takes it without even looking to see if she's given him the right amount.
"I like your style…" He's hinting at her to give him her name and it works like a charm.
"Lisa Cuddy." He hands her back the change and before she can grab her books, he's got them all tucked away in his arms. He walks out from behind the counter and she meets him in the middle of the bookstore. He's silently offered to carry her books out for her seeing as he was an ass earlier, and she silently accepts his apology.
"Mind if I call you Cuddy, though? My mother gets super jealous when I get on a first name basis with other girls." She laughs and opens the door for him, both of them ignoring the yells of his manager telling him to get back behind the counter. "You know… I saw you in the library yesterday." She looks at him through her bangs and walks closer to him.
"Why didn't you say something yesterday?"
"I didn't know you yesterday… but I know you right now." She's smiling down at her feet and he gives himself a mental high-five for being able to get this girl to smile more than once in the past five minutes.
Her hair was up in the same manner as he had seen it yesterday and he could smell her shampoo every time the light August breeze blew. She led them around the back of the building where her car had been parked.
"This is me." She pointed and unlocked the car, opening up the door to the backseat where he stacked her books for her. He slammed the door shut and she leaned against it. He leaned against the car with his hand dangerously close to her head. "I guess I should probably thank you." She's flirting with him now and he's ecstatic. The afternoon sun is beating down on her tanned shoulders and she reaches up to tuck a stray piece of dark hair behind her pierced ears.
"Cash, check… occasional booty call." She scoffs and leans in, placing a hand on his chest and leaning up on her toes. Logic is telling him to pull away like something has burned him, but there's an unidentifiable force that's keeping him grounded in his spot. Even over his cotton band t-shirt, he can feel how soft and long her fingers are against his chest. Her hand is directly over his heart and he's almost embarrassed at how hard it's beating against her hand. 'You have a girlfriend, idiot. A beautiful, intelligent, loving girlfriend' is the only thing his mind is spitting out. 'God, do I want to kiss her' is what's actually getting through. And he gets his wish.
His hand comes down from the top of the car and grabs her tiny waist as she presses a sweet, innocent kiss to his lips. It's not nearly enough a kiss for him to even consider telling Stacy, but it's intimate and it's something he wants to remember in a good way. She opens her eyes and falls back on her feet.
"Thanks, Greg." She reaches up and flicks his name-tag with a finger, then turns and gets into her car. She drives away and leaves him standing there completely speechless. He had a reputation for only being nice to people he deemed interesting and worthy enough for his attention… but this Lisa Cuddy had thrown a wrench into the entire game.
A/N: So this is the first chapter. I'm not too sure how long I want to make it, seeing as this is my first ever House fic. If you guys are totally in love, I'll try my best to update as fast as I can. I'm in Nursing school right now, so I may get super busy as the semester goes on. So I'm super notorious for asking people to listen to music while they read my fics. (It's usually the songs I listened to when I wrote the chapters). This chapter was inspired by songs called Violent Shiver by Benjamin Booker and Glory by Wye Oak.