Cuddy sat at her desk chewing on a pen and fidgeting with files that covered her space as she thought back to earlier in the morning. Waking up stressed out with little sleep was bad enough, but to top it off she received a phone call from Rachel's case worker demanding a last minute meeting. Trying to get all the information she could from the woman, she was left with a gut feeling that things were going to take a turn for the worst. Rachel had been living with Cuddy for over a month now and things were great. She was a happy baby and Cuddy was a proud mom, though things were tough at times she had a great support system and wonderful friends to help her out. She couldn't imagine what was so important that the case worker needed to call a meeting with her and possibly the lawyer if need be.

Cuddy leaned her head back against her chair, groaned with frustration and picked up the phone. She was unable to leave the hospital on such short notice so she agreed on a conference call at 11am sharp. Dialing the number she knew by heart, the offices of DHS, she took a deep breath and steadied herself for the news she feared.

Forty five minutes later Cuddy exited her office, eyes shining brightly with fresh shed tears, and headed to the elevators. Once on the third floor she walked to her destination, Wilson's office, to tell him that their board meeting was off, that she was going home due to an illness, which of course was a lie but she couldn't talk about the real reason for her change in attitude. She knocked but got no answer. Then she tried the knob, thankfully it was unlocked and she decided to slip in and write a note which turned out to be a relief for her as she didn't want to speak to anyone at this particular time. Exiting Wilson's office, looking down at the floor, she completely missed the tall, lanky person walking in her direction and she smashed right into him. To her surprise when she looked up, right into the eyes of House, she saw concern.

"Sorry," was Houses reply.

"No…it's ok…I wasn't paying attention." She quietly said back to him, not looking at his face but the wall behind him.

She began to turn away back toward the exit when she felt a hand grab her elbow softly.

"Are you okay?" She heard.

"Fine…I'm not feeling well so I'm gonna go. I was just leaving Wilson a note about the board meeting being cancelled."

"Seriously Cuddy…you never cancel a board meeting unless there's an emergency. And from the way you're just standing around here I know that's not the case." He said smugly.

"It's nothing ok…I just need to get home, I'm not feeling well…just drop it!"

"But you would've told Wilson had he been in his office right?" He got no reply.

"Am I right?" He asked again.

"I don't…I don't know House. Why is it such a big thing for you to always have to know what I'm feeling or hiding. Can't you just accept an answer from me without questioning it for once?" She was growing madder by the second.

"I'd accept it if I knew it was true…I've known you for a long time Cuddy. I can tell when you're hiding things…you do it a lot from me." House said, a little sadness in his voice.

Cuddy just stared at him in amazement. She was completely speechless. The one person she wanted to spill her guts to, but would never dare for fear of humiliation is opening himself to her and she's refusing. Not knowing what to say or do she turned on him and left…catching the elevator before it closed it's last door and ran from the hospital, fresh tears in her eyes.

Five minutes later, standing still in the spot where Cuddy left him, was House. A look of utter confusion and disappointment on his face. Wilson was finally coming back to wherever he had been and noticed the tall man almost blocking the door to his office.

"House?" Wilson asked. "Do you need something?" No answer.

"House!" Wilson said again, this time slightly louder.

Sinking back into reality he realized that someone was speaking to him.

"Oh…hey. I was just leaving." And with that he turned around and headed toward his office. Wilson, knowing House is a hard one to understand, took his quick departure as nothing out of the ordinary, and entered his office to start on his work.

Once in the safe confines of his dark little workplace House picked up the phone dialing a familiar number. It rang 5 times then went straight to voice mail.

"Damnit Cuddy…pick up the phone." He muttered to himself as he tried again. Still no answer. "She must have turned it off," he thought out loud.

Throwing everything in his back-pack and turning off the lights he headed to the elevators and out of the building straight for his motorcycle. He had no idea what he was about to do. This was the most spontaneous thing he's done in years…maybe ever. As he backed out of his handicapped spot, her veered his bike in the direction of Lisa Cuddy's house.

***

As Cuddy arrived home, parking her car in the driveway and killing the engine, the tears still hadn't stop coming. She was a wreck and didn't know if she could pull it together. She went inside and slammed the door shut. Relieving her part time sitter and paying her well over the amount normal sitters make, she found Rachel in her crib and picked her up. Speaking softly and rocking her gently Cuddy thought of her life without Rachel. Tremors started taking over her body and she had to put the baby down so she could calm herself. A quiet, yet demanding knock was heard on her front door. She almost didn't answer because she knew whoever it was, wasn't welcome at this moment. But she gave in and padded to the door, opening it slowly.

"What are you doing here?" She sighed, somehow knowing it was him.

"Oh…just checking upon mommy. How are the twins?" His attempt at humor was lost on her. She was not smiling, or laughing or even amused at his lack of trying to lighten the mood by making comments about her breasts. Seeing the look on her face made House pull back a little.

"Are you ok Cuddy?" Sincerity in his voice now.

She just stood there weighing her options. Should she tell, or ask him to leave? A tear slid down her cheek as she slowly stepped back allowing him entrance into her home.

He took a careful step toward her and in a instant she flung herself forward and into his arms. Loud sobs were coming from her and her whole body was shaking. House, being a little uncomfortable and in new territory, rubbed circles on her back with one hand while the other rested in her hair.

"Shhh…it's ok." He made his best attempts at comfort but was a little afraid it had no value. She was the one good at making people feel better…his job was the opposite, but now the roles had been reversed.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do House," she began. "I can't do this, I'm not strong enough!" Trying to explain through tears was hard for House to comprehend.

"What are you talking about?"

Sniffing a little, trying to speak calmly, Cuddy continued. "Rachel's social worker called me this morning asking for a last minute meeting. I couldn't go by there today, we just have so much stuff going on at the hospital and I was stuck so we had a conference call. Well my lawyer had been informed, and the three of us spoke together and…" Cuddy couldn't continue for the tears had come back and taken over her gift of speech.

House wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led them to the living room. He carefully sat down on the couch, pulling her down too. Thinking she might need a little space he started to move toward one end of the sofa but she was quick and went right along with him, touching his body to hers the entire time.

"What happened with the social worker Cuddy?" He asked, trying not to push her but needing an answer.

"She said they've reviewed my file again, and though I make good money, have great friends, I'm still single and have no experience raising children. So they wanna take Rachel away from me." Finally getting it all off her chest, she buried her head into House's neck, crying loudly. "I can't live without her House! I can't be alone again!"

"You're not alone Lisa!" House wrapped another arm around her bringing he closer to him. Holding her tightly as if he never wanted to let go.

"I am alone! I have no one but her…and if she's gone then I just have no one!" She was beginning to get angry.

"You have friends, family…those are people who love you! I know you love Rachel. She was the best thing to ever happen to you, that's why you're gonna fight like hell to keep her! But don't tell me you're alone."

Listening to House speak this way about her started to calm her down. She moved back from his embrace and looked into his eyes. Blue, sparkly orbs shined back at her and on a split second decision, she was moving in for a kiss. Her lips met his in a sweet, sensual, comforting kiss that was way overdue. A little shocked at the outward display of emotion, House didn't know if it was really happening, but it only took him seconds to realize that she was in front of him giving him the best damn kiss of his life and he was just sitting there like a lifeless fish not responding. He brought his hands up to cup her face. He rubbed small circles on her cheeks with his thumbs and deepened the kiss, introducing his tongue to her lips. A soft moan escaped her lips as she parted her mouth and allowed him to explore inside. Her hands were slowly creeping their way up his chest and one grabbed the collar of his shirt. Pulling it slightly to the side, he was beginning to understand her meaning, and he skillfully whipped it off his body discarding in onto the floor behind him. A smile appeared on her lips as she reached for the hem of her blouse and yanked it up over her head revealing her bright red, lacy bra. House's eyes just about bugged out of his head as he hungrily reached for her again, crashing his mouth down on hers. Things were quickly moving to the next step quickly and he was ready for it. But was she?