Thanks for all your wonderful comments! I appreciate them so much. Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it.

It was a funny thing when she saw him now, all miserable looking as he limped through the hallways, knowing it was she who did that to him. Of course, she didn't operate on him, but she was there, watching as they performed the surgery. She merely had a great hand in dealing the cards that would give him that cane and limp.

However, she thought it was better than the worst possibility. Had he never had the surgery, she was positive he would be dead. It was that thought which made her agree with Stacy's idea to do this surgery when he couldn't make the decision. She was sure she freaked a bit and that's what made her side with Stacy.

It scared her to think this being, who she shared those nights with so long ago and who truly knew the extent of their relationship, would be gone and she would be the only one left to carry on those memories. Especially that day when she first felt she might actually be able to trust him. Yes... she was sure she freaked.

"Are you serious?" she glared angrily at the doorway.

He entered cooly. "Do you think I would just leave you alone without a fight, Cuddy? Besides, if you really never wanted to see me again, you would find a new place to study."

"There's no reason for me to relocate when-" she began, eyes locked on him, watching his every movement.

"If our meetings pained you so much," he cut her off, "you would find somewhere else to go. You're smart. You know I would come back here if I was looking for you."

"If?" she repeated. "There is no if. You are looking for me, Creep."

He perched himself on the arm of the armchair as she sat with a book in her lap on the couch. She folded her arms across her chest.

"Back to name calling, huh?" he asked. "Well, we can look past that, my pet. Do you mind if I call you my pet? I like to let the women who love me know they're mine."

She narrowed her eyes and glared intensely. "I am not yours."

He smirked. "Not yet."

She slapped her book closed and stood. "You can stop with this now. It's getting weary."

Cuddy headed for the door, wanting to end their conversation as soon as possible. She figured she could attempt to study in her room, although her roommate was most likely asleep by now and Cuddy hated to disturb her by turning on a light.

As she walked outside, she was certain he would be catching up with her any minute. As she continued on and realized he hadn't yet popped up alongside of her, she actually felt a slight sting at the fact that he didn't follow her this time. Sure, he annoyed the hell out of her and she did want him to leave her alone, but part of her did enjoy the attention.

She glanced back, scanning the darkened campus to see if he was following. She didn't see him and suddenly crashed into a thickness of muscle and bone.

"How the hell-" she turned back around, expecting to see him smiling at her because he managed to take a shortcut to arrive in front of her once again.

Much to her surprise, a taller man stood in front of her. He had dark hair and Cuddy knew he was a lot stronger than she was due to the fact that she was now feeling the pain from crashing into him and he appeared unharmed. She stepped back, clutching onto her book.

"Where ya going all by yourself?" he asked and gave a laugh.

"No where." She stepped passed him, picking up her pace as she made her way to her dorm.

"Wait a second." He grabbed her arm roughly, spinning her around.

"Let go of me," she warned, looking up at the man and committing the details of his face to her memory... just in case.

"Do we have a problem here?"

She looked to the sound of the recognizable voice and watched as Gregory House strolled calmly to the two of them. The man immediately removed his hand from her arm.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Campus Safety Patrol," he answered, holding his head high. He winked at her before sizing up the man. "Now, is there a problem?"

"Nope," the man replied, raising his hands defensively. "Just leaving."

The man backed up and took off in the other direction very quickly. Greg dropped his act as soon as the man's back was turned. He gave Cuddy a smile.

"Anything you want to say to me?" he asked.

"No." She turned from him and headed for her dorm.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, catching up to her. "I just saved your life."

"No, you didn't," she told him.

"Yes, I did!" he insisted, gesturing with his hands.

She stopped and faced him. "I can handle my own. I would have been fine."

"If by 'fine' you mean 'dead,' then yeah." He nodded.

"You exaggerate everything." She rolled her eyes.

"I just saved your life," he emphasized. "Stop being so damn vain."

"Right, I'm vain." She nodded in sarcastic agreement. "I'm not the one walking around campus all 'every girl will love me' while I brag about all the awful rules I break and evil deeds I do."

"I never said every girl would love me," he replied quite calmly. "Just you."

She paused. What was he really after? She couldn't figure him out and that drove her crazy. He knew he was getting to her. He smiled.

"Looks like your Prince Charming came to your rescue." He shrugged. "Every woman's fairy tale, right?"

"You're Prince Charming?" She narrowed her eyes. "Then, I'm a billionaire."

She took off again and he reached out, placing his hand on her arm. She stopped and turned back to him, letting her shoulders droop.

She sighed heavily. "What now?"

"I saved your life!" he said for the third time. He was getting quite tired that she wasn't giving him the credit he deserved. "I wouldn't pretend I'm security and risk getting my own very important self killed for just anyone, you know."

"Yeah, whatever, thanks," she answered him without actually meaning it and turned from him again, picking up her pace.

"I was pretty scared," his voice penetrated the stillness of the night. She stopped. "Last year there was an incident on campus. She was kicked into a coma. I thought about pretending I didn't see you both and walking the other way."

She faced him, the entire ordeal finally beginning to settle into her. She knew that the events of this night could have turned out differently. Could have turned out disastrously.

"But, I didn't," he finished his thought.

Taking in a breath, she approached him, owing him that. She stopped about a foot from him, not wanting to get too close. He was watching her, studying her, trying to understand her without having the privilege of being allowed to pick her brain.

"You were... truly scared?" She wasn't sure if she believed him. She didn't know if this was another game he was playing with her.

He shrugged the question off, hiding his true feelings. "Only because I thought he was hitting on my woman. It was more of an angry nervousness than fear. The guy looked like a Quaker anyway."

"Right." She nodded, seeing through his sudden defensiveness and finally being able to see a deeper layer to this man known as Gregory House. She bit her lower lip, the wheels in her mind turning. She was pretty sure that the next time she saw him, she wouldn't be as turned off as all her previous experiences had been. "So... I'll see you... later, then."

"I'll walk you to your dorm," he offered, then switched his tone. "You know, in case Quaker boy tries to persuade you to give the burning love you feel for me to him."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not necessary. I'm sure two attacks in one night is highly unlikely."

With a turn, she began to leave him. He watched her, wanting to go with her to make sure she got back okay, but he knew that wasn't really him. Since when did he care enough about one woman to make sure she safely returned to her room? However, he had a feeling he would trail her just in case.

To his surprise, she turned. "I, uh... um, thanks. Thank you... Greg."

She turned back just as quickly as she had turned around and picked up her pace away from him. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.