Okay I lied. There's ANOTHER new chapter. Seriously though, don't get your hopes up for chapter 5 coming around anytime soon. x) And look! This one's kind of long-ish. Anyway.. The ending... yeah.. ANYWHO, review review review! :D Enjoy!


House entered Cuddy's office reluctantly. He had been avoiding her lately, and thought it was odd that she was paging him. The last time she had paged him it was because of her IVF treatments. That had been years ago.

"I wonder what she wants.." He thought to himself as the elevator doors dinged open and he stepped out into the hospital lobby.

"Maybe her mystery man dumped her." He smirked to himself secretly hoping it was true.

"What do you need Captain Cuddles?" He asked entering Cuddy's office. He watched as she looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Back to calling me Cuddles? Great.." Cuddy responded sarcastically. House laughed to himself at her reaction to his nickname for her. Wilson had informed him that Cuddy missed his taunts and thought that maybe he'd start annoying her again.

"There's a conference in Newark on friday, and the board requires your attendance in order to finally re-instate your license."

"Are you going?" House was curious to know if he would be there alone or if someone else from PPTH was attending.

"Of course I am. Wilson's going too." Cuddy responded sighing. House studied her for a minute. Something was off. Pausing at the door, he turned to her.

"Hey Cuddy?"

"Hm?" She responded looking up at him.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Accepting her answer although he knew she was lying, House exited her office without another word.


The truth was, she wasn't fine. She was stressed. She had so much to do before the conference and so little time to get it all ready in a week. Cuddy sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. She was in for one hell of a week.


House's alarm went off at eight on Friday morning. He dragged himself out of bed, and into the bathroom. He took his sweet time showering due to the fact that he was already late, and that he had no case to worry about. When he was dressed, he packed his overnight bag for the conference. He was hitching along with Wilson for two reasons. The first being that he didn't want to take his own car, and the second being that he didn't want to drive the two hours to Newark alone.

"Carpools are great for the environment!" He thought to himself smirking. That was what he had told Wilson last night when he mentioned hitching along with him. Wilson had agreed. He always agreed. It's not like he wanted to face the two hour drive alone either. House looked at his watch. It was a quarter to eleven. Wilson would be here any minute.


It was only ten to eleven and Cuddy's day was already going downhill. Her sitter wouldn't be able to spend the weekend and she would have to take Rachel to the conference with her. She was already running late when Wilson called her to confirm where he and House would meet up with her.

"Change of plans. I have to bring Rachel with me and I'm running late. I'll meet you two there." She said into her phone as she hurriedly put on her heels.

"Alright. See you in a few hours." She hung up the phone and tucked it into her bra for safe keeping. She quickly did her makeup and made her way to her den. Taking Rachel out of her play pen, she carried her to her bedroom and quickly changed her diaper, dressing her in her coat and gloves afterwards. She put on her own coat, picked up Rachel, and made her way to the car. She buckled Rachel in and checked to make sure her bags were in the trunk. After double checking that she had everything she needed, she put a DVD into the car's player, hoping that it would keep Rachel entertained for the next two hours.


The first meeting at the conference was the introductory mixer. House watched as Cuddy entered with Rachel in her arms, obviously embarrassed at being late and none the less with her two year old daughter. When she caught sight of him and Wilson standing at the very back, he saw a look of relief overcome her.

"House, I need a favor." She said reaching them.

"I will not have sex with you Cuddy." House responded raising an eyebrow, amused. Cuddy rolled her eyes before continuing.

"I need you two to get my stuff from the car. As you can see I've got my hands tied.."

House nodded and held out his hands for her keys. Reluctantly she handed them over.

He grabbed Wilson and dragged him out into the hotel parking lot. They reached Cuddy's black Lexus and House unlocked the doors.

"You're taking the heavy stuff Jimmy." He said passing Wilson Cuddy's suitcase and taking Rachel's baby bag.

"You're such a good friend House." Wilson remarked sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm crippled, leave me alone." House responded locking the doors, making their way back towards the building.

"So what's your plan?" Wilson asked suddenly.

"What plan?" House replied pretending to have no idea what Wilson was referring to.

"Cut the crap. Take her out to dinner or something. I'll baby sit for her."

"Seriously? You'd babysit just so I can take Cuddles out to dinner?"

Wilson nodded.

"You're a good friend Jimmy." House said patting Wilson on the back. "Tell anyone I said that and I'll key your car."


Cuddy sat in her room on the fourth floor of the hotel. Coincidentally, House and Wilson's room was next door to hers.

"Joy." She thought to herself. The last thing she needed was House knocking on her door in the middle of the night. She looked over at Rachel, who was sleeping in the playpen she'd brought along with her. If she was going to be able to even attend a single function at this conference she'd have to find a baby sitter soon. She would call the concierge in the morning and ask if they hotel had a daycare, because she was just too tired to do it tonight. She had had one of her worst weeks in a while. She was sleep deprived from staying up late into the night working on her presentation for Sunday. She looked at her watch. It was only nine o'clock. She sighing she took her shoes off and changed into her pajamas. She lifted Rachel out of the playpen and laid her on the left side of the bed, making sure to adjust pillows around her so she wouldn't fall off in the middle of the night. She adjusted the pillows until she was sure that Rachel couldn't fall off and turned in for the night.


House's presentation on how to treat a muscle infarction was first thing after breakfast. He and Wilson met up with Cuddy in the lobby after breakfast.

"Good luck." She said placing a supportive hand on his bicep and squeezing it

before heading off the find a seat towards the front.

"What the...?" Wilson asked watching her walk away.

"I have no idea." House responded. It was odd for Cuddy to show her emotions through physical interactions. She was still a bit off to him.

House's presentation was relatively short, due to the fact that there were only two ways to treat a muscle infarction, amputation, and the radical procedure he had chosen, that was not even worth it. Making the decision to save his leg was one of his only regrets. By saving his leg he had condemned himself to a life time of pain, and after everything it had caused him, he knew it had never been worth it.


Cuddy looked at the clock. It was a quarter to six. She had just enough time to shower and get dressed before heading off to the 80's Night mixer. She hadn't been planning on attending until Wilson convinced her too. He even offered to babysit Rachel for her, an offer which she gladly accepted, because frankly, she needed sometime alone. If going to the mixer could be considered as alone time. She made sure Rachel was entertained in her playpen before heading off towards the bathroom. She left the door open as an extra precaution. She showered, dried her hair, and was ready to go when Wilson knocked on her door at eight.

"She's in her playpen." She explained letting him in. "I just gave her some animal crackers, but if she wants more they're on the table. She should be fine."

"Got it." Wilson responded as Rachel squealed at the sight of him.

"Thanks again James."

"No problem. Have fun."

Cuddy waved and quickly kissed Rachel on the cheek, before making her way to the dance hall, hoping that maybe she would enjoy herself a little.


House didn't leave for the 80's Night mixer until nine. Purposely dressed as someone from an entirely different century, he make his to the dance hall. He entered the unnoticed and quickly spotted Cuddy on the dance floor, looking a little uncomfortable as some Ghost Buster tried to hit on her.

"Looking good Jane Fonda."

House over heard the guy say as he approached.

"House!" Cuddy almost shouted, her face flooding with relief when she noticed him. House smiled to himself, amused that she was relieved to have him save her.

"Well hello there Cuddles." House said as they awkwardly tried to dance.

"How's your leg?" Cuddy asked as the Ghost Buster walked away.

"It's fine."

The song changed and with it the entire mood of the room changed.

"Remember the last time we danced?" House said as Cuddy hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on the small of her back, surprised when she didn't correct him and put them on her hips.

" Med school. The week after finals."

"No."

"You dragged me onto the dance floor!"

"I know. Remember how we met?"

House hesitated, knowing she wanted to tell the story. He shook his head.

" At the bookstore.. My third day of school, I hand my syllabus to the guy behind the counter, he barely looks at me and just skims the sheet and tells me I'm overly ambitious, I have a chip on my shoulder, and I know how to party." Cuddy laughed.

"I'd forgotten you know how to party."

"I said 'You're making that up.' You said 'Your class schedule is overloaded, but none of your classes are before eleven and no one takes Professor Lamn's course unless they have something to prove'."

"There was Professor Seagel, covered the same ground and was the easier grader."

"I tracked you down, Endocrinology."

"And one thing led to another."

"And then it didn't."

"I wasn't gonna call you. I was gonna come see you.. Figure out where things would go from there. It was the morning I got the call from the dean and I was expelled from my first med school and it didn't seem any point." He looked down at her, watching her frown.

"I should… Go to my room.. Review the papers for the infectious diseases…" She responded turning quickly on the spot. House watched her walk away, knowing that he'd hurt her once more.