Okay, this was sooooo not the way I was meaning to go with this chapter, but I was having so much fun writing this version that I just had to keep this when I got done with it.
BTW, Brian Cuddy is played by none other than the fabby Brian Cox of 'Long Kiss Goodnight' and 'X-men II' fame. Just so y'all know.
I think I actually managed to get this quite in character so…yeah. Read and review to cheer me up a little. I'm a tad depressed at the moment. Real life intrudes upon my fantasy world and pollutes a little too much sometimes.
::sigh:
Oh, oh, oh and vote for which new fic you want at the end.
Ciao, $cribe.
Chapter 6: Selfish Motivations
House limped along the corridor and stopped briefly in Cuddy's room to dump the crib and bedding before turning right around and continuing back down the hallway. Anger lanced him. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this angry. He was enraged. How could she just…? He shoved the thought away and clenched his hand tight around his cane, his knuckles whitened and he succeeded in stilling the shaking in his limbs a fraction. He limped for the backdoor and then stopped. Katy. He didn't know where she was. He turned back through the kitchen and poked his head in the door. Jordan had Katy standing between his legs, he was holding onto her little hands and being careful not to let her fall. House ignored how annoyed it made him feel to see a fifteen year old more at ease with his 'daughter' than he was.
He spun away and barrelled through the kitchen. Claustrophobia suddenly clawing at him. He slid open the back door and sidled out onto the frigid decking beyond. The door clunked softly shut behind him and he huffed out a deeply pent up breath that clouded before him in the air. He shivered, it really was cold out here. He limped out into the moonlight of the garden. His boots crumpling into the snow. He moved carefully until he could lean against the snow garnished railing. Everything was silvery and pale and that deeply silent way it always is when it snows. House sat and watched his lungs give out steam, his arms folded about himself.
The cold leeched into him and slowly lowered the insistent throb of his annoyance. He wasn't really angry at Cuddy. She was right. It wasn't fair of him to act like this towards her. The only reason he'd gotten away with it was because she was a better person than he was and wouldn't cause a scene in front of her family…but when she'd told him that acting the way he had been was just some cheap act…he'd kind of lost it a little.
His mouth still burned from the contact with hers. He could still taste her honey sweet taste on his tongue. Still remembered the feel of her in his arms.
Snow was gathering in his hair and on his shoulders, making him part of the landscape, but he didn't care.
The door slid open and House looked up, prepared to defend himself to Cuddy. It was her father that stepped out onto the deck though. The older man lifted a slim cigarillo to his lips and lit it with a flare of light from a match and a look of concentration on is grizzled face. Brian looked up at House like this was something they did every week night and then blew a smoke ring up into the air towards the falling snow. He offered House a smoke from the silver case and House shrugged. Why the hell not? He took one of the long Cuban smelling cigarillos and leant in to the match that Brian held out for him.
He inhaled deeply, taking in the hedonistic musky smoke. He exhaled through his mouth and let it roll over his tongue to fully taste the depth of his smoke. He looked down at the rolled leaf confection in his hand and stared at it as if weighing it in his mind. He wasn't thinking about the cigarillo though.
"You had a fight."
House looked up in surprise. It wasn't a question. He lifted his cigarillo and inhaled deeply again. "I suppose." He answered. He may have been polite all night but he wasn't about to be brow beaten by anyone. Even Cuddy's bear of a dad. He wondered if he was going to get a smack for upsetting the darling girl.
"Why do you think that is?" Brian wondered out loud and House arched a brow. He was on the verge of telling the older man where to get off. That it was none of his business. His daughter was a grown woman that could slay her own grumpy diagnosticians.
"Having you around puts her on edge." He found himself saying instead.
Brian's hand stilled. The glowing ember of his cigarillo burning stationary in the dark night. He was almost completely silhouetted against the golden light spilling from the kitchen. "I know." Brian stepped out into the deck proper and met House's eyes without flinching. An impressive skill given that House looked ready to trash something, person or thing. "Why do you suppose that is?" He asked again.
House shrugged and then realised he knew. "She thinks she has to be perfect for you." House took another long drag of smoke. "Do you know she has a hell of a temper?"
"I know she's like her mother that way." Brian smirked than and leant back against the railing next to House like they were old friends. He looked up to watch the snowflakes dance into the light in swirling untraceable patterns and spoke without looking at House. "You're good for her, I think."
House laughed bitterly before he could help himself and then remembered that he was supposed to be the perfect boyfriend. Why wouldn't he be good enough for Cuddy then?
"Oh don't get me wrong, boy, you're far from perfect…but she doesn't want perfect. I think she wants someone who'll allow her to be human for once. She's never really paid attention to a man before. No one's ever really caught her eye quite the way you evidently have. Worth a thought, no?" Brian continued to watch the snow overhead. Pretending not to notice how House was staring at him. A movement beyond Brian, and inside the house caught House's attention. He leant forward slightly to see Cuddy holding Katy again. Bouncing her on her hip, still looking a little pale after their encounter in the garage but smiling at the giggling baby in her arms. Brian turned to follow his scrutiny.
"Yep, looks good doesn't it?"
House didn't see the harm in answering. "Yeah, it does."
Brian nodded and stubbed his cigarillo out in the snow on the railing. "You remember that when you think about pushing her away again." Brian informed him with steel as an undertone to his voice. He levered himself away from the railing and strolled back into the house leaving the younger House to stare after him and lift a cigarillo to his mouth with a hand that wasn't entirely steady.
House exhaled on a shiver and he'd thought he was hyper observant.
$inister $cribe
Cuddy had her hands wrapped around a huge mug of tea and was desperately trying to come up with a reason to wade out of her house into a snow drift and avoid everybody for…well, the rest of her life was convenient for her really. She stared at the phone clunked to the kitchen wall and willed it to ring. Sod's Law, being what it was, the stubborn scrap of technology remained sullenly silent and Cuddy scowled at it. Then sighed cavernously. The one time she needed an emergency to drag her away from her family and everything was apparently running smoothly.
Damn it all to hell.
"You got anything that's not herbal tea?"
Cuddy nearly leapt three feet into the air at the deep baritone right in her ear. She whirled, tea sloshing over her hand and swore at the scald.
"Jeez, you're high strung." He scolded her, taking the cup from her and switching the tap on to blast cold water into the sink. His larger hand engulfed hers and pulled it under the frigid water.
"Gee, I wonder why that is." She snapped at him, her cheeks scored with a high blush. She wasn't sure if it was because she was telling herself she was angry at him or if it was because of the way his fingers were smoothing over her skin under the cold torrent.
"All that caffeine."
Was he smirking?!
"Oh, come on, that was a little funny." He pulled her hand out from under the tap and scrutinised the flushed skin carefully, his thumb smoothing over the swatch of skin that hadn't been subjected to an impromptu herbal scalding and carefully patting dry with a nearby hand towel. Her breath caught when their eyes met. Anyone looking in would think he was the dutiful lover looking after his clumsy bed mate…hell, Cuddy was having a hard time reminding herself that real life held a great deal less romance between them. He reached up unerringly to where she stashed a tiny first aid kit above the fridge and pulled some cream for the burn.
"House, it's not that…" Cuddy's voice trailed off on a gulp when he smoothed some cool cream over her hand. His long fingers dancing over her skin and rubbing in the ointment. Cuddy reminded herself that it would be a bad idea to throw scalding hot tea over herself in hopes of a repeat performance. At the very least, her skin would look terrible. "…bad." She made herself finish and he smiled at her.
"No." He agreed amicably enough. "But you'll just get even more pissed at me if you've got a sore hand as well. I assure you, my motives are purely selfish."
Oh Lord.
How could he stand there and say the same narcissistic, misanthropic comments that he said to her everyday and somehow make it sound like he was making love to her, hot sweet and slow with every syllable?
Cuddy could drown in those eyes. He leant over her, his hands brushing her hips and resting on the counter top. She inhaled a shaky breath and could taste nothing but him. His eyes held hers and she couldn't have looked away if her life depended on it. She trembled, unable to stop and uncaring if he saw. She shouldn't be doing this, some small part of her informed her, it wasn't right. He was still a bastard. He was still her co-worker, her colleague, her subordinate…but she wanted so much to believe the lie.
She saw the kiss coming this time. He gave her ample time to move away. To turn her cheek, to make some comment that would break the mood. He put that single all-important instant in her hands, expecting her to drop it, throw it away, do anything but hold onto it.
She held it though, gently, her eyes meeting his, dropping to his mouth and then back to his eyes again. Telling him without words. This was what she wanted. His body loomed closer to hers. She could feel the heat he was throwing off. Feel it through the silk of her shirt, the wool of his sweater. His forehead brushed hers, giving her every chance to pull away, to deny him, as if he expected that punishment from her. They were so close, his nose sliding against hers, nuzzling up against her, breath mingling. He would taste of smoke, she knew, she could already smell it on him. Mixed with the beer he'd had earlier, the meal from the deli and that unique flavour that would only be him.
Their lips brushed, a single electrifying contact and…
"Hey, guys, I…aw crap."
Both House and Cuddy shuddered to a halt and Cuddy cleared her throat to try and mask the disappointment and annoyance rocketing through her. In that instant, she could have quite happily maimed her step-brother. Jordan was scrubbing a hand through his unruly hair, blushing furiously and looking anywhere but at the couple in front of him. Cuddy's heels clicked back down onto the linoleum kitchen floor. She hadn't even realised she'd been up on her toes, eager to meet House more than halfway.
Probably just as well.
Probably.
"What is it Jordan?" House's hand was still on her waist and he couldn't quite seem to muster the willpower to let go. She hid a smile at that and looked beyond him to her chronically embarrassed step-brother.
"Just to let you know that Katy's down in her crib but she's fussing for you." He stuffed his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "And dad says goodnight to both y'all."
"Okay." Jordan spun on his sock soled foot and scurried out of the kitchen as fast as he could into the already dark living room where he would be bunking on the couch.
House looked back at her and Cuddy couldn't stop the shiver race up her spine at the way his eyes smoothed over her like a physical caress.
"Time for bed." He told her, his thumb smoothing small circles at her hip.
"Yeah."
What else could she say?
$inister $cribe
House limped through from the bathroom, dressed in his jeans and the spare tee shirt he'd brought in anticipation of the fun and games that he associated with feeding Katy. It had remained clean, since she had been a veritable angel and not shown off her talent for projectile vomiting at the dinner table, and would have to serve as pyjamas.
"You're keeping your jeans on?" Cuddy frowned at him, already dressed in what he knew to be the biggest, least provocative nightwear she owned. Unfortunately for her, that meant an oversized tee shirt that kept slipping off to reveal the curve of one creamy shoulder and a tiny pair of tartan shorts. She looked adorable (adorable?! He really should get an appointment for a therapist and this midlife crisis of his) and ready for some serious mussing.
And House really wanted to muss her.
"Is that how you usually sleep?" She asked again when he said nothing.
"Nope. I usually sleep in the buff, if you'd prefer that then…" House flopped on the bed and made as if to undo his belt, her hand snapped over his before he could though and, even in the dim light filtering from the soul small lamp in the room, he could see the flush stain her cheeks when she snatched her hand away. He only allowed himself to grin when she turned away and stalked around the bed. He frowned when she sat down on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting ready for bed."
"You're on the floor."
"I'm aware of that, House."
"Yeah, but why are you on the floor?" He demanded, hauling himself back up to his feet and limping painstakingly around to stand over her, checking on the deeply sleeping Katy in the crib on his way past.
"Well, I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor, you're leg…"
"Will be fine for sharing a bed with you so long as your gigantic ass doesn't roll over onto it. Now get up."
She scowled at him. "I'm not sharing a bed with you."
"It's a double bed!"
"Keep your voice down and that's not the point." She hissed at him.
"Fine." He hissed back. "What is the point?"
"It would be…inappropriate." She finally settled on and avoided his 'oh really?' look that he sent her way.
"Cuddy, get in the damn bed. There's more than enough for me, you and your ass." He held out his hand, fully expecting her to take it. Cuddy rolled her eyes, not buying it, tugged her blanket up around her shoulders and flopped down onto the floor, fully prepared to sleep through this conversation if she had to.
"Oh yeah, you're going to ignore me, that's real mature." He snarked at her. Cuddy huffed, apparently of the opinion that he was the last one to be lecturing her on immaturity and snuggled deeper under the angora comforter she'd swiped off the end of her bed. House glared down at her. "You're going to sleep in the bed." He told her quietly.
"Uh-huh, and what are you gonna do about it—yipe!" Cuddy squeaked and scrabbled for a handhold when she suddenly had twin bands of steel wrapped under her knees and behind her shoulders. House hauled her up in one fluid motion and let the momentum carry her as he let go almost as soon as he'd gotten a good grip.
She flew through the air and tumbled onto the bed with a thump and a groan from the springs. Cuddy growled in low challenge at being manhandled in her own damn bedroom, sprang up into a sitting position and huffed the wild mass of her hair out of her eyes. She looked up and saw House leaning against the end of her bed, one hand gripping his bad leg and watching her, breathing hard. He pointed at her.
"You're sleeping in the damn bed." He told her.
Cuddy could only stare. She wanted to know why it mattered so damn much but refrained from asking. No doubt it would lead to further argument. She settled for inching under the covers with as much dignity as a just tossed woman could and thumped the pillow with her fist for good measure. She appeared to ignore the dip in the mattress behind her and the tightening of the quilt over her body. He hadn't climbed under it with her. He let her ponder that for a while and snapped off the light.
It was a full five minutes of stiff backed silence before her guilt got the better of her.
"Does your leg hurt?"
"Every day."
"I meant more than usual."
"I know."
A small feminine growl of annoyance. "Are you cold?"
"Gonna warm me up if I am?"
"Fine. Freeze for all I care. My life would be simpler." Another growl. He felt her shift and could just make out the darker black of her shadow shrinking in on itself. There was the faintest tremor from her side of the mattress. House lifted his head and scrutinised her through the gloom of near pitch black in the room. That faint tremble again. The blanket slid down over his chest. He had taken it from the floor and it was enough protection for him from the chill of the late night house.
She was cold - shivering, in fact - and too damn stubborn to turn up the thermostat without him admitting he was cold too. Ugh, women! Or, rather, one woman in particular. House narrowed his eyes at her back.
"House, whatever talents you may have in the bedroom, night vision isn't one of them, so quit staring at me."
He grinned. "How can you tell?"
"I can feel it."
House pursed his lips. That was an invitation for all kinds of things. He wondered how far he could push his luck with her tonight. Further than ever before already but there was something to be said for world records. He slid across the quilt and pressed his body right up against hers through the layers of duvet between them. His arms came around her from behind and he wrapped his blanket over her as well.
"What are you doing?!" She squeaked in a high pitched whisper. He loved that little sound of shock from her.
"Keeping you warm. You're freezing."
"Am…" She had obviously meant to say 'not' in an erudite Dean of Medicine manner, but trailed of breathlessly when his stubble roughened cheek came down against hers. He was like a furnace behind her, enclosing her in his arms and his warmth.
"Better?" His lips moved against the delicate shell of her ear and Cuddy shivered again. This time not from the cold.
"Why…?"
"Because if you're shivering then I can't sleep and I need all the REM I can get with the little diapered terrorist determined to drive me insane through sleep deprivation. If you're awake. I'm awake." He held her tighter, pulling her back against his chest, sliding his leg over hers to pin her down under him and wrap her up completely. Odd, when other men had tried this, she'd felt trapped. Now all she felt was warm, protected, cherished even.
Oh Lord, was she old enough to be having a midlife crisis yet?
House snuggled closer to her again and she could feel his smirk as he spoke again.
"Don't worry, my motives are still entirely selfish."
$inister $cribe
::IMPORTANT BULLETINS::
The 'Naked Truth' is being taken over by one Scarlett Scribble (my fellow smut bunny) I will be onlooking in a sort of Beta/advisory capacity because I was going to delete it but she liked it enough to take over. I would say we were gonna co-write but I'm letting her do all the work for it so…yeah, future reviews should be addressed to her too.
I have THREE new story ideas for the huddy in the pipelines. Count 'em.
3
Yeah, so, they're all WAY out there. The first one is about House being cursed by a witch (you may remember this theme from my doomed Halloween fic last year) and getting turned into a dog (NOT in last year's fic). Cuddy ends up taking him in…but every time he gets 'excited' he turns back into a very House-ish, very naked shape (are you finding that I like them naked in my fics?).
Behind door number two we have a fic about House and Cuddy being sent back in time to Western/Frontier America. House goes all cowboy and Cuddy finds her inner burlesque dancer. Very magical, quite fantastical and I've never done a period drama before.
The third is inspired by both the film 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend' and the 'OH MY GAWD!' moments in episode 8 of season 4. Lawl. Basically, Cuddy's a superhero, House finds out and all the fun goings on behind that.
I WILL write all of these but I wanted to get feedback on the ideas first. Any particular requests on the order I write them, or any ideas for tweaking them a little are welcome. Feel free to email me or drop it in a review for this or something. Whatever works for ya.
HIT THAT PURPLE BUTTTOOOOOONN!!!!