Exams are over, so I finally have time to update ;-) Dark secret is revealed, I hope you won't be disappointed. Thanks for reviews and have a pleasant flight!


House couldn't stop thinking about Cuddy's secret. What was that? He had to find out sooner or later. He didn't want to use that information against Lisa. He just wanted to know.

Marie knocked on his door. "I'm ready. Come on."

House stared at her with astonishment. She was as beautiful as her sister. Her green dress perfectly matched her red hair and grey eyes.

"You look beautiful."

"I thought that compliments are not your cup of tea. But thanks anyway."

They went downstairs to the restaurant.

"You'll be the most attractive woman there."

"I'll be the only woman there," she remarked.

They started to laugh.


It was nearly midnight when Marie came to House's table. As the only woman, she had to dance with every doctor.

"Oh God, I'm exhausted." She sat down and grabbed a glass of wine. She was already a bit tipsy and was in extremely good mood.

"I didn't expect you to be the life and soul of the party. You told me you preferred peace and quiet."

She laughed.

"Lisa wasn't the only one who changed after that unforgettable party."

House wasn't sure if he could ask her about that. He wanted to know, but… She was already drunk and not really aware of what she was saying.

"What party?"

"I don't know if I can tell you…"

"I won't tell a soul, don't worry."

"Okay. But if Lisa finds out…"

"She won't."

Marie took a deep breath.

"It happened when we were in high school. Lisa's friend organized the party and invited us. I didn't really want to go, but Lisa eventually convinced me. It soon occurred that it was a 'special' party. Her friend had some drugs. Lisa had smoked marihuana before, but I hadn't even seen drugs in my life. When she was away, they gave me LSD – or something they called LSD. I decided to go the whole hog. Before Lisa found out, I had already overdosed on that shit. But the party was excellent," she smiled weakly.

"What happened next?" House was surprised. He hadn't expected that kind of story.

"I ended up in the ER. Fortunately it wasn't too late. As you can imagine, Lisa was extremely horrified. She thought is was all her fault."

"It was."

"No, it wasn't. We were the same age, I was fully responsible for my actions. I didn't tell our parents it was her idea to go there, but she confessed to everything – even to having smoked marihuana before. They were angry, but also relieved it hadn't finished worse. After that Lisa changed drastically. She stopped going to parties and focused on school instead. She was the best student, then started a medical university and never mentioned that 'accident'."

"And you? You should've hated parties after that," remarked House.

"I quickly forgot. Lisa's friends became my friends. I suddenly became very popular – I was the only one with so big 'drug experience'. Lisa wasn't happy about that, as you can imagine. Since then she became really cautious about meds and reacted hysterically even to common painkillers."

She finished her story and took a sip of wine. House thought about his Vicodin. Cuddy had never been happy about his addiction – and now he knew why.

Marie broke the silence.

"But please, don't tell Lisa that you know. She'll kill me."

"Sure. Come on, it's late. And you're drunk."

"I'm not. Just a bit tipsy."

House laughed. "Okay, tipsy girl. Time to bed."

They stood up and went to their rooms.


House couldn't sleep. He was still thinking about Lisa. But, on the other hand, it wasn't his business. He shouldn't have cared about her school years. So why he did? The past week showed him that he couldn't be indifferent to what happened with her. He was just… worried.

His leg hurt like hell. He took out Vicodin, but didn't take it. He just stared at the orange bottle. After a few minutes he swallowed the pill with a sigh. He could start reducing it the next day.