Chapter 7: Lonely

Cuddy stood in the bathroom right off of her office at work. Right from there, she was heading out to meet with Todd. Standing in front of the mirror, she tried to fix her hair, but wasn't having very much luck.

"Cuddy?"

As soon as recognized the voice, she turned and quickly left the bathroom, her hands trying to hold her hair in place until she could get back in front of the mirror and pin it. "Can you make it short? I gotta leave in ten minutes," she requested.

Wilson closed the door behind him and took a second to look Cuddy over, her form fitting, low cut dress that went down right below her knees. He knew exactly what she was getting ready to do, and now he knew how serious she was about it. "Are you sure that you're up for this?" he questioned. That was the very reason he had come here. At lunch she had told him about her plans with Todd. He would have said something then, but he got called to go see one of his patients.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her face slightly dropping.

Wilson sighed. "Look I know that you can make your own decisions, but do you really think that this is a good idea? I mean, your daughter just got out of the hospital and I know that you miss House," he explained. The last thing he wanted for her to do was run into something she wasn't ready for and get hurt. She had enough going on in her life right now.

"All I'm doing is taking an old friend out to dinner. That's all," she argued and then turned and hurried back into the bathroom.

Wilson followed her and stood in the doorway. "This isn't a date?" he implored.

"No," Cuddy answered.

"Well then, I guess that explains the dress and the stressing out over your hair," he remarked.

Cuddy sighed in frustration and decided to just brush her hair and leave it down. "Look," she curtly started. "It's not what it looks like. We're going to a nice place and I want to look nice."

Wilson put his hands up in defeat. "Like I said, your choice. I just don't want to see you get hurt," he stated.

Cuddy sighed and calmed herself down. Turning to him, she looked to him and offered a small smile of gratitude. "I'm glad you care, but I don't need someone to look out for me," she informed him.

"All right," Wilson said and then turned and started for the door.

Cuddy stood there for a moment. He was right, she was missing House, and she did just get Rachel back from the hospital. That didn't mean that she couldn't like someone though? Did it? No, but it could be for all the wrong reasons. Either way, it was too late to turn back now. She had a date with Todd, no matter how many times she was going to deny that it was a date, and she had to at least see how things would go tonight.

ooo

Cuddy and Todd sat across from each other at the dinner table. It was a nice place, dimly lit.

"So, Rachel seems to be doing a lot better," Todd awkwardly started. For some reason, now that he was here with her, he had no idea what to say. Before he had left, he thought tonight would go perfectly. Apparently, he thought wrong.

Cuddy forced a smile. "Yeah, she's doing great," she responded. Was that really what he wanted to talk about now? Not that she didn't like talking about Rachel, she just wanted something more, well, romantic.

Todd looked down at the table for a moment and sighed. "I know this isn't going how you wanted," he stated and then looked up and smiled to her. "It's not how I planned either."

"What do you think the problem is?" Cuddy implored.

The waiter brought their drinks. Todd took a quick gulp while Cuddy sipped on her's for a moment.

Todd shrugged. "Maybe we should just relax a little. I mean, I wasn't completely sure that this was a date until I got here," he stated.

"Sounds good to me," Cuddy agreed and then took more of her drink.

"Now, how about you tell me about this psych ward mystery man that you went to see?" Todd asked.

Cuddy laughed and shook her head. "It's nothing. He's a friend, and I went to see him because I care. He went insane, I was worried," she explained. After she was done laughing though, she noticed that Todd was a bit sour when he asked. "Why do you care so much?" she implored.

"Just curious," Todd answered as casually as he could.

Cuddy smirked and nodded. "Right," she replied. He was jealous, he had to be. Maybe she had a better chance with him than she thought.

"Someone's flattered," Todd noted in amusement.

Cuddy took another drink and then smiled. "I have to tell you something," she started. "It's been a while since I've gotten this type of attention."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it," Todd responded. He had missed her, and seeing her now brought back old feelings that he used to have for her. The feelings that he had while they were dating and then the feelings that he covered up after he had broken up with her.

The only reason that he had broken up with her in the first place was that he was just too busy for a girlfriend. He a sport every season, he had to keep his grades up, and he just didn't think that it was fair to her to be dating her and not have the time for her. The two did end up both going to Michigan State, and he did have the time for her later on, but he kept seeing her with other guys. The two remained friends through all of this, but he always wanted more. After he graduated and she was moving onto med school, he decided that it would be best to just call it quits for a while and move on.

ooo

House sat out on a bench in the hallway. He had just gotten done with one of his sessions. Today, they had covered one topic in particular. Cuddy.

His brain had created an entire hallucination around her. He wanted her to be the one to help him, he wanted her to be there to celebrate with him when he succeeded. He trusted her more than anyone else. It was never a huge secret that he liked her, but now, this place and these talks, they were all about turning his life around.

Standing up, he went as quickly as he could over to the phone so that he would not lose his courage before he was able to do anything. Without even thinking about it, he grabbed the phone and dialed the number that he knew by heart.

Julia took over for the nanny and was now watching Rachel. She had been attempting to get her to go to sleep right as she heard the phone ring. Sighing, she got up from the rocking chair in the nursery and carried the baby with her down the hall and she answered the phone. "Hello?" she asked, trying to keep quiet since Rachel had begun to dose off.

House instantly recognized that wasn't Cuddy. "Lisa Cuddy there?" he requested.

"I'm sorry, she's not here right now. Would you," she was about to offer to take a message, but she stopped as soon as she heard the click. "All right," she sighed to herself and hung up the phone.

House stood there next to the phone. She was out. There was only one reason why she would be out right now, and that was enough reason for him to just keep his feelings to himself. Limping back, he sat back down and leaned his head back against the wall.

ooo

Cuddy and Todd had just walked back into the house and let Julia go back home. They both stood out in the foyer, Cuddy putting her coat and shoes away, while Todd leaned against the door frame to the living room.

Cuddy turned from the closet and smiled to him. "I want to thank you for tonight," she said.

"I should be thanking you. I had a lot of fun," Todd explained.

Cuddy stepped closer to him. She didn't know whether it was the drinks she had had, or if she had really been this into him from the start. "Trust me, You did me more of a favor than I did you," she stated.

Todd stood up straight and looked down to her. His eyes set on her's, his mouth slightly agape. "Thank you for letting me be the one to do you the favor," he murmured.

Cuddy closed the gap between them and built up the courage to go ahead and kiss him. To her liking, he accepted it, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.