Title: E… (is even more than anyone that you adore could love…)
Category: House, MD
Pairing: House/Cuddy, Cuddy/Lucas
Genre: Angst
Set: 6x09 "Ignorance is Bliss"
Rating: PG
Summary: She was going to walk away from him again, only this time, there was no stopping her.
AN: End of the arc, and if I may say so, House's confession was beautiful! And I believe that it was not, as he claimed, a ruse to get Lucas to break up with Cuddy. Cause if he didn't honestly love her, he wouldn't be trying to break them up in the first place, right? Anyway, it seems like Thursday is the day I usually update this, so here it is, and to all my USA readers, Happy Thanksgiving!
House sighed as he looked after her. "Cuddy…" he called. She turned and he let out another sigh, this one of relief, glad that she was actually going to listen to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off before he could say another word.
"Don't do this, House… I'm happy for once. I deserve to be happy with a guy without you ruining it. I'm happy with Lucas, and no matter what you think of him dating me, no matter what you told him you felt about me, I'm not going to break up with him, and I'm not going to go out with you. I told you…"
"Yeah, I know. You told me we can't be together… That's why I'm not asking you out anymore. I've accepted it--"
"You haven't accepted anything, House," Cuddy interrupted. "You haven't accepted our relationship, because you tried to break us up."
"Because you don't deserve him!" House hissed. "You deserve someone who knows you, someone who--"
"House, shut up. Please. I know you don't think I deserve any of the guys I go out with. You always find something wrong with them so that that's all I can focus on when I'm with them, or you say something to scare them away. Not anymore, not this time…"
"Cuddy, I…"
"No, House, I'm not done. Lucas loves me, and he loves Rachel. Rachel loves him. Rachel needs a good, steady, reliable father figure and I need a man that I can count on. Lucas is good for Rachel, and he's good for me. You just don't want to admit it."
"Can I talk now? Please?" House sighed again. "I understand all of that, and I'm… in the process of accepting it. But what I told Lucas was the truth. Whether you believe it or not, it was the truth." House stepped closer to Cuddy, looking down into her eyes. "I am pathetic. I don't deserve you. I've blown every chance you've ever given me. And I--"
"Don't say it, House… just, don't." Cuddy turned away, hiding her eyes. "Please, just accept that Lucas and I are together, and don't ruin it for me…"
"Lisa, I.."
"House!" she yelled, turning back to him. "Please… don't say my name like that… You only use my first name when you're trying to be intimate. We are not intimate. We will never be intimate… I've told you before, and I'm telling you again, for the last time. Get over me…" Turning away again, she stalked toward the doors and left the hospital, left House standing there.
"I was going to say… I deserve to be happy too…" he said to the empty air. He hung his head and leaned against the reception desk, sighing heavily. He lifted his head enough to look out the doors for a brief moment before looking back at the floor. He forced himself to believe it would be pointless to follow her, to tell her to her face the same thing he'd drunkenly told Lucas. I love her…
He'd admitted it out loud, but it still weighed on his shoulders, still left his chest feeling tight. Letting out another heavy sigh, he pushed away from the desk and limped out the doors, leaning heavily on his cane. He was starting to feel the slight stirrings of depression, which made his leg give a sharp twinge.
"House… you're late…" Wilson said from the doorway into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"
"You always ask that, and the answer is always the same," House answered, moving to the couch to collapse onto it, rubbing his leg. "Could you, you know? Get me some Advil or naproxen or something…?" he asked, looking over the back of the couch.
"House, meds aren't gonna help. If your leg hurts that bad…"
"It does. I asked for over-the-counter meds. Unless you think talking through it is better than non-narcotics…" he snapped back. Wilson sighed and turned into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with two Advil and a glass of water.
"They're not gonna help…" he started as he handed them to his roommate.
"They will if I think they will," House answered, swallowing them back. "Remember all that mind-over-matter stuff you kept preaching a few years ago?" He took a long drink of the water and set the glass down on the coffee table. "She rejected me…"
"Of course she rejected you… she's in a relationship. You can't expect her to drop Lucas and realize you're the one she desperately needs?" Wilson blinked, then gave an exasperated sigh at the look House shot him. "House, you missed your chance. Move on."
"Dammit, Wilson! The past five years, you've been wanting me to make a move on her when you weren't busy doing it yourself! And now you're telling me 'oh, I'm sorry, I was wrong this whole time and there's no way in hell you two would ever be good together.' Tell me, Wilson, is this some epiphany you had while I was away, or is it part of your Stop-Enabling campaign?" House didn't seem to notice or even care that his best friend looked slightly hurt at his words.
"House… it's not like that. She's… happy. She deserves to be happy…"
"So do I!" House raged, turning pained eyes on Wilson. "I deserve it just as much as anyone else."
Wilson said nothing, just turned away. There was nothing he could say, since House did have a point. One that Wilson wasn't really in the mood to argue about. He could have shot back that House had been miserable for so long he didn't know how to be happy, but he didn't want to draw out this argument all night.
"Get some sleep, House. It's been a long day…"
Sorry to end it there, but I thought it was a good place to cut it off. Also, I hated the House/Wilson interaction at the end, so I changed it. Artistic license is an amazing thing, ain't it? Anyway... still no word on whether ya'll want something for the Family Guy episode guest starring Hugh Laurie as Gregory House. And only one vote in the poll in my profile for Golden Afternoon.... which won't be updated until I have some idea of what my readers want to see happen. I do so hate to disappoint my readers... Read, review, please vote in the poll, see you all next week after the Wilson-centric episode...
