The pain in his leg surged as he slowly approached her in the darkness —slowly because his heart felt heavy and then like it was in a vise-grip, slowly because his mind and body weren't attuned with each other anymore, slowly because his world was crashing around him. His feet dragged on the floor like blocks of cement and he looked confused and pale. Every inch he moved closer to her, his life faded away. Nothing was making any sense and his brain was screaming.

As his clammy hand stretched out to touch her bare shoulder, Cuddy lifted her head and wiped away tear-stained cheeks. He retracted his arm and nearly lost his balance. "Aah! What the fuck?"

Cuddy jumped out of her chair in fright and yanked out her iPod ear buds. "Shit House! What are you doing? You shouldn't sneak up on people like that! That wasn't funny. You almost gave me a heart attack."

House clutched his chest and sputtered out, "I almost gave you a heart attack?" He laughed hysterically for a moment. "Cuddy. You're…" his voice trailed off. He was so choked with emotion he struggled to get the rest of the words out and looked down for a moment teary-eyed, trying to hide his vulnerability. "You're…"

"An idiot. I know."

He held her face in his hands forcing her to look into his eyes. "What? What happened? Are you okay?"

She sighed and picked up the red stained piece of linen from the kitchen table. "This chuppah has been in my family for over a hundred years. I have it for less than a month and what do I do? I knock over a glass of wine on it." She sighed again, shaking her heard. Although still visibly very upset with herself, she tried to brush it off like it wasn't a big deal. "It's pretty stupid that I'm crying, huh? I mean it's only a piece of cloth. It's not like, somebody died right?"

"I'm so glad you're okay." He hugged her tightly, nearly squeezing the life out of her. "Cuddy, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you were dead."

"Dead? No. But if you don't loosen your grip…I…I can't…breathe. House? House?"

He released his hold on her and managed to utter a few words before his lips crashed with her. "Sorry. It's just…"

The kiss was intense and totally different.

As the lights flickered back on, Cuddy pulled away and immediately noticed his fat, swollen lower lip and lifted his chin. Her fingertips lightly grazed at the wound. "What happened?"

"Chase."

"Chase?"

"Never mind about me. I'll explain later."

Cuddy glanced back down at the table and winced. The red wine stain was even more evident and unsightly in the light. "I might as well be dead. When my mother finds out about this…Ugh, I don't know what I was thinking! This was an accident just waiting to happen. I swear this whole night has been crazy. The power goes out. You call me all frantic, so I get frantic and pour myself a glass of wine to calm my rattled nerves and spill it. Then you come here after I specifically told you it wasn't necessary and scare the shit out of me…"

"Wait. You never told me…"

"I left you a message."

"What message? You didn't leave me a message."

"Yes, I did."

"Check your voicemail."

House smirked and took the phone out of his coat pocket. "I thought we were done playing games. You called me saying that you needed me, that you needed my help. And then you mentioned something about a girl, so I rushed over here." He placed the phone to his ear and played back the message on speakerphone. "House. I don't need you to come over here. I don't need your help. I'm a big girl. Like I said earlier, it's…it's just the storm…" He disconnected the call with egg on his face, "Oh? I guess you did," and placed it back in his pocket. "But you screamed. I heard you scream."

"Well, I thought I saw something or someone at the window causing me to knock over my glass of wine. Anyway I tried calling you again, but you didn't pick up. So I left you a message." She clasped his hand and shimmied closer to him. "But, I'm really glad you are here."

"Me too." He tore his eyes away from her for a moment and looked at the fabric draped over the tabletop. "What is that anyway? A fancy tablecloth or something?"

"Not exactly."

"Get your things. We're staying at my place tonight."

"Why you're already here?"

"Because something tells me you actually saw someone. I think I'm being stalked."

Cuddy busted up laughing. "You? Stalked?"

"Cuddy, I'm serious." He didn't want to scare her so he came up with another excuse and grabbed the chuppah off of the table. "I have something at home that can get this stain out. Go on. It stopped raining. I think we're catching a break in the storm."

She took off to her room to pack a few things while he twisted the severed kitchen phone cord in his hands.

House opened the front door to his apartment and let Cuddy in first. She was shivering. Her brunette hair was wet and stuck to her skin just like the clothes on her body. "Thanks to you I'm sopping wet."

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for that later. First let's get you out of those wet clothes. Wouldn't want you to catch cold."

Cuddy peeled off her drenched jacket and slapped it to the floor. "Too…too…" then sneezed. "Too late! I thought you said it wasn't going to rain?"

He placed Cuddy's packed bag onto the floor and grabbed one of his spare canes.

"Brilliant idea taking your bike by the way," she snarked.

"Sorry. I'm a medical genius not the weatherman. Besides, you should be thanking me. Didn't you hear the wet look is back in?"

She folded her arms and pouted.

"Why don't I go draw you a nice hot bath?"

"Finally you're making sense now."

He took off down the hall.

"Wait. What about you?"

Halfway to his destination he turned around. "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"I'm not mad. Annoyed maybe. But, we need to take care of you too."

"You're right. I suppose I better get out of these clothes too."

"That's not what I was talking about." She approached him down the hall and gently brushed the pad of her fingers on his wounded lip. It was starting to bruise a little. "We should put some ice on this."

"Cuddy. I need to change. You really scared the shit out of me. Literally. It's leaking out of the bottom of my pants and onto my shoes as we speak."

She looked down at his feet.

"HA! Made you look."

"Silly me. I thought you were dead serious."

"That's not funny. Come on." He grabbed her hand and guided her to the bathroom. Then poured in a few capfuls of nut foaming bath under the faucet and sprinkled scented bath salts all around the tub. The aroma was delicious. It smelled sugary sweet like chocolate cake mix batter. "This isn't mine. It's Wilson's. He left this behind when he was staying with me…when he was going through his third divorce. He also left that anti-fungal ointment in the medicine cabinet too if you're wondering."

Cuddy stepped into the inviting bath. "Aren't you going to join me?"

"I'll join you in a minute. Have to get that stain out of your chupacabra…"

"Chuppah."

"Excuse me, chuppah, before the stain sets in. Time is of the essence."

He headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a roll of paper towels, club soda and dish soap and brought them over to the sink along with her precious family heirloom. He treated the stain while examining the cloth. It was eggshell white with a satin ribbon trim and was beautifully embroidered with what appeared to be wedding portraits. Below each imprinted photo were names and dates sewn on. He traced his finger along some of the names that he recognized. Arlene Cuddy November 19, 1966 and Julia Cuddy July 25, 1998. There was one corner left intentionally blank.

"How is everything?" he shouted back to her. "Enjoying yourself?"

"There's still one thing missing."

He fondled the empty space on the cloth and uttered to himself, "No kidding." Then walked over to the bathroom and discarded his wet clothes in the sink and sat at the opposite end of the tub. He grabbed her foot, massaging and gently kissing it.

Cuddy sloshed the water his way and splashed him in the face. "Hey, what are you doing way over there?" Then she got up on her knees and dug into the water, lifting out a huge pile of bubbles and placing it on top of his head.

House wiped away at the suds in his eyes and splashed back at her. Seconds later more splashing and laughing occurred. Then Cuddy grabbed a washcloth and threw it at his face.

"You're going to regret doing that." He removed the cloth, scooped up two handfuls of bubbles, blew it in her face and laughed. "There. Now you look like the bearded lady that I helped in clinic a few months back. It's a good look for you really."

Cuddy splashed him in the face again and then playfully grabbed the back of his head and dunked it into the water.

House surprised her and wrestled his way out of her slippery grasp then rose to the surface. He glanced down at his penis, "Down periscope, down," then back at her. "Sorry. Can't help it. Your bearded clam was in my face." He pinned her up against a wall in a corner of the tub, idle hands parting her legs and debated whether to go on a muff diving adventure or simply set his submarine on course for sperm harbor.

Twenty minutes later the bathroom was flooded. He was spooning her from behind, holding her tightly and resting his head next to hers in the tepid water. "So, what is a chuppah anyway?"

"I told you."

"Actually you didn't."

"I didn't?"

"No."

"It's a tapestry that's hung like a canopy on four poles in a Jewish wedding ceremony where the bridal couple stands underneath. It symbolizes the new life, new home they'll share together. Anyway, after Julia got married she was supposed to pass it on to me, but of course, never did."

"Oh."

"A couple of months ago my mother found it while going through the house, trying to finally get rid of dad's old things and gave it to me. It's been in my family for generations."

"You've had it for over a month. How come I've never seen it?"

"It's been sitting in a box in the hall closet since my mom brought it over. For some reason I felt like looking at it tonight."

House clasped his left hand with her right one thoroughly examining and playing with her ring finger. He pushed away the soapy bubbles and seized the base of her digit before giving her a soft, gentle kiss on top of her head.

"Maybe it's time to get out." Cuddy stood up and stepped out of the tub. "My fingers are getting pruney."

He slapped her ass with a wet towel from the floor. "That's not the only thing."

"You're absolutely right." She turned the bronze tub faucet handle to the coldest position while House was still immersed in the tub then grabbed all of the towels except for the soaked one on the floor and ran out the door shouting, "We forgot about the shrinkage."

"Real cute."

House turned off the icy cold water and drained the tub. He grabbed the drenched towel and wrung it dry as best he could. Then reached for the shower pole in front of him and carefully hoisted himself up, wrapping the towel around his waist before exiting the bathtub. The towel clung to him like a second skin.

And Cuddy immediately noticed as he entered the bedroom. "So much for shrinkage." She was sitting on his bed presumably naked, wrapped in a heavy down comforter with her back slouched against the headboard. She curled her finger, beckoning him to join her on the bed. "I could use your body heat."

He immediately dropped his towel and grabbed a pair of white boxer briefs from his dresser drawer. "Hold that thought."

"What are you doing?"

"I have something better in mind."

"Better than this." She opened up the comforter revealing all of her beauty.

He shielded his eyes and turned away. "I'm going to build us a fire and make us some hot cocoa."

"That actually sounds pretty good."

"Good." He searched in another drawer and pulled out a DVD labeled "Christmas Yuletide Log" then placed it into the player and dimmed the lights.

Cuddy laughed as the "fire" crackled and snapped. He joined her on the bed and leaned in for a smooch. She smiled and pushed him away. "Not so fast. We need to take care of your lip."

"It can wait."

"No. It can't. And you promised me hot cocoa."

"Cuddy!" House got up, "Yes, mistress," and set off for the kitchen then returned minutes later with two mugs of cocoa, a first aid kit and an icepack.

She reached for a cup, placed it on the night side and motioned for him to sit beside her. "Come here." She examined his mouth with gentle fingertips and delicately cleaned the wound, carefully dabbing a cotton ball not wanting to hurt him. He looked at her with loving eyes as she tended to his lip. "Chase did this to you? Do I need to file a report? What did you do?"

"Nothing. I told him to get out of my way. End of story."

"That prompted him to hit you? Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?"

"Okay. I said I was five times bigger than him and that Cameron knew that too."

"Does she?"

"Cameron? What? Noooo! You've always been the one I've been saving myself for."

Cuddy rolled her eyes and gently kissed him in the corner of his mouth before tenderly putting the icepack on his lip. "There. All better."

House held it to the side of his face. "He didn't have to hit me. I was being generous when I said five times bigger. It's more like seventeen really. There are some photos circulating around the Net."

They finished their hot beverages in silence, snuggling each other and gazing at the flames of the roaring fire flickering on the TV plasma screen.

Cuddy closed her eyes and nuzzled her head in the nook of his shoulder and placed her right hand on his bare chest. She drew lazy circles over his heart and twisted what little chest hair he had around her finger then positioned her head closer to his sternum.

House broke the silence. "I could never forgive myself if something happened to you." He grabbed her hand and interlaced it with his. "Cuddy I…"

"Shh." She placed a finger to his mouth, "No more talking," and yawned. "I'm dead tired."

"Again. Not funny." House quietly joked as she fell into a deep slumber. He kissed the top of her head and then closed his eyes. "That's okay. I'm tired too. And I like this. I like being with you just you like this." He held onto her tightly with his strong, protective arms encircling her torso and rested her head under his chin. He was afraid of letting go, of ever letting her go.

The storm outside grew even more treacherous. The wind howled and whistled as heavy rains pelted the earth. Thunder rumbled and lightning struck, illuminating the dark night sky. House opened his eyes as flashes of light filled the room. He saw a shadowy figure reflecting in the mirror on the opposite wall across from his bed. The stranger appeared to be peeping through the window watching them. He couldn't make out any features but he could tell it was definitely a woman in a hooded sweatshirt.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them again. The silhouette was gone.