Flare
Chapter X:
Author's Note: Told you it would get interesting, didn't I? LoL! I wrote chapters 8 and 9 in one night! Then I slept the whole day the next day and am getting back to working on it right now!
"Here we are." House said, pulling into Cuddy's driveway, "I bet home never looked sweeter." She turned to him and had tears shimmering in her eyes. They were happy tears of course, she couldn't wait to get inside. He was right, the place never looked better even though there were leaves all over the lawn under patches of melted snow and there was all sorts of mail jammed in the mailbox. She realized that she had left a lamp on in the living room. It didn't matter, she was finally home.
"Come on in for a bit." She said, grabbing her crutches from the back and getting out of the car awkwardly. House gave her a look as if he wanted to ask her if she needed help but she just glared back at him. She could do this herself, he could get around on his leg by himself...couldn't he? "We'll have a drink."
"It's nine o'clock in the morning Cuddy."
"Then we'll have coffee. Come on." She insisted and made her way to the door. She had gotten her spare keys back from the neighbor who was supposed to be watching her house. It was rather clear from the state of it that said neighbor lied. Normally she would have been mad, but really, what would that accomplish now? From behind her she heard the engine stop and House get out just as she was opening the door.
It was absolutely freezing outside and the heat had been turned off before she left. The interior was probably ten degrees less cold, if that. House entered behind her and shut the door as she went to turning up the thermostat. Once that was adjusted she headed into the kitchen. "Lets see if I actually have coffee that's still good." Cuddy said as she heard him enter the kitchen.
"I could live with tea you know." He said.
"Tea, good idea, that doesn't go bad." She replied and grabbed the tea pot from the stove top. "So how's Amber treating you these days?"
"Lets not talk about her." House said and then stepped forward, pulling Cuddy into his arms. She completely understood why he would want to change the subject. She let him embrace her and they stood that way for a moment before joining in a passionate kiss. Her crutches fell to the floor and she leaned against him and the counter so she wouldn't fall over.
This was exactly what she wanted, they would make love and stay in bed all day. House was back to work but he had taken a personal day off for her. She found it a bit strange that every time she said anything about Amber he would flippantly change the subject, but decided that the woman was just a bitch and he wanted to avoid her at all costs.
Her hands roamed over his chest and she pulled away from the kiss, "Bedroom?" She whispered, flushed and out of breath. He smiled down at her and nodded. In a perfect world she would have been able to walk there by herself, but a perfect world this was not. Skillfully she picked up her crutches and started to lead him to bed, tossing him a come hither look over her shoulder as she moved.
When they entered the bedroom, she got on the bed and pulled her shirt off. It was still freezing in there, but pretty soon they would be making their own heat so it didn't really matter. That's when House's phone started to ring. She growled under her breath and laid completely back on the bed. Ten to one he was going to have to leave.
"This better be good." He answered the phone as he was taking off his shoes. It appeared that whoever it was, he wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. "No...I said NO!...You can wait...what? What is that?...I dunno I'm taking a dump." He said and hung up the phone. Cuddy snickered and rolled her eyes, she was a little surprised that the mood wasn't completely dead after that.
"Who was-"
"Doesn't matter." House said with a smile. He turned his phone off and tossed it aside. He climbed into bed with her and they joined in another kiss. She was surprised at how quickly he had gotten her bra off and in an instant he was sucking on her nipple. She groaned loudly, tangling her hands in his hair.
"Mmm House." She said, she was so happy that he had dismissed whoever was on the phone. Slowly, he kissed down her stomach, she had lost weight in the woods and in the hospital so it was especially flat, and he started to work her skirt off. For whatever reason Cuddy didn't ever think he would be the kind of guy to perform oral on a woman, but here it was...happening to her.
He slid her panties off with his teeth and then went to town, nuzzling his face into her ready and willing pussy. She arched her hips, her hands once again in his hair, pushing down gently trying to get him to go deeper. He was good at what he was doing, so very good. This left her to think that he was damn good at everything he set his mind to...he was House after all.
"Oh fuck." She groaned softly, not realizing that she was stepping up into the dirty talk zone. This had never felt so good before, maybe because it was him the idea of him, in the past she had even fantasized about him doing this while with other men. He continued for what seemed like an eternity, bringing her to the edge and then slowing down to tease her. "Fuck House let me cum!" She finally cried. She heard him snicker, but a moment later he was giving it his all. She screamed out in pleasure, and in seconds she rode over the edge into bliss. Her hips were bucking and she was moaning so loud that she was sure the neighbors were now worried.
"Am I good or what?" He said, looking up from in between her legs. She was breathing hard, so hard that she couldn't verbally answer him, instead she nodded her head eagerly. He smiled and crawled up to her and they joined in a kiss, she was able to taste herself on his lips.
Next his shirt and pants came off. She got a look at his scar for the first time in a long time as he was pulling off his boxers and it looked, well the area around it looked swollen and painful. She felt tears springing to her eyes for some reason. He must be in a lot of pain and yet not a peep of it was uttered to her. It was heartbreaking in a way.
"You okay? You look like your dog just died." House said, he was sufficiently aroused and in the light she could see just how big he was. This was going to be fun. She shook away the heartbroken feelings for a moment and reached out to embrace him.
"Fine, everything is fine." She said as he came into her arms and entered her waiting body with a thrust. After a few moments of him doing the work, and her enjoying it immensely, she figured his leg must be killing him. In the heat of the moment she reversed their positions so she was on top, looking down at him. He groaned loudly, looking up at her. She started to move up and down, riding him at a moderate pace. His hands came up and caressed her breasts gently.
"Mmm God Cuddy." He said softly, and she smiled down at him, "Faster..." He directed. She didn't have to be told twice, and so she started up and down even faster than before. From then on in there was no more talking, just the two enjoying each others bodies until they became one in a magnificent orgasm, one so strong it brought tears to Cuddy's eyes. When she was done she collapsed on top of him for a moment and then rolled over so she was laying next to him, his arm wrapped around her protectively.
"I love you so much." She breathed in his ear and then kissed his cheek softly. A tear spilled down her cheek and she wiped it away before he could spot it. This was the start to a perfect day, the pain in her foot was completely forgotten. She wished that it could be this way forever, but she didn't know the winds of change were blowing.
A few hours later, after they had made love two more times, Cuddy was riding the narcotic train to sleep, and House knew he had to check his phone. It was Amber who had called before and she was demanding to see him. He didn't exactly know how much he could say no to her before she was true on her word and got him disbarred. Reluctantly he got out of bed, leaving a naked and very asleep Cuddy behind.
He grabbed his phone from the chair and turned it on. Ten missed calls in the past few hours. All from Amber. Shit. He looked at Cuddy, grabbed his cane, and went out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him. He pressed the button to redial the wicked bitch of PPTH and put the phone to his ear. It rang twice before she picked up, by that time he was in the kitchen looking for alcohol of any kind.
"Don't you EVER do that again." Amber snapped at him, "Where the fuck were you?"
"I told you, taking a dump." He replied blandly, finding a bottle of scotch hidden under the sink. As quick as he could he opened it up and took in two big gulps. It was strong stuff, practically took his breath away.
"For five hours?" Amber yelled.
"Calm down." He said, "I was helping Cuddy get settled in. I can't just drop everything and be your pimp."
"Honey, that's the nature of this deal." Amber replied, "Get with the program or expect hell. Next time I call, you better be fucking ready for me." Then she hung up. House pulled his phone away and gave it a death stare, before slamming it down on the counter. He took two more gulps of scotch and replaced the bottle under the sink. He didn't know why exactly Cuddy had the bottle there, but it was probably for good reason.
After that, he left his phone on the counter, went into the bathroom to pee, and then joined Cuddy back in bed. She stirred a little and her eyes opened just a crack. "Where'd you go?" She murmured, more asleep than awake.
"Just to pee." He said, which was sort of the truth. She didn't have to know about the phone call with Amber. She smiled and snuggled up next to him. He placed his arms around her and stroked her hair as she fell back asleep. He couldn't have loved and hated his life more than at that moment.
"Took the day off yesterday I see." Chase said as House entered the office. House looked at him and set his stuff down on a chair. They had recently finished a case, and as everyone knew, new cases didn't come flying into the ER on a daily basis.
"I do recall Cameron telling me something about an Australian man doing six months of my clinic duty if it turned out I was alive. Bargain with God or some such?" House said with a smirk. Cameron, who was making coffee snickered, and Chase just looked perturbed. He glanced at his girlfriend, who would look anywhere but him.
"Whatever." Chase finally said and left. House didn't have much to do but catch up on paperwork, but he had Cameron for that so he walked over and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"How's the leg?" She asked him, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Better than Cuddy's foot." He said gloomily.
"You know, you have the right to complain, even if it's only to the team." Cameron replied, taking a sip of coffee. House didn't feel he had a right to complain to anyone. He still had his leg, Cuddy was missing part of her foot. What gave him the right to walk around acting like he was in pain? He'd give it a few months and then bring it up. Maybe even wait til Cuddy could walk again, then they could complain at each other all in good fun, then go home and have sex.
"Meh, it'll get better." He said, not believing that at all.
"Wow, I didn't know you even possessed empathy." Foreman said.
"It was hiding behind my narcissism gland." House snapped at him, "Which was pushed away once Cuddy...yadda yadda yadda...don't you have anything better to do?"
"Not really, but I'll find something." Foreman said and then got up and left. Cameron smiled slightly and came up behind House, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"It's good to have you back, House." She said and then walked over to the second desk where she started to go through files. House took a sip of his coffee and then pulled his vicodin bottle from his pocket. He almost wished he could be like Cuddy, in a narcotic daze, in bed, doing nothing and getting paid for it. He popped a pill and headed out of the office. It was time to pay Wilson a visit.
Wilson was in his office, as expected, and so House walked right in and sat down. "So I slept with Cuddy." Was the first thing he said. Wilson looked up from the paper he was reading and sighed loudly.
"We all assumed that already happened." He said, "Anything else?"
"Who's 'we all'?" House asked although he could very well guess it included the man he was looking at and his three ducklings.
"Do you have to ask?" Wilson said and then the phone started to ring. Wilson picked it up, ignoring that House was there for the moment. This was good, it gave House a chance to ponder how he was going to ask Wilson about being blackmailed. He didn't think he would right out tell him about Amber and his situation, but he didn't know what to do and certainly couldn't tell Cuddy. As he was thinking he wasn't listening to the conversation. He only looked over to Wilson when the phone was hung up.
"Wilson, I-"
"Have to get going." Wilson said, his voice shaking so slightly that maybe only House would have noticed. His face was flushed and it looked like he had gotten a few degrees warmer. House was 99% positive the man was aroused. Who had been on the phone? Dammit! The one time he didn't pay attention to a phone conversation this happened.
"Who was on the phone?" House asked, not making any move to leave.
"Patient, I have to deliver some bad news." Wilson lied, badly.
"You get aroused before telling people they are going to die a horrible death?" House asked accusingly. This caused Wilson to get indignant and if he was aroused before it certainly went away in that instant.
"First of all you and I both know cancer isn't necessarily a death sentence, and secondly, when I say leave I mean it." Wilson tried to command him.
"Really, who was on the phone?" House asked, not believing anything that was coming out of his mouth.
"OUT!" Wilson yelled standing up and pointing towards the door. House still didn't move, he wasn't intimidated, in fact Wilson's behavior was just making him more curious. Just as House was opening his mouth to speak again, the door opened and Amber walked in. She was wearing a skirt so short it was just below the line of being unprofessional. She smiled wickedly at House.
"Get out of here, alright?" She said.
"Don't have to tell me twice." House said, looking at Wilson suspiciously. He could only draw the conclusion that the person on the phone had been Amber, but there wasn't enough proof to connect the dots...yet. "Stone cold bitch." He muttered as he passed her. If she heard him she didn't make any indication of it. He stepped into the hall and slammed the door behind him. This day was just weird, and it was about to get weirder.
Cuddy had returned home from physical therapy an hour ago and her foot was killing her. They wanted her to do exercises with it but all she was thinking was screw that. Her whole foot hurt as she climbed into the tub with a glass of wine, a bottle of percocet, and a pack of cigarettes. She found it was rather hard to take a shower with her foot the way it was. After a few days walking on it (if that ever happened) she supposed that she would be able to stand long enough for one but for now, whatever.
She had given House an extra key to her place just incase he got worried and needed to check on her. That, and she wanted him to know that he was absolutely invited to come over at any time. They had spent time in the woods together surviving, she didn't care when he decided to drop in.
After shutting the water off, she leaned back in the tub and submerged herself. Lazily she reached for the wine and the pills, taking out two and downing them. Two was over her dosage but she was a doctor and knew the side effects. All the thoughts about narcotics not ruling her life like House were out the window since physical therapy. Hell, she didn't even know how House functioned on just one or two vicodin. She always suspected he was taking more than that but never caught him doing more and most likely just wanted to think better of him than that. Now she understood why he did what he did, and why he was so damn pissed off all the time.
Once the pills were down she lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. She wished more than anything that she had some weed. As a doctor she knew that weed was not physically addictive, but she'd be damned it if wasn't mentally. Maybe she could slyly ask House how he would get some. It was clear to her that he probably smoke up on occasion and it all made sense why he always made a big stink about random drug tests when they first started. She never tested him any more, and now she knew why.
"CUDDY?" She heard his voice from the living room.
"Bathroom!" She called lazily and took another drag of her cigarette. House found his way in there and looked at her in the tub. Instead of making a rude comment about her being naked he just sat down on the toilet. She knew something was going on with him but she didn't know what. Her head was swimming now with the percocet and wine. She felt warm and floaty, the last thing on her mind at that point was her foot.
"I think Wilson is sleeping with Amber." He said, reaching into his pocket for his drug of choice. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him, thinking that had to be the most ridiculous thing he had said in a long time.
"Maybe you should cut back on the vicodin." She suggested and then snickered, tapping out the ashes from her cigarette into the ashtray she had brought in there.
"Cuddy, do I jump to irrational conclusions...often?" He said, quickly adding the last word to the sentence before she could say anything. He was right though, House had no reason to say that Wilson was boning Amber without evidence, and he was House after all.
"What makes you think that?" She asked, picking up her glass of wine with her free hand and taking a sip.
"Just things I've seen." House said, not going into detail.
"Well let me know when you are sure. Then we can have some sort of intervention." Cuddy replied with a smile. Had she been sober she might have gotten mad, but as it was, she was riding high and it didn't really matter to her one way or the other at that point. Yeah Amber was a bitch and Wilson was a nice guy who was libel to get hurt by her, but they were two consenting adults and what was going to happen would happen.
"How much percocet have you been taking?" House asked, coming over to the tub and sitting down next to it, adjusting his position so he would be comfortable. She narrowed her gaze at him and took another drag from her smoke.
"How many vicodin have you been taking?" She countered. He went silent, obviously not wanting to answer her. "I can hold my own House. I'd probably take less if I had some pot."
"Don't tell me you want to smoke up." House said, sounding concerned.
"I'd prefer it to pills actually." She said, her honestly switch had been turned on as soon as she had downed the pills. House rolled his eyes and looked at her. She was sure this was not a version of herself he was used to. Drinking, downing painkillers, smoking, asking for pot...could she get any different?
"What if I get you some and you promise me that's the last you'll ever have." House said after a moment of thinking. Cuddy perked up at the idea. Yes, she would have one last hurrah with pot and call it over and done with.
"Sounds great. Where do you get it anyway?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Guy named Slash...you don't even want to know how we met." House replied. It was true, she didn't, what ever sordid reason brought them together could remain unknown to her for the time being. She was happy that he was willing to do this for her, he was really going out on a limb. She swore to herself that it would totally be the last time. She didn't know this was just the beginning.