Disclaimer: See chapter 1
A/N: Wow I think this is the fastest update I ever did, you guys only had to wait a week. This chapter is longer than any of the others, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This really was a fun chapter to write. Also, this chapter somehow took an unexpected turn, one I had not anticipated when I planned it out, but I kinda like it, so I'm going to see if I can work with it… Now enough with my babbling, read, enjoy and review, please. Oh yes not beta-ed so all mistakes belong to me.
Chapter 11
Cuddy was seated on the sofa in her living room, her laptop placed securely in her lap, pencil behind her ear and her eyes glued to the screen on the television that was mounted on the wall opposite where she sat. While her gaze was focused entirely on the LCD, her attention was some place else. House had avoided her for the last two and a half weeks, which did not surprise her much, seeing as he had spent the last few months avoiding her for some odd reason, but what really got her attention was that he had not come barging into her office and telling her in great detail about his night with the woman he had brought to the dinner. For House, bragging about his one night stands and the women he claimed to sleep with; showed that they were of no importance to him, but his lack of bragging about this one set off alarm bells in Cuddy's mind.
All she saw was that House had received a call, which he declined to answer, as usual, and made his date talk to whoever was on the other end of the line. A few minutes later, his stance had changed and his mood had soured even more than before as he led the dark eyed woman out of the eating house and out of Cuddy's sight without even giving her an explanation, not that she needed one, but House usually told either her or Wilson about everything he did. The only thought that was running through the Dean's mind was that House couldn't wait to get out of that place and he couldn't wait to get laid.
She and Seth had taken their leave soon after; when Wilson was finally convinced that the diagnostician was not coming back and that him leaving was not all part of some bigger plan. The drive back home was not as easy going as the previous one, and while Seth had said nothing indicating to her that he needed an explanation about her answer earlier that night, she knew she was going to have to give him one. She owed him at least that; seeing as they were friends for almost as long as she and House. They would talk about it as soon as they were inside her house and after she had checked on her daughter whom she hoped was fast asleep and ten thirty on a week night.
What she had planned to do and what had actually happened when they finally reached her home were two very different things. She spotted the neon green post it Kutner had stuck to the wall as soon as she entered her front door informing her that Rachel had been having a hard time falling asleep and that he had taken her out for a drive, and if she was not home by ten Cuddy should not worry; he would drop the kid off at her Uncle Jimmy's house as soon as she was fast asleep. Cuddy tried calling Kutner but all she got was his voicemail, and she swore she would make him to extra clinic duty for the stunt he pulled.
Fortunately for him, Wilson had dropped Rachel off early the next morning, and while Cuddy was still worried about her daughter, it did not deter her thoughts of ripping Kutner's head off his shoulders for taking the decision he did without asking her first. When she questioned Rachel about her stay at Uncle Jimmy's the little girl looked quizzically at her mother, and continued on to her room to unpack her stuff, and Cuddy was immediately reminded of House when he didn't want to talk about something. She decided to let it go for now, thinking the little girl would tell her all about it when she was ready... Little did she know…
When Monday finally rolled around, Rachel still hadn't told her mother about her sleep over and Wilson's, even after Cuddy had pestered her with questions about Wilson and Amber. Eventually Rachel picked up her small keyboard that she had grown so fond of in the last few weeks, and started playing. Cuddy was about to yell at her to stop with the noise, but a few minutes later she heard the flawless tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and she couldn't help but smile, her daughter had finally got it. It was also at that unfortunate moment Kutner walked into her office and as soon as Cuddy saw him her smile was replaced by glare.
"Three months of extra clinic duty, for your behaviour on Saturday evening" and before he could protest, she cut him off, "and add another month for every word that comes out of your mouth." That was more than enough for Kutner to keep his mouth shut and walk straight back out of her office. It had been a normal, uneventful week after that, well as normal as one could have with Gregory House as an employee. She didn't know whether she should have been happy for him, since he had found a woman, other than her, who could put up with the man or if she should be angry and jealous that he was actually interested in aforementioned woman.
And here she was on a week night; enjoying the quiet easy atmosphere she and Seth had finally managed to rediscover after the disaster two weeks ago. She had put Rachel to bed almost an hour ago, and she was finally ready to have the talk she so desperately wanted to have with him, telling him exactly where their relationship was headed now that House had found his dark haired heroine, and there was nothing she could do about it. She turned to face the handsome man sitting beside her on the sofa, admiring his dimples as he smiled at something funny on the television screen and she had to remember to breathe when he finally focused him gaze on her.
"Seth, there's something I need to tell you," she started uncertainly, not used to having to explain herself to other people in her personal life.
As the next sentence formed in her brain, both their ears were assaulted with a glass shattering screech. Cuddy stood up immediately and ran to her daughter's room, with Seth right behind her. She came to a stop at the door, looking into the room for the source of the noise and saw Rachel standing in the centre of her bed, hugging her Donald Duck blanket tightly around her small body, her face puffy from crying, the tear streaks running down her cheeks, and her eyes bloodshot. Cuddy took a small careful step inside the room, expecting her child to stop crying when her mother entered, instead it only provoked the five year old to sob louder.
Unconsciously, Cuddy pulled out her cell phone and dialled Wilson's number, hoping the oncologist was not already fast asleep or in the middle of something to be disturbed. Calling Wilson was second nature to her, her having had to do it on many occasions when Rachel was younger and Cuddy just could not deal with the fussy toddler any more. Thankfully he answered after the second ring and he didn't have to wait for Cuddy to explain the situation to him for him to get into his car and come over right away.
Even the arrival of Wilson and Amber did nothing to allay the child's crying and Cuddy was fast losing her mind and patience. Rachel was five years old, what the hell would have scared her enough to keep her wailing for three quarters of an hour. Cuddy had tried everything she could think of to calm her daughter down, but nothing worked and she was all out of options. There had to be something that would work, something that did not involve sedating her with some sleeping drug as Amber had suggested, though Cuddy was finding the idea more appealing with every second that passed.
"Did you try calling House and asking him to come over?" Wilson asked her and Cuddy looked at him as though he had just grown another head. House didn't even like her kid, why the hell would he leave his apartment and his woman to take care of her kid at eleven thirty at night?
"Are you trying to help me or kill me?" Cuddy asked in reply.
"I know it sounds insane, but call him, just to humour me," he tried to convince his boss, and while she looked sceptically at him, she pulled out her phone nonetheless and called the diagnostician.
She was not surprised when there was no answer on his cell phone, but with Wilson's prompting she called his home phone, and decided to leave him a message, just in case.
"House… I need you. Now" as she said the words her mind was transported back to the time she was still trying IVF and had asked House to give her the injections. She had called him out of the exam room, by poking her head through the crack of the door, as he was examining a patient.
"House, need you. Now" were all she said and him being himself looked at the woman in the room before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and answering with his deepest voice, "Yes Mistress," and followed her to her office.
She was about to hang up but the sound of his voice coming through stopped her, hoping that he actually would be of help just this once. Her hopes were shattered however when she heard his response.
"Sorry I'm off the clock, though I'm sure if you call Wilson he'll come running as soon as he can." He left no space for debate but she tried anyway.
"House," she hated sounding the way she did, pleading for him to help her, but hell if it stopped her child from crying then plead was what she would do, and before she could say another word he had hung up. She sighed tiredly in defeat, she should not have expected anything more from him, he was never keen on her adopting Rachel anyway, and now five years later nothing had changed, he still hated her kid.
A long fifteen minutes followed before she heard the screech of tyres outside her home, followed by loud knocking on her front door. She looked out of her front room window, only to see shiny black sports car parked in her driveway. The knocking got louder and she hurried to answer the door, not even thinking about her safety as she yanked the door open and came face to face with the one person she was not expecting to see in a long time.
Cuddy looked dumbfounded at the dark haired woman standing on her doorstep, clearly it was not her day. She smiled stiffly at the woman, not in the mood to entertain whatever she and House had planned for the evening.
"Could you stop blocking the doorway, its cold outside and I'd actually like some peace and quiet," Cuddy heard House's voice, and a few minutes later she saw him as he stepped up on her porch just behind his new friend. The dean immediately moved out of the doorway and allowed them to enter her home.
0 o 0 o 0
Two and a half weeks had passed way too slowly for House, even though he had diagnosed and solved four cases in that fortnight and a half. Just like the last few weeks, he had avoided his blue eyed, sexy dressed boss, only talking to her if she came looking for him and no one else could discuss the issues at hand with her. All in all he had spoken to her only twice in sixteen days, not that he was counting, but hell he missed their banter, the sexual innuendos, just the sight of her all riled up because of something stupid he had said or done. He wanted her to realise what she was missing, he wanted to give her a glimpse of what exactly it would be like if she decided she really would walk away from him, and as much as he hated doing it to her, it was something that had to be done.
It would have been a lot easier if he had help and some guidance on how to avoid her without actually pissing her off, but the one person who actually knew about their relationship prior to the employer/employee once they currently shared had disappeared without as much as a note, and no indication of when she would return, or even if she would return. Well, it was not like he didn't deserve her cold treatment, he had behaved like a jackass on the ride home from both the restaurant and Cuddy's house. He had ignored her all the way, wanting to wallow in his pain and misery all by himself, unlike Cuddy she did not pester him into telling her what was going on in his head, she had put the little girl to bed, kissed him good night on his forehead and left. That was almost three weeks ago, and he still had not heard anything from her.
He had tried to divert his attention by creating havoc in the hospital, but he, Wilson and Cuddy knew his heart was not in it. The pranks he played were like child's play, though they definitely kept the 'She Devil' busy for the better part of the day when he actually decided to spend the day playing practical jokes on the clinic staff and patients.
Rachel and House had spent most of the morning learning to play the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star correctly and Rachel was excited when she finally got the tune right. Then they had breakfast which consisted of cereal for Rachel and a very strong cup of coffee for House. The rest of the late morning was spent watching Monsters VS Aliens, which had fast become Rachel's favourite DVD. House could not help but smile every time she giggled when she saw Dr Cockroach on the screen. He couldn't believe something so small amused her so much, and he filed the picture of her laughing heartily, in his mind so he could look at it when she was not around and he was missing her.
They were almost three quarter of the way through the DVD when Wilson arrived, sans Amber, to pick up Rachel and take her back to her mother. House wanted to protest, to keep her with him for longer but he knew there was no chance of that happening, Cuddy would kill him if she knew her daughter had spent the night and most of the morning with him and not Uncle Wilson as she was so wrongly informed. Well, then what Cuddy didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right? And he and Rachel had come to an agreement that they would not tell Cuddy about her spending time with him.
Kutner had come to him on Monday morning, claiming he was going to tell Cuddy about what had happened the night he was babysitting the runt, but House merely handed him an envelope addressed to him. House watched as Kutner pulled out the document from its jacket and waited as the younger doctor read it, a small smile gracing his lips when he saw Kutner's forehead wrinkle with frowning.
"Something wrong?"
"Your girlfriend knows I went to see Cuddy and has now rewarded me with doing one hundred hours of your clinic duty. I can consider this document as signed, sealed and delivered," he read from the page in his hands, "And Cuddy received a copy as well, so I will be in clinic if you need me," he said as he stalked off in anger.
House smiled to himself, he had no idea Maya would actually make good on her threat, well she had threatened to kill the man, and so House thought giving him clinic duty was a better punishment. That was almost a week ago.
House was now fast asleep on his sofa when the shrill ring of his cell phone cut into the peaceful silence of his apartment and woke him from the deep sleep he had fallen into. He had been sleeping less in the last two weeks, and while he knew exactly what the problem was and the solution for it, he was just too damn stubborn or proud to admit it, leaving him tired, moody, grumpy and meaner than ever. He lifted her device from the coffee table next to him and glanced at the blinking screen. 'She Devil' lit up the entire LCD and House groaned at the sight of it. What the hell could Lisa Cuddy want at this time of the night? By the time he bothered to answer it, she had hung up and predictably five seconds later his home telephone began to ring.
Sitting up and reaching for the cordless device on the opposite end of the sofa was too much of an effort for the man, so he waited for the machine and he hoped Cuddy would leave a message for him and then stop bothering him for the rest of the night. He needed his damn sleep and he was not going to let his nagging boss distract him from it… unless she showed up with an entirely different thought in mind. House shook his head to rid them of the thoughts and listened to the worried tone Cuddy used as she left her message.
"House I need you, Now!" was all he heard, and he was for some reason a memory of that made its way into his brain and he remembered when she had told him that a long time ago, and he had answered with a deep voiced "Yes Mistress." The thought made him smile for a second but it was quickly replaced with a frown when he heard the ear shattering shriek in the background and he knew exactly what was going on. The sprog had another nightmare, but this time it was okay because both her mother and Seth were there to comfort her, there was no need for him to run and save her… was there?
He picked up the receiver before she could hang up, "Sorry I'm off the clock, though I'm sure if you call Wilson he'll come as soon as he can," House told her after a moment of tense silence. He remembered the answer she had given Maya two weeks ago at the restaurant, if she was willing and eager to walk away from him then there was absolutely no reason he could not do the same thing to her. She had enough other people to help her out with the runt; she didn't want him around her anyway.
"House," he heard her plea but hung up before she could say another word to make him feel guilty or to change his mind. He had already been hurt by her two weeks ago, his wounds hadn't healed properly yet, he needed time to regroup before he could face her again. He had been sitting on his couch for a total of three minutes when the memory of Rachel's tear streaked face made its way, unbidden, in his head and he knew then his heart had already made the decision, wounds and scars be damned. He stood up with force and grabbed his cane and keys from the coffee table, as he made his way out of his apartment. He was mildly surprised when he saw the one person he was looking forward to seeing for an entire fortnight, outside his apartment door.
"Care to join me for a late night ride?" he asked suggestively and she turned to look at him, her black eyes showing no emotion.
"Aah, so I see you're over your childishness and you're ready to talk. That's great Greg, and in answer to your question I'm not interested thank you," while her words were soft and calm, House still felt like he had been slapped across his cheek. He knew he deserved that one, he had been a jerk to her, but he needed her help now, there was no way he was going to Cuddy's home without her. He had a feeling thought that anything he said she would dismiss as him being and ass, so he had to come up with something good.
"Was there something you needed?" he heard her ask when he still had not moved after a few minutes.
"Rachel had another nightmare, Cuddy just called me to come over," he said softly, figuring the truth would be best in this situation.
Maya looked up at him, saw the worry etched on his face and decided that him being a prick was not as important as calming a screaming, crying five year old down.
"We'll take my car, its too cold and dangerous to take your bike in this weather," House nodded and followed her to her car. He almost fell over when she came to a stop in front of a shiny, sexy black Audi R8 and unlocked the doors with the press of a button. A smooth, ten minute drive at sixty five miles per hour, and screeching tyres later they were parked in the driveway of one Doctor Lisa Cuddy's home. Maya was the first to exit the car and make her way to Cuddy's door. She knocked softly at first and when no one answered after a few minutes she knocked on the wooden door again. What she did not expect was to see Cuddy looking straight at her, shooting daggers in her direction with just her gaze. Thankfully House was not far behind and diffused the situation as best he could.
"Could you stop blocking the doorway, its cold outside and I'd actually like some peace and quiet," he said as he made his way to her front door and getting Maya out of Cuddy's immediate line of vision. He watched as Cuddy stepped aside and allowed the younger woman to enter her home, but he noted the glare she graced him with as he passed her on his way in.
H O U S E M . D .
Both House and Cuddy made their way to Rachel's room where she was now seated on the bed and still crying. The screaming had stopped about ten minutes ago, and while Cuddy had tried, from the doorway to calm her child down, Rachel would scream at sight of anyone even attempting to enter her room, even her mother, which was weird, to say the least.
"Rachel," House called out loud enough for the kid to hear, and immediately the little girl's head shot up, her eyes searching for the source of the sound.
"Are you telling me four grown adults could not get a ten pound kid to shut-up?" he asked them as they all followed him as he walked toward Rachel's room.
"Seriously?" He was confused, usually Rachel would stop crying at the sight of her mother, it was clearly not the case tonight, and he was not sure just how he was going to deal with it once Cuddy and Seth actually found out the truth about what had happened the weekend she had decided to leave the runt in Wilson's care. After what seemed like an eternity, House came to a halt, standing in the doorway leading to Rachel's room. He looked at her, taking in a tear streaked face, her red, puffy eyes, and her trembling lower lip.
"Greg, you're not helping," Maya scolded him loud enough for Cuddy to hear her though Cuddy gave no indication that she did.
"Well, serves them right for disturbing my night of pleasure," he replied cause Maya to roll her eyes. He was so full of himself at times.
"Hey Smurf," he greeted her from the doorway, making no attempt to enter her room just yet, she needed to calm down a bit more before he would take her on. He had been on the receiving end of one of her deafening screams before and he was not about to put himself trough that experience again. Much to Cuddy and Seth's surprise a small smile formed on the lips of the young child, and she locked eyes with House as he took one slow, tiny step forward.
When Rachel didn't start crying he took another step forward and when it prompted no crying reaction, he continued until he was standing at the side of her bed, leaning heavily on his cane, his gaze still foxed on hers. This time though he did not hold out his arms to her, but waited until she was ready to make the first move, he didn't want Cuddy or the others to know this had happened before. Rachel slowly stood up from her sitting position and walked over to where House was standing, and held out her arms to him, indicating that she wanted to be carried by him.
Cuddy watched, mesmerised, at the scene unfolding before her eyes, and she could not help the sudden tight feeling in her chest. This was what she had wanted for so long, and now when it finally happened it was too late, she had already given up on House, since he was so interested in the dark haired woman standing next to her. She had the sudden urge to walk over to the pair and pull her daughter out of his grasp, he had no right to just come in from nowhere and get close to Rachel, hoping to play the most important role in HER daughter's life. She had been trying to include him from the beginning in Rachel's life, whether it was a first word, or her first step, or anything, but House had always rejected the idea of him being a parent to the sprog, and she didn't see why he wanted to be a part of it now.
She unconsciously took one step forward, but was stopped when she felt a hand on her forearm, Cuddy looked to her right and saw that it was Maya's hand on her arm, and before she could say anything to her, Maya shook her head as though she had read Cuddy's thoughts and was disagreeing with the thought the older woman had not even two minutes ago.
They all watched as Rachel attached herself to House's chest, her head resting on his left shoulder, and her arms banded around his neck, holding onto him as though her life depended on it. He seated himself on her bed, facing away from their audience, not wanting any of them to hear his conversation with the rugrat.
"Hey kid, did you have a bad dream?" he asked softly, and Rachel nodded her head.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" This time the little girl shook her head, and a soft sob escaped her lips. Seeing that she was clearly not ready to talk about it, House changed the subject, hoping to get her mind off her nightmare and calm her down enough to get her to go back to sleep.
"I think we should go and watch Monsters VS Aliens again," he said and Rachel nodded her heard excitedly, as she let go of his neck, stepped off his lap and led him to the sofa in the lounge, leaving a stunned Cuddy gaping at their retreating backs. Fifteen minutes before the movie ended, Maya heard her phone ring and she sighed tiredly, she had to leave again, duty called or so she said. Wilson and Amber had left before the movie had even begun, Amber citing that she had to be at work early the next morning, but not before Amber had asked them a very good question.
"Why is it that Rachel calmed down only when House arrived, not even her mother could relax her?"
"Sometimes its just who you feel more comfortable with," came Maya's reply.
"Yes but House has never made an honest attempt at looking after Rachel, or even being a part of her life, so why is it that she only wanted him?" Cuddy did have a good point.
"You can't help who you love Dr. Cuddy, it just happens," came Maya's reply from across the room.
"Uh… just so you know, we're not really talking about love at first sight, we're talking about a five year old child," Amber stated.
"Yes I realise that, but what you have to take into consideration is that five year olds don't know how to lie about things like feelings and emotions. All Rachel wanted was someone who made her feel safe and protected, and well if it was House then what could he do, its not like he asked her to like him. And as far as love at first sight is concerned, I personally do not believe in it, however, if do think you can't help who you fall in love with. It happens like this," she said, snapping her fingers to state her point.
Rachel was already fast asleep, lying flush against House's chest, her one hand curled looped around his neck and the other holding tightly on the material of his shirt. She had kissed Rachel good night while Cuddy was in the kitchen preparing a warm cup of strong coffee for House. There was no way he would be able to move without disturbing the kid so Maya kissed him softly on the cheek, well aware of Seth's gaze on her, and a few seconds later Cuddy's as well. She moved up closer to him, until her mouth level with his ear, and whispered something to him, which automatically made him smile like a love-struck teenager and Cuddy felt the ball of jealousy rear its ugly head once again.
Maya picked up her jacket and made her way to the front door, ready to leave when she heard Seth call her from behind.
"Mind if I catch a ride with you? If we're going in the same direction?" he asked uncertainly and suddenly Maya had no idea what to do. If she said no well that was just not something she did, and if she said yes, it could cause a whole new set of problems for her.
"Yeah sure no problem, Where you headed?" she asked as she waited for him to fall into step with her, not missing the horrified look on Greg's face as she walked out the door. She was seated in her car watching as he kissed Cuddy goodnight and Maya laughed softly, cursing herself and god at her bad luck. A few more minutes passed before Seth made his way to her car and jumped into the passenger seat, his intense blue gaze now focused on her.
0 o 0 o 0
House remained seated on the couch, not wanting to wake the sleeping child on his chest, but his leg was starting to hurt and he needed to leave before Cuddy decided she needed to have a talk with him, which usually meant her talking and him pretending as though he was listening to her. Luck however was not on his side when he saw her come back into the lounge after greeting Seth good bye, and she settled down next to him on the couch.
"I should put Rachel to bed, she must be a strain on your thigh," he heard her say, and he nodded slightly. He Cuddy picked up her daughter from his grasp and made her way to Rachel's room where she placed the sleeping child on her bed and covered her with her favourite blanket. House stood silently in the doorway watching her, as she tucked the sprog in, kissed her good night and wished her sweet dreams. Cuddy left the bedside lamp on, casting the room in a soft glow, and not leaving it in total darkness just in case Rachel woke up screaming blue murder again.
She came to a stop in front of House, who was still standing in passageway leading to the lounge. There were no words to express the gratitude she felt when House had been able to calm her daughter down within minutes of his arrival, but she knew she had to say something. She took her hand in his and waited until he looked down at her, his full attention on her.
"Thank you, House" it was not much but there was nothing more she needed to say. He would not have accepted anything more from her, in fact the way he saw it he should have been thanking her for allowing him to spend time with the little bugger. He squeezed her hand gently, accepting her thank you and made his way back to the lounge. He picked up his coffee mug and took a sip of the now cool liquid, hoping it would help him with the one liners he knew he would need.
"I should leave too," he picked up his jacket and cane, and walked to the door, not really wanting to leave, but having no reason to stay.
"House, don't be silly, its late and its freezing outside, how are you going to get home? Besides your ride left almost fifteen minutes ago," she reminded him and that's when it sunk in – he had to spend the night at her home. Oh well, they were adults, they could deal with whatever happened or would not happen seeing as she was no longer interested in him. He took up his seat on the couch and started flipping through the channels looking for something to watch to occupy his mind.
"Sleeping on the couch is not an option House. Your leg is already hurting as it is, there's no reason to aggravate the pain more," Cuddy scolded him as she pulled the TV remote out of his grasp and switched off the TV. She held out her hand in his direction and waited until he looked up, suspiciously, at her. "We are adults House, we can share a bed without actually touching each other," she said while leading him slowly to her bedroom.
"I think you just a had a hidden agenda to get me here and into your bed," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
She threw a pair of sweat pants at him, and his old favourite Jack Daniels T-Shirt at him to change into so he could sleep comfortably and not have the denim material rubbing harshly on his thigh as he slept. Cuddy left him to it, and she stepped out of her room to check on Rachel for the last time, and to make sure all the doors and windows were locked, and then started her nightly routine of cleansing her face, and brushing her teeth before heading to bed.
When she returned to her room House was already laying in bed, his feet crossed at the ankles and his head resting on his hands. He watched her as she made her way to her side of the bed, and sat down on it. It seemed to him like she was having second thoughts about the sleeping arrangements and House was ready to take the couch. But Cuddy said nothing, she simply lay down beside him, making sure not to touch him, pulled the covers up, switched off her bedside lamp, greeted him good night and waited for sleep to claim her.
House was woken a few hours later when he felt a heavy weight on his chest and tickling on his chin. He looked down, only to see a mess of brown curls covering his chest, and as he tried to move, found that Cuddy's hand was draped over his abdomen, and one of her legs was wrapped around his left leg. It didn't take him long to figure out that he was basically trapped under her.
He was only awake for a few minutes when the easy silence was broken by her alarm clock, and Cuddy instinctively reached over House's chest to hit the snooze button, causing her chest to rub against his. The feel of a warm body under hers woke her up immediately and it took Cuddy a few minutes to remember she had offered House a place in her bed the previous night. She stayed draped over him for a few more minutes, enjoying the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and it was more than enough to drive him wild, he needed to leave and he needed to leave soon.
He placed a hand on her waist to gently push her off his body, but her sharp intake of breath at the feel of his hands on her body made him rethink his decision. Instead of now pushing her away House allowed his hands to glide up her sides, feeling the delicate curves of her body, trying to memorise each and every one of them in his mind. Cuddy raised her head so she could look at him, and was blown away by the shade of his deep blue eyes. How on earth was she supposed to walk away from this man who was driving her crazy just by running his fingers all over her body.
He flipped them over, him now on top of her and framed her face in his hands. He lowered his mouth to hers, placing a soft kiss on the side of her mouth and then another on her jaw, progressing all the way until he came to the hollow in her neck where he suckled on the flesh gently, making her moan in pleasure. He retraced the path he had created with kissing her on the opposite side of her neck, and finally placed his lips on hers, caressing them softly. He was in no rush to get this over with, and as soon as she tried to deepen the kiss he pulled away.
His hands finally made their way to her hips, under her clothes and she did not object when House decided to get rid of both her track pants and the old long sleeved sweater she slept in, leaving her in only her underwear. He looked around her room in the fading light, until he found what he was looking for. Spotting the single white rose on her dresser House retrieved it and placed the tip of the flower on her abdomen. He then traced her entire body with it, while blowing warm air wherever the flower had left residue water from the vase he had taken it from, making sure to concentrate on the back of her knees, her elbows and her hip bones more than the rest.
When he finished his exploration of her entire body an hour later, Cuddy was ready for round two, work and meetings be damned, all she wanted was to spend one night in bed with House. If he could arouse her this much only by touching her, she wanted to experience what it would be like if he had to give himself to her, holding nothing back. House leaned down to kiss her lightly once more, froze midway when they heard Rachel's voice, nearer than they expected her to be.
"Mommy what are you doing?" she asked innocently and Cuddy quickly pulled the sheets over her, before her daughter could actually see what exactly was going on.
"I should go," House saw his window of opportunity to get out, and he took it. He grabbed his clothes and headed out of her home as fast as his bum leg would allow him to.
0 o 0 o 0
They drove in silence for fifteen minutes, until Seth finally broke the silence.
"You and House aren't really dating are you?" he asked and Maya felt her cheeks flame up at being caught out, by Seth no less. She was grateful that he could not see her in the darkness.
"We're not exclusive if that's what you're asking," she said trying to answer and avoid his question at the same time. He seemed satisfied with that for now and Maya was hoping he would not probe any further into the state of her and Greg's relationship, or more the lack of one.
"Then why the kiss on the cheek and not on the lips at Cuddy's house?" her hopes were dashed.
"We don't like the public displays of affection," that seemed like a plausible excuse for it, she knew they knew about House's dislike of anything public.
"You do realise that I'm not as dumb as I might look," he said and it caused her to look sharply at him. "Just because I haven't said anything does not mean I don't know what is going on," he continued.
"I just wish I could've met you before House did," and this confused Maya.
"Why is that?"
"Because then maybe I would have been the one getting help with getting the woman of my dreams," he admitted and Maya couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Seth really was a nice guy once you got to know him.
"Could you drop me off at Billy's Bumzz please, I could use a drink," Seth asked as they neared Billy's bar. She drove on, not stopping at the seedy joint. He was about to protest when she informed him that she was meeting a few colleagues for drinks at a club in town, and he was welcome to join her. Seth did not protest, all he wanted was a drink and well if he didn't have to pay for it, all the better for him. He was surprised when she turned into the parking lot of the restaurant they had dinner at with Cuddy's other friends two weeks ago. He waited as she got out of her car and walked into the eating house, ignoring the closed sign hanging on the door and the late hour of the night. Well at least she was not lying, there were four other cars in the lot parked in front of the restaurant.
Seth stood outside for a while, unsure if he should have followed her in or not, and he was still debating his decision when she stepped out looking for him. He watched her as she looked around, her eyes scanning their surroundings and he saw by the slight tensing of her shoulders that something was wrong. Before he could say a word she had pulled him toward her and walked backward until he felt his back come into contact with the cool brick wall behind him.
"What the hell are you doing?" while he wanted it to come out as loud as possible, he found his voice betraying him, and instead it came out as a whisper.
"Saving your damn life, jackass," she replied, not taking kindly to his questioning of her actions.
"By pinning me against a wall?" he asked her uneasily.
"No by diverting their attention," she informed him and spun them around in one fluid motion until her back was in contact with the wall and he was now pinning her against it. It was only then he heard the sound of voices coming in their direction, it sounded much like a group of teenaged boys who clearly had nothing better to do on a weeknight.
"Think he could take us," one of the boys said to which the other replied, "He looks like he's from Wall Street, couldn't hit a damn fly if he tried, besides I don't think he knows we're packing heat."
Oh God, that was worse than she thought and she could see the uncertainty in his eyes, and felt his breath rate increase rapidly – he was beginning to panic and from previous experience knew this was not going to work until she calmed him down. She knew what it huge risk it was, but she took it anyway when she framed his face in her hands, and held it there until he stopped struggling.
"Seth, look at me," and he did, "I need you to calm down and keep your eyes focused on me okay," she told him gently. He did as he was told, and Seth found himself gazing into a pair of the most beautiful black eyes he had ever seen. He didn't risk looking away from her face, not wanting to do something that would put them in more danger than they already were. He felt her hand glide down his back and settle on his back, pulling him closer into her, causing him to brush up against her, and he let out a soft groan, which the teenaged boys heard and started laughing at having caught two adults apparently making out in a parking lot. His arms looped around her lower back and shoulders in response and she felt the shiver that coursed its way through his body at the simple action.
They stayed like that until the boys were out of sight and out of earshot before Maya made the first move to detach herself from his grip, but for some reason he was loth to let her go, despite the fact that his brain was telling him this was all wrong. He moved his hands up to cup her cheeks and lifted her face so he could get a better look at her. He ran his thumb gently across her bottom lip, leaning his head in closer to hers and before she even had time to think it through his lips were gently caressing hers, his tongue begging for entrance to her mouth, as he kissed her passionately, and his fingers leaving burning trails on her body in this freezing weather.
It seemed like forever before their kiss subsided into erratic sucks and erotic nips and finally Maya had breathed in enough oxygen to get her brain working and she realised that even though this felt so right, it was so damn wrong. Seth was involved with another woman, a woman she was trying to keep happy for the sake of her friend. She hoped House was having better luck at whatever it is he was doing at this moment.
There you have it guys, chapter 11 all done. I would like some feedback as to how you much you liked the turn of events in this chapter with Maya and Seth, because I think ultimately it will have a major impact on House, and the end of the fic – like whether House and Cuddy actually get together or not because of this. I think the next chapter will flesh out a bit more of Maya and Seth and that will give you guys some insight on them and why they react and behave the way they do.
Well read and review guys… please.
Psych.