Hi guys! It's so good to be back! This is my world, not school. :)) *hugs you all* As always, I thank you for the reviews and alerts you're giving and I swear, I'll never get tired of re-reading them, so keep it coming! :)

This chapter is still un-beta. Winnywriter already presented to help, I'm just so excited to post this. Sorry girl, swear I'll make it up to you soonest :( BTW, I suggest you girls read her "Backaches" fanfic. It's so good!

Well, I'll stop blabbing now, I hope you'll like this chapter. Happy reading!

With an uneasy gulp, Cuddy silently pushed a red velvet box towards Lucas who was then seated on one of the client chair's across her.

The man couldn't believe it; the box that used to be the cause of his 100 watts smile was now the one tearing his heart apart. The wound their break up had cause was once again scratched open and this time, every second was painful than it was before.

"So, it's really House?" he asked, feeling the weight of reality on his shoulder as he took hold of the box with his fingers.

The way she pressed her lips together told him everything he needed to know. Fearing to see more of the hidden glow that he wasn't the caused of, he lifted his stares on the ceiling hoping that blinking his eyes would stop the tears from falling.

"Okay," he said as the choking feeling of the lump in his throat left him no choice but to push himself off the chair.

The room suddenly felt suffocating for him as his eyes caught a glimpse of his former girlfriend's face as he turned to face the door. He doesn't want to leave but he knew staying longer will only kill him.

"Lucas..." Cuddy called out, stopping him on his tracks, before easing herself up.

"I..." she began to say as she made her way towards him. The moment their eyes met again, his grey slates were telling her what she expected them to say. He was still hurting and healing seemed to be a piece of a dream.

With her fingers interlocked with the other, she added, "I get it staying as friends will be the last possible thing right now but... at least I wanted us to be okay."

"I just said we are," he sadly and dismissively said, controlling himself from leaning forward and claiming the woman's lips.

"You said 'okay' but you didn't..."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked in midway with a tone a notch or two higher than he used earlier. "That I'm happy? That I'm moving on with my life like I didn't lost a fiancé? Jesus, Lisa..." he added only to loose words when his mind agreed how beautiful the woman before him his eyes perceived.

Damn, he really lost more than he thought he did. He wanted more of her and no one else.

"I still want you," he confessed as his left hand tried to reach hers only to fail on his attempt when she moved her hand away.

"When we were together, House respected our relationship," Cuddy reminded. "Lucas, you know I love him. If you love me, let me be happy... let me go."

With tears welling up in his eyes, the man looked down and said, "I don't think I could," and with that, he momentarily looked at the dean again before heading out the door.

At around the same time, House lifted his eyes from his laptop when he heard his office door was pushed open and was in time to see Wilson stepping in.

"Watching porn again?" the oncologist asked, dropping himself on the chair before the glass desk.

"If you come here to tell me the boss lady will be up any minute, tell it to me now so I could shut this down... although... with Cuddy's snail speed on walking with those heels on, I still have ten minutes before she gets in here," House replied as his eyes savoured the video being played on the screen.

"No just take your time. She's probably still talking with Lucas right now."

"So the future slave of the dean of medicine has arrived," the diagnostician asked as his stares darted towards his friend's face.

"You knew he'll be coming down here?" Wilson asked with a hint of surprise.

"Ran into Cuddy this morning," the six feet man replied, dropping his stares on the screen again.

Wilson nodded as he pushed himself forward to grab ball-y from the saucer. "I'm proud of you," he said, getting his friend's attention, "you're handling things as adult as you could. You..."

"I'm watching porn Wilson, of course this is an adult thing to do although I'm willing to put on a hundred dollar bet that even teenies are doing it," House dismissively cut him off.

Arguing with his friend was the last thing he wanted right now. For some, the video in front of him was beginning to become hotter than earlier but for House, he sees nothing worth watching. His mind was being with loaded with thoughts about Cuddy's possible interaction with Lucas. Not that he doesn't trust her, it's just that he knew how the private investigator can turn things his way when he wanted to.

With his elbows meeting the top of his desk and his hands locked with the other, he looked at the phone as the idea of calling his girlfriend entered his mind. No, he couldn't do it; Wilson's in front of him.

He tried to calm his brain down by landing stares on the screen again. 30 minutes, he thought. By then, he will push himself off his seat and will head to Cuddy's office where they will talk about the expected visit. He just have to hold himself for thirty more minutes.

But as the woman in the video screamed her ecstasy, House found himself shooting right up; his action startling Wilson from his seat.

"You okay?" the oncologist asked as the diagnostician took hold of his cane which was placed on the edge of the desk.

"Yah," House plainly replied.

"Where are you going?" Wilson asked, now also on his feet as his eyes followed the older doctor's movements towards the door.

"I'm going to go down and meet and greet the future slave."

At the hospital's ground floor, Taub gently pushed one of Cuddy's office double doors and was happy when he saw that she was where he wanted her to be. As soon as their eyes met, both of them flashed the other with smiles as the man walked over to the desk.

"What's up?" Cuddy asked as she placed the file she just signed in at her outbox.

"Ahm, need your signature for patient discharge," the man replied as he handed her over the file.

"Is the patient negative for dengue fever?" the dean asked, eyes landing on the open file in her hand.

"This isn't House's patient. This is Harani's."

Cuddy's eyes were lifted in an instant, "I... didn't know you..."

"I lost a bet," Taub immediately cut her off, "and money. So he wanted me to do some nurse duty for him."

The woman nodded but was inwardly wasn't pleased with the money bets in her hospital. If the board find this out, there'll surely be a huge consequence.

"Does House know about this?" she asked, taking a pen from her drawer.

"About your service for Harani," she added when she noticed the confusion on the man's features.

"Ah, no. I'd rather have this humiliation for myself," Taub answered. In return, Cuddy raised both her brows in agreement and silently signed after briefly reading some of the file's highlight.

"By the way, I know this isn't my business but I think Lucas looks sad for a groom to be," the man said after a few minutes just before the dean placed a period on top of her name.

"Ha... Where did you..." she asked, raising her eyes from the file to the man's face.

"I saw him on the lobby," Taub answered.

"Where is he going?" by now, Cuddy's heart was beginning to hammer her chest while fearing his answer.

"He was about to ride the elevator," he stated and added when he realized his boss's wide grey eyes were waiting for him to continue, "To our floor."

And that was all that's needed to make Cuddy's heart leaped within her. Her faced suddenly felt cold and her palms began to moisten as the pen she was holding landed on the open file she was signing. She should have known this was going to happen.

"Damn it," she silently cursed as she stood before walking towards the door.

"What about my..." Taub asked, confused and curious to what he just set off.

"It can wait, this can't," the dean instantly replied just before she disappeared behind her now close door.

"I'm going to go down and meet and greet the future slave."

Back at the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, House was halted on his tracks when he heard his friend called after him.

"House, you can't do this," Wilson scolded.

"And you calling me back is pretty much the reason why I can't," the diagnostician returned as he spun around and meet the man's hazel browns.

"I thought you'll be handling this as an adult. Why would you go down there and mess them up?" the oncologist annoyingly asked.

For a moment, both gentlemen kept silent as House debated whether to tell Wilson his and Cuddy's secret or not. Doing that would surely shut his mouth and the guarantee of his friend agreeing that he'll come down might even be possible.

"There's nothing to mess up... because it already is," the diagnostician said to which his friend just laugh about.

"You don't know what you're saying," Wilson said as his chuckles went out with his words.

"Let Cuddy go for heaven sake. You had your turn which you didn't took now let her go before you mess up what she and Lucas had planned," the man added.

"And who told you I didn't take my turn?" House asked.

"This is getting ridiculous," the oncologist said, pausing for a moment when he placed a fist on his lips, "you're right. You really should go down and tell Cuddy who she really is in your life. I don't want to see you coming down their wedding day and stopping the ceremony."

"I think she already know who she is in my life," House replied.

Wilson slightly tilted his head, unable to reject the slit of seriousness in his friend's eyes.

"She's my girlfriend," the diagnostician declared, "We're seeing each other for..."

His friend's small laughter cut House's off. He was serious but his friend was obviously taking the moment in a different way.

"Fine, laugh all day," he said as he turned to face the door again, "but don't -"

BAG!

His sight suddenly went dim and he could feel his body landing on full speed. Whatever happened or still happening, he didn't and doesn't know. His brain was searching for his cane but the air filling the space between his fingers told him it was somewhere not just in his hand.

Is there an earthquake? Did he trip on something on his doorway? Did he slam his face on the door? How hard? The way he felt his body heavily met the floor gave him the answer. Whatever happened really gave him a big blow.

With his back flat on the carpet, he decided to open his eyes to see what's going on.

Definitely there's no earthquake but there was Lucas towering above him, his hand rolled in a solid fist and was ready to smack him again. Wilson's laughter wasn't filling his office anymore, instead the sound of furniture hitting another and the P.I.'s voice owned the area.

"You son of bitch! You stole my girlfriend!" Lucas cried as he land a punch or two on the doctor's face.

Stunned with the scene in front of him, it took a few more seconds before reality went back on Wilson's head. For a moment, the sight of House on the floor with Lucas on top, banging his friend with punches seemed to be unrealistic. Being the only one who's there, he was left with no choice but to be the one to pull the wild angered man away. Though in doubt with his strength, he hurriedly went over and tried to stop the fight.

"Hey! Hey! Stop it! I said stop it!" he said as he pulled Lucas by the shoulder only to no avail.

Groans and punches filled the rooms as both men tried to fight and released themselves from the grasp of the other. Unfortunately, with his anger running his system, Lucas won over Wilson, sending the oncologist tipping backwards and landing on his side on the floor.

Free from any human constraints, Lucas pulled House up by the collar only to realize it was a defeating move for his part. Finally in a sitting position, the diagnostician was able to push the attacker off him by giving his own blows on the man's face.

In a blink of an eye, House felt a hard kick on his lower abdomen that sent him leaning on the wall behind him. He was clutching his stomach and was sagging down when Lucas recovered on his feet. Without so much ado, the doctor was pulled up by the collar again as both their faces were now streaked with blood. With a strong side punch he was instantly sent towards his client chair where he hoped he can regain his strength.

Outside the office, the elevator finally dinged open and Cuddy swiftly walked out of it. She almost fainted as her eyes saw how badly House was thrown towards his desk. She saw him fought back only to get another blow from Lucas and she could also see Wilson trying to stand up near the doorway. She knew that running with her heels could entail but right now that doesn't matter as she began to hurriedly walk towards her boyfriend's office.

"What's going on?" Foreman asked when his eyes caught Cuddy running as he and Chase walked on the opposite hallway.

"Is there a fire or something?" the Australian returned.

By the time they reached the spot where their dean was standing earlier, both men's eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Their feet were like on autopilot when it began running towards their office, passing by Cuddy as they did so.

"I'll get House, you handle Lucas," Foreman directed as they hurriedly entered the room.

"Ohmygod..." was all Cuddy could hiss as she let herself in.

"Stay where you are!" Chase yelled at her when she tried to move farther than where she already are.

"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Lucas yelled as the Australian tried his best to pull him away.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Foreman ordered as his hands took hold his boss's arms.

Blows were still given and received and was only ended when Wilson and Chase pushed Lucas by the shoulder towards the wall. When he tried to move forward, he was firmer pinned by the men's hand than earlier.

"You son of bitch, you stole what's mine," Lucas accused.

"You're not a seven year, you idiot. You should have known it's never been yours," House returned.

"You..." the P.I. tried to say as he move forward again only to be cut off in midway.

"Can you two stop?" Cuddy yelled, grabbing all attention.

"Make one move, you two, I'm going to call security," she threatened.

"Really? Why don't you call one right now?" House asked, giving her some glare before staring back at Lucas with much desire to kill him now.

"Chase," the woman said and the moment the man turned his head towards her she added, "bring Lucas down the ER. Have his wounds treated and let him go. And you," she stressed, eyeing her former boyfriend, "I don't want to see you again, not in the hospital grounds and definitely not around my house. If you cause the same chaos, I'm going to press charges."

For a moment, their eyes met as the man walked towards her with Chase tailing behind.

"If you want to kiss her, sorry you can't do that," House said earning a glare from his used to be P.I.

"You just gave me an idea," Lucas returned.

"Don't you dare," Cuddy started to move away but was stopped when the man gripped her wrist that a bruise will surely be a guarantee by next day.

The way she winced in pain caused Chase to pull him away and for House's eyes to shot him a more intense glare as his feet made a step or two before Foreman hold him on his place.

"Li..." Lucas started to say when his action registered in his mind. Hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do unfortunately, he did.

"Please go..." Cuddy directed, "just go."

"I'm sorry," the man said before walking out of the room again with Chase behind him.

For a moment, the office was owned by silence as the dean looked down at her wrist where she was held tight by Lucas's hand. It was hurting but she wasn't saying anything out loud.

"Do you want me to make some calls to radiology?" Foreman asked House to which his boss nodded.

When the black guy left the room, the diagnostician closed the distanced between his and Cuddy's.

"I'll go down to the ER and will get some gauze to clean your cuts," the oncologist said to which his friend agreed upon. With that, he left the couple alone.

"What else hurt?" the diagnostician asked as he took hold of her wrist.

"You're the one who has blood on your face, not me," Cuddy reminded.

"I didn't wince in pain which means, I'm fine," House cleared, "take a seat. We have lots of things to talk about."

"Yah. I guess we really have," the dean agreed.

Seems to me almost all knows about them already, well, except Taub.

Tell me about what you think of this chapter :)

As always, thank you for reading! *hugs you all*

PS: I hope you're still enjoying the fic and isn't being discourage with the speed of updates.