Obsessed

So after Monday's chapter I got really stuck. I woke up yesterday with "Obsessed" by Mariah Carey stuck in my head and I finally figured out that my brain was trying to tell me something. Everything fell into place from there. *Smiles* Enjoy your 12th chapter!

"Lisa. That was…beautiful. I'm so impressed you are going to be the best performer next week!" Rob grinned and clapped her on the back.

Cuddy glowed. "Thank you Rob."

"That tutor of yours must have a lot of talent in teaching," Rob shook his head in disbelief. "Maybe we should be introduced. He could make a little extra money on the side!"

"Uhhh…." Cuddy turned back to the piano. "You probably don't want to."

Rob frowned. "Why not?"

"You…just might not like him that's all. Do you want to go over Chopsticks one more time before I leave?"

Rob stared at Cuddy strangely. "I think I've figured this one out."

Cuddy looked at Rob. "Alright then explain it to me."

Rob crossed his arms. "That idiot employee of yours. He's the one teaching you piano. You made it all secretive so that I wouldn't find out about it."

Cuddy shrugged. "And…..your point?"

"My point is why keep it a secret?! I don't control you Lisa! Just because we are dating doesn't mean I can tell you what to do and who to be around! You could have told me! I'm just upset that you associate with him because he's cruel and I don't like the way he treats you. I care about you."

Rob looked at Cuddy so caringly that she felt sick to her stomach…because she was not attracted to this guy at all. "Rob…I just…after you reacted at that restaurant…"

"I'm sorry. I really am. It was a jerk move. I'm not normally like that I swear," he smiled weakly at her. "So…will you please go on a date with me tomorrow? I want to make it up to you."

"Well…." Cuddy grimaced. "I thought maybe that I should not go on any dates this week. You know…practice my piano…"

"You're not dating this guy are you?" Rob looked crestfallen. "Lisa I thought…"

"No, Rob." Lisa stood up and faced him. "I just…I don't really know what my feelings are right now. I don't want to lead you on, but I don't want to not date…just give me some time to think. Please?"

Rob looked visibly upset but nodded. "Alright. I trust you. You are an honest person."

"Thanks Rob," Cuddy kissed him on the cheek. "I better go now. I'll see you in a couple days."

House walked into Wilson's office and shut the door. "So guess what? I started teaching her parts of Fur Elise last night! She's amazing! She can play so well that…"

"House!" Wilson looked up, exasperated, "I'm trying to work here!"

"So?" House sat down on the couch. "When has that ever stopped me? And there was this one part that…"

"House! It's not that I don't care, I really do. But this is the eighth time you've been in here today! I understand that you like giving Cuddy piano lessons and I understand she's making progress. That's great. But you're obsessing. Just…give it a rest. Work on some cases or something," Wilson rolled his eyes but looked down quickly so that House wouldn't notice him smiling.

"Fine." House mocked hurt and turned around and left. He went to walk into his office when he saw Stacy walking towards him from the elevator. "Careful. Cuddy may bite your head off if she sees you," House said as he strolled into his office.

"Greg. We need to talk." She followed him in. "Lisa left the hospital on lunch break. She won't disturb us." House looked up at Stacy, a little shocked by her choice of words.

"Greg," she walked towards House and he realized that she had been crying. "I need you to tell me what is going on. I don't think I can take it if you are screwing with me again. I can't. Two break-ups with you was hard enough a third…" She looked ready to break into a fresh batch of tears. "Is something going on between you and Lisa? Is there?!" She stepped right up next to him. House looked down at her, a little taken aback and for once seemed to be at a loss for words.

"That's what I thought," she said in a voice dripping with betrayal, which stabbed House in the heart.

"Stacy." He seemed to find his voice again. "There is…Cuddy and I…." he stopped and took a breath. "Cuddy has a piano concert next week. I've been helping her prepare for it. That's it."

Stacy sniffed and wiped her eyes. "That's what she said Greg but…she got so angry with me! I don't want to fight with her! She's one of my best friends and of all things it's over…" she laughed a little to herself. "I never thought a man would come between me and Lisa Cuddy."

"She told you that we were…an item?" House sounded shocked.

Stacy shook her head. "Oh no. But she was very defensive of you….it was weird. You know a couple years ago when I came back I got the feeling that she had feelings for you but she never said anything and you were uninterested." Stacy was just rambling now and House knew it. But he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I've been thinking about this all of yesterday and today. I just…I want to know what's going on Greg. I want you to be straight with me. If you love me…let me know. If you don't, let me get on with my life," she looked at him desperately.

"Stacy I've…" he struggled with words. "I've…" he couldn't say it. He was at a loss of words and he didn't know why. He loved Stacy. Why couldn't he say it?

Stacy bit her lip and a fresh batch of tears rose to her eyes. "I think that…I think that I'm going to leave you alone for a while…" She turned to leave. "Stacy…" he tried again.

"I've been thinking about this long enough Greg. I think we need some time to ourselves," she left and House felt as if he swallowed an anchor and it was pulling him to the ground. He had hurt her….again. He was a failure. A failure at all relationships.

Cuddy walked in, nonchalantly. "House I was thinking…" She stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." House turned away and sat down at his desk.

"Yes there is. Tell me what it is." Cuddy, concerned, approached his desk.

House went to reach for his ball and realized it wasn't there. "And your baby still has my damn ball! How am I supposed to think like this?!" He got up and stalked out leaving an utterly stunned Cuddy.

Cuddy paced in her office. She and House were supposed to have a piano lesson earlier and he hadn't been in his office. She had searched everywhere for him, even Wilson's office, and he was nowhere. She figured he had left the hospital but was worried about him. Whenever he was upset he did stupid things. She didn't want him getting into another accident…

Wilson popped his head in the door. "Do you have a second? I need you to okay a chart for me."

Cuddy looked at Wilson, semi-focused. "Sure…" she trailed off and continued pacing and mumbling to herself.

"Cuddy….Cuddy…LISA!" Wilson yelled and Cuddy jumped and turned to him. "What?"

"What are you so worked up about?" He asked.

Cuddy sighed. "Oh. It's just…House. He is really upset about something and I'm worried that it's going to lead him to dangerous behavior and…"

Wilson chuckled. "He's a big boy. He can take care of myself. Here is my patient's file. Will you please look over it for me?"

"Sure." Cuddy took it and sat down in her chair. She glanced at it and then looked back up at Wilson. "Do you think that it has anything to do with Stacy?"

Wilson shrugged. "I don't know he hasn't talked to me."

"Oh." Cuddy looked back down at the file for a minute and then looked back up at Wilson. "If it has to do with Stacy…do you think that he will get over it? Will he be miserable again? Will he go back to the way he was before Mayfield?"

"Cuddy I don't know!" Wilson put his hands on his chest. "Can you please look at Jeremy's file?"

"Yes. Yes sorry." Cuddy looked down at the file and turned the page. She stopped and looked up. "That means that House will go back to being an ass and…"

"Cuddy!" Wilson groaned in frustration. "Why are you so fixated on this?! He'll be alright! He's not your boyfriend you don't need to worry about it! He would have told you if he needed your help!"

"He didn't last time…" Cuddy said sadly looking down. "He…he needs someone to come to him. That's the way he's always been."

"Then please, for the love of God, go talk to him! Let him know you care. Tell him you don't want this love triangle to ruin all of your lives," Wilson placed a hand on hers. "The pain that the three of you have been going through is getting to me too."

Cuddy smiled. "You're the best friend anyone could have James."

Wilson smiled. "I try." He took the file and stood up. "I'm guessing that…you didn't read a word on that file?"

"Nope."

"So that's a yes on the patient's treatment then?"

"Yup."

"Sounds good."

House took another shot of whiskey and heard a knock at the door. He ignored it. There was a knock again. "No one's home!" He yelled through the door.

"Yes there is," Wilson looked pointedly at House as he entered the living room and opened the door. "Cuddy! Hi! And…Rachel! How are you?" He smiled at the baby girl as Cuddy walked in.

Rachel, upon spotting House, wormed in her mother's arms. Cuddy put her down and she toddled over to House. Noticing that he was on the couch, she put her hands on it and attempted to lift her leg and climb up onto the couch next to him. House absentmindedly lifted her and placed her next to him. She sat down next to him in her big puffy coat and gloves and stared straight ahead like he was. She turned to look at him as he turned to her.

"What?" He asked. She burst into giggles and pointed at him.

"Cuddy tell your child that she's weird. She keeps laughing at me," he looked at her strangely. She mimicked his facial expression. "Why do you keep bringing her here anyway?"

Cuddy walked over, picked up her daughter, and sat down next to House placing Rachel in her lap. "She likes you."

"Why?" He asked honestly and a little sarcastically. "Because I'm just a bundle of joy and warmth?"

"I don't know," Cuddy shrugged. "Maybe…maybe she sees through your hard, lunatic outer shell," she said it jokingly but House but he could see her eyes telling the truth.

"I'll just uh…go take a walk." Wilson nodded awkwardly, grabbed his coat and left.

Rachel crawled over to House's lap. She pointed to House's leg and turned to her mom. "Boo boo." She leaned over and kissed his leg and turned to her mother for approval.

Cuddy grinned. "Yes sweetheart, boo boo. You fixed it good job!" She clapped and Rachel imitated her, also clapping her hands together, proud of herself.

House continued to stare at Cuddy and her daughter. The way Cuddy glowed when she was with her daughter… It made House happy. He knew that this is what she had wanted for a long time. And Rachel…she was a cute baby he had to admit. He remembered a year ago when Cuddy had let him hold her. She was almost begging for his approval of her. He had liked Rachel from the start. She was an animated, intelligent baby even then. She had made a face and thrown up all over him. He had shrugged it off, making up some detached story up that he knew hurt Cuddy a bit but didn't want to face.

Rachel crawled back over to her mother's lap and hugged her. Cuddy hugged her daughter back and kissed her on the head. She looked back at House. "I…wanted to talk to you about today. I was worried. You missed our lesson…"

House turned away. "I just got a little tied up."

"Is there something wrong? Do you need to talk about it?" Rachel wormed free from her mom and went back over to House. "Dadda!" She giggled and pointed and then pointed at her mom. "Momma!" She giggled again and buried her face in House's chest.

"Is she always in this good of a mood?" He asked irritably.

Cuddy smiled a little. "No. In fact she whines a lot at home. But when I tell her we are going to see…" she paused. "Uhh….Dadda….she gets really excited." Cuddy shrugged. "So anyway I…"

"Wait…you let her call me that?!" House looked at Cuddy. "I'm not her Dad! We're not even dating! Why would you let her call me that?!"

"Because that's what she calls you!" Cuddy said, stunned at House's outburst. "If I say 'let's go see House' she has no idea what I'm talking about!"

"But I'm not her Dad!" House reiterated angrily. He handed the child to her. "Why would you let her…why would you…" He stood up angrily and looked away. "Stacy thinks that there is something going on between us. She was really upset."

"She accused me of the same thing," Cuddy said in calm, understanding tone.

"I don't know Cuddy. I don't think she's that far off the marker," House snapped.

Cuddy's face transformed from one of hurt to one of rage. "What?!"

"I have hurt that woman too many times. Too many times. I can't just let her walk away again. What will she do?! This is your fault!"

"Excuse me?!" Cuddy stood up, adjusting Rachel in her arms. "Why do you ALWAYS place the blame on me? WHY? I haven't done anything to you!"

"You caused this mess…."

"No YOU caused this mess!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "If you weren't so confused about your feelings…"

"I'm not confused about my feelings!" House shouted. "How do you know if I'm confused about my feelings anyway?!"

Rachel whimpered in Cuddy's arms but she ignored it. "Yes you are! You fool around with Stacy, you fool around with me, you fool around with Stacy again, fool with me some more…you NEVER make up your mind!"

"I have made up my mind! I love Stacy okay! I love Stacy!"

Cuddy stopped and looked at House. "So that's the truth."

"Yes yes! That's the truth!" He spat.

Rachel began to cry. Cuddy looked down at her daughter and back up at House. "Alright then. That's the truth. I'll just leave you and your girlfriend alone. You will never see me again outside the office," her voice broke and she turned away reaching for the doorknob. She turned back to House and blurted "I hate you."

House stared at her coldly. "You're in good company."

Cuddy slammed the door behind her.

"Stacy?" Stacy looked up from her desk to see Rob. She looked at him strangely. "What are you…why are you here?"

"I don't think that we met formally. I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Robert Collins." He stuck his hand out and Stacy took it slowly, cautiously. "Hi. I'm Stacy Warner."

"Is there a place we could talk?" He looked a little anxious and Stacy looked around at her office. "Well…we've been a little busy today…"

"It will only take a minute."

Stacy stood up and led him into an empty conference room and shut the door. "Alright. What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you about Lisa and your boyfriend. What happened in that office…I'm sorry. I said some hurtful things and I apologize. But I'm really worried."

Stacy crossed her arms. "I'm listening."

"I feel that the two of them, well, have something going on between them. I don't know if it's a history or what…but it's really bothering me. I couldn't sleep last night."

"Me too," Stacy admitted looking down. "I couldn't stop thinking about it either."

"Now I don't feel so bad," Rob chuckled a little and then turned serious. "I can tell that that guy…Greg you called him...is hurting you. But he seems to care about you too from what I observed. He's confused. Lisa told me the other night at piano lessons that she's confused as well."

"Look this topic is a little touchy with me at the moment so if you could please get to the point…" Stacy whirled her hands together in a circle to move him along.

"I think that we should clear up their doubts for them. Let them know that…they aren't right for one another." Rob suggested.

Stacy stared at him for a second. "You mean…sabotage."

Rob shook his head. "No! I would never hurt anyone like that! I think we should just try and make sure that we belong with them."

"Rob I don't know…" Stacy uncrossed her arms and looked nervous. "That doesn't feel right to me."

"Stacy, they aren't together! They aren't a couple! They don't even like each other…not really! They fight and make each other miserable. Have you seen them interact?"

"On multiple occasions," Stacy nodded. "They do kinda make themselves miserable…"

"We need to save them before it's too late. Please. Help me help them. You love that guy Greg don't you? I sure as hell don't want Lisa to get hurt."

Stacy looked uncertain and Rob put a hand on her arm. "Please."

Stacy sighed. "Alright."

House had a horrible headache and drifted in and out of sleep, his head aching and visions of his and Cuddy's fight going through his head over and over again. He fell into a restless asleep and was awakened by his cell phone ringing. He turned to look at the clock. 2 am. Seriously? He groaned and covered his ears until it stopped. It began ringing again.

"Shut up!" House yelled and knocked the phone off of his dresser. As soon as it stopped, whoever it was called him again.

"For the love of…" He leaned over and picked up the phone. "What?!" He yelled into it with a gruff voice.

He heard sobbing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" He asked,

The sobbing continued. "House! House! House! Are you there?" It was unmistakably Cuddy's voice. She could barely talk she was crying so hard and sounded panicked.

House immediately alert, sat up in bed. "What is it? Did someone hurt you?!" His heart began racing. He had never EVER heard her this upset in his entire life.

"No! No it's just…" he heard her stop and wail. "My baby! My baby!" She started sobbing uncontrollably again.

"Is it Rachel? Cuddy what is it? What's wrong with Rachel?" he asked, as calmly as he could but beginning to grow upset.

"She's…she's…gone…she's…" Cuddy started sobbing again and Houe was already out of bed digging through his drawer for clothes. "What do you mean gone where did she go?"

"I don't know! She just…the window…she she climbed out of her crib…" he heard her moving around on the other line. "What if she crawls into…into the woods…and the road…I…" she broke down.

"Cuddy! Cuddy! Stop I'm coming over."

"I'll kill myself if she's dead What do I do?!" Cuddy wailed.

House's heart leapt into his throat. "Cuddy, stop. Stop right now I'm coming over. Don't do anything. I'm coming."

So I'm sorry but I had to leave you guys hanging on this one. A lot happened I know. Reviews please? The angst and tension is definitely picking up. Suggestions for chapters will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!