TWELVE
Several hours later, House woke up to a throbbing in his legs. He opened his eyes to look for his vicodin, but instead only saw the woman that was curled up next to him, her face in the crook of his neck. The warm breath on his neck made his heart race every time she exhaled and he secretly wished he could just let her lie like that all day. But he wasn't going to make that mistake again; he knew that she needed to go to work. Glancing at the clock, he decided it would probably a good time to wake her up so that she could be on time for work. He nudged her softly until her eyes finally fluttered open.
"Hey," she said lazily, meeting his eyes.
"Hey," he replied, rubbing her back and pulling her closer. "It's seven thirty. I figured you probably wouldn't want to be late for work again."
She laughed as she thought about the previous morning and the childish way she had acted. This morning was different though; she wished she could just stay in her warm bed all day and spend some time with the man she shared it with right now. She looked back up at him and could have sworn she saw a sparkle in his eye that she hadn't seen in years.
"I can call in sick today," she said, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes again.
"You sure?"
"Mhmm," she answered, nodding her head against his solid chest. He slid his arm around her and closed his eyes again, remaining like that for quite some time until she spoke again. "I'm gonna go make some coffee."
House opened his eyes and watched slide on her robe and head for the kitchen. He rolled out of bed, took a couple pills, and made his way to the bathroom to freshen up. When he was finished, he went out to the kitchen and saw Cuddy fiddling with the coffee pot. He slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on top of hers. She finished pouring the coffee and then turned around in his arms and kissed him. The kiss was passionate and wonderful and Cuddy was surprised when he quickly pulled away.
"What's for breakfast?" House asked, whining like a child. She hit him for acting so juvenile, but couldn't control her laughter either. "I'm starving."
Cuddy pointed at a cupboard to the left of him and he immediately walked over and began rummaging through it.
"This stuff isn't even edible, Cuddy. How do you survive?"
"Well, contrary to your belief, people can't survive off of peanut butter and jam and sugar-filled cereal for their entire lifetime."
"That's what you think. But get dressed," he said, closing the cupboard. "We're going out for breakfast."