Return

AN: Another chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update, last week was pretty crazy in real life, then we went off to a beautiful lake house for the weekend to celebrate a friend's college graduation. The next few weeks might be kind of slow too, considering I'm in my last month of school before graduation.

Summary: "But you know that I'm always going to be the one who screwed us up." He never expected her to admit defeat, but here she was. Lisa Cuddy was giving in.

House/Cuddy. AU-ish. post 8x04.

Part XIV

By the time Cuddy, Julia, House and Wilson had found a parking spot in the visitors' lot of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the festivities were already in full swing. Grumbling, House marched slightly ahead of the rest of the group, either too eager to get inside and drink or just eager to make an appearance and leave. "You'd think they'd open up the staff garages for us tonight." He was leaning heavily on his cane, which both Cuddy and Wilson had quietly noted, and occasionally paused to look back at them. "This never happened when you were boss."

"I don't control Foreman's choices," Cuddy rubbed her arms in the crisp early spring air, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the fact that they were arriving so late. Though she assumed House and Wilson had left their respective homes to pick them up, she knew that every minute closer to the start to celebration lessened their chances of finding a parking spot closer to the building. "Though I do have to admit, you're right, he would have saved people a lot more time if he let his own staff park in the hospital's garage."

Julia mumbled in agreement, too distracted with how easily the spring air chilled her, and she looked expectantly to Wilson, as if waiting for her "date" to make the proper move. She knew, right from the start, that she couldn't wait for House to make an example and offer Cuddy his own jacket, so if she wanted Wilson's, she would have to find a way to get it herself. "I should have checked the temperature before I agreed to this."

"It's awfully cold for May," Wilson nodded in agreement, his attention on House as he stopped to look back at the three of them. "I guess it's just not meant to be a hospital fundraiser kind of night." He froze, knowing how easily House was affected by the attention he received when his leg was hurting, then dropped his voice to stare at Julia. "How about you and I can head in since I think House will take longer."

"Of course," Julia smiled a bit, then nervously slipped her arm through Wilson's offered elbow. She blushed a bit as Cuddy winked at her, and she allowed Wilson to steer her away from her sister and House quietly.

- return -

"Are you sure that you're all right?" Cuddy balanced herself on the edge of a park bench outside the hospital, shivering slightly in the cool May air. She winced as House tightened his grasp on her hand, and she reached up to run her free hand against his forehead. "If you want, I can get Wilson's keys and drive you back home."

"It's just a spasm ..." House growled through gritted teeth, "I'll be fine Cuddy." He looked up at her with narrowed eyes, before whipping back around to grip at his leg in pain. Grinding his teeth, he mumbled out a few more jumbled words, "Go ahead ... I can make ... it."

"No." Cuddy insisted, biting the inside of her lip to keep from yelling at him as he tightened his grasp on her hand, "I'm not leaving you out here alone House, no matter what you tell me otherwise." She inched closer to him, trying to pry her hand from his, "Do you need me to call Wilson and have him bring out his keys? I can drive you back home if you really need it."

"I'm fine." House growled again, looking at her, his eyes locking with hers, "Stop pestering me and go inside." He pulled his hands from her grasp and gripped his leg, his eyes screwed shut in pain, and he let out a groan. "God damn leg."

Letting out a long sigh, Cuddy shrugged off her jacket and ran her fingers along House's arm, locking her eyes on his. "I'm going to sit right here with you until your leg stops spasming, and not a minute sooner." She bit her lip again as he opened his mouth to argue, "After all, it was my idea to drag you along to this thing in the end." Stopping, she glanced away as she realized how easily she was guilting herself into making House's injury her fault again, and she let out a long sigh. "Do you need anything?"

"Just go in and enjoy the fundraiser." House grumbled, staring at her, "I didn't ask you or anyone else to force me to come to this thing." He reached for his cane, which leaned against the opposite side of the bench, digging it into the grass besides the walk. Easing himself to his feet, he stared at Cuddy as she chewed on her lip nervously, "See, I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Cuddy argued, standing and grabbing House's arm to help steady him, "I know you." She eased him back onto the bench, her eyes narrowed slightly, "I'm going to go get the car keys and bring you back to your apartment - you don't need to be here if you're going to be in this much pain the whole entire evening." Squeezing his shoulder, she waited until House nodded at her, reluctantly agreeing to her offer, "I will be right back, let me just go track down Wilson first."

Heading into the hospital's main entrance, Cuddy rubbed her hands along her arms, scanning the crowds for Wilson or her sister. Biting her lip, she swerved out of the direct path of both Eric Foreman and Jessica Adams, who seemed engaged in a deep discussion, only to collide into another person.

"Oh, Cuddy!" Robert Chase's surprised voice echoed in her ear, and jumping back, Cuddy blinked at him, blushing. "How are you?"

"Could be better," Cuddy replied quickly, hoping to stay out of sight, "Have you seen Wilson around here ... he just came in. And House, he's not doing well and I'm going to drive him back to his apartment. I know he told me about the deal Foreman made with him, but his leg is acting up ... and yeah, just if you see Wilson, let him know that I'm looking for him." She ducked away before Chase could reply, loosing herself further in the crowds.

Weaving between groups of doctors and benefactors alike, Cuddy couldn't help but feel their eyes on her, and she pressed herself along one of the few empty spaces along the wall. She let out a long sigh, her ringlets slowly unraveling into a messy bout of curls in the heat and energy of the room, and she pressed her fingers to her temple.

"You look stressed." Almost as if on cue, Julia Cuddy appeared at her sister's side, "I saw you come in, though it was almost impossible to follow you through these crowds." She glanced around, half expecting House to appear at her sister's other side, "Where did House end up?"

"I'm taking Wilson's car and driving him home," Pausing, Cuddy scanned the room once more, trying to see if she could spot the oncologist through the crowds, "His leg is acting up and I don't want to force him to limp in here in the state that he's in." She turned to look at her sister, "Have you seen Wilson around? I need to get the keys from him."

"Then how are Wilson and I supposed to get back?" Raising an eyebrow, Julia stared at her sister, "We all took one car, you know."

"I'm coming back," Cuddy replied quickly, "I know House doesn't like other people around him when he's in pain, especially this bad. If he wants me to stay, then I guess we'll have to figure something different out. But since I know him pretty well, he's probably going to insist that I come back here and leave him alone."

"Do you want to leave him?" Julia fished Wilson's car key from her wristlet, dropping it into her sister's hand. "And James gave me the keys, I guess he kind of knew that we'd run into each other first. If you don't come and track me down later, then I guess I'll assume that you stayed at House's." Wincing, she rubbed her arm from where Cuddy smacked it, "Hey, you're the one who's madly in love with him!"

"Shut up," Cuddy rolled her eyes at her sister, "I'll see you and Wilson later." She disappeared off towards the front entrance almost immediately, unsure if she was more in a hurry to get back to check on House, or just to escape the tension she felt whenever she went anywhere near her coworkers in the hospital.

"You're back." House looked up from where he had made himself comfortable leaning on the side of the bench, "I thought that Wilson and your sister were going to drag you into the party." He eyed Cuddy as she dropped onto the bench besides him, "Are you really ditching the whole party just because of me?"

"I'm going to come back," Cuddy reassured House quietly, "I just want to bring you home and make sure you're all right." She reached for his hand and squeezed it, before pulling away, embarrassed, "Do you think you'd mind that if I didn't stay?"

"I'd prefer you didn't," House eased himself onto his feet, his knuckles white as he gripped his cane, and he half-shuffled his feet towards where Wilson had parked the silver Volvo. "I thought that you knew me Cuddy."

"I do," Cuddy moved to catch his arm as they walked back towards the car, "But I also want to make sure that you're going to be all right on your own when you're in this much pain. I'd stay with you if you really felt that you needed it though." She gazed at him, unsure of exactly how he was going to act to her words, and she went on, explaining herself. "I told my sister that she and Wilson would probably be able to find a way to get home if I stayed, or that they could call me if I had to come and get them."

Understanding, House nodded, leaning against Cuddy's side as they headed towards the car, "I always manage."

"I know you do," Cuddy nodded, slightly amused by his choice of words as the car came into view, and she shifted to tighten her hold on House's arm. "I'll make the back seat comfortable, so you can stretch out your leg." She offered, in hopes to get him to calm down before she started driving, "All right House?" Without waiting for a response, she unlocked the car quietly as they reached it, enjoying the relaxed silence that the two of them could finally feel between each other.

AN: Hope you enjoyed! I expect myself to update sometime this week, but no promises that it'll be before Friday since I'm busy.

Reena x