Hi everyone! Well, I finally had time to write so here's another chapter for you to enjoy. I hope to have at least one more chapter up this week and possibly two depending on how things go ;)

Chapter 21

"Make sure House is ok." Cuddy said to Wilson, handing him the papers House had given to her before grabbing the briefcase on her desk and getting ready to leave.

"What the hell are you doing?" House asked to her, getting to his feet once more.

Cuddy turned back in his direction. "I'm going to try and catch up to Kevin so we can talk about this." She informed him sharply.

House looked back at her as if she was nuts. "You can't be serious? It's obvious that guy is some kind of whack job with anger issues. Or did you just miss what happened in your office/" He argued back to her as his temper flared once more.

Meanwhile beside them both Wilson was now studying the papers Cuddy had given to him a few minutes ago.

"Cuddy, I think House is right…." The oncologist started to say, looking up from Kevin's mug shot.

"Both of you shut up!" Cuddy ordered before focusing her attention back on House.

"Do you have any idea what you look like on paper?" She then challenged to him, hurt and angry over his invasion into Kevin's personal life as an effort to try and destroy her new relationship.

House gave her a short, sarcastic laugh. "You can't possible even begin to compare me to that..." He started to say to her.

"Addiction to vicodin, forgery, breaking and entering, theft of narcotics from Princeton Hospital and most recently ….self admitted into a mental hospital after a nervous breakdown." Cuddy rattled off to him, rendering both House and Wilson speechless for the moment.

House took a step closer to her as his jaw clenched. "You have no right to try and twist things around ….." He whispered under his breath harshly to her, pointing a finger at her as he felt himself losing ground in their argument.

Cuddy looked up at him unimpressed as she rested a hand on her hip. "I'm not twisting things around and you know it. I'm just showing you what an ass you're being by dismissing your own behavior in the past while dragging Kevin through the mud simply because I'm dating him now instead of you." She shot back in her defense.

She was in no mood to tiptoe around their past anymore. Not after his latest stunt. Needing no more than ever to make it loud and clear to him that she was moving on…...whether he was ready for her to do so or not.

House rubbed his hand over the coarse hairs of his beard before he spoke again. "You know I'm right about this Cuddy, even if you don't want to hear it. This guy is bad news and you're onlyl gonna end up getting hurt." He replied back to her, his voice now softening a bit as he went for a new angle in their current conversation.

Cuddy studied his face for a few brief seconds, wondering if House even knew how close he had come to being everything she had wanted. Knowing, as she looked into his eyes that his soft spoken words to her just now were only a means to keep her tethered to the hope that someday he would truly open up to her, becoming a partner with her in every sense of the word.

"I'm sorry House... but unlike you, I'm not going to stop going after what I want just because I've been hurt in the past." She replied back to him simply before she turned and left her office.

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After exiting her office, Cuddy quickly pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Kevin, making her way towards the parking garage in hopes of finding him there.

The phone rang five times before going to voicemail.

"Kevin, it's Lisa…..please call me so we can talk." She said into the phone before reaching the elevator and pressing the button that would take her down to the parking garage.

As the elevator doors opened, she spotted Kevin's red pickup truck leaving the parking garage in a hurry, knowing she was too late to try and stop him.

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"She's completely off her rocker." House muttered over to Wilson as he got ready to leave Cuddy's office.

Letting out a sigh, Wilson handed the papers Cuddy had given him back to House as they both turned towards the door.

"House, did you ever think that maybe you're pushing Cuddy right into this guy's arm by acting this way?" He over questioned to his friend with concern.

House gave him an annoyed glance. "In case you missed what jsut transpired in here a few minutes ago, Cuddy's falling for this guy regardless of my attempts to stop her."

"I just think you need to step back and let Cuddy figure out things on her own." Wilson stressed while opening the door for them both.

"I can't do that." House replied back to him bluntly.

Wilson came to a halt, holding the door open instead of heading out of the office behind his friend.

"Are you honestly afraid Cuddy's going to end up marrying this guy?" He asked with surprise.

House turned around to face him. "I don't care if she marries this guy. But I do care if she falls in love him and it sticks. Because up until then… I still have a chance to get her back." He clarified to his friend, now even more concerned over Cuddy's behavior and what it meant for their future.

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Several hours later, Cuddy was pacing the floor inside of her living room while biting down on one of her perfectly manicured nails.

She still hadn't heard back from Kevin, even though she had tried calling him at least a dozen times after the incident inside of her office. She had even driven over to his place after leaving the hospital, hoping to find him there, but when she had pulled up into the driveway, she found the house was completely dark and with no signs of either Kevin or his truck that was usually parked out in front.

Thankfully, she had been able to put on a brave face for Rachel when she arrived home afterwards, telling the little girl Kevin had to work a bit longer than expected but that they would be seeing him soon.

She hoped her words to her child would end up ringing true and that eventually Kevin would call her back so that they could talk about his past and start to work through whatever it would mean for them as a couple. However, as the clock inside of her living room announced the arrival of ten pm, she felt her heart start to sink a little lower, wondering if she was already losing what she had been so surprised to find in the first place.

As swiftly as the doubt had moved into her mind it was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone on the coffee table.

She picked up the phone. Answering it immediately even though she did not recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Lisa?" A woman's voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?" Cuddy questioned.

"Lisa…..this is Kevin's sister Samantha. I just got off the phone with my brother a little while ago and he wanted me to call you."

Cuddy let out a small sigh of relief. "Is he ok?" She then asked without delay.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.

"Kevin's ok…..he's just a little shaken up over how you found out about his past." Samantha confessed to her.

Cuddy raised her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head. "Samantha, please let Kevin know that I'm truly sorry about that." She replied with regret.

"Kevin said you'd end up apologizing… even though it wasn't your fault." Samantha responded.

The tone of her voice made Cuddy feel a little better as it held no ill will or resentment towards her.

"Is Kevin at his place now? Because I'd really like to go and see him tonight so we can talk about this." Cuddy asked with her next breath.

Again there was another pause.

"He's not there Lisa ….and honestly. I'm not sure when he'll be back." Samantha told her hesitantly as she stared out into the backyard of her home.

Cuddy felt a shiver of anxiety run up her spine. "Please Samantha. I need to talk to Kevin so I can understand what all of this is about." She pleaded with a bit of urgency to her voice.

From the other side of the line, Cuddy heard Samantha let out a soft sigh before she spoke.

"I promised Kevin I wouldn't tell you but…" She started to say, pausing yet again before continuing.

"Kevin's staying up at a cabin that's been in our family for years. It's about a three hour drive from here and located in the middle of nowhere, so ...if I give you the directions, you've got to promise me you won't head out there until the morning." Samantha explained to her with great importance….hoping she was making the right decision about telling Lisa where her brother was.

"I promise I'll stay put until morning." Cuddy assured her without delay while walking quickly towards the kitchen in order retrieve a piece of paper and pen.

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"Mommy please can I come with you?" Rachel asked the next morning as Cuddy held her in her arms while Marina looked over at them both.

"I'm sorry honey, you can't. But I promise as soon as I get home we'll do something fun…just the two of us." Cuddy replied before kissing her daughter on the cheek.

"Can Kevin come too?" Rachel asked with a soft whisper.

"I'm sure he'd love to come." Cuddy answered as the need to find Kevin and get them back to where they were before everything fell apart was now tugging relentlessly at her heartstrings.