A/N-Thanks to all of the readers and reviewers since last time: IHeartHouseCuddy, TheHouseWitch, JessicaClackum, lenasti16, RedTulipAna, yahnis, newdayz, ClareBear14, LiaHuddy, Josam, berenice, Alex, Abby, HuddyGirl, JamHuddyFan, dmarchl...I thoroughly appreciate the time you take to leave me your thoughts.

So glad the hospital stuff was fun, it was really fun to imagine. I like pulling in different people. As to comments on the Chase conversation…I was inspired by some of House's openness with Chase, however briefly, in Season 8, left me feeling that they had more of a rapport than what was led on before...Just my interpretation. OOC? Probably. Here's the next segment! Enjoy!

I probably won't be able to update tomorrow. I will likely be updating more like 3-4 times per week for a while. Work/Life...you know how that is.

Disclaimer-I don't own the characters of House, MD. This chapter contains relatively mild adult content, it is marked off between the "*" signs for those who want to skip.

House was notoriously antsy after they arrived at Wilson's place. He paced around the living room, ignoring offers of food and drink, and scarcely answering conversation that was directed at him. He was playing with knickknacks on the mantlepiece when he turned to Wilson and said, "Thanks for the hospitality and the patient, it was fun! We have to go now."

A very surprised Cuddy, who was discussing the case they solved at the hospital with Ann when House made his announcement, followed him back to the guest room to gather their few belongings. "We're leaving?" she asked, somewhat confused, "Your leg bothering you?"

"Nope, wanna do some things before I have to go back to work"

"OK..." Cuddy responded.

House was distracted, very distracted. Cuddy was flooded with concern, completely unable to tell what event prompted a complete change in attitude during the short drive from the hospital to Wilson's home. He grabbed his bag and said quietly, "Everything's fine. Trust me. I'm just ready to go do something that I've been waiting for the right moment to do… The moment struck, I feel ready now, and I want you to come with me, OK?"

"Sure," she said, trying to smile.

She would never shake the feeling of anxiety that she felt when House seemed unpredictable or unreadable. Wilson tried to ask House if all was OK, finding his question quickly deflected, but after bidding their sudden and unexpected goodbyes to Wilson and Ann, they walked out to the car. House held his hand out for the keys and then took the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?" Cuddy asked.

"For a ride"

The route was unmistakable from the beginning. The stop light. The long curve to the right at the "Y" in the road. Cuddy knew where they were going, and in spite of a will to intercede, to ask for the purpose of the trip, she decided to allow things to unfold. After a quick stop at a convenience store, the very same one he had always frequented when he lived there, to pick up a few drinks and some snacks, they continued on their journey.

House was fully aware that beneath her calm exterior, she was very nervous. Her hands, hidden under the elbows at her crossed arms, were clenched into tight fists, and her jaw was working with tension. After only a few minutes they pulled up in front of his one-time apartment. He stared up at the darkened window.

"Guess no one's home," Cuddy commented.

"Obviously. Looks like we'll have to break in!"

"NO! House, this is a bad idea, I'm all for a trip down memory lane, but I'm not going to go breaking and entering with you! Such a gigantic mistake, you have a record!"

"Eh, not worried about that. If someone calls the cops, you can take the rap for me," he said smiling, his eyes alive with excitement.

"Please, let's think about this before we make a big mistake," she said, pleading as he got out of the car, bags from the convenience store in hand, and started walking toward the stairs up to the entryway.

He came back to the car when he realized she didn't follow, opened her door for her and said, "Come on…"

She put her hand on her forehead with worry, "Really...you really need to do this, right here…now?"

"Yup. Don't let me down, remember you're a new and improved, less controlling Cuddy"

"Less controlling sure…more criminal…I don't think so"

He held out his hand insistently to help pull her from the car.

"This is such a horrible idea," she muttered, as she got out of the car.

They walked up the stairs and through the exterior door, to the inside door that led to his old apartment. He traced the "B" on the door for a moment, then stared at her as he reached his hand up above the door frame for the key he expected and strangely found. Her heart was pounding in her chest. "Let's just knock first."

He knocked three times and waited a few moments before grinning, unlocking the door and walking in, "No place like home."

Cuddy barely stepped in, eyes closed, hoping the new occupants weren't sleeping in the bedroom mere feet away. She could see the lights turn on through her closed eyelids and slowly allowed them to open. "You have to be kidding!" she said as she saw the tidy, almost completely uncluttered version of House's apartment. His furniture was still there. His sofa, his piano, his desk, even a now aging computer, were all neatly left exactly where they had been when she was there years earlier. The place was completely spotless, the smell of window cleaner and disinfectant hanging heavily in the air.

"Guess the cleaning lady's been keep up her end," he said, as he ran his hand over the top of his piano before walking out to the kitchen. He turned on the refrigerator and put the drinks in that he had just bought.

He smiled at her as he returned to the room. "You actually kept this place all of this time?" she inquired.

"Yup. I have an accountant that takes care of these things. I live at Kate's, it's not like I have a lot of other bills."

"I can't believe this, this is…insanity"

"My cleaning lady stops by once a month, make sure nothing's leaking or burning, tidies up the place"

"When's the last time you were here"

"Let me think, so hard to remember," he said sarcastically, "the day after I got out of jail…I came here, got a few things, called the cleaning lady…"

"I can't believe you kept this…just…sitting here empty waiting for you"

"I feel weird saying this again, but apparently I need to…I'm Greg House, we have met, right?"

"It's an entire apartment!"

"Wasn't it you who said pianos are a pain to move? It's so true. Then you have to get them tuned up again, it's a huge ordeal. Simpler to pay up the bills a few years at a time," he said, as he slipped behind the piano and started to play, an expression of complete bliss on his face.

She walked around the living room, recalling some of their times there. Of all of the places where they had memories stored, this was one of very few where most of her memories were pretty good. Their times together here were mostly early on in the relationship, filled with chats, sex and declarations of feelings. Of course the memory of their ultimate breakup was here too, but overall, she felt surrounded by many pleasant thoughts of them together.

Recalling momentarily the circumstances of the break up, she felt a sense of overwhelming guilt. She stood near the doorway watching him play, so happy and worry free. At that very moment, the thought of hurting him, of causing any pain in the man who had been so completely available and supportive, and had been everything she had needed…hurt her beyond belief.

He kept playing, but shifted his gaze to her, intense and full of passion. She could see in his eyes a look of not only caring, but of real love. She knew he had deep and meaningful feelings for her before, he had probably felt that way for a long time before they had dated, but his look now was unreserved, unencumbered love. It was something she had never seen from him so unapologetically before.

They very seldom spoke in words like those, but with gazes like the one he was giving her, words were completely unnecessary.

For House alone, this place was complicated, with years' worth of pain, hopes and moments of overwhelming despair. It was his safe haven and his cage, and with that came things wonderful and horrible, but so much of him was written into these walls. The music softened as he knew she was about to speak, and his face told her he was waiting for her question. "Why?" she asked.

"I'm not great at letting go sometimes," he responded calmly, still playing, "Look at you, you're old and decrepit now and I still keep you."

She scowled as he shot a playful grin at her. He whispered to the piano, "I have to go now, before she gets jealous."

He walked over and wrapped her in a warm hug, "I'm gonna get a shower. You get cozy, I figured we'd stay here tonight, and I'll go into work tomorrow, you can hang out back at Kate's place until I'm done with work."

"Here? All night?" she asked.

"You're right, that would be weird…Should we get up and sneak out at three am to avoid an awkward morning after?" he teased.

"No…I …think I'm just taken off guard."

"We can leave if you aren't comfortable," he offered.

"No…it's fine, just not where I thought I'd end up tonight. Go get your shower."

House took his shower as Cuddy walked through the apartment somewhat gingerly, almost as if she were afraid of disturbing something. His bed was neatly made and bedroom was as spotlessly clean as the rest of the apartment. This room was also largely free of clutter, with a few personal items only, but all of the same furniture. She felt almost as if she'd been able to step back through time and was given a second chance.

She showered after him, angry with the small part of her that thought that he may be looking for a secret stash of Vicodin while he was alone in the next room. She cast aside those thoughts, choosing willfully to trust him rather than allow her suspicions to alter her behavior.

There were limited supplies and she had to use bar soap and very basic shampoo that clearly he had chosen at one point, grateful to be able to shower despite how basic the provisions were. She had a suitcase in her car, but when they arrived she was so concerned that he was breaking into someone else's home, she didn't bother to bring in her belongings. Once she was inside, she didn't want to walk back out, worried that leaving the apartment would break the spell that was giving her this opportunity to wipe away their final mutual memory here from years ago.

When she was almost done, the shower curtain whipped back and the water was turned off. "Done waiting!" House announced loudly, standing there in a pair of boxers and unceremoniously picking her up and lifting her over her shoulder as she shrieked. "God woman, stop wiggling. Cripple here, don't make this more difficult than it has to be!

"*"

He braced his arm on the door frame to push them forward toward the bed and dropped her down onto it. "I'm soaked!"

"Really? That's odd given that you were in the shower!" He grabbed his discarded towel from the floor and put it under her head to catch most of the moisture from her hair as he started to lick the water off her neck and slide down toward her nipple. She stopped protesting, easily caught in the moment, tilting her head back to enjoy the sensations she was expecting until he playfully bit her nipple.

"Ouch, you ass," she screamed, laughing at the same time as she flipped him over and twisted both of his nipples in retaliation, causing him to yelp and chuckle in response.

"We…had some fun times in this apartment," he said, as he ran his hands along her sides.

"Trust me, I remember," she answered, leaning down to kiss him "You…were really amazing today, I love watching you think…watching the…moment the answer comes to you."

"You were actually fun today…Dean Cuddy's not nearly as fun as helpful sexy coworker Cuddy"

"Dean Cuddy had a target on her back and had to consistently spend her time worrying that you were going to destroy something…or someone," she said, as her words slipped into a low appreciative moan when his fingers began to stroke her.

"If only it was always that easy to silence Dean Cuddy," he chuckled back, as he flipped them over again.

"There was nothing that ever silenced you…Employee you or Coworker you…always still talking" she said, as he groaned at the first touches of her hand bringing him to full arousal.

Her free hand ran up his back, tickling his spine while he shivered into her, the sensation of water that had dripped from her onto him and left chilly spots in its wake, a stark contrast to the warmth of her body.

"You are so easy to work up," he teased at her eager response to his touches.

"I told you, watching you think, watching you be the brilliant man that I know you are, has always been incredibly sexy to me."

"Like a day's worth of foreplay. I'll have to locate the dying more frequently."

"Definitely," she answered, placing kisses along his jaw line as he pushed slowly into her, pulling her legs up high along his waist.

"I like this," he whispered against her ear as she groaned.

"Sex?" she asked absently, her brain slowly disconnecting.

He breathed a small chuckle, "Well yea, but…I meant…" he inhaled slowly, trying to remember that he desperately wanted to take his time. He wanted to express a deeper connection than a quick sweaty fuck, "I meant," he confessed, "this you and me thing…it's…good."

Cuddy exhaled in agreement and arousal as she ran her hands up his sides, always loving the feeling of his body rippling and ribs moving with uncontrolled breath. "more than good," she moaned.

"I'm going to try so hard not to mess this up."

"Me too," she said, grabbing his face to look him in the eye and finding the sincerity and love there too much to ignore. They breathed against each other in words that didn't quite materialize, but the meanings were conveyed anyway.

He felt the softness of her skin, still damp in some places from the shower. She smelled like his soap, but somehow the scent was different on her, mixing with the sweet smells of her natural skin, the pheromones that likely helped to attract him to her, along with his overwhelming attraction for both her mind and body.

Later, they climaxed almost simultaneously, some of his weight collapsing on her, but as he tried to move away she pulled him fully down on her, feeling just how cold her still slightly damp skin was and hiding beneath him.

"*"

"I'm so sorry I hurt you…"

"What? I'm...fine," he mumbled, almost falling asleep, "You didn't…hurt me at all..."

"No, I mean before"

"Let it go. You're here now," he whispered against her skin. His eyes blinked open, "I am going to crush you though, if I stay in this spot," he said as he rolled off and onto the dry side of the bed. "You stay over there on the wet side, that's what you get for coming to bed like that," he chuckled before pulling her over next to him on the dry side.

"Why haven't you stopped here before now?"

"Didn't want to risk it"

"Why risk it now?"

"Seemed right coming back here with you…I dunno, didn't seem like much of a risk anymore," he answered as he heard her breathing turn into a faint snore. He fell asleep shortly after her.

He woke at five in the morning and crept out to his piano to play for a few minutes before it was time to go to work. At seven he snarled at the thought of going back into his office in the basement in a few hours, to research things he truly didn't care about, and limped into his bedroom to wake Cuddy.