A/N: Boston, here we come...

By nine o'clock Thursday morning, House and Wilson were on the road, headed to Boston. Even though it was only a five and a half hour trip as the crow flies, they knew it would take longer when they factored in meals, bathroom breaks and periodic rest stops so House could stretch his leg. House hated taking long trips by car; fortunately Wilson's Volvo S80 was roomy in the front and thus made the trip much more comfortable for him.

There wasn't much talking during the first few hours of the trip however the conversation began to flow freely as they both felt more awake. First, they argued over radio stations; Wilson wanted to listen to NPR and House wanted to listen to classic rock. When they couldn't agree on what to listen to, they turned off the radio and just talked about whatever came to mind. They ranked hospital nurses in order of do-ability, discussed whether or not Park was a lesbian, and debated the latest episode of Prescription Passion in which Wilson insisted it was impossible for a white woman to give birth to a black baby unless she was impregnated by a black man. That led to House recalling a story about a soldier's wife who tried to convince her husband, who had just returned from war, that the reason she'd given birth to a black baby while he was gone was because she'd been impregnated by watching a 3-D porn flick that had starred a rather well-endowed black man appropriately nicknamed "Shaft". Of course Wilson wasn't buying any of it and finally House admitted the entire story was a fabrication from start to finish, something he'd read in one of his tabloids. But still, it was entertaining and it helped pass the time.

Eventually after they'd discussed a half dozen odd, unusual and totally fabricated tabloid stories, the conversation quieted down. Both men were lost in their thoughts until Wilson spoke again.

"So, what's the plan with Cuddy?"

"What plan?"

"Exactly, you're on the road...with me...for a reason. You're not going to Boston because you care about Oncology; you're going because you want to see her. Do you have a plan?"

"Nope."

"Shouldn't you come up with something?"

"Nope."

"What the hell? Are you going to show up at her house unannounced?"

"Do I look rude to you?"

Wilson just looked at him and rolled his eyes. "You forget House, I know you."

"I've changed."

"People don't change."

"Whoever told you that is a liar," he said as he smirked at Wilson.

"You should call her."

"I will, dad," House said. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

"I know you, you plan is no plan." Wilson shook his head. "I still can't believe you're going to see her. I just never would have believed it."

"Me either."

"What do you hope will happen here?"

"I have no idea; I haven't thought that far ahead."

"A lot of time has passed. Things change, people change. You're talking. That's huge House."

"That's what she said," House joked in an effort to avoid the conversation taking a serious turn.

"House. This is serious."

"I'm flying blind here Wilson. I'm just hoping like hell I don't screw it up," House said softly as he looked out the window at the passing landscape.

Wilson decided to change the subject so he turned on the radio and tuned in to a local NPR station which was airing a repeat of Car Talk. Fortunately it was one of the very few NPR shows House actually liked and so the two men spent the next hour playing a game in which they had to guess the diagnosis before the Car Talk guys did.

Cuddy heard a knock on the door around noon and when she answered it was Sharon and Hannah. The two had come to pick up Rachel as she was going to the Museum of Science with them and then spending the night with Hannah. Cuddy and Sharon had already had a long talk about Wilson and House's visit to Boston and Sharon suggested she take Rachel for the night so Cuddy could have some time to talk to House without interruption.

"You okay?" Sharon asked with a concerned look as she sat down next to Cuddy.

"Yeah, I think so."

"You seem nervous."

"I don't know how I'll react when I see him. I don't know if I want to beat the shit out of him or hug him."

"Do what feels right."

"They both feel right."

"Then do both." Sharon smiled. "Do you even have a plan?"

"Nope. If he actually shows up, maybe he can come over alone, we can talk."

"Good," Sharon said. She placed her hand on Cuddy's arm and said, "You've been waiting a long time to do this, be strong."

"It's one thing to write and call but seeing one another in person is a whole other thing," Cuddy said as she moved from the couch to the window and looked out at her front yard.

"What exactly are you hoping will happen here?"

Cuddy replied without turning from the window. "I don't know. It's been so long, I mean, how will I feel when I see him again? I'm torn over what I'm supposed to feel."

"Oh Lisa, you've spent so much of your life trying to control things, you've got to learn to let go sometimes. Worrying about what might or might not happen is not going to do you any good. Just wait and see. Deal with things as they happen. Stop anticipating the outcome, it will drive you crazy."

Cuddy finally turned to Sharon. "I know I'm a control freak, it's one of the reasons we didn't last. I had to have things my way all the time. I know how hard change is for both of us. I don't know what I'm doing here and it scares me."

Sharon could hear the desperation in her friend's voice and wanted to ease her fears. "For what it's worth, I'll give you my advice, it's yours to take or not. No games, no assumptions, no deflections, just be honest. Don't say anything you don't mean and if you sense he's not being completely honest, call him on it. Insist on complete openness and honesty. Didn't you tell me you tried that on the phone?"

"Yeah and oddly enough we were both willing. It actually made things...less awkward."

"Well, there you go. Start with honesty. There are things you two are going to have to say to one another that will not be pleasant, but they have to be said. There are also things you will want to say that you will both want to hear, maybe even need to hear. Don't be afraid. Just be honest."

"I'll try."

"Lisa, don't just try, do."

"I will, I promise."

Sharon shook her head and chuckled. "I don't get this pull you two have on one another, I just don't, but apparently you do. I guess that's all that matters. Someday when I meet this guy he and I are going to have words."

Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "People at the hospital have asked me why I'm still single given there are so many good looking doctors on campus and I tell them I'm just not ready. It's the truth...well, sort of..." she said looking down. "I'm an idiot. All those available men and I still think about the asshole who made my life insane and drove his car into my house."

"You're a lunatic Lisa but I love you anyway," said Sharon as she got up from her seat on the couch. "Now I've got to get the girls because the planetarium opens at two and I want them to see the whole show from the beginning. Do you want me to call you later?"

"I don't know what's going to happen so how about if I call you?"

"Okay." Sharon called for the girls and they came running into the living room. Rachel had her pink and green backpack with her and a big smile on her face. She ran to her mother, who kneeled on the floor to hug her.

"You're going be a good girl with Sharon, right?" Cuddy asked Rachel while straightening her collar.

"Yes, mommy. Why don't you come with us?"

"I can't. Mommy has some things she has to do that may take awhile. Besides you're going to have so much fun with Hannah and your friends at the slumber party. Are you excited?"

"Yes!" Rachel shouted with glee.

"Good! Now give me a hug before you go." Cuddy hugged Rachel as tight as she could, and then kissed her on the top of her head. "Now go have a good time. I'll call you tonight okay?"

"Bye, mom!"

"Bye, sweetie."

Sharon walked over and took Cuddy's hands in hers and said, "It's going to be alright, you've both been through a lot and there's no way you both haven't been changed by this. You are both sorry about everything that went down. You're taking a huge chance talking to one another this weekend. Have faith, be honest, and talk to him. Just be yourself Lisa. It's all you can do."

"Thanks, I needed that."

Sharon smiled and the two women hugged. "Now I have to go, call me okay?" Sharon yelled over her shoulder as she walked out the front door. Cuddy followed her and watched as she got into the car with the girls.

"You guys have fun!" she shouted to them. Once they pulled away, she closed the door, leaned up against it and closed her eyes. She let out a laugh and then shouted into the empty room, "Oy vey what have I gotten myself into?"

Around three o'clock that afternoon House and Wilson were in the lobby of the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in Boston. While Wilson checked in, House wandered the luxurious and expansive lobby. He was impressed at the location of the hotel and its amazing view of the waterfront. He took his cell phone from his jacket and walked out the front entrance of the hotel. He dialed a number and waited patiently.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," he said.

"Hold on a sec, I'm just getting in the car," Cuddy said, setting the phone on the passenger seat as she closed her door and buckled herself in. She picked up the phone again, "Sorry I'm just leaving the grocery store." In anticipation of House's visit she wanted to pick up some things for dinner. She was tense, wondering if he'd actually made it to Boston with Wilson.

"Where are you?" she asked. She held her breath in anticipation.

"At the hotel. Wilson's checking in, I thought I would too." Sensing the tone of her voice House asked, "You didn't think I'd come did you?"

"I'm sorry. I just wasn't sure."

"Don't apologize. I would have done the same."

"Thanks," she said a hint of relief in her voice. "So...what are your plans?"

"Wilson got a call on the way here; a couple of his colleagues from Florida wanted to meet him for dinner after the welcome reception. I'll probably just watch porn till I fall asleep," He said jokingly hoping to lighten the mood.

"Well...uh...would you like to have dinner here?" Cuddy asked nervously.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I mean I was hoping we could...you know...talk."

"Yeah. What time?"

"Six?"

"Sure." As an afterthought he said, "Wait, I don't have anything to write with, could you text me your address?"

"Yeah."

"I'll see you later?" He didn't mean it to come out as a question but it did.

"Yeah," she said softly. "See you at six."

After the phone call with Cuddy, House was nervous as hell. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this way. He wasn't sure what to expect but he knew he had to brace himself because it was one thing to write letters and talk on the phone; it was something totally different to talk in person. He turned and walked back into the hotel, meeting up with Wilson and heading to the elevators. As they got in, Wilson pressed the button for the twenty-first floor.

"Twenty-one huh?"

"Yep. I owe Sandy a big fat raise. This place is great House." Wilson sounded like a little kid at Christmas. Holding the brochure up for House to see, he said, "Look, it's got gorgeous views, great restaurants and bars and hey...a fitness center and a lap pool." He looked down at House's leg which did not go unnoticed by House.

"Oh I get it. That was for my benefit right? You think I want to do therapy on my mini vaca?"

"No...okay, well I thought it was worth mentioning."

House looked at Wilson, he knew his friend meant well. "Okay I'll think about it, how's that? Tell me more about our digs."

"It's awesome. It's the luxury suite, can you believe it? Four hundred square foot parlor, dining table seats, reception capacity for twenty, full bar, mini fridge, jacuzzi tubs, big ass TV, wireless internet, and gorgeous view of the harbor. Oh yeah, I've got an additional connecting king room so nobody has to take the sofa bed. "

"Very nice. Now let's get back to that full bar and jacuzzi tub," House said as the elevator opened on their floor.

Three hours later, a yellow cab stopped at the curb in front of a modest and pleasant looking brick house on a tree lined street in Cambridge. The driver called out the number House had given him. House looked at the sheet of paper in his hand and let out a deep breath. This is it, he thought. He got out, paid the driver and limped up the front steps. His hands were sweating and his right leg hurt slightly as he made his way up. Taking another deep breath, he lifted his cane and tapped it on the solid wood door.

Cuddy was in the kitchen preparing dinner with some light jazz playing in the background when she heard a familiar sound at her door. It was a tapping sound, not knuckles on wood but wood on wood, a cane to be exact. For a moment she stood in the middle of her kitchen unable to move, her heart beating rapidly and her palms sweating. Knowing she could not delay the inevitable she put down the knife she'd been using to chop vegetables, wiped her hands on her apron and took it off before walking to the door, stopping only to check herself in the mirror on the wall next to it. To be sure, she looked through the peephole and her knees nearly buckled at the sight of him. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer and opened the door.

For a moment, they just stood there; mouths open slightly, neither knowing what to say. Time seemed to stand still as they gazed at each other, blue on blue, a plethora of emotions reflected in their eyes.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she replied softly.

While Wilson is at the reception and dinner with friends, House and Cuddy are going to see each other for the first time in a long time. How will they handle things? I thought that their first meeting in a long time deserved its own chapter which will be coming up soon. Thanks for keeping up with this story, I love you all for reading and reviewing!

Jess