A/N-Oodles of thanks to all who have read and those who have reviewed since the last time: lenasti16, CaptainK8, Phyna, grouchysnarky, HuddyGirl, Abby, Alex, berenice, Asia, ClareBear14, jc hutterdxtra, dmarchl, JamHuddyFan, IHeartHouseCuddy, Josam, JLCH

*this chapter steps back so you can see Cuddy's return to work too. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer-I don't own the characters of House, MD

Cuddy regretted her decision to return to work from the very moment he went through the door at his hospital and disappeared from her sight. The two hour drive was lonely and far too quiet, in spite of the CD she blared to provide distraction from the noise in her head.

Arriving back in Baltimore alone felt deeply uncomfortable. She stopped at her place, feeling a new sense of loss as quiet had settled over the place again. She smiled somberly toward the piano, already missing both the music and the musician.

She dressed quickly, remembering the way she felt the last time she was there, when he was still with her. They had argued, another disagreement with heated words that sometimes seemed the only way to get to the root of some of their bigger issues, the kinds of issues they didn't want to discuss when things were going well. They had fought, calmed the tension and then discussed, neither of them fleeing the scene, or saying anything irreparable, a true sign of growth in each of them from any of their previous incarnations together.

The clinic was bustling from the moment she walked in, as various people came to greet her, more out of a need for her resolve an issue or sign a paper than to welcome her back. "Dr. Cuddy, we really need to resolve this Snyder issue," the doctor who was filling in for her in her absence said as she followed her into her office.

"What did he do now?"

"He blatantly ignored a well-documented allergy, and recommended pseudoephedrine and ibuprofen for a patient with uncontrolled high blood pressure, who ended up…"

"Stop," Cuddy said, holding her hands in front of her. "Is he here?"

"Unfortunately"

"Send him in"

Cuddy fired Snyder as gently as possible, although every fiber in her being wanted to tell him exactly what she thought of him. His mistakes were numerous and well-documented. She had plenty of proof as to why he should be fired if she were ever asked to defend her decision.

She had been at work less than an hour, and already had to fire someone. She breathed a sigh of relief when he left and brought up a file of resumes to start looking for a replacement. She stopped for a moment to text House and placed her phone face up so she could await a response.

After ten minutes she was surprised that she didn't hear anything. She looked two more times, disappointed that he didn't respond, and realized that only seven more minutes had elapsed. She stuffed her phone into her desk drawer, promising she wouldn't look for at least another half an hour.

Nearly an hour later he still didn't respond, and then she was just frustrated with herself for expecting that he sit waiting by the phone for her to communicate with him.

She was frustrated with Snyder. She was frustrated with the job at the clinic, despite the fact that she was very successful there, because it wasn't interesting enough to keep her engaged and certainly didn't make her happy. She was frustrated that she allowed herself to remain at a job that was so unfulfilling for so long. Most of all, she was frustrated with herself for not remaining those last few days with House even though he had to work.

Cuddy's assistant came into her office to discuss several items of interest: meetings, phone calls, important events, and then, very strangely, broke out of her typically professional demeanor to say, "If I may say, Dr. Cuddy, way to play the field!"

Cuddy shook her head in confusion and looked up, "What do you mean?"

The assistant looked flustered, immediately adopting her stiff posture and professionalism again, "I'm sorry, that was out of line, there is a gentleman waiting in room four for you. I think you may want to see him."

Cuddy felt a surge of excitement, pleased that House had chosen to surprise her here and curious as to why he wasn't at work. After only a few hours, she was ridiculously happy to see him, so much so that she wasn't sure if she could hide it.

"I'll be taking lunch then," Cuddy said to the assistant as she walked out from her office.

"I thought so, Doctor. Enjoy your break."

Cuddy moved quickly to the exam room, now understanding why House didn't answer her text, since he must have been driving, or just wanted to make the surprise all the more poignant. She tapped twice on the door and opened it, trying to suppress a grin, as she peaked around the corner and the smile dropped from her face.

"Expecting someone else?" he asked.

"Umm…yea…how are you Matthew?"

Cuddy tried to force her smile, crossing her arms gracefully in front of her, realizing now what her assistant had meant by 'playing the field', since she had last seen her with House and was now assuming she was seeing her ex-boyfriend Matthew as well. He was as always, calm and proper looking. He was the type of man that could easily be pictured in a plaid smoking jacket with a pipe, although she'd never seen him with either.

"A little birdie told me you are seeing someone…I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't me…" he smiled sweetly.

"Matthew…I told you…"

"I know," he interrupted, "you told me. I was hoping that perhaps you were finally feeling better, that maybe you were ready to give us another chance. Or perhaps I'm not incapacitated enough for you?" he asked, waiting for a reaction.

Her eyes flared as she moved one hand to her face, trying to decide just how much information to give.

"I remember hearing your ex walked with a cane, your sister warned me to be wary of anyone meeting his description, and gave me some background, because he's known for immaturity and game playing. Now another one? Or perhaps, it's the same man?" he said, the underlying sense of hurt showing through.

"It doesn't really matter does it? I ended things with you a long time ago. I…don't owe you any explanation."

"He's the reason why you never really gave me a chance. I always got the impression that everything that happened with your ex made you hesitant to date anyone. Apparently I was wrong, he made you hesitant to date anyone but him. I'm surprised at you Lisa."

Her eyes narrowed somewhat as she waited for his next move. "I...don't remember asking for your opinion," she said calmly. "Don't try to guilt me, or pressure me into questioning my decisions. Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine," she said as she went for the door.

"Don't overreact. I'd like us to remain friends. I still think that we have the opportunity to find real happiness together."

"I don't expect to see you here again," she said, quickly walking out of the room and over to her assistant, tapping her desk and saying, with great frustration, "My office. Now."

"OK," Cuddy sighed once they were both inside, "I don't want to be ambushed again. Anyone wants to see me...I want a name, and I'm definitely not having any more private meetings with him."

Cuddy's assistant left for a moment and she pulled her phone out, finding a message. Initially excited to see a message, she felt the pang of disappointment yet again when she saw the text was from her sister, Julia, asking how she was doing and if she had returned from her vacation at the beach.

"Great…" Cuddy said aloud, "could today get any better?"

Talking to her sister was something she seldom enjoyed since Rachel died. It wasn't because Julia did anything intentionally that bothered Cuddy, it was the sympathy in her eyes that was too much to take, coupled with the repeated suggestions that she spend more time with Julia's children. Everyone's attempts to help and be kind were the entire reason she went to see House. Now, on top of everything else, she was angry that Julia had taken it upon herself to discuss House with Matthew.

Before Cuddy left for the beach she didn't speak to anyone, and now that she was back, she still wasn't ready to delve into anything beyond pleasantries and medicine with people other than him.

She finally received his response, one so typically House, and they teased and flirted via text until he asked her: 'Glad to be back?'

Just as she read his response, her assistant came back through the door. "Dr. Cuddy , there's a lawyer here to see you."

"I should have expected as much," she said, forcing a smile.

She quickly responded to House: 'Not really,' before telling her assistant to show the lawyer into the office.

He worked late that night, a true rarity in his position in research. He had two days to get caught up, and wasn't about to be too busy on Friday night when Cuddy came back. Cuddy called while he was sitting at his desk.

She had every intention of asking him to meet her at a mid-way point. Even if for an hour, she wanted to see him.

He wanted to suggest that they meet up somewhere. Actually he wanted to quit his job on the spot, go get her and go somewhere else altogether. He realized that when trying to demonstrate to her that he wasn't the impulsive man she had once known, it was probably a bad idea to throw caution to the wind and quit work. He was pretty certain Cuddy would see such a move as more quixotically reckless than sweet and an argument was the last thing he had in mind for their next meeting.

"Bad day?" he asked her.

"Just crazy, you?"

"Umm… it's…long. I'm gonna work late, try to get this all done, so when you get here Friday night, I'm unencumbered…or at least I'm available to be encumbered by you."

"Sounds good," she said, deducing from his statement that he was too busy to meet up with her. "I don't want to keep you if you have a lot to do."

As much as she wanted to see him, she didn't want to appear to be overly needy, so she said nothing about meeting up. As much as he wanted to see her, he sensed her hesitance and was concerned she needed some time to herself, so he said nothing. They both wondered if the other one was rethinking this most recent attempt at a relationship.

"OK…" he responded.

"Well, I'll let you go then. We can talk tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yea. Night, Cuddy"

"Night, House"

He woke Friday morning, wishing his bed wasn't so empty and cold, the ache in his thigh intense and distracting. He let the hot water of the shower slam on it for a while but it didn't help much. He went to work, his overall mood sour, his day disappointing. Now that they weren't together, he constantly questioned whether everything was returning to the way it was before and if everything they had tried to accomplish together would be forgotten. They spoke briefly that morning, a short, perfunctory discussion, which didn't soothe either of their growing fears that things were going to go wrong.

The only possible upside was that, in his misery, he completed much, but not all of his work, and it was Friday afternoon, finally. As his work day was nearing its end, he picked up his phone to call Cuddy.

They exchanged stunted, uncomfortable greetings. They spoke for a few moments, House instantly second-guessing her feelings toward him, looking down at his own work and imagining that she'd probably rather be working than not. "I don't know if I'm going to be done in time. If you have something else you want to do this weekend, you should go ahead."

"All of those times I hoped you'd take work seriously and you didn't and now that I wish you wouldn't take it seriously, you are?" Cuddy asked.

He chuckled a bit, waiting to see if she was interested in taking advantage of the escape he provided her with.

"That's too bad," she responded, her voice in stereo from both his phone and the door to his office.

He couldn't hide the smile that crossed his face the moment he saw her. She looked relieved at his reaction, walked over to where he was seated in his chair behind his desk and immediately pulled him into a warm kiss.

His surprise at her arrival was surpassed only by his happy return of affection, the contact deep but unhurried. He stood up from his chair so he could pull her entire body tightly against him, missing her and the feeling of her more than he'd ever want to admit.

"House," she said, placing her hands on his chest to pull away enough to look at him clearly, "why do we always do this?"

"I don't know," he said, with feigned thoughtfulness. "Perhaps we should keep doing this and see if we can figure it out, it's like research and we're in the research department. I have petri dishes next door if you're into that," he smiled as he brought her back toward him, lifting her slightly upward in the embrace.

She allowed his deflection for a moment, enjoying their closeness, and then pulled back again, "Not this…although…I wouldn't mind further research into this topic. Seriously, two days? Two measly little days...and we're back to trying to be cool and cagey. I could feel it on the phone yesterday, and this morning. And I'm not saying it was only you. It was both of us."

He looked away toward the wall in thought for a few moments, considering what she had said. "How'd you get in here?" he asked.

"Kate. I called her. I wanted to take you by surprise, see your initial reaction. Because with the way we were on the phone last night, I was telling myself you wanted space…that you were regretting us, and all of the things my internal dialogue likes to tell me. I thought we were really trying this…honesty, forthrightness…you and I can point out those painful glaring truths with brutal honesty, but when it comes to this…when it comes to admitting we want each other for things besides the physical, we screw up. We're screwing up right now. I don't want to mess this up..."

"It was busy getting back to work…" he started to say, before conceding to the accuracy of her statement. "You're right."

"I needed to know how you felt. I had to confirm it, see your reaction to me, because I was worried that I had exaggerated what was going on between us."

"You honestly thought that I wouldn't be happy to see you?"

"I didn't know. I was thinking you were having some serious regrets…I want us to stop anticipating heartache and we need to avoid those assumptions we make about each other, or we are going to destroy this thing between us...again."

He nodded, wishing that she wasn't right, but realizing the truth in her statement.

"You said you are too busy, I'll go home tonight and come back tomorrow," she said, quickly kissing him on the cheek and turning to leave.

"Oh hell no," he said, grabbing her wrist, "You are here now…"

"So…are you too busy or not?" she said, smiling a confidently flirtatious smile, waiting for his answer.

"I was trying to give you an out. I really did miss having your nagging ass around."

"And I missed you and your obnoxious sexism," she smiled, saying the words sweetly.

He hadn't let go of her wrist since he pulled her back. Calmly rubbing his thumb along her hand and wrist he looked at her, his expression conveying his feeling of happiness that she was with him again.

"Since we're being honest, I want you to know something…I had a visitor…Matthew came by the clinic," she said, hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't react poorly.

"OK," he said, his thumb pausing for a moment, forcing a look of calm non-reaction, "Is there more to that story?"

"That one…no. I just wanted to make sure you knew so you didn't think I was trying to hide something if you found out later. But…I did do something… that I guess we should talk about…I felt I should tell you in person."

"Go on," he said, trying to sound unconcerned, but feeling the acid climbing up his esophagus and his heart lurching in his chest as he awaited her confession.

"I think I'm unemployed…"

He blinked in shock, replaying her statement in his head to verify that she had actually said the words that he least expected to hear from her. "Hunh…interesting. Guess this means we could actually run away…"

"I'd need to pack first," she smiled, joking with him as she sat down on the edge of his desk and he dropped down into his chair.

He looked past her, staring at the screen on his computer and clicking the mouse a few times with his free hand. She heard the printer behind him whir to life and he looked up at her, with the faintest smile across his lips. He kept his eyes on her, reaching behind him to the printer without averting his gaze.

"You aren't the least bit interested in what happened at work?" she asked, as he let go of her wrist and handed her the paper that printed out. He tapped at the paper with his finger to draw her attention down to the words printed on it, and lifted his brows expectantly, leaning forward slightly and waiting for her response.

Looking down at what he had handed her, Cuddy words stumbled from her mouth, "Are you serious?"