Part 49
They went out for supper.
Lisa would have preferred to eat in. She had, in fact, scoured House's cabinets hoping to find something to make some sort of soup with, but they'd been almost completely bare. And he'd already wiped out the leftover pizza.
"You have absolutely nothing in here to eat," she'd told him.
"There are Oreos. And I have milk," he'd responded.
She'd looked over her shoulder to see him sitting on the couch, smirking.
"I can't make a soup out of that," she'd countered.
"Why not? It has everything a horny boy needs. Milk, chocolate, cream filling."
She had smiled even as she rolled her eyes. As she shut the cabinet, he'd suggested they brave the snow and walk a couple blocks down to an Italian place.
"They have several soups," he'd said.
She'd asked about the possibility of delivery, not wanting to leave the cocoon they'd spun in the last twenty-four hours, but House just smiled and said that they needed to come up for air sometime.
Sometime was now.
They were sitting at a table for two and working their way through a solid meal. She'd started with a salad and was now tackling a bowl of zuppa. House was massacring a plate of spaghetti and stuffing his mouth with fresh bread between bites of the tomato sauce-topped pasta.
"You didn't tell me you were hungry," she said.
He flashed her a grin. "Been busy taking care of your appetite."
Lisa blushed. She looked around, glad the restaurant wasn't busy.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Cuddy," House said softly, prompting her to look at him again. "I'm definitely not."
"Well, you're a guy," she snarked, still feeling the burn in her cheeks. The world's oldest double-standard in regards to sexual activity: boys will be boys and girls are sluts.
House frowned, set his fork down and wiped his mouth. He looked at her squarely, irritation evident.
"We've already had that discussion."
"I know. But not everyone sees things the way you do," Lisa said on a sigh. "That creep earlier—"
"Is not worth you wasting a breath on," House cut her off, his irritation increasing.
"No, he's not, but there's a whole world of them out there. And to them, I'll never be anything more than a potential notch on the bedpost. A pair of breasts and great ass."
He smiled at that and she didn't know why until he spoke.
"You know, I almost feel sorry for them. You're going to achieve everything you go after," he said, eyes bright. "Your smart and sexy, and you know who you are and one day you're going to own it completely, and when you do, there'll be no stopping you."
He paused and she watched his expression turned proud as he picked up his for again.
"They're not going to know what hit them, Cuddy."
Lisa's insides fluttered at hearing the certainty in his words and voice. She didn't know what else to say beyond the soft "thank you" she offered him. No one else had ever been so directly positive about her future, not even her parents. And as confident as she was in herself, she still had insecurities to work through.
It was a powerful thing to be believed in.
