HI EVERYONE!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL POSTS! I RESPONDED TO THEM INDIVIDUALLY.

HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.

AND FOR SOME, IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR... ;)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :-)

********************************************************

CHAPTER 43: Please read and comment.

A few moments later, Cuddy pulled House into their hotel room.

Cuddy had already finished her ice cream cone, but House was still eating his.

Cuddy immediately took it from him and tossed it in a garbage can that was near the bed.

"You owe me half an ice- cream," House stated.

"After this, I'll buy you all the ice cream you want," Cuddy replied as she quickly peeled her pink t- shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor.

House licked his lips as he gazed at Cuddy, clad only in a blush- colored lacy bra, displaying her perky breasts and tantalizing cleavage.

"Works for me," House replied.

Cuddy grabbed House's hand and pulled him down on top of her onto the bed.

He immediately and eagerly devoured her neck with his mouth as he reached up to fondle one of her breasts, and pressed his now semi- hard cock shaft against her.

Cuddy wasted no time as she immediately wriggled her hand in between their bodies and began to unzip his jeans. She slipped her hand underneath his boxers, making him gasp.

She was delighted to see that he was by now almost fully erect.

She then began to pull his jeans down off his hips when he grabbed her hands to stop her, pulling them up over her head and pinning them down to the bed.

"No foreplay?" he asked teasingly, his eyes dancing with excitement.

"Like you care," Cuddy replied sexily.

"Like you DON'T," House answered back.

"I don't. Now hurry up," Cuddy ordered him, trying to wiggle her hands out of his grasp.

But House refused to let her go.

Instead, he held both her wrists above her head with his right and slowly pulled down her blush lacy bra off her breast.

He then traced her erect nipple with the tip of his tongue, slowly closing his lips around it.

Cuddy whimpered at the touch of his lips and tongue on her breast, as the pleasure shot straight to her core. Upon hearing this, House took his mouth off her breast and shot her a knowing look.

"Everybody lies," he said in a gruff voice.

"Oh shut up," Cuddy retorted.

Leaving her bra peeled down, he continued to suckle her as he reached down to the button of her jeans. He slowly worked the button and zipper open, tracing the outside of her silk panties with his fingertips, making her squirm beneath him.

"You're already wet," House told her against her breast as he stroked the front of her panties.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Cuddy replied in a breathy voice.

"You know what gets me off the most?" House asked her.

Cuddy shook her head, desperately wanting him to shut up and continue his lovely ministrations.

"Knowing that I can get YOU off by barely touching you," House replied.

"You could always do that," Cuddy assured him.

House nodded. "That was the right answer," he said.

He then kissed her passionately as he slipped his fingers beneath her panties, finding her wet and more than ready.

She moaned into his mouth desperately as they kissed.

Finding her sweet spot, he began to move his fingertip in tight, little circles, causing her thighs to quiver at his touch. Every so often, he would slip his fingers inside her just to hear her cry out any unintelligible sound he could make her utter.

His erection became even harder when he saw in her face how much pleasure he was giving her.

Knowing she was just near the edge, he stopped fingering her, making her groan in protest.

He then pulled off his jeans as she quickly shrugged out of hers.

His lust for her taking over his senses, House then completely ripped off her blush lacy panties, causing her to shriek in delight.

"I've always wanted to do that to you," House confessed.

"What took you so long?" she said as she spread her legs for him.

He lay down on top of her and entered her forcefully, causing her to cry out.

He thrust in and out of her deeply, feeling his cock become even harder as her breasts bounced slightly and as her inner muscles tightened around him.

"Don't stop," she begged.

"Oh god…" House managed to say as he thrust even deeper into her.

She thrust back against him in a frenetic rhythm as she felt her orgasm completely envelop her.

Feeling her muscles clamp down around him, he couldn't hold back any longer. He exploded inside her with a force that took ever ounce of strength out of him.

After they rode out their orgasms, completely spent, he flopped down on the bed next to her. Slowly, their breathing began to relax.

"We are not young anymore," House said, closing his eyes and exhaling hard.

Cuddy swatted his chest. "Speak for yourself, old man," she replied.

Lazily, House turned towards her and smirked.

"So where's my ice cream?" House asked her.

"There's a phone on the night stand. Call room service," Cuddy replied, her eyes closing as well.

House glanced at Cuddy and laughed out loud.

Cuddy grinned back at him and chuckled in kind as he reached over for the hotel phone and pressed the speed dial for room service. 
*******************************************************


At around the same time, Sophie was sitting at a table in the back of Lucky's Lounge with Joey. He was going over their strategy for the tournament, which was starting in less than three hours.

But Sophie, her mind still reeling from Chase breaking up with her, was only half listening to him.

"Look, I know you're upset about blondie dumping you, but you gotta get over it," Joey said bluntly, snapping her out of her haze.

"Why? Because you say I should?" Sophie demanded bitingly as she turned towards Joey.



"Because this is BUSINESS," Joey stated. "Now let's go over it again."

"We can't signal. It'll be too obvious," Sophie mumbled.

Joey glared at her in irritation. "Then what do you suggest?" he asked.

"I say we just play on our belly and whoever takes the house gives a cut to the other," Sophie said with a tired shrug.

Joey leaned over across the table and arched his eyebrow.

"Well where's the fun in that?" Joey asked.

"I thought you said this was business?" Sophie reminded him, not liking the way he was looking at her.

"…It could be more," Joey suggested.

"It ISN'T," Sophie stated firmly.

"Figure out where you're sleeping tonight yet?" Joey asked.

An uncomfortable chill went through her body at Joey's question.

She had been so upset about Chase ending their relationship that she hadn't even considered how it would affect their sleeping arrangements in the hotel that night.

"Because I can't imagine that after your tearful break up that he'd want to share a bed with you," Joey said in a low voice, his eyes penetrating hers.

He then dug into his front pocket and tossed his extra card key across the table at her.

"I'm in room 618 if you're interested," Joey told her.


----------------------------------------------------------------


Almost an hour later, Chase was trudging miserably down the hallway towards his and Sophie's room.

He had scoured the entire hotel for her, but he hadn't been able to find her anywhere.

He hadn't taken any of his Vicodin since that morning, and his ankle was throbbing mercilessly.

Once he reached the door to their hotel room, he dug his pills out of his pocket, swallowed two of them dry, inserted the card key into the lock and opened the door.

When he opened the door, he was incredibly surprised, thrilled and confused to see Sophie taking her clothes out of the hotel dresser and placing them in her suitcase, which was on the bed.

She hadn't even noticed that he had opened the door.

"Sophie?" Chase said softly, so as not to startle her.

Sophie turned around towards the direction of Chase's voice. Upon seeing him, she could feel her heart hammering inside her.

But she merely turned back to her suitcase and continued packing.

"What are you doing?" Chase asked her.

"What does it look like? I'm packing," Sophie replied coolly.

"...You're leaving?" Chase asked her in the same soft tone.

"Cameron said I can stay with her tonight," Sophie explained.

"You can stay here. I'm not kicking you out," Chase told her as he moved closer to her.

"Why? So you can fuck me one more time before you cut me loose?" Sophie demanded angrily.

Chase was truly stunned by her question. For a moment, he couldn't even respond.

"…You actually think I would do something like that?" Chase asked her.

"I never thought you'd want to get rid of me, so who knows what you would do?" Sophie asked.

Chase was about to tell her that he loved her and that he didn't want to get rid of her when she took Chase's grey sweatshirt that he had given her months ago out of her suitcase and tossed it at his chest.

"Here's your sweatshirt," Sophie stated bluntly as he caught it clumsily.

Chase finally walked over to the bed, closing the distance between them. He placed the sweatshirt on top of her open suitcase.

"I don't want it back," Chase stated.

"If I'm gonna get over you, then I need to get rid of everything that reminds me of you," Sophie explained to him, her voice full of hurt.

Chase then closed the lid of her suitcase. He took her hands in his and stared deeply into her eyes.

"I don't want you to get over me, because I don't want you to leave," Chase said sincerely.

At first, Sophie just stared at him blankly.

But then a curt laugh of disgust escaped her lips.

"You son of a bitch," Sophie spat out, shaking her head, causing Chase's lips to part slightly in shock.

"You think you can say all of that and then just take it back and expect me to pretend it never happened?!" Sophie demanded.

"I… wasn't… thinking clearly—" Chase stammered.

"Yes you WERE," Sophie stated firmly, ripping her hands out of his.

"You weren't planning on breaking up with me this weekend. You were gonna take your sweet time and gradually push me out of your life after the surgery," Sophie told him.

Chase swallowed nervously.

"But then House revealed your little plan and ruined it for you, so you had no choice but to do it now," Sophie continued in the same bitter tone.

Chase then closed his eyes and looked away from her, completely ashamed of himself.

Sophie laughed again curtly and nodded her head, knowing that she was dead right.

"What I just can't figure out is what I did wrong," Sophie said, as she continued to pack her suitcase.

At this, Chase did a double- take.

"You didn't do ANYTHING wrong!" Chase stated.

"I must have done SOMETHING, because you obviously thought that I wouldn't want to stick around if the surgery didn't go your way," Sophie replied.

"…I just didn't think you'd want a life where you'd be condemned to taking care of me," Chase said meekly.

"That's not what you thought," Sophie said, turning back towards him.

"You thought I'd see you as less of a man and that I'd stop loving you if you couldn't walk or if you became dependent on pills," Sophie told him, her eyes penetrating his.

Chase was amazed at how Sophie was able to see right through him.

"…You're right," Chase admitted, never breaking his gaze with hers.

"Well then you don't know ME and you don't know what love is," Sophie told him evenly.

Chase felt a wave of uneasiness overtake him.

Because she was absolutely right.

He had never expected her to be as understanding as she was about his Vicodin use and the fact that he had gone to rehab. He had automatically assumed that she would be disappointed or angry in him.

But she never was.

He took her hands once more and pulled her down with him so they could sit on the bed together. At first, Sophie resisted, but then she gave up and sunk down next to him. He gently brushed a few stray locks of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Remember when I planned for us to go snowboarding over Christmas?" Chase asked her.

She nodded glumly. Chase paused slightly before continuing, knowing that it was going to be difficult for him to say what he wanted to say to her.

"…After next week… we'll probably NEVER be able to do that," Chase said with difficulty.

"You honestly think I cared if we EVER went snowboarding?" Sophie asked him incredulously.

"It's more than that. We probably won't even be able to take long walks together—" Chase continued sadly.

"So we would have taken long drives together," Sophie replied simply.

Chase exhaled deeply. "Sweetie, you don't understand what I'm trying to say," he said in frustration.

"Then explain it to me," Sophie said, her voice softening.

"I just… want us to have a real life together. A NORMAL life. You shouldn't have to take care of me. This isn't the way it's supposed to be," Chase said as his voice began to crack.

"That's what you do when you love someone. You take care of them," Sophie replied.

"And there IS no normal, and there is no 'supposed- to,'" Sophie stressed.

With that, Sophie got up from the bed and continued to pack her suitcase. Still sitting on the bed, Chase placed his hands on her hips, pulling her towards him and leaned his forehead against her stomach.

"Please don't go," Chase begged her softly.

Sophie pressed her lips together to stop them from quivering.

"You hurt me so much," Sophie whispered back.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Chase said as he looked up at her.

"But I can't imagine my life without you," he added.

Sophie, unable to bear the sorrowful look in his beautiful blue- green eyes, looked away from him as he continued to hold her hips.

"Just tell me what I have to say or do to make things right and I'll do it," Chase promised her.

Sophie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She then took his hands off her hips.

"I shouldn't have to tell you what to say or what to do," Sophie told him, barely above a whisper.

And with that, she zipped up her suitcase, picked it up off the bed and left Chase in their hotel room alone.


--------------------------------------------------------------------


TWO HOURS LATER: MOHEGAN SUN POKER ROOM.

Wilson, Debbie and Cameron were standing behind a sectioned off area among other spectators in the Mohegan Sun Poker Room when House and Cuddy walked up to them.

"What's going on?" Cuddy asked Wilson.

Wilson turned around briefly to see House and Cuddy standing behind them.

"Sophie's playing in the tournament," Wilson replied as he turned back to look at Sophie.

Wearing a pair of low rise dark jeans, an army- green scoop neck tank top and a pair of black heels, Sophie was casually chatting among a group of other registered players in the tournament as they were all waiting for the officials to announce the start time.

Wilson noted that while Joey was standing on the opposite end of the room, talking to other players, he kept glancing at her from afar.

"Cool," House said.

"Where have you guys been? I called your cell a few times," Wilson asked them.

"I know. I ignored it," House replied simply.

"We were just… getting ice cream," Cuddy replied vaguely.

"For THREE HOURS?" Cameron asked, her eyebrow arched in disbelief.

Cuddy and House exchanged quick glances before turning back to Cameron.

"It was Ben and Jerry's," House replied as if that explained everything.

As Cameron furrowed her brow in confusion, Chase entered the poker room.

Upon spotting his colleagues, he walked up to them and stood next to Cameron. Cameron gave him a sympathetic smile.

"…I told Sophie she could stay with me tonight," Cameron told Chase softly.

"I know," Chase replied quietly as his eyes quickly found Sophie in the crowd.

"She's actually gonna help this guy Joey cheat?" Debbie asked Wilson quietly.

Wilson shrugged in disappointment. "I guess so," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out between you two," Cameron said to Chase.

Chase briefly glanced at Cameron before turning his attention back to where Sophie was standing.

"Excuse me," Chase suddenly said as he walked away from Cameron and the rest of them as he made his way through the crowd of spectators.

He walked up to one of the casino security guards who was standing in front of the velvet rope barrier that was being used to keep the spectators away from the players in the tournament.

"I need to speak to my girlfriend," Chase told the security guard as he attempted to walk past him.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you can't go in there. The tournament's starting in a few minutes," the security guard stated, placing his hand lightly on Chase's chest.

Chase glanced down at the man's hand on his chest and then looked at him square in his eyes.

"No? Watch me," Chase stated as he breezed past him.

The security guard took his walkie- talkie off his belt and began to speak into it as Chase strode right up to Sophie. Sophie had already spotted him enter the players' area and began to walk towards him.

"Robbie, you have to go. They're gonna get security—" she began.

"Sophie, you don't have to do this," Chase interrupted her.

"I know what I'm doing," Sophie told him firmly.

"Yeah, Robbie. She knows what she's doing," Joey suddenly said from behind them as he saddled up next to Sophie.

Chase glared at him briefly before turning his attention back to her. As he did, the security guard walked up to him accompanied by another larger security guard.

"I'm sorry sir. I have to ask you to leave," the larger of the two men stated curtly to Chase.

"Just give me a minute," Chase asked them. He then turned back to Sophie before the two of them could respond.

"Sophie you were right. You shouldn't have to tell me what to say to make things right between us," Chase began.

"And I know I don't deserve a second chance," he added.

"But I also know that you don't really want to leave me," he continued.

Sophie stiffened, refusing to soften at his pleading expression.

"Give me one reason why I should stay," Sophie stated.

At that moment, Chase closed his eyes and slowly got down on his knees, wincing visibly as a tremendous pain in his ankle shot up his leg as he did so.

Sophie was speechless as she watched him, her lips parting in shock.

By now, the other players and the spectators were all watching him as well.

"Because I want to take long drives with you," Chase answered as he looked up at her with adoring eyes, ignoring the incessant throbbing in his leg.

"Robbie, get up before you put too much strain on your ankle," Sophie said, trying to hide her embarrassment at his actions.

"Because I want to watch every old horror movie with you that you love," he continued, remaining in his kneeling position on the ground as he took both her hands firmly in his.

"Because I already cleaned out my closet for you when you transfer schools and move in with me. Because I want us to come home to each other every night. Because I want your cotton bras and panties to get mixed in with my laundry. Because I want to make love to you for the rest of my life," Chase said.

Several people in the crowd began to chuckle and hoot at Chase's words, while the blush on Sophie's cheeks began to deepen.

But Chase remained on the ground, his eyes locked with hers.

"Because I'm completely willing to embarrass myself in front of all these people to convince you to come back to me," Chase stated.

Sophie couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Her face began to soften as a tiny smile appeared on her features. Chase held her hands tighter.

"And because my heart has always been waiting for you…" he continued, his voice breaking, full of sincerity and emotion.

Sophie gasped quietly as her heart swelled inside her.

"And I'll keep chasing you until you change your mind," Chase finally finished.

Upon hearing this, Cameron felt a tiny twinge of heartache inside her. She looked down slightly at the carpet.

And House noticed.

"That's nine reasons," Sophie said, as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"If you take me back, I'll think of a hundred more," Chase promised.

As the crowd waited on baited breath for Sophie's response, she sniffed and wiped her eyes with her fingertips.

"Get up," she told Chase as she pulled him up off the floor.

"You're such a jerk," Sophie told him with a little laugh as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"I know," Chase agreed.

Sophie then pulled Chase roughly towards her and kissed him with incredible passion in the middle of the poker room.

Chase wound his arms around her back and returned her kiss with great enthusiasm. Both of them were oblivious to the cat- calls, whistles and applause around them.

Wilson couldn't help but grin at the two of them.

When Chase and Sophie finally broke off their kiss, Sophie moved her mouth towards Chase's ear.

"Now get out of here so I can clean out this leather- ass once and for all," Sophie whispered.

Chase pulled back away from her with widened eyes.

Sophie merely smirked back at him.

"You were never gonna help him, were you?" Chase whispered to her.

"Nope," Sophie said with a tiny grin.

Chase then grinned back at her and finally left the players area to join House, Cuddy, Wilson, Debbie and Cameron once again. The tournament officials then announced for all players to go to their assigned seats and tables.

"Are you ready now, princess?" Joey said in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Sophie replied lightly, turning towards him.

"Hope you're wearing a cup," she told him before walking away from him to her assigned table across the room.

TBC…