A/N-Thank you to all who have read and reviewed since the last chapter: JLCH, Josam, Houserulez, CaptainK8, IHeartHouseCuddy, Bakerstreet Blues, ClareBear14, Abby, newdayz, lenasti16, Alex, Dmarchl, HuddyGirl, KiwiClare, anon, CassandraDarling and Anna...thank you all for your continued support!

I'm gone for the rest of the weekend, so I won't be updating any more until Monday.

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


When they were finally back after the long return trip, they stopped at the hospital to see Kate before going home. They walked through the doors of the hospital and House found himself quickly stopped. "Well, you are a little less ugly once you've gotten some sun," Celia said, chuckling, as they entered. "You aren't due back yet, so why are you here?"

"Came to see Kate," he answered.

"Dr. Vega left already."

"Left?" House asked. "Rehab facility?"

"Home."

"Home? She can't be home by herself."

"She went home the day you left for vacation. Checked herself out AMA. I dropped dinner by a couple of times, she's doing fine," Celia answered.

"That sneaky little bitch," House commented under his breath.

Celia walked over to Cuddy and put an arm around her, "You know I think it would be so much fun for us to get together and talk. I'll bet you could give me tons of useful information. How about lunch once your boyfriend here is back to work?"

"Sure," Cuddy said, smiling, "Monday."

"You get the hell outta here before someone sees you and expects you to start working again," she said to House, as she pushed him toward the door.

They were home for less than two hours and House was already irritated. "If Lucy's in there…" he joked, with some frustration, "I think we'll just have to kill them both and get back on a plane."

"I can live with that," Cuddy responded before they both got out of the car.

There was an unfamiliar car in the driveway and House pushed open the front door and stopped abruptly, looking around the room with some confusion. He thought there could have been a home healthcare nurse visiting. He considered that there may be friends from the bar, or even a beautiful woman that Kate had somehow cajoled into the house, but he didn't expect two teens to stare back blankly from the sofa. He backed up onto the front doorstep, looked at the number beside the door to ensure he had the right house, and walked back in, Cuddy in tow. "Hi, I live here. Who are you?"

"We were just visiting," the boy answered, as Kate walked into the room with improved mobility.

"You're getting around well…" Cuddy said with surprise.

"Yea, good PT. I'm doing great, I'm feeling better!" Kate said, as she hugged Cuddy and then walked over toward House.

He held a hand out to block her from approaching too closely. "Why did you check out?"

"I just wanted to be home…I knew you wouldn't let me leave, so I figured I'd get out while I could."

"This isn't the time for drinking and women," House said, accusatorily.

"I'm out of commission for at least another month. I'm behaving…I'm just behaving at home instead of at the hospital."

"A completely pointless risk. Leaving a hospital AMA after a traumatic brain injury! Seizures, infections, falls…while alone? What kind of moron…"

Cuddy chuckled, placing a hand on his forearm and interrupting his train of thought. "Do you have a comment?" House asked.

"I know exactly what type of moron would do something like that," she said, as she walked in between him and Kate. "Although it's probably not the best time to discuss it, I'll explain it all on your pilfered white board later. So…let's just get settled in for now."

He scowled at her for a few moment, and then nodded. "And who are our esteemed guests," House asked, tilting his head toward the teens on the sofa, who were watching the exchange with some interest.

"These are friends of mine from work."

"Friends?" House said, as he looked at them and then back at Kate.

"Yes," she answered, with a look that clearly asked him to refrain from further discussion until later. "They ran to the store for me and they were helping out around here a bit."

"Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

House pulled Kate back toward her room, "Now you're bringing the patients home?"

"They aren't patients, his mom was. He's a sweet kid, he heard what happened and came to see me. How was the trip?"

"Fine. You collect us don't you? Crazy people to occupy your world?"

"I like you guys!"

House shook his head and couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"Speaking of additions to my collection… Did you talk to Lisa about moving in?" she asked.

House nodded his head only slightly, "If that's still good."

"Definitely, I could use the help for the time being, anyway."

"In a few months when you're feeling better, we'll probably head out on our own, pretend to be grownups…"

"Are things…ya know…going well?"

"Yesss," he said, decisively. "Any jobs open up around the hospital lately?"

"Mine. At least temporarily. Why?"

"Cuddy needs one or she's going to explode under the weight of her perceived uselessness. I don't want her getting sucked back into the old vortex. If they hear she's looking for a job, they'll fight for her."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes…they suck her in, then she brings me in, then we blow up. Don't care to watch that rerun."

"She could fill in for me until I'm back"

"That's a great idea, in psych?" he said, snidely. "She has no background in it and they take one look at who she's dating and her name's off of the list."

"They know I let you move in with me…"

"After you already had the job. Anything else?"

"What's her specialty?"

"Endocrinology."

"Eh…nothing I've heard about"

"The woman can effectively herd greased pigs in an orderly fashion and convince them to clean up a bit...and wear a lab coat...well, at least once or twice, there must be something someone needs…organized or fixed…"

"I'll make some calls."

"Thanks. Lucy call you?"

"No. It's done…trust me."

He could see the exhaustion settling over Kate. The toll of surgery and recovery were obvious after only a few moments on her feet. She sat down in the living room while the kids that were there left for the day and Cuddy finished a phone call. The doorbell rang a few minutes later, Cuddy answered the door and allowed the lovely, completely statuesque physical therapist into the room.

Kate stood to join the therapist in her room for their daily session, gloating in House's direction as she disappeared from the room.

"Wilson just called," Cuddy said.

"You guys coordinating outfits for the next big get-together?"

"Of course, otherwise I never know what will go with his eyes. They're having a baby shower for Ann tomorrow night, I was going to go. You don't have to come. Or, if you want, you can ride up, and hang out with him."

"Sure," he nodded.

Cuddy took her luggage back into the bedroom and House picked up her phone to get Wilson's number. He saw the last three calls. One was from Wilson. The previous two were placed to, and received from, Simpson.

When she returned, he was so filled irritation he wasn't sure if he could even speak to her. After the numerous times she told him she wasn't going to work there, she kept going back in that direction and he couldn't help but think that again she would prioritize her work over their relationship in every scenario without fail.

When she returned, he told her he needed air and left. He was gone for nearly two hours and she thought nothing of it. After years of being alone, she just assumed he needed time to himself after all of the hours of nearly continuous companionship. When he returned she was on the computer in the living room, catching up on emails.

"Anything you want to say," he asked gruffly.

"It isn't time yet. I think 6 o'clock is when I tell you you're brilliant, and 7 is when I talk about how hot you are, or do I have them backwards again?" she teased.

"Are you taking this whole thing with us seriously?"

"Are we still joking?"

"No…no we aren't. I'm not, maybe you are. Maybe that's the problem."

"OK, I'm really lost," she answered with confusion.

"Are you going to go running back to Princeton-Plainsboro?"

"No, I told you I wouldn't!"

"I get the feeling like maybe your whole 'no lies' thing is a really big lie. At first I thought maybe you were just omitting certain things, and now you're flat-out lying to my face."

"No. I'm not" she said, assuredly.

"I looked at your phone."

"OK"

"I saw you were talking to Simpson."

"Oh…right…so you weren't looking at my phone, you were snooping."

"It wasn't like it was well hidden."

"So…if I want you to respect my privacy, I have to hide what I'm doing. You want me to put a password on my phone? It's my fault that you snooped?" she said with frustration.

"I don't want you to have things to hide. That's what would be best for me," he answered sternly.

"I don't have anything to hide, and I have no idea why you would even think that!"

"I thought I was really honest with you about what losing you would do to me. I made myself really fucking vulnerable, and for what. You don't care any more about my feelings now than you did before. At least then you were upfront about your prioritization."

"I don't understand…what…in the hell…could have been on my phone to make you think that way?"

"Simpson"

"What about him…I told you the other day when I thought about calling him. And then I didn't call him."

"Lies," he accused.

"Not lies," she countered.

"He was the last person that called you, before Wilson. And you returned his call."

"Did you look at the dates on the calls?"

"Doesn't really matter what the dates are, does it? You were still sneaking around with him."

"Those calls were before we left for vacation."

"So you were plotting with him before we even left? That is supposed to make me feel better? You agreed to move in with me, you opened up about the past, and all along you knew you were doing exactly what I didn't want you to do. Exactly what I'm worried about you doing."

"Did you bother to take ten seconds to ask why I spoke to Simpson?"

"I can't think of any good reason for you to talk to him. Because if it's an interim position or temp position, it's all just a stepping stone to get you right back in those doors."

"It wasn't about a position. Of any kind. He called while we were in LA. When you got back we started talking about other things, I didn't think it was anything that I had to justify to you."

"What did you guys talk about? If it's not a position…what is it? Are you consulting…"

"The stipend check, from when you and I went to help Wilson...he sent it to my place in Baltimore, certified. There was no one there to sign and it got sent back to him. He called to find out where we wanted it sent. I called him back and told him that we were leaving for vacation and to have it shipped to your address after we got back, so there would be someone around to receive it."

"Oh."

"Yea. 'Oh'…Why were you snooping through my phone?"

"I wasn't snooping."

"You weren't? Let me guess, you were just…looking through my things in order to collect valuable information…"

"I wanted Wilson's number. I was going to talk to him about tomorrow night. About activities for the two of us. Your phone was just sitting there, and I didn't think you'd mind."

"I wouldn't have minded. But you saw something and then ran wild with your misinterpretation. You could have just asked."

"You keep flirting with the idea of going back there…it wasn't that farfetched for me to assume."

"You are right…I was. But…I was honest about it. You can look through anything of mine, I told you, I'm not hiding anything. But if you find something that concerns you, you should ask before you get angry about it."

"Fine."

They sat there, still tense even after clearing up the misunderstanding. "Why?" she asked with confusion.

"I just wanted to call Wilson," he said, rubbing his forehead.

"Not that. Why would it be so awful if I did go back there? I'm not…before you start to think that…I'm not. I just don't understand why it would be so terrible. I already agreed to live with you."

"Don't agree to anything on my account," he said bitterly.

"I agreed to live with you because that's where I want to be. If you remember, I was the one who mentioned moving closer to you."

"Yes. OK," he nodded.

"So why are you so concerned about me going back there?"

"We are trying so hard to do this…you go back there, and things return to what they were. Soon you're working until eight or nine, some nights later. You're in there at seven in the morning. Then you want me to work there…and I go, because I figure at least I'll see you…and I won't. I told you I can't repeat the past. And I don't want to play a distant second or third to your career. I'm not saying I should always be more important…when I had a case, I know I was focused on that…there were long hours, I was distracted from anything else. But with your job, it was constant. You were working even when you weren't working. I'd just like the chance to try for the number one spot sometimes."

"You think you came second to the hospital?"

"I came fourth…"

"It was Rachel, which…I understand…Rachel, then the hospital, then the board at the hospital, then me. And remarkably often you'd throw in the needs of whatever pain in the ass was screaming loudest for your attention."

"That's…not true…"

"Which part? I have to be honest…I…like unemployed Cuddy. I tease you about it…but I like it. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a job, because you should. But…it's nice. You aren't stressed, you're around. Even taking care of Kate you have more free time."

"You must be joking. You…don't feel smothered?"

"No…I'm less smothered now than I was when I worked for you…because half of the attention that I got from you then wasn't the kind that I wanted."

"Sometimes…you really surprise me, House."

"It surprises you that a typically possessive man is possessive of you?"

"I associate the possessive part of you with the times when we weren't together. Not how you are now."

"I would rather be alone than be with someone I don't want to be with. I was alone a long time…believe it or not one or two women were actually willing to go out with me…if I wanted someone to waste time with when I was bored…I could have found her."

"I'm sure you could have. Do you actually think that I think no one would want you?"

He stared at her, blinking and pondering her words.

"I've wanted you for over half a lifetime, and yea, I clearly fucked up things with us from time to time but…I've wondered how it was possible that you didn't meet someone else. I'm not the one that finds your attractiveness unfathomable…you are," she said, affectionately.

He sat down on the sofa near her, still lost in thought. "And thank god for that," she said, with a hint of levity, while she leaned against his shoulder, "because your ego would be absolutely insufferable if you knew how irresistible you are."