Disclaimer - I don't own House, or the characters! I just have some fun writing it. (:
."Cuddy…." He dragged out her name as he looked over at her, she sat behind her desk with a smug grin on her face. She had just told him that they were both going away together for a lecture in Perth, Scotland. Yes, they hardly ever went away together for lectures, but this one was different, it was about something neither of them had much knowledge about and the hospital could live without them for a couple days anyway.
"House, I thought you might like this one, it's all about Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome." Cuddy smiled as she looked down at the information sheet about the lecture before handing it over to him. Things had been strained between them recently, she and House always had a complicated relationship at the best of times, they would bicker back and forth, but they never really fell out, people would always speculate that the two of them should be together, but it had never happened, unless you count the one night stand they had back in university.
"Hmm…" He hummed from his lips as he looked over the information sheet. "I suppose we could go… but only if I get the following week off clinic duty." He smirked as his eyes raised from the sheet in front of him and met hers. He was forever trying to get off clinic duty, it was the worst part about his job, he hated being a GP.
"Seriously, your trying to bargain with me about going to a lecture I know you want to go to!" Cuddy spoke out with a light laugh at the end. She quite often watched out for different lectures that she could attend; this one though had caught her eye and she immediately thought of House.
"Fine! I'll go with you!" He paused for a moment narrowing his eyes towards her. "I get why I want to go to this, but why do you?" Raising his eyebrow at her slightly. It wasn't often he would go to lectures, purely because he usually found them boring, House read enough to know more about some of the conditions that they would be talking about.
"Because, it's a rare condition that I want to learn more about myself, is that a problem?" Cuddy pushed her chair back slightly from the desk and crossed her left leg over the right while placing her hand on her knee.
"Okay, I believe you." He smirked. "It's not that you want to spend some time alone with me." House was always coming out with remarks, yes it had been many years since they had a one-night stand back when they were in University, but images from that night had never left him. Cuddy had been the one that had gotten away, although he wasn't about to admit that to her.
"House!" Cuddy laughed again. "If I wanted to do that, trust me I would have done it already." Raising her eyebrow at him she knew she had come across flirty with him but that was usual between them. Cuddy was also haunted by their one-night stand, remembering how his light stubble felt against her skin, how his lips felt against her skin, he had been amazing that night, but when she had woken the next morning he had gone. She always thought that he had ran away from her.
House looked at her and nodded, he really couldn't imagine Cuddy making a move on him first. "So, Wednesday night?" He asked confirming when they were leaving. He needed to organise his team to deal with any cases while they were gone.
"Yes, I'll book everything, so you only need to turn up." She explained as she reached out and took the information sheet back. If she had left it to him then god knows where they would end up.
House nodded and stood up. "Patients to see and all that fun stuff." He smirked and left the room not giving Cuddy a chance to respond.
A few days later Cuddy had booked the flights, leaving from New York, they would fly to Edinburgh, then hire a car to drive to Perth. It was almost a seven-hour flight, with the time difference they would arrive early morning the day before the lecture, giving them plenty time to sight-see and settle into the hotel before spending the next day listening to the lecture. It was a three-day trip, giving them a day to travel back too. She did email House all the details but also printed it out as she knew he would never check his email. She was looking forward to going to Scotland, she hadn't been before but had heard that it was a beautiful place, yes, she would have House in tow with her, but she could handle him. Seeing the man in question walk into her office she sat back in her chair after grabbing the flight information from the printer.
"What do I owe the pleasure this time?" She spoke out pulling herself into the desk, she looked over at him as he came more into the room.
"I've spoken with the kids, when do we leave?" He said leaning on his cane at the opposite of her desk. He often referred to his team as his kids. He was a little excited about going to this lecture, it was something he had read about, but was a condition he didn't know too much about.
"This evening, our flight leaves at 9pm. So, you better be at the airport by 7pm!" Her tone was straight to the point, she knew his time management was bad at the best of times. "In fact, I'll pick you up, that way I know we will make the flight on time!"
House nodded. "Okay mom…" He paused for a moment, letting his eyes wander to the cleavage line her top bared. "I promise I'll be ready." He emphasised 'promise' with a smirk on his face.
"You better!" Her eyes glared at him. Then watched him leave the room, she was used to his quick random visits, usually when he wanted clearance on doing random tests that he knew really shouldn't be done but still did them.
Comments are adored! I've got another 18 chapters written and still going strong with writing it, thinking about pausing at chapter 20 and then writing a sequel. Thoughts?