Good Company, Good Food

By Ellie

Disclaimer: I don't own House. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Don't sue me. I'm just playing around and having fun.

Set immediately after "Daddy's Boy." House/Cuddy friendship.

Chapter 1

Greg House parked his motorcycle in front of the hospital. He had only left for home a few hours earlier, but the day's events had made it even more difficult than usual for him to relax. Even his piano provided little solace. The walls of his house had started to close in on him, and he finally just got on his bike and started riding. He didn't realize that he had driven to the hospital until he had entered the parking lot. House stared at the building for a moment, not even sure if he wanted to go in, but finally took off his helmet and headed inside. He would find something to do.

House hobbled into the building and was surprised to see a light coming from Cuddy's office. He looked at his watch and noticed that it was just after midnight and wondered what could have kept her here this late. House made his way to her office and looked inside to see her writing at her desk. He opened the door to her office and she looked up, surprised to see him there.

"Dr. House, what are you still doing here?" she asked. "Did a hooker come to the hospital by mistake again?"

He grinned appreciatively at her comment and replied, "Yeah, we're almost finished. It's one of my life's goals to get laid in every room of the hospital, and your office is the only room that's left on my list, and we just wanted to see if you were going to be done with it anytime soon."

Cuddy laughed. "House, if you were to ever have sex in my office then you had better make sure that it's the best damn sex you've ever had, because I will make sure that it's the last sex you ever have."

House made a wounded face. "Dr. Cuddy, I can't believe that you would stand in my way of achieving a life goal like that."

"Yeah, just call me Dreamkiller."

House chuckled at her comment as he entered her office and made himself comfortable in the chair on the other side of her desk. "So, what keeps the Dean of Medicine in her office at this ungodly hour?" he asked.

She leaned back into her chair as she rubbed a kink out of her neck. "You would be surprised at the amount of paperwork that is involved when you find some highly radioactive material just lying about in your hospital," she said wryly.

He smirked back at her. "I can imagine. But does it really need to be done tonight?" he asked.

"I'm in budget meetings for the rest of the week, and if I want to have any kind of weekend at all then it has to get done tonight. Or to be more precise it had to get done tonight. I just finished up, and now I can leave." She turned off her computer and stood up. "What are you really doing here?" she asked as she put the papers on her desk away.

He paused before answering – unwilling to talk about the claustrophobia that had driven him from his house. "I just went home and realized I didn't want to be there," he finally said.

Cuddy stared at him for a moment and he saw a flash of understanding in her eyes, but she was wise enough not to say anything. That was one thing he really liked about her. She could give as good as she got, but she had enough respect for his privacy to let some things lie. It was a quality that he lacked, but he respected it in others. Which reminded him…

"Wilson told me that you had backed out of the dinner even before he cancelled."

She looked down a moment, embarrassed to be caught at anything that could be perceived as giving him a break. "Yeah, well I got busy, and tormenting you, although always entertaining, had to take a backseat to actual hospital work. You probably wouldn't understand such a concept," she snarked at him.

"Of course not. Nothing could be more important than torturing someone," he said. House caught her gaze and smiled his thanks and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Have you eaten anything tonight?" House asked her suddenly. Cuddy looked up at himand saw that he seemed to be just as surprised as she was by the question.

"No," she answered carefully, not sure why he was asking. "I was just going to make something quick at home before I went to bed."

"I'm hungry. All I've had this evening is part of a Reuben. I know an all night diner not far from here. Let's grab something to eat."

"Together?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"No, we'll sit at separate ends of the diner facing away from each other. Of course together."

Cuddy was speechless.

"What?" House asked a little defensively. "Can't two colleagues who've known each other for several years go out and share a simple meal? It's not like we haven't done it before," he stated.

"Yes, but it's been … a long time since we've done anything like that."

He didn't respond to that comment. He knew that they hadn't shared a friendly meal together since the infarction.

She stared at him a moment longer. "Fine. Let's go." She went to grab her purse and her coat, but stopped and looked at him. "Wait a minute. Let me see your wallet."

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"I'm not paying for your dinner. I want to see that you have money before we leave the building."

"You've been talking to Wilson too much," he grumbled as he pulled out his wallet to show her the money within.

She snorted at him. "Yeah, like I really need Wilson to tell me that you're a big mooch," she said as she inspected his wallet.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied in a hurt voice.

"House, I've known you for a long time. I see you around the hospital. When was the last time you paid for a candy bar, let alone a full meal?" she asked as they walked out of the hospital entrance.

He grinned at her. "I'm just seeing how far I can take it. It's actually pretty interesting. Foreman's taken to carrying around extra change in his pocket for my candy bars."

"They know that they have to pick their battles with you, and that forcing you to pay for your food is not worth the aggravation that you would cause them if they fought you on it," she told him.

"And yet here you are, aggravating me," he stated.

"I live to aggravate you, House. You know that," she said. "So this diner you mentioned. Is it Dino's?" she asked once they reached his motorcycle.

"You know it?" he asked, a little surprised.

"Of course I know it. It's a twenty-four hour diner located less than five minutes from my very time consuming job. Besides, they have the best fries in town."

"They do indeed. Ok, I'll meet you there," he said as he got onto his bike. "Oh," he said as though he had just thought of something, "When we get to the diner I think we need to have a talk about your behavior."

She turned around and looked at him. "My behavior," she repeated disbelievingly.

"Yes. But I'd prefer to discuss it over a burger," he said as he brought the motor to life. He pulled out of the parking spot and sped away. Cuddy continued toward her car as she wondered what House was talking about.